Blessed are those who are Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake (Part 3)

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Matthew 5:10–12 ESV

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sermon

** Start Timer **

Pre-Amble

Kingdoms in Conflict

The Long War against God

The Hallmark

Qualifications:

“for Righteousness’ sake”

"Falsely”

“Because of Me”

Masters and Servants

Matthew 5:11 ESV

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Blessed are “you” (previously “those”)

“When”

Jesus was persecuted...

John 1:10–11 ESV

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

Forseen...

Isaiah 53:3 ESV

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Jesus was accused of:

Being a Glutton and a Drunkard (Matt 11:19)

Being a Samaritan and Demon Possessed (John 9:34)

Blapheming (Matt 9:3)

They even took up stones to stone him (John 8:59 & 10:31)

Eventually was arrested on a trumped-up charge, condemned by a corrupt court, mocked, spat on and tortured before being stripped naked and put on a cross (cruellest form of execution that had ever been devised).

Jesus taught...

John 15:18–20 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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. 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 also keep yours.

The world has not great difficulty in accepting generally decent moral standards, but t cannot stomach the blasing rightouesness of Christ reflected in Christians

The Beatitudes for Today Master and Servants

As the English preacher Thomas Scott put it nearly 200 years ago, ‘The wicked hate the holy image of God and those who bear it; his holy truth and those who profess and preach it; his holy law and those who stand up for its obligations and authority; his holy ordinances and those who attend on them.’

Jesus provided three Qualifications of those who would know God’s assurance in persecution

“for Righteousness’ sake”

“Falsely”

“Because of Me”

The Bible could not be clearer on the point...

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

desire - determination to carry the desire through to completion

The biggest mistake is to try and fit comfortably into the world’s style and standards

You are not called to be popular but rather pure

John 3:20 ESV

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

The world can withstand any amount of wishy washy religion

It cannot stand genuine, biblical Christianity any more than it could stand its founder.

Cain killed Abel because Abel’s offering found favour with God (Gen 4:8)

Today, the pure gospel of the grace of God remains anathema

not only to the blatantly godless but to countless sects and cults

to hard-line Roman Catholicism which insists that man must contribute to his own salvation

and to liberalism, which robs the Bible of its authority, Christ of his deity, his miracles of their integrity and his substitutionary death of its efficacy

Some of the hardest persecution to cope with is from Professing Christians

Pastors being thrown out of Churches for proclaiming the Gospel teaching (their own or visiting)

Persecution includes:

Teenagers facing derision from their friends

Work colleagues giving the cold-shoulder

Discrimination from employers

Faithful Businessmen being short-changed by those who take advantage of their meekness

Young believers being misunderstood or maligned by their parents

All share in the promised Jesus makes in the beatitude

A Passion Unbecoming

“Those who are persecuted” in Greek is rendered as a passive perfect participle and has not exact equivalent in English

The phrase provides a sense of something that is contsantly occuring

It also carries the inference that there is to be no retaliation by those being persecuted

Christians should never provoke opposition

Nor welcome it with foolish bravado

Nor retaliate in kind or seek revenge

Latvian young man, after working in the fields, was whipped each night by his father when you refused to recant his faith

The Beatitudes for Today ‘… A Passion Unbecoming …’

‘I prayed to God to help me bear the pain without resentment. And while I lay on the floor being whipped I would think of those who had laid down their lives for the faith and say, “Thank you, Lord, for allowing me the privilege of this small sacrifice”.’

He was a powerfully built young man and could easily have prevented his father from laying a finger on him or retaliated violently when he did.

The Beatitudes for Today ‘… A Passion Unbecoming …’

John Calvin called revenge, ‘a passion unbecoming to the children of God’

Revenge is out of kilter with the example given by Jesus

1 Peter 2:23 ESV

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Those who suffer for Christ should pray for grace to submit to it

** Blessing attaches to the presecution **

Faith and Friction

Blessing attaches to the presecution

“Prosperity Gospel” heresy

Teaches health, wealth and other material benefits are available ‘on tap’ for God’s people

‘Name it and claim it’ - All they have to do is bring their need to God and ‘claim’ the appropriate blessing

It has no biblical basis

Nor can we ‘claim’ deliverance from persecution or pressure which may come to us as Christians

Such teaching drags us away from a biblical perspective

Contrary of Jesus’ teaching

** 2 Slides

The Beatitudes for Today Faith and Friction

Sinclair Ferguson points out: ‘Instead of delivering us from our fascination with this world, such teaching only immerses us further in it. We fall into the error of taking material prosperity as the ultimate mark of God’s blessing, whereas Jesus tells us that the marks of God’s blessing are poverty of spirit, mourning for sin and persecution for the sake of righteousness.’

Return...

