Bad Times For Christians

The Prophetic Persecution of Christians

Chicago alderman and political hack Proco Joe Moreno wants to deny the restaurant chain Chick-fil-A a zoning permit to build a new store in Chicago's gentrifying Logan Square neighborhood. What's Moreno's beef with Chick-fil-A? The chain is owned by a bible-believing Christian named Dan Cathy who opposes gay marriage and believes that marriage is a God-ordained institution that must be limited strictly to a man and a woman.

That displeases Moreno whose 1st Ward has a growing Gay, Lesbian and Transgender population. Moreno stated: "If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don't want you in the 1st Ward...Because of this man's ignorance, I will now be denying Chick-fil-A's permit to open a restaurant in the 1st Ward." As a Chicago alderman, Moreno doesn't have the authority to approve or deny zoning permits--that authority belongs to the city's Zoning Department. But Moreno certainly doesn't need any authority to shoot off his big mouth which he did in order to score political points with his GLT constituency in the 1st Ward.

David Smith, the executive director of the Illinois Family Institute not only labeled Moreno a hypocrite for calling Cathy a "homophobic bigot" because that's the same language the alderman condemns when it's used against gays, but he also claimed that if Dan Cathy was a Muslim, Moreno wouldn't have uttered a word of protest. Smith stated: "Here's the alderman turning around and being intolerant and discriminatory because somebody has a different view than he does. Would he do that to a Muslim company?"

No he wouldn't because Moreno knows very well what would happen if he did. But since Christians have been taught to turn the other cheek and not fight back, they've become convenient targets for this kind of abuse and so much more. There's also a prophetic precedent for the escalating amount of persecution that Christians are now facing all over the world. It was Jesus Christ himself who warned believers that the end times will be bad times for Christians: "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." (Matthew 24:9) The apostle Paul warned: "In fact, anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2Timothy 3:12)

In his apocalyptic vision that he recorded as the Revelation, the Bible's final book, the apostle John revealed that when the Antichrist eventually assumes power over a world government, he will make the persecution of Christians one of his highest priorities: "He (Antichrist) was given power to make war against the saints (Christians) and to conquer them." (Revelation 13:7) And the ancient Hebrew prophet Daniel, who lived nearly 2,600 years ago, also prophesied that this wicked global ruler will persecute God's people in the last days: "He will speak against the Most High (God) and oppress the saints and try to change the set times and laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time." (Daniel 7:25)

The times are getting bad for Christians and they are going to get even worse. Since most of the world lives in spiritual darkness, including many who believe they are Christians, the world is under the power and authority of Satan, who the Bible calls "the god of this age". (2Corinthians 4:4) As such, these people willingly allow Satan to work through them to accomplish his diabolical will; to pervert the knowledge of God and deny the redemption He provided mankind through His Son Jesus Christ who willingly died on the Cross for the sins of the world. The devil's will also includes denying God's transcendent moral laws and commandments that condemn sins such as homosexuality. (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, 1Corinthians 6:9-11) 

Without repentance, that's a sin that brings eternal damnation. Proco Joe Moreno needs to think about that and he also needs to think about another sin called slander that brings eternal punishment in the fire of hell. Certainly, Christ provided atonement for these sins on Calvary's Cross, but only for those who willingly repent of them. For those who don't, they remain condemned in their sins, no matter how often they attend church and claim to follow Christ.