Blessed are those Persecuted for Righteousness

Introduction

For the past several weeks, we have been in a series on the beatitudes called “Following Closer.” Today, our series comes to an end as we reach the final beatitude. We did not intentionally plan it this way but today is the international day of prayer for persecuted Christians. It just so happens that this final beatitude has to do with being persecuted. So, before we begin, I want to start with a world of prayer; specifically for those who have experienced great hardship as a result of their faith. Would you pray with me?

Matthew 5:10 “10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

It is such a blessing to have a savior who created the world in this way: that if you live life according to His purposes, being obedient to the Word and following after the Spirit, if you are submitted to Him..... when others persecute you there is still blessing in it for you. It is such a beautiful thing for us to know and have confidence that in the midst of great pain and tribulation God has not left us, but is working deeper levels of blessing into the core of who we are.

As we jump into this beatitude, we need to recognize the challenge that is before us. I have read from multiple authors who have identified this passage as one of the most misinterpreted by Christians. We have a way of looking at it, believing we understand it, and then wrongly applying it. So we want to take some time to look at the heart of the message and make sure that we walk away with great clarity on exactly what Jesus is getting at with this final beatitude.

What Jesus is not saying

We are going to start by identifying some things that Jesus is not saying.

It does not say “Blessed are those who are persecuted for being offensive in nature, lacking tact in conversation, or frustrating other people.”

It does not say “Blessed are those who are persecuted because you meant well, looked out for others, or tended to environmental issues.”

It does not say “Blessed are those who are persecuted because they pursued a good cause, helped bring positive change, or instituted right policy.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake”. Everyone who has their Bible and pen, I want you to underline those words - “For righteousness sake.”

Last week I heard a story about a situation that developed over available parking in a neighborhood. The owner of the house wasn’t pleased and said something to a Christian man who just parked in front of his house. The Christian man did not respond well and escalated the tension. Then he walked away saying something along the lines of being persecuted for being a Christian.

We so often want to associate being a Christian with any type of persecution that we experience. The fact of the matter is - that is false. We live in a broken and sinful world and we can’t point the finger at the world to say it is their fault because in our brokenness we have a tendency to develop upsetting situations. This is part of the reason we have to pay attention to verses like James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”

Because we are broken and sinful, our first reaction should not be to speak into a situation but to better understand what has developed. If you are quick to respond, you will quickly find yourself making the situation worse.

Another erroneous takeaway is an idea that floats around the church from time to time. That because I am a Christian I will be persecuted. Now this in and of itself is a true statement. Jesus confirms it in Matthew 10:24-25.

The error in this statement comes when we use it as a justification to our actions whether it be us forcing Christianity onto someone else or when we perceive any little offense that we experience as persecution for our righteousness. We have to recognize that we often contribute to the difficult situations we find ourselves in. And when we contribute to the situation, it is not always persecution, instead we have set ourselves up for this mess. Matthew 10:16 “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

persecution for your lack of social awareness, abruptness, manipulation, political bent or anything other than Christlikeness is a situation that you may have fostered or contributed to its development. Jesus is not speaking of blessing to the ways that we cause other people to be irritated with us.

Persecution

We also need to consider what is being said here by persecution. In the U.S. we don’t see the same type of persecution as in other places around the world. People are not being spat on, physically abused, and killed because they are a Christian. We need to understand that the intensity of our persecution in nominal compared to what our brothers and sisters around the world are facing.

When I was in High School I read a book by DC Talk Called Jesus Freak’s. It is a book full of Christians who have been killed for their faith. Story after story reveals inspirational levels of faith, courage, and ability to endure hardships that I have never known. It is one of those books that guided me toward a life in ministry. When you read stories like those, you come to realize how easy we have it. Here in the U.S. you might see a relationship end or even in rare situations your job threatened because of your reflection of Christ, but none of us are concerned about our lives or even our physical health.

Persecution is a very real issue in the world today. If you want to stay up to date on what is happening you can look up Voice of the Martyrs. They are regularly posting ways to be in prayer, sharing the struggles of believers around the world, and recording powerful movements of the gospel.

While we don’t face this type of persecution, I do believe we face it. It has materialized differently and perhaps is a little more nuanced. We will get to this in a few minutes but before we do, we need to understand what Jesus is saying in this beatitude.

What Jesus is saying

Matthew 5:10-12 “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.”

Jesus repeats Himself to make sure that we don’t miss what He is saying. In verse 10 He says “For righteousness sake,” Vs. 11 He repeats Himself with different examples and says “on my account.”

We have to look at this from the perspective of the other beatitudes. First, you might have noticed that this beatitude ends with “for theirs in the kingdom of heaven.” That is the same promise of the first beatitude, being poor in spirit. It is as though each beatitude is hitched to the next and all of them fall within the brackets of the first and the last.

- It is almost as though Jesus is using the first seven beatitudes as the example of “Righteousness sake” or “On His Account.” Its the inner workings of the Holy Spirit, transforming and molding our hearts and our minds to better reflect the person of Christ. It starts by learning what it means to be poor in spirit before the Father. Learning to mourn not only our own sin but the state of the world. Not leaning on the power or resources we have to build our own kingdoms but giving it back to God in our meekness. Becoming hungry and thirsty for the things of heaven, God’s own righteousness and desiring to see a measure of it in our own lives. Being merciful to others understanding that we are far worse and deserve far worse than they could ever do to us. Allowing the Holy Spirit to remove any impurity and create in us a clean heart before God. Intentionally, stepping out to be makers of peace in a hostile world.

