Identifying Characteristics of the True Church

You know, this last year has been quite unique on a number of fronts. And I would say whenever the phone rang, I was always wondering what would be transpiring on the other end. I saw phone calls come in this year in a way that I'd never seen them come in before in my years in the ministry, from people who were inquiring about the United Church of God. They found us online. Perhaps they'd even been reading our literature, following us for quite a number of years. Some of them even had a history going back into the time of the World Wide Church of God. And I don't know, I would suspect that probably one of the motivators was the pandemic and things that were happening in the world. But as I said, the phone just started ringing, and the increase was honestly exponential over years past. A number of these people, again, as I said, have watched our program. They've received our literature in various forms. One individual said, I've received all the church's booklets. I've watched all the programs you have online, and I'm going through the correspondence Bible study course now that your church has online. And something that was a common denominator to many of the calls pertains to what attracted people to us in the first place. And a number of them said, you know, I've never seen a church quite like yours. It's different than any other church that I've ever attended. They said your church doesn't have a whole lot of traditions of men and how you worship and how you conduct, how you live your life. You teach from the scriptures. They said your church doesn't teach adherence to, again, those man-made traditions. Your church doesn't teach that half the Bible's done away, you know, just kind of the Old Testament, most of those principles, interesting stories, but they don't really apply to our life today. They said your church is different than anywhere else I've ever attended or looked at because it teaches from the Word of God what it says and how it says to live. And, you know, I took that as a compliment, and to me that was encouraging. And actually the result of some of those calls were people that actually came in the door, sat down in some of our services over time on this circuit. And as I said, it was an encouraging thing to hear because it was a positive response, I felt, to what it is that we're looking to project here in the United Church of God. Brother, we live in a world made up of so many so-called religions. You know, you look around and it's sort of like a buffet. What's your style? What's your flavor? And you can kind of make your choice as to what attracts your attention, maybe what it is that would seem to agree with, you know, your preferences. There's thousands of denominational persuasions that claim to offer a version of what people need in order to come to a relationship with God. And there's people looking. There's people asking questions. There's people that are seeking answers. And an interesting thing is so many people are left wondering as they look around at all the options, which one is true? Which one is the Church of God? In Matthew 16, verse 18, Jesus said, On this rock I will build my church. He was referring to himself as that spiritual rock, as the chief cornerstone. Jesus was the stone of stumbling and rock of offense, but he was laid as that foundational stone off of which the whole structure, the spiritual temple, would be built.

And so he said, On this rock I will build my church in the gates of Hades, gates of the grave shall not prevail against it.

In other words, the grave would never be victorious over the true Church of God. Over that church that Jesus would establish, it would never die, it would never cease to exist in one form or another, it would continue all the way up until his return. So when people look at the Bible and they read here the words of Jesus Christ and they read the account of the early New Testament church as the foundational one true church, again they look around and they question, and you see all these variations, all these options in the world, they question, where is the true church and how do I know it when I find it?

Today's message, I want to look at six characteristics that the Bible gives as identifying characteristics of the true church that Jesus Christ established. Okay, this isn't a corporate-based sermon, this is a spiritual body-based sermon, because how would you answer the question, where's the true church? What does it look like? Again, it's a question that people are asking. We're going to look at six characteristics, and there's many more we could come up with, but six characteristics of identification for the true church that Jesus Christ established. These are characteristics that will be evident among those who are a part of the true church today, as I hope we are, a part, right here in this room. I believe we are a small sliver of the greater whole, right? It's going to be clear in our characteristics, I pray, and the characteristics of those we interact with. But this isn't an exhaustive list, but let's just consider some of the answer of where is the true church and what does it look like.

