The Lord Jesus tells his followers that those who listen to his words and act on them will be like a house built on a solid rock foundation which fierce storms will not be able to sweep away.  Persecutions against the Church were unleashed by the enemies of Christ within a few years of his Resurrection.  Many Christians lay down their lives for the sake of The Lord in the first three centuries after he had walked the earth.  The great scripture scholar Origen (d. 254), who worked mainly in Alexandria, Egypt, wrote a moving exhortation to those suffering under the persecution of Emperor Maximinus:

"Some time ago, you made a sacred promise in the bonds of religion with these words: 'We shall serve The Lord, for he is our God.'  If, then, someone breaks a covenant with men and as a result he is disgraceful and unsuitable for salvation, what of those who, through their denial, make void the covenant they made with God and return to Satan, whom they had renounced when they were baptized?  The words spoken by Heli to his sons must be spoken to such as these: 'If a man sins against a man, they will pray for him, but if a man should sin against God, who will pray for him?' (1 Kings 2, 25).

"A large crowd is called together to see your combat when you are called to martyrdom, or, as we should say, many thousands of men crowd together to see the illustrious athletes.  When you contend, you are able to say, no less than Paul: 'We are made a spectacle to the world, to the angels, and to men' (1 Corinthians 4, 9).  Therefore, the whole world, all the angels, at the right and at the left, all men, and those who stand on one side of God or the other, hear your combat for the Christian religion.  And either the angels shall rejoice in heaven over you, and 'the rivers shall clap their hands' (Psalm 97, 8) because of you, 'and all the mountains will exalt and all the trees of the field will clap their hands' (Isaiah 55, 12); or, God forbid! -- the powers of hell which delight in what is wicked will rejoice."