MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH


A. GOD HAS A VISIBLE AND WELL ORGANIZED BODY OF CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS IN THIS WORLD
  1. Our Lord speaks of the sheepfold: John 10:15, 16
  2. It has authority to discipline its members; that could not be unless it was fully organized: Matt. 18:15-18; 2 Thess. 3:14
  3. It carries a worldwide, missionary program based upon a well- organized program: Matt. 28:18-20; Rom. 10:15-17; Acts 15:22-30
B. MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH
  1. Negatively:
    1. It cannot be identified by numbers - Matt. 7:13, 14
    2. God's people have always been in the minority - Deut. 7:7; Luke 12:32; Zech. 9:16
  2. Positively:
    1. It carries out the gospel commission and lives up to its provision - Matt. 28:18-20; John 3:34
    2. Keeps God's commandments, including the fourth - Ex. 20:3- 17; Matt. 5:17-19; Rev. 12:17; 14:12; 1 John 2:4-7
    3. It preaches the gospel of restoration, including the restoration of the creation Sabbath - Acts 3:19-21; Isa. 58:1, 12-14; Acts 15:16-18; Isa. 56:1-7
    4. It proclaims the Three Angels' Message - Rev. 14:6-12. That is Present Truth - 2 Pet. 1:12
    5. Present Truth includes the message of the Judgment Hour; the announcement of the fall of Babylon; and a worldwide warning against the beast, his image, and the number of his name.
    6. This portion of the message sets the Seventh-day Adventist Movement apart as the true church of God. It is called by the following marks of distinction -
      1. A remnant - Rev. 12:17
      2. "They that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" - Rev. 14:12
    7. It is here in answer of Bible prophecy -
      1. That was true of the Reformation to begin with - Acts 3:19-21; 15:16
      2. That is true of the Sabbath Reform Message - Isa. 56:1-7; 58:1, 12-14
      3. God's church will ever be known by the proclamation of a chain of prophetic truths as outlined in the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation - Compare Dan. 2; 7; 8 with Rev. 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 18
C. WE MUST EVER KEEP IN MIND
  1. That God's people are different, peculiar; it is because the message makes them peculiar: Tit. 2:14; Rom. 12:1-3
  2. They are not, however, fanatical, but are guided by moderation in their daily life: Phil. 4:8; their lives are ordered in the light of the seriousness of the time we live in, the judgment hour - Rom. 13:11-14; Eph. 5:17, 18; Rev. 14:6-8
  3. Imperfections still are found among God's remnant people: Rev. 3:14-20; it should be noted, however, that God does not find fault with His remnant people in what they teach, but rather with their lukewarm condition.
  4. It is encouraging to know that God will continue the work of sanctification among His people until they will have reached the ideal He has set for them: Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 14:5, 6; 19:7, 8
  5. A very important mark of the true church is:
    1. That it believes and teaches that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the only infallible rule of our faith and practice - 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Luke 24:25-28
    2. That Jesus Christ is the only hope for salvation, past, present, and future. To Him point the sixty-six books of the Bible - John 5:39, 46-48
    3. That salvation is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord - Acts 4:12


Design © John Bryant 2011