It Hurts So Good!
Matthew 5:10-12
Introduction:
Imagine in your youth reading of a promised Messiah that would one day come to set the captives free, establish His kingdom, banish the wicked and rule with a rod of iron through love and power. A Messiah that would bring salvation to the lost, comfort to the mourning, restoration of the land to the meek, give satisfaction to the longing, mercy to the merciful, reveal Himself to the pure in heart and adopt and title those that would strive for peace.
Now here you are as an adult, sitting at the base of a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, looking at this man that claims to be that very Messiah, listening to Him preach, hanging on every word, hoping beyond hope that now is the time and today is THAT day. And, He starts, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Imagine your excitement sitting at the base of the mountain, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, preaching through the Greatest Sermon ever preached, promising great rewards for faith and the demonstration of that faith. Imagine being one in that audience that was weary and tired of being ruled over, taken advantage of and mistreated: being viewed as a stranger in your own promised land! Imagine what these words would mean, life-changing! Rewarding! And, as if these first seven rewards were not grand enough, He was saving the best for last, that’s what great teacher does, they start low and build up the momentum, there was one more! Already we have been promised heaven, comfort, the earth, satisfaction, mercy, and the ability to see God and receive the royal title of Son of God, things NO OTHER religion was ever able to offer.
So, there you are, on cloud nine, excited about this last reward like a child that saved the biggest gift under the tree, Jesus Christ unpacks the last gift in verse 10. Here it is, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Wait, WHAT?
I am sure there was someone in that crowd that was looking at the guy next to him either thinking or saying “he said ‘Blessed are THOSE who are persecuted” not ME! He was not looking at me when He said “Those”. He may have been looking at YOU or that guy over there with the priestly clothes on, but not ME. He said THOSE who are persecuted!
I mean this was shocking to this crowd! They were expecting that by the time they progressed up this beatitudnal ladder: admitted they were poor, wept over their sin, displayed meekness, shunned hypocrisy, and went out of their way to bring peace, even if it meant conflict and being unpopular, why they should be getting knighted! These are NOT easy things to do! I mean heck, you send in $100 to Benny Hinn and he even gives you a prayer shawl and your name put on the TV screen for the whole world to see! Do all these things and Jesus say your reward is persecution?!
It needed an explanation and personalization then and it needs it today!
There is no doubt that Jesus knew what was going on in the minds of this people who were shocked and struggling with this final reward of persecution, presented as if it were a good thing! How do I know they were struggling with this final beatitude? Because I know people. How do I know that Jesus knew they were struggling? Because I know my Jesus.
Do not miss what Jesus does here, something completely different than what we have seen thus far. Something unique in all of the eight beatitudes, and if you are not careful, you will miss it. For seven beatitudes, Jesus used words like “they”, “theirs” and “those”, yet after He reveals that the ultimate reward for Being the Believing is persecution, He settles His eternally loving eyes on the crowd and brings an explanation and personalization with the simple, yet personal word, “you”. See it?! In verse 10, Jesus stuck with the words “those” and “theirs”, but in verse 11, after He knows they are struggling and pointing to the guy next to them and the priest in the back, Jesus says the same thing but different “Blessed are YOU”, He makes it personal and then brings an explanation.
Why? Two reasons that I can think of:
a. To reveal that Christianity, true Christianity is tough, and it is hard. To show that while the first seven beatitudes are about character, this last one is about confirmation. The first seven are showing us the character of the Christian and this seventh confirms that we have achieved that very goal. And secondly:
b. To bring comfort to those who may be scared, thrown off, anxious and discouraged that the expectation in Christianity is to be persecuted. The very proof in the pudding for Being the Believing is whether or not you are being persecuted. And, let me say, Christians in America are not, for the most part, being persecuted. So, either God had it wrong and should have exempted America from this text, or we as Christians in America have it wrong because we are not living the way Jesus said we are to live, so persecution is absent from the majority.
Why did Jesus save this beatitude for last? In the words of Kent Hughes “its position at the end of the list tells us that it is of supreme importance to the church. Significantly, when stretched on the loom of adversity the church has repeatedly woven persecution and joy into garments of divine praise.” I would add that another reason Jesus saved this for last was to weed out the players, the fence riders, the non-committal and the lukewarm. Anyone who would step up into Christianity after hearing they would: lose their families, homes, jobs, property and very lives, and in fact they did as recorded in Hebrews…anyone who after Jesus said “Blessed are the persecuted”, would shoot their hand up and shout, “SIGN ME UP” is someone that can change this world, someone that is serious. Someone that Jesus could use, and use He did!
