S.O.T.M. Rejoicing in Tribulation [Matthew 5:10-12]

Stand for the reading of the word of God [Matthew 5:10-12]

Some time ago, I was reading an article in a national magazine, and that article talked about the fact that people are seeking happiness. And there was a some kind of a survey done. All of the information data was gathered from the survey by the people in the magazine and it was studied by some psychologists who then shared their findings.

     And the findings of the psychologists from the survey that was done by the magazine indicated that true happiness is found by those who find personal fulfillment apart from any self-sacrifice, who reach the goals that they establish for their own life and see their ambitions fulfilled and their desires gratified.

     And you know what? I think that’s probably accurate. I think if you look at the world around you, that’s exactly the way it operates. And even those people who were surveyed who did not experience that could at least say, “Well, we assume that’s where it’s to be found.” And I suppose if you were to do your own little survey and ask people, “What do you think would be the source of true happiness in life?” they would circle all of those issues.

     They would talk about having all your desires fulfilled, all of your dreams and ambitions and goals met, all of the anticipated joys of life somehow fulfilled, everything working out well for you and you not needing to make any sacrifices. But, in fact, that is absolutely the very opposite of what Jesus teaches in Matthew chapter 5 about happiness. Jesus says here that true happiness, which is blessedness, comes in the very opposite way. It comes not through personal achievement, it comes through a recognition of personal spiritual bankruptcy.

The truly happy or blessed person is the one who having measured himself in all honesty, he realizes his spiritual bankruptcy. Having compared himself with the law of God, which requires perfect righteousness, he realizes he is nothing, and he comes to God and pleads for God to do something in his life to bring about blessedness. That’s really the penitent sinner. That’s the person who’s coming to God with the right attitude.

You want to really be happy? Realize your spiritual bankruptcy, come to God through Christ, who alone can grant you true blessedness. You want to be happy? Groan and mourn and agonize over your sin and failure in violation of God’s law, and He’ll provide the comfort of salvation. You want to be happy? Be meek about your condition, not proud. Be broken, and you will ultimately, in the end, inherit the fullness of the kingdom of God, which includes this earth and, ultimately, the new heaven and the new earth.

     You want to truly be satisfied? Then stop hungering and thirsting for things that don’t fill and don’t satisfy and hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God, which He gives to those who believe in Christ. And so it goes. Pursue mercy, pursue purity, and be a peacemaker. In this is true happiness. This is what we’ve learned through out study of the beatitudes.

But also, all of that leads to something, and what it leads to is in verses 10 to 12. And that’s the last of the Beatitudes which we began to look at last week. This is sort of the inevitable outcome here. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That’s the Beatitude, it’s in verse 10. The people who are really happy are the people who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness. And what He is saying is, that persecution is evidence that they belong in the kingdom of heaven.

So verse 10 is the beatitude, which we examined last week, this week we’ll focus on verses 11-12 which is the break down or elaboration or application of the beatitude. I’ll note again, as I did last week, this is the only beatitude Jesus breaks down like this, all the other ones were self-explanatory, Jesus elaborates upon this one…also there is a double blessing for those persecuted for righteousness sake.

All the beatitudes give us a picture of what the Christian looks like and how the Christian should be, the Christian is a difficult person to describe because they are different for those of the world. This last beatitude again shines light upon the character of the Christian. So let’s look first at…

3 principles of what a Christian is from this beatitude

First, again The Christian is unlike everybody who is not a Christian. He is different. We’ve repeated this many times through our study of the beatitudes but the principle cannot be over stressed and it’s what our Lord was trying to convey. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, “think not that I come to send peace, but a sword.” i.e. Jesus is saying the effect of His ministry is going to be division. Division between people in their own homes, even division between father and son, mother and daughter, division between siblings, spouses, etc.. The gospel message brings a clear cut division between the Christian and the non-Christian.

And this is proven by the way the non-Christian persecutes the Christian. The way in which he persecutes doesn’t matter, but the fact of it is almost certain. There is an antagonism in the non-Christian towards the Christian. And that is because the Christian reflects the righteousness of Christ and that is offensive to the non-Christian who doesn’t have Christ living in them. As I noted last week the Christian can bring certain persecution upon himself by his own folly, but we are looking at persecution because of righteousness sake.

Our Lord Jesus was persecuted on earth and the servant is not greater than the master, so we will see persecution in our lives if we reflect Christ to an unsaved world. The non-Christian tends to revile, to persecute, and to speak all manner of evil falsely against the Christian. Why? Because the Christian is fundamentally different, and the non-Christian recognizes this. The Christian is not just like everybody else with a slight difference. He is essentially different; he has a different nature and he is a different man, a new man in Christ.

