In the final study on the second angel series we concluded with the study ‘Reformation within the Church’ http://imssdarm.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/10-reformation-within-the-church/  in which we identified that within the second angel's message Babylon is fallen. All the churches that rejected the message of the first angel fell and even within the church that proclaimed the first and second angel's messages and now within the third angels' message, among that company there is a need of identifying those that are faithful and those that are not.

The people represented by the three angels are just as vulnerable as the people in the previous church periods who turned into Babylon;

Isaiah1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

They were all faithful in the beginning and then became corrupt. The very church that is faithfully preaching the three angel's messages can also fall into a state of harlotry. While they present the message of the three angels there is an internal sifting and polarisation that takes place within the very church that proclaims these messages. This is expressed by Jesus as He speaks about the second coming;

Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 

 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 

24:46 Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 

 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 

 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 

 24:49 And shall begin to smite [his] fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 

 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for [him], and in an hour that he is not aware of, 

 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

This is speaking about the servant of God that is proclaiming the three angel's messages and the coming of Jesus. It is a polarisation within the three angel's message people. The servants that are giving the messages are fellow servants. One servant is giving meat in due season and the other one is proclaiming the message as well but also says in his heart my Lord delayeth His coming.

In this time of the three angel's message there is a condition of sifting and polarisation within the very company.  We recall that the third angel proclaims a message that the people who are fallen are going to be destroyed.

Revelation 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 

 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 

The very message they are proclaiming turns upon them because they are eating and drinking with the drunken.

Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD [are] upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. 

 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as [corn] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 

Here are the fallen churches. They are the sinful kingdom that will be destroyed under the announcement of the third angel and will be burned.  However it says I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.  The house of Jacob, the true church will have an opportunity to escape. But how will that happen?

These people who are preaching the three angel's messages are going to be sifted. The faithful servant giving meat in due season is going to be sifted and separated from the unfaithful servant. That's the picture that is given;

Amos 5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; [there is] none to raise her up. 

 5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out [by] a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth [by] an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. 

The faithful that are giving the message are within a company as identified. They are the virgin of Israel and they fall but the ones that were faithful within it will come forth.  These are the remnant.

While everything is heading towards destruction, we have seen in the previous studies of the third angel that there is a point in which there is going to be a final destruction. Before that final time of trouble comes there is a little time of trouble. During that period of time the picture of sorting out and sifting the very people who are giving the three angel's messages is taking place.

Now is the time for God's people to show themselves true to principle. When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to  fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few--this will be our test. At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason. 5T 136

Here you can see a direct reference to the experience within the body, this will be our test.

As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks. 6T 400.3

This sifting, this separating and unity is identified;

A new life is coming from heaven and taking possession of all God's people. But divisions will come in the church. Two parties will be developed. The wheat and tares grow up together for the harvest. 

   The work will grow deeper and become more earnest to the very close of time. And all who are laborers together with God will contend most earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. They will not be turned from the present message, which is already lightening the earth with its glory. 2SM 114

Here the separating is identified in connection with the Revelation 18 angel which is the source of segregating members within the church.  Two parties are within the very church that proclaims the three angel's messages.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. GC 608

These are short testimonies to help us appreciate the development of the remnant within the ranks of the three angle's message people. This is identified in the message of Laodicea;

Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 

 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 

 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 

 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 

 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 

 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

The meaning of Laodicea is the people of the judgment. What transpires is to help us understand how the remnant developing. He is speaking to His ministry.

They are a motley lot and Jesus is speaking to them saying they have something to repent of. He is calling for the ones who will listen to the Laodicean call, the any man and then the overcomer is addressed.  Here is the description of the servants of God in this period of the third angel. This is the remnant developing. We want to see the emerging from this little time of trouble where the tested ones are rising out of this period of time. A pure, holy and sealed people.

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. 

This little remnant in this period of time is addressed.

Joel 2:30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 

This is a pre-curser to the three angel's messages. Then comes the outpouring of the latter rain where the remnant come into existence. Let us examine closely the people of Laodicea and see the development of this remnant.

Joel 2: 2:14 Who knoweth [if] he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [even] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 

 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 

 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 

 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God? 

The class of the lukewarm unfaithful servant among are mingled the faithful servant and this leads to the destruction of those who are unfaithful.