The title today is Identifying Characteristics of the True Church. As we cover these things, we should be able to recognize their importance, not only where we attend, but in our personal life, an example as well. So let's just jump right into it. Identifying Characteristic, number one, of the true church in no particular order, the truth of God's Word resides there. The truth of God's Word resides there. Again, if you're looking at all the options of going, okay, where is some portion of the true church that I can identify and relate with, what are you looking for? The truth of God's Word resides there. Much as confusion that exists in the religious world today stems from a lack of foundational truth as it is actually found in the Word of God and taking the direct instructions from the Word of God and teaching a life based on these things. There's a religious deception in this world. It's generated by Satan the devil. He casts a counterfeit. It's everything that God does, he counterfeits. And it looks good, it looks right, but when you get down to it, when it all comes out in the wash, it is something that is completely different than what God has established. So there is a counterfeit, and many so-called churches have bought in. Today, observances such as Christmas and Easter are mixed with many other false concepts about Christianity to the point that what is received as the end product doesn't look anything like what is scriptural and foundational, especially to the church. The true church that Jesus Christ established will be identified by the truth that it holds from the Word of God. Because this is a source. These are, as I described last time, theonustos, God-breathed words of inspiration. And this is where the truth will be found. Among the true church, there will be no compromise, no watering down, no diminishing the importance of the instructions that God gave for life. On the last night of His life, in the flesh, for the crucifixion, this is here the Eve before Passover Day, Jesus Christ, with His disciples, and then He's out in the garden. He's praying to His Father in Heaven. He covers a number of principles in that prayer that would cause His disciples to stand out as different from the rest of the world. These were intimate thoughts of Christ. Final thoughts that He shared of great importance before His departure. And the truth was paramount. The truth was important.

Let's go to John 17. Here we find Jesus' prayer. The heading in my Bible says Jesus' intercessory prayer because He's praying for His disciples. He's praying on behalf of those that would be there after He departed and returned to His Father. They would need help. They would need guidance.

John 17, verse 14, Jesus says, I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. A consequence to holding to the truth of God's word means you're going to be different. You're going to stand out and not necessarily in a positive way. The world doesn't, by and large, particularly care for the standard of God's word. It means it doesn't particularly care for those who would carry that standard and proclaim that standard either. And Jesus simply said, you know what, if you carry this truth, you're going to be hated ultimately as I was. Verse 15, He says, I did not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. And in verse 17, He says, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. So what we find is Jesus' prayer to the Father was that His disciples and ultimately the Church would be set apart by the standard of the truth. That's what sanctify means. It means to set apart for a holy purpose. Jesus said, set them apart by your truth, but then He gives the description of what the source of that truth is. He says, your word is truth. So we understand for us what the source of the truth of God is. It is His word. Again, verse 17, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself that they also may be sanctified again by the truth. The Church, brethren, as long as it holds to the truth of God's Word, will always be set apart by the truth. It will always be a little different than the majority of the world around them. And as a consequence, the true Church will stand out. Read all the way through the end of the Bible. Read through Revelation. What is it that you find the persecution that comes upon the Church? The adversary, Satan, the devil, who goes after the Church. God provides protection for a portion of the Church for three and a half years. And it says then that the devil goes on to what? Well, make war with and extend his wrath upon those who have the truth. Keep the commandments of God. Have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So the Church is always going to stand out as different.

And again, it's God's Word that's going to identify those things.

City on the hill can't be hidden, right? You don't take a light and put it under a basket, but you set it on a table where it gives light to the whole house. And it's going to stand out. It's not going to be camouflage. I mentioned we're taking off. A number of us, eight of us ministers, are taking off the northern Minnesota. We're going into the Boundary Waters wilderness. And something we had a video conference this week, and something that Frank Dunkel mentioned was, oh, it's kind of handy if you have a fanny pack. And he said, I realized we're manly men, and fanny packs aren't maybe necessarily the most guy thing. But he says, you know, even if you have pants with a lot of pockets, it's helpful to have a fanny pack because, you know, you're rowing in the canoe, and you get hungry, and you need to eat throughout the day, and you just unzip that and take one of your snacks out and eat. And I thought, okay, fine. I've resisted all these years. Fanny pack. And I'm not, I'm thinking, but what did my wife come home with a day later? She came home with a fanny pack, and it was camouflage. It's beautiful. The camouflage fanny pack. But that's not the church. The church will stand out. The church will get noticed. The church may, and likely, and will, not be greatly appreciated by this world at the end of the age, but it's because it holds to the truth of God's Word. It's clear from the Apostle Paul's writings to Timothy that he took seriously this concept of truth as an identifying characteristic of the church. First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14. First Timothy 3 verse 14. The context and the run-up of the chapter is qualifications for the ministry, qualifications for those who would be ordained as well as deacons, and it's a standard for how the leadership would live their life. And we come down then to verse 13. And Paul says to Timothy, for those who have served well, let me, I'm sorry, let's go to verse 14. He says, these things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. He says, but if I'm delayed, I write to you so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. Notice the pillar and ground of the truth. Paul says, the church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth. That's an interesting phrase.