Now we are ready to unpack our text with four truths:
1. Reviled because of your faith: (Vs. 10) “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus establishes, from the get go, the reason Christians will be persecuted is NOT because of their personality, bad decisions, past, or sin but Christ. Persecuted not because of our sin but because of our Savior. This kind of persecution is motivated by two thoughts:
For righteousness sake: I Peter 4:3-4 says: “For the time of the 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;” –I Pet. 4:3-4 ESV Listen, I had my time with this world and all of its pleasures, and if you are like me, after tasting all of what the world offered, I was still not satisfied, I still had a void within me and I still had no peace, then I met Jesus and by His grace I stand before you today and boldly declare, I have tasted my Lord and found Him to be good, I have found Him to be enough.
The time of doing what this world wants me to do is OVER and when they hear and see that I am done, they are surprised and bring persecution. This world has always persecuted what they do not understand! So, be peculiar, unique, different, that this world will be shocked by the very life you live and the words you give, and when (not IF) persecution comes, throw your hands up, skip around, singing “What a wonderful change in my life has been brought since Jesus came into my heart!”
For Christ’s account: Persecution has always come to those who have associated with Christ, persecution through proximity. That is why Peter distanced himself from our Lord, hung out with the heathen and cursed: to prove he was not a disciple of Jesus so that he could escape the persecution that comes from associating with Jesus. Let me interject here that if you do not want to be persecuted, simply blend into this world and become one of them. And, if it’s any comfort, you will be in the majority: at home, in the office and even on Sunday mornings at church. But, if you are one of the few that desire to be blessed and long for the day when you will stand before our Father to hear those eternally comforting words “Well done thou thou good and faithful servant, enter into my rest”, then when persecution comes, you will welcome it because it is by that very persecution that your life is confirmed by God.
2. A Reaction to your faith: (Vs. 11) “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
a. You will suffer because you are called out! (Jn. 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.” Talk about being up front! No surprises here! If you are a true believer, and the past seven beatitudes show your character, then you will receive persecution because while you are living in this world, you are not of this world, but have been called out from this world so this world will react against you in hate.
b. You will suffer because you will remove the cloak of sin! (2 Ti. 3:12): “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” The true believer should live in such a way that when beside a non-believer, or the backslidden Christian, they expose their sin. (Delco ceiling story white paint-churches today full of blended in Christians *Vance Havner*, but have a believer pop in, a true Christian, and watch the fireworks! Folks will either: get right, get going or get attacking, but know this, if folks don’t get right they are going to get left! That’s when YOU know you’re doing something right!
c. You will suffer because this world does not know Christ! (Jn. 16:3): “And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.” Oh, there are many “religious” people in this world, in fact according to recent studies as many as 98% of the world’s population believe in something. If you just take the major religions of the world: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Sikhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism/Daoism, and Jainism you will find almost 7 billion adherents to a “religion” and our current population in 2013 was only 7.125 billion! throw in the indigenous religions and you will soon discover that the true atheists are really the true minority! And yet, even with all of these people claiming belief in “God”, we are still living in a world full of sin with people defeated, hopeless and having no peace. Why? Because this world does not know Christ! Know God Know Peace, No God No Peace! Peace only comes from the One born in a manger over 2000 years ago hailed introduced to humanity in Isaiah 9:6 as the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” It is not the Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Sikh, Jewish, Confucianist, Taoist, Daoist or Jain way…That is why Jesus stepped out from eternity, and offended every culture, people, kindred and tongue, when he declared with authority motivated by love “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by ME” You want to see persecution? Tell the 1.8 billion Muslims who worship Allah; they are on the path to hell. Tell the 1.1 billion Hindus that worship over 330 million gods and goddess that their worship is in vain. Tell the Buddhist that their founder Siddhartha was deceived by a demon and their prayers are not being heard. Tell the nation of China and the nation of Japan that Confucianism and Shinto will not lead to Moksha or Nirvana. In fact, stand on the rooftops, shout from the highways and byways that Jesus Christ is Lord and is the ONLY way to salvation and you will suffer because this world does not know my Christ and they will reject any god other than one they can create and manipulate and one that will not judge their sin or seek to change how they live and who they want to be.
d. You will suffer because this world is deceived in its concept of God! (Jn. 16:1-4): “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: ye, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.” IF you are Being the Believing, you will suffer because this world is deceived in its concept of God. This world will take no issue with certain attributes of God or segments of the Bible, in fact they embrace them, and they love to hear that: God is an ever present help in time of trouble, that; He will protect, provide for, give strength to and unconditionally love. Their perverted view is that God has created a world of roses and we are all His children, holding hands, singing Kumba Ya as we enjoy His love all the way to heaven. But talk about His wrath, anger, hate for sin, accountability or His call to repent, submit and surrender and you will suffer because this world is deceived in its concept of God.
