The Empire Will Rise Again

What are you most excited about for the future?

The Roman Republic was snuffed out by the time of Julius Caesar. That’s when the Roman Empire was birthed. Conquest, war, and plagues were the order of the day. Every day.

Intrigue followed. Caesar was stabbed to death. He would be followed by centuries of assassinations, betrayals, excess, and brutality of every kind. Once Jesus had been crucified, believers began to spread the Gospel. They were hunted down. Nero liked to have them lashed to poles, soaked in flammable oil, lit on fire, and used as torches for his garden parties at night.

Once the coliseum was completed, Christians were sent to die by wild animals, legionaries, and more.

But something miraculous happened: Rome couldn’t kill them all. They kept growing in numbers until, eventually, Christianity became tolerated and then made the official religion of the Empire.

It’s odd that so many were executed in Christ’s service, yet John of Patmos (a Greek island) was merely banished. While he was there, he freely corresponded with churches, advising them. Then, he was chosen to get a very special message in visions that we read about today in the Book of Revelation to St. John the Divine. Revelation means to reveal, a revealing, and he got quite a measure of them. It’s a terrifying book, the last in the Bible, telling of tribulations (great suffering and destruction). This book reads like something Stephen King would never dare to imagine.

It was common to execute Christians; it was not so with banishment and imprisonment. Why bother? Few ever came from a Roman prison alive. But exile was like special treatment.

While exiled and aging, John had a vision of angels, and they showed him a timeline of the horrors that would precede the end of ages. God uses who He can, His willing believers, to reveal things to, or to do His work. It’s not predestination. It’s all about faithfulness.

Times are already here that Jesus described to His Apostles. Earthquakes in places that don’t usually have them. Plagues and pestilence. Wars and rumors of wars. He told them, “But the end is not yet. These are but birth pangs.”

We should feel free to ignore peer pressure from those who do not have faith. People will call you names and hurt you. Christ works you into a new life. Past sins are wiped away. Sometimes friends abandon you. Your spouse may call for a divorce. But Jesus warned us that these things would happen. We’ll suffer. We’ll be ostracized. It’s worth it. Those who hold out until the end will be blessed. They will live in paradise after death.

The Roman Empire will rise again. Christians will once again be hunted like criminals. Those who refuse the mark of the Beast will perish at his command.

I look forward to and am excited for what’s coming. Terrible things will happen and will do so very fast. From Revelation chapter 6 through chapter 9, there will be very little time. I pity all who will suffer while unsaved by confessing Christ. Everyone will suffer in those days, but true Christians will be spared the fires of Hell. They will not experience the unending darkness and loneliness that those who have seen the Lamb at Judgment and will never see him again will feel.

What can be dreaded by some is cause for excitement for others.

A guy I knew once said, “I don’t want to go to Heaven. I won’t know anyone there.”

Surely, that’s a man doomed. Bitter, complaining, and seeing nothing good. He probably will not go to Heaven. He doesn’t even want to. That’s so very sad.