{"id":444,"date":"2016-06-12T20:47:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-12T19:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=444"},"modified":"2016-06-12T20:47:16","modified_gmt":"2016-06-12T19:47:16","slug":"blessed-are-those-who-are-persecuted-matthew-510-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=444","title":{"rendered":"Blessed are those who are persecuted Matthew 5:10-12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 1979 the Upminster superstars Ian Dury and the Blockheads released their last and most famous song, \u201cReasons to be Cheerful, Part 3\u201d. Since Easter we have been looking a much more significant list of \u201cReasons to Be Cheerful\u201d \u2013 the eight sayings at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount which we call the Beatitudes \u2013 where Jesus tells is who is really blessed in this mixed up world. As Jesus turns the world the right way up again, he tells us what it really means to be happy in God\u2019s Upside-Down Kingdom.
\nIf you ask people what would make them happy, most would say they would like to be rich, or at least comfortably off. Most would prefer to be laughing rather than crying. Not everybody wants to be the life and soul of the party, but most would like to be cheerful and joking and having fun. Most people would like to be powerful \u2013 in control of their own lives even if they aren\u2019t in control of everything else around them. Most people like to be popular and have lots of friends \u2013 it\u2019s hard to be happy when you are lonely. Most people would rather be successful and not feel a failure \u2013 and some couldn\u2019t care less how they achieve that success. People like to be shrewd, maybe even a little bit calculating, always keeping a few cards up their sleeves and never having to be vulnerable. And most people think it is alright to be determined \u2013 not vindictive or ruthless but still making sure they get their own way \u2013 not forceful, but not a pushover either. People think that if only their lives were like that all the time, they would be happy.
\nWe have seen Jesus teach us in the Beatitudes that the world has all the wrong ideas about what people need to be happy. Instead of being rich, Jesus says \u201cblessed are the poor\u201d \u2013 not just material poverty spiritual poverty but spiritual poverty. Instead of laughing all the time, Jesus says \u201cblessed are those who mourn\u201d \u2013 not being gloomy all the time but seeing this sad world as it really is. Instead of being powerful, Jesus says \u201cblessed are the meek and humble\u201d even if they are the ones getting trodden into the ground. Instead of being popular, Jesus says \u201cblessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness\u201d, even though doing the right thing usually loses you more friends than it wins. Instead of being successful, Jesus says \u201cblessed are the merciful\u201d, forgiving rather than insisting on getting your own way all the time. Instead of being shrewd, Jesus says \u201cblessed are the pure in heart\u201d \u2013 those who are holy through and through, valuing sincerity and integrity above the shallowness of so much of modern life. Instead of being determined, Jesus says \u201cblessed are the peacemakers\u201d \u2013 those who make peace instead of making war.
\nPoor, mourning, humble, righteous, merciful, pure, seeking out peace. In the world\u2019s eyes those are the ingredients for an unhappy life. But in God\u2019s Upside Kingdom \u201cthe first will be last and the last will be first.\u201d God\u2019s values are the complete opposite of the world\u2019s values. When God acts as King, He puts right the wrongs in the world and turns the world the right way up again. And then it turns out that all the people who the world around consider to be failures and look down on and reject are revealed to be the very people who are most blessed by God and the most happy. There is a book by the founder of the Full Gospel Businessmen\u2019s Fellowship called \u201cThe Happiest People on Earth\u201d and that is the truth. In God\u2019s Upside-Down Kingdom, Christians really are the happiest people on earth!
\nBut that leads us on to the last Beatitude and some very challenging words.
\nMatthew 5 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
\nHere is the paradox. The people who are blessed in the Kingdom of God are those who are persecuted in this world. Specifically, God blesses people who are persecuted because of righteousness.
\nThe New Living Translation says, \u201cGod blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.\u201d
\nPeople who seek God\u2019s Kingdom and its righteousness will choose to do the right thing. And those who do the right thing will inevitably face opposition from so many people who are running away from God when they are not hiding from Him. Jesus goes on to warn his disciples very specifically that they will themselves be among those people who will experience persecution. The Beatitudes are all voiced in the third person; \u201cthey.\u201d But Jesus switches to the second person as says this.
\nMatthew 5 11 \u201cBlessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
\nBlessed are YOU. When people insult YOU. Persecute YOU. Falsely say all kinds of evil things against YOU. Disciples of Jesus should expect insults. Disciples should expect persecution. Disciples should expect all kinds of lies and false accusations. Jesus gives all Christians that solemn warning. And that includes us. We should not be surprised if people insult us, or persecute us, or tell lies and make false accusations against us. Those things happened to the prophets in the Old Testament and they will happen even to us.
\nWe find the same warning in Luke 6 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
\nBut these were not the only warning Jesus gave to His followers. Just days before He died Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem and said this.
\nMatthew 24 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 \u201cThen you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
\n\u201cHanded over to be persecuted.\u201d \u201cPut to death.\u201d \u201cHated by all nations.\u201d \u201cBetrayed.\u201d This will be the destiny for those who follow Jesus the Servant King, who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for the many. A few days later in the Upper Room on the night before He was crucified, Jesus said this to his apostles.
\nJohn 15 18 \u201cIf 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 the words I spoke to you: \u2018No servant is greater than his master.\u2019 If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.<\/p>\n

