Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Blessed are they that are Persecuted; Matthew 5:10-11
Dec 11th, 2011
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational;Book Study

Matthew 5:10-11, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."

2 Timothy 3:12, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

A story is told by an unknown writer who said, "I saw in a dream that I was in heaven, though how I got there I could not tell. I was one of a great multitude that no man could number. There were those from all countries and people and times and ages. I found that the saint next to me had been in heaven for 1900 years."

"Who are you?" I said to him. He answered, "I was a Roman Christian in the days of the apostle Paul." He said, "I was one of those who died in Nero's persecutions, I was covered with pitch and fastened to a stake and set on fire to light up Nero's gardens."

"How awful," I exclaimed, "no" he said, "I was glad to suffer for Jesus, He died on the cross for me."

The man on the other side then spoke, "I have been in heaven only a few hundred years. I came from an island in the south seas called Erromanga."

"John Williams, a missionary came and told me about Jesus and I learned to love Jesus. My fellow countrymen killed the missionary, and they caught me and bound me. I was beaten until I fainted. The next day they clubbed me and cooked me and ate me."

"How terrible," I exclaimed, "no" he answered, "I was glad to die as a Christian, you see the missionaries told me how Jesus was crucified and died for me."

Then they both turned to me and said, "What did you suffer for Him?"  “Or perhaps you sold all that you possessed to give the money to send missionaries like John Williams?"

The unknown writer went on to say that, "Then I was was speechless."

And while they were looking on me I awoke and it was a dream.

"As I lay on my bed, I realized I did not know what the words of Jesus meant when He said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me."

Somehow in our generation we have lost the essence of what Christianity is.

OUTLINE

1 - The Portrait of the Believer.

2 - The Persecution of the Believer.

3 - The Posture of the believer.

4 - The Promise to the Believer.

1 - The Portrait of the Believer

In the eight qualities that Jesus presents in Matthew 5:1-12, we have a portrait of the true, genuine believer. Let us review that portrait.

1 - Verse 3, "Poor in Spirit." Here we have a man that recognizes his sin and understands that he is morally and spiritually bankrupt.

2 - Verse 4, "Mourn." His sin breaks his heart.

3 - Verse 5, "Meek." As a result he yields his will to the will of God and to the Word of God.

4 - Verse 4, "Hunger and thirst." He seeks God with his whole heart.

5 - Verse 7, "Merciful." He is conscience of his own sin and failure so that he is not taken by surprise when others sin and fail, and he can forgive.

6 - Verse 8, "Pure in heart." The people who possess these first five qualities find that their lives get cleaned up. They find themselves living a life that pleases God.

7 - Verse 9, "Peacemakers."  Those who have practised and possessed the first 6 qualities have made peace with God themselves. They are thus enabled to help others to make peace with God.

8 - Verse 10-12, "Persecuted." Why does this type of person ever suffer persecution? Let’s look back at the first 7 characteristics.

A - When you first came to Christ you expressed these characteristics in a very minimal way.  You had to come to God with a broken spirit, with a mourning over sin, with a spirit of meekness and humility before God, you came hungering and thirsting for God. You also had to have a sincere heart desiring to make peace with God.

If these attitudes existed, however minimally, you entered into God's kingdom. This is a spirit of repentance that is required by God for him to provide salvation by grace through faith. These attitudes are the very essence of the new nature that God gives to the sinner who comes to Him by faith.

B - Now these should bloom and progress until they become more than minimal. They should become the dominant characteristics of your life.

C - When this happens the eighth beatitude will always happen. Persecution will follow. Righteousness must always be tested.

2 - The persecution of the Believer

I Peter 4:12-13, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

1 Peter 5:10, "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."

Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation."

Why must we have persecution? We must have persecution because the virtues of the beatitude character are intolerable to an evil world. That is why the world hates Christ. These qualities are the essence of His character.