The church hall that we're constructing in the village in Kuan Yaco, Ghana, I went to visit it on this trip. I showed you a picture in my recent slideshow. It has pillars.

You have the block wall that's been set, but it's in sections. In about every 30 feet, there's a break, there's a section, and they establish a pillar, an upright pillar of concrete so that that wall doesn't fall over. It gives stability to the wall. These pillars go up, and they tie in at the header. They go all the way down to the foundation, which is in the ground. They go all the way up, then, as well, to the support of the roof. You move inside into the middle of the building, and there's four massive concrete pillars that go all the way up, support the main structure for the roof that's going to go on. And again, they're put down on a base of cement, and underneath the ground has been packed, and it is secure. So when I read the Bible, and it talks about the church being the pillar and ground of the truth, I think of that building, because what are the pillars doing? They're adding stability to the structure. They're holding up the structure. They're holding up the roof. The church is called to be the supporting structure for the truth in the world in which we live. It is the church of God, the pillar and ground of the truth. This is where truth is to be upheld. This is where it's to be lived and displayed. It's where the structure of truth is to be an example for the world around us, and how we live, and how we conduct ourselves as well. And that's why Paul was instructing Timothy here earlier in the chapter of what the conduct ought to be of those who would be ordained into the ministry, as well as deacons, because this is the place where God's truth—you don't just know it, this is where you live it. And when people look at the church of God, they're supposed to know that the truth of God works, because it's working here among us, because it's on display in our lives today.

It's encouraging to me, again, when the phone rings and someone says, I can see that what the United Church of God teaches is from the truth of the Bible. Again, that's encouraging, and that is what we ought to do at all times. It is an identifying characteristic of the true church that the truth of God's Word resides there. Characteristic number two of the true church, it teaches and lives the laws and commandments of God. The true church will be found teaching and living the laws and the commandments of God. You know, the concept that the law is done away with is actually something that is quite common in the religious world around us. Only it's not true. It's false. It's a false teaching, and it's infiltrated many. Many take the writings of the Apostle Paul and pull certain contexts, certain scriptures out of context to express the fact that, okay, the law is done away. Just come as you are, live as you are.

I would say, okay, yes, come as you are, but don't stay as you are. Right? The stature of the fullness of Christ is our example, and the law has not been done away. In Acts chapter 24, we find Paul's defense from accusations that came against him. He'd been out preaching to the Gentiles. He makes his way now back into Jerusalem, and the mob rises up, seizes him. The Romans rescue him, but now he's under confinement, and he has to give a defense. And the accusation against Paul was, he's going out teaching against this temple, against this place, against the laws of God. But I want you to notice Paul's defense for himself in Acts chapter 24.

Let's notice what he had to say about this. Acts chapter 24 and verse 12.

Acts 24 verse 12, Paul says, they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone, or inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city, nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. For this I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in the law and in the prophets. Where do you find the law and the prophets? It's the Old Testament. It's God's commandments for living that were given. It's the prophets as well that enforce those things, brought God's message that adherents better take place, and they prophesied the coming of the Messiah. As well as the kingdom of God that would come. But Paul just simply says, you know what? I worship the God of my fathers, and I believe all things that were written in the law and the prophets. His defense was that he believed them, that he taught them, and that he lived them.