Matthew 5:10–12 ESV

Far from being something from which we should ‘claim deliverance’

Jesus points to it as a token of God’s Blessing

As incomprehensible as it may seem to unbelievers, persecution is a special favour which God grants to His People

Philippians 1:29 ESV

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

Granted, comes from the Greek word Charis (Grace)

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

There is no atoning value in persecution, not even the death of the martyrs (unlike the claim in Islam)

Just as Jesus suffered for the cause of righteousness, so his followers should expect to do so

When honesty, purity and integrity are at stake, so is Christ’s name

There is no honour equal to that of standing in for Christ and standing up for him against all the oppisition of a cynical and sceptical world

The Beatitudes for Today Faith and Friction

Alec Motyer confirms: ‘The suffering which comes to a Christian as a Christian, far from being evidence of divine forgetfulness, as we in our easy rebellion often understand it, is rather “sign, omen and proof” of the reality of the work of grace.’

Rejoice and be Glad

Matthew 5:12 ESV

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

“Glad” (agalliasthe) meaning to exult (extreme happiness or elation)

leaping for joy

Luke 10:21 ESV

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

Acts 16:34 ESV

Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

1 Peter 1:8 ESV

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

Jesus says that those who are persecuted are blessed ‘because theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ and that when his followers are insulted, persecuted and slandered they are to rejoice ‘because great is your reward in heaven’

We enter the kingdom of heaven at the point of conversion

It is not a joy that put on ‘hold’ until they die, but something we experience here and now as members of God’s eternal kingdom

Reasons for Rejoicing

1) Identifies them with Christ

Encouragement

1 Peter 4:12–14 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Apostles were flogged by orders of the Sanhedrin for preaching the Gospel...

Acts 5:41 ESV

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

John Wesley in his diary tells of an open air service held at Moorfields, in London, wrote ‘I was honoured by having stones, dirt, rotten eggs and pieces of dead cats thrown at me’

Only his identification with Christ could turn these missles into medals

2) Identifies them with the Prophets

James wrote to the churches to look to the prophets...

James 5:10–11 ESV

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

3) Strengthens their assurance of salvation

** Previously read

John 15:18–19 ESV

The world cannot tolerate the idea God has a chosen people, and they are enraged when God’s people refuse to conform to the world’s standards

The Beatitudes for Today Reasons for Rejoicing

In John Calvin’s words, ‘Persecutions are in a way seals of adoption to the children of God.’

The persecution of those who seek to live godly lives in a godless world is a sign of their salvation, evidence of their election

Far from being a cause of depression, this should be a cause for delight, because ...

The Beatitudes for Today Reasons for Rejoicing

Don Carson says, ‘Their suffering under persecution, which has been prompted by their righteousness, becomes a triumphant sign that the kingdom is theirs.’

4) Helps them to grow in grace

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

All the pressures faced by Christians should be seen as instruments in God’s hands intended for the believers blessing

** 3 slides

The Beatitudes for Today Reasons for Rejoicing

D Edmond Hiebert makes the point well: ‘James was not inculcating a stoic resignation, which when engulfed by trials wears a forced smile and seeks to ignore the pain. Rather, James is calling for a positive attitude towards trials which he views as opportunities, under God’s grace, for growth and development in the Christian life. Christian faith must apprehend that beneficial results are to be derived from such experiences and so accept them as occasions for rejoicing.’

Romans 5:1–4 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Suffering drives the believer to Christ and makes him more sconsciously dependent of the Grace of God

He grows in his knowledge of Scripture

Suffering gives him greater vision of the purposes of God in his life

No Christian invites pressure, suffering or persecution, not does he ever find these things enjoyable

Psalmist sums it up well...

Psalm 119:71 ESV

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

5) Opens a door for the gospel

Paul wrote from prison..

Philippians 1:12–13 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

What has happened to me

false accusations

insults

malicious misrepresentation

floggings

stonings

imprisonments

death threats

Yet he could look back and on all of these things and rejoice that they ‘served to advance the Gospel’

No cirumstances in the believers life are accidental or incidental, but are ordained by God to serve his eternal purposes

The Victors Song

‘Great is your reward in heaven’

Matthew 5:12 ESV

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

There is a great different in ‘weight’ between the Christian’s present persecution and his future glory...

James 1:12 ESV

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Peter emphasizes the reason...

1 Peter 4:13 ESV

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Future flory was a major motivation in the life of Moses...

Hebrews 11:24–26 ESV

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

Author of Hebrews gives God’s people aan even greater example to encourage them to persevere...

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Beatitudes for Today The Victor’s Song

Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, ‘By thus persecuting you the world is just telling you that you do not belong to it, that you are a man apart; you belong to another realm, thus proving the fact that you are going to heaven.’

Nothing that has ruined man’s life on earth will be allowed to do so in heaven

Revelation 7:15–17 ESV

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

In 1858 a young American clergyman by the name of Dudley Tyng died as the result of an accident on his parents’ farm. In his last words to his father he asked him to tell all his fellow ministers to ‘stand up for Jesus’. A few days after his death, one of his closest friends, fellow minister George Duffield, wrote a poem based on Tyng’s last words. Duffield’s poem eventually became a well-known Christian hymn, and the exhortation and encouragement of its closing lines provide the perfect climax to our study of the Beatitudes.

Hymn - Stand up, stand up for Jesus (890)

Closing Prayer

Doxology

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