ARE YOU A SURVIVOR?
(Matt. 24:21-22)
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Jesus Himself tells us in John 8:31-32:
31 "... If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. " NAS
In John 15:7, He also tells us:
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. NAS
Let’s take a moment to quietly confess our sins to God, so that we are in fellowship with Him and led by the Holy Spirit when we study God’s word. 1 John 1:9 promises us, that if we name our known sins to God, He always forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness, even from the unknown sins we forgot or didn’t even realize we committed. Let’s pray.
Thank you, Father, for always restoring your children when we admit our sins to you. May your Holy Spirit teach us your word as we study it now. We ask these things in Jesus Name. Amen
INTRODUCTION
A popular television show that debuted in the Fall of 2000, and has run every year since then, is called "Survivor". Referred to as "reality television", it stars sixteen "ordinary" people who are "stranded" in some exotic location. They are then divided into two teams and pitted against one another in various challenges. Each week, the participants vote someone off the show. The last person to "survive" wins a million dollars. Personally, I don’t want to watch any of the episodes. The very premise of the show is ridiculous and offensive. But due to circumstances, I’ve seen a little bit of a couple of shows, and one of the season finales as well.
Now this might anger some of the show’s most ardent fans, but I think this is one of the phoniest and nastiest shows I’ve ever seen, and is a real lowpoint in TV history. It shows people at their worst---maligning one another, conspiring with selected people to vote others off (they call such a group
an "alliance"), eating rats, and one guy who chose to walk around naked. The two "teams" take the names of tribes, and sometimes dance around a bonfire with spears.
It reminds me of scenes from "Lord Of The Flies" (the translation of "Beelzebub" by the way), without the violence, of course, because the television network oversees and controls much of what does and doesn’t happen. That’s exactly why I call the show phony! These people are NOT really "survivors". They are NOT really "stranded" ayywhere. They know it is a show, and the possibility of NOT SURVIVING is never present.
Real "survivors" have to face the possibility of serious illness, injury, and even death. The participants on this show know that the network isn’t going to let such things happen to them. There are hundreds of film crew there, and a network presence that orchestrates lots of what does or doesn’t occur. In real life, this bunch of greedy attention-seekers couldn’t survive losing their bottles of Zima or their designer headbands.
There are lots of examples of despicable behavior that remind us as Christians that people are basically evil, born spiritually dead with a sin nature. I’ll just mention one of the worse. On the last show of Season One, a woman named Sue who had just been voted off the island, showed what a rotten loser she was. Sue told the remaining woman who had voted against her, that if she saw her laying somewhere dying of thirst, she wouldn’t give her a drink of water, and would let the vultures eat her. A real class act! Now I’m naive enough to think that acting like that on network television might hurt you, but did it hurt Sue? You tell me, if you happen to see one of her many current TV appearances on shows like Hollywood Squares.
That same television network, in its arrogance and lust for even more ratings, has given us many seasons of "Survivor." Each new season, viewers get a chance to watch sixteen new people who AREN’T REALLY in any danger. They merely have to "survive" some challenging outdoor exercise, not being able to go to the spa for several weeks, and being on TV.
Today, I’d like to talk about REAL survivors, who will face and escape REAL dangers. In response to the apostles’ asking Jesus about the end times, He makes a number of disturbing prophecies. One of these is found in Matt. 24:21-22:
Matt 24:21-22
21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again.
22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. NIV
Jesus is talking about the events of the 7-year period known as the Great Tribulation. This period of time immediately follows the sudden and complete removal of all Christian believers from the entire earth, an event called the Rapture. To put the 7-year Tribulation in perspective with all of the remaining Bible prophecies, let’s look at those events which must still take place.
BIBLE PROPHECY STILL TO BE FULFILLED:
1. THE RAPTURE - The next event to occur in Bible prophecy is the Rapture of the Church. Jesus Christ will return to meet the Church in the air. Believers who have died during the Church age will be raised first, then those who are alive will be suddenly transformed, all receiving resurrection bodies. The Rapture will occur suddenly and at any moment. There is no further prophecy to be fulfilled before this event can occur. (John 14:1-3; 1 Cor 15:51-52; Phil 3:20; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Tit 2:11-14)
2. THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST - Immediately following the Rapture, each believer appears before Jesus Christ in heaven, and his deeds (not sins) are judged. Those deeds done while the believer was filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit (spirituality) are rewarded as divine good ("gold, silver, and precious stones"). Those done while the believer was under control of the old sin nature (carnality) are burned as human good ("wood, hay, and stubble"). (Eccl 12:14; Rom 14:10-12; 1 Cor 3:8, 11-15, 4:5; 2 Cor 5:10)
3. THE TRIBULATION - The Rapture of the Church will be followed on earth by the fulfillment of Israel’s seventieth week, during which the Church as the body of Christ will be in heaven. This seven-year period will be a time of judgment upon the whole earth. The latter half of this time period is called in Scripture "the time of Jacob’s trouble," the great Tribulation. (Dan 9:27; Jer 30:7; Matt 24:15-21; Rev 6-19)
4. SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST / MILLENNIUM - The great tribulation will be climaxed by the pre-millennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom. Christ will return with power and great glory to introduce the millennial age, a one-thousand year period of perfect environment. Jesus Christ will also at that time bind Satan and place him into the abyss, lift the curse that now rests upon all creation, restore Israel to its own land to fulfill God’s covenant promises, and bring the whole world to the knowledge of God. (Deu 30:1-10; Isa 11:9; Ezek 37:21-28; Zech 14:4-11; Matt 24:15-31, 36-46; Acts 15:16-17; Rom 8:19-23, 11:25-27; 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Tim 3:1-5; 2 Thes 1:7-10; Rev 20:1-3, 6)
5. THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT - At the end of the Millennium, all unbelievers will appear before the Great White Throne of God, where they will be judged according to their works (not sins). At this time, all unbelievers will be ultimately condemned based upon their unpardonable sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior. Having in effect made the decision to stand on their own human merits, God will judge their human good and find no righteousness. (Rev 20:11-13)
6. THE ETERNAL STATE - At death, the soul and the human spirit of Church Age believers in Jesus Christ immediately pass into God’s presence, to remain in conscious bliss until the Rapture. At that time, the soul and spirit are united with a new resurrection body to be associated with God in glory forever. However, the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the Great White Throne Judgment at the close of the Millennium. At that time, the soul and body are reunited to be cast into the lake of fire and will not be annihilated, but will be punished with everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord. (Luke 16:19-26, 23:42- 43; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; 2 Thes 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev 20:11-15)
THE TRIBULATION
As stated above, the the Rapture of the Church occurs first, at any time.
