How to Prepare for the Coming Persecution – What Every Christian Needs to Know

Keep following Jesus no matter what comes against you. Here’s how to prepare for the coming persecution. This is something every Christian needs to know.

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Persecution will intensify.
Persecution will become more obvious as time goes on.
Now I do not believe that the last days end in defeat for the church because think about the fact that when Jesus listed the various different indications of the end times such as wars and rumors of wars, such as famines and pestilence and people turning on one another.
When Jesus talks of these things, he would often say throughout, peppered throughout that explanation, Jesus would say this phrase, but the end is not yet, but the end is not yet, but the end is not yet.
And then he says, for this gospel shall be preached to the ends of the earth, and then the end will come.
In other words, when the last days are finally upon us, and I believe these things are cyclical, but there is also a final moment to these cycles Because even as you study throughout history, you’ll see persecution intensify and then an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Persecution intensify and then an outpouring of the holy spirit. Persecution is not how we lose, it’s how we overcome.
And so you see this ebb and flow throughout the timeline of history, and you’ll notice that there are cycles to these things.
But as I said, there is also going to be a final cycle. When that is?
No man knows the day or the hour.
What I do know is that victory, not defeat, advancement, not retreat will be the posture of the church in these last days.
This idea that we should be hiding in a corner, throwing up our hands and saying, Jesus, get us out of here before things become too dark is not biblical.
Because while things become dark out there, the church will shine brighter and brighter.
God does not want to remove the light or retreat the light.
God wants to shine the light upon the darkness that many might come to know Jesus.
For Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful. Well, didn’t he say narrow is the way? Yes.
But he was talking to the people who were close to the gospel.
Jesus also said that many will come, And he said that that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
So as persecution begins to intensify, again, there’s that ebb and flow. Study history, you’ll see it.
Persecution intensifies, then a great outpouring. This happens again and again.
And in fact, the seeds of persecution eventually sprout into outpourings of the Holy Spirit.
You see even now in the modern age that many of the regions that once knew intense persecution are now experiencing a multiplication of the church that governments cannot oppress, that culture cannot control, that critics cannot stop.
It’s a move of the Holy Spirit. The advancement does come.
Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against us, and I believe what Jesus said.
The gospel will not lose its power. The great commission will not fail.
Jesus will not be defeated, he is the victorious king.
So never mind with the fear mongering.
Yes, persecution comes, but that’s not a reason to fear.
But you will notice that there are various different forms of persecution. The first one is insults.
Yes, this is a form of persecution.
You often hear people quip, well, our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world have it so bad, we dare not call insults persecution.
But now, you’re leaving on the table a blessing that is yours to claim for taking insults for the sake of the gospel.
Yes, there are varying degrees of persecution, but that doesn’t mean that just because there are more intense forms of persecution, that the lesser forms of persecution don’t count toward our blessing.
Matthew chapter 5 verses 11 and 12.
God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.
Be happy about it. Be very glad for a great reward awaits you in heaven and remember that the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
But what does he say here? He says that they’ll mock you, they’ll lie about you, they’ll persecute you.
And then he describes those different forms of attack as persecution.
So when you are insulted for the gospel, there’s blessing in that.
It is the privilege of persecution.
When you are insulted for the gospel, it’s a chance for you to demonstrate the love of God and say like Christ did, father forgive them, they know not what they do.
It’s a chance for your character to become more like Christ. Then there is number 2 rejection.
Luke 10:16 declares, then he said to the disciples, anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me, And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me.
And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sends me.
In other words, when people reject you, his child, God takes it personally.
And we see that society even now is trying to push the church’s influence out of the spheres of influence in the world.
That culture is trying to silence the gospel.
They don’t want us to have influence in any sphere of culture.
But again, we say the gates of hell shall not prevail. The gospel will succeed.
So number 1 is insults. Number 2, rejection. Number 3 is oppression.
And you can see an example of this in Acts chapter 5 verses 17 through 29.
This is where government and systems will try to limit your movement with imprisonment, limit your speech with censorship, and limit your gatherings with laws.
That’s oppression. Now this type of persecution begins to impact you in your everyday life.
Because insults, you can walk away from that. Rejection, well, they don’t want you around anyway.
But oppression now is where there is this active attempt to cancel something.
Let me remind you. You cannot cancel who God has called.
You can speak evil. You can slander. You can make laws.
You can imprison, you can censor, but you cannot cancel. That is oppression.
And finally we see violence. An example of this would be in Acts chapter 7 verses 54 through 60.
We see it with Stephen the Martyr. What begins to happen when this persecution comes?
Go with me here to Acts chapter 6.
Acts chapter 6 says, so they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, we heard him blaspheme Moses and even God.
This roused the people. Notice here that the people lie about Stephen, and the people just believe it.
This is society today. If they read it on a social media feed, if they read the headline of a news article, suddenly we believe it, no questions asked, And this is what happened to Stephen.
This roused the people, the elders and the teachers of religious law.
So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.
The lying witnesses said, this man is always speaking against the holy temple and against the law of Moses.
We have heard him say that this is that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.
At this point, everyone in the high council stared at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angel’s.
We are seeing here in the text an example of this principle.
Persecution brings forth glory. Where there is persecution, there is glory.
The greater the resistance against the church, the greater the manifestation of glory within the church.
First Peter 4 14 says, if you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed.
4, the glorious spirit of God rests upon you.
And so I wanna encourage you, the body of Christ.
Many, when speaking of the days of revival, have said that those days are long gone.
But I want you to look around this arena tonight here in Southern California, and I want you to remember and I want you to believe that the Holy Spirit is just getting started.
You can speak against the move of the Holy Spirit.
You can criticize it. You can analyze it. But you cannot stop it.
