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Encouragement in Persecution
00:02:01
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| The Bible tells us that we're going to go through times of persecution. | |
| And you talk about it in your book. | |
| How can we encourage one another to not fall away? | |
| The Bible says there will be a falling away. | |
| And I think there's already a falling away, mightily a falling away in the United States of America, and I'm sure the whole world. | |
| So how can we encourage one another? | |
| And how can you encourage all of us watching today? | |
| Yeah. | |
| I don't know. | |
| We don't know if this is the last falling away, but it is a very severe period of falling away. | |
| Probably the worst I can remember in my life in the Lord, 50 years now. | |
| And we're seeing it all over America and really epidemic levels. | |
| That has to wake us up and stir us. | |
| So the first thing is, now's the time to re-examine our foundations. | |
| Because if the foundations are sound, we're not going to fall. | |
| How strong is our personal relationship with God? | |
| How much are we living lives consecrated to God? | |
| That's foundation. | |
| But I just want to speak to our viewers. | |
| When it comes to persecution for the gospel, that's a badge of honor. | |
| This is what the church has suffered all around the world. | |
| And to this moment, our brothers and sisters are being persecuted, thrown in jail, tortured, killed for their faith. | |
| Don't get unnerved when someone unfriends you on Facebook. | |
| That's not the end of the world. | |
| Don't get unnerved when someone has a nasty comment that they post. | |
| Literally, believers are losing their heads for the gospel today, and we're afraid of losing a few friends on social media. | |
| So this is the time to realize when people oppose us, it's because they recognize we stand for Jesus, and that's a cause for rejoicing. | |
| The world is treating us the way they treated Jesus rather than causing us to draw back. | |
| That energizes me. | |
| That strengthens me. | |
| And then when I stand, you stand. | |
| When I see you stand, you stand. | |
| So let's each say, let's take on a spirit of courage. | |
| It's not time for cowardice. | |
| It's not time for cowering in a corner. | |