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THE REMNANT PEOPLE

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 9, 1900

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 2.

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THE REMNANT PEOPLE.

By George B. Starr

G. B. STARR.
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Eph. 3:8, 9.
“All things.” After creating all things, and laying the plan that Christ should be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, our world was selected as the object-lesson by which God is to reveal through Jesus Christ to all other worlds the manifold wisdom of Christ.
Now let us try to get hold of that thought. It seems to me it wonderfully exalts our position in the universe of God. This world doubtless has suffered more than all other worlds, in having Satan here, in this being the theater of the fall of man, and the spot, the one world, where Satan was to set up his kingdom, and exhibit his object-lesson. Satan is to show in this world how he would conduct a kingdom without law, order, or restraint. He would lead men and women to violate the law of God, and, as a result, have a world such as this world is for the most part at the present time. But on this same little world God is to meet Satan, Christ is to set up his cross, God is to be revealed in his true character, and he is to gather out a people and train them here for his kingdom, which is to be established in this world. And this operation of God on the hearts and lives of men here is to be the object-lesson for all other worlds.
Verse 10: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
Christ is the one who created all things, and upon this earth he is to manifest the wisdom of God to all other worlds. Will not the closing chapter in this lesson book be one of the most intensely interesting of all chapters? Was the opening chapter—the creation of this world—an interesting one?—Yes; that was interesting. All the angels of God shouted for joy. All through the history of the world, chapter after chapter in this lesson book has been opened with great interest. The first advent of Christ was heralded by angels, and was one of the most interesting chapters in this world’s history. But few persons were ready to receive him. How will it be at his second coming? Will no one be ready, no heralds of the coming of Christ be sent forth, and no response?—No; the closing chapter will prepare a people for the Redeemer’s coming. “Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
God has brought to view in his word the remnant people. He has told us what they will believe, what they will practice—that they will keep the commandments of God. He has told us what he will do for his people,—that he will bestow upon them all the riches of the treasures of his grace, so that before all worlds, at the very time that it would appear that the apostasy of man was complete, that the whole world had decided to disobey God, and that the very atmosphere was filled with the spirit of evil and of disobedience,—at that time the remnant people of God will be keeping the commandments of God, and looking for the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven.
In that people will be seen the character of Jesus Christ himself. He will reveal his glory and character in them, and he will take them from one end of this earth to the other, and in a public manner reveal that he has a people, and that his grace is sufficient to enable men and women to obey God just as Christ did. He will have that people known throughout the earth. And when they have had their training here, and have finished their work; when he has taken them from place to place throughout the world, then he proposes to translate them, and take them from world to world in the ages to come. That is what we are in training for. Is it not of sufficient interest and importance to awaken our interest,—a people in training to be the body-guard of Jesus Christ as long as eternity lasts? To be trained on this earth, in training now, for such a station! Think of it!
“The last shall be first.” Whose is it to sit at God’s right hand, and at his left hand?—“It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father,” said Jesus; and in the Revelation he says of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, who are translated: “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” Always with him! It would seem that an honor so great, so exalted, would fill us with aspirations that would drown everything beneath it, and sink it all into insignificance! Well may we consider our high calling. Called to be the representatives of heaven; to show forth the manifold wisdom of God to all worlds; to fill up the closing chapter of the great lesson book; to be trained here in this world, as the trophies of the redeeming love and power of Jesus Christ, to exhibit what he can do, and then to continue that ministry to other worlds! It would seem that we would forget everything else in the thought of co-operating with God and the holy angels, in being fitted for such a holy position.
As I think about it, I feel at a loss to find words to express the thought. It seems to me that it is beyond the expression of human language. God certainly has called us to an exceedingly high calling. Peter expressed it in the following words: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9. Can we get hold of this idea?—I believe the Spirit of God will awaken it in us if we will permit him to do so.
Now come back just a moment to Ephesians 3. “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Tell everything about Christ that you can, and the riches of God are still unsearchable. You can keep finding more and more riches, but you have not found all. The gospel, the mystery mentioned in these verses, is to be the science and the song of heaven through eternal ages.
“To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Is it not a comfort that we have one for our Redeemer who is able to create? It is our only hope of everlasting life. We have nothing in us, absolutely nothing, to qualify us to occupy the high position to which we are called. Our hearts are not right, our minds and thoughts are wrong, but Jesus Christ can create, on this very spot, and at this very moment, new hearts, new men and women. There is sufficient power in the gospel, exercised even upon Satan’s territory, to create men and women anew, just as Christ created them in the beginning.
Have you been struggling with weakness all your life? Then turn to God, and let us see some of the creating power of God here in this camp-meeting. You have a Father, who always causes those who trust in him to triumph.
If you wish to talk about the power of Satan, and of his victories over you, and tell of the fall of others, you can be as weak as you like. If you wish to talk of God, and obtain the great victory he gives to every person who will seek him, you can have power and strength, and life and victory. Let other men talk as they like, but let us decide that we will talk of the wonderful power of God, the unsearchable riches of Christ. If you talk of these things and believe them, you will possess them, and others will know it. They can not help but know it. And when they find out that you possess them, they will come to you to be instructed in the way of the Lord, that they may obtain them for themselves.
