The Remnant in SDA Thought

By C. Mervyn Maxwell
Professor of Church History, S.D.A. Theological Seminary, Andrews University
Author, God Cares

Are Seventh-day Adventists the Remnant of Bible prophecy? Or just a part of it?

Since the very beginning of our movement, Sabbath-keeping Adventists have believed that as a people we constitute the end-time "remnant" of Bible prophecy. This perception has given us a humbling yet exhilarating sense of identity and a marvelously dynamic sense of mission. We, who are no better than others except in that God has entrusted us with His final message and persuaded us to believe it, are designated His special people, commissioned with a world-wide proclamation, and privileged with a cosmic destiny. The joys and responsibilities are not exclusively ours; they are ours to share with every man, woman, and child who will heed Christ's appeal to leave Babylon and become "remnant" along with us.

We ask, Is the Seventh-day Adventist church the only end-time remnant or is it just a privileged part of the end-time remnant? The only satisfactory answer must come from the Bible, of course, confirmed by the Spirit of prophecy.

EARLIEST USE OF "REMNANT" AMONG SDAS

What information on this question did our "pioneers" find in the Bible? They were such splendid Bible students that their discoveries often prove enduringly helpful.

The actual term "remnant" occurs many times in the Bible. Early Sabbath-keeping Adventists noticed it in several places, such as (1) Isaiah 11:11 and (2) Romans 9:27 and 11:5; but they noticed it principally in (3) Revelation 12:17.

1. Ellen G. White noticed that in Is 11:11 God promised to set His hand a second time to recover His remnant, in this case the Jewish people who had been scattered in Assyria, Egypt, and other countries. Ellen White used the concept in Early Writings, pp. 70 and 74, in relation to the Adventists who had been scattered by the great disappointment. We'll come back to this usage later.

2. In Rom 9:27 and 11:5 God promised to save a remnant of Israel. Joseph Bates once, in 1850,1 perceived here a promise that at the end of the world God would save a remnant of the Jewish people.

3. But in Rev 12:17, with its identification of the remnant as those who "keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus," early Sabbath-keeping Adventists recognized the clearest reference to the end-time remnant. With his eyes on Rev 12:17, Joseph Bates identified Sabbath-keeping Adventists as the "remnant" as early as 1849. These remnant Adventists, among whom Bates included himself, had left Babylon under the preaching of the second angel's message in 1843 and 1844. They were now proclaiming the third angel's message with its emphasis on the keeping of the commandments.2

Identification of Sabbath-keeping Adventists with the commandment-keeping remnant of Rev 12:17 seemed so clear that when J. M. Stephenson left our movement after serving it well for a season as a minister, a group of "brethren and sisters" in Mill Grove, New York urged him to reconsider. He ought to reconsider, they said, because to disconnect himself from the Review and Herald would be to disconnect himself from "the remnant of God's people." In 1860, when the question of denominational organization was reaching a climax, the suggestion was circulated that Sabbath-keeping Adventists ought to call their new church, "The Remnant."4

In the mid-1850s, when emphasis on Ellen White's prophetic gift was being revived after a season of neglect, James White called attention to Rev 19:10, which, he said, explains that the testimony of Jesus in Rev 12:17 is actually the gift of prophecy as manifested in the ministry of Ellen White.

Association of Rev 12:17, 14:12, and 19:10 to identify Sabbath-keeping Adventists as the end-time remnant became classic. Here is what these familiar passages say:

OUR FIRST HUNDRED YEARS

A few examples suffice to show that identification of the Seventh-day Adventist church with the end-time remnant on the basis of this classic group of texts (Rev 12:17; 14:12; 19:10) continued throughout our first hundred years.

For one example, Elder Uriah Smith said in his 1884 Synopsis of the Present Truth, "By the woman [of Rev 12:17] we are to understand the church; by her seed, the members of the church throughout this dispensation. Therefore the remnant of her seed can refer to only one body of people, the last generation of Christians upon the earth. These are characterized by keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus... the spirit of prophecy."

Commenting then on Rev 12:17 and Rev 19:10 Smith added, "That the gift of prophecy is manifested, according to the Scriptures, in connection with the third angel's message, we refer the reader to works published at the Review and Herald Office, entitled the 'Spirit of Prophecy,' and the Testimony to the Church" (pp. 302, 303).

J. N. Loughborough, in his 1892 Rise and Progress of the Seventh-day Adventists, used Rev 12:17, 14:12, and 19:10. He called the remnant the "last end of the church in its probationary state" and noted that "the Lord has connected the manifestation of the gift of prophecy with the keeping of his law."

S. N. Haskell said about the same in his 1905 The Story of the Seer of Patmos, pp. 222, 223. Evangelist Carlyle B. Haynes, in his 1940 Marks of the True Church, said, "Just such a people as are here described [i.e., in the classic texts] as the remnant church have been raised up, and they are now engaged in the very work called for in the prophecy—that of taking the final and complete message of truth to all the world." "They are called Seventh-day Adventists" (p. 27).

