S98P6 – Yesterday’s corrective prophecy for today: a remnant secure

Mal. 3:16-18

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

The crew he had working for him was a bad bunch, and everyone knew it.  He was not oblivious to their faults as he intentionally hired them as a way of giving them a second chance.  Those men had made grave mistakes in their lives, but that did not mean that they should be written off and forgotten.  He believed they could change.  What began as a noble endeavor turned into a series of headaches and serious problems.  He was betrayed by most of them at one point or another, yet he continued to run his business by this model.  When asked why he kept himself in that spot with those people and all the baggage they carried, his answer was simple.  This first and only transformed man in that bunch to date proved to him that there were more who were salvageable and willing to change.

We see this picture many times in the Old Testament.  The God who never changes and who keeps every promise retains a remnant of his people even when they have strayed unbelievably far from him.  There is always a purpose for the remnant, a reason they must remain.  It gives hope for us even today when we see how much the world is changing right next to us.  Just as we will see people in our lives come to the Lord, we also will see some people stray.  It can be discouraging for us, and it can cause us to begin to doubt.  When we see people of great faith in our lives trade in that faith for that which is destructive and false, it can make us question a lot of things.  The promise and hope to combat the doubts and the questions is the truth that God will have a Church here made holy for his Son.

As we see the trends of compromise and surrender to sin and the enemy, we must always remember that the Church will not be defeated.  God will make sure that a remnant remains to fulfill his purposes and his promises.  The writing on the wall always tells us that we win, and we will taste that victory forever when our Savior returns.  Pray against corruption within the brethren, but do not fear that the brethren will dissolve.  Pray against our collective unfaithfulness, but do not fear that we will fail to return again to our Father.  Trust that He is working to ensure that a remnant of his people will remain according to his word.  Father, thank You for caring for those who fear and honor You, for continually calling your children back to You.