S.O.T.M. Happy are the Persecuted [Matthew 5:10]

Stand for the reading of the word of God [Matthew 5:10]

Today we come to the eight and I believe the last beatitude. Some say there are nine beatitudes because verse 11 is another ‘blessed’ statement…but if you notice there is no promise attached to the blessed of verse 11 as all the beatitudes have. No verse 11-12 are a kind of an elaboration on this beatitude in verse 10, ‘blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.’

So verse 10 is the beatitude, verses 11-12 are the elaboration or even the application of the characteristic. Let me put it this way, this beatitude has one promise like the rest of the beatitudes, but it has a double blessing. A double blessed for those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. That’s a great comfort, because we don’t like the idea of persecution, we can see how difficult that is…but God promises a double blessing for those who suffer such persecution. So we will take this week and next week to look at these things. We may be faced with this sooner than we would realize.

Another reason I believe it’s the last beatitude is the promise… ‘for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ If you notice verse 3, the first beatitude, its the same promise. Our Lord begins and ends with the same promise, the kingdom of heaven. Of course there are various blessings between but ultimately the goal is the kingdom of heaven. Our Lord started and ended with this particular promise in order to impress on us the most important thing was membership of the kingdom of heaven.

The Jews of Jesus day had false notions about the kingdom, just as many today have false ideas of the kingdom, the important thing for the Christian is to know what Christ kingdom is and how to have membership in it. The blessings aren’t the goal…there just the extras…the goal is the kingdom of our Lord!

Once again is another searching statement, as all the beatitudes have been, but this one is particularly searching because of its implications…persecution. This is not an appendix of the other beatitudes no this one is an astounding and unexpected statement. Yet we have to remember that it is a part of the description of the Christian just as much as being pure in heart, merciful, and peacemakers. This again is one of the characteristics of being a Christian, being persecuted, and this is why this is such a searching and tough statement.

Another thing is this beatitude may be the most misunderstood and misapplied beatitudes of them all, so we will approach this statement with great care. This is a vital statement and an essential part of the whole teaching of the New Testament. You’ll find it in the gospels and in the Epistles. You’ll find it’s truth evident throughout history, and it’s message is simple… persecution will come to those who are Christlike.

I do want to emphasize the most important thing about this beatitude first, that is the why persecution comes… ‘for righteousness sake.’ Our whole first point is to point out what this beatitude does not mean. I also want to point out this. The 20th century saw more persecution of Christians than in any other era in history, world wide that is. Many Christians are facing extreme persecution for their faith today, many even face death for their faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though we in America have not faced that kind of persecution. However, I cannot help but think that in light of all that is currently happening in our country that our time of ease may be coming to an end…and we may be facing a fiery trial in our own country for our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so we need to be ready and pay close attention to what Jesus has to say to us about persecution.

So first let’s look at..

What persecution for righteousness sake does NOT mean

Notice it does not say, ‘blessed are those who are persecuted because they are objectionable, or because they are difficult, or because they lack wisdom in discernment.’ i.e. it does not mean suffering for our own folly. Often Christians may suffer mild persecution entirely due to their own folly, or because of something either in themselves or in what they say or do. The promise is not attached to that…it’s persecution for righteousness sake.

Let us be very clear about that. We can bring suffering upon ourselves, we can create difficulties for ourselves which are quite unnecessary, because we have said something rather foolish, or have acted inappropriately, or by having a spirit of self-righteousness, we really do call it down on our own heads. We are often so foolish in these matters. We are slow to realize the difference between prejudice and principle; and we are so slow to understand the difference between being offensive, in a natural sense, because of our particular make-up and temperament, and causing offence because we are righteous. It’s important we can see the difference. Let each of us seek the Lord’s guidance to discern between the two.

It does not mean suffering because we are fanatical. Fanaticism or radicalism can lead to persecution but is never commended in the New Testament. In Jesus day a group called the Zealots were this fanatical group that sought radical separation from Rome in the name of God…but they weren’t interested in true religion they were interested in their own agenda and overthrow of government. We see this same type of fanatical ideas in our world today, when they suffer it’s not because of righteousness sake it’s because of their own agenda’s sake.

Look many temptations come to us in our Christian life, even in our worship life. We can get caught up in certain aspects of worship having to be done in a certain way that have no bearing what so ever on true faith and worship. How many disputes have taken place in the life of the church due to insignificant ideas of how things should be done or how things should look? Friends let us be very careful we do not bring unnecessary suffering upon ourselves and others due to silly fanatical ideas.

It does not mean suffering for a cause. Now this is subtle but we must still be careful. There’s a difference in suffering for righteousness sake and suffering for a cause. I know the two often become one, many of the martyrs suffered for righteousness sake and for a cause. But the two are not always identical. I believe we in America see more Christians suffer for a cause than for righteousness sake…and it may not seem like much of a difference or splitting hairs…but if we’re not careful we can easily develop a martyrs spirit…almost where people seem to court the idea and go looking for persecution and that is surely not what our Lord had in mind. He didn’t tell his disciple to go look for trouble, he said trouble will find you when you follow me.

