Counsel #7 — Identification

Picture: Counsel #7 — IdentificationCSe 86.1

The Seventh-day Adventist church meets the criteria outlined in Scripture to identify God’s true church. This doesn’t mean God loves Adventists more than He loves His people in other churches, or no church! But He wants His church to be used as loving messengers to call His other friends into His safe-keeping. In carrying out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20), church members receive the benefit of fellowship, support, biblical teaching, and organization for service and outreach.^{[87]https://www.adventistworld.org/in-these-last-days-2/}CSe 86.2

“And the dragon [Satan] was enraged with the woman [the church], and he went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17CSe 86.3

“I am instructed to say to Seventh-day Adventists the world over, God has called us as a people to be a peculiar treasure unto Himself. He has appointed that His church on earth shall stand perfectly united in the Spirit and counsel of the Lord of hosts to the end of time.” Ellen White in Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 397CSe 86.4

Reflect: In what ways might abandoning an infant to fend for itself after birth be comparable to leaving a new believer without the support and nurture of a church family?CSe 86.5