Christians have been looking for and expecting Lord’s
imminent return since the days of the apostles. Many New Testament texts
indicate that even the apostles were fully expecting the Lord to return at any
time. For example, James, addressing the Christians of his day, wrote: (James 5:7-9)
“Therefore be patient, brethren, until
the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the
soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is near . . . behold, the Judge is
standing right at the door.”
In his first epistle, Peter wrote: (1 Peter 4:7) “The end of all
things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and
sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”
St Luke records these words of the apostles just before Jesus ascended
back to the Father: (Acts 1:6) “So when they had come
together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time
You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
As I shared last week, it ought to be clear from
Scripture that faithful followers of Christ WILL NOT be subject to the wrath of
God that He WILL bring on a globe of unbelieving men and women who reject God's
offer of forgiveness of their sins through obedient faith in His Son, Jesus.
So
terrible, so deadly, so horrific will be that time that the Lord Jesus said, “Unless
those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake
of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:22
But while I believe Christians will be saved from the GLOBAL wrath of God as
described in texts of scripture such as Revelation chapters 6-18 – our Lord has
made no promises that we will be spared global persecution by non-believers. Indeed,
Scripture makes it very clear that we should EXPECT persecution. I’ll talk
about that later in this message.
Closely aligned with this subject of global persecution of
Christians is the subject of the sudden removal of the Church from planet
earth. In this instance, the Church carries the meaning St Paul used to
describe it in the first chapters of Ephesians and Colossians – the entire Body
of Christ, and not limited to only a small group regardless of their label.
The sudden removal of the Church is called The Rapture of
the Church. The belief in the Rapture is held by many Christians – BUT it is
also rejected by a large swath of Christians, as well. One of the texts which
seems to suggest a sudden removal of God's faithful sons and daughters is found
in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) - “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not
precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we
shall always be with the Lord.
Now, my purpose today is
not to spend a lot of time talking about the Rapture, whether it will occur, or the timing of the
Rapture – whether it will occur before the seven years
of global tribulation, in the middle of those seven years, or it will occur
after the seven years.
Such questions are not the focus of today’s message. What IS
the focus of this message is the troubling reality that world events are racing across the
theological landscape at such speed that I feel it necessary to remind all of
us – myself included here – in how we must, must, must prepare ourselves for
what is certainly coming to American cities and towns.
On
October 6 of last year, no one expected Israel’s mortal enemies would the next
day suddenly swoop in like carrion vultures and rape, mutilate, and
murder innocent Jews living on the border of what is called Palestinian
territory.
On March
13, 2023, no one expected Satan’s servants to kidnap more than 100 Christians
in Northern Nigeria. But the next day saw the sudden invasion of terrorists
into their community.
On
November 4, 2017, no one expected another of Satan’s children to walk into the
First Baptist Church in Texas the next day and murder 26 Christians and wound another 20.
But it happened suddenly.
As I said a moment ago, world
events are racing across the theological landscape at such speed is that even
those who know nothing about prophecy sense there’s something happening on
planet earth. And it is very unsettling.
Many evangelical theologians believe the Rapture is a Biblically accurate doctrine. But – and this is very important to our safety – there are also many theologians who do NOT believe there will be a rapture of the Church before the tribulation and world-wide persecution. And that means one of these groups of Christians is wrong.
Let me
repeat that for emphasis. One of these groups of Bible-believing Christians
is wrong. And because one of these groups is wrong, I am obligated to Christ
– and to you – to err on the side of extreme caution and to warn us
to prepare for the worst.
Just as
local, state, and federal governments have established websites for people to
access and to learn how to prepare for natural disasters such as floods,
earthquakes, and massive fires, so also God has given humanity a source to
access and to learn how to prepare for the persecution that is coming to the
entire Church.
Corrie Ten Boom, former prisoner in a notorious Nazi
concentration camp, spoke of meeting she had with a Chinese church leader after
the Communist take-over of the country. He told her: “We have failed [our
churches]. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than
telling them Jesus would come first. [We should have told] the people . . . .how
to stand when the tribulation comes, to stand and not faint.”
A
report by the Family Research Council stated that between January 2018 and
September 2022 there were nearly 400 attacks on individual churches across 45
U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Those acts include vandalism, arson,
gun-related incidents and bomb threats. The report also stated: "There is
ample reason to be concerned about rising hostility to Christianity by a Western
culture that increasingly rejects Judeo-Christian values.
Anyone paying even marginal attention to the news channels
understand how our freedom to speak freely about Christ and sin and
righteousness is no longer welcome on many of our public schools, colleges and
universities – and most certainly not in halls of government. And do not think
for a moment that anti-Christian persecution will not devolve into imprisonment
on fabricated charges of sedition against the government.
As I have said only briefly, many Christians
in the west expect the Rapture to save them from fiery persecution. But such a
DANGEROUS idea is not only unbiblical but is easily proven false by a
plethora of not only New Testament scriptures, but also by Church history,
right up to this present moment. Talk to the Christians in North Korea about
how they will escape bloody persecution. Or those in China, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria,
and other nations throughout the African continent. The streets of those nations are saturated
with the blood of the martyrs.
How dare we be so naïve and so
willfully ignorant of scripture and Church history to think that Christians in
American and other Western nations will not experience wide-spread bloody
persecution?
