BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED
BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Matthew 5:10-12
June 30, 2019
Pastor Ralph Morris
Matthew 5:10-12 (NASB)
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
This one seems to fit with the scripture that you’ve been looking at from the very beginning of each of the previous B-Attitudes.
In order to really set the stage for these B-Attitudes, you have to look back into the previous chapter to understand why Jesus used these 8 principles as His introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 4:16-17 (NASB)
16 “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- We’re at the end of this series and the question that stands before us is; “what have we learned so far?”
1) Only Those Who Come Up Broken Ever Get To Experience God In Their Day To Day Living.
2) Only Those Who Come Up Broken and Then Learn To Mourn Come Up Comforted And Peaceful.
3) Only After You Have Experienced Mourning Will You Become Meek Which Will In Turn Will Experience Confidence, Humility, And Power Under Control.
4) Once You’re Settled With Who You Are In Christ, You Come Up Hungry And Thirsty For God.
5) Once You’ve Experienced Mercy, You Will Desire To Show It To Others.
6) Once All These Things Have Happened In Your Life, You Find Yourself Wanting More Than Anything To Be Pure In Heart.
7) Finally, After All This Is Realized, You Will Become An Advocate Of Truth Above All Else.
Those are the first seven B-Attitudes summarized. I hope that as you’ve come to understand them, you’ve been blessed.
All 7 of them, up to this point, have been very encouraging and inspiring because of the progression of each of them applied in our lives.
So, what happens next? What do we do with this foundation of faith that the Lord’s taught us in the first 7?
Remember what I said early on about how each B-Attitude leads us into the next one? This one is not different.
This new lifestyle that is created by the application of these principles will now invoke persecution into our lives that often comes from places that will hurt us the most.
Doesn’t sound like much fun does it? But in a very real sense, that’s really what happens.
But as we begin to apply these principles to our lives, we find ourselves in the minority having to deal with being criticized for our faith.
Jesus is simply warning us here of a common response from those who remain in darkness.
I want to take you for a moment to a very familiar passage of scripture;
John 3:16-21 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
As ridicules as it seems, many will reject or ignore the salvation that Christ has come to provide to those living in this dark world.
They will do so because the darkness has become so familiar to them that it becomes their normal and they’re blinded to the consequences.
If you had a fatal disease and all you had to do was take medicine, what would keep you from taking it?
But yet the fact remains, that many around us have something that is very terminal and they don’t even realize it.
We’re well aware of the friends and family members that we have that will never see heaven because they either reject the truth or they choose to simply ignore it.
Yet as we attempt to speak truth into their lives, we find ourselves dealing with the ramifications of doing so.
Remember your lesson last week; there is a price to pay for answering the call to be a peacemaker and speak the truth.
It’s not Jesus’ intent to scare us or paint a gloomy picture here as to what it will be like for those that desire to live for Him but He wants us to understand that at times, we will suffer for it.
He’s wanting to warn us about the consequences of living out the full realization of these B-Attitudes.
When You Embrace The Life That Jesus Intends For Us, You Will Be Compelled To Live Life Right Out In The Open For Christ.
That will in turn bring with it the cost. When you know what you know to be true, you can’t be dissuaded.
For certain, the world doesn’t associate happiness with;
• Brokenness
• Mourning
• Meekness
• Righteousness
• Mercy
• Biblical Purity Of Heart
• Holy Peacemaking
But when you throw “Persecution” into the mix, well they have already checked out on you and classified you as a nut case.
I want to pose a question to you this morning and then provide the answer;
Question: “Who Would Be Willing To Choose A Lifestyle That Results In Insults, Misunderstandings, Unequal Treatment, And Possibly Physical Harm?
Answer: Those Who Would Choose This Lifestyle Are Those Who Have Come To Understand There Is No Other Hope In All Of This World Apart From Following Christ!
This reality is that those who live by the first 7 B-Attitudes will, from time to time, experience the 8th.
Let’s look at some of what we can expect;
2 Timothy 3:12 (NASB)
12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Romans 8:16-17 (NASB)
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Philippians 1:28-30 (NASB)
28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.
29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
James 4:4 (NASB)
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
1 John 2:15-17 (NASB)
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
28. The things that the world holds to and lives by are not the things that we can adopt for our lives.
- If we do, then we are no different from the world and the world would gladly accept us.
If We Reject The Ways Of The World And Hold To Holiness, You Can Be Certain, You Will Be Persecuted At Some Level.
The times in which we will deal with persecution isn’t something that’s constant.
Jesus had many peaceful times throughout His life and much of the time during His life, He was surrounded by people that loved and admired him.
But there were also those that rejected his message and hated him for what He stood for.
Jesus Wants Us To Know That As We Live An Uncompromising Lifestyle In Front Of The World, We Will Face Opposition.
- Let’s go to scripture and take a look at the dichotomy that exists within our culture;
2 Timothy 3:1-17 (NIV)
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,
7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth–men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,
11 persecutions, sufferings–what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
34. When you look at these two different groups of people, you have to know that there will arise conflict from them sharing the same society.
When we speak truth to a man living with a woman rather than marrying her, you can be assured that there will be push-back.
When we raise our voice against all forms of sexual immorality such as adultery, homosexuality, and all forms of sex outside of marriage, you can be assured you will get push-back.
But if you want to avoid persecution, there is a way;
• Live As The Rest Of The World Does,
• Laugh At It’s Jokes,
• Stand Silent When The Truth Of God’s Word Is Mocked Or Ignored,
• And No Matter What, Never Mention Jesus.
The problem here is that this is known as sham Christianity.
But know this, Jesus doesn’t take lightly the faithlessness or cowardly behavior of His followers;
Luke 9:26 (NASB)
26 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
We Can’t Live In This World And Not Be Affected By It But Heaven Have Mercy On Us If We Live In It And Make No Attempt To Speak The Truth!
- When you know who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you can’t be silent. But your voice in a fallen world will come with a price.
Take-Away: Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:13-17 (ESV)