The Persecuted Church Prophesied by Jesus (Mark 13:9-13)

I remember reading “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” when I was a teenager. Reading the book about the brave men and women who were martyred for their faith caused me to look beyond the parameters of time. As a teenager it opened my eyes to see into a world that can only be seen with eyes of faith. I saw in the lives recorded in this book people who acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. These were people who believed in the kingdom of God.

The time of Jesus’ earthly ministry was drawing to a close, and His disciples wanted to know the details concerning His return. What would be the sign of His coming. He prepared them by warning them to be on their guard. Later that week Jesus would be forsaken. With His arms stretched wide and nailed to the cross, He would give His life a ransom for many. His first words recorded in Mark are, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15)! The Lamb of God had come to take away the sins of the world and establish His kingdom.

As they approached Jerusalem for the last time Jesus had told His disciples repeatedly what He would encounter. “See, we are going up Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him” (Mark 10:33,34). Now, in answer to their questions about what the future would hold, He told them that those who followed Him would be hated for His name's sake.

This last century has seen more Christian persecution and martyrs than in all prior centuries put together. One of the stories I’ve been following is about Early Rain Covenant Church of Chengdu, China. * “Most of the Early Rain’s 500 members - even those with policemen posted outside their apartment door and those banished to faraway hometowns - are committed to bearing the cross of Christ and keeping the faith. Shortly before church elder Li Yingqiang was arrested, he encouraged the church with these words, ‘How wonderful it would be if, because of this suffering, we might be able to give off the sweet fragrance of the gospel!’”

Jesus told His followers about a kingdom, but He also told them to be on their guard concerning the things they would suffer before His return. “But the one who endures to the end will be save” (Mark 13:13). What does it mean to endure? It means literally ** “to bear up under (the load) bearing up (enduring); for the believer, this uniquely happens by God’s power.” In order to endure you must look with eyes of faith to see the One who is seated on the throne. He both sees and acknowledges the suffering of those who have repented and believed in His kingdom. And one day, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17).

*The Voice of the Martyrs

**HELPS Word-studies

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