Which brings us now to the
crux of my message: How then will we prepare for terrible persecution?
Listen a moment to the Lord Jesus on this subject: Luke 21:34-36 “Be on guard, so
that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and
the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will
come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep
on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are
about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
I’ve often spoken in the last few years on this subject of
preparation – most recently some of you may remember when I preached a series last
year on the Armor of God of Ephesians chapter six. Today I want to build on
that message with some additional – and yes, overlapping – suggestions to
prepare us for what I believe is the inevitable persecution of American
Christians.
First –
and by far what I think is the most important, never forget this ultimate truth: Our
loving Father is omnipotent AND He is utterly sovereign over every event of
life. If we are going to successfully continue with Christ through
persecution, then we must first and foremost know that absolutely critical
point: God is omnipotent and sovereign. That means what He opens no one can
shut, and what he shuts no one can open. As He tells us through Isaiah chapter
51: “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid
of man who dies . . . . that you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out
the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you fear continually
all day long because of the fury of the oppressor as he makes ready to
destroy?” (Isaiah 51:12-13)
Let me
repeat that statement for emphasis: Our loving Father in heaven is utterly sovereign
over every one of our life events – including what He permits to test our faith
with fiery trials. St Peter (among other New Testament writers) addressed this
in his first epistle: (1 Peter 4:12-13) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which
comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to
you; but to the degree that
you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at
the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”
Point
number two: The time for spiritual laziness is long past. The
strength of our faith must be rooted and nourished in God’s word. There are no
other viable and effective options. “Faith comes by hearing,” St
Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, “and hearing comes by the word of
Christ.” (See Romans 10:17)
So, are you faithfully reading or listening to God's word? If not, why not? Are
you memorizing portions of God's word? If not, why not?
PLEASE,
do not be lulled into complacency or into a deadly sense of security by
listening to false teachers – regardless of their degrees, the sizes of their
congregations, or their popularity. Solomon tells us: “Go to the ant, O
sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer, or
ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the
harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your
sleep?” (Proverbs 6:6-9)
The time
to start CONSISTENLY reading, meditating on, AND memorizing scripture is NOT
when you need to have scripture hidden in your heart. Do you realize if you
memorize only ONE NEW VERSE of scripture every week – ONE VERSE – you will have
memorized 52 NEW verses a year from today?
Third: EXPECT
persecution. Such a plea and warning is not what you will hear in most
churches today. But there was good reason the Holy Spirit inspired Peter
to write to his first century readers who were enduring severe persecution those
words I quoted a few minutes ago about the fiery trials.
Persecution can take many forms and many degrees – from simply being ridiculed for our faith, all the way to the extreme of torture and death for our faith. The degree to which any of God's true children suffer persecution will depend entirely on what our omnipotent and sovereign God permits into our lives. But be certain of this promise: He will never permit any of us to be tried beyond our ability through Christ to endure (see 1 Corinthians 10:13).
I plead
with you: Do not give a moment’s credence to liars – regardless of their
titles, position in the Church, or the size of their churches – liars who
deceive their congregations by telling them God will never send hardship to His
children. In other words, they think Paul was wrong when he wrote, “It
has been GRANTED to us not only to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also
to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29). And Paul was
wrong in this text: “All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2
Timothy 3:12)
And Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about when He said:
(Matthew 10:21-22) “Brother will betray brother
to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up
against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all
because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who
will be saved.”
But there is yet one more
important point I need to make before I close. In the 13th chapter of Revelation, the Lord highlighted
the appearance of what theologians call the unholy trinity: The Dragon (who is
the devil), the Beast (the Antichrist), and the False Prophet. Here is a
portion of chapter 13 that speaks of the Antichrist and his false prophet. John
writes:
Then I
saw a beast (the Antichrist) coming up out of the sea [I.e.
the mass of humanity]. . . And the dragon [e.g. Satan] gave
him his power and his throne and great authority . . . It was also given
to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them . . .
Then I saw another beast (i.e. the false prophet) . . . [Who] performs
great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the
earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the
earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform . . . And he
causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the
free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on
their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to
sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the
beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has
understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of
a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Listen,
PLEASE. Just because a person works miracles DOES NOT always mean that person
is from God. Remember the magicians in Pharaoh’s court. Rather, what does the
‘miracle worker’ teach about Jesus? If it is not His full deity and
simultaneous humanity, if it is not about His historical virgin birth, sinless
life, atoning death, His resurrection, and His promised literal return – do not
follow that lying miracle worker.
The
supernatural danger every Christian faces today from virtually every corner of
society ought to be clear to anyone paying attention to the spiritual, medical,
political, financial, and educational deceptions rising like an unstoppable
tsunami just outside our doors. The time is long past for Christians to hold a
‘church as usual’ approach to our walk with Christ. We must not – MUST NOT –
let ourselves be caught off guard for what may be coming to the faithful in
America. As our Chinese brothers and sisters tragically learned in years past –
expecting the Rapture to rescue us from this impending horror can prove to be a
most DEADLY error.
Whatever
may happen and whenever it may happen – it will likely come SUDDENLY. And we
each need to be preparing ourselves for such an eventuality.
I
believe these strategies I’ve shared with you today will help all of us –
myself and Nancy included – to stand firm for Jesus even in the worst of times.
Please, I beg you, take them to heart. The time is rapidly growing
short.
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