Do we face a time of persecution before Christ comes? Some brethren think we will.
After all, ever since the days of John the Baptist “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). Persecution dogged the first century ecclesia. Bro. Alan Eyre has documented (in The Protesters and Brethren in Christ) how believers in the 16th and 17th centuries suffered at the hands of church and state. When the years since Christ are reviewed, our own times seem unique in the freedom of religion currently offered in so many countries. It is therefore reasonable to suspect our present circumstances will change and our faith will be subjected to the ordeal that others have experienced.
Several passages intimate as much: Before the resurrection, “there shall be a time of trouble such as never was” and surely this will affect the saints (Dan. 12:1). Christ’s true disciples will receive, “…an hundredfold now in this time…with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” (Mark 10:30). Paul notes that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (II Tim. 3:12). The great multitude which had washed their robes in the blood of the lamb “are they which came out of great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14).
We may consider the idea and recoil with dread. Some of us may have faced isolation from family or hostility on the job, some may struggle with a lower income because of godly principles. But the idea of physical torment, or poverty, or fleeing as a refugee for Christ’s sake may be so beyond our experience we may deeply fear any such prospect.
Joy not fear
If that is our reaction, we may puzzle at Jesus’ words, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake…Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you…Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:10-12). How could anyone be expected to “rejoice” when they are suffering? Nobody enjoys pain. Nobody likes being cold, wet and hungry day after day. Nobody likes being imprisoned.
Yet the point is consistently made: “If ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror…think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you…but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Peter 3:14; 4:1213). “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience…For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (Rom. 5:3; II Cor. 4:17).
Is the gospel message wholly unrealistic? Are we called to develop impossible attitudes, to experience emotions that no one could when persecuted? Or was Paul a wholly different cut of person than ourselves? Were the first century believers so much better than us that they could receive an exhortation impossible for us to follow?
In every case, the answer must be, “No.” Paul is set out as an example because he could be emulated. God knows us intimately. He knows our weaknesses and potentials. He does not expect the impossible. It is possible to endure sufferings now because we are sustained by faith in the promises and by a knowledge that suffering produces character. Others can do it, we can too, with God’s gracious help through our Lord.
The real problem is sin
There is something to fear, however: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous…Wherefore…looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Heb. 12:11-15). The danger is sin. We rightly fear that persecution will result in denying Christ, that ill-health will cause a loss of faith, that poverty will lead to deceit and that imprisonment will end in bitterness.
The danger of tribulation is the pressure to sin that it brings. That danger is not unique to physical persecution.
Notice that the Greek word for “tribulation” is rendered “narrow” in “strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” (Matt 7:14). The idea here is not of overt persecution but of the daily challenge of overcoming the flesh. Again, the word is rendered “trouble” in “if thou marry…such shall have trouble in the flesh” (I Cor. 7:28) where clearly it refers to the general problem of discipleship in practice.
Here is a “tribulation” all of us face — pressure to sin. The time of trouble is characterized by excessive pressure to sin. That can come with organized hostility or from the very circumstances in which we live.
Smyrna or Laodicea?
Which ecclesia was facing the greatest time of trouble? In Smyrna, some were impoverished. Some would be cast into prison; they would have “tribulation ten days;” they were challenged to be faithful unto death (Rev. 2:9-10). In Laodicea, they were “increased with goods, and [had] need of nothing” (3:17). Which ecclesia was under the greatest pressure to fail in the way?
Those at Laodicea, whose circumstances more closely resemble our own, were in the worst situation for they were threatened with being spued from the mouth of Christ. Smyrna, on the other hand, was told “thou art rich,” not in worldly goods, but in the faith that leads to a crown of eternal life.
Now is a time of trouble
When viewed from a right perspective, we are in a time of trouble right now. We don’t need governmental persecution to make our situation more spiritually hazardous. The rampant materialism, widespread atheism and the declining moral standards that surround us present overwhelming pressures to sin.
We face unending propaganda for equality of sex and age which leads to confusion in marriages and defiance of parental authority. We are bombarded with a materialistic definition of the good life which leads to worship of mammon. A never-ending reliance on human solutions to every problem is a barrier to effective prayer and vibrant faith. We see unrestrained violence portrayed as the acceptable response to personal abuse. We are inundated with sensuality as the rightful liberty of every person. We are perpetually enticed to use any spare time to please ourselves.
Whether or not physical persecution occurs, we don’t need to wonder when the time of trouble will come, it’s here!
Therefore, let us heed the urgent exhortation. Let us “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for [our] feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Let us “follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:12-14). We will see the Lord only if we are not overcome by the pressures to sin which even now present to us a time of trouble.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One