“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)
After Paul was stoned by the Jews from Antioch and Iconium at Lystra and left for dead, he picked himself up and left for Derbe with Barnabas. They taught the Gospel there and later returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. (Act 14:19-21) They reestablished and strengthened the disciples that were made there. They encouraged them to continue in the faith. Then Luke writes about tribulation.
Nobody wants to hear about tribulation, but Luke makes some direct and concrete facts concerning tribulation and the reborn child of God. There will be much tribulation. And Luke expresses that it’s a certainty with the words, “we must..” This is not personal affliction brought on by wrong choices or demonic attacks. The tribulation meant in the Bible has to do with suffering and persecution because of the Gospel. Then also, there is the Great Tribulation before the return of Jesus to earth.
Jesus spoke of tribulation. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) As long as we are in this world where satan rules (2 Corinthians 4:4), there will be persecution because of the Gospel of peace and God’s merciful gift of salvation. The early church suffered much persecution. The Jews persecuted them, and the gentiles persecuted them.
The Jews rejected Christianity because they could not accept that their Messiah would come as a suffering man. They missed all the prophesies concerning the Messiah. They couldn’t and still cannot reconcile the prophesies of the suffering Messiah and the promises made of the Thousand Year Reign, which is quite human. We like to hear of the promises and blessings. But we avoid and look for loopholes when we hear of persecution and tribulation. The Romans and other gentiles persecuted the early church because the Gospel was an affront to their beliefs in their various gods and rulers who were considered gods. Persecution is still going on in different parts of the world. The Gospel threatens the authorities in many areas in which government or other factions want to control and dominate people.
There is yet another reason for persecution and that is that the Gospel is contrary to the beliefs of this world system in which satan rules. The flesh rules in this world. People do what they think is right for themselves, whatever will benefit them personally, socially and financially. Lying and cheating is a common practice and seen as savvy and smart. But the Gospel message is the direct opposite of the world system. The Gospel teaches us to serve others and to think of ourselves less than others. “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
The Christian walk is a supernatural walk. It’s a work of God beginning in our hearts, reborn of God. Our minds have to be transformed by the Word of God because those “old man” thoughts still dominate our minds. It’s a walk in which the Holy Spirit leads and guides our speech, actions and thoughts. It’s supernatural because there is no way a person can be like Jesus in the natural. It’s a supernatural work of God in us. It’s a continual work of God in us until we meet Jesus face to face.
And because it comes against people’s beliefs, gods, person and government, Christians have been and will continue to be persecuted. When Luke wrote, “... we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God,” there are different ways of looking at this. Jesus said, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.” (Matthew 10:24) If the world rejected Jesus, why would we think it wouldn’t reject us and the Gospel of Jesus. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:18-20)
We can also see how Luke’s words could be a prophecy of the coming Great Tribulation. It’s a certainty that it is coming. Jesus spoke of this time: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15-22)
But whether Luke was writing of the rejection by people and governments or the Great Tribulation, it’s a part of Christianity. This is one of the reasons there are so many secret Christians. It’s not a pleasant thing, but the cost of living in this world. We must remember that our citizenship is not this world anymore. We are foreigners here in this world. There are Scriptures that allude to this. Peter calls us strangers and pilgrims in this world “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” (1Peter 2:11). Peter also talks about time here in this world. “And if ye call on the Father, Who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” (1Peter 1:17)
Christianity is counterculture. Yet, it is what the world needs. People are suffering because of sin. They need the redeeming work of Jesus to deliver them. We are the ones who have the Good News they need. And we need to proclaim it to the world, regardless of the tribulation we may suffer.
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