One of the most gripping observations as one looks around the world today is that there are more Christians living today under 24 hour a day threat of persecution than at any time in world history.

While persecution and the martyrdom of millions of Christians throughout the last 200 years has been staggering, the shear number of people alive today means that there are billions more people living under potential anti-Christ and anti-God tyranny.

How should we as believers in Jesus Christ consider the matter of persecution when God given rights are suspended for simply obeying what God says or sharing the gospel with others? How should we consider and respond to evil government orders? Should we just ignore them? Should we pretend that if we don’t think about it that we can pretend they aren’t real and won’t impact us? Should we seek to avoid persecution at all costs even if it might mean just a little bit of compromise on truth? Should we anticipate persecution and plan accordingly? What specifically does Jesus tell us about persecution?