Do you wish to read a description of lightness and cheapness among the professed people of God? Read Isa. 3:16–24. Oh, I am sorry when I see Seventh-day Adventists, those who expect soon to wear a crown upon their heads studded with jewels representing souls that have been saved through their labors,—I am sorry when I see them using any of the things mentioned in that scripture with which to decorate themselves. If you find yourself in that list, may the Lord help you to get out of it. Such are not the people of God. God’s people have the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. They have in their characters the life of God, and the things mentioned here appear to them as mere gloss and tinsel. If it looks to angels as much worse than it looks to some of us as I imagine it does, it must be a very sorrowful sight to them to see the daughters of Zion, or a son either, decorating themselves as described here. There is a decoration that will bring light into the eyes, life to the mind, and joy and peace to the heart—the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.
If we will contemplate our high calling, get hold of the very spirit of it, it will elevate our thoughts and life. We must not drink in the spirit of cheapness of this age. This is a cheap age, but the religion of Jesus Christ is not cheap. God will have a people that in their hearts, in their conversation, in their lives, will rise above cheapness; for they are called to a high and ennobling calling, a position that can not descend to this cheapness. You know how the tastes will change on a reform diet; how we now desire that which is good and nourishing, and how, if we for a moment let ourselves down and partake of that which we have condemned, we condemn ourselves for it. So it is in religion. You get a taste of that which is high and elevating and ennobling in the religion of Christ, and you lose your taste for that which is cheap.
Do we believe that the closing chapter of this book will be the most intensely interesting in it? We have been told by the Spirit of God that the one object in this world upon which Jesus bestows his supreme regard and affection is his remnant church. If we are really in love with Christ’s coming, there is one thought uppermost in our minds, and thatis Christ and his coming. What do you suppose is uppermost in his mind all the time? Do you think that it is his coming and the salvation he is to bring to his people at that event? Is it not his people that are preparing to meet him then? We are thinking of him, and he is thinking of us. All the time his heart is toward us, and he sends his angels to help us. They are commissioned to co-operate with us. As we respond to their ministry toward us, the mind of Christ is toward us; he is thinking about us, and we are thinking about him and his coming. Do you not think that he is intensely interested that we should be ready? Do you imagine that when he sees a spot on one of his children, he does not work and plan to set influences at work that will result in the removal of that spot? You could not think of anything else different from that. “I want this people ready when I shall appear. I want this man and woman to be ready. I will set in motion operations that will prepare them.” Such are his thoughts.
And other worlds are watching. Satan and his host are working with all their might against Christ. But oh, what little power they have, compared with the power of Christ. I am indeed thankful that my mind is being raised above the thought of the power of Satan.
Are we going to have victory?—Certainly; but it depends on the position we each take. If we take a position as the men and women whom God has sent forth for victory, victory will be on the side of God. The only thing that can give Satan one inch of advantage, is our unbelief. Then let us shut him out. There is victory for us. The power that Enoch and Elijah had, God designs shall be with his remnant people. See Joel 2:28–32.
Where will God’s salvation be seen in the closing chapter of this world’s history?—Among the remnant people of God. Read the description of them in Rev. 14:12. “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Are there others the remnant?—No. God will find these, and gather them together under his standard. We wish that banner held high.
There will be just two classes of people when Jesus comes,—the remnant people, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and those who do not. The remnant people are not those who teach others to break the commandments of God. Those do not claim to be the remnant. It would not be true if they did. But there is a people, and they are small, yes, a remnant, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. God says they will be here, and they will be here. God designs that this truth shall go to every corner of this land and every other land.
Read Rev. 14:6–8. Has the announcement been made, “The hour of his judgment is come”? Is it being made now all over the world? Is Babylon fallen yet? When did it fall?—Just about the time that this message began to come, in 1844. What has been the condition of God’s professed people since then?—Falling, falling, falling. “Babylon is fallen” will finally be sounded throughout the entire length and breadth of the earth. God is preparing a people to give that message with a clear, distinct sound, and to call out his faithful children from Babylon to rally around his standard, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. I understand that an angel flying in the midst of heaven indicates activity awakened by angels of God. Angels of God have charge of this work, and they will go from nation to nation to carry the message.
There is work beyond us that we have not yet touched, which must be done. We must think fast, we must plan fast, and work fast all the time. We must not go back. We must be ready for work all the time. We are in the last chapter, we are in the rapid movements of this work; we must be ready to move rapidly, we must learn how to do the work, and do it well.
We talk about the power that Enoch and Elijah had. Those men were representatives of the people that will be translated. In the power that attended their lives they were representatives of this remnant people. They were translated as this remnant people are to be translated. The power that was with them is the power that will be with the remnant people. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isa. 60:1. We are not to look for it in the future; it has come already. God has committed to us a great light. In Revelation it says this angel that accompanied the third angel lightened the whole earth with his glory.
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isa. 60:1–3. Then the last message of mercy will rise. Has it been rising the last twenty or thirty years?—Yes; steadily rising. Never before has it occupied the position that it occupies to-day. Next year it will occupy a position as far beyond this as this is beyond the past. God has said that the light of the glory of God shall be upon this people who honor him by keeping his commandments. Verses 4, 5.
He says that they shall come from all the different parts of the earth, and the eighth verse says, “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?” Where do they come from?—“Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far.” What shall we do, when this work increases, for funds to carry it forward? How are we going to carry on this work?—Oh, the scripture says they shall bring “their silver and their gold with them.” God is not going to send them among us empty-handed. No! We need to buy lots upon which to build churches and sanitariums, and God will raise up men and women who have the money to help carry forward the work. Is that not good?
Shall we not then arise and shine? Shall we not move forward in the work, and have confidence in the Lord that the work will go forward? I think we ought to be the happiest people in this world. God is going to make the place of his feet, this earth, this footstool, “glorious.” This chapter is going to wind up splendidly. I hope we shall realize this high calling to which we are called, and with all our hearts co-operate with God in the closing chapter of the lesson book of the universe.