The Lord Always Preserves His Remnant

In this blog ministry and in our interactions with one another on it, we talk about many negative things. Unpleasant things. Yet they are true and they need to be talked about and exposed. Light must shine on evil.

And yet, if you are like me (and I suspect that you are), exposing evil gets to be wearisome at times. Talking about it. Looking at it. Coming to understand how pervasive it is, even in that which claims to be Christ’s church. You can find yourself feeling that the entire visible church has been corrupted, that there is no justice to be found, and that most Christians….aren’t. We should not be surprised at this because Scripture warns us about difficult times in the last days. And yet it can be quite disheartening.

So, this morning, I thought it would be a very good idea for all of us to take a long look at the Lord Jesus Christ, to consider His promises, and to be reminded that He is Victor over sin, death, and the devil and that great Day is most certainly coming. Things are not going to always be as they are. And in particular, let me recommend that we consider this biblical fact: Christ always has His remnant. He always knows His own sheep, they hear His voice, and He will never let anything pluck them out of His hand. You, Christian, are not the only one left.

Listen to the Lord correct Elijah on this as the prophet is hiding in a cave, running from Jezebel’s threats to kill him:

He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. (1Ki 19:14-18)

The Apostle Paul sums things up this way:

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (Rom 11:1-5)

There remains a remnant. They are Christ’s true church, His true people. Sometimes they can be pretty hard to find and you don’t always find them in the Temple or even in the city limits of Jerusalem. But they are there. We are not the only ones left.

Christ is risen. He has paid it all. He is coming again. This life is not our real life – it is yet to come and even though we don’t know as yet what we will be like then, or what that life will be like (it is too glorious to describe), we do know that we shall be like Him, because we will see Him as He is, and we won’t be consumed by His glorious holiness. The wicked will be. And we will never be hurt by them again.

So, we fix our eyes on Jesus and press on.