“If anyone is to be taken captive to captivity, he goes. If anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword he must be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”
– Revelation 13:10
This is a constant theme in book of Revelation that we come yet again to here in Revelation, that in the first century, just like in the 21st century, there is cost to following Christ, that it was not easy for brothers and sisters in Christ in the Roman Empire, in the first century, to profess faith in Christ, to proclaim the Gospel.
Revelation 13:10 Tells Us It is Not Always Easy to Follow Example
People were being imprisoned. People were dying. They were being taken captive. Revelation 13:10, they were being slain because of the Gospel, and that has been true for the last 2,000 years, and it’s true for brothers and sisters around the world today. But then, you get to this last phrase, “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” That’s what the book of Revelation is calling us to, to endure in faith.
The book of Revelation is a call to endure when it’s not easy to follow Christ.
And so, I don’t know what the challenges may be to your faith are that you are experiencing right now, in your life. Maybe it is a part of the world where you are living, or going to, where it is particularly costly to follow Christ and proclaim the Gospel. This verse just beckons to pray for endurance and faith, to proclaim the Gospel in that. Or maybe you’re in a place where you’re free to proclaim the Gospel, and there are other challenges to your faith. This is a call, the book of Revelation is a call to endure, when it’s not easy.
I was talking with a brother in Christ who sent me something the other day, and he’s just walking through his struggle, and he says to me, “David, like faith is harder to come by now than it was 10 years ago,” and I’m just praying for him, even as I read this verse. So I want to pray this for my life, for your life, for brothers and sisters around the world.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for Faith and Endurance
God, like in Revelation 13:10, we pray for endurance and faith. God, we pray for faith on days when faith is hard to come by. I imagine there are some who are listening to this right now, who are struggling in their faith, and whether it’s doubts, or temptations in their lives, that are just threatening to pull them away from you, God, I pray for their endurance. I just pray on their behalf, right now, for their endurance. God, help them to trust in you. Help their faith, even in the fire, to be refined. I pray for their endurance. I pray for endurance amidst all kinds of difficulty and challenges.
When it comes to proclaiming the Gospel, we pray for endurance and faith. God, when it comes to just clinging to Christ amidst hurt, and pain, and evil, and suffering in the world, we pray for endurance and faith. We do pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, that you would give them endurance and faith. God, help us to hold fast to you. God, I pray for that in my own life. I pray for that in the lives of every person who’s listening right now. God, help us to hold fast to you. Help us to hear in your word a call for the endurance and faith. Help us to be faithful until the day when our faith is turned to sight. God, we pray for this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
