Are Christians in a battle right now, and is persecution getting worse?
Yes. Believers are in a battle right now. Christianity worldwide is coming under ferocious attack, and persecution against Christians is rampant. This warfare is going to get worse, not better. Yet the battle will end at the trumpet call, when the victorious are taken home and changed.
Les teaches that Roman legionaries knew by trumpet call when a battle was over and they were going home to Italy and Rome. In the same way, he says believers are in a battle now, and even the press and Congress are waking up to Christianity worldwide being under ferocious attack. Persecution is rampant against Christians, using the full breadth of the term; it is warfare, and it will get worse. But the joy is the trumpet call: the battle is over, come home, we will be out of here, and as Paul says, we will be changed. He believes we are getting closer to that day.