Isaiah 65:12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose [that] wherein I delighted not. 

Here is the message of imminent destruction for those who are not listening and responding favourably to the three angel's messages. It is identified in Mathew 24 - the wicked servant.  God is appealing to them;

Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

He calls and wants them to come out of their condition, if they don't they will be found naked, blind without the eyesalve.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 

He wants them to open the door and save them from the destruction which they themselves are announcing to the world. What does it mean when he says I want to sup with you?

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 

 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 

 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 

 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 

This is the message that separates the 70 disciples, it is the same message for us today. Here is what Jesus is referring as He addresses the any man in the Laodicean period.

Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Him coming into us is the picture described;

In his relation to Christ he will be bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, one with Christ in a peculiar relationship, because Christ took the humanity of man. He became subject to temptation, endangering as it were, His divine attributes. Satan sought, by the constant and curious devices of his cunning, to make Christ yield to temptation. Man must pass over the ground over which Christ has passed. As Christ overcame every temptation which Satan brought against Him, so man is to overcome. And those who strive earnestly to overcome are brought into a oneness with Christ that the angels in heaven can never know. 7BC 926

I want to come into you and I want to sup with you. Are we picking up the picture here of what it actually means? To sup with Christ and to have Him with me and in me produces a condition.  A mental appreciation that is identified by the people themselves. Who are they?

To him that says, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, the Lord of heaven declares, Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. But to the lowly, the suffering, the faithful, the patient, who are alive to their weakness and insufficiency, are given words of encouragement: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. 5T 484.2

Here is the company that opens their heart's door to Him who are not saying in their heart the Lord delayeth His coming or that I'm all right. They are the people who are awake to their weakness and insufficiency. They are suffering, they are faithful and they are patient in this little time of trouble that's leading up to the very end. This is a vivid picture of a remnant people within the company of the Laodicean people. 

Although there is a company within the Laodicean people who open the door, eat with Him, partake with Him and proclaim this beautiful experience that is contained in Revelation 14 and 18 preaching the three angel's messages, notice that just because they have opened the door and constitute a company of people it doesn't mean that they are necessarily the overcomers. They still have to overcome. They are eating and drinking with Him so they can learn to overcome.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

Notice what Jesus says to the people who have come to the end and may have eaten and drunken with Him. What He will say to them if they are not overcomers? People want to be acceptable with God and they claim they are when in reality it doesn’t mean they are there yet.  Jesus is addressing these people in the time of the judgment;

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 

 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 

 13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 

 13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 

 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you [yourselves] thrust out. 

The people who come out of the Laodicean condition into eating and drinking with Christ are STILL in danger of being amongst these people because these people have not yet come to verse 21;

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

It is possible to have an intimate relationship with Him and still be lost?

Hebrews 6:4 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 

 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 

 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame. 

To be the ones who open the door does not mean that everyone who has done so means they are free of the destruction at the end.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

When Jesus was on earth He ate and drank with us and we are now to eat and drink with Him. To be the people who are conscious of their weakness, to overcome as Jesus overcame, they are working, they are labouring. These are the ones to whom He is saying come let's do it together to overcome temptation. Those who overcome as He overcame are the remnant.

We are to identify the experience and condition that the remnant must be in and how they come into existence.

Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation. 1T 187

They have overcome.  The ones that didn't open the door to Him are the evil servant but these people are awake to their weaknesses as they have opened their hearts to Jesus.  They will persevere, they are patient, they are suffering together with Christ and they come up to every point and if they stand every test and overcome be the price what it may.

They have heeded the counsel of the True Witness and they will be the people of Verse 21. They receive the latter rain and thus be fitted for translation.  The other text that delineates this experience of the Laodicean, the any man and the remnant is found here;

Revelation 12:17 And 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. 

This is a direct line up of the Laodicean angel that turns out to become the wicked servant that smites his fellow servant.

There is the woman and then comes her seed which is verse Revelation 3:20 as he opens the heart and then verse 21 who are the remnant . That is the three-fold demonstration in this text.  These are the people who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus, they have overcome.

Next... The Remnant Part 2... http://imssdarm.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/8-the-remnant-church-part-2/

Amen.