And he never expressed the fact, truly, that both what you find in the law and the prophets were just swept away through Jesus Christ. That was not his message, and it wasn't the message of any of the apostles of the early church. What they did teach was that lawkeeping could not save a person, because you see all have fallen short of the glory of God. So if you said on Monday, no perfect lawkeeping on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday can make up for the wages of sin is death because of the law you broke on Monday. Okay? We are justified by faith. We teach that. We are saved by grace and not lawkeeping. We teach that as well. But we also teach what the Bible teaches, that we are to be obedient as well to what it is that God has given us.

God gives a reward as a loving parent to his children who are obedient, but we do fall short and his grace and his mercy is what saves us. The law is certainly not done away. This is what the apostles taught, and they taught by grace through faith that we are saved. The apostle Paul later said about the law that it is holy, just, and good. That's why he lived his life according to it.

Romans chapter 3 and verse 28. Go there next. Romans 3 verse 28. Again, more of Paul's mind on this.

Romans chapter 3 and verse 28. Paul says, therefore we conclude that man is justified, made right in the sight of God. Okay? Man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. You know, quite a bit of what he was contending with as he went through these regions was, oh, you're going to be like one of us, the Jews, then you need to be circumcised. You're going to keep the Sabbath, you're going to keep the Holy Days, you need to be circumcised according to the law of Moses.

And what actually was addressed in Acts 15 and what Paul had to address was actually even some of these, some of these rituals in this way is not what brought salvation unto the Gentiles. Again, verse 28, we conclude that man is not justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

He says, then do we then make void the law through faith. So point blank, he asks the question, we have faith, we are saved by faith in the Son of God, by God's mercy and God's grace, does that mean that we then make void the law because we have this faith? And he answers it point blank, he says, certainly not. On the contrary, he says, we establish the law.

Keeping the law doesn't make you legalistic, it makes you obedient. And God, who is a loving God, has given us these things to live by because they are indeed a blessing. The Apostle John, the longest-lived Apostle, clearly maintained the same principle in the church. All the way up to the end of his life, we have writings that take us to the end of the first century. First John chapter 3, if you'll follow me there, let's see what John wrote, roughly 95 A.D.

1 John chapter 3. This is not just a fluke, this is the consistent teaching all throughout the New Testament. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 22, John says, and whatever we receive from him, from God, whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and we do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment.

Verse 24, now he who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit which he has given to us. And so keeping the commandments of God is clearly a part of the spiritual relationship that we maintain with him.

God has given us these things out of love, out of a desire to see our life be successful. 1 John chapter 5, just a chapter over, 1 John chapter 5 and verse 3, John says, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.

And his commandments are not burdensome. They're not burdensome. They're not weighty. They don't drag you down and take you out. The teaching that the Sabbath is a burden, that the law of God is a burden, is not the case. What's the results of keeping the commandments of God? If you keep the commandments of God as it pertains to marriage and family, it will be liberating to your life.

It will not be a burden. If you keep the commandments of God as it pertains to the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and you come to understand the rich meaning of those days, it will be liberating to your life. It will not be a burden. So, it's the way that God's established. And he says, as my children, you're to walk in this way, and it leads not to burden, but to liberty. This past week, we had two young moose come wandering into the neighborhood.

You know, it's a hundred and... I don't know what it was... eight, nine, ten degrees out there. The sun is baking. The mountain behind us, things are starting to dry out. And the valley we live in is sub-irrigated. That's part of the reason the mudslide occurred back in 2017. But this water kind of comes out of the mountain underground, goes across the neighbor's field, and there's ponds that kind of dot the valley, and there's a strip of grass that's always green. So, I guess that was Thursday, I believe. These two young moose, they come down off the mountain. We see him come down the neighbor's hill out into his pasture, and they head down to the pond.