It does not mean suffering for political reasons. Now this is a simple truth that has become extremely hazy in our climate today. Friends our politics and our religion have become so mixed together that many can’t tell the difference between the two. What did Christ say on the matter? Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God. But our current situation in America is mixed up and there is much confusion on this matter at the present time.

Many things said and done by Christians in our current climate are nothing more than political views and not really matters of righteousness. We should not be surprised to suffer when we mix these two up…but know there is no promise attached to this. Now I’m not saying a Christian shouldn’t express their political views, by all means do so. But I’m pointing out that we need to make sure not to mix our political views for that of true righteousness..they are not the same.

One great dangers of mixing political views and true religion is the danger of hurting the gospel witness. I’ve seen so much of this mixing lately that it just clouds everything, Let me illustrate it this way. The Christian faith as such is not anti-communism, and I hope none of us are foolish enough to think that way. As Christians we are to be concerned with what??? Souls! Souls of everyone…even communists, even those who have different political views than us, even those who may be absolutely wicked. We should be just as concerned about them as anyone else. But once we begin to impress on people that Christianity is anti-communism or anti- this group or anti- these people we begin to almost prevent them from listening to the only message of hope and salvation there is in the Jesus Christ. This is why I say we must be careful that we don’t mix Christ with anything else…but take Him at His words alone.

It does not mean suffering for being good. This again is a subtle yet vital point. The Beatitude does not say we are blessed if we suffer for being good or noble, for the reason that you will probably not be persecuted for being good. I doubt if you will ever be persecuted for being noble. The world, as a matter of fact, generally praises and admires and loves the good and the noble; it only persecutes the righteous. There are people who have made great sacrifices, those who have given up careers, prospects and wealth and who sometimes have even sacrificed their lives who were not followers of Christ; and the world has thought of them as great heroes and has praised them. So we should suspect immediately that that is not true righteousness. There are certain men today who are acclaimed as very great Christians by the world simply because they have made such sacrifices. That, I suggest, should raise at once a question in our minds as to whether they are really practicing the Christian faith, or whether it is not just something else—perhaps a general nobility of character.

So then what does this beatitude mean?

Being righteous means being like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore those who are blessed are those who are persecuted for being like the Lord Jesus. It should be noted that those who are like the Lord are always persecuted. Jesus said in John 15:18-20, ““If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”

Notice there is no qualification in this categorical statement. Paul told young Timothy who did not understand this and was therefore unhappy because he was suffering persecution… Paul said 2 Tim. 3:12, “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” That is the teaching of the bible throughout. For example, Abel was persecuted by his brother Cain. Moses received grievous persecution. Look at the way in which David was persecuted by Saul, and at the terrible persecution that Elijah and Jeremiah had to endure. Do you remember the story of Daniel, and how he was persecuted? These are some of the most outstanding righteous men of the Old Testament, and every one of them verifies the biblical teaching. They were persecuted, not because they were difficult, or over-zealous, but simply because they were righteous.

In the New Testament we find exactly the same thing. Think of the apostles, and the persecution they had to endure, all but John suffered persecution and death, and John was placed on a deserted island. I wonder whether any man has ever suffered more than the apostle Paul, in spite of his gentleness and kindness and righteousness. Heroes of the bible suffered because they were righteous

But, of course, the supreme example is our Lord Himself. Here He is in all His utter, absolute perfection, and His gentleness and meekness, of whom it can be said that ‘a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench’. Never was anyone so gentle and so kind. But look at what happened to Him and at what the world did to Him because He was perfectly righteous.

By whom are the righteous persecuted?

You’ll find as you go through scripture and as you study history that persecution of Christians is not confined to the world alone. Some of the worst persecution that has come to the righteous has been at the hands of religious people. It has often come from nominal Christians. Take our Lord Himself. Who were His chief persecutors? The Pharisees and scribes and the doctors of the Law! The first Christians, too, were persecuted most bitterly of all by the Jews. Then read the history of the Church, and watch it in the Roman Catholic persecution of some of those men in the Middle Ages who had seen the pure truth and were trying to live it out quietly. How they were persecuted by nominal, religious people! That was also the story of the Puritan Fathers. This is the teaching of the Bible, and it has been substantiated by the history of the Church, that the persecution may come from the outside yes, but also from within.

It’s often true that the most opposition new believers face will be from within the church, not outside. You see formal Christianity is often the greatest enemy of the pure faith. I believe we do see more formal Christianity than true pure faith. Formal Christianity is more concerned with being part of a group of people than being a part of the body of Christ. Help us to see the difference Lord. If we cannot tell the difference, it is often exposed through persecution.

