Blessed are
Those Persecuted for Righteousness Sake
We have been looking at the Sermon on the Mount for a couple of months now – the Constitution of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We have been focusing on the Beatitudes and have been noticing that they are all about finding true peace, joy and contentment. We now arrive at the most challenging words in this great sermon in Matthew 5:10-12: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
A man joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. He was allowed to say two words every seven years. After the first seven years, the elders brought him in and asked for his two words. “Cold floors,” he said. They nodded and sent him away. Seven more years passed. They brought the monk back in and asked for his two words. He cleared his throat and said, “Bad food.” They nodded and sent him away. Seven more years passed. They brought him in for his two words. “I quit,” he said and began to walk away. “Well, that’s no surprise,” one elder said, “You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.” What seems a bit unfair to the monk hits close to home, doesn’t it? Complaining! We all do it; some constantly; others simply abandon the Lord because, they say, “The Christian life is too hard.”
Critical to spiritual stability is the cultivation of realistic expectations. Jesus taught the Twelve, and, by extension, all disciples, “Get ready!” John 15:18-20, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 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. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” When you decide to be a Christian, you need to know what comes with the territory.
Christians endure less in America today than ANY Christians ANYwhere have suffered perhaps since the church was established and yet, we murmur, we complain and some Christians even give up entirely when pressure comes. Well, Jesus has strong medicine for believers and potential believers this morning, but it is medicine we must take. This passage tests the genuineness of our faith. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.” More on the final beatitude, Blessed are the Persecuted, after our song...
A missionary in Brazil visiting a market town saw a sale sign in a store window advertising “Cheap crosses for sale.” Spiritually speaking, is that what we’re looking for – cheap crosses? By that I mean, do professing believers expect the Christian life to be a life with no sacrifice, no adversity, no cost, no pain? No such thing! Jesus’ disciples must walk the way of the cross.
If you are a Christian, are you willing to take the heat that comes from family and friends that comes from standing up for the truth? How are you dealing with the trials of life? If you become a Christian, how will YOU handle adversity? Will you become a disgruntled Christian? A discouraged Christian? An angry Christian? At times, Christians allow hardship in our personal lives to spill over into our
homes and congregations. We have to ask more of ourselves! The Great Physician offers the prescription for these ailments and attitudes with this eighth beatitude - the way of the cross.
This is a beatitude of perspective; it takes the question, “Should life be fair?” off the table. Do we need help with our perspective? Most of us do. I know I do! Let me offer a test to help you evaluate how healthy your perspective is. Which are you more worried about this week – the possibility of sinning or the possibility of suffering some form of hardship? Here’s a timely point: Imagine what kind of life we would be living if we were as diligent in avoiding sin as we were in avoiding disease and discomfort. The Hebrew writer issued a similar suggestion to the Jewish Christians staring persecution in the face in Hebrews 11:3-4, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.”
Think about how we pray; “Please give us a carefree, pain free life of ease and luxury. Grant us a lengthy life without sickness or sorrow and a peaceful time to die.” God is no Divine butler; He is no genie in a bottle. We get it backwards. God did not create us so He could be OUR servant. He created us to serve HIM! When God tells man what to do, he often rejects it or revises it, thinking, “That will do just fine. The Lord will just have to like it.” Meanwhile, man expects all of his requests to be granted immediately. Jesus was appalled! Luke 6:46, “But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?”
Do we really believe in the old rugged cross or has the 21st century church traded in the old rugged cross for a cross of gold? Among Jesus’ final words: “Remember... the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you...” And so, according to history, we see that James, the son of Zebedee was beheaded; James the Less was beaten, stoned and had his brains dashed with a club. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Simon, and Jude were crucified. Peter was crucified upside-down. Matthew was slain with a spear with an axe head. Matthias and Paul were stoned and beheaded. Stephen was stoned. Mark was dragged to pieces. Thomas was thrust through with a spear. Luke was hanged.
