Blessed Are The Persecuted

Points

Map

People don’t know

Underground churches

killed or jailed

this isn’t new

2 Corithians 11:24-27

Obviously bad thing

Jesus says

Mathew 5:10

May be confused

Persecution

Righteousness

Persecuted for righteousness’ sake

Backwards

Kingdom of Heaven

God’s team

Maybe looks different

Jesus is worth suffering for

What do I need to know?

Persecution- Being treated badly. Talked bad about or excluded

Righteousness- Living the right way. Believing in God and following the Bible’s teachings

Righteousness’ sake- Persecuted because of your righteousness

Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven- You will be a citizen of Heaven, but that doesn’t start when you die. That starts when you put your faith in Jesus.

We should not seek out persecution, but we should not be afraid of it because righteousness/following God is worth persecution

Why do I care?

We will face persecution

What do I do?

Stand firm in faith even when being persecuted

Intro

Tonight I’ve got a map for y’all and I just want you to try and take a guess at what the map is of.

*Map*

2 Corinthians 11:24–27 ESV

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Transition

Scripture

Matthew 5:10 ESV

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

You may be looking at this verse and wondering what in the world these words mean, so lets define them.

Persecution is being treated badly or unfairly. This could be like people talking bad about you or excluding you from certain groups or activities.

But Jesus doesn’t just say persecuted. He says persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

Righteousness is living the right way. This is like choosing to believe in Jesus and follow his teachings.

So to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake is to be persecuted or treated unfairly for your faith and for living out your faith.

So this seems really backward. Jesus says those who are mistreated for following Him are blessed.

Because the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

But being the part of the Kingdom of Heaven doesn’t start when you die. It doesn’t just mean going to Heaven.

In fact Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is here now.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not some distant place. It is actually a real Kingdom which is a group of people all united under a King, which is Jesus.

So Jesus isn’t saying you’re blessed because you get to go to Heaven. He’s saying if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus that you are already in the Kingdom, and one of the ways you are blessed is you get to show that you’re on God’s team even when it’s hard.

Jesus says that being a part of His Kingdom or being on His team is worth being persecuted for

Transition

Application