So also wrote Milton E. Kern, in his 1945 Bible Reasons Why You Should Be a Seventh-day Adventist, pp. 78, 79, and W. B. Ochs, in the chapter, "I Believe in God's Message for the Remnant Church" in his 1951 This I Believe, pp. 83-87.

We find the same identification of the remnant church with the Seventh-day Adventist church in the papers written for the 1952 Bible Conference and published a year later in the two volumes of Our Firm Foundation. For example, the paper by W. R. Beach, then president of the Southern European Division, was titled, "The Gospel Commission and the Remnant Church"; and the paper by D. E. Rebok, former dean of the Theological Seminary and in 1952 chairman of the Trustees of the White Estate, was called, "The Spirit of Prophecy in the Remnant Church." Rebok said that "Seventh-day Adventists believe they are the remnant church because they comply with all the Scripture specifications." Beach promised that God will finish the work "through the remnant church, according to the prophetic preview," and said that "we, the members of that church," must do our part.7

Meanwhile, in the early 1940s an official Baptismal Certificate appeared which contained its own list of fundamental Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. Article 20 stated that "the church is to come behind in no gift, and the presence of the gift of the Spirit of prophecy is to be one of the identifying marks of the remnant church. [The classic texts cited.] Seventh-day Adventists recognize that this gift was manifested in the life and ministry of Ellen G. White." On the back of the certificate, the 13th question of the Baptismal Vows asked, "Do you believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church constitutes the remnant church, and do you desire to be accepted into its membership?" (A subsequent Annual Council replaced "constitutes the remnant church" with the stronger and more felicitous phrasing, "is the remnant church of Bible prophecy.")

In response to the presence of the remnant statements in the popular Baptismal Certificate, the 1950 session of the General Conference added to Article 19 of the 1931 Fundamental Beliefs the words, "That the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church. [Classic texts cited.] The remnant church recognizes that this gift was manifested in the life and ministry of Ellen G. White."

The popular new book, Seventh-day Adventists Believe, p. 168, has reaffirmed our historic belief: "God has His children in all churches; but through the remnant church He proclaims a message that is to restore His true worship by calling His people out of the apostasy and preparing them for Christ's return. Recognizing that many of God's people have yet to join them, the remnant sense their inadequacies and weaknesses when they try to fulfill this solemn mission. They realize that it is only through God's grace that they can accomplish their momentous task."

All this confidence in identifying the end-time remnant with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, along with its world-wide mission, has been in harmony with the writings of Ellen G. White herself.

"REMNANT" IN THE WRITINGS OF ELLEN G. WHITE

As early as 1853 Ellen White reported that in Wolcott, Vermont, "Bro. E. Churchill was much broken in spirit [as the result of a gospel appeal], and decided fully to take his stand with the remnant people of God," meaning the community of Sabbath-keeping Adventists. (The name "Seventh-day Adventists" had not yet been chosen.)

In the 1890s, in The Desire of Ages, Ellen White said, "In this day, when we are bidden to call attention to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, we see the same enmity as was manifested in the days of Christ. Of the remnant people of God it is written, [Rev 12:17 quoted]. The people who preach the third angel's message is the remnant people of God in this day" (p. 398).

Also in the 1890s, Mrs. White defended the Seventh-day Adventist Church against a disaffected member who was decrying it as a fallen Babylon. In Testimonies to Ministers she said, "Let all be careful not to make an outcry against the only people who are fulfilling the description given of the remnant people who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, who are exalting the standard of righteousness in these last days." "God," she insisted, "has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth, to vindicate the law of God" (p. 58, emphasis supplied).

God's people who are not yet in the remnant church are called by Christ's voice speaking through the remnant church to come out of Babylon. They are urgently warned to come out of Babylon, lest they take part in her sins and share in her plagues (Rev 18:4).

In Bible prophecy the remnant are not the children of God who, like Lot's family in Sodom, are still lingering precariously in old Babylon; they are the children of God who have vacated Babylon and who have united with those who are determined to observe the commandments of God and cherish the Spirit of prophecy.

This is the time to keep our promise to return to Early Writings, pp. 70, 74, where in 1850 and 1851 Ellen White cited God's promise in Isaiah 11:11 to set His hand a second time to gather His scattered remnant. Some readers have wondered if Ellen White implied here that God's children in other churches are also to be known as God's remnant. But on p. 86 of Early Writings, in the part of the book published originally in 1854, Ellen White clarified the matter for us, apparently in response to someone's specific inquiry.

She stated that in her use of Isaiah 11:11 she was referring "only to the union and strength once existing among those looking for Christ [emphasis supplied], and to the fact that He had begun to unite and to raise up His people again." Acquaintance with Adventist history around 1850 reminds us that at that time our pioneers spoke frequently about the "gathering time" which the Adventists were then enjoying after the "scattering time" caused by the disappointment of 1844. In 1850 (see Early Writings, p. 66) Ellen White identified the "little remnant" as those who "love God and keep His commandments," not as the sincere believers everywhere.

