The remnant church of bible prophecy is described in one text in the bible, Revelation 12:17. The shortness of the verse does not take away from the fact that a lot of information is packed into that short passage of scripture. Through the use of parallelism we seek to gain a better understanding of the criteria of the remnant church given in Revelation 12:17.
Criteria of the Remnant: A Look at Revelation 12:17
1. Fear God, and keep his commandments: (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Fear God, and give glory to him (Revelation 14:6)
Keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17)
Keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12)
All these are parallel phrases here is a little reality about keeping the commandments (which is
the same as giving glory to Him):
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory
of God. (So if your church tells you that food has nothing to do with God's desire for your life,
you know they are lying).
The Glory of God is revealed in greater light in Exodus when Moses’ request to God was to see
His glory. God’s response was to reveal to Moses His name (Character).
“And he said, I beseechthee, shew me thy glory.” “And it shall come to pass, while my
glory passethby, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand
while I pass by:” (Exodus 33:18, 22)
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name
of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passedby before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The
LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by
no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon
the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste,
and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. (Exodus 34:5-8)
The keeping of the commandments of God, which is doing things to the glory of God, reveals
His character in us. Vital to recognize here that since the character of God is represented as His
glory we now know that when we link 1 Corinthians 10:31 to this passage we realize that God’s
character must be represented in everything that we do.
One more thing about "the faith of Jesus" (also called the "Testimony of Jesus") which is the
method outlined to "fear God":
I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 19:10)
For I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets (Revelation 22:9)
Now with the knowledge just gained think carefully about the criteria of the Remnant church
outlined in Revelation 12:17.