True, Bible-believing Christians will be coming under fire more and more, and true Christianity will become less and less tolerated as we get nearer to the return of Christ for the Church. True Christianity must be snuffed out in this world for the Antichrist to take power and be worshiped like Christ tells us he will be.
TBN is just a cog in the wheel of the ongoing stage-setting and fulfillment of Bible prophecy leading up to the appearance of the Antichrist and the seven-year Tribulation.
None of this is the least bit surprising.
**We are living in the days of the Laodicean church; the days of 2 Timothy 4:3.**
Well....yes, but I believe all seven Spirits of God are present in the world right now.
“..in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man....”. Rev. 1:13
“..the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.” Rev. 1:20
“..seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God”. 4:5
“..seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” 5:6
The messages to the ‘seven churches’ are written in an order that MIGHT appear to mirror the condition of the church as a whole through the centuries. But the Word simply indicates that the ‘lamps’ (’candlesticks’, ‘eyes’) are all burning at the same time.
I believe you could find any one of the seven Spirits of God somewhere on this earth right now. For instance: I think that ‘Smyrna’ could not only be the Spirit found in reach of Nero’s Rome, but also today where Christians are ‘underground’ in areas controlled by Islamic extremists.
I would have to say that ‘Laodicea’ seems very dominant in ‘western’ civilizations today. Very sad. But all seven have the requirement to ‘overcometh’. So the test of faithfulness is different, but requires overcoming tests/trials/temptations.