Persecution Is Coming to the Church

In the midst of this chaos and great rebellion, we followers of the Son of the Most High are charged in Second Timothy 4:2-5 to:

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

This is not a light-hearted assignment from the Lord; we have examples in the Word about the people of God who had messages to share that the people no longer wanted to hear. In Acts 7, Stephen delivers the Word of the Lord and the people did not like what he had to share. In fact, they were so displeased with the words of God that it says in verse 54, “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.” I don’t know about you, but either I am very prophetic in nature or I have a vivid imagination, but just reading these words I can see and hear an angry mob just seething with hatred for the man of God like a pack of hungry wolves. And this rebellious wolf pack of men “cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord.” Then the crowd dragged him out of the city and murdered him with stones (see Acts 7:57-58).

And speaking of hungry wolves, we need to be well aware in these days that we are sheep gifted with grace sent out in the midst of hungry wolves. Matthew 10:16 warns us, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Even though we are sheep sent out in the middle of the wolf pack, we are not to be afraid. God has gifted us with His grace to win many people to Him during this end time battle. Hebrews 4:16 encourages us with these words of hope, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

As children of God we are gifted with His grace—we are clothed with His favor and blessing. We are clothed with His rich and royal robes of righteousness—His redemptive blood. We are given direct and instant access to Him anytime and anyplace. He promises to be with us always, even in the center of an angry mob like Stephen was. And even though he was martyred for his obedience and faith in his Messiah, something very amazing and supernatural happened and was actually recorded for our welfare and peace today.

Right before they began to attack Stephen, his spiritual eyes were opened into the prophetic realm:

But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:55-56)

Hebrews 4:16 (AMP), explains it this way for us:

Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

We are highly favored by God because of what Jesus did for us—He bled and died for us and rose from the dead. Because He chose to suffer for us, we can now come with all boldness and confidence and stand before His beautiful throne of grace and ask for His intervention in every situation.

At this point, your imagination may be running wild with fearful thoughts. You need to do as you are commanded right now in the name of Jesus, and take those negative thoughts and bring them under the submission of your faith and trust in your Deliverer and Savior. Second Corinthians 10:5 (AMP) says:

We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ.

We can choose to be disobedient, full of fear, and run from our God-given destinies concerning this assignment to speak the Word of the Lord to a people who no longer want to hear the truth. Or we can surrender to the will of the Father and embrace all of His plans and purposes for us for such a time as this. Mordecai’s words for Esther:

Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13-14).

Persecution is coming to the Church. What form of persecution this will be, only time will tell. And although we don’t seek persecution, we certainly don’t run and hide from it by compromising. Let’s remind ourselves that even during times of persecution, God is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13) and His Word is truth (John 17:17). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He will never leave us, or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). If God is for us, who can stand against us? (Romans 8:31).

We are all called to be evangelists who are ready in season and out of season. We have taken and hidden the Word of the Lord deep in our hearts for such a time as this. And we are willing and able by the great power of His Spirit to give a timely word that pierces the hearts of our listeners. Keeping in mind that it is not by our charismatic nature or our fancy words that we are given the responsibility to evangelize the lost with—but by the power of His might.

…“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 4:6).

The times and seasons for the Church worldwide has changed. We have been called outside of our meeting halls and into the thick of the battle.