And as the power of the Holy Spirit advances, the kingdom of God is advancing.
The dominion of God is advancing. Souls are going to be swept into the kingdom of heaven.
So remember these three simple things as persecution begins to intensify.
Live holy, live holy. Get rid of whatever compromise there may be.
The scripture says the righteous are as bold as lions.
If you lack boldness it’s because you likely lack righteousness.
Sin makes cowards of believers.
Live righteously that you might stand firm.
Not to be obnoxious, not to intentionally be offensive, but to stand firm in boldness and love as you declare to the world, Jesus is the only way.
Number 2, biblical thinking. Don’t get swept up in worldly philosophies.
Don’t get swept up in the way that culture thinks and believes and behaves.
Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Well, how do you renew the mind? It’s the word.
It’s the washing of the word that changes the thought patterns that you carry.
And as you begin to think biblically, you stand firm on Christ.
Well, Jesus said if you build your life on his words, that when the storm comes, by the way, not if the storm comes, when the storm comes, your house will stand because it’s built upon the rock.
That’s the word. And number 3, we need godly unity.
There is such a thing by the way as ungodly unity.
This is where we reach across the aisle and embrace false doctrines.
For example, there is this big push, at least in the United States today, there is this big push, this idea, this demonic deceptive damaging lie from the pit of hell that says that we should question the validity of the statement that the bible is the word of God.
That’s just one example.
And because they claim the name of Christ and say well we don’t believe the Bible is the word of God, it might be a great collection of historical ideas and teachings and maybe some records of the life of Christ and some samples of what he taught and believed.
But it’s not the unquestionable authority of the word of God.
That is a demonic lie, and we don’t unite with lies like that. So I’m not talking about ungodly unity.
That’s defilement, that’s unholy mixture.
What I am saying is that we have to stop attacking our brothers and sisters simply because we don’t see eye to eye on everything.
I was watching a dear friend on social media and he was on a Christian television program and I was watching the debut of this and I was excited to see it because for a while we had planned to see him get on the program.
And so I’m watching, I’m cheering. I cheer my friends on in ministry.
When I see them thrive, I just cheer. Because we all succeed when one of us succeeds. It’s one kingdom.
And so I’m watching this and he’s just preaching and I’m going, this guy can preach, this guy can preach.
And I’m listening to him, I’m like, yes, that’s holy ghost. Yes, that’s power.
I’m I’m raised charismatic Christian, so that’s like the adjective. Holy ghost can be an adjective too. That’s holy ghost.
And I begin to notice in the comment section, one person. Well, I don’t know.
Something just doesn’t sit right in my spirit.
And there’s one of those at least in every church.
The problem is online, they all find each other.
And then they all have a little this doesn’t sit right in my spirit party.
And what they really mean is I’m cynical, I’m suspicious, I am critical, but then someone else commented, oh my goodness, me too.
And so they got together in agreement and decided we both think the same thing, we must be right.
And I watch this and I’m thinking just the pettiness.
Look, we as believers must stand firm on the fundamentals of our faith.
Jesus is the son of God. Jesus is God. Jesus lived a sinless life.
Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Jesus resurrected from the dead in bodily form.
Jesus ascended on high and sits at the right hand of the father. Jesus is lord.
The bible is the word of God. There is a literal heaven and there is a literal hell.
And we have to stop compromising on these things.
And so, when you begin to experience persecution, persecution removes from you the luxury of pettiness.
Persecution removes from the church the luxury of pettiness.
Because once persecution begins to come, we’re no longer fighting and bickering over all of these little things.
Brother David, are you are you pre trib, mid trib, or post trib? Answer me now.
They have their pitchforks ready. Their torches.
I always tell them, I’m Pan Trib, and I go, it’s all gonna pan out in the end eventually.
Just live right.
If Jesus comes before the tribulation, thank God we don’t have to go through that, But if He comes after, as long as you’re living right, you’ll be okay too.
Brother David, do you believe in once saved always saved? Well let’s take a look at this.
First of all, why do you think that matters if you’re not God and you’re not the one judging people when they stand before you?
That’s first of all. 2nd of all, if somebody who believes in once saved always saved looks at a Christian who went back into the world, they’re gonna say well that individual was never saved to begin with.
And if somebody who believes that you can lose your salvation looks at that same person, they’re gonna say, well, looks like they lost their salvation.
But both of them agree on the fact that that person needs Jesus, so why don’t both of them just love that person, pray for that person, preach to that person?
If you don’t agree on theory, at least you agree in application.
We have Christians attacking one another on, well you believe in tongues, I don’t.
You believe in healing, I don’t. You believe in people being slain in the spirit, I don’t.
And there’s all of these attacks coming from all of these different places against each other.
And there’s civil war, if you will, amongst the body of Christ.
And we’re so focused on the petty that we forget about the promise of the harvest of souls.
Let me tell you. Believer, stop trying to win arguments and get back to winning souls.
Let God sort that out.
Now, I already said I’m not for ungodly unity. We we under stand that.
But we have to realize that these things come from ego, and pride, and the need to be right, and the need to win an argument, and the need to demonstrate to people.
Look at how much I know about the scripture. Look at how much I know about the bible.
And it causes us to create narratives about fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that just aren’t true.
All the while pretending that we’re doing it because we care about truth.
It’s hypocrisy, it’s self righteousness, and it has no place in the kingdom of God.
And I’ll tell you this, those who do not practice Godly unity, they will be phased out.
That movement of hyper criticism, church is dying.
That’s why the aggression, because it’s it’s the last breaths of a dying movement.
Because the holy spirit is clearing the way.
Get on board with what God is doing or get left out.
And so as we acknowledge that persecution is coming, we must practice holy living, biblical thinking, and godly unity.
Lord, help us do it in Jesus’ name.