Elijah offered a prayer that was not according to the facts. He thought that all of the professed people of God had forsaken Him for the worship of Baal. He told the Lord, “I am the only one left on Your side, and they are attempting to kill me.”God said, “I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal” (Rom. 11:4). God had a remnant that was true to Him.
In the days of the apostles the vast majority of the Jews rejected Jesus as the true Messiah. However, Paul said that, as in the time of Elijah, God had a remnant that was true to Him (Rom. 11:5).
One of the messages of Revelations says, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen” (Rev. 18:2). This signifies that nearly all who profess to follow Christ are following the ways of the world, however, as always, God has a remnant that is true to Him.
If we can discover who makes up this remnant, we will know who represents the last segment of the true church of Christ. This is a most vital point if we want to be sure which way Jesus wants us to follow.
Dr. John Milner says in his book The End of Religious Controversy: “There is but one inquiry to be made, namely, ´Which is the rue church?´… By solving this one question you will at once solve every questions f religious controversy the ever has been, or that ever can be agitated.” P. 95.
In the book of Revelation, Jesus shows who are His end-time remnant: “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” (Rev. 12:17).
This verse presents five terms – the dragon, the woman, the remnant, the commandments of God, the testimony of Jesus – that need defining. We must allow the Bible to do its own defining.
The dragon: “The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan” (verse 9).
Thus the Bible tells us that the dragon represents Satan.
The woman: “There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (verse 1).
The church of God is occasionally compared to a woman in both the Old and New Testaments. In Jeremiah 6:2 God declares that He has likened the daughter of Zion to a beautiful woman. (See Isa. 54:5, 6) The term Zion is sometimes used to denote God’s followers, or His church (see chap. 51:16).
In 2 Corinthians 11:2 the church of God at Corinthians 11:2 the church of God at Corinth is compared to a chste virgin.
In the Bible the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church is likened to the marriage relationship: Jesus Christ the bridegroom, the church the bride – Jesus Christ the husband, the church His wife. Thus, we may understand this pure woman of Revelation 12 as representing true believers in all generations. The symbolic reference to the birth and translation of Christ in Revelation 12:4, 5 and the subsequent reference to the 1260 years of the persecutions of the Dark Ages (verses 6, 13, 14), shown that this symbolic woman has special references to the true church in the Christian era.
The Remnant of her seed: The word remnant, when used in the Bible of people, generally denotes a small number of faithful souls among a large number of professed servants of God who have departed from Him (Isa. 1:9; Rom. 9:27; 11:4, 5). Since the woman of Revelation 12 represents the true church in the Christian era, “the remnant of her seed” must refer to the last segment of Christ’s true people in the end-time.
Some have claimed that this remnant of Revelation 12:17 refers to those in all the various religions bodies who are true, born-again Christians. Doubtless many of them had belonged to such bodies, but they will have become part of the remnant of Revelation 12 who keep the commandments of God, (chap. 18:4). They join with the true Christians who keep God’s command to observe the seventh day.
Notice how Jesus identifies His remnant: They “keep the commandments of God.” What is meant by this? In the fullest sense those commandments include all that He, in the Holy Scriptures, directs His people to do. But in a preeminent sense they are the Ten Commandments, the only commandments God ever proclaimed with His own voice from heaven to His people, or wrote with His own finger on the two tables of stone (Ex. 20:1-17; 31:18). The keeping of these commandments will include the observance of the seventh day of each week.
Revelation 12:17 declares that Christ’s remnant is also distinguished by having “the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 19:10 says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Here is another clue for finding the true church for our day (see chapter 7).
It is encouraging to note that just at the time the predicted remnant arose to preach the threefold message of Revelation 14, God set an additional seal, the gift is found in the work and writings of Mrs. Ellen G. White. From 1845 until her death in 1915 she did a great work in serving as a messenger for God to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
All the tests prescribed by the Bible for the gift of prophecy have been applied to Mrs. White’s work and experience, and every test has been met. Those who have carefully and critically, yet open-mindly and prayerfully, examined her life and writings, have found her gift to be a restoration of “the testimony of Jesus Christ” to be given for these last days, as predicted in Revelation 12:17.
The writings of Ellen White, generally referred to as the Spirit of Prophecy, in keeping with the words of Revelation 19:10, serve three principal purposes: (1) to call attention to the Bible, (2) to simplify Bible truths, and (3) to help us apply biblical principles to our lives.
In this study of the Word of God we have suggested six identifying marks for Christ’s remnant people in our day:
1- They are a Christian people who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” as called for in Revelation 14:12.
2- They keep the seventh-day Sabbath, or Saturday, which is included in the observing of commandments of God, called for in Revelation 12:17 and 14:12.
3- They teach the special truths of God’s threefold message set forth in Revelation 14:6-12.
4- They are a worldwide movement, as predicted in Revelation 14:6.
5- They arose in 1844, when the hour of God’s judgment began, in keeping with Revelation14:7 and Daniel 8:14.
6- They have the Spirit of Prophecy, as specified in Revelation 12:17 and 19:10.
Where can you find a Christian people who fit this six-point prophetic outline? Check the evidence and answer for yourself. There is no religious group aside form Seventh-day Adventists that fits the six specifications. This is why it is the only religious group specifications. This is why it is the only religious group to which I can belong.
As previously observed, the facto that only the Advent Movements fits the prophetic mold of Revelation 12:17 and chapter 14:6-12 does not mean that Seventh-day Adventists are the only true Christians. Il does not mean that they alone constitute the invisible church of God on the earth. It does not mean that none will be saved except those who belong to this church. God saves every soul who accepts the atoning work of Christ upon the cross, is born again, and lives up to the light of truth, seeking advancing light according to his opportunity.
There is a Seventh-day Adventist mission in the high Andes of Peru called the Broken Stone Mission. Years ago an Indian chief begged an Adventist missionary to send a teacher to his tribe. The missionary said, “I an sorry, but we have no teacher available to send at the present time.”
The chief pressed his request. He said, “Our people are dying, and they do not know the truth. We want someone to come and teach us the truth.”
“The best I can promise is that as soon as we have a teacher available, we will send him,” the missionary replied.
“That will be all right,” the chief responded. “But others are sending in teachers among the Indians, and we want the truth as you teach it. I an old, and a new chief may be in charge. How will my people tell when this teacher comes from you?”
The missionary picked up a piece of soft rock and broke it in two pieces. He handed one to the chief broke it in two pieces. He handed one to the chief and said, “Take this back home with you. I will give my teacher the other half of the rock and when he arrives with it you will know that he is the right teacher.”
This is why there is a mission in the Andes of Peru called the Broken Stone Mission.
In Revelation, chapters 12 and 14, we have noted six identifying marks of Christ’s true church for our day. These are, as it were, six notches in the broken stone God has given in His Word that help us to identify His remnant church. May I invite you to take those six points and find the church that has the other, corresponding half of the stone. I am confident you will fin the match only in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
When you have prayerfully and openheartedly made this discovery, the wise thing to do is to take your stand for the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and be true to the end. May it be that if you are not already connected with this remnant, you will now determine to come out and be one of this number.
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