Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted
An Upside Down Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsJesus makes it clear that if you live for Him you will face persecution but great is your reward in heaven.
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We are finishing up our series, “An Upside Down Kingdom.”
The past 7 weeks we’ve been going through the Beatitudes.
These are characteristics that followers of Jesus should live by.
Jesus started his sermon on the mount with these.
If you look at them you will see that there is a progression with these.
As we go along the beatitudes we see that we are starting to become more and more like Jesus.
Matthew 5:3-9 NIV “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
So we start by giving our lives to God and HUMBLING ourselves before Him and acknowledging that we are nothing without Him.
Then we recognize our sin and MOURN our sin which leads to repentance.
We then become meek and gentle which means we are not harsh with people and one of the primary definitions of meekness is “submitting to authority.
So we submit to the authority of God in our lives.
Then we hunger and thirst to live righteous lives, which means “right living.”
What is right living?
Living the way God called you to live.
And if we live the way God called us to live that will lead us to be merciful or to FORGIVE others just as God has forgiven us.
Once all these changes start happening we become pure in heart.
Which means our heart changes and it’s not that we just look the part on the outside to the world, but we’ve had a genuine heart change.
That heart change leads us to living a life of integrity where we are the same God loving person no matter where we are or who we are with.
And then our last message we talked about how we are then peacemakers.
Our goal is to reach the lost by showing the love of Christ.
Not by being antagonistic and making statements that may even be true, but we do it to trigger people because we think they are wrong.
We can stand for truth and be peacemakers at the same time.
This should be a natural progression for those who are truly followers of Jesus.
It doesn’t mean that this happens over night.
It doesn’t mean that you are perfect in these areas all the time.
But as you become closer to God you should see yourself growing in these areas.
That’s why when I see people who have been saved for 5 to 10 years but they are the same person they were when they first accepted Christ, there’s something missing there.
There hasn’t been any growth which means there’s a disconnect somewhere.
So this last beatitude is in verses 10 and 11.
And this is not like the other beatitudes.
The other beatitudes are based on things that I do and the rewards that come with that.
This beatitude is based on what OTHER people do to us and the reward that comes with it.
Matthew 5:10 NIV “ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This is one of those verses in the Bible that when you read it you think, “does that say what I think it says?”
Jesus is telling us that it’s a blessing to be persecuted?
It’s important to understand WHAT we are being persecuted for.
Because some people will complain that they are being persecuted because of something THEY did.
Kind of like when we talked about being peacemakers.
We talked about how peacemakers are not antagonists.
They don’t do things just to tick people off even if what they are saying is true.
So if you are saying things or doing things to antagonize someone who is not a believer and they come at you and say terrible things to you, you are not being persecuted because of what you believe.
You’re being persecuted because you were being a jerk.
That’s not what Jesus is talking about.
He said “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,”
Jesus is saying that you will be blessed if people persecute you because of righteousness.
Which means that you are living for the Lord and people don’t like that.
Jesus is talking about people like Stephen who was the first martyr in the New Testament.
Stephen was preaching the truth about Jesus and it upset the religious leaders.
So they had people make up lies that Stephen was preaching blasphemous things about Moses.
So they brought him to the Sanhedrin.
And Stephen lets them have it.
He tells them that they are like their ancestors who always resisted the Holy Spirit and persecuted the prophets.
They were not happy about what Stephen was saying.
Acts 7:54-59 NIV “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Stephen stood for truth even when he knew it could cost him his life.
Stephen’s story goes right along with what Jesus continued to say in verses 11.
Matthew 5:11 NIV “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”
Jesus is making the point that people are going to insult you and lie about you but it’s ultimately not about you.
It’s about HIM!
You aren’t who people have a problem with, it’s Jesus.
He talks about that in John 15
John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”
When people attack you for your faith they are really attacking Jesus.
And Jesus explains why.
John 15:22 NIV “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.”
Jesus tells us that if He didn’t come then basically you wouldn’t be guilty of sin.
