Blessed are Those Who are Persecuted for Righteousness Sake

Preached on Mary 2, 2014 at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5. Today we are at the end of our journey through the Beatitudes. I hope it has been as beneficial to you as it has been for me. These 8 simple statements are jam packed with truth and grace and challenge, and hopefully it has transformed your thinking and your heart all for the glory of God, and also for your good. Let us began by reading the entire section, then we will pray and ask for God's guidance, and then we will see what God has prepared for us today.

• Matthew 5:2-12 – “And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
  
  

Our focus today is verse 10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.” To start, I think it is helpful to understand where we have come from to understand where we are going.

As I have stated over and over again, the beatitudes are supernatural, meaning that these are not qualities that the natural man can produce in his life. It takes the work of the Spirit of God to produce these things. In our Sunday School class, this week we saw the that our book describe the beatitudes as the “ethics of the Kingdom,” for these are the qualities that one should observe when looking at a citizen of Heaven. It is the work of God in our lives that cause us to be poor in spirit, mourn over our sin, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, and have a pure in heart. The unbeliever does not have any of these qualities that Christ is describing in his opening remarks of the Sermon on the Mount.

Last week we unpacked verse nine, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” It is at this point that Jesus makes a switch, for his text begins to turn the focus away from a Christian's character and to the world. For a peacemaker is one who desires to go out into the war of this world and make peace in the hearts of the lost. They desire to be like Paul and go from city to city making peace, by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, an interesting thing happens when a Christian does this. IN the midst of attempting to make peace, a war is declared against him or her. A peacemaker is not welcomed with open arms. Instead verse 10 tells us that a Christian is reviled, lied about, and persecuted. We saw this last week when we examined what it looked like to go and make peace. Paul had proclaimed the Gospel in Lystra and they stoned him until they thought the killed him. Paul in an attempt to make peace between God and man, through the proclamation of the Gospel, created a significantly strong reaction to the point they wanted him dead. Jesus, in Matthew 5:10-12, tell us that this is standard operating procedure. This is just how it works.

• Step 1: God makes you a disciple through someone sharing the Gospel with you.
  
  
• Step 2: You then display the characteristics of a disciple.
  
  
• Step 3: God sends you out to make more disciples by proclaiming the Gospel.
  
  
• Step 4: Disciples are made and you are also hated for it.  
  
  

First of all, I love that Jesus does not hide the ball from us. I love that He does not sugar coat what it means to be His follower. He tells us flat out what we are to expect. He is not a God of bait and switch. He is a God of truth. If I were going to make up a religion, I would leave sections like this out. Not only did Jesus not leave this out, he repeated it over and over again.

• Matthew 10:16 – “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, “
  
  
• Luke 21:12 – “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. “
  
  
• John 15:18-20 – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
  
  

Over and over and over again, Jesus warns his disciples that persecution is part of the package. It comes with the territory. If they hated Jesus, they will hate you. The question is why? Why would the world hate Christians? Why would the world hate people who follow Jesus? I think we have already answered this question in John 15, but I also think it is in our text for today.

In verse 10 Jesus says, “"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.” What does that mean, “righteousness sake?” I think the answer is one verse down? Take a look at verse 11.

• Matthew 5:11 – “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
  
  

Jesus, in verse eleven, almost repeats himself in regards to verse ten. He just changeds a couple of things. I believe he is saying the same thing as verse 10, but adding detail. Instead of saying just “persecuted,” he gives a picture of persecution: revile, persecute, utter all kinds of evil. Likewise, instead of saying “righteousness' sake” he states, “on my account.”

Therefore, I believe that for sake of righteousness and for the sake of Christ are synonymous. They are the same. This is crucial for us to understand right up front. The persecution that Jesus is talking about in verse ten that is “blessed” is not any type of persecution. It not persecution because you are rude. It is not persecution because you are insensitive. It is persecution that is due to following Jesus. Meaning when we are truly being His disciples, i.e. acting like, speaking like him, loving like him people will hate you for it. When we start displaying the image of Jesus in our daily lives we will be persecuted.

