Leftovers, scraps,
remnant…these are similar terms depicting something that is left. Webster’s defines remnant as
rem·nant Noun \ˈrem-nənt\
1 a : a usually small part,
member, or trace remaining b : a small surviving group
—often used in plural
2 : an
unsold or unused end of piece goods
Adventists are well
acquainted with the term “remnant”. We
can trace its use in our vernacular back to our very start. In fact, Remnant was considered as a name for
our denomination. Is the word and it’s
meaning actually relevant?
Recently, in our small Bible
study group, one member made a comment about Adventists being the remnant and
that everyone in the group believes that.
My boyfriend who is still studying the Adventist faith and doctrine
isn’t quite to the point of accepting a single church as God’s chosen so I
pointed out that not everyone in the group believed that. The rest of the group is comprised of members
of the Adventist church, ranging from about one year to 4th
generation SDA.
That small comment spawned a
separate conversation between me and my boyfriend about the concept of the
chosen church. I did my best to explain
that there is a fine line we SDA’s need to tow the line of acknowledging that
God does indeed have people inside other churches and some not even in a church
yet we do also believe that in the end, God has one chosen church that is
preaching the true end-time message and that as other’s study and find the
light of the truth, they will join the ranks of that chosen or remnant
church. Indeed, Adventists do believe we
are the remnant church
of Revelation
I found a little book on my
shelf entitled “The Remnant” by Cliff Goldstein. I gave the book to my boyfriend to read. I hadn’t yet read this book so I prayed that
God would lead his reading. The book is
now back in my hands and I have finished reading it for myself. Cliff walks through the Bible stories and
lays out the history of a remnant people, from Genesis to Revelation; God has
always had a small group who were willing to stay true to Him. If you need a recap for yourself, I recommend
the book which is a fairly quick read and very good.
My thoughts are about those
of us who are on board with the belief that SDA’s are the remnant church. The further question is do we act like we
believe that. It’s a question similar to
if you are a Christian, can people tell by your life? One line in the book says: “it is a remnant
only when it behaves as a remnant, prophetic people should behave.”
The Scriptures tell us “as
in the days of Noah…so shall it be at the end.”
Noah was the first remnant believer.
He did ALL that God commanded (Gen 6:22) “He was a just man and perfect
(Gen 6:9)
We aren’t truly remnant
simply because we are raised SDA, it’s not absolutely genetic – just look at
what happened to Noah’s descendants. Do
we tend to rely on the fact we know the present truth and thus we are in the
remnant? Or do we actually obey all God
asks and have the kind of faith that Noah did to build a boat for a flood when
it had never rained before and to take 120 years on the project which is truly the “patience of the saints”
in action! He kept the commandments of
God and had the testimony of Christ since God showed him the blueprint for the
boat directly, just as he gave Moses the blueprint for the sanctuary.
We need to not be Laodicean
and think that knowing is enough; membership in the SDA church isn’t an
automatic gate pass through the gates of heaven; only 8 people went into the
ark.
Revelation 14 explains just
what the distinctive mark of the remnant church is…the Three Angels Message and
it’s the heart of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 14:6 shows us that the message is taken to the entire
world. The Adventist church, like the
Catholic Church has a global mission field.
Think about that and let’s backup to Revelation 13. Revelation 13 explains the other great power
in play at the end of time. The SDA
church is in 202 of 230 recognized countries.
There is a great contrast between the entities in motion at the
end. Revelation 14:8 we see the 2nd
angel calling God’s people out of Babylon
As Adventists, we should
have a firm grip on the two marks, the beast’s mark vs. God’s mark. It’s the true Sabbath or the false
Sabbath. So at the end, the two most
global churches are preaching, one the true Sabbath of the 4th Commandment
and the other is preaching the one changed by an earthly power.
Revelation 14:12 summarizes
the people of God at the end: they have
the patience of the saints; they have endured and stood steadfast even in the
faith of death from the beast power who is directed by the dragon who is
Satan. They keep the commandments, all
10, not just 9.
Revelation 19:10 moves us to
another point that sincere Adventists have a good grasp of, the testimony Jesus
which scripture tells us is the spirit of prophecy. Adventists understand this well also with the
gift of Ellen White. This is where
Adventists might start settling into a comfort zone because we know all these;
we know our church meets the test of having all of them.
Wait just a minute though
before you get too comfortable. I
skipped over something in verse 7, the 1st angel’s message. The 1st angel’s message was about
the judgment. This is critical to the
message of Revelation. There are over
500 denominations that observe Saturday as Sabbath so we’re not unique in that
regard just as there are many denominations with a global presence and there is
one that even has a prophet and a health message, so on any of these points,
Adventists are not unique.
We are however unique, in
our preaching of the judgment message.
The judgment is a key component of the 3 Angel’s Message and the
preaching of it is unique to our denomination.
A great book to either learn or refresh your understanding of this
message is “1844 Made Simple” by Cliff Goldstein.
I believe that I am a member
of the denomination that meets the tests of the Remnant Church of
Revelation. This isn’t enough though
because membership isn’t a free pass into heaven. I must on a daily basis build my character,
strengthen my relationship with Christ because the church is the bride and the
groom will only take home with Him, the bride ready to live with Him for
eternity.
The words to a song come to
my mind, “Are you ready for Jesus to come? Are you faithful in all that you do?
Have you fought a good fight? Have you stood for the right? Have others seen
Jesus in you?”
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