SOUL SURVIVOR
Gregory W. Lee
Preached 8 May 2005

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Rev 2:1-7
1. "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

-- this morning continuing our series on television shows -- looking at survivor --talk about premise of the show -- slogan: outwit -- outplay -- outlast -- goal is to be the one who outlasts the others -- the sole survivor
-- it may surprise you to discover that Christians are called to be survivors as well -- but instead of being called to "outwit -- outplay -- and outlast" -- we are called to higher mission -- in God's word He calls us to "outlive -- outpray -- and outlast"

-- first, we are to outlive those around us who are in the world -- that is why Christ said that He came to bring life and to bring it to the full -- or, as the KJV says, Christ came to bring abundant life -- when you are a Christian, you are called to outlive those around you
-- secondly, we are called to outpray -- this means that we are walking in relationship with God -- we know whom our Savior is and we are in constant communication with Him -- thanking Him -- praising Him -- loving Him -- and praying to Him for our needs and for the needs of others -- the Bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective -- we are to outpray others as our way of interceding for them
-- and, finally, we are called to outlast -- to survive -- but, as Christians, we are not called to be sole survivors -- we are not to survive alone but to survive spiritually until the very end -- we are called to be "soul" survivors -- and we pray that we will be surrounded by many other "soul" survivors at the end

-- the Bible talks a lot about being a "soul" survivor -- look back at the passage I just read from Revelation 2 -- this passage tells us a lot about what it means to be a "soul" survivor -- look back at verse 1

1. "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

in these three verses we see the definition of a "soul" survivor -- a Christian "soul" survivor is one who has persevered -- who has endured hardships in Christ's name and not given up -- and who has not grown weary of doing good but has kept the faith throughout their life -- this is what it means to be a survivor

-- Jesus gives us a synonym for "survivor" in this passage -- look at verse 7
7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

-- a survivor -- one who has persevered and endured hardships and not given up is an "overcomer" -- one who has overcome the world and survived with their faith and their soul intact -- in each of the seven letters to the churches here in the Book of Revelation, Jesus ends each letter with a promise of blessing "to him who overcomes" -- to him who survives -- to him who perseveres
-- I think one of the greatest examples of a survivor is the author of this book, the Apostle John

II. The Apostle John
-- John, the son of Zebedee, was one of Jesus' first disciples -- Jesus called for John and his brother James to come and follow Him as John and James were in their fishing boat with their father
-- John was present with Jesus throughout His ministry -- he was there in the good times -- he was there when the miracles were done -- when the five thousand were fed with two small fish and five loaves of bread -- when Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm -- when the sick was healed and the dead raised -- he was one of the three present with Jesus when Jesus was transfigured and glorified before their eyes -- and he was with Jesus when they went to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the people shouted 'Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord"
-- but John was also there during the hard times with Jesus -- John was with Jesus in the upper room on the night in which He was betrayed -- Jesus washed John's feet, along with all the other disciples there -- and then John followed Jesus to Gethsemene and stayed there while Jesus prayed -- John was there when Jesus was arrested by the temple guards -- and he fled from the Garden of Gethsemene just like all the rest
-- after Jesus was taken prisoner, John followed Him into the temple and watched the trial -- John was present at Golgotha when Jesus was crucified -- and John was in the Upper Room when Mary came running with the news that Jesus' tomb was empty
-- after the resurrection of Jesus, John became a leader in the church and wrote the Gospel of John, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation -- he eventually ended up in Ephesus where he served as a pastor

-- John's life was one characterized by hardships suffered in the name of Jesus -- he suffered persecution along with the rest of the early church -- first by the Jews -- the priests and the Pharisees -- and then later by the Romans
-- he was the only one of the original Apostles who was not martyred -- I think the reason why he was spared martyrdom and lived a long life was because Jesus had appointed him to look after Mary, the mother of Jesus
-- according to church legend, during the reign of Domitian, while John was still living and pastoring in Ephesus, Domitian ordered him to Rome to stand trial for being a Christian -- John was ordered killed and put in a boiling pot of oil -- but he did not die and was not burned -- the oil had no effect on him
-- so Domitian ordered him exiled to the island of Patmos -- it was there on the island of Patmos -- isolated from the church and from all his loved ones -- that John received the visions recorded in the book of Revelation
-- in spite of all the hardships and the persecutions and the exile, the Apostle John did not grow weary of doing good and he persevered in his faith -- he overcame the world -- he survived