Jesus warned his disciples that people would hate them and persecute them, and we read how that began to be fulfilled many times in the Book of Acts. After the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, Peter and John were dragged before the Sanhedrin.
\nActs 5:40. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
\nThe more they preached the Good News about Jesus the Christ and his glorious resurrection from the dead, the more the disciples suffered. In fact, history tells us that the apostles were not only insulted, persecuted and falsely accused. Of the twelve apostles, only John lived to a healthy old age. All the other apostles were persecuted and martyred for their faith: crucified; beheaded; hanged; stabbed. Through the ages countless nameless Christians have suffered fierce persecution and there are still parts of the world today where following Jesus can lead to opposition, imprisonment and even martyrdom.
\nDuring His ministry Jesus had helped his disciples to prepare to face persecution. He taught us to show love instead of hatred.
\nMatt 25 43 \u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\u2019 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.<\/p>\n

In the decades to follow, many of the letters in the New Testament were written to help Christians to cope with the persecution they were facing at the time.
\nJames 1 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
\nPeter wrote similar words of comfort and encouragement.
\n1 Peter 4 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. \u2026 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
\nSo God can bring blessings even through persecution and use those events to bring glory to Himself. Paul encourages the Christians in Rome like this.
\nRomans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
\n\u201cFor your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.\u201d
\n37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
\nGod loves us with a love which will never let us go. It is never about us holding on to God. It is only ever about God holding tight on to us.
\nRight back in the Beatitudes, Jesus promised comfort to His disciples. Remember the first Beatitude said this.
\n 3\u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
\nAnd we just read the final Beatitude.
\nMatthew 5 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
\nThe same blessing is promised both to those who are poor in spirit and also to those who are persecuted because of righteousness. The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs \u2013 the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them! \u201cWhile He taught those disciples who one day would experience persecution, Jesus also promised them great rewards.
\nMatthew 5 11 \u201cBlessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
\nRejoice and be glad! The old King James Version sounds even better. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! Jesus\u2019s words in Luke 6 are even just as encouraging.
\nLuke 6 23 \u201cRejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
\nBe exceedingly glad. Rejoice and leap for joy! Why? Because great is your reward in heaven! There were other occasions as well when Jesus talked about the rewards which are waiting for His disciples, whatever persecutions they might suffer for His sake.
\nMark 10:28 Peter said to him, \u201cWe have left everything to follow you!\u201d
\n29 \u201cI tell you the truth,\u201d Jesus replied, \u201cno one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields\u2014and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.\u201d
\nThere will be wonderful rewards for those who make sacrifices to follow Jesus. The Parable of the Talents promises the same glorious reward to the servant who had been entrusted with five talents who used them to earn five more and equally to the servant who had been entrusted with two talents who used them to earn two more. To each of these, the Master says simply this. \u2018Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master\u2019s happiness!\u2019 (Matthew 25:21) <\/p>\n

Whatever suffering this world may bring, Christians are guaranteed all the blessings of Heaven, eternity spent in the presence of Almighty God \u2013 sharing the Master\u2019s happiness. Peter wrote this to Christians facing bitter persecution under Emperor Nero.
\n1 Peter 1 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade\u2014kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God\u2019s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith\u2014of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire\u2014may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
\nCome and share your Master\u2019s happiness. A beautiful echo of God\u2019s wonderful promise to Abraham I am your shield, your very great reward.\u201d (Genesis 15:1) God Himself is the reward for all who trust and serve Him. \u201cI am your very great reward!\u201d The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to these. Whatever this world might bring.
\nEusebius was a historian, theologian and bishop of Caesarea at the beginning of the fourth century. The Roman Emperor Valens threatened him with confiscation of all his goods, torture, banishment, or even death. Eusebius replied like this. \u201cHe needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.\u201d
\nRejoice and be exceedingly glad. Rejoice and leap for joy. Some in and share your Master\u2019s Happiness. Whatever life may be throwing at us. Whatever we may be going through.
\nBlessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in 1979 the Upminster superstars Ian Dury and the Blockheads released their last and most famous song, \u201cReasons to be Cheerful, Part 3\u201d.…<\/span><\/p>\n

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