Blessed are those who are Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake (Part 2)

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Psalm 60:9–12 ESV

Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies. Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

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Reading

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

Jesus’ Promise of Persecution

Kingdoms in Conflict

Persecution of Prophets

Persecution of Apostles and Early Church

The Long War against God

Persecution was not limited to apostles, disciples and church leaders

Christinas were accused of atheism, cannibalism (lord’s supper), sacrificing their own children before eating their flesh, & being political outlaws (refusing to declare ‘Ceasar is Lord)

Pulic worship was dangerous

Persecution was personified in Nero (Roman Emperor for 14 years from AD 54)

Wrapped christians in pitch and set the alight and used as living torches to light his gardens

Sewed them in the skins of wild animals and set his hunting dogs on them to tear them apart

Tortures on the rack

scraped with pincers

molton lead poured on them

red hot brass plates affixed to tenderest parts of their bodies

eye torn out

parts of bodies cut off and roasted in front of them

hands and feet burned while cold water poured over them to lengthen the agony

It is chilling to consider such things but they serve as powerful reminders that the world is implacably oppposed to genuine Christianity and that God’s CHildren can expect no favour from those who set themselves against God.

In the years which followed, successive Emperors, continued the policy of ruthless persecution.

As the Roman Empire declined so did the wholesale systematic attacks on the Christian Church

But, there has been no significant period since been free from shocking examples of brutality towards God’s People

14th Century - John Wycliffe and his followers

15th Century - great reformer Jan Hus burned at the stake

16th Century

thousands of anabaptists slaughtered in Europe

Martin Luther outlawed, William Tyndale strangled and burned to death

Mary Tudor’s persecution of the church burning hundreds of Christians at the stake

17th Century - Puritans and Pilgrim Fathers persecuted

18th Century - Whitefield and Wesley and pioneer missionaries including Hudson Taylor

19th Century

Believers arrest and imprisoned, Bibles and homes destroyed

Lenin, based on Karl Marx’ philosophies, banned religion causing hundreds of thousands of Christians to be imprisoned, tortured, persecuted and executed by those who embraced their philosophies.

20th Century - there were more Christian martyrs in the centure than in any other

in 1915 the Ottomon Empire / Caliphate killed 700,000 Armenians

World Christian Encyclopaedia (David Barrett, 1982) stated that 1:200 christians workers are were being killed on the mission fields of the world

21st Century - average of 300,000 martyred for their faith

The Hallmark

Second major lesson: persecution of one kind or another is on of God’s promises to His people

Paul did not gloss over the problems...

Acts 14:22 ESV

strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Hardships: translates the Greek thlipsis, a word which speaks of tribulation, trouble, distress, affliction, anguish and pressure

Churches in Thessalonica ...

1 Thessalonians 1:6 ESV

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

2 Thessalonians 1:4 ESV

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

Churches in Macedonia...

2 Corinthians 8:2 ESV

for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

Paul did not consider these trials surprising ...

1 Thessalonians 3:3–4 ESV

that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

Jesus’ promise to his disciples...

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Genuine Christianiy will always attract persecution!

The Beatitudes for Today The Hallmark

J C Ryle commented: ‘Persecution … is like the goldsmith’s hallmark on real silver and gold; it is one of the marks of a converted man.

This is far from the concept of moden preaching often heard today in which Christianity is offered as an instant solution to the pressures and problems of modern life, offering a guarantee of uninterupted pleasure and happiness.

In a US survey 3 out of 10 professiong Christians agreed that “Nothing in life is more important than having fun and being happy”

This philosophy bears no resemblance to the Bible

John Blanchard wrote..

The Beatitudes for Today The Hallmark

The idea that genuine Christianity can happily and cosily co-exist with common human values, ethics and life-styles is a travesty of the truth.

The Beatitudes for Today The Hallmark

John MacArthur is right on the mark in saying, ‘When the world runs into Christianity there is always conflict, conviction, guilt, resentment and persecution.’

