The Approaching Wave of Persecution - Denny Kenaston — From the Pulpit & Classic Sermons

Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers too.

This week we have Denny Knaston with his message, The Approaching Wave of Persecution.

The Rapture, Persecution, and the Coming War

Oh but they say, and oh many say, multitudes say today, relax, don't worry about a thing. The rapture will be our escape. I don't believe that brothers and sisters. The rapture will not be our escape.

Yes it may be our final escape but it will not be our escape from this war that we're talking about here that we read about. It will not be our escape. In fact it's allowed by God to be a proving ground to see who loves him.

I mean why would God let us escape the war since we're soldiers? Oh relax, don't worry. The rapture will be our escape. Yeah tell that to the Russian Christians and the Christians in Uganda and the Christians in Rwanda and the Christians that are in China.

Tell that to the Christians who live in Muslim lands today. Don't worry about a thing. The rapture is going to come and snatch us all out of here. Oh brothers and sisters we need to recognize that that is not the truth.

Trouble is coming. I remember the sad story that was given to me. I read it somewhere in a book of the fruit, the results of wrong teaching that the missionaries gave to the Chinese Christians. This kind of teaching that I just talked to you about.

And the Chinese Christians they thought, hey before things get tough the rapture will come. And all of a sudden the Boxer Rebellion broke out. And after the Boxer Rebellion more trouble. And after that trouble more trouble.

And finally the Cultural Revolution. And literally thousands and ten thousands of Christians have been martyred in China. And many of the Christians who believed that this is just going to all be swept away for us through the rapture, many of them gave up the faith.

Because they were disillusioned. All of a sudden trouble was everywhere and they thought we're going to be snatched out of the way. As I see it, at the time of the end, God's people will be persecuted in all parts of the world.

That's what I see in the Scriptures. And I don't think you have to be a great student in order to see that and discern it. God's people will be persecuted in all the world. Our day is coming. This wave of persecution is coming.

Conspiracy, Divine Providence, and the Final Kingdom

And we need to be awake and we need to be alert to the fact that it's going to come. Some have said to me, Brother Denny, there is a conspiracy here in the United States to bring the people of America into bondage.

Maybe you've heard those things too. There's a conspiracy going on. There are men working behind the scenes and their whole goal is to bring all of America into bondage. What are we going to do about it?

Nothing. What is a conspiracy? A conspiracy, here's the definition out of the dictionary, is people working together secretly to do something that is wrong. That's what a conspiracy is. They say that the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds and many other of the world's wealthy elites are the ones that are behind this conspiracy and they're working in a certain direction to bring about a one-world government that they will rule with a one-world monetary system which they'll be in charge of.

And it's a conspiracy and we need to stop it. You know, when I start thinking that through a little bit, I think, now wait a minute. What do you want to stop? Do you want to stop the very thing that God is going to bring at the time of the end, which will bring the final battle and bring the Lord Jesus Christ back to this earth and all of those things?

Do you want to stop that? I don't want to stop that. How about Rockefeller and Rothschild and all of those wealthy elite? But this I do know. Let's just look one step further behind the scenes. Satan and all of his demons are in a conspiracy to do just these things that we see here in the Scriptures.

And they're working behind the scenes. Remember, these things are determined. They are determined just like the crucifixion of Christ was determined. Every step that the devils take closer to their goal, every step that the wealthy elite take closer to their goal is just like the crucifixion.

It will actually be their final doom. Do we want to stop all of that? Do we want to get on some political bandwagon and try to stop all these things? Well, it just depends on which kingdom you're in. You know, which kingdom are you in?

But do we want to stop all those things? In my own heart, I think, no, I don't want to stop them. I want to get ready for them. Because they are coming. Yeah, there are men working behind the scenes. But remember, there's a devil behind those men and the devil's working behind the scenes to bring about all the things which will be the final end.

And the devil usually uses men to get his work done. So it doesn't matter to me if it's Rockefeller or Rothschild or some other men. You know, it really doesn't matter. Let's pull back far enough that we can see this thing from God's perspective.

