The Great Tribulation or Persecution

Over the last eight studies, we have looked at Scriptures that indicate that God will allow His people to go through a time of persecution, distress, or tribulation in the last days. God's goal in letting His people go through trials and tests is to bring forth a pure radiant bride for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle writes about this goal for the Bride of Christ, saying that Christ is at work in the church “to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27). Many of us are not yet at a place in our lives where the stains and wrinkles of our character have been removed. We are a work in process, being transformed into the likeness of Christ:

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Unfortunately, this transformative work of the Spirit doesn’t happen when life is going wonderfully, but when things start getting hot in the furnace of life. God allows times of testing for our faith. The end goal of tribulation is character building. Paul the apostle writes, “Tribulation [Gk. thlipsis] works patience” (Romans 5:3 KJV). The NIV translates thlipsis as suffering and that it produces perseverance. “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering [thlipsis] produces perseverance” (Romans 5:3 NIV). We don't get out of tribulation; we become changed through our correct responses in the middle of character-transforming difficulties.

Full story at Group Bible Study