This still doesn't completely answer the question of why? It just deepens it to an extent. The question is now, why does the world hate the image of Jesus. Why does the world hate the living display of righteousness that is found exclusively in Jesus? Because it reminds them of who they aren't.

• John 3:19-20 - “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.”

The world cannot stand the incarnate display of God's standard. It is too piercing. The judgment is too uncomfortable. So what do they do? The darkness attacks the light. From the moment Jesus was born, there was a hit put on him: Herod, his home town, the scribes, Pharisees, lawyers, Judas, Pontius Pilate, and the crowds who chanted crucify him, crucify him. They all wanted him dead. Why? Because the darkness hates the lights. It wants to extinguish it.

And now as Jesus stands on the side of the mountain, he tells his disciples, that it will also happen to them, and it does. Of the 12 disciples, minus Judas, who were sitting there listening, 100 percent of them were persecuted. Peter, Thomas, Philip, Andrew, Thaddeus, and Simon were crucified. Bartholomew was beaten with rods and then beheaded. James Son of Alpheaeus was clubbed to death. James son of Zebedee was executed by sword. Matthew was killed with a spear. The only one not to be killed was John and he was exiled to an Island so that they wouldn’t have to look at him, and it is believed that John was horribly scarred because they tried to kill him, but couldn’t.

This pattern of persecution was not exclusive to the 12. The first martyr was actually Stephen. His story is laid out in Acts 6 and 7. He was a disciple that was appointed to help the neglected widows. He is described as full of grace and power, and there was something about this grace and this power that enraged the people to the point that they stone him to death. Stephen's Spirit filled words caused such anger in the hearts of these men that they threw rocks as hard as they could so as to stop the heart of Stephen. Why? Because they could not stand seeing the image of Christ in Stephen’s life.

And then there is Paul. We saw a picture of his persecution last week when discussing peacemaking. Listen to Paul’s description of his life:

• 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 – “ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. “
  
  

Eventually Paul was executed, but the persecution did not stop there. There were others: Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, John Huss, William Tyndale, John Rogers, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and these are just the famous ones.

According to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, since the murder of Jesus, it is estimated that 70 million followers of Christ have been killed because of their faith. It is further estimated that 100,000 Christians die every year directly because of their faith in Christ, and it is believed that this number is on the rise in the world.

As I said, the proof is in the pudding. Jesus said it would happen, and it has played out exactly as he said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Paul put it very bluntly as he wrote to his young apprentice in 2 Timothy 3:12

• 2 Timothy 3:12 - “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” 
  
  

Persecution is a reality. If you live a godly life in Christ Jesus, it is inevitable, and this is why it is “blessed” this is why we can “rejoice” in the midst of it. As I have stated over and over again, the beatitudes are a mark of a true Christian. Persecution is no different. Persecution is a another way by which we know that we are in Christ; that the light of Christ is shining through us into this dark world.

This leads us to a point of self-examination for all of us. Are you being persecuted? Are people reviling you and uttering all kinds of evil against you falsely on Jesus’ account? If no, then why not? Is it because that God’s word is not true, or is it because of something else.

Let me throw some question out there for us, and I am putting myself right in the front of these questions. I struggle with these things as much as the next person. How many of us refuse to join in the gossip at the coffee shop? How many of us refuse to laugh at the dirty jokes? How many of us chose not to watch R rated movies? How many of us stand up for the unborn? How many of us stand up for a God designed marriage that glorifies Him? How many of us run to the person at work and pray with them when you hear they are going through a divorce? How many of us carry our Bible at all times so that at any moment we can encourage someone with God’s Word? How many of you have shared the gospel with your co-workers, classmates, neighbors, family, and strangers on the bus? How many of us invite people to church? How many of us move to Sudan?

It is no wonder that Satan hasn’t sent lions to devour us, we are no threat! We might as well be working for the enemy. Instead of letting our light shine, we are hiding under a bushel basket where no one can see it. This is why there is no persecution in our lives. We instead sit at home and watch Netflix. Is this what God saved us to do?

No, Jesus ransomed us to be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness in his marvelous light.

The problem is that when the world looks at some “Christians,” they are not enraged by the display of their righteous acts, for they do not see an image of Christ. Instead the world looks at “Christians” and sees an image of themselves.