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Persecution in the First Centuries
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and also that their consistent course may condemn the ungodly and
unbelieving.
God permits the wicked to prosper, and to reveal their enmity
against him, that when they shall have filled up the measure of their
iniquity, all may see his justice and mercy in their utter destruction.
The day of his vengeance hastens, when all the transgressors of his
law and the oppressors of his people will meet the just recompense
of their deeds; when every act of cruelty or oppression toward God’s
faithful ones will be punished as though done to Christ himself.
There is another and more important question that should engage
the attention of the churches of today. The apostle Paul declares
that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecu-
tion.” [
2 Timothy 3:12
.] Why is it, then, that persecution seems in
a great degree to slumber?—The only reason is, that the church
has conformed to the world’s standard, and therefore awakens no
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opposition. The religion current in our day is not of the pure and
holy character which marked the Christian faith in the days of Christ
and his apostles. It is only because of the spirit of compromise with
sin, because the great truths of the word of God are so indifferently
regarded, because there is so little vital godliness in the church, that
Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. Let there be
a revival of the faith and power of the early church, and the spirit
of persecution will be revived, and the fires of persecution will be
rekindled.
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