John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
There is a degree of controversy in the church today about suffering. There are those who teach that the church is not meant to suffer at all, but rather that we are meant to live victoriously in this life. Some even teach that the church is meant to take dominion in the earth, and deliver the kingdoms of the world to the Lord when He returns. And then there are those who teach that we are to accept all forms of adversity in this life, as part of our suffering for the Lord, including poverty and sickness for example. Each side tends to accuse the other of teaching error. But as with most doctrines in the bible where there are two opposing views taught, invariably the truth of God’s word is found somewhere in the middle. And so this series examines what God’s word has to say about the subject of Christian suffering, and in this section we want to discuss what the Lord Jesus says about this particular subject. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus plainly tells His church that we can expect tribulation in this world. At the same time however, He also taught us what our attitude should be when we encounter tribulation, for He said we should be of good cheer about it because He has overcome the world for us. Nevertheless, the point remains that Jesus very plainly told His church to expect tribulation in this world.
Mark 4:16-17 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; (17) and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.”
There is a well know parable that our Lord Jesus taught about the sower sowing the word. If you read that parable you will see that it deals mainly with the topic of salvation, and in the parable, our Lord identified four separate categories of people who hear the gospel message preached. The first category did not respond to the gospel message and were therefore not saved. The third category was saved, but became entangled with the affairs of this life and thus produced no fruit in the kingdom of God. And then there was the fourth category, which were also saved and proved to be fruitful in the kingdom. Nevertheless, it is the second category that our Lord mentioned which I have quoted above, because it is in speaking about this category that our Lord mentions tribulation. Again, I want you to notice in this passage that our Lord plainly says “When” tribulation or persecution arises. In other words tribulation arising in the lives of believers is guaranteed. But notice the response to the persecution and tribulation that these believers encounter, for our Lord tells us that they immediately stumble. In other words these believers are completely unprepared for the tribulation that they encounter, and as result they become offended and fall away from following after Christ.
John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. (19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (20) Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus prepares His church for what they will encounter in the world. He does so by telling us how the world responded to Him, for He tells us that the world hated and persecuted Him. Jesus then goes on to say that we are not greater than our Master and that if they hated and persecuted Him, then as His servants, we can expect the same treatment from the world. Jesus explains that the reason the world will hate and persecute us is because we are not of the world, just as He is not of the world. Make no mistake; the world did not like Jesus, which is why they crucified Him. And so if as believers, we are not experiencing a similar reaction from the world that our Lord experienced, then there is something wrong with our Christian walk, for as our Lord said, we are not greater than our Master.
Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. (23) Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus again teaches us just how the church can expect to be treated by the world. For He says that we will be hated, excluded, reviled and cast out as evil, and all of this treatment is because we are followers of Christ. In this passage our Lord compares the treatment of the saints with the way that His prophets were treated under the old covenant. If you study the way that Israel persecuted the Lord’s prophets, you will have a clearer idea as to what our Lord Jesus was talking about, for many of His prophets were persecuted and some were even martyred. Nevertheless our Lord tells us to rejoice when we encounter such persecution, because great is our reward in heaven. And so our Lord puts our tribulation that we incur in this life into perspective, for heaven looks at our eternal reward.
Matthew 24:9-22 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. (11) Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (13) But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (15) "Therefore, when you see the 'Abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), (16) "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (17) Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. (18) And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. (19) But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! (20) And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. (21) For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (22) And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is the famous passage which our Lord Jesus taught about the end times. Part of this passage deals specifically with the saints that will be in Israel in the last days, for it is only the saints in Judea that our Lord warns to flee to the mountains. Nevertheless, in this passage our Lord’s warning is very clear, that as we draw closer to the end of the age that tribulation and persecution will increase against the saints and it is only those who endure to the end that will be saved. In many parts of the world today the church is already starting to experience greater degrees of persecution than she has in the past, and so that which our Lord prophesied, in that He said that we would be hated by all nations, is already starting to be fulfilled. And so we can see that in all the above quoted passages of scripture our Lord Jesus has very clearly warned His church to expect tribulation and persecution in this world, and for us to think any differently is to deny the teaching given by the Head of the church, Jesus Christ.
Michael E.B. Maher
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