Brethren, with the entire panorama of prophetic events surging ahead more than ever, I deeply feel that I should once again give you "proper warning" about what to expect in the years ahead. We often emphasize the blessings and the opportunities we will surely have in God's Work—and, later on, in Tomorrow's World. Our reward will be awesome. However, it is very clear in the New Testament that many true Christians will be persecuted— even before the formal Tribulation begins. So it is imperative that you understand this, pray about this, and are not "shocked" or disillusioned if the world begins to savagely turn on us at some point before the end of our ministry!
After describing many of the major catastrophes that will strike even before the Tribulation, Jesus Christ stated, "All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another" (Matthew 24:8–10).
May God help all of us to draw truly close to Him in fervent prayer and fasting, and thereby receive the spiritual faith and strength to go through the trials ahead. Our eternal reward depends on this! For a time of trial and testing is beginning to come upon the United States in a way it has probably never experienced before. Our British and Israeli allies, as well as other peace-loving peoples, have not escaped and will not escape the terrorists' wrath.
It is obvious that mankind cannot solve the problems of human nature—vanity, jealousy, lust and greed. It seems the U.S. is destined to continue as the most visible target for cowardly terrorist attacks, since it is now—almost by default—the enforcer of whatever world peace and stability there is. But what about spiritual Israel (cf. Galatians 6:16)— the true Church of God? Will we somehow escape all the madness and be "whisked off to safety" with nary a scratch or a bruise?
No, indeed!
Even apart from the true Church, professing Christians around the world are suffering increased persecution. News reports tell us of more and more horrifying instances of their being tortured, killed, raped or even sold into slavery in many non- Christian lands.
And now there is a movement in many European countries to crack down on virtually all religious groups that are not in the "mainstream." These groups include Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and others. Clearly, as the Living Church of God gains worldwide recognition and prominence for doing the Work of God, we too will be restricted— maybe banned!—and eventually persecuted in many nations around the world.
Although Christ's zealous and faithful servants will be taken to a Place of Safety at the very end of this age (Luke 21:36; Revelation 12:14), Scripture makes it quite clear that we all will have trials, tests and at least some degree of real persecution before this deliverance. For God inspired the Apostle Paul to warn us, "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:12–13).
In Mark's account of the Olivet Prophecy, Jesus cautions us, "But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now 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. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Mark 13:9–13).
Therefore, we should thoroughly prove to ourselves what we believe and why. Then, we will be able— through God's Holy Spirit—to exercise the faith and the courage to "endure to the end!" As prophesied world events increasingly hurtle toward the traumatic developments at the end of this age, I encourage all of you to "count the cost" and to be sure of what you believe. Truly, we all will need to "stand tall" against the storms of criticism, hatred and persecution that Satan will hurl at us, both from within and from without. For Satan will attempt to "break" us. He and his untold legions of demon spirits (Ephesians 6:11–12) will try to divide us, pitting brother against brother, even in God's Church! He will attempt to discourage us profoundly, through repeated attacks, accusations and persecution. Eventually, after his "frontal assault" on God fails, Satan will "come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time" (Revelation 12:12).
Will you be ready? The time for us to be bickering, competing and accusing one another must quickly come to a close, brethren! For we have a far greater enemy in the "prince of darkness" than many of us may fully realize. And we will need all the love, encouragement and support of our brethren that we can possibly have during the trials ahead.
As British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said in the dark days of the London Blitz during World War II, "if it is to be a war of nerves, let's make sure our nerves are strong!"
A few years ago, in Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family magazine, there appeared a very moving article by Mr. Charles Carroll, who lived and studied in Berlin just as the Holocaust was beginning. Carroll described how the Jewish family he was rooming with had cyanide available in case they were captured and sent to the death camps. Behind each of the glass panels on their entrance door they had placed steel plates— probably to give them enough time to flee through some other exit.
Carroll describes how—imperfect as they were—those who believed in Christ made up the primary backbone of the resistance against Hitler. At that time, and in that political climate, a great deal of moral and physical courage was required. "People minimize that today," he says.
Carroll cites a letter from Helmut von Moltke, grandnephew of the famous 19th-century Prussian field marshal of the same name. He wrote these words to his wife just before he was to be executed by the Nazis: "I was not being tried because of an attempt on Hitler's life, which I did not make, nor because I was a great land owner, nor because I was of the nobility, but because I was first and foremost a Christian."
Where will you and I stand when this kind of terror directly faces us and our families? We will never resort to cyanide as these persecuted Jews were ready to do; we know we can turn to our Savior, if we are walking with God and staying close to Him always.
Again, dear brethren, I beseech you in Christ's name to thoroughly prove what you believe and why. Genuinely study your Bible regularly. Fully grasp the fact that we are restoring the true faith of God and following the direct teaching and examples of Jesus Christ and His apostles! Then you will better understand the reality of Almighty God and His Word as the trials and persecution of God's people intensify in the years to come!
Remember, God has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). But we must do our part to seek Him and walk with Him (Jeremiah 29:13). And we must strengthen ourselves and be willing to go through every trial and test necessary—give our lives, if need be, in the service of our Savior Jesus Christ, just as surely as He literally laid down His life for us!
The time for "half-hearted" Christians who "play Church" is over! We must truly seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And we must want to be in God's Kingdom so much that we can "taste" it. Therefore, we must be willing to totally surrender the self, lose (if need be) part or all of our families, friendships and physical possessions, and literally "forsake all" to gain eternal life in the glorified Family of God. As Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:24–26).
Let us daily give our lives to God as living sacrifices. And let us so walk with Him and with Christ in living faith that at the end of our physical lives—whenever or however that may be—we may say what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7–8: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."