The devil is conspiring for a one world order, for a one world religion, for a one world monetary system, and for a one world rumor. And it's going to happen. Amen. He can't stop it. It's going to happen.

God's letting it happen. God wants it to happen. The wave is coming, brothers and sisters. This is not for us to worry about. It is for us to prepare. Your redemption is drawing nigh. But there's going to be a war before that redemption.

We need to get ready for the war. Because it's coming here. And it's coming sooner than you think. We have read in the Bible. We know that trouble is coming. We also know who will win. Hallelujah. And we also know how to win.

We win. We win by dying. My plea is that we will believe it. That the wave is coming. That we will believe it and prepare. And I don't know when the wave is coming. Maybe it's four years away. My personal opinion, I don't think it's 20 years away.

I think we're going to be shocked. Most of God's people are going to be shocked. All of a sudden, everything's going to change in this land. And we're going to be shocked. But God wants us to be prepared.

And that's the burden of the message this morning. Maybe it's only four years away. Let's just for the sake of illustration, let's just put it in that slot. Four years and the wave is going to hit this side of the United States.

Learning and Hiding the Bible in the Heart

Let's just say it's four years away. How should that affect my life? Number one, how can I prepare? I need to learn my Bible. I need to learn my Bible. They're going to take my Bible away from me. Is that right?

They're going to take it away from me. But they cannot take it away from me if it is in my heart. Amen. We need to learn our Bible. History is clear. One of the first things that they will take away is our Bible.

Oh, Lord, wake us up. They're going to take our Bibles away. The evil authorities know that if they cut off the source of our strength, the Bible, then they can pretty well keep us in the place that they want us to be in.

But, oh, brothers and sisters, let us get ready now. Let us learn our Bibles. Let us read it. Let us study it. Let us memorize it. Let us treasure it. The day will come. The day will come when a Bible like this will be more valuable than pure, solid gold.

And if we get a hold of one again, we'll hold it in our hands and we'll weep tears of gratitude that we have one. That day is coming. And we have them all over our house. And we read the Lancaster Farming, you know, and we get on the Internet and we zoom here and get at this information and that information.

And the devil's just laughing while we're wasting hours that we could be putting in this book, hiding it in our heart. They're going to take our Bible away. Agreed? Huh? They'll take it away. They're going to take it away.

Can't take it out of here. Hallelujah. They can't take it out of here. No way. In fact, testimonies would read that if it's in here and they take this one away from you, it just starts bubbling out. He, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, shall bring to you, bring to remembrance all the things you need to know.

How? Through his word, which we've hidden in our heart. The early Anabaptists spent much time in the Bible and hiding the word in their hearts. It's very evident when you read the Martyrs Mirror, they knew their Bibles inside and out.

And remember, that was back when you didn't have Bibles like this that you could carry around. They had to go out of their way to learn the Bible. But they learned the Bible. When they were at work, they had portions of the Scripture up there.

While they were doing whatever their work was, working with their hands, they kept their minds free so that they could learn the Bible. And it became their strength and their shield when the heat was on.

Studying Persecution and Identifying With Suffering Believers

Brothers and sisters, there are a lot of things in this land that we live in that are a waste. No, they're not wicked, but they're just a waste of time. Number two, in preparation, let us study persecution.

Let us become students of persecution. Now, you may think this is a very morbid point, but stay with me. Let's go deeper. Let's look beyond the natural response and see the spiritual realities of what takes place if we become a student of persecution.

This will cause you to meditate upon persecution. And God wants us to meditate upon persecution. The purpose of meditation is mental practice. The purpose of meditation is preparation for reality. That's one of the purposes of meditation.

Let's read this verse in Hebrews. Can we turn over there? Very interesting verse. A command, by the way, that God gives to us people of God. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 3 says these words. Hebrews 13, 3.

Remember them that are in bonds, those that are persecuted and thrown in prison, in chains and all other things. Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them. And them which are bound with them.