And the pond's grown up with all these reeds and bulrushes, all, you know, several feet tall. And the moose come down, they get a drink, and they wander out into the pond through the marsh, out in the middle of the reeds, and they disappear. They're like, oh, I guess they're having a good time. About an hour later, they pop out about a half an acre away out the side of the pond.

Emerge from the reeds. There's just one problem. They're in a fenced-in area, because there's a pasture that basically has fence on three and three-quarter sides, but it comes around the front, and they've fenced a ways into the marsh, and then the fence stops. And the moose had come down, and they walked out in the middle, marsh around the end of the fence, and they came out now in this field.

And now they're looking, we want to go back up the hill, but there's a fence in the way, a multi-strand barbed wire fence, and a hot, hot wire that the neighbor has up. And we're talking about capacitors earlier. This has got to be a 1.21 gigawatt electric fence. I'll date myself there. But, you know, so now you have the moose.

They're in the pasture. They went back in the field. They're looking, they're in bondage, right? Now this is a burden. They want liberated. They want to just go back up the hill into the woods. Evening's falling, and they're working the fence back and forth, back and forth. They go to the pond, to the reeds, they're in the edge of the reeds, they come back out. There's back and forth, and we watched them probably about four hours. They were out there, and I think it was only a hot wire that kept them out of the barbed wire.

But, you know, eventually dusk fell, and I guess they got desperate enough, and they figured it out. They eventually wandered right back into the middle of the marsh and made their way around the end of the fence and up the hill. And you just saw these happy moose. They're, you know, trotting their way up the hill, and it's freedom.

There's a way that leads to freedom. And it's the Word of God and the truth of God, and His commandments are not burdensome. They are not binding. They are not bondage. But much of this world has emerged on the other side of the fence. And they say, okay, I want to be there. I want the good that is there.

But unless you're going to follow the way to life, bondage is the result. The truth is what sets us free. Indeed, the Bible shows that the commandment-keeping is going to be an identifying characteristic of the true church right up to the end of the age. Okay? It's in the Old Testament for Israel. It's in the New Testament for the church. What about at the return of Jesus Christ? Revelation chapter 14 and verse 11. Revelation 14 verse 11. I already referenced Satan who goes to make war with a portion of the church, keep the commandments of God, right? Have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 14 verse 11. This is speaking of the beast's power and then those that would give their allegiance and their worship to Him. And it says, "...in the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night who worshiped the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Verse 12 says, "...here is the patience of the saints." So we're talking about saints here, right? The people of God. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. There's going to be a group that will remain steadfast unto the end and the identifying factor in part is they keep the law. They keep the commandments. And because it's the package, they have the faith of Jesus Christ. They have come under His sacrifice, and by grace they are saved.

They keep the Word and the truth of God.

Identifying characteristic number three of the church. Identifying characteristic number three, they observe the weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Days. Again, if you're looking around saying, where is a portion of the true church? Who are the people of God? These are identifying factors. They will be found observing the weekly Sabbath and the annual Holy Days.

Contained within the commandments of God that we just discussed, the Ten Commandments, you have the fourth commandment which reads, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Okay, Exodus 20, verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Leviticus chapter 23 outlines God's appointed feasts in their seasons as well. And the holy convocations which God has called. And God says, These are my feasts. And He also says, These are my Sabbaths that you will hallow. So they're not our feasts. They're not our Sabbaths. We're not the one who thought these things up. God says, They are mine. And you will worship before Me as My people. On March the 6th, I gave a sermon titled, Keeping the Feasts of the Lord. You can go back and find that in the archive if you like. On March the 6th, but I went through from the beginning of the Bible to the end, and I showed how God's Holy Days, the annual Holy Days, were kept. Ancient Israel were kept in the church, must be kept today, and will be kept in the future, even after the return of Jesus Christ. It's a consistent thread, so I don't necessarily want to go back and rehash that, other than to reinforce that it is so. As it pertains to the Sabbath day, God declared that it would be a sign between Him and His people forever. He says, This day you observe it, and it is a sign. It's not the only sign. It's not the only thing that shows we are God's people, but it shows a sign that He is our God, and we are His people. Exodus chapter 31 and verse 12.

