But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; The time is short - These persecutions and distresses are at the door, and life itself will soon be run out. Even then Nero was plotting those grievous persecutions with which he not only afflicted, but devastated the Church of Christ.
They that have wives - Let none begin to think of any comfortable settlement for his family, let him sit loose to all earthly concerns, and stand ready prepared to escape for his life, or meet death, as the providence of God may permit. The husband will be dragged from the side of his wife to appear before the magistrates, and be required either to abjure Christ or die.
Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens
Uxor; neque harum, quas colis, arborum
Te, praeter invisas cupressos,
Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.
Hor. Odar. lib. ii., Od. xiv., v. 22.
Your pleasing consort must be left;
And you, of house and lands bereft,
Must to the shades descend:
The cypress only, hated tree!
Of all thy much-loved groves, shall thee,
Its short-lived lord, attend.
Francis.
Poor heathenism! thou couldst give but cold comfort in such circumstances as these: and infidelity, thy younger brother, is no better provided than thou.