Let me ask another question, perhaps the more important...

Why are the righteous persecuted?

Why is it that the righteous are persecuted rather than the good and noble? The answer, I think, is quite simple. The good and noble are very rarely persecuted because we all have the feeling that we are just like ourselves at our best. We think, ‘I am capable of that myself, of being good and noble, if I only put my mind to it,’ and we admire them because it is a way of paying a compliment to ourselves. But the righteous are persecuted because they are different not because they are good.

That was why the Pharisees and the scribes hated our Lord. It was not because He was good; it was because He was different. There was something about Him that condemned them. They felt all their righteousness was being made to look very cheap. That was what they disliked. The righteous may not say anything; they do not condemn us in words. But just because they are what they are, they do in fact condemn us, they make us feel unhappy. So we hate them for it and try to find fault with them.

That was why Daniel was persecuted. He suffered all he did because he was righteous. He didn’t make a show of it, he did it quietly in his own way. He prayed in private, not this great spectacle but because he was righteous, his persecutors hated him, they said, “this man condemns us by what he is doing.” That is always the trouble. Righteousness always condemns the unrighteous. That is why you see gentle, loving, lovable people like Hudson Taylor suffer terrible persecution.

This also tells us a great deal about our Lord Jesus as well. It has been the thought of man, non-Christians, to applaud Him and admire Him as a good man…but that is a wrong view of Jesus. You’ll notice the effect of Jesus upon His contemporaries…they wanted to kill him. They hated him and put him to death. This is the effect Jesus always has upon the world. You see worldly people will say they admire Jesus but that is because they have never seen Jesus. If they truly saw him, they would hate him, so when they see Jesus in us, the true Jesus, true righteousness of Christ in us…they hate us.

John Piper illustrated this verse well in his book ‘persecuted’ he said this, So we can see why a life devoted to righteousness or godliness will be persecuted or reviled or spoken against.

If you cherish moral purity, your life will be an attack on people’s love for unbridled sex.

If you embrace temperance, your life will be a statement against the love of alcohol.

If you pursue self-control, your life will indict excess eating.

If you live simply and happily, you will show the folly of luxury.

If you walk humbly with you God, you will expose the evil of pride.

If you are punctual and thorough in your dealings, you will lay open the inferiority of laziness and negligence.

If you speak with compassion, you will throw callousness into sharp relief.

If you are earnest, you will make the flippant look flippant instead of clever.

If you are spiritually minded, you will expose the worldly mindedness of those around you.

In conclusion, this beatitude tests our idea of...

What it is to be a Christian

In short, to be a Christians is to be like our Lord… the Christian is like His Lord. That is not to oversimplify it, this is what the bible teaches. Yet so many of our ideas of what it is to be called a good Christian is that nice, popular, never offends anyone, easy to get along with kind of person. Yet that is not what this beatitude teaches, that is not a true Christian. The Christian is not popular and praised by everyone. They did not praise our Lord and they will never praise someone who is like Him. In fact Jesus said this about that type of person… in Luke 6:26, “woe to you when all men shall speak well of you.” That is what they did to the false prophets and false teachers, but they did not do that to Christ Himself.

The natural man, the unregenerate man, in his unsaved state is enmity against God. Though man may talk about God he really hates God, and hates righteousness, because it exposes who he really is. The Son of God came to the earth and he was hated and crucified…and that is the attitude of the world towards anyone who reflects Christ.

This is why it is absolutely necessary for new birth before anyone can become a Christian. You can’t become a Christian by doing a few deeds, saying the right thing, and occasionally coming to church…no to be a Christian is to be a brand new creature. Because to be a Christian is to be like Christ and one can not be like Christ without Christ living in them and completely changing them. We must be rid of the old nature that hates righteousness and have a new nature that loves righteousness and the things of God before we can be like Him. Let me put is this way. If you try to imitate Christ the world will praise you, but if you become Christlike the world will hate you.

To become Christlike is to become like Him, we have to become light; light always exposes darkness, and the darkness therefore always hates the light. We are not to be offensive; we are not to be foolish; we are not to be unwise; we are not even to parade the Christian faith. We are not to do anything that calls for persecution.

But by just being like Christ persecution becomes inevitable. But that is the glorious thing. Rejoice in this, say Peter and James. And our Lord Himself says, ‘Blessed are ye, happy are ye, if you are like that.’ Because if ever you find yourself persecuted for Christ and for righteousness’ sake, you have in a sense got the final proof of the fact that you are a Christian, that you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

May God through His Holy Spirit give us great wisdom, knowledge and understanding in these things, so that if ever we are called upon to suffer, we may know for certain that it is for righteousness’ sake, and may have the full comfort and consolation of this glorious Beatitude and truth, that ours truly is the kingdom of heaven.