2. The Christian’s life is controlled and dominated by Jesus Christ. By his loyalty to Christ, and concern to do everything for Christ’s sake, revile, persecution, and all manner of evil will be brought up against them. The Christian is persecuted for living for Christ. From this we should deduce that the whole objective of the Christian is to live for Christ’s sake and no longer for his own sake. While people can be unpleasant and persecute others in any situation, it’s not the same as for Christ’s sake. The Christians life should always be controlled and dominated by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Christian, having received new life from Christ, realizing that he owes everything to Christ and His perfect work, and particularly to His death upon the cross, says to himself, ‘I am not my own; I have been bought with a price’. He therefore wants to live his whole life to the glory of Him who has died for him, and bought him, and risen again. So he desires to present himself, ‘body, soul and spirit’, everything to Christ. This is something that was not only taught by our Lord; it is emphasized everywhere in all the New Testament Epistles. ‘For Christ’s sake’ is the motive, the great controlling motive in the life of the Christian. This is what differentiates us from everybody else and provides a thorough test of our profession of the Christian faith. If we are truly Christian, our desire must be, however much we may fail in practice, to live for Christ, to glory in His name and to live to glorify Him.

3. The Christians thoughts are towards heaven and the world to come. Verse 12 says, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” This again is something we see taught throughout the NT. Hebrews 11 we see a summary of the OT heroes of the faith…what was their secret? They were men who were looking ‘for a city who’s foundations, who’s builder and maker is God.” They were essentially different because they were focused upon the heavenly kingdom of God and the world to come.

You see the non-Christian does everything they can to avoid thinking about the world beyond. This is the whole meaning of the great pleasure mania of our world today…do everything you can to not think about death and the world to come…just focus on here and now and being satisfied with everything now. Friends if there is one thing that this current virus scare has put front and center is that man is deathly afraid of death…but the Christian is not.

Friends I know what Paul said to be true, ‘for me to live is Christ, to die is gain.’ I am not a fatalist seeking death but I’m not afraid to die. I like my life, I enjoy living, but I am not frightened by the thought of death because I know what awaits me…the glory of the Lord. The non-Christian hates to talk about death and eternity because he has no hope and certainty in them…but the Christian’s whole outlook is heavenward.

So let’s see how these three principles are illustrated for us in...

How should a Christian face persecution?

Now we are not going to focus on the type or form of persecution. It may be violent, it may mean being arrested, as some Christians are facing around the world. It may mean facing death or bodily harm. It may be just losing one’s job or the sneering and laughter as you enter the room. It may be the whisper campaign and smear campaign that goes on. There really is no end to the ways in which the persecuted may suffer, but what really matters is the way in which the Christian responds to such persecution. First,

The Christian must not retaliate. This is very difficult, and more difficult for some than others. But none the less, the Christian must not retaliate. If our Lord did not do so, when he had every right to do so, then we His followers should not retaliate either. So we must ‘stay the angry word’; we must not reply. To retaliate is just to be like the natural man who always does reply; by nature he has the instinct of self-preservation and the desire to get his own back. But the Christian is different, different in nature; so he must not do that.

The Christian must not be controlled by resentment. This is even more difficult, because maybe you didn’t retaliate in word or deed but you can surely hold a grudge. The first thing you must do is control your actions and not retaliate, and that’s good if you do that, but you can’t be content with only that and then having a disposition of anger and hostility and resentment towards the one who persecuted you. A spirit of bitterness is just as dishonoring to the Lord as punching the person in the face is.

Friends bitterness is a dangerous thing in the heart of a believer and has no place. I know that hurt is real and painful and unpleasant. Paul was a sensitive man in his Epistles he expresses he had been hurt and wounded deeply, 1 Cor., Galatians, and others make that clear. But he also pointed out that he was no longer is a state where he was affected and controlled by this hurt and pain. Because of what Christ had done for him and was doing through him, he was in a place of contentment no matter what.

Many believers carry around with them a resentment that has no place, it controls you, and as Christians we are to be controlled by Christ and Christ alone. Are you carrying around resentment towards someone today, if so give it to God and be free. If we don’t let it go it leads to a form of depression

The Christian should not be depressed by persecution. This held on to resentment builds up to where the person is cast down in spirit or just unhappy and what is the state the Christian is described to be in in the beatitudes??? Happy not unhappy…blessed not bitter. When a feeling of depression in your spiritual life seems to settle down upon you, you tend to lose control of your Christian living and are not living as the Lord commanded that is in rejoicing and being exceedingly glad.

So...

Why can a Christian rejoice and how is it possible?

Here is the heart of the matter. Obviously the Christian is not to rejoice at the mere fact of persecution, that’s something which should always be regretted and is an unfortunate outcome of sin in the world. But the Christian can rejoice in spite of persecution. Why???

First, the Christian can rejoice in persecution because he is receiving it for Christ’s sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ So if you find you are being persecuted falsely for Christ’s sake, you know you are like the prophets, who were God’s chosen servants, and who are now with God, rejoicing in glory. Now that is something to rejoice about. You’re in good company.

This is one of the ways in which our Lord turns everything into a victory. In a sense He makes even the devil a cause of blessing. The devil through his agencies persecutes the Christian and makes him unhappy. But if you look at it in the right way, you will find a cause for rejoicing, and will turn to Satan and say, ‘Thank you; you are giving me proof that I am a child of God, otherwise I should never be persecuted like this for Christ’s sake.’ James, in his Epistle, said consider it pure joy when you face trials…and this would be a trial.