Which suffer adversity as being yourself also in the body. Now, God is asking us to put our mind upon those who are suffering persecution. So again, when witnesses come from other lands and share with us, and people give us periodicals and we read about it, it gives us the opportunity to put ourselves in their shoes.

That's what this verse is saying. Put yourself in the shoes of those that are suffering because you are also in the same body. Because the body of Christ is one. And remember those that are in bonds as if you were also bound with them.

In other words, God is saying, I want you to get very close in your identification with those who suffer. Put yourself there in jail next to them. That will do a lot of things. You'll pray for them more if you do that.

Number two, it will begin to prepare your own heart. My day is also coming. You see, God needs to get us over the hump. Right now we go, oh, my day is coming. Oh, am I going to be able to handle it? Oh, Lord, you know.

God needs to get us over that hump to where we say, yes, my day is also coming. Bring it on, Lord. God needs to get us over that hump. See, that's, we're talking about a war. Amen? No soldiers go out to war going, oh, I hope I can make it through.

No, that's not how a soldier is. Remember them that are in bonds as if you were bound with them and those that suffer as if you're also in their body. Because you are. And what does this do? It causes us to think upon them.

It causes us to put ourselves in their place. And it begins to prepare our own hearts. And I believe we need to do that. He wants us to become students. This can be difficult in a prosperous land. We are so easily lulled to sleep.

Remember, the Anabaptists, they have their martyr's mirror. And there's one in almost every house. I'm not sure how many of them are reading it these days, but it's on the shelf there. Maybe you have one on your shelf.

Living for the Lord and Receiving Grace to Endure

My personal opinion is, it doesn't hurt to let your children read the martyr's mirror. And it's good for us to read it also. Or Fox's Book of Martyrs. These are good. Number three, live for the Lord now.

Learn to walk in the fear of God and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Because now nothing will prepare us more than that. Some are fearful. How will I ever make it? Live for the Lord now, brothers and sisters.

Do it with all your heart. Some have said, how can I know that I will endure when those difficult days come? I want to tell you how. God's grace is manifold, many-folded. If we walk in His grace today, God will give us the grace to suffer persecution tomorrow.

It works that way. God will give us what we need. Think about it. There is dying grace. You don't need dying grace until you're laying on your deathbed. But how many of God's people, God's faithful people, lay on their deathbed and say, oh, the grace that God has given to me while I'm dying.

That's the way it works. There is sickness and suffering grace. And some of us in this room know what that's all about. How the grace of God comes when you're really going through a sick time or a painful time or a time of much suffering in your body.

It's like the grace of God comes upon you. When you lose a loved one, there's grace to lose a loved one. And how many times we've been to a funeral and talked to those that are still alive and heard them say, I can't believe the grace that God is pouring on me.

But my friends, that grace, God is pouring upon the faithful. So all you need to do is learn to walk in the fear of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit day by day. When that wave comes, we'll be ready.

We will have that strength. God will shower us with the strength that we need. He will, just like he does in all those other difficult things that we have faced. He will be. But here's the challenge. If you can't live for him now, you surely won't be able to die for him or suffer for him, which, by the way, is more difficult than dying for him.

It'd be real easy to just shoot me in the head and be done. But they may stick you in a prison for three months and torture you before they kill you. But if you cannot live for him now, you will not be able to die for him.

I guarantee it. God said these words to Jeremiah. I think it's in chapter 12. Jeremiah was complaining a bit to God about how tough things were and how the people aren't listening to him and all of that.

And God said these words, Jeremiah, if the footmen tire you, what will you do when the horses come? Good word. My frank opinion is we don't even have any footmen. There ain't even any footmen around yet.

Suffering, Self-Denial, and Readiness for Hardship

We need to get ready. Number four, moving along here. Arm yourselves with a mind to suffer and deny yourself. Arm yourself with this mind. Like it says in 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Arm yourselves with the same mind in the way that Christ suffered.

Arm yourselves with the same mind. God says, we Americans tend to take the easy way. We do it without even thinking. That's not going to work. We should be rather thinking, I think I'll take the harder way.

