Matthew 24

Tribulations

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” (v. 22)

Thank God that those days shall be shortened. Our text verse tells us that if God did not choose to shorten those days, no flesh could be saved. What tribulation this must be! It is worse than anything we could ever imagine. The really wonderful thing is that God loves His people enough to preserve us, and to spare us from this awesome destruction. Yes, we Christians are God’s elect. He chose us too “before the foundations of the world” when He chose Christ. You see, we are elected through Him at Calvary. This is how election works: God, in His foreknowledge sent Christ to the cross, and He also knew who would accept Christ and who would not. He knew the exact number of people who would be saved, and, though He did not “choose” them to Heaven or hell, He also knew who would not accept Christ as Savior. Those who trusted Him as Savior were crucified with Him, (Gal. 2:20), as if they were already there with Him. We were, in fact, already in Him in the eyes of God, since there is not past or future with Him. In foreknowledge, all is present before God, and it is just as sure as if it had already taken place. We are in Christ, and He in us, by the grace of God. Again I say, thank God that he chose us, and that those days of tribulation are shortened for our sakes. Verse 24 tells us that the deception and influence of the ungodly one would be so overwhelming that it would otherwise deceive even us, the elect of God. It also tells us that it is not possible to deceive the elect. What a blessed thought.
God is watching over His own, and He will not allow us to fall into destructive deception. We are preserved in Him, and cannot be deceived by the anti-Christ; God will not allow it. Once we are saved, we are also kept by God so that we can never be lost again. Our God takes special care of His elect. We know our Lord, and He knows us, and we will not accept an imposter, it is, in fact, impossible that we should. Thank God that He has always delivered His own from tribulations, and will continue to so, forever.