The True Church Of God
George Burnside
0ne of the most important discoveries that any person can make is to learn the identity of the true church of Jesus Christ today. Dr. John Milner was correct when he said: “There is but one inquiry to be made, namely, ‘Which is the true church?’ By solving this one question, ‘Which is the true church?’ you will at once solve every question of religious controversy that ever has been, or that ever can be agitated.” – “The End of Religious Controversy,” page 95.
It is easy to open a safe if the right combination is known. Just so, when the true church is known, real truth can be found. In I Timothy 3:15 Paul says the church of God is the “pillar and ground of the truth.” The church of God is the bank, or depository, of the truth of God. It has the truth that Jesus Christ wants Christians to follow. Hence when the true church of Jesus Christ in our day has been located, or identified, the true doctrine of Jesus Christ and the true way of the Lord will be found. More than that, there also will be the answer to the inmost question in the heart of every true Christian, “Lord, what will You have me to do?”
Some say, “There are 212 different denominations. How can one ever know for a certainty which is the true church of Jesus Christ for today?” There are many different flags in use in the world. In fact, there are as many different flags in the world today as there are various independent nations. If a citizen of Australia saw all the different flags in the world hung on a line, could he tell for a certainty which is the flag of the Australian Commonwealth? Certainly.
There are several flags in the world that have stars and crosses on them, but there is only one that has these symbols arranged as they appear on the Australian flag. Just as an Australian can easily locate his flag by certain specifications, so the earnest inquirer, by noting certain specifications, can easily and with certainty locate the true church of Jesus Christ for today.
God gives three specifications in the Book of Revelation by which the true church in our day may be known, This is such an important item, and so much depends upon it, that the reader is requested to take a piece of paper and make note of those three divine specifications or marks of the true church for today. This is something that each one needs to think through, and find the true church for himself.
In Revelation 12:17 we read, “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Note that the little word “the” is used five times in this text. This verse talks about the dragon, the woman, the remnant, the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. To understand this verse it must be clear who is the dragon, who is the woman, what is the remnant, what are the commandments, and what is the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Take the first one. Look at Revelation 12:9. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan.” The dragon is the devil.
Next, who is the woman? The Scriptures explain that the woman in this prophecy is a figure of the true church. (Jeremiah 6:2; Isaiah 51:16.)
What is the remnant? When one goes to a department store and sees a table with an assortment of various pieces of cloth, and a sign, “Remnants,” does he know what this means? Certainly! A remnant is the last part of a bolt of cloth. Is the remnant of the same pattern as the first part of the bolt? Yes, it certainly is. The remnant of a bolt of cloth is a continuation of the same pattern as the first yard. This remnant church will be a continuation of the original church of Jesus Christ, which the Author of truth founded when He was here. It will be the last part of His church before He returns to the earth.
At what time in the world’s history will this remnant church be carrying on its work? The answer is, in the last days-in the closing age of the earth’s history. It is clear that the last part is bound to be in the last days-in the last generation. These are the last days. The fulfillment of the signs which Jesus has given attests that His coining is near, even at the door. So this is the day of the remnant. If one can discover which church is the remnant church, he will have located the true church of Jesus Christ for today.
Now the question is, How can one tell which church among all these different denominations and religious bodies is this remnant? God has not left any doubt. He tells how it can be known. Read Revelation 12:17. “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant which keep the commandments of God.”
Isn’t this plain? The remnant church, will be distinguished by the keeping of the commandments of God. It will also have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Please note that the keeping of the commandments of God is not at variance with the acceptance of Jesus Christ. The keeping of the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ go together. God has joined them together.
This remnant will keep the commandments of God, and they will have the testimony of Jesus Christ. What is meant by the commandments of God? A reading of the sixty-six books of the Bible once, or a hundred times, will demonstrate that the only commandments which God ever spoke with His own voice to His people, or ever wrote with His own hand, are the Ten Commandments. The Bible contains many commandments from God aside from the Ten Commandments. The commandments of God include all that God requires of man. But “the commandments of God,” must mean pre-eminently the Ten Commandments.
Here are two questions. This remnant keep the commandments. What day of the week do the Ten Commandments require man to keep? What is the answer? The seventh day. In the fourth of God’s Ten Commandments, He says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord shy God: in it thou shall not do any work.” You will find that in your Bible in Exodus 20:8-10.