But we tend to take the easy way, don't we? I do. Anybody else like that? We just tend to take the easy, you know. Here's a couple of options. Oh, I'll take this. Here's a nice car, not so nice car. Oh, I'll take this one.

We Americans tend to take the easy way. We do it without even thinking. But we must go a different way if we're going to prepare for this wave that's coming. Because it's coming. Choose the hard way. Do it on purpose.

Suffering is good. Learn to bear it patiently. Learn to bear it patiently. Learn to endure hardness now as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. In prison, the testimonies are like this. Christians last longer than others in prison.

Why? They have a mind to suffer. They're not afraid to die. Fasting is not a problem to them. Fellowship with God is a reality to them. And Christians always last longer than other people who are thrown in prison and put under difficult circumstances.

Poverty, Materialism, and Trusting in Riches

Let us prepare our minds. These things are going to come upon us. Number five. We need to change our mind about material things. We need to change our mind about material things. Mark this down. Persecution and poverty are always sisters.

Is persecution coming to our land, brothers and sisters? Poverty will come right along with it. Do we know how to live in poverty? Are we prepared at all to live in poverty? Persecution and poverty are twin sisters.

It is the first thing that the authorities do every time is they take away your money, they take away your land, they take away your house. It's the first thing that goes. Take away all their money and they can't do anything.

Are we ready to live in poverty? We must lower our standard of living and learn to be content with it. Did you hear me? We need to lower our standard of living. The persecuting government always chases you from your home, fines you large sums of money for whatever you did, refuses you the best jobs, seizes your property and pushes you into a little apartment somewhere and that's where you live with your five children.

That's what they do. Are we ready for that? And ultimately, and we all know this, the mark of the beast will come and you will not be able to buy or sell without it, which means we're going to be in poverty, if not starvation.

Amen? We need to change our mind about materialism as we prepare for what is coming. We should read in Mark chapter 10, if you can turn over there with me and your Bibles, important scripture in light of this subject and I'd like us to read it.

It speaks about persecution down toward the end of this portion of scripture, but I'd like us just to hold persecution over these verses while we read it. In Mark chapter 10 verse 23 and following, And Jesus looked around about and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.

And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again and saith unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. He's digging a little deeper there.

He made this statement. Now he's giving some of the principles behind this statement. If you have lots of money, you tend to trust in that money. And if you're trusting in the money, you cannot enter into the kingdom.

He goes further. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but with God, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed thee.

And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house or brethren or sister or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels. Note that for my sake and the gospels.

But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come. Ah, eternal life is there. It is a good exercise of the heart and mind to just walk away from your little place where you live.

It is a good exercise in your heart and your mind to just pack up a few little things that you have, put them in one vehicle, put all of your children in there, put your dear wife next to you, look at it all, look at your house, look at that shed, look at your tractor, look at all the other vehicles and that nice truck and all those things, pile everybody up in one little car and drive away from it all, leaving it behind never to see it again.

The day will come when many of us will do that. It is good to be practicing that one ahead of time because it is coming. It is going to come. I remember the testimony of Boris, that Russian man, as he gave testimony of the Russian Christians and many of these Christians were warned, the communist purge is coming and it is going to be against the Christians.

They were warned. If you are going to flee, now is the time to flee. But only a few fled. All the rest did not believe it and stayed behind. But do you know why they stayed behind? Their houses, their land, their businesses, the money they had in the bank and all these things is the reason why it was hard for them to believe the simple message that the wave of persecution is approaching.

Standing for Truth Under Pressure

And they stayed behind and suffered much because of it. The Bible is clear. The day is coming when we will not be able to buy or sell. I think we need to change our mind about material things. Number six, learn to stand for the truth now because that is the issue.

When persecution comes, the issue is going to be the truth. Let us learn to stand for the truth now. As I study church history, persecution always comes because of truth. Persecutors are always pressing the persecuted to compromise with the truth.

They do not care if you are a Christian. Just be one to yourself at home. But do not stand for the truth openly. Do not preach to others and do not allow the government to guide your children. Can you do those three?

