ARE YOU IN GOD'S REMNANT? (part one)
ARE YOU IN GOD’S REMNANT? (part one)
This is part one of a two-part post about God’s remnant. Let’s begin with understanding what the word ‘remnant’ means.
OXFORD LANGUAGES: (noun) a part or quantity that is left after the greater part has been used, removed, or destroyed.MERRIAM WEBSTER: (noun) a small surviving group or (adjective) still remaining
The word ‘remnant’ originated from a French word that means ‘what remains’. It is important to realise that God’s remnant will NEVER be a large group as compared with the total number of ‘believers’. They can’t be. They’re what’s left. They’re what remains when true faith and works is required of believers!
Revelation 14:12 explains why every person who believes in God should WANT to be in His remnant! Revelation 14:12 (KJV) says:
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.Remember, the saints will enter heaven in the FIRST resurrection. The saints do not have to go through the second resurrection. Why is this so important? Everybody who goes through the second resurrection, must endure a ‘Book-of-Life’ judgment by Jesus (Revelation 20:12-15)! EVERYBODY! If you’re in this second resurrection group and Jesus doesn’t give you mercy over your sins, then guess what? Hell might be waiting for you!
But the saints never have to worry about being sent to hell! The saints are those people who gave their life for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God (Revelation 14:12 and 20:4-6). So how can we make sure that we are counted in God’s remnant?
There are TWO requirements that must be satisfied for someone to belong to God’s remnant. Revelation 12:17 (KJV) says:
And 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.So what does this mean for you and me?
Well the first requirement says that you must keep the commandments of God. Not His statutes and not His ordinances but you MUST keep His commandments. These commandments are better known as God’s TEN COMMANDMENTS.
God’s Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are written
in two places in the Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:4-21. In
Exodus we read-
20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,
20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Commandment #1)
20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Commandment #2a)
20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (Commandment #2b)
20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (Commandment #2b)
20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Commandment #2b)
20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Commandment #3)
20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Commandment #4)
20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: (Commandment #4)
20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (Commandment #4)
20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Commandment #4)
20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Commandment #5)
20:13 Thou shalt not kill. (Commandment #6)
20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery (Commandment #7)
20:15 Thou shalt not steal (Commandment #8)
20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour (Commandment #9)
20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. (Commandment #10)
Please take special note of the second and the fourth Commandments!
The Second Commandment
The second Commandment is delivered
in three parts. The first part says that we shall not hold any gods in greater
esteem than YHWH. Not anything nor anyone! Not even Jesus Christ, God’s Son! If
your beliefs or your church encourage you to do this, know that this is wrong.
The second part of the second Commandment says that we shall not make a graven images of anything in heaven, on earth or in the sea. Since we know that Jesus is in heaven with His Father. This means that the worship of any statue or crucifix of Jesus violates God’s second Commandment.
The third part of the second commandment is a PROMISE from God. He promises to show mercy to those who love Him and keep His Commandments. This is where the promise made in Revelation 14:12 comes from. And note, God spoke about the ‘thousands’. Not the millions or the billions but the thousands! Was this a prophetic statement? Does this mean that there will be less than a million people who are counted as members of God’s remnant and exempt from the second resurrection judgment? God alone knows...
The Fourth Commandment
Did you notice that this
commandment got FOUR explanatory verses? No other commandment got four verses!
This indicates just how seriously God takes His fourth commandment.
What does God’s fourth Commandment instruct us to do? Keep His sabbath day holy.
It is God’s sabbath and not our sabbath! Therefore, we cannot choose our own sabbath day!
The seventh day sabbath commemorates God’s work of creation. No matter how praiseworthy, it
is NOT a day to commemorate Christ‘s
work of redemption. This is
important.
Therefore, we should not do what so many believers have done. We cannot choose Sunday, the day that Christ was resurrected, and decide that this is sabbath! God only recognises His sabbath and this is the time period from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday!
Are there any exceptions to resting on sabbath? Yes! We know that Jesus healed on the sabbath. We also know that His disciples 'worked' on the sabbath because they plucked corn, sheaved them and ate them on the sabbath. But, as Jesus reminded the Pharisees, this transgression was forgivable. Jesus repeated the story of David and his men who, when they were starving, even ate the priests’ shew bread (i.e. the holy bread).
But remember, these are exceptions! If you want to be in God’s remnant, keep His sabbath day holy! Do not conduct your normal business on His sabbath day.
So What Has this First Requirement Taught Us About God’s Remnant?
Any person who puts Jesus in front of YHWH God cannot
be a part of God’s remnant!
Any person who worships a statue or crucifix of
Jesus cannot be a part of God’s remnant!
Any person who does not honour God’s sabbath cannot be
a part of His remnant!
Any person who believes (or teaches) that God’s Ten
Commandments are no longer in effect cannot be a part of His remnant!
So, are there any Christians who keep His sabbath? YES! Christians who keep a Saturday sabbath are described as ‘Seventh Day Sabbatarians’. Seventh Day Adventists are NOT the only believers who keep a Saturday sabbath!
If you google Wikipedia with the search terms listed below, you will discover over 50 different Christian denominations that keep a Saturday Sabbath! If your church refuses to keep a Saturday sabbath, you should consider leaving your church and joining one that does!
- Seventh Day Sabbatarians
- Seventh Day Churches
- Sabbath-keeping
Churches
In part two of this post (look for it next week Saturday), we will examine the second requirement
for entry into God’s remnant. See you next time!
The purpose of these blog posts is twofold. Firstly, they are written to encourage more focus on Christ’s core message: the ‘gospel of the kingdom’. And second, they try to provide a scripturally based perspective of discipleship topics (i.e. God’s expectations of us). You may find some blog posts are very long while others are short. But regardless of their length, the goal is to ensure that our blog posts are educational and inspirational.
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