GOSPEL MESSAGE: “Are You Prepared For Persecution?” | JP

Today’s message is titled, “Are You Prepared For Persecution?”

This is a topic that most American Christians don’t want to hear or talk about.

Deep inside, we all have a fear of being mistreated—especially by family and friends.

But Jesus told us that this would happen.

After I committed my life to the Lord, He brought a beautiful blonde‑haired, blue‑eyed girl into my life.

The first night I met her, the Lord spoke to me and said, “This girl is going to be your wife.”

I was overwhelmed and amazed.

I sat in my car afterward, completely dumbfounded, thinking I must be crazy.

Why would this beautiful young lady want to be with someone like me?

I had asked her for her phone number but waited over two weeks to call her.

She’d never had a guy ask for her number and then not call.

As time went by, both of us knew we were meant to be wed.

However, the enemy did not want our union.

Her parents—and many of our friends—turned against us, spreading terrible lies that she must be pregnant.

The truth was simply that we fell in love and desired to serve the Lord together forever.

Now, almost forty‑three years later, we’ve been happily married.

But we must remember Jesus’s warning: persecution will come.

It has crossed my path many times—I’ve been treated unfairly and unjustly on many occasions.

Jesus even said a man’s enemies will come from his own household and that no prophet is honored in his own home or hometown.

That is not easy to hear.

In today’s teaching, we will dive deeply into the subject of persecution:

What good can come from persecution?

How do we prepare ourselves if it comes to our doorstep?

In every situation, we must look to God’s Word and be strengthened by His promises.

His Word is truth and light in darkness.

May you be encouraged and strengthened in your walk with the Lord as you listen to this message.

I hope it ministers to your heart and soul.

Thank you for continuing your prayers for President Trump and for the leaders he’s chosen to help make America great again.

I also want to give a shout‑out to Noah for doing a great job bringing us daily news updates.

I’ve trusted him since 2015—when President Trump first announced his bid for the White House.

It’s almost been ten years!

Go Trump!

Pastor Robb Goodman
Senior Pastor, Zion Freedom Fellowship
Maryland, USA

Pastor Rob Goodman:

Good day everyone. My name is Pastor Rob Goodman and I’m the senior pastor here at Zion Freedom Fellowship in Maryland in the good old United States of America. Praise be to God.

You know the Lord is so good, isn’t He? He’s so, so very good.

I meant to record this message — well, I did record it last Saturday — and I spoke it in church on Sunday. Today is actually Thursday, March 20th, the first day of spring. Praise be to God for that.

I’m very grateful to share this message because when I went to record it, the message completely deleted. That’s not a good thing. The enemy tries to ruin and interfere with our messages, but glory be to God — he cannot overcome. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony, and we love not our lives even to the point of death. Amen.

Jesus Christ destroyed and conquered death. We are in Him and He is in us, and there is no death in us. Death has no place in you — it’s been defeated. I’m talking about death of the spirit. Our natural bodies die because of sin and God’s appointed time, but our spirit and soul live forever. If we pass before Jesus returns, our bodies will be resurrected. Nothing is impossible for God. Jesus said there is nothing impossible to God, and nothing impossible to those who believe.

Right now our faith is being tested and tried. You and I are called to walk in the presence, the Spirit, and the glory of God. When Jesus rose from that tomb, He rose with an incorruptible, eternal body. He lives and sits upon the throne of righteousness in heaven — and soon He’s coming again to earth.

Today’s message is on a very important subject: Are you prepared for persecution? We all will face it. You may not be persecuted now — I have friends and pastors in Muslim‑majority countries where Christians are under two percent of the population. You can imagine the persecution there. I’m not speaking of every Muslim, but of radical extremists. God is greater than them, and He has kept our brothers and sisters there.

We don’t have that level of persecution yet in America — but that day will come. You and I must be prepared and ready for it. Amen.

So: Are you ready? Are you prepared for persecution? We’re going to look at scripture, starting in Matthew 23. Get your Bibles ready, and let us pray before we dive into the Word of God.

Pastor Rob Goodman:

Heavenly Father, I praise You and thank You that You are the God of the living, not the God of the dead. You are Almighty — nothing is too difficult for You. You are omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, and You are our God.

We’ve been adopted into the family of Jesus Christ by His blood, by His sacrificial offering on the cross. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. Praise be to God: we are now free from sin. That doesn’t mean we won’t sin — our flesh still has the capacity — but our spirit has been redeemed, and our soul is being redeemed in a lifelong process.

Help us understand the difference between spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Keep us blameless until Jesus returns.

Lord, pour out Your Word through me for Your glory, honor, and purpose. Let Your name — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — be glorified. Have full sway over me; I yield my thoughts, lips, and every word. May this message be planted in good soil, bringing forth fruit one hundred, sixty, thirty fold according to Your will.

Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” So let Your Word flow. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Matthew 23:

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say and do not do. They bind heavy burdens hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

All their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men.

But you — do not be called Rabbi; for one is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for one is your Father, He who is in heaven. Also do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ Foolish and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

“And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated.’ Foolish and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

“Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. And he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

“Blind guides, strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self‑indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt! Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

“Therefore indeed I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

“Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

“See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Pastor Rob Goodman:

Why did the Pharisees and Sadducees persecute Jesus and His followers? Because Jesus spoke directly into their hearts, exposing their religiosity and vanity. Their response was anger and hatred—some even plotting to kill Him.

When you preach righteousness for Jesus’ sake, don’t be surprised if people turn against you. Jesus warned, “If they hated Me, they will hate you.” (John 15:18–20)

Persecution will come as it did to Jesus. He said, “When they revile and persecute you, rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

Believers are salt and light (Matthew 5:13–14). Salt that loses flavor is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled. Light isn’t hidden under a basket—it shines for all. Let your righteous deeds glorify God.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7–12, Paul writes that though hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, we are not crushed, despairing, forsaken, or destroyed. Death works in us, but life through Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh.

In 1 Corinthians 4:11–13, Paul describes hunger, thirst, homelessness, beatings, being treated as the world’s refuse—all for Christ’s sake. Yet he calls the Corinthians beloved children, warning them against loving the world’s comforts.

Acts 22 recounts Paul’s own persecution. As Saul, he bound Christians and consented to Stephen’s death—until Jesus confronted him on the Damascus road. “Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 22:7) Jesus commissioned Paul to witness to Gentiles despite hostility.

Persecution often precedes revival. History shows God using hardship for spiritual awakening:

• First Great Awakening (1730s–40s)
• Second Great Awakening (1790s–1840s)
• Businessmen’s Revival (1857–58)
• Welsh Revival (1904–05)
• Azusa Street Revival (1906)
• Jesus Movement (1960s–70s)
• Confederate Army Revival (1863)

Even in dire circumstances—wounded soldiers, blocked supplies—God brought revival. Persecution can catalyze awakening.

If you face persecution, know God protects you until He calls you home. Martyrs receive a great reward.

If you do not know Jesus, pray:

Heavenly Father, I believe You raised Jesus from the dead. I receive Him now as my Lord and Savior. Cleanse me by His blood. Come into my heart, Jesus. I belong to You. Amen.
Email me at [email protected] if you prayed that prayer. I’m Pastor Rob—thank you for listening. Commit your life to the Lord and watch what He will do.

God bless you. Great is our God! Have a wonderful day in Jesus’ name. Amen.