Judgment Begins with the Household of God

By the time the apostle John was nearing the end of his earthly life, he was acutely aware that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). He told people in his pastoral care, “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13). But as John was living out his final days in torturous labor on the Isle of Patmos, he may have looked back in amazement at how different his circumstances were from what he expected when he set out to follow Jesus.