Why is it that the people most likely to be persecuted are the humble, the meek, the pure in heart, and those who sincerely seek to be peacemakers?

Because every one of those Characteristics grates against the spirit of the world

Poverty of spirit clashes headlong with human pride.

Mourning for sin is anathema to the happy-go-lucky.

Meekness is derided by the self-assertive.

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness makes nonsense in today’s permissive culture.

A merciful spirit conflicts with hard-headed self-centredness.

Purity of heart is the exact opposite of hypocrisy and compromise.

Peacemaking is scorned by the contentious and argumentative.

At every point, genuine Christianity is at odds with the world and by implication condemns hypocrisy and godlessness alike.

The virtues which Jesus dignified, the world derides. The characteristics of the godly are living protests against common standards in modern society and the backlash is inevitable.

The Beatitudes for Today The Hallmark

John Stott puts it, ‘Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value-systems.’

The Beatitudes for Today The Hallmark

The only way for a professing Christian to escape persecution in any form is to go along with the world, raise no objection when it mocks God, laughs at sin, glories in self-indulgence and deifies materialism; but in doing so he forfeits any right to be called a Christian.

By the same token, the professing Christian who never faces persecution of any kind should ask why this is so when persecution is guaranteed to the godly.

Qualifications

Matthew 5:10 ESV

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Pursecution does not guarantee the spiritual standing of the person being persecuted.

First Qualification: Jesus uses the qualifier “for Righteousness’ sake”

1 Peter 4:15 ESV

But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

Meddler: Busy body, meddles in matters that do not concern them

Peter bundles these four attributes together (commonly: disrupting other people’s relationships)

If you cause upset and distress then don’t be surprised if you get a bad reaction!

1 Peter 2:19–20 ESV

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

RVG Tasker...

The Beatitudes for Today Qualifications

Those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake suffer solely because they uphold God’s standards of truth, justice and purity, and refuse to compromise with paganism or bow the knee to the idols that men tend to erect as substitutes for God.’

Augustine wisely remarked that it is ‘not the punishment, but the cause which makes the martyr’

No virtue in being ostricised or ignored because of

one’s prickly personality

enthusiasm outruns common sense

refuses to submit to proper authority

A student in USA...

convinced that God had called him to preach in the open air at the university he was then attending

this kind of thing was forbidden

leaders of the Christian group within the university urged him not to go ahead with his plan

but instead get involved in other opportunities for evangelism, such as discussion groups, literature and properly authorized meetings

He insisted on going ahead and was duly punished for doing so

His zeal is not in question, but his stubbornness is not the the same righteousness

The Beatitudes for Today Qualifications

the Christian who is criticised, ostracised or treated badly because of his arrogance, censoriousness or constantly negative criticism of others has only himself to blame and cannot take refuge in this Beatitude.

Second Qualification: Falsely

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.

Persecution is not limited to being hounded to death

Revile/Insult (Greek oneidizo): means to harshly critisize, defame, disparage, reproach or attack with abusive words

Slander, the tongue can inflict deeper wounds than any sword

Key factor “Falsely”

1 Peter 4:3–4 ESV

For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;

Malign / Slander / Heap Abuse on you (blasphemeo)

Nothing infuriates the ungodly more than one of their own turning away from loose behaviour to a life of disciplined godliness

An individual no longer uses foul lunaguage or swaps dirty joke

a businessman refuses any longer to engage in sharp practice

a trader stop cutting corners

Sunday is suddenly set apart for public worship

Philippians 1:27 ESV

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,

Third Qualification: “Because of Me”

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.

No prophet or apostle would every say such a thing

Jesus was able to becuase he was the embodiment of rightousness

“the sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4:2)

“The Holy and rightous One” (Acts 3:14)

Blessed not when persecuted for a cause or conviction but for Christ

Hymn - NOW, O MY SOUL, FORGET NO MORE (736)

Closing Prayer

Doxology