Mark 13:9-11

Persecution of the believers: V. 9. But take heed to yourselves; for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogs ye shall be beaten; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them. V. 10. And the Gospel must first be published among all nations. V. 11. But when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

Incessant watchfulness, untiring vigilance, the Lord enjoins upon His disciples. For the Jews and their leaders would not passively permit the extension of the Christian influence, the spread of the Christian religion. All their various courts would be called upon to hinder the work of the apostles and their assistants. Christ bluntly tells them: You, delivered to the synagogs, shall be maltreated. And for His sake they would have to stand before rulers and kings.

All this will be a testimony not to them, but against them. It will be marked down in the judgment-book of God as another item calling down His punishment upon the enemies of His Word.

As we read throughout the Acts of the Apostles, and in individual accounts given by St. Paul in his letters, these prophecies were literally fulfilled. And there is little difference between those days and ours, only that at the present time expediency and political measures are urged by the enemies of the pure Gospel in persecuting the believers throughout the world.

But, in the midst of it all, Christ's prophecy shines like a beacon light: And to all nations the Gospel must first be preached. In those days the apostles filled the known world with the glorious news of the salvation gained by Jesus for all men, and in our days there are always some to be found that go out in utter selflessness to bring the news of the reconciliation of God with men through the blood of Christ to every nation.

With this promise to guide them, to cheer them, to fill them with new courage every day, the prospect of suffering injustice before the powers that be holds no terror for the believers. Christ tells them not to worry beforehand how they might duly defend themselves against the false accusations. At the critical moment He promises to give them the right words which they may use in defending themselves. The Holy Ghost would directly inspire their utterances, so that their defense would be, in each instance, a powerful vindication of the truth of the Gospel and of the power of God.

And the history of the Church since the time of the apostles narrates instances in number which show that God, in times of great crises, awakens men with extraordinary abilities and powers to defend the Scriptures against false accusations and to vindicate Christianity. Though we do not yield to a false enthusiasm in their case, as, for instance, in that of Luther, and are far from claiming direct inspiration for them, yet we know that in their preaching, also in defense of the truth of the eternal Gospel, it was God and His Spirit that was with them.