Before the Saviour died, He delivered the Olivet Discourse to His apostles wherein He outlined the preaching of His Gospel, the destruction of Jerusalem and the persecution that would come upon the early saints (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). He warned the apostles that they would be hated for His sake, persecuted, beaten and killed.
Upon the arrival of the Holy Ghost, the early Church spread like wild fire. What the Jewish hierarchy hoped to extinguish with Christ’s crucifixion began to thrive in earnest. People joined the Church by the thousands despite the opposition from Jewish authority and ruling classes in Jerusalem. As the Church continued to outgrow Judea and Samaria and reached the Gentile nations, the opposition turned to horrific levels of persecution in the Roman Empire, for to join the Church in those days was to prepare to die. If ever there was a dispensation of martyrdom, it was in the Meridian of time.
The Olivet Discourse also tells us what we the saints of the last days are to expect prior to the Second Coming. Ours will be the dispensation of war, carnage, plagues, pestilence, famine, disease and earthquakes. The worst of all will be the moral decay of our society which has already begun. It is plain to see that evil has taken over the minds of many that is changing the moral landscape of the world. Whatever comes, now is the time like never before to cement our testimonies that we might one day be able to stand the challenge of ridicule and persecution from our neighbours, friends, families and even State.
We, modern Israel have two legacies to live up to: the early Christian saints and the early Church members of this dispensation. Both suffered and became martyrs for the truth.
I have faith in us….because of Nephi, who saw our day and that even though our numbers were few, ‘the power of God descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb and upon the COVENANT people of the Lord’ and we were armed with righteousness and with ‘the power of God in great glory’ (1 Nephi 14:12-14). And is there a greater assurance than this: “…..my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die” (D&C 45: 32)
May we be like Peter and John who when arrested and beaten by the Jewish council, departed from their presence ‘rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name’…..(Acts 5:41). Are we ready, if need be, to die for Him???? Like He died for us......
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Second Coming by John McNaughton)
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