3. Reminded of your faith: (Vs. 12a) “Rejoice and be glad…” Two brief truths here:
a. Our suffering is for a purpose: Brings us closer to Him that we would be more like Him and reminds us that we are of Him! “I am getting rather proud, for I see that my character is more and more defamed.” -Luther
b. Our suffering is not permanent: There is coming a day when those clouds will be rolled back like a scroll, the trump shall resound, my Lord shall descend. A day when my Jesus will show all of those faith healers how it’s really done by whisking the Holy Spirit down every hallway, of every nursing home and hospital past every room where born again believers are hurting and lonely, longing for relief and peace and give them a new body that will have no need for: medications, visitations or lamentations, because they will be so caught up with celebrations that will last for eternal generations!
When Kimberly was at tech school in Texas for three months she discovered she was the only virgin in her flight. She was the only one that went to church every Sunday, the only one that said no when literally everyone else around her enjoyed the things of the world. She felt lonely and became tired of being made fun of and, often, being alone on the weekends. For those like Kimberly, living for Christ and facing the promised persecution, there is coming a day, and it will be soon, when we will either come into His presence through the casket or the clouds and will realize when we trade our faith in for sight at the Gates of Glory and look around, it has been worth it all! As that old black preacher would declare, it may be Friday, but Sunday’s coming!
4. Rewarded for your faith: (Vs. 12b) “for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
• Faith Brings Rewards: This audience of early believers did not, ever, experience the rewards American Christian Culture has been propagating, presenting and proclaiming in the prosperity message of today. Get saved: get rich, get healthy, get popular, get powerful, and get successful: of course that message is usually followed up with how much seed money you will need to mail in
Those are NOT the rewards that God has promised to those who place their faith and trust in Him! While He is a “rewarder of those that diligently seek Him”, it is imperative that we define the reward that God grants to those that demonstrate faith.
The Bible is not silent on this issue, in fact the entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews is given to demonstrate what faith is, some examples of who had it, how we can get it and what it does. These “people of old”: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Rahab, never ate what the proponents of the prosperity message dish out, but they were rewarded. Their reward for faith? Our reward for faith? The approval of God, being blessed. PERIOD. The confidence, assurance, and blessing of knowing that you are right with God, that when you take the steps that He has approved that you will be protected, provided for and the recipient of His promises. Being able to lay down at night and know that whatever tomorrow holds, you KNOW who holds tomorrow: that is a reward that is far better than good health, good money, good jobs, good homes…I’ll take a great God in glory over any good thing on earth any moment of any day. It has worked for 24 years and I am not about to trade down today!
And:
• Rewards Build Faith: Simply put, when God rewards our faith, our faith grows. Because God has demonstrated His ability in our past, we can be confident of His authority in our present and celebrate what we will achieve in the future!
When Abraham stepped out from the comfort and security of his own land to venture out into his unknown, not God’s unknown, but his unknown, he saw the hand of God move and reward him. So that by the time he was asked to offer his only son Isaac he had a past with God that realized rewards from God and his faith was built up so much in God that he gladly spoke up, stepped out and surrendered to the will of God. (Lady at FM-lost everything…She had a PAST with GOD! Most of us have a past with God! I have a past with God. I have been saved from hell, given life, been changed, experienced God taking a bottle out of my hand and putting a Bible into it, taking a mouth of blaspheme and giving me a mouth of praise, transformed from the reproach of a community into the pastor of community…Oh I have a past with an Almighty God so…I have no problems believing that God will work everything out in the end and that He will reward me one day as His child!
Conclusion:
“Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great”: Be glad means “to exult, rejoice greatly, to be overjoyed” which is why the KJV translates it “Be exceeding glad”! The literal meaning is to “skip and jump with happy excitement!” So, we have been poor, mourned, displayed meekness, hungered and thirsted after the things of God, brought peace to a chaotic world and our ultimate reward is persecution that causes us to run around the room, hands in the air, skipping and jumping for joy as if we had won the lottery!
How?!
1. Your reward in heaven is great! (LIFE IS GOOD! salvation, hope, joy, love, power, victory…you ain’t seen nothing yet.)
2. This world has no claim on your reward!
Ill.: John Chrysostom, a godly leader in the fourth-century church preached so strongly against sin that he offended the unscrupulous Empress Eudoxia as well as many church officials. When summoned before Emperor Arcadius, Chrysostom was threatened with banishment if he did not cease his uncompromising preaching. His response was, “Sire, you cannot banish me, for the world is my Father’s house.” “Then I will slay you” Archadius said. “Nay, but you cannot, for my life is hid with Christ in God”, came the answer. “Your treasures will be confiscated” was the next threat, to which John replied, “Sire, that cannot be, either. My treasures are in heaven, where none can break through and steal.” “Then I will drive you from man, and you will have no friends left!” was the final, desperate warning. “That you cannot do, either,” answered John, “for I have a Friend in heaven who has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.” John was indeed banished, first to Armenia and then further away to Pityus on the Black Sea, to which he never arrived because he died on the way. But neither the banishment nor his death disproved or diminished his claims. The things that he valued most highly not even an emperor could take from him.
