This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.
We are encouraged to "Be thou faithful unto death" (endurance) and we shall receive a crown of life (Revelation 2:10). In this important verse, Christians are encouraged to remain faithful until the day they die, whether of old age or martyred for the cause of Christ. We should remember eleven of the twelve apostles died a violent death; the Apostle Paul died a violent death, and many brothers and sisters were persecuted in various ways even losing their life for the cause of Christ (see the example of Stephen in Acts 7). We, too, should remain "faithful unto death" regardless of the type of suffering we have to endure or the type of death we have to die.