One writer describes the persecution of early Christians: “All the world knows of Christians flung to lions or burned at the stake; but these were kindly deaths. Nero wrapped Christians in pitch and set them aflame and used them as living torches to light his gardens. They were tortured on the rack; molten lead was poured upon them; red hot brass plates were put on the tenderest parts of their bodies; eyes were torn out, body parts cut off and roasted before their eyes; their hands and feet were burned while cold water was poured over them to lengthen the agony. These are unpleasant, but you had to be prepared for these if you took your stand with Christ.”
They counted the cost! They knew the price they’d have to pay and they were willing to pay it. What a contrast today when people almost have to be begged to assemble for worship, to pray, to study, meditate and share the word of God.
Suffering is highly controversial for American Christians. In fact, some see a lack of suffering and hardship as Divine approval. Prosperity preachers insist that when you walk by faith all your troubles
not only died ON a cross, He guaranteed a cross for all of us in Matthew 10:38, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
Is Jesus saying we should carry a cross around on our back or around our neck? No! Of course not! Some of the most ungodly, immoral men and women have cross tattoos, gold or silver crosses around their necks. How sad that genuine, heartfelt, to the bone Christianity has, at least with some, been replaced by trinket and tattoo Christianity. The Pharisees made “broad their phylacteries” on the outside (Matthew 23:5). Why? To compensate for what they lacked on the inside. We have to have something more than the shallow “honk if you love Jesus” bumper stickers and the “Praise the Lord” phone greeting. Jesus wasn’t talking about religious reenactments or religious trinkets, but realistic expectations of the world’s antagonistic response to righteous living.
Really, in this beatitude Jesus confronts me with this question: “Are you willing to pay the price?” We hurt the cause when we sand down and polish over the cross. Too many times, we camouflage the cross. We must tell the penitent sinner about the reproach of the cross. There is a cross to bear before there is a crown to wear.
I wonder, if Satan said of us what he said of Job, would he be right? The devil said, “No wonder Job serves you! Look at how you have insulated his life from trouble.”
Do we serve God only because our life has rolled along smoothly? Are you a fair weather Christian? Some quit the Lord, quit His church at the first sign of trouble. Oh, you teach your kids how to LIVE for Jesus, but do you teach them how to SUFFER for Jesus? Are we teaching them about the cross? As the gospel song asks, “Is Calvary real to me?” Am I making it real to my children?
Notice this beatitude is not hypothetical! Jesus does not say IF you are persecuted, but WHEN. This beatitude is about persecution preparation. The Spirit makes the same point in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and ALL who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” We find it restated in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but REJOICE to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, BLESSED are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
Let’s back up and notice what this beatitude does NOT say. It does not say, Blessed are the persecuted because they are obnoxious. It does not say, Blessed are the persecuted for they are arrogant and abusive with the gospel. We all suffer because of foolishness, for errors in judgment, even rudeness. If we look for trouble, we’ll find it, but it is NOT our own personal offensiveness, but the offence of the cross that brings the blessedness Jesus speaks of.
Peter does say that it is possible to suffer for the WRONG reason. “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him GLORIFY GOD in this matter” (1 Peter 4:15-16). Let’s make sure we suffer for doing right and glorify God in the process. Jesus says in
Matthew 10:16, “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be wise as serpent, harmless as doves.” Unfortunately, some professing Christians get that tangled up, being instead, “wise as doves, harmless as serpents!
Everyone suffers, but this beatitude is not for everybody. In fact, the Bible says in Proverbs 13:15 that the “way of transgressors is hard.” No blessing here! These verses DO say that those persecuted for righteousness’ sake are blessed. To be righteous means to be Christ-like: humble, holy, and
submissive. Those blessed are those persecuted for being like Christ. Look at 1 Peter 3:14-16, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you ARE blessed. ‘And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.’ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that WHEN they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”
Why does the world despise the genuine Christian? The true Christian rejects the compromises the world pressures him to make. This resistance annoys some and angers others. Those most disturbed retaliate against the Christian. Some of the greatest persecutions have been by some claiming to be Christians. Check out the Inquisition, the Bartholomew massacre and Michael Servetus. The
Christian, though, must retain his resolve to do right come what may.
