Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Christians Must Suffer Persecution and Tribulation



The false prosperity and happiness teachings of today’s church are from Satan. If your life is good, you are happy about what is being taught in your church, in need of nothing, the world is treating you well and you call yourself a Christian; you have a major problem because the Bible does not teach these things for those who follow the Truth.

Luke 6:25.  Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.

James 4:9.  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  10.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

I am not saying you can never be happy in this earth age but our only true lasting joy and happiness is in the Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit and the expectation of our future in Christ and our Father’s kingdom away from an evil and adulterous world. We have not yet entered into the one thousand year reign of Christ with his Saints and therefore do not rule this world. If you are not being persecuted for Christ, the Holy Spirit does not rest upon you.

1 Peter 4:12.  Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;  13.  but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.  14.  If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

John 16:20.  "Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  21.  "A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  22.  "Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

1 Thessalonians 2:19.  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?  20.  For you are our glory and joy.

Acts 13:52.  And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

We do not see the open persecution of Jesus followers yet in the so called free world yet but it is happening covertly to the few who truly follow the Word of God. Many will come out of this false church when open persecution begins during the time of great tribulation.

Hosea 5:15.  I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will diligently seek Me.''

It would be better if you came out of Laodicea now, which is this false prosperity church spoken of in the book of Revelation.

John 15:18.  "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  19.  "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 15:20.  "Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  21.  "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

Timothy 3:12.  Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.  13.  But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Galatians 4:29.  But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.

Romans 8:35.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36.  As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.''  37.  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

1 Corinthians 4:12.  And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it;  13.  being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

2 Corinthians 4:8.  We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are  
perplexed, but not in despair;  9.  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed   10.  always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  11.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Matthew 3:11.  "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

Psalms 66:10.  For You, O God, have proved us; You have refined us as silver is refined.  11.  You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs.  12.  You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

Mark 9:49.  "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.

1 Corinthians 3:13.  Everyone's work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.

Luke 21:11.  "And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  12.  "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.

The church of the gentile nations are not excluded from great tribulation.

Revelation 7:9.  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10.  and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!''

Revelation 7:14.  And I said to him, "Sir, you know.'' So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

John 16:33.  "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.''

1 Thessalonians 1:6.  And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 5:10.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  11.  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  12.  "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jeremiah 20:12.  But, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous, and see the mind and heart, let me see Your vengeance on them; for I have pleaded my cause before You.

James 5:10.  My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.  11.  Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Study the scriptures and you will see that the church of God does not become stronger during prosperity but falls away into apostasy. You are not better than Jesus and the apostles so stop looking for a pretribulation rapture and watch the Word of God, studying the end times to prepare yourself and others for the great evil which is to come upon the whole world.

Daniel 11:32.  "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with smooth words; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.  33.  "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.  34.  "Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by flatteries.  35.  "And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purge them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.