Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth. – Isaiah 43:5,6
There is a people to be gathered in, and we are to be the agents in gathering them. Fear not, saith the Lord, though thou walkest through the fire in fulfilling My mission. God speaks to the north, “Give up;” and to the south, “Keep not back. Bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth.” But the manner of Egypt is repeated again. The monarch said, “I will not let them go.” Jealousy is stirred. The fire burns: the coals thereof have a vehement flame. And they that come forth from the bondage of this world must walk through the fire, even as those that came forth from Egypt had to pass through water. The fire of prophecy is no poetic fiction; it is real fire. It will burn. If it doth not burn the believer, it is not for want of energy, it is because some supernatural restraint is laid on it, or some supernatural protection vouchsafed to the saint. My brethren, the Church has had very painful experience that persecution is a fire which does burn. How many ministers of Christ, when the day of tribulation came, forsook their flocks and fled…Too many have forsaken the Church as Demas forsook Paul. Their piety would not stand the fire, they could walk with Christ in silvery slippers, but they could not go barefoot; they had no objection whatever to accompany Him to His throne, but they had some slight difficulties about going with Him to His cross; they would not mind bearing the weight of His glory, but the weight of the cross of tribulation was much too great for their constitutions. Persecution is a fire which does burn…We must walk through the fire. We who are God’s witnesses must stand in its very midst, to pour the streams of living water upon the burning fuel, and if not able to quench it, at least we must strive to prevent its spread.
He Hath Said 
What Spurgeon is talking about here tells much about his thoughts for the Church. We are not of this world God’s will according to Jesus prayer in John 17 is that we not be taken out of the world, because in keeping with God’s overall desire for us and the world is that we would be a witness, and that all would come to belief. Of course, God who knows the end from the beginning, also knew and told us that the world would overwhelm most of the human race with its temptations. He also knew that many, who have professed Christ will not be able to stand against the Satanically inspired persecutions, which here Spurgeon calls Fire Fire Fire. The fiery darts of the Devil require Gods whole Armor. Ephesians chapter 6 tells us that.
Some believers think that the death as suffered by “left behind believers” is going to be more severe than the death suffered by first century believers. Do you not know that the fire of persecution is just that: God is always with the believer through the persecution fire. Should we flee Him to save our life He will not be there for any who descend into the fires of hell. We are told to pray that we may escape what is coming upon this earth. It will test every man. Believers will escape Much as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tested and escaped. Many will escape in death. We are already seeing this occur in Africa and the Middle East. Pray for the persecuted Church. Jp
LikeLiked by 1 person