REVEALING GOD DEVOTIONAL - THE NEXT SIGN: PERSECUTION
Praise God for another wonderful day to share something with you all. I have been studying the Book of Revelation, and it has been interestingly revealing to me. At the end of the day, one thing keeps stirring up in my heart about the next sign the world is about to face prior to the second coming of our Lord Jesus — and that is what I want you to know about, so that Christians can prepare themselves for it.
The book of Revelation first introduces the seven different states of the Church, in which one state is predominant in the Church at every given season in its life. Presently, it is believed that the Church is in a Laodicean age, which is a state characterized by lukewarm Christians who seek after gain and pleasure more than God (Revelation 3).
However, I believe the Church is entering a new season, which is the next and final stage before the rapture or the fullness of the Gentiles. This season will be more of the Pergamum age, because it will be characterized with not just an increase of persecution of the Church, but a global persecution of the Church and a new level of deception. This is what Jesus terms as “the beginning of sorrows” for the Church. The scripture says, “All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:8-11).
Presently, more than half of the regions of the world are under persecution for their faith, as you can see in the picture attached to this message. The yellow and red marked countries are areas in the world where Christians are persecuted daily. The red marked country is my country, Nigeria. Presently, the Northern part of Nigeria has been an area where Christians are persecuted daily for their faith, but in the South, there is little or no persecution. But in this next season, this is most likely going to spread to the South as well.
Persecution has actually been spreading over the years around the world, but we are about to witness a global plague of persecution targeted at stopping the gospel from spreading and converting believers to unbelievers. This has been an effective tactic of the enemy in some countries to reduce the Christian population For example, in Iran, the Christian share has reduced from historical levels of roughly 1% or higher to about 0.9% today because of persecution and emigration. In contrast, Christians in China have increased from under 1% to around 5–8% even in the midst of persecution. The scripture says, “And because iniquity
wickedness or persecution
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12).Persecution is an attack of the enemy to threaten a person’s life for their faith. It is natural for people to want to preserve their lives, so therefore many people will apostatize the faith. That is why Jesus said that except we are willing to give up our lives for His sake, we will not be able to be His disciples (Luke 14:26).
This will be a refining time in the Church of God, so that God can know who really is serving Him, and who is just following Him for material benefits. The scripture says, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
The phrase “That day” in the verse above actually refers to the second coming of Christ. This verse also points out two things that will mark that event. The first is the falling away, which means the backsliding of many Christians that will be due to the coming new season of global persecution of the Church and deception. It is during the end of this new season that the rapture will occur. Then the man of perdition — the antichrist — will come on the scene, and he will persecute not only Christians this time, but everyone in the world that will not worship him as their god. This is the time that will be known as the Great Tribulation. It is only after the time of the Great Tribulation is over that Jesus will come the second time to remove every sinful thing in the universe and establish His Kingdom forever.
When we carefully study Matthew 24, we will notice that we are already experiencing the events of verses 5–7, which are characterized by wars, famines, earthquakes, and general unrest in the world. Presently, we even have Russia invading parts of Ukraine. But after that, the events of verses 9–11 will occur, bringing in this new season of persecution of Christians. Then that will usher in the last season from verses 15–30, that will bring the revelation of the antichrist in the period called the Great Tribulation.
What the Church needs to do at this time is to prepare itself for this new season, because the only thing they will need more than ever at this time will be perseverance. Prayer will not take it away. Christians will need to go through it with a ready mind to be willing to give their lives if it is necessary to abide in the faith. The scripture says, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
Nevertheless, persecution will not come only physically but also mentally. There will be a lot of betrayals amongst Christians and families (Matthew 24:10), and the government might bring up policies that will not favour the Church. My prayer is that God will strengthen you and preserve you during these times. God bless.
Today’s Reading: Matthew 24, Proverbs 17
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Nevertheless, if you are not born again you can do so today by saying this simple prayer below out with your mouth in faith, believing that Jesus Christ died and rose again for your sins.
Prayer for Salvation: Dear Lord, I believe Jesus died and rose again for me. Forgive me my sins and come into my life. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Thank you Father for doing this for me. Reveal yourself to me today. In Jesus name, Amen.
Congrats, your status has changed to that of a child of God, if you said this prayer in faith.