Jesus taught the way of the cross in Mark 8:35 as well, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake AND the gospel's will save it.” This may come as a surprise to some. “What? LOSE my life?” We fuss about losing a night’s sleep. We fume about missing out on the ball game or the latest fashion “for His sake.” Some have only the clothes on their back while some Christians are distraught about limited closet space. While we worry about awkward moments in reaching out to the lost, many in the past and in foreign countries have been beaten senseless for sharing the gospel. Something is wrong with this picture.
Christians in America have it good. We can be thankful for that, but we need to be prepared for persecution and endure it, when it comes, like Jesus did “for the joy set before Him.” Again, Jesus was giving us the “heads up” in this beatitude so we would have realistic expectations. This is critical in empowering us to overcome the devil, the world, and the flesh.
During World War II, American journalist Cecil Brown analyzed the sinking of two British battleships. “There is always the danger of underestimating the enemy to the point you become overconfident. Figure him twice as good and twice as smart, then make preparations in advance.” Good counsel! We must expect Satan to unleash the big dogs on us, so to speak.
Realistic expectations help us walk the way of the cross victoriously. We are told how to respond in Philippians 1:28-29, “not in any way terrified by your adversaries...For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, (more to being a Christian than believing, you see) but also to suffer for His sake...” King George V wrote on the Bible of a friend, “The secret of happiness is not to do what you like to do, but to learn to like what you have to do.”
Some forms of persecution are mild; some are severe. We may be more vulnerable to the more subtle forms because we see more clearly the implications of the severe. Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” Luke 6:22, “Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.”
We can expect to be reviled--verbally abused, insulted or ridiculed for standing up for Jesus on salvation, worship, morals and doctrine. Jesus singles out people saying, “all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” I can take the insults and the name calling, but it is awful hard to “rejoice” (or “leap for joy” – Luke 6:23) when someone spreads lies against you.
We have it easy, though, compared to what other Christians have endured. John MacArthur writes, “The Romans trumped up charges that the Christians were cannibals from the words of Jesus to ‘eat my flesh and drink my blood.’ They accused the Christians of actually eating each other in their communion observances. They said their love feasts were immoral assemblies.... They slandered them for setting fires, blamed them for burning Rome and branded them revolutionaries. Because the Christians were always talking about God finally destroying the earth in fire (2 Peter 3:10), it was easy to blame them when the fire broke out. (MacArthur, 193)”
You will be slandered for faithfulness, but nothing compared to Christians in past eras.
Jesus says His disciples will be ostracized. “They will hate you and exclude you.” (Luke 6:22) You know you CAN hurt someone without inflicting physical pain or verbal abuse. The faithful Christian knows what it is like to be left out - to be shunned – because of his convictions.
How far are you prepared to go to show your devotion to God? Allow me to close with another quote from MacArthur’s book on the Beatitudes about Tertullian who lived in North Africa eighteen centuries ago. “We need more preaching like that. We need to tell people that God is calling them to a life contrary to the system of the world and that there will be a price to pay. It is going to affect what they do. It’s going to affect how they make their living. More than one hundred years after the sermon on the mount, a man came to Tertullian and said, ‘I have come to Christ, but I don’t know what to do. I have a job that I don’t think is right, but I have to live.’ To which Tertullian replied.... ‘Must you?’ MacArthur continues, “The only choice is loyalty to Jesus Christ, even to the point of death.” Jesus says in Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.” The way of the cross leads home!
We hope you will watch the program every Lord’s Day and then join us for worship at one of the congregations to follow. Request a free copy of #1293, “Blessed are the Persecuted” or our free six lesson Bible study course by mail. We close with the words the apostle Paul issued in Romans 16:16, “the churches of Christ salute you.” Until next week, goodbye and God bless!
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