But because He did come and die on the cross so we could be free from sin, you don’t have an excuse to live in sin.
Think about why atheists are so passionate about proving God is not real.
Some spend their whole lives trying to convince people there is no God.
WHY?
Why do they care if people choose to believe in God?
If you’re living for God the right way that would mean you are treating people with love and compassion and helping those in need.
Why is that such a bad thing?
Because it’s not about that.
It’s because they can’t accept that if Christianity is true then they know they will spend eternity in hell.
And they want to be justified in their sin and how they live so to feel better about their lives they need to try to prove that they are right.
That God doesn’t exist.
I think there is a fear there about if they are wrong.
That’s why I always say if I’m wrong about God what’s the worst case scenario?
I was kind to people.
I loved people.
I helped those in need
I loved my family.
Oh no I didn’t live a life of sin and sleeping around and getting wasted all the time!!
But if you’re wrong as an atheist then you’ll spend eternity in a place you don’t want to be.
And they don’t like thinking about that so they try to tear you down and prove that they are right.
But it all stems from their hatred for Jesus and His teachings.
And as a follower of Jesus you have to expect that you will face some kind of persecution or troubles for your faith.
Maybe it will be severe persecution like Stephen and the disciples.
Most of the disciples died because of their faith in Jesus.
Here in America we don’t see that kind of persecution often.
But I’ve seen numbers that say on average around 13 people EVERY DAY die for their faith in Jesus.
Die because they aren’t willing to reject their faith.
Our persecution is more along the lines of people mistreating us or trying to “cancel” us.
Our country is definitely trying to take God out of everything and if you stand up for what is right they are trying to cause severe consequences.
People are afraid to share their views on things like gay marriage or gender identity because they could lose their jobs over it.
But I believe that we must be willing to stand against what our culture is trying to do and be willing to take the consequences that may come.
And I think ultimately Jesus is trying to get across a certain mindset to us.
That first we have to understand that bad things can and probably will happen to those that follow Him.
But we have to be willing to stay strong in our faith no matter what because He tells us what our reward is.
Matthew 5:12 NIV “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Jesus is telling us that you may suffer here on earth for my sake, but know that your reward will be great in heaven.
Because remember there are rewards in heaven.
We are not all going to be doing the same thing or have all the same things.
What exactly that will look like I don’t know.
But I do know that the bible talks about different rewards in heaven.
And I believe that those who have suffered in any way and have remained faithful to God will receive a special reward.
A reward that we will look back on and say it was worth it!
But it’s a mindset of never giving up on God no matter what’s been done to you.
One of my favorite stories in the bible has to do with this very issue.
Paul and Barnabas were preaching about Jesus and it was upsetting some of the Jewish people.
Finally at one point they had enough.
Acts 14:19-20 “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.”
Paul gets beaten almost to death for preaching the gospel.
After he gets up he doesn’t run away.
He just walks right back into the city where he was almost beaten to death.
It’s a mindset.
Do what you will to me but my faith is stronger!
So many people walk away from God because they have a false expectation of what it looks like to be a believer.
They were taught if you’re a believer you’ll be healthy and wealthy and never face any kind of persecution in your life.
So when that DOES happen, because it will, they think they were wrong about God and who He is and walk away.
Instead, we should go into our faith with the expectation that I WILL face trials in my life.
I WILL face persecution for my faith.
But I don’t care because God is bigger than anything I’ll face on this earth and I know my reward is coming in Heaven!
Jesus makes it clear to us that following Him will not be easy.
That it’s not a matter of if you face trials and persecution, but when.
Following Jesus has consequences.
The question is are you willing to face them?
If faced with the situation to reject your faith or stand with something you know to be wrong, or lose your job, what would you do?
If standing up for your faith cost you your life, what would you do?
Jesus says, stand for me and you’ll be rewarded for all eternity.
I don’t know about you but I want that reward more than I want to get along with the world!
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