Monday, July 3
God’s Last-Day Remnant Have
Biblical-prophetic
Identification Marks
LOGOS
Theme: God has identified the
last-day phase of His true church
on earth and has placed great re-
sponsibilities on her shoulders.
Christ claims as His those who
allow His Spirit to direct their
lives. These are the ones who have
the will and receive the power to
obey His law, and who joyfully re-
ceive the special messages He has
given through the prophets.
1. The Final Remnant (read
Rev. 12:17)
God has always had a people
that He called His own. They
were a specially chosen people.
They were often referred to as
His “remnant.” These faithful few
in all generations survived the cri-
sis times and kept the knowledge
of the true God alive on earth.
This “remnant” has always had
some distinguishing marks:
1. They are the target of
Satan’s wrath.
2. They are small in number
and always a minority.
3. They appear a little odd and
fanatical when judged by the
standards of the world.
4. They are an obedient people,
even if obedience means danger
or death. Obedient, because they
had accepted the love of God in
their lives.
5. They enjoy the guidance of
the Holy Spirit, who keeps them
in the path of truth and righteous-
ness.
God has had such a “remnant”
in all ages, and has such a people
today.
2. The Remnant Identified
as Commandment Keepers
God has called the Advent
movement into being to do a work
of reform similar to that carried
out by Elijah, Ezra, and Ne-
hemiah, “called, The repairer{s] of
the breach, The restorer(s] of
paths to dwell in” (Isa. 58:12).
Humanity’s ever-present temp-
tation through the ages has been
idolatry-—-worshiping someone or
something other than God. By re-
jecting the law of God, and espe-
cially the Sabbath commandment,
people have rejected the lordship
of the true Creator-God (see Eze.
20:24; Deut. 17:3).
Seventh-day Adventists are to
be conscious of their unique posi-
tion as reformers who are to call
an idolatrous world back to the
worship of the true Creator-God.
The spiritual setting of this re-
form is found in the framework of
the three angels’ messages of Rev-
elation 14.
Judgment is taking place in
the heavenly sanctuary where the
Lord Jesus Christ is officiating as
the Great Advocate for His
people. The points of emphasis
are:
by Siegfried Roeske
Siegfried Roeske is associate professor of religion at Union College,
Lincoln, Nebraska.
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