Similarly, on pp. 254-255 of Early Writings, in a section published originally in 1858, she spoke of the remnant as those who had at one time been disappointed but who were now, by faith, following Jesus into the most holy place and learning the truth about the Sabbath.

In Sr. White's writings the remnant do not receive last-day truth from Sabbath keepers; instead, "the remnant church will carry" messages from God "to the world."

SHOULD WE BE EMBARRASSED?

We mentioned in beginning this article that the perception of ourselves as the remnant of Bible prophecy is both exhilarating and humbling. Clearly it should induce humility, inasmuch as we fall far short of God's ideal for us. But should we allow our humility to defeat our special mission to proclaim the three angels' messages and to call all other Christians to "come out" and join us?

Embarrassment seems to have been the (easily understandable) reason why in the 1950s some of our leading writers chose to move away from the understanding our pioneers had of this subject and say about the remnant what we quoted at the beginning of this article, namely, that God's "precious remnant" includes all the "multitude of earnest, sincere believers, in every church" who are living up to all the light they have received.

These words from the 1950s are often heard today. Seventh-day Adventists are sometimes even designated the conveyers of light to the remnant. Somehow we feel less conspicuous when making "the remnant" include all Christians.

But should we not beware of false humility? Even if every Seventh-day Adventist were absolutely perfect, we would still have no reason for pride, for our goodness could only have come from the Lord. Likewise, knowledge of the three angels' messages and possession of the Spirit of prophecy are no basis for Adventist pride, for they were given to us! One trouble with false humility is that it keeps us from ascribing to God His rightful praise. We ought to praise God that He has done wonderful things in calling us out of Babylon, in writing His law in our hearts, and in thrusting His last-day message into our oft unwilling hands and bidding us run with it.

Bates, Loughborough, Haskell, and the Whites were well aware that they and their fellow believers even in our early decades were far from perfect; but imperfections didn't undermine their confidence in the remnant identification or shackle the power of their evangelistic proclamation. They saw that prophecy is not blind. Prophecy itself calls God's end-time people both remnant and Laodicean!

As early as January 1857, in the famous article that first popularized the term "investigative judgment," James White spoke of his brethren and sisters as both remnant and Laodicean. "It is most reasonable to conclude that there is a special call to the remnant, and a special work to be performed by them, and for them [emphasis supplied], preparatory to the decisions of the judgment in regard to them, and that their salvation depends upon fully obeying the calls and counsel to them. And we most solemnly believe that this preparatory call and work is brought to view in the testimony to the Laodiceans, and parallel portions of the word of God."10

The year before this article appeared, S. N. Haskell had mourned that there was a "very great lukewarmness throughout the entire church," and that "pride, popularity, a wordly-mindedness, &c., &c., are in the ranks of the remnant."11

In 1854 Ellen White had said, "I saw that the remnant were not prepared for what is coming upon the earth. Stupidity, like lethargy, seemed to hang upon the minds of most of those who profess to believe that we are having the last message. My accompanying angel cried out with awful solemnity, 'Get ready! get ready! get ready! for the fierce anger of the Lord is soon to come.'"12 In fact, Ellen White had said something similar about the unreadiness of the "little remnant who love God and keep His commandments" even as early as 1850.13

Notwithstanding that she perceived more clearly than anyone else the sins in God's remnant Zion and the tares that grew among its wheat, Ellen White could say of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1890s, "There is but one church in the world who are at the present time standing in the breach, and making up the hedge, building up the old waste places." "Although there are evils existing in the church, ... the church in these last days is to be a light to the world. The rich dowry of the Holy Spirit will be given, and through its constant supply to the people of God they will become witnesses in the world of the power of God unto salvation."14

In the 1890s she wrote an article, "Let the Trumpet Give a Certain Sound," to warn us that this "is no time to hide your colors." "There is a living issue before us, of vital importance to the remnant people of God, to the very close of this earth's history." We are to present the message "in meekness and love," indeed, but also with "truth and decision."15

Also in the 1890s she wrote, "A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out so strikingly; for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing success to our institutions. [But] this distinctive banner is to be borne through the world to the close of probation. In describing the remnant people of God, John says, 'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus' (Rev 14:12)."16

It is helpful to remember that even Old Testament prophets spoke of a remnant that was "lame" and "outcast" (Mic 4:7; Zeph 3:19). This is an important point, one which seems often to be overlooked by Bible students. The prophets spoke of a remnant that was lame and outcast to begin with. But the prophets promised the remnant that their sins would be forgiven (Jer 50:20). They would be found without iniquity (Jer 50:20; Is 4:2-5) and free from all lies (Zeph 3:13). They would stand on Mount Zion (Mic 4:7; Is 4:2-5; Ob 17; Joel 2:32) in the presence of God and of the Lamb, participating in glorious singing (Zeph 3:14-17).

With similar inspiration, Ellen White promised the imperfect remnant of her day and ours that the time is coming soon when "Christ will abide in every heart, guiding, comforting, sanctifying, and presenting to the world the unity of the followers of Jesus, thus bearing testimony that the heavenly credentials are supplied to the remnant church."17