I believe the intensity of the times that are coming upon us is why He spoke those words. Anything less than total trust and abandonment to Him and His purposes, as exampled by the steadfast faith of Job, will result in our collapse under the pressure. The Bible says we are as sheep to be slaughtered. I think not. It comes from a literal reading of the Bible.
Salvation is by grace.
This would particularly hold true for those at the end of the age destined to be a bride without spot or wrinkle. This is not a message of gloom and doom. It is a message of glory and eternal joy, of transformation into the likeness of our Savior. Jesus likened that transformation to the birthing of a child. We must look beyond the temporary pains of childbirth to our eternal joyous transformed life with Him.