- All of these culminate together to develop in us something that is new, restored, and prepared for kingdom work. It is of great confidence for us to know that the Spirit is actively seeking to work each of these things deeper into our hearts and minds, shaping us more and more into the very image of Christ.

What Jesus is saying about persecution is that when we resemble Him, when we are living a Christlike life that exposes darkness and has a natural way of leading other people toward Christ as we move forward - we will be blessed for our persecution. Each beatitude brings forth its own type of blessing and what Jesus is really getting at is when you are persecuted for allowing these things to take hold in your life, for offering mercy, being pure in heart, coming before God understanding our great need for Him to continue to do a work in us that we will be blessed.

Daniel knew this. He experienced it. Daniel was a man of God, living in the worst of situations. Yet he chose to be intentional, he chose to seek and to know God.

- Do you know why Daniel was thrown into the lions den?

Because all the other officials the king had established were jealous of Daniel, the king preferred Daniel. Do you know why?

Daniel 6:3 “3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

without question, Daniel’s spirit was excellent not by his own ability and drive to do what is right. His excellent spirit is a reflection of the molding and shaping that He allowed God to do in his life through consistent prayer. Daniel didn’t just seek God, he opened himself up to the work of God and in turn the king was able to see that Daniel was different.

So the other officials got jealous and found a way to get him in trouble. He was persecuted because he reflected God and was faithful to Him.

This is the type of persecution that Jesus says is blessed.

While we do not have to worry about being thrown into a lions den, beaten, or killed - we do face a level of hostility here. For the past several years there has been a growing anti-Christian sentiment. We have been paraded as people who are against things that are considered good and fine. Haters of sinners and closed minded bigots.

Lets be clear - some of this we have brought on ourselves. We have often stood against what is wrong believing that we can somehow get the world to act more like Christ. The reality is that we should be spending much more time pointing to Christ instead of telling people everything they are doing wrong. Do we need to speak to right and wrong, absolutely. But what is far more affective in reaching people is continually point to Christ, His power, His love, His forgiveness and His effectual calling of all people.

However, there is another level of this anti Christian sentiment that is in its own right persecution. People who have felt threatened or even that Christians are in the way of forward progress. The issue is that light always exposes darkness. If you take a person who has been transformed and living by the righteousness of Christ they will always stand out amongst the rest. If you don’t believe me ask Daniel.

As believers, we will experience some level of persecution. But the call of the gospel is to stand strong, not in your own strength and ability but by the power of the Spirit that is in you. We are called to point others to Christ, to live in step with the Spirit, and to stand for what is right.

Lets not be mistaken, it is part of our DNA as believers. We come from a long line of faithful men and women who have suffered greatly and lost everything in this world for the sake of the gospel. That should be encouraging to us. That we are not pioneering it but have centuries of brothers and sisters to fall back on and recognize that the value of heaven is far greater than the value of this life. Being that I am part of a family who is willing to pay any cost at the name of Christ, I am motivated to always press forward.

John Calvert - going to minister to the cannibals on the Fiji Islands. Captain of the ship tried to turn him back and said “you will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go to those savages.” John Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”

We have had a great many come before us who demonstrated what it meant to die to self and live for Christ.

Yet so many of us fear losing a friend enough that we are unwilling to share the gospel or hesitate to talk about spiritual things with them. We feel the pressure of performance in our work, knowing that everyone else is cutting corners and its just part of the business. How can we reflect Christ if we are cutting corners? What corner did He cut when He was beaten and died for your sin?

“A man came to Tertullian once with the same problem. His business interests had been conflicting with his loyalty to Jesus Christ. he told of the problem. He ended by saying, “What can I do? I must live.” “must you?” asked Tertullian.

Every day, we have a choice between righteousness and livelihood. Between righteousness and self preservation. Between righteousness and self gratification.

Christian - lean into the beatitudes. Choose Christ and allow Him to lead you through your challenges.

The blessing of persecution

In this passage Jesus says Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Have you considered what blessing there is in being persecuted?

Not many of us look to the pain and afflictions in our lives - when we have been mistreated and put down as a time of blessing. I believe there are two primary ways that we see blessing here.

The promise of future grace.

James 1:12 “12 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.”

It means that you have been tested and Gods Spirit is in fact in you.

1 Peter 4:12-16 “12 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. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

Revelation 2 the church of Smyrna is told they will be “tested” in the coming suffering. They are told to stand strong and to be faithful to Christ, even to the point of death.

There is great development for those who are persecuted.

James 1:2-4 “2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

There is something about being persecuted for righteousness sake that makes us more like Jesus.

a little later in the sermon on the mount, Jesus again speaks to this idea of persecution

Matthew 5:43-45 “43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Persecution for the sake of Christ is valuable to the believer. It is very difficult to experience and challenging to remain faithful to Christ. Yet in the midst of this suffering we are called to continue to pray for those who persecute us. In other words, there are no villains here. There are people being restored by Christ and those who need to be restored by Christ. We are all morally wicked, totally sinful, and in need of a savior - as believers, we should pray to that end.

The ultimate example - Jesus

There is one ultimate example of persecuted for the sake of righteousness. That is Jesus, the third person of the Trinity who took on flesh and became a man. He came into a broken and sinful world that did not deserve to know Him, hear from Him, or see Him. Yet, he lived as a perfect example. Never sinning, faltering, or considering wrong. He allowed those who followed Him to spit on Him, abuse Him, mutilate His flesh, and kill Him. There is no greater sacrifice than what Jesus has given up for all of us.

More than that, He didn't deserve any of it. He was totally innocent and chose to receive it on our behalf.

Hebrews 12:3 “3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

Communion