A Theology of Suffering – Hebrews 11:35-38

He proceeds in the next place unto instances quite of another nature, and which were more immediately suited unto the condition of the Hebrews. For hearing of these great and glorious things, they might be apt to think that they were not so immediately concerned in them; for their condition was poor, persecuted, exposed to all evils, and death itself, for the profession of the gospel. Their interest, therefore, was to inquire, what help, what relief from faith, they might expect in that condition. What will faith do where men are to be oppressed, persecuted, and slain? Wherefore the apostle, applying himself directly unto their condition, with what they suffered and further feared on the account of their profession of the gospel, produceth a multitude of examples, as so many testimonies unto the power of faith in safeguarding and preserving the souls of believers, under the greatest sufferings that human nature can be exposed unto. – John Owen