The Few, the Meaning of Remnant

Isaiah 10:21) The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty GodIsaiah 10:22) For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousnessIsrael, a big nation filled with many people, when all is said and done, only a remnant will remain. If that be God’s chosen people, how more would this statement all to everyone else? “Take heed, for if he spared not the natural branches”, how much less would he us. Only a few make it and cross the finish line, only a few “endureth unto the end“, So what separates the few from the many or what separates the lukewarm from the hot in the faith? Perseverance in obeying the will of God. And only a remnant will succeed and be successful while the others that fell short face eternal destruction “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”. No wonder the Lord said ”Enter ye in at the strait gate” because “broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction” and many will be there. The narrow path is hard, especially if someone can’t let go of their old ways, but it must be done to destroy the body of sin, else how can we ever live pleasing God? When someone can not let go of a sinful act, how can the straight and narrow path be reached? Any broad way action will keep a person off the straight and narrow path required. This is not an optional sacrificial act, to abandon sin, but one that is required of us. The scriptures say what happens to the transgressor, the worker of iniquity, and the evildoer, they perish. When it says we are called to holiness, it means just that, but we must break away from worldliness, namely sin. Presumptuous sinning at all points by leaning to God needs to be abolished in its entirety from our lives; this is no light task but takes dedication, discipline, and submissiveness to heed God’s word. When it says turn from evil or turn from your wicked ways, what in-between is there? Even a little wickedness is still wickedness. Nevertheless we are called to flee from the captivity of sin and reach for the freedom of righteousness. “Be ye holy; for I am Holy”, to “hate the evil and love the good”, to seek the truth and pursue it; but this requires work, diligence, and not the element of self, which is associated with pride and will hinder the soul. The self element is what stops so many people because it will cause them to stumble spiritually. Only a remnant was not hindered by the element of self, whether it be self-esteem or self-love, which the two greatest commandments have nothing to do with. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thy self”. Nothing about self-love at all. Christ laid down the stake and what was the cost when we said “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it”. Only a remnant is going to make it, out of the entire human race from Adam, all the way up to the destruction of the Gog and Magog people. About a billion confessing Christians in the world today. Does that sound like the remnant considering that there is only about 6 billion people in the world today? No, but it much smaller. Only one leopard was saved when Elisha was around living in Israel and only one widow was visited by Elijah during the three and half year period without rain in Israel. Therefore, “Strive to enter in at the straight gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able to” because “broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction” ,and “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it”