Kingdom Living 8: Persecuted Because of Righteousness

Matthew 5:10–12 CSB

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

INTRO—

[Video Overview…same as week 1 of this series]

We have reached our final message from the Beatitudes…the pictures of KINGDOM LIVING…

Poor in Spirit, Mourning, Meek…leads us to…Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness…which looks like…Merciful, Pure in Heart, Peacemakers…which brings us to…

THE BLESSED are “[Those Who are] Persecuted Because of Righteousness” [Matthew 5.10a]

Matthew 5:10a “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…”

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

RIGHTEOUSNESS: right, just, virtuous (good, true); the character of God

1 Peter 1.13-16 “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.” [holy action is righteousness]

Aspects of Righteousness

Orthodoxy (Belief; Job 42.7)

Orthopraxy (Action; Micah 6.8)

Orthopathy (Emotion/Feeling; Hebrews 4.14-15…Matthew 9.35-36…1 John 4.11)

PERSECUTED: Chase, Pursue, Hunt

Jesus extends the definition of ‘persecuted’ for us…

Matthew 5:11–12 ““You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

INSULT: Reproach; Revile; Mock; Curse

SAY [EVERY KIND OF] EVIL: Bad; Wicked

FALSELY: Lie; Deceive; Untruth

Not ‘say harsh things about us…justly.’

For instance, it might go like Dr. Moore recounts here:

[Audio] Like a story, Dr. Russell Moore tells when asked why he thinks Christianity in our day is in crisis… “It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — "turn the other cheek" — [and] to have someone come up after to say, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?" And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ," the response would not be, "I apologize." The response would be, "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we're in a crisis.”

In my last church, I was talking with one of our deacons (to this day I can’t remember the context for his statement)…he asked, “Do you know what really gets me, makes me mad? When someone lies about me!”

I truly believe there aren’t many feelings worse than being lied about. If we live out our life as Christ-followers long enough, we will have someone speak falsely about us…our enemies, our rivals [OT: Haman], sadly possibly our families our brothers and sisters in Christ [NT (among Jews): Tax Collectors]…any of these can happen. Jesus lets us know that at least one will.

Our response? Mourning, Meekness, Pure Heart, Merciful, Peacemaking (Even though living like this got us to this point, we simple cannot abandon living the Truth)

THE BLESSED: “The Kingdom of Heaven is Theirs” [Matthew 5.10b]

Matthew 5:10b “...for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

‘The kingdom…IS…theirs’

A blessed promise:

Luke 17.20-21 “When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; no one will say, ‘See here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.””

[[Mark 10.13-16 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.

Matthew 6.10 “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”]]

A blessed responsibility:

Philippians 1.27-30 “Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.”

A blessed hope:

John 14:1–4 ““Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.””

[[1 John 3:1–3 “See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.”]]

CONCL—

Comfort…

“Take heart!”… “Rejoice!”… “Be Glad!”… H A P P Y ! ! !

1 Peter 4:12–16 “Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed. [14]If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.”

INVITATION:

Salvation

Baptism

Witness (Evangelism)

Matthew 5:10–12 CSB

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.