Second, The Christian can rejoice because he has been identified with Christ. If we are being maligned falsely and persecuted for His sake, it must mean that our lives have become like His. We are being treated as our Lord was treated, and therefore we have proof positive that we do indeed belong to Him. Paul said, it has been given to us not only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but to suffer for his sake. Persecution for Christ sake establishes who we are…we are Christ’s.

Third, How is it possible for a Christian to rejoice in persecution? My realization of who I am, my consciousness of where I am going, and my knowledge of what awaits me when I get there. You’ll find this in many places throughout the scriptures, but the apostle Paul put it this way, besides our Lord Himself, perhaps no one was persecuted more than the apostle Paul who said, ‘our light affliction now will be far more outweighed by the glory of that to come in heaven.’ that was a paraphrase from 2 Cor. 4:17-18. But this should be on the forefronts of Christians minds…who I am in Christ, where I am going because of Christ, and what awaits me when I am face to face with Christ.

What about this idea of reward?

Should the Christian be governed or motivated by the thoughts of reward? I think this is a valid question. I do believe there has been a tendency, perhaps not so much any more, but there use to be a tendency to not like the idea of pursuing reward in fear of some sort of judgment. Now like I said, I don’t think that kind of thinking is common today as it once was, where there once was the fear of seeking reward to show you were a good Christian, the roles have almost flipped that now the common thinking is if you get reward it’s evidence that you’re a good Christian.

So while the promise of reward for Christians is biblical and you find it all over, it’s also vital we have a proper understanding of reward so we don’t pollute this wonderful truth. Remember what is said about our Lord in Hebrews, who endured the cross, and despised the shame for the joy set before him.” i.e. Christ looked beyond the suffering to what was coming. That is what fueled the life of Paul, the reward set before Him in Christ Jesus, so the believer should be motivated by the reward God has for us…but let’s have a right understanding of reward, a biblical understanding and not a worldly understanding which is what I think you see a lot today.

So, what’s a right understanding of reward???

First, The reward itself is of grace. This is the first and main thing, it’s also what brings misunderstanding of reward. Any reward given to us is all of God and all of grace…you did nothing to merit any heavenly reward. But you might ask, ‘well what about me being obedient to God and receiving reward for that…that’s on me right?’ No it’s still all of grace. Look any reward received from heaven is of God’s good grace alone through Christ alone, yes we are to live obediently to the Lord as the Spirit leads, but that is out of a love for God who has saved us, when we start having this merit system thinking, it automatically begins to bring in the pride.

This is really misunderstood in charismatic circles where it is taught that the more spiritual gifts you perform the more reward you have the more merit you have, and what often happens is the gift or reward becomes the central focus and not the Lord Jesus Himself. So it’s important to have a right biblical view of reward…it’s all of grace alone.

Second, the reward means God is treating you like a father. A father tells his child that there are certain things he wants him to do, and that it is his duty to do them. He also tells him that if he does them he will give him a reward. It is not that the child merits a reward. It is given of grace, and it is the expression of the father’s love. So God, of His infinite grace, ‘throws these rewards in’ as it were, and encourages us, and fills us with a sense of love and of gratitude towards our good heavenly Father. It is not that any man will ever deserve or merit heaven; but the teaching is, that God does reward His people, rewards his children like any good father does out of his mere love for us.

What is the reward? Well the bible doesn’t really tell us a whole lot about it, for good reason. Because it’s so wonderful and glorious our own language doesn’t have the capacity to describe it and we would detract from it’s full glory. But what the bible does tell us is something like this. We shall see Him as He is, and worship in His glorious presence. Our very bodies will be changed, and glorified, with no sickness or disease. There will be no sorrow, no sighing; all tears shall be wiped away. All will be perpetual glory. No wars or rumours of wars; no separation, no unhappiness, nothing that drags a man down and makes him unhappy, even for a second!

Unmixed joy, glory, holiness, purity, and wonder for we shall see Him. That is what is awaiting us. That is your destiny and mine in Christ as certainly as we are alive at this moment. How foolish we are that we do not spend our time in thinking about that. Oh, how we cling to this unhappy, wretched world, and fail to think on these things and to meditate upon them.

We are all going on to that, if we are Christians, to that amazing glory and purity and happiness and joy. ‘Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.’ And if people are unkind and cruel and spiteful, and if we are being persecuted, well then we must say to ourselves, ‘poor, unhappy people; they are doing this because they do not know Him, and they do not understand me.’ They are incidentally proving to me that I belong to Him, that I am going to be with Him and share in that joy with Him. Therefore, far from resenting it, and wanting to hit back, or being depressed by it, it makes me realize all the more what is awaiting me. I have a joy unspeakable and full of glory awaiting me.

It is because of that truth that I as a believer can then be salt and light in a tasteless and dark world, which is where we are next in the sermon. Friends let us think on these things and become even more aware of the realization of these wonderful truths, then I can rejoice in all things and be exceedingly glad for my reward in heaven.