Persecuted for righteousness sake.

Persecuted for righteousness sake.

Matthew  5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Luke  6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.  6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Persecution will be the lot of all who seek to live in harmony with the word of God, for the sake of righteousness.

1. Those who uphold God’s standards, of truth, justice and purity.

Those who at the same time refuse to compromise with the present evil society or the lifestyles of lukewarm believers

The principles of God’s kingdom never change. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution

2 Timothy  3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

John  15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.  15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

John  17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Persecution and opposition will come from the world . 

Matthew  10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.  10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;  10:18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.  10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.  10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.  10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.  10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.  10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.  10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.  10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?  10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.  10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.  10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

One must not fail to note that it is those who are persecuted for righteousness sake that are blessed.

Acts  14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

1 Peter  3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;  3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:  3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

These believers will undergo unpopularity, rejection, and criticism.

Matthew  10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Matthew  24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

John  15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Persecution at times will come at times from those professing church 

Acts  20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.  20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

2 Timothy  1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

2 Timothy  3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.  3:9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.  3:10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,  3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.  3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.  3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

2 Timothy  4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.

When they experience this suffering, Christians are supposed to rejoice.

Matthew  5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

For to those who suffer most God imparts more blessing.

2 Corinthians  1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

2 Timothy  2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

1 Peter  1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

1 Peter  4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Christians must beware of temptation to compromise God’s will, in order to avoid shame, embarrassment or loss.

Matthew  10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Mark  8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Luke  9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.

2 Timothy  2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Those who suffer and endure persecution because of righteousness are promised the kingdom and heavenly rewards.

Some self made martyrs complain of being persecuted for righteousness sake, when it is really for their own foolishness sake. 

When they are criticized for acting or talking unwisely, they quite this beautiful.

But this is handling the word of God deceitfully.

When persecuted the Christian is to rejoice and be exceeding glad.

Christ our Master and Lord was the supreme example of what is described in verse 11. The Beatitudes are the autobiography of Christ.

The virtues which Jesus extol in the sermon on the mount are almost the exact opposite of those admired by the Greeks and Romans of His day.

He said blessed are the poor in spirit, the pure in heart, the peace makers, the persecuted,  the mourners,, the meek, the merciful and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. These still run counter to the spirit of the age.

It seems, then, that our Lord is sketching a saved personality forced to live in an unsaved world, righteousness surrounded by vice, with the consequent tensions thus created.

Persecuted for righteousness sake

Matthew  5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Let us pray.