<p>21:13 <i>It shall turn out to be your opportunity to give a witness</i>- This is Luke's equivalent of Matthew and Mark predicting that the Gospel will be preached to all nations. Luke's angle on this is that the preaching will arise out of persecution and fleeing from it- which is just what happened in the first century.&nbsp;</p><p>But the AV speaks of how when a believer is persecuted, &ldquo;it shall turn to you for a testimony&rdquo;. What does this really mean? For me, the most satisfactory explanation would be that the Angels give a positive testimony of the faithful believer in the court of Heaven. Or could it mean that the way we respond to our trials during the tribulation will determine our verdict at the judgment? It will be a testimony in our favour at the day of judgment. In view of this, &quot;Settle it <i>therefore</i> in your hearts&quot; to make this witness in God's strength (Lk. 21:14). &quot;In the endurance of you (in the tribulation), ye will gain the souls of you&quot; (Lk. 21:19 Marshall's Interlinear). The run up to the tribulation will provoke a &quot;praying always, that ye may be accounted worthy... to stand before the Son of man&quot; (Lk. 21:36). Peter describes the tribulation of the believers in the run up to AD70 (and therefore the last days too) as judgment taking place on the house of God, in which even the righteous are &quot;scarcely saved&quot; (1 Pet.4:17,18). This suggests that the last generation of believers will only be saved due to their response to the tribulation which comes upon them; but even then, only by the skin of their teeth. Lot in Sodom and the parable of the virgins, among others, are hints that the last generation of believers will be in a weak state.<br />For those who suffer persecution, prison etc. for the Lord's sake, &quot;it shall turn to you for a testimony&quot; (Lk. 21:13). When? How? Surely in that these things will be 'gone through' with them at judgment as a testimony to their faithfulness.</p>