The Coming Persecution

Persecution is faith's test.

"He shall rule them with a rod (sceptre) of iron; they shall be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel". - Psalm 2:9 -

"For whom the Lord loves, He does discipline (uses the rod), and scourges every son whom He does welcome home...For who is a son whom a father does not discipline? If however, you are without discipline whereof all have received a share, then you are bastards and not sons" - Hebrews 12:6-8 -

"For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God" - 1Peter 4:17 -

(Rotherham)

The entity called the Bride/Body of Christ/called out assembly, must go through the burning of persecution in order for all that is false to be separated from that which is true. The rod/sceptre of iron is the burning fire and the breaking in pieces like a potter's vessel is a dividing/separating. They work simultaneously within each individual body "member" and between the members and those who are closely related or acquainted; ie, friends, co workers, neighbors, etc.

The assembly cannot have any mixture in ANY INDIVIDUAL MEMBER, hence, the persecution. Mixture actually draws persecution to itself.

Mixture is represented by the earthly city Jerusalem. Cities in scripture represent the mind in it's "way of thinking" or thought tendency, world view, outlook, etc.

The individual who is "in mixture" is living in faith and fear. He or she "has faith" in the Jesus of history (the past) and the Jesus Who is "coming again" and "is going to heaven when I die"; future. Their life of present day living however, is based on fear, which is manifested in their use of emotion-based reason in their daily decision making. They continuously "take thought", which Jesus admonished not to do. Daily they "make provision for the flesh"(not speaking of going out to buy groceries here): which the scripture they claim to believe, also admonishes not to do. In their daily life they exercise faith for nothing.

They act as though their earthly life is THE life and that "eternity" exists only in the future-a-pie-in-the-sky-in-the-sweet-by-and-by. They don't realize that heaven or "eternity" are PRESENT TIME CONTINUOUS STATES OR CONDITIONS OF BEING, not "places", and that as you live a life of faith you are LIVING IN HEAVEN while you are yet living in your physical body.

The coming persecution is going to be a "big one". Part of the reason
for this is because of the large number of so-called "professing" christians.

Many of these hold a doctrine they call the "rapture". This doctrine has taught them that they are going to escape the coming persecution, which
they call "the great tribulation", by being "caught up" physically to "meet the Lord in the air". If they are driving a car when this happens their car will crash, being left without a driver, and many such other scenarios. I guess Jesus is going to purge away all their mixture-fear living-in the catching away process so that they will be pure and be able to stand in His presence..

They who teach and hold this doctrine are mistaken. This teaching didn't come from the spirit of God, but is earthly (understood through reasoning ability), and sensual (fear based emotion). It caters to the flesh. They are literal minded and interpret scripture according to human reason and intelligence, dividing and parsing; concerned about context and tenses of words and phrases and HAVE NOT THE SPIRIT. This doctrine was not revealed by the spirit, but rather came through a supposed vision given to a woman in the early 1800's and certain men took it and ran with it. They claim they can find traces of this doctrine all the way back to the so-called "fathers". If they can, then that "father" was deceived. (call no man father......)(As an aside....most of the so called "fathers" were "Harvard educated" - schooled in the greek "philosophers" who wrote and interpreted what they knew of Jesus and
christianity according to their intellectual, educated "filter". They were not simple believers. This is what the scripture says about this: 1Cor 1:17-30. (Read it for yourself.)

Only sons are kept from the "hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" - Rev 3:10 - They that "dwell upon the earth" are those previously written of who live by reason and emotionally based fear. These are they who refuse to "love not their life unto death", so will, like Job say, "For a dread I dreaded and it has come upon me, and that which I shrank from has overtaken me" - Job3:25 (Rotherham) - Another translation reads, "That which I greatly feared has come upon me".

You cannot have a "past" and "future" religion and in between live your daily life in reason/emotion based fear and not have the results of that
fear take it's effect in your physical body and circumstances.