Compromise the truth. Stop preaching to others and allow the government to guide your children. Are you ready for that? That is exactly what they will ask us all to do. And they will tell you. Sitting in an interrogation room, they will tell you, look, I do not care if you are a Christian.

You can go home and be a Christian. I do not care. But these three things you must do. You need to compromise the truth. Go to the registered church. Number two, you need to stop preaching the gospel.

Number three, you let your children come to our schools. If you do that, we will let you out of jail. Are you ready for that? In other words, be a Christian in name only is the bottom line. The one world religion of the last days will have many right things in it.

It will have right ethics in it, but it will be false to the core. Just to give you an example of compromising truth or not, the Bible says that Jesus is the only way that you can come to God. By His blood and His sacrifice is the only way to come to God.

Now, where we live, that is a simple one. We all believe that. That is not a problem. We would all raise our hand and say, Amen. That is right theology. I believe that. But what you may not realize is the climate, even in this land where we live, is very slowly changing.

And more and more people are considering you to be a fanatical bigot if you only believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. And the day will come when you will be tempted to not profess that only way to heaven because of the pressure that is on you.

I have felt that pressure. Maybe you have too. I have felt it at times when I have been out witnessing. When I am sitting in a group of five or six people in Washington Square Park and all of a sudden they say, You mean to tell me that only Jesus?

You mean to tell me that the Jews are going to hell? You mean to tell me that Muslims are going to hell? And only you Christians are going to go to heaven? And all of a sudden you have got six of them scowling at you after they ask you that question.

Well, now what are you going to do? Learn to stand for the truth now. It is not going to get easier. I guarantee it. It is not going to get easier. The divorce issue is real to most of us in this room.

Let us learn to stand for truth now. Distinctive Christianity in the midst of a fashion crazy world is issues. Learn to stand now. Family reunions can be a real challenge at times. Learn to say no. I never forget the family reunion that we were at years ago and my aunt and uncle had a big swimming pool in their backyard and they said, Can the children go swimming?

And I said, Yeah, sure. If everybody will swim in their clothes. End of subject. No, we do not put on a swimming suit and go jumping around in the water with a bunch of other people that do not have any clothes on.

Amen? And the last illustration, the boldness to witness for Christ. The fear of man is what stops us from witnessing now. Think how difficult it will be when your neck is on the line. Learn to stand for the truth now.

Preparing Children for Persecution and Self-Denial

Number seven, and this is the last point. Prepare your children. Prepare your children. Let us go back to Brother Jeff's closing comments. If we know that hard times are coming upon our children, what a shame to not prepare those children ahead of time.

Back over the points that we gave, I have been giving them to us because we need to apply them to us. But think about it. Think about a generation of children who grew up in soft America, who are growing up not learning the Bible, when they are going to take their Bible away from them too.

Our children need to learn their Bibles. They have got sharp minds. It is just a matter of putting it in the schedule. They can memorize two or three verses in the Bible every day. They have got sharp minds.

We have these cassettes. You can put the Bible, you know, play the Bible on cassette. The children can go to sleep listening to the Bible. It is real difficult. You just walk into the room and go and walk back out.

But the fact of the matter is, if the children grow up listening to the Bible like that, they will be filled with the Word of God. This last trip that we made to Africa, we were discussing this subject with my son Daniel, and he brought it up.

I did not. He said, Papa, thank you for making us listen to the Bible every time we went to bed for a nap and every time we went to sleep at night. I am full of the Bible. My mind is filled with theology, and I never took a theology course.

Well, thank you, Lord. Amen. We can do that. It is real, real difficult. Just walk out of the room day after day after day. They can study persecution. We can lead them to a clear, continual dedication to God.

Some of our young people are not in that place. We can lead them to a clear, consistent dedication to God. They are going to need it. I guarantee you they are going to need it. We can guide their lives in such a way that they learn what self-denial and suffering is.

