Christians, it’s time to take note: the warnings of coming persecution are ramping up as time goes on.
The latest Christian to warn about the coming persecution to Western nations is Bob Fu, a Christian who left China after persecution against Christians there worsened in the 1990s. Fu, who came to Christ through the underground church, is the president of ChinaAid, which serves to help with religious freedom needs. Today, Fu sees the same government overreach happening in America as he experienced in China.
“The similarities are very, very striking between the Chinese Communist way of persecution and the American leftist way of restriction and even discrimination,” he told Fox News.
Fu also shared with Fox News that the ways the government forced churches to shut down during the pandemic mirrored the language used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“I saw the governor of California basically proscribe and order the church to shut down and say not only when they can worship, but how. The ways that he threatened to punish those churches and pastors sometimes were word-for-word exactly the same as what the CCP is using against Chinese churches,” Fu said.
However, Fu is not the only one taking notice of Christian persecution that appears to be on its way to America.
In a recent interview on the Strang Report, Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City shared how he believes understanding persecution from a biblical standpoint is imperative for younger generations today.
“I believe persecution is coming to the West, and it’s a very important subject for us to find out what the biblical narrative is,” Bickle said. “What does the Bible say about persecution, particularly in the generation that the Lord returns?”
While Bickle says that we cannot know if we are in the final generation or not, he believes it is very plausible that the end could be coming soon, especially for younger generations who are not accustomed to suffering. He also acknowledges that persecution is not widely discussed in Western churches, but that Jesus’ words on this topic will indeed come to pass—whether we’re ready for it or not.
“In Matthew 24:9, he said ‘Then, all nations will hate you.’ I never really have focused on that word at all. If you read Matthew 24 verses five, six, seven and eight, Jesus called it the beginning of birth pangs and then, ‘all nations will hate you.’ That time frame hasn’t happened yet. That’s the future, and America is in that cluster….There is coming a time where all people that are true to the words of Jesus, really loyal to what He said, will suffer,” Bickle said.
Whether it’s the refusal of joining in an LGTBQ training for work, or simply for being a faithful member of Christ’s body, there’s no hiding from the fact that persecution is part of the future. Jesus told us that there would be troubles in this world, but that He had overcome it (John 16:33). The disciples and the early church knew that no matter what happened to them in this world, Jesus had already overcome sin and the grave. That’s why they were able to cling tight to Him and His Word despite being persecuted unto death and exile.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.” A man who was imprisoned, chained and despised by the Roman government had found such complete redemption in Christ that he knew his prize and home were in heaven. There was nothing on this earth that could even compare to what was to come. Time will only tell now if today’s church will follow this lead and seek heaven or fall for the things of this world. {eoa}
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator and Staff Writer intern for Charisma Media.
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