“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2nd Tim. 3:12)
What are you going to do if they knock on your door, if you come upon a roadblock while driving, if the authorities come to your place of employment and instruct you to come with them because they want to ask you some questions about your Christian values?
Possible arriving persecutions, specifically in what are called Western nations where faith is still a choice is on the rise, many cases are dismissed, but not all, charge after charge is filed until that person is left financially bankrupt, and for now that seems to satisfy the evil men behind these ploys.
Whether it will change, be modified to prison time, torture and possibly death for those who have been born-again before the Rapture only the Lord knows, but it begs a serious question, what will you do if they come for you?
“But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” (Matt. 24:43)
If they arrive at your doorstep, do not think that locked doors will keep them out; they are in a sense bound by laws, but those are easily modified to their own design. If you are armed, and if a gun fight ensues, sooner or later you will die. What would the goodman do when the wicked men arrive?
I will not place my value system upon you in this scenario, for I am just as torn between two options as many others are, stand and fight, perhaps and most likely die, or submit to their evil intent and suffer persecutions.
Let’s make this a little less dramatic, shall we?
What if a law is passed that makes it a crime to possess a Bible. A leeway period is offered for all to bring their Bibles to a designated disposal site, but after that time the authorities are allowed by law to enter your home, and if a search reveals a Bible, you will be taken away.
That one is happening in certain countries today my friends.
Here is an old saying for you, “Give them an inch and they will take a mile.”
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:11)
It will be much worse for those who will be left behind.
Evil men do evil things, and if they themselves are above the law, then Proverbs 29:2 becomes a truth. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
The wicked are ruling in nearly every nation, and at the moment they really do not care what god you serve, or if you serve one at all, what they want is obedience, and they will get it, either by your life or death, it matters not to them.
The mind that serves Christ desires to be in the fellowship of His suffering, the flesh fears those words above all else.
Persecution means suffering, and we may be moving into days where that will mean a lot more than just being laughed at or ridiculed, more than losing your job or friends, it may mean the loss of all your freedoms, it may mean pain and death. I do not know, but I do know this, the chaff will be shown they never served anyone but themselves.
This is an extremely personal analogy, and I pray you never have to face it, but it would be wise of you to occasionally contemplate it at great length.
“And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.” (Luke 22:38)
When are those who have been crucified with Christ supposed to stand against a blatantly corrupt and evil government? When are we to say, “No more?”
I wish I knew, and I hope I never have to find out.
I do not fear persecutions, my flesh does, as a man of God I ask myself many times, what would I do. The best answer I have is that I pray that I know without a single doubt that His will is being done in my life at that moment if it arrives.