The seventh day is the only day of weekly observance which God has ever commanded man to keep. Since Christ’s remnant church keep the commandments, what day then will they keep? The seventh day. If they do not keep the seventh day, they are not keeping the commandments. It is as plain as two and two make four that the remnant church, or Christ’s true church for the last days, will be composed of a seventh-day Sabbath keeping people.
‘]’here is no command of God in the Scriptures for the keeping of the first day of the week, or Sunday. Hence any church that keeps the first day of the week, or Sunday, cannot be the remnant church of Revelation 12:17.
God has many true Christians in the churches that are keeping Sunday. The Protestant churches have been greatly used of God in helping to restore truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But no Sunday-keeping church can be the remnant church, because God says the remnant church keep the commandments of God.
This remnant church has the testimony of Jesus Christ. What does this mean? Turn to Revelation 19:10. “He said unto me, I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The remnant church will be a people of prophecy, and will understand prophecy. They will teach prophecy. They will have among them the revelation of truth that God gives through the gift of prophecy. Now write on the paper, Specification No. 1 for the true church of the last days: They keep the commandments of God and have the spirit of Prophecy.
Revelation 14:12 Shows that the remnant of Revelation 12:17 will constitute the people who preach that great threefold message of Revelation 14 to the entire world. In Revelation 14:6-14 we have God’s special message for the last days set forth under the symbolism of three angels flying in mid-air, preaching a great, threefold message to every nation. In verse 12, God describes the people whom He will use to carry this threefold message to the entire world. “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
The people who give this message will keep the commandments of God. Hence they must be the same people who compose the remnant church of Revelation 12:17, who are distinguished by the keeping of the commandments of God. In order then to find what people compose the remnant church, or true church of Jesus Christ for these last days, a world-wide church must be found which is telling the people of every nation that the hour of God’s judgment has come; Babylon is fallen; not to worship the beast or his image; not to receive his mark in forehead or in hand; but to worship God as the Creator. In fact, it is the preaching of this threefold message that calls out this remnant church.
Now Specification No. 2. They give the special threefold message to the world.
Specification No. 3. They do their work between 1844 and the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is made plain in Revelation 14.
The Scriptures show that this threefold message applies to the closing period of earth’s history, between 1844 and Christ’s second coming at the last day. According to Dan. 8: 14 the hour of God’s judgment began in 1844.
Rev. 14: 14 shows that the second coming of Jesus Christ will take place when this threefold message has been preached to every nation. Therefore, it is plain that this message belongs to the period between 1844 and the end of time. Hence this remnant church will be composed of a people who will come on the stage in 1844, and will do their work between 1844, and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Now to put the three specifications together. These are not my own specifications. They arc God’s specifications, or marks, of the remnant church. How can one know the remnant church? Its members keep the commandments of God and have the spirit of prophecy. They will deliver to the world the wonderful message of Revelation 14. They will do their work between 1844 and the coming of Christ. All that is needed is to take these three specifications and find the church which fits them, and then it will be clear which is the remnant church, the true church of Jesus Christ for the last days.
Among all the churches and religions, how many are there who keep all the commandments, includes the fourth commandment which requires the observance of the seventh day? How many are telling the world that the hour of God’s judgment is come: not to worship the beast or his image: and not to receive the mark of the beast, but to worship God as the Creator? Which church arose in 1844? How many are there that fit those three specifications? How many? There is only one. If there is only one, it must be the right one. Regardless of how many denominations there are, there is only one that fits the three specifications, just as there is only one flag in the world which has tile Union Jack in the top left-hand corner and six stars on a plain field.
This does not mean that no one will be saved except those who belong to the remnant church. The Scriptures show that God has true children scattered in all denominations and in all religions. But the Bible plainly shows that God is sending this threefold message to gather them into the remnant church.
A curious thing happened in the Washington, D.C. post office a few years ago. A letter came with nothing on it but, “Fourth Commandment Keepers, Washington, D.C.” To whom did the United States postal authorities deliver that letter? There must have been someone in the post office who thought about the Methodists and the Baptists and the Catholics, but evidently he said, “No, they do not keep the fourth commandment. You take that letter out to the Seventh-day Adventists. They keep the Commandments of God.”
May God help us all to walk in the way of His Commandments.