This sermon delves into the presence of Christians in the Great Tribulation as depicted in the Bible, focusing on the persecution they will face under the Antichrist's rule. It emphasizes the need for unwavering faith and readiness to endure suffering for the sake of Christ, drawing examples from the martyrdom of early apostles and the call for modern Christians to witness boldly despite potential persecution. The message urges believers to embrace true repentance, turn away from worldly desires, and fully commit to following Jesus, even in the face of adversity.

We have been talking about Christians in the Great Tribulation, and the Bible proves that there are Christians in the Great Tribulation. And please let us refer to Revelation chapter 13, verse 15. And here it talks about the coming world leader. It talks about Antichrist. It talks about persecution of Christians. And in Revelation 13, verse 15, it says, He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. So here is worldwide worship required of a person who will be a future world leader. We don't know if it's the first, second, or third. And he will require worship. And if he is not worshipped by you, you will be killed. And this is further confirmed in Revelation chapter 20, verse 4. And reading from this verse, it says, in Revelation chapter 20, verse 4, And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded. Beloved Christians, please note this word, beheaded. So here it says, And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded. Their head was cut off for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God. And then it explains the circumstances under which they were beheaded. And here it says, Who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and not had received his mark on their forehead or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So here the main method of putting people to death will be beheading of Christians if you do not accept the mark of the Antichrist. And now let us also refer to Revelation chapter 15, verse 2. And here it tells us that in Revelation chapter 15, verse 2, And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast. Now note, these are Christians in heaven, yet they had victory. And you might ask, How did this victory occur? They're dead. They died. Well, beloved, it is a spiritual victory. Satan and the Antichrist cannot touch your born-again spirit and your born-again soul. They can only kill the body. And so these Christians stood strong amidst great tribulation. They would not reject their faith. And so now they are in the arms of God. And it says, Those who have the victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. And we are safe for eternity, saints, but we may have to lay down our lives to give a witness for that wonderful, wonderful salvation we have. And then in Revelation chapter 17, verse 6, there are more Christians in the great tribulation. And here it says, And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. And beloved, the woman here is a future world religious system that will combine probably all faith, and they will persecute the true followers of Christ. And it says here that this combined world religion will be drunk with the blood of the saints. We will be hated. We will be persecuted. And then in Daniel chapter 7, verse 25, it also tells us that the saints are given to Antichrist for a period of 3.5 years. And I would like to read this passage because, again, it is difficult for us to understand that we will be given into the hands of Antichrist for a period of time. And here it says in Daniel chapter 7, verse 25, He shall speak pompous words against the Most High. This is the Antichrist. He shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and he shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand. The saints, the Christians, are given into evil hands for a time and times and half a time. And you might ask why. The reason always is that we are a witness to the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and our death may give hope and life to someone else who might see these people gave their life. I want to know this true future, this great hope, this great eternity. And now Pastor Derek Melton wrote about this. He said, The early church was marked with suffering, persecution, peril, and rejection. The modern church knows nothing of these majestic scars. Instead of entering into the sufferings of Christ, we have chosen to sip the sweet wine of worldliness. The church's stupor finds its roots in this very great dilemma. Now, beloved, the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ suffered at the end of their lives. They gave their life as a witness. And here is what happened to them. The Apostle Matthew, he suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia. He was killed by a sword wound. Mark, he died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead. Luke, he was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost. John, he faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, God miraculously delivered him from death. He just would not die. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic book of Revelation on the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean. The Apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully. The Apostle Peter was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross. According to church tradition, it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died. James the Just, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over 100 feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. When he refused to deny his faith, he was thrown from this pinnacle. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. A fuller's club is a wooden club used for dyeing and cleaning clothes. You beat clothes with it. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the temptation of Jesus. And then James the Great, the son of Zebedee, he was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. He was a strong leader also, and he was ultimately beheaded in Jerusalem. Church history tells us a Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian. Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present-day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death with a whip. Andrew, Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers, they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that when he was led to the cross, Andrew saluted it with these words, I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it. He continued to preach and testify to his tormentors for two days, for two days while hanging there in agony, beloved. What is your Christianity like? What is my Christianity like? Am I prepared to witness for him? Am I prepared to tell the good news, the glorious news of the Lord Jesus Christ? Beloved, I hope you do. If not, repent. Turn around from your lifestyle. Turn around from the wrong way you're on. Follow this whole Bible and understand all of its concepts, all of its teachings. The Apostle Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the subcontinent. Jude was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded. The apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil emperor Nero in Rome at approximately A.D. 66 or 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines which we have adapted today, form a large portion of the New Testament. Our sufferings here in the Western world and in America are indeed minor compared to these intense persecutions and cold cruelty faced by the disciples for the sake of faith. Jesus said, And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, said Jesus. Perhaps my type of godliness and lukewarmness does not need persecution. You see, this Christian church fits in so well into humanism and secularism that there is no difference between us and the world, and we are not true Christians. Only about 1% to 5% of Christians testify to others about their faith. Beloved, as we speak, and last year in 2012, 300,000 Nigerian Christians were killed. In Eritrea, Christians suffered in steel shipping containers without ventilation or toilet facilities. During the day, it may get so hot enough to fry eggs. At night, it gets so cold it might go below freezing. If we truly follow Christ and live as Christians should, we will face tribulation and suffering. So, beloved, I ask you to try witnessing, and eventually you will face some persecution because people won't like it. But, beloved, we have this incredibly great, wonderful salvation for eternity, and we ought to share it regardless of things that might happen to our bodies. You might say, Well, I can't. I've tried. Will you pray to God to break your stony heart? Because it has become stony. You have no more love for your fellow man. Ask him to give you tears so that you might be able to reach out. Let us become prepared for trial of our faith. In 1 Peter 4.1, it says, For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. So we have to arm ourselves with the same mind, for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. And, you see, if we truly go out and witness, we don't have time for sinning anymore. It will consume us. It will help us to follow the word. 1 Peter 4.2 says that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of man, but to the will of God. And 1 Peter 1.6 says, Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. And these temptations also include persecutions. 1 Peter 1.7 says that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory to the appearing of Jesus Christ. Algerius was a martyr in the early days about 500 years ago, and he wrote these words in a dungeon way down. In a dark hole I have found pleasure. Do you find your pleasure in ball games? Do you find your pleasure in television? Do you find your pleasure in TV, in Facebook, in social media, in shows, in filling yourself up with the pleasures of the world? You have no room for the pleasure, for the joy of God. And there ought to be joy of the Most High God in all of us. And he says here, I have found pleasure in a place of bitterness and death, rest and hope of salvation in the abyss of depth of hell. I have joy where others weep. I have laughed where others fear. I have found strength. Who will believe this? In a state of misery, I have had great delight. In a lonely corner, I have had most glorious company and the severest bond, great rest. All these things my fellow brethren in Jesus Christ, the gracious hand of God has given me. And the fruit of the Spirit, it is of the Holy Spirit. He will give us love, joy, peace, all of these incredible things, if we make room for him. This saint rejoiced because he experienced the indwelling Christ Jesus. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised those who love him. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you. Blessed are you. No, no, no, no. I want wealth as a blessing. I want possessions as a blessing. I want a new car as a blessing. I want a new house as a blessing. This is satisfying the flesh. It is against the 10th commandment. Thou shalt not covet. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you. This is where true blessing comes from for eternity. And say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Just a few days ago, in 2013, in Arizona, a 60-member SWAT team stormed a Christian home. It was a Christian house meeting. The pastor was incarcerated for 60 days. He received a fine of several thousand dollars and a suspended prison sentence. This is the United States of America, beloved. Will you start witnessing or will you stand by this nation dying? Will you be the salt and the light or will you be the death of this nation? Because God will hold us accountable. If you don't witness, the offense ceases. It's all right, you can keep on going the way you are, but if you want to witness, perhaps in a few days from now or a month from now or a year from now, then evil has even come further and you will be greatly opposed by those who do not believe in God, who practice all kinds of sinful habits. And will God stand by forever? No, he won't. And let me finish with asking you to consider that you might repent before God of your Christian lifestyle. I ask you to return to this Word of God. I ask you to follow the Lord Jesus Christ with your whole heart. I ask you to turn from all sin. I ask you to turn from sin for the love of God. I ask you to repent. I ask you to set aside all questionable practices. Ask if Jesus would do these things and if the answer is no, why do you need to do them? Is there conviction and is there brokenness in you? Then ask the Lord Jesus Christ to break your stony heart, please. And I ask that you would change from the self to the kingship of Christ, that there is no halfway in repentance, but that you fully turn around, that you see yourself, who you are, and then see yourself through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Believe that true repentance is possible. God is merciful to us. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we confess to him. The church must be purity, power, and of one accord. And, beloved, I ask you to return to being a true Christian full of salt and light in Christ's name. Thank you.