verywhere all the time.

But these would not have the blessed privilege of fellowship with the
King in the Kingdom, nor the blessedness of fuller resurrection life _at
this time_. That is reserved for those who by grace have believed on the
Lord Jesus, during His absence and continued rejection, in spite of the
fire of opposition.

It is notable that the Thyatiran message speaks of _great tribulation_
coming to that Church if it continue unchanged. And that the
Philadelphia Church is to be kept through "the hour of trial, that which
is to come upon the whole earth." Throughout the Scriptures mention is
made of a time of persecution coming at the end. The common term for it
is tribulation. It is called _the great tribulation_. There will be more
to be said about this again.

It is possible that it will be found that this Patmos message will have
special significance during that trying time at the end. But it should
be noted that it fits into the _spirit of opposition_ that is _always_
found where there is true, faithful witnessing.

The tribulation itself will be the time of intensest opposition carried
to the extreme of violent persecution. It will be the climax of
conditions always present, wherever there is faithful witnessing.
Faithfulness to Christ always arouses opposition.

The test of whether we really accept Christ and believe Him is not in
anything we say. It is not even in what we are in our lives when all
goes smoothly. It is in what we are in our lives _when opposed_, when it
costs criticism, ostracism, petty persecution, or more outright
persecution. This is our Lord's test of acceptance of Himself.

We have had many definitions of what it means to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And these have been helpful in clearing the air and
helping us to a simple acceptance of Him. These definitions have touched
chiefly the _inner_ part of faith, the part we are conscious of.

Here is another definition. Here is the last word on the subject, the
authoritative word, from our Lord Jesus Himself. It tells what faith is
in its outward working, the part the _crowd_ sees. The faith that
accepts Jesus as Saviour accepts Him also as Lord.

That faith naturally rings true to Him under all circumstances. It rings
truest and clearest whenever opposition to Him is aroused, whether the
opposition of indifference, of criticism and sneer, or of persecution.

There are certain commonly accepted things that are in themselv