He said, well, that's not right. Don't give Johnny a hard thing to do. No, give him something hard to do. Let him work until he gets blisters on his hands. Can I say that? Give him something to do so he cuts his finger every now and then.

Give him some work to do. Smash his finger with a hammer every now and then. Let him work out in the garden when he sweats. Teach them self-denial. By the way, every general who has a son who wants to see that son on the battlefield someday, I guarantee you he doesn't let him grow up in a bed of ease.

I guarantee it. Because that general knows what he is going to face out there on the battlefield. Every general who has a son, he says, I want my son to be on the battlefield someday. He doesn't let him grow up on beds of ease.

That doesn't make soldiers, amen? It doesn't. What about the material issues? You know, it's so good for our children to hear us say, you know, we don't need that brand new truck. Let's just get a little older one.

Or it's good for them to hear us say, no, we can't afford that right now. No, we can't afford that right now. That's good to hear. Amen, girls? You're blessed. You're blessed right now. That's not a shame.

That's not a problem. That's a blessing. If you can't afford that right now, teach them also to stand for the truth. Teach them. They can. They'll have opportunities. Even in our own church, they'll have opportunities at times.

Hey, let's go outside. No, my father wants me to stay in here. Let's go down into that room in the basement. No, my father said we're not supposed to do that. Teach them to stand for the truth. We believe that that day of persecution is coming.

Daniel’s Prophecy and the Church’s Opportunity

Amen? We believe the day is coming when the children will not have a Bible. We believe that. Daniel chapter 12 in closing. The approaching wave of persecution is not all bad. There are many beautiful things that will happen in this land of ours when those things come upon us.

We will become the church beautiful like we've never ever known. There are many beautiful things that will come with that wave of persecution. If we understand its effect upon the church, if we understand how it produces the life of Christ in the believers, since we know that the final victory is ours, it will be a time of great opportunity, the time of the end.

Like it says in Daniel chapter 11, and they that do know their God shall do exploits. I don't believe we're just going to be running around hiding in the last days. I believe we're going to be winning souls.

You win a soul, you get your head cut off. That's right. That's what the early Anabaptists did. They got their head cut off because they won a soul. But guess what? Two souls in heaven, not one. They just got their head cut off.

They were fearless. They were not afraid to get their head cut off and go to glory and get a martyr's crown. So it's a time of opportunity, not just a fearful time. Oh, what are we going to do? No, it's going to be a beautiful time of opportunity.

We need to get ready. The early Anabaptists had great troubles and great anguish of heart, but souls were saved everywhere they went. And Brother Jeff, just to say it again, chapter nine, verse 31 follows all the persecutions from chapter eight through chapter nine.

Chapter nine, verse 31, the one you read to us, that concluded the persecutions in Acts. All the persecutions. Now the persecutor Paul is converted, and all the persecutions stop, and then they continued in the fear of God and the grace of God.

And brothers and sisters, persecution brings the fear of God and the comfort of the Holy Ghost down upon His people. Chapter 12, verse 1, in closing, and at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.

And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end.

Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. These are mysterious words, but I believe they're speaking about the day that we're living in. We live in the day when many are running to and fro, and knowledge is multiplying in such a fast pace that it boggles the mind.

And I believe God is opening these things up in the last of the last days to prepare His people so that we can stand in the midst of the troubles that are really going to come, and stand in such a way that we're not afraid to die, that we're not afraid to lose our head, and we can reap a mighty harvest in the midst of it all.

Applying the Message to Daily Self-Denial

I believe that's God's will. May God add His witness to the word this morning. Thank you. Thank you, Brother Danny, for a sobering message this morning. It's good for us to hear that when we feed our children, we don't just give them the things that they like because a steady diet of that isn't healthy.

This message might be a little harder in some ways than others, but it's good for our health, our spiritual health. I've heard people say, I remember as a new Christian, I heard a brother say that he was willing to die for Jesus.

I think we saw some kind of movie where they chopped people's heads off, you know, and he just shared that with me. I love Jesus. I'm willing to die for Him. But there were some areas of his life that he wasn't willing to die.