III. Survivors
-- what does it mean to be a Christian soul survivor in the 21st century? -- what are we being called to overcome in this world?
-- here in America, we aren't really being faced with persecutions or hardships -- but we are being faced with other things that are tempting us and trying to pull us away from our faith and our relationship with God -- it is these things that we are called to overcome and to persevere against
-- for instance, we all suffer in our lives with trials and tribulations -- we get sick -- we get cancer and other diseases that rob us of our health -- we lose loved ones and family members in death -- we have to get up and go to work and try to make a living here in this world just like the non-Christians -- we have family problems and wayward children and suffer through divorce and pain and heartbreak
-- we have periods of doubt in our life, when things get so bad that we doubt God's up there and doubt that He cares about us
-- we have to put up with daily temptations to sin -- we have to deal with the teaching of false doctrines, not only in cults but also in our churches -- we have to put up with slander and disrespect and a culture that is dead-set against us
-- but, through it all, we are called to persevere -- to overcome -- to stand firm -- to hold firmly to what we have been taught and to our faith -- as it says in 1 Corinthians 15:58 "letting nothing move us" but holding fast to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the promises we have in Him -- enduring the hardships and not growing weary of following Christ and doing good in His name

IV. The Christian Marathon
-- if you would, turn over to Hebrews 12 and we're going to close there
1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

we're all familiar with the concept of our Christian life being like a race -- I preached on that just a couple of weeks ago in my sermon called, "The Amazing Race" -- but, I want to call your attention to something particular in this passage in regards to the race that we are called to run
-- in verse 1 in this passage, we are told to run with perseverance the race marked out for us -- this calls to mind the image of a long-distance run -- a marathon
-- a sprint starts out quickly and only goes for a short distance -- the course really doesn't have to be marked out for us -- and we don't face much adversity or tribulation when we're only running 100 yards or less
-- but, when you run a marathon, you have to have your course clearly marked out -- it is a 26-mile long race -- you have to know where you are going and you have to run with a clear goal in mind -- and, when you run a long distance race -- when you run for four hours straight -- you are going to face hardships -- both physical and mental hardships -- to be successful you have to be prepared and you have to persevere

-- I have a friend who is a marathon runner -- she shared with me how she trains for marathons -- it is a long and slow process -- she runs every day -- somewhere around 10 miles a day -- but several months before a race, she starts extending the distance she runs -- she'll slowly increase the length from 10 miles to 11 -- from 11 miles to 12 -- and over the course of several weeks, she builds up her endurance and her strength until she is able to run over 20 miles every time she goes out
-- but, you know, a lot of Christians don't realize that we are in a marathon -- they're living their Christian lives like it's a sprint -- and as soon as things start to get tough -- as soon as they face hardships and trials and tribulations -- as soon as things start to get difficult -- they grow weary -- they fall away -- and they don't finish their race

-- but, as Christians, we're called to stand firm and to overcome these hardships and to persevere through the long haul -- we are called to run this race set before us with perseverance -- to look at it as a marathon and to train accordingly so we can run without growing weary and without losing heart -- so we can run and finish the race that we have started
-- we're called to persevere in our families -- in our marriages and with our children -- to set an example for the world around us
-- we're called to persevere in our communities -- in our witness to the world of the good news of Christ
-- and, we're called to persevere in our faith -- in our belief and our trust in Jesus as the author and perfector of our faith

-- in 1968, in the Olympics in Mexico City, John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in the marathon -- while running the race, he fell and was injured -- there was no way he could win the race -- but Akhwari didn't give up
-- more than one hour after the rest of the runners had finished the race, Akhwari hobbled into the Olympic Stadium with his leg bloodied and bandaged -- only a few spectators were left in the stands when Akhwari finally crossed the finish line
-- the reporters ran over to him and asked him why he continued to run the marathon while he was injured and knew he couldn't win -- Akhwari replied, "My country did not send me to Mexico city to start the race -- they sent me here to finish it."

V. Closing
-- as Christians, we have been called to do more than just start the race -- we have been called to finish it -- we have been called to be overcomers -- persevering and enduring hardships in Jesus' name and not growing weary along the way
-- we have been called to outlive and to outpray and to outlast -- we have been called to be survivors
-- let us pray