Let's take a look at that briefly.

Exodus chapter 31 and verse 12.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Surely, my Sabbath, you shall keep. Notice whose they are.

My Sabbath, God says. For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant, meaning it will go on and on and on through their descendants. And he says, It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And when he had made an end of speaking with them on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

God himself wrote it down in stone and said, You're going to keep this as a perpetual covenant forever. Again, it's interesting to note here is that these are God's Sabbath. These are God's feasts, and it is God who sets the appointment.

I hadn't really exactly processed it in this way until I was going through, I was looking at the words, it says appointed times, meaning God appointed the time. God set an appointment. He said, This day I'll be there, you be there too. And so if we somehow say, Well, that's not really convenient for me, or let's do it tomorrow, or let's do it in some other way, would God really say we have kept the appointment? I'm flying out Monday afternoon. I've made an appointment with Delta. There's a seat on a plane at a time and a place waiting for me. If I show up Tuesday morning and say, Here I am, they're going to say what? Well, you missed your flight, you didn't keep your appointment. It was set and I didn't show up. You know how much more the appointments that God sets, where he says, These are my appointed times. Again, I am your creator. I will be there. You be there as well. We will commune together.

Keeping the Sabbath in the Holy Days was given as a perpetual covenant for Israel throughout their generations, and it applies to the Israel of God today as well. Hebrews 4 draws an interesting parallel pertaining to the Sabbath and the Sabbath rest, and it reinforces the continual covenant that is in place yet even today. Hebrews 4. Let's pick it up here in verse 4. We're sort of jumping into the middle of the context, but I don't necessarily want to read the whole chapter. Hebrews 4 says, For he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works, and again in this place, quote, They shall not enter my rest. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again he designates a certain day, saying in David, Today, after such a long time as it has been said, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Verse 8, For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterwards have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. I want to come back to this verse in just a moment. Again, that's verse 9. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works, just as God did from his. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. This can kind of seem a little confusing as we read through it, but first I want to look at what God said here in verse 9, what was inspired by God. It says, There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

The Greek word translated rest in every other part of this portion of the Bible, and specifically as we're going through Hebrews 3 and 4, the word translated rest is cataposis.

But the word translated rest in Hebrews 4 verse 9 is different. It's sabatismos.

Sabatismos. What word do you see in sabatismos? This word, it appears actually, it was, it's not an actual Greek word in the sense, it appears that Paul made this word, or the author of Hebrews, I think likely Paul, made this word to describe a specific kind of rest. Sabatismos is the only place in the New Testament where this word is used, and it literally means Sabbath observance or Sabbath rest, and it's a direct reference to the weekly Sabbath. Again, there remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest to the people of God.

Go to Bible Hub, look up parallel translations, look at the Greek, it's there. You kind of miss the point in the King James and the New King James, but the point is there remains a Sabbath rest, a weekly rest for the people of God. It is in effect yet still today, and for those under the New Covenant, the Sabbath not only points back to God's rest at creation. Okay, that's what we understood by the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, but for those who are part of the New Covenant today, we also understand it not only points back to God the Seventh Day of Creation, but it points forward to the rest in Jesus Christ, and ultimately the rest that all creation will experience at the establishment of the kingdom of God. But when we keep the Sabbath Day, it's not just backward looking, it is forward looking to the blessing and the rest that will be for all, and the opportunity for all mankind to enter that rest. And identifying characteristic of the true church is their observance of these appointed times of God. Identifying characteristic number four of the true church will be found preaching the true gospel. It'll be found preaching the true gospel, and I use the word true gospel because there's a false gospel. There's various false gospels. Remember, Paul said, if anyone comes to you bringing a gospel other than what you've received, you know, don't receive that person. Because there's a health and wealth gospel. There's a, Jesus did it all for me, so I don't have to do it for myself gospel.