The world cannot handle someone who is "poor in spirit," because the world lives in pride. The world lives in a state of self-promotion. The world cannot tolerate mourning over sinfulness. It wants to bypass sin and convince itself it is okay.

The world cannot tolerate meekness, it honours pride. The world cannot tolerate someone who knows he is nothing and seeks something that cannot be earned.

The world knows little about mercy, and little about purity, and little about making peace.

All of these characteristics run counter to this world's system, and inevitably bring antagonism and persecution from the people who do not respond to our message and to our lives. "In this world ye shall have tribulation."

The great exhibit of this truth is found in the Lord Jesus. There never was a more loving person or a greater peacemaker than our Lord. He was the most loving, magnanimous, gracious, kind and peaceful person who ever lived. Yet everywhere He went He created antagonism.

Why? Because He was righteous, everywhere He went He confronted unrighteousness by His life. He was truth, and everywhere He went, He confronted error.

To the degree that you fulfill the first 7 beatitudes, you will experience the eighth, persecution. When the world runs into true Christianity, there is always conviction, conflict, guilt, resentment and persecution.

Matthew 5:13, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

Salt when rubbed into a sore spot will sting. Our righteous lives will sting the conscience of the world.

This does not mean that every one of us is going to know constant persecution all of our lives. However, all who live righteously in this world, at some time or other, will know the rebuke of the cross.

We can escape if we want to be popular or famous or acceptable. We can perhaps go through our entire lives and never be persecuted. But at the last, will our Lord claim us as His own? Or will He say, "I never knew you?"

Here is the Formula

Accept the world's standards. Accept the world's morals and ethics, live like the world lives. Laugh at its jokes. Enjoy its entertainment. Smile when it mocks God. Let it take His name in vain. Don't tell people they are sinners. Don't tell people they are lost without Christ. And whatever you do, don't mention hell. I promise you, you will never be persecuted. You will be a good New Evangelical. You may be a Christian living in disobedience or you may not be a Christian at all.

Luke 9:26, "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels."

Luke 6:26, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

Christianity costs something. The world hates Jesus Christ and because we identify with Him, they reject us. The most common curse word in the entire world is the name of Jesus Christ. John 15:18-19, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."

Caution! Make sure you do not suffer for your own foolishness or rudeness or selfishness. That is not suffering for Christ.

3 - The Posture of the Believer

What should be our attitude in all of this?

Verse 12, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

"Rejoice." When you are misunderstood, or rejected, or reviled, or persecuted, "rejoice." Don't seek persecution (Jesus didn't). Be a peacemaker. Be kind and loving. But if it comes, rejoice. Rejoice means to be really glad.

There are two reasons to rejoice.

1 - "For great is your reward in heaven."  Remember the contrast: heaven is forever, persecution is but for a moment.

2 - "They persecuted the prophets which were before." The truth is that persecution for Christ's sake is an absolute confirmation that you are Christ's disciple.

4 - The Promise to the Believer

The promise is "Happiness," the ultimate happiness that God Himself enjoys.

Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

There is an eternal happiness that shall be ours in heaven. There is a joy and happiness in this life as well.

Mark 10:28-30, "Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."

This is a present fulfilment. If you asked Paul about that, he would say, "All over Greece and Rome there are homes that are open to me. There are tables that are open to me. There are hearts that are open to me. There are brothers and sisters who love me." Paul would say, "I am the richest man on earth."

Paul may have been the most hated man on earth in his day, but he also was the most loved.

One of the most inspiring examples of courage in persecution in the history of the church was a man named Polycarp who lived in the second century. Polycarp was burned at the stake for his faith in Christ. The aged Polycarp had been arrested by the Roman authorities. He was brought to the arena for execution in front of a cheering crowd. The proconsul pressed him hard and said, "Revile Christ and I will let you go."

Polycarp replied, "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me wrong, and how can I blaspheme my king who has saved me?"

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 Polycarp has now been in heaven for 1900 years, and the crowd in hell for 1900 years.

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