As we fast approach the time before Jesus’ return when persecution of Christians intensifies we need to begin to develop the type of Christian life that doesn’t need a large church to sustain it and a walk with Jesus that values true community, not backseat participation – in effect, non-participation. You might grow as never before under persecution, as millions around the world can testify, and as Paul testified clearly in Romans 5:1-5:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5

We will experience hope in a new way as we are persecuted. Our focus will more and more turn to what is next on God’s agenda for this world, Jesus Millennial Kingdom (www.millennialkingdom.net). Suffering will purify us of our preoccupation with the current corrupt world. God will grow us all up in a hurry under such conditions, and those of us who have long lamented the differences between the church of Acts and the modern church will get a chance to see many of those differences wiped away in an instant. It will be an exciting time.

Middle Eastern Christians have learned what it means to bless those who persecute them.

Christians in Syria are learning daily how to do this. Many have chosen to stay in their towns and cities, even if Islamist rebels have overrun them and raped, looted, tortured, and killed them. As Open Doors USA spokesperson Emily Fuentes has reported: There are some Christians who are fleeing because they have no other choice, but there are many Christians who have really felt God’s call to stay in town, even though they have been attacked and targeted because of their faith. They realize that God’s using them, and (are reaching) out to their Muslim neighbours.
Thus, it seems to me that in the days ahead as persecution increases we will have the basic option of running, or remaining and seeking to win our attackers and fellow refugees to Christ. The choice that we make will be a matter of conscience, as Scripture can be used to support both. Believers in both Syria and Egypt have made different choices.

In the parts of Syria where church buildings have not been desecrated, they have become de facto relief agencies, providing clothes, food, and Christian teaching. These churches are seeing people come to faith in Christ as the congregants love everyone who has been made homeless, not just Christians. This is in stark contrast to the Islamic approach to providing aid for Muslims only.
As Syrian Christians have ministered to all people as war rips their country apart, they ask not for relief from the persecution, for money, or any sort of assistance, but primarily for prayer. Syrian Christians know prayer is the only way that peace will come to their country.
What an amazing witness, to care for everyone in the midst of intense suffering. The Church has done this throughout history. I would venture to say all of the books in the world’s libraries would not be enough to tell the stories of instances when Christians helped people in desperate need, regardless of skin color or creed.

Soon, I think, we will all enjoy caring for people in our communities and have the opportunity to make a bigger impact on their souls than a thousand sermons would be able to. It will be thrilling to watch all of our fellow church members get their hands dirty in ministry, a greater percentage than ever before, I believe! Can you see how suffering refines a church? It will do the same for us. There will be no more CEO (Christmas and Easter Only) Christians in our churches when the persecution starts. All of you who are tired of the pretenders coming to Sunday services will see the meeting sizes shrink as the wheat is separated from the chaff (Matthew 13:24-30). As a side note, won’t it be thrilling to see all the prophetic Scriptures that we have read for so long coming to pass? I think it will be an incredible time, even when it is very hard. I also believe God will give us abundant grace as we endure. All of the distractions that have kept us from following hard after God will be eliminated. Daily life will consist of a focus on how everyone in our community is doing, how they can be helped that day, how the new believers can be discipled, and how God’s love can be shown to the occupiers. Does that sound like Acts 4? It sure does to me. All of those sermons over the years, where pastors lamented the differences between Acts 4 and twenty-first-century churches will be made irrelevant. We will be living Acts 4.

Our churches will never become Acts 4 churches until the circumstances around us mirror the conditions of the early church. That prophesied day will come. And I think we will enjoy living out our faith as our predecessors did and those Christians who are already experiencing intense persecution in Muslim countries in the Middle East.

One source in Egypt reports the reaction of Christians to the burning of dozens of churches: “Churches are united together. And the spirit of prayer is happening in all the churches. People are praying all the time,” according to a source named “David.”

Churches united, churches praying, and people praying all the time. The church will become what we’ve all wanted it to become, but it may not happen until we are aggressively persecuted.

The churches in Egypt haven’t stopped with simply prayer. According to a Charisma News source in-country, Christians are answering the violence and pro-Islamic graffiti with signs that read, “You burned our church, but we love you.” If you were a Muslim in these cities, what would you think of such signs? I can tell you the two predominant reactions would be, 1. “Those Christians are just total weaklings” and 2. “How does this happen? How does someone love rather than avenge?” God is certainly doing all sorts of things amid this brutal persecution, acts of salvation that we won’t know about until we get to heaven.

During the great tribulation under an Islamic Antichrist, we will see brothers and sisters killed for their faith often, some right out of our communities. This is what is happening in the countries of the Arab Spring; martyrdom is expected, not imagined.

Soon, we will know true suffering and understand so many other portions of the Bible, such as 2 Timothy 4:6-8:

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to utter these words, knowing you are about to be killed for your faith? You might get this opportunity, and join the crowd of people who come out from under the altar as Jesus returns, those who had been martyred by the Beast (see Revelation 6:9 and 20:4), reigning on special thrones, and given authority to judge.

Early church father Tertullian’s famous line, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” will come true before our eyes as those around us see our courage, even in the face of death, and are deeply moved.

It’s sad but true; people have to feel absolutely helpless sometimes before they look to God.

Peace and courage during these sorts of times of suffering have a powerful impact on the hardest hearts. One Egyptian has reported about the church’s witness there: “It’s a great message of forgiveness. This makes many Muslims discover the reality of Christianity, and many of them come to know Jesus.” These new believers are meeting “underground in a secret way. They worship the Lord together, and they’re growing.”

Extracts from Ralph Stice’s book Arab Spring, Christian Winter: Islam Unleashed on the Church and the World