Those aren't the true gospel, but the church of God will be found holding the true gospel. It's the message that Jesus Christ himself taught when he walked the earth, and it's the message that he instructed his church to hold on to and convey as well after his departure.

Notice Luke chapter 4 and verse 42. Luke 4 verse 42. What was Jesus's focus when he walked the earth?

Was it just, believe in me and all is well? Well, believe in him truly, as the Bible says, and all will be well. But Christ was forward-looking. He says, there's a point to all of this. There's a reason for all of this. Luke chapter 4 and verse 42 says, Now when it was day, he departed and went into a deserted place, and the crowd sought him and came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.

When Jesus walked the earth, he was determined to spread the gospel of the kingdom of God. And it was a teaching, not just, you know, believe in the man that I am. All right, there's a way by which we reach the kingdom of God, but the point was the kingdom is coming, and this world is going to be ruled in righteousness. It's going to be a completely different system than you've ever known, and there's an opportunity for you. And Jesus said, I must preach these things.

Mark chapter 1 and verse 14. Mark 1 verse 14. Again, we see here his continual focus of what the true gospel message is. Mark 1 verse 14. Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. The kingdom that's coming. The kingdom that the father will send. The kingdom that the son will establish. Verse 15 and saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

The true gospel includes not only the message about the soon-coming kingdom, okay, but it also includes an invitation. It says the kingdom is coming, but you can have a part in it.

Respond. Repent. Believe in the gospel. The role in the work of Jesus Christ is central to the gospel message, but that is not the only message. Again, to what end and why? Many preach that basically only the person of Jesus Christ. And they say a lot about his role as Savior, but what about his role as king and the soon-coming king of that kingdom and what it will be like in our part to play? That is the gospel message that goes out. It's a call to repentance. It's a warning. It's the trumpet that is sounded because righteousness one day will rule. In the way of this world, we'll be swept away. That's an encouraging message. That's a hopeful message.

It's a message Christ taught, and it's a message that the church will be found holding to and sharing as well. The gospel message is a message about salvation and a kingdom, and you can't separate them out one for the other. It's not just a feel-good gospel. It's not just a health and wealth gospel. I do hope it makes you feel good, and I do hope you understand that I cannot see, or cannot hear, what God has in store. Okay? So, okay, yes, it is a health and wealth gospel, but not physical here now of this age apart from what God by his will would bless us with, what we look for a hope, the blessed hope in the coming of that kingdom. It is an identifying characteristic of the true church. Identifying characteristic number five of the true church, and God's name is connected to its identity. God's name is connected to its identity.

Again, I want to go back to the prayer that Jesus offered to his father on the last night he spent in the flesh. John chapter 17, verse 11. John chapter 17 in verse 11. Let's notice what he says.

Here Christ says, Jesus Christ said, and that's the identity of the church. The church is not kept in the name of a doctrine. Okay? Baptism. We are not Baptists. Right? The church is not kept in a holy day. Pentecost.

We're not Pentecostals. The church is not kept in the name of a man, Lutheran. Okay? We do not follow Martin Luther, and the church isn't even kept in the name of a biker gang.

I was having a little fun. I was googled biker church. You know, I just have some friends that belong to someone. I thought I'd just look at some of the different names. How about the Dry Bones Biker Community Church? It's clever. I don't doubt they encourage one another and share valuable principles with one another. But again, what did Christ pray? Keep them, Father, in your name. And it is an identifying factor of the true church. What name did the Apostles give to the church when they walked the earth? New Testament. It's over and over and over. At least a dozen times. Acts 20 and verse 28. Let's see what name Paul gave, what title Paul called the church by.

Acts 20 and verse 28.

He's heading back towards Jerusalem. He's visiting with the Ephesian elders.

In Acts 20 and verse 28, Paul says, Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. The church of God is the formal title or name that is attached to the church, again, multiple times in the Apostle Paul's writings. At least a dozen times or more you find it again and again. I'll just give you a few examples. We won't turn to these. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 32. Give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God.