Following the Rapture of the Church, the 7-year Tribulation will begin. This period is the last "week" (7 years) of the 70 "weeks" (490 years) that were prophesied to Israel in Daniel chapter 9. The first 69 "weeks" (483 years) began with Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem in 444 B.C., and ended with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is when the Church Age began, interrupting the Age of Israel and leaving 7 years remaining of the original 490-year prophecy.
Jesus referred to this period as one of "great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again". This will be a time of the most suffering that mankind has ever seen, and will affect the entire world (Rev. 3:10). The prophet Jeremiah calls it "the time of great distress (Jer. 30:7)," and because it’s the last 7 years of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 9), it will involve the nation of Israel the most. Disasters will befall the unbelieving Jewish people who have returned to Palestine. Gentile nations will face severe judgments from God for the sin they condone, and for their histories of Anti-Semitism.
The book of Revelation (not "Revelations") describes horrific scenes of what will take place. From the opening of the 7-sealed book in Rev. 5, through Rev. 10, God shows us events that will occur during the first 3 1/2 years of this 7-year period, commonly referred to simply as "The Tribulation". In chapters 11 through 18, we are told about wars, cataclysms, pestilences, etc. that take place during the last 3 1/2 years, sometimes referred to as "The Great Tribulation." These events are forseen in Psalm 2, and described in Matt. 24:15-51. Rev. 13:1 tells us about a cruel ruler called the "Beast", who will make a covenant with Israel, then break it when he demands divine worship from mankind. The Beast will be given power by Satan, and the world will experience its greatest demon activity (Rev 9:1-11; 16:13-16). Rev. chapter 16 describes horrible "bowl" judgments that God will inflict upon the earth. The wicked men who are enemies of God will be destroyed, and Jesus Christ will return and rule on earth for one thousand years, a period known as the Millennium.
The Bible prophesies that these events will take place, just as the Old Testament prophesies about Jesus were all fulfilled by His birth, life, death, and resurrection. So what can you do to SURVIVE these terrible events which can happen at any time if the Rapture of the Church were to suddenly occur?
Remember Jesus’ second statement in:
Matthew 24:22:
22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. NIV
Jesus is telling His disciples then, and telling us now, that those days will be "cut short...for the sake of the elect". What does "cut short" and "for the sake of the elect" mean? Jesus is saying that those people who are saved (the "elect") by believing in Him during the 7-year Tribulation, will "survive" those catastrophes which He is prophesying. The Tribulation will in some way be "shortened" for those believers. Otherwise, "no one would survive" according to Jesus.
So, if you should realize one day that you are living during the 7-year Tribulation that Jesus predicted back in Matthew 24, and you want to be a real "survivor", all you have to do is simply what any person has ever had to do --- "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).
But there’s even a better way to be a "survivor", and that is to make sure that you don’t enter the 7-year Tribulation in the first place! As I explained earlier, the next event to occur in Bible prophecy is the Rapture of the Church, which can happen at any moment. When it does, all believers in Jesus Christ will be removed from the earth and be taken to heaven in resurrection bodies.
CONCLUSION
So if you are not a Christian, why not do the smartest thing and believe right now? Simply place your faith in Jesus Christ, that His suffering and death on the cross paid for your sins, that He offers you salvation as a free gift. Through the grace of God, simple faith alone in Christ alone can make you a real "survivor" at this very moment.
Don’t wait for the Rapture to take place and the Tribulation to begin before making your decision. There’s no guarantee that you will even see tomorrow’s sunrise. The only true guarantee you have is God’s promise in:
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life".
Don’t perish. Be a real "survivor". Accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation by praying and telling God the Father right now that you believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. You won’t get a million dollars like the winner on a TV show, but you’ll get blessings from God worth far more, and that are everlasting. Pray with me to believe in Jesus right now.
Father, I want to be a true "survivor". I believe that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in my place, to pay for the sins that I’ve committed. I accept your free gift of eternal life, and know that it is not because of anything that I’ve earned or deserve. Jesus did all of the work on my behalf, and I thank you for it right now. Help me to begin to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I pray these things in Jesus Name, amen.
Copyright © 2001, Frank J. Gallagher,
Abiding In The Word,
http://members.aol.com/abidingitw
All materials are written by me and are copyrighted. These materials may be freely copied and distributed for the purpose of study and teaching, so long as they are made available to others free of charge, and my copyright is included. These materials may not, in any manner, be sold nor used to solicit "donations" from others, nor may they be included in anything you intend to copyright, sell, or offer for a fee. God the Holy Spirit freely provides this knowledge in grace, and so do I. My copyright is exercised to keep these materials freely available to all.