1 Corinthians 11 verse 22. What do you not have houses to eat and drink in, or do you despise the church of God? And shame those who have nothing.

2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timothy, our brother, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Acacia. You know, you have the church of God who is at Corinth, and in many of Paul's introductions, you have the to the church of God who is at Rome, to the church of God who is in Philippi, to the church of God that is in your house. Different places, different groupings of people, all the same body, all the same church, the church of God. There's many more examples.

The incorporated name of the organization we are attending today is called the United Church of God. We've added an identifying word to the front of Church of God, but we've kept Church of God because that is where we trace our identity and our roots back to the early New Testament church, and it's foundational to our teaching. And I believe, and I pray, that we are a portion of the true church in the modern age. Which brings me to the final point I want to mention today, the final identifying point. Number six, this is the most significant of all the characteristics. The true church is a body led by God's Spirit. Again, if you say, where is it?

How do I find it? It is a body led by God's Spirit. Which corporation is the one true church?

Wouldn't it be nice to know? We just always make sure we're attending that one.

Which corporation is the one true church?

I actually attend a couple of corporations. I attend the United Church of God, and I attend the United Church of God, West Africa.

And I attend the United Church of God, Nigeria.

All corporations, all churches, all groups of people, people that I pray that is led by God's Spirit. But what is, what corporation borders would be the true church? Well, it's not quite how it works, is it? The answer to where the one true church is is found in Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8 verse 14. Again, what does the truth of the Bible say?

Where's the one true church? Romans chapter 8 verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. It's a relationship. It's a family relationship. Those who are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God. Verse 15. For you do not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of adoption or sonship, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with them, that we may also be glorified together. So who is the one true church? Those who are led by the Spirit of God.

And that's a designation that transcends borders, corporations.

Corporation is simply a business registry in order to be able to conduct, in some manner, the business of the church within the country in which we live. If you're going to process tithes, if you're going to pay a ministry, if you're going to print a publication, have a television show, whatever it might be, a corporation has to be formed if you want to give tax-deductible receipts, you know, for people who tithe. I mean, that's all it is. It's a legal entity. It is not a spiritual body. So we say, where's the true corporation? That's not the question. The question is, where is the true church? The true church is not a physical corporation established by man. It's a spiritual body established by Jesus Christ.

But we sit here today. We're part of a service of a group called the United Church of God, and it's filled with people who are led by God's Holy Spirit, but there's also people who are not. So just walking into the door of a certain group doesn't qualify you to be in the kingdom of God. All right? It is those who are led by God's Spirit. And the United Church of God doesn't teach that we are the only Church of God group. God knows who are His, and it's those who are led by His Spirit. And it's that Spirit that puts you into the called-out category. There is a registry, though. There is a list. It's a registry of all who are in the Church, and it's not the confidential registry that's on my computer in my office. It's not the registry that's in Cincinnati, Ohio. It's not a registry that's in Texas somewhere, eastern part of Texas. It's not a registry in Pasadena, California, or any other place, but there is a registry of a listing of all the members of the Church of God. And we find that registry in Hebrews chapter 12. So let's conclude here today. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22.

Hebrews 12 verse 22. But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, who are registered in heaven. To God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Brethren, there is a General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, and they are registered, they are registered in heaven. And there's actually a name to that registry book.

You know what it is? It's the Book of Life. And if your name is there, you are part of those who have God's Spirit on this earth, part of this true Church today. It's not a corporate registry. It's not the organization of a man. And you know, I'm not putting down organizations. I serve in an organization in the physical sense, but my ultimate allegiance is to the body of Jesus Christ. And that transcends corporate borders. Brethren, the true Church of God is not about the right corporation of man. It's not about the right physical man at the head. Well, if you just follow this one, you will be in the kingdom. It's not about the right building. It's not about the right, even corporate structure. The true Church of God is about God the Father, Jesus Christ, God's Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the truth of God. And it's about the people who live faithfully and do live faithfully according to those things. And when you find those things, you will find the church that Jesus built.