Intro
In our study of the Beatitudes, we come to the eighth beatitude. It is recorded in Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”i The reward declared in this final beatitude is the same as declared in the first beatitude: “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
That brings us full circle to the importance of being part of God’s kingdom. Satan has a kingdom that is operating in this world. It is a kingdom headed for destruction.ii God has a kingdom that leads to life everlasting. Nothing is more important than being a citizen of the right kingdom. Nothing is more important than the transfer of citizenship that occurs when we surrender our lives to Christ. The new birth transfers our citizenship from the fallen world system to the “kingdom of heaven.” “You must be born again,” Jesus told Nicodemus.iii In John 3:5 Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” No amount of religion, no amount of moral effort can substitute for that. “You must be born again,” Only those who have surrendered to Christ and received that internal transformation can expect to go to heaven. That is foundational to everything else. Then as children of God, we are to cultivate the qualities set forth in these beatitudes. We are to cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit as he conforms us to the image of Christ and prepares us for an eternity with God.iv
The Beatitudes reveal the qualities God wants developed in you and me. They paint a beautiful picture of the consecrated follower of Christ. These characteristics begin with being “poor in spirit” which depicts a person who realizes his need for God and walks humbly with the Lord. He mourns over his sins and sincerely turns from them. In his submission to the Lord, he becomes meek in his dealings with others. He wants to be right in all his relationships. He hungers and thirsts for rightness. He hungers and thirsts for righteousness. He is merciful toward people and has a pure heart. He is a peacemaker, not only seeking peace in his own relationships but actively helping others live peaceably with one another. What a lovely picture of a loving person.
With that description, we might expect the final beatitude to say something like this: "Blessed are they who are applauded by the world for their benevolent kindness toward others. For they are successful, and everyone speaks well of them.v Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your success in life; for anyone who treats others this way will be very popular. People will really appreciate their unselfish efforts to help them know God and ultimately enjoy eternal life."
But the 8th beatitude predicts a very different experience. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In the next two verses, Jesus explains the blessing more fully. Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Persecution is a major theme in Scripture. We will need more than one sermon to explain this beatitude.
Today we will focus on one question: Why is the result of living according to the first seven beatitudes persecution? Why wouldn’t people appreciate and esteem those who are characterized by the Beatitudes? Why would they harass and oppose them?
I want to suggest three reasons why persecution logically follows the previous seven beatitudes.
1. The hunger and thirst for righteousness conflict with the world’s love for unrighteousness.
2. The peacemaker’s pursuit of God’s kind of peacemaking confronts the sinners’ rebellion against the Creator.
3. The peacemaker’s passion for biblical peace motivates him to take the gospel of peace into hostile territory.
We get some insight on the answer to our question in this phrase found in Matthew 5:10: “for righteousness' sake.”
I. Righteousness in the believer provokes the persecution.
You might think righteousness would provoke admiration. Instead, the response is opposition: “for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” History has taught us that. And this truth is supremely evident in the life of Christ.
The Beatitudes are a magnificent description of Christ. He perfectly personifies the Beatitudes. He came with humility, meekness, and mercy. He came with a pure heart. He as the ultimate peacemaker, providing eternal reconciliation between God and all those who receive his provision. Surely the world would celebrate this loving Savior. No, the response was to crucify him! Isn’t that an amazing historical fact?
On one occasion the Jews picked up stones to kill him, Jesus said to them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" (John 10:32). He had healed their sick, cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead. Yet they hated him without a cause.vi His righteousness did not win him popularity. It provoked persecution. Why? Jesus gave the answer in John 3:19. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light. . . .”
Darkness hates light. Satan’s kingdom is a kingdom of darkness. People who are set on following the evil in their sinful hearts, hate truth. Truth exposes their rationalizations and self-justification. Truth confronts their unwillingness to submit to the Creator. Truth calls them to account for their evil deeds. When people are confronted with truth, they either acknowledge the truth and repent or they resist the truth. In that process, they often persecute the truth-teller.
There are often unseen spiritual forces behind the persecution. “For,” says Ephesians 6:12, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places [in the unseen spiritual realm]. The evil spirits in Satan’s kingdom hate the light. When they encounter the light, they respond fearfully and hatefully. For example, in Luke 4 Jesus was teaching at the synagogue. A demonized man interrupted the message. Luke 4:33-34 records the event. “Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, ‘Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!’” When light confronts darkness, there is a response in the spiritual realm There is a clash of spirits. Unclean spirits want to be left alone to do their dirty deeds. They respond when they encounter the light. So, there is the demonic aspect of persecution that is sometimes involved.
But fallen man has a natural aversion to the light as well. Jesus said it is because they love their evil deeds (John 3:19). They get a perverse satisfaction in pursuing their fallen desires.vii And when that lifestyle is threated by the light, they react. Proverbs 29:27 says, “An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.” Sometimes when we encounter a person, we immediately feel that clash in our spirit. On the positive side, when we encounter a Christian, we often discern the Holy Spirit in them.viii
The central characteristic of the godly is a hunger and thirst for righteousness. It is the issue of righteousness that is behind persecution of God’s true followers. The ungodly don’t mind you telling them that God loves them. They profusely love themselves. And why wouldn’t God love them? The problem comes in when their evil deeds are exposed and confronted. If your light is shining, the godly lifestyle exposes the darkness in their lives. Often the response is to oppose the light. It can happen simply because of your example. They have gotten themselves pretty comfortable, then the example of a godly person shows up the deception. That elicits a decision.
When you lay a straight stick beside a crooked stick, the crookedness is exposed. Righteousness exposes unrighteousness. Light exposes darkness. And evil men like to operate under the cover of darkness. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light . . .” (John 3:19-20).
In Matthew 10:34-36 Jesus said something that on the surface may seem at variance with his mission. He said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'” Jesus’s ultimate mission was peace. He is the Prince of Peace.ix But before that can be realized, there must be this confrontation with the truth. There must be a decision to accept God’s terms for peace. And when people reject that offer, they reject the messenger of that offer as well.
Why is the result of living according to the first seven beatitudes persecution? First, the issue of righteousness is behind the conflict. The clash between light and darkness drives the persecution. Secondly, God’s kind of peacemaking is a factor. Biblical peacemaking addresses the issues that have broken the peace.
II. Biblical peacemaking confronts the sinner’s rebellion against the Creator.
Biblical peacemaking calls on people to turn from darkness to light. It calls people to repentance. It addresses their wickedness so that there can be a lasting peace between the creature and the Creator. The gospel is called the gospel of peace because it is an offer of peace on God’s terms. It is the only kind of peace that lasts. God’s peace is based on truth and integrity. We must understand the biblical revelation of peacemaking before we can understand the connection between peacemaking and persecution. We dealt with that extensively last week.x
Appeasement does not provoke persecution. If our message were a gospel of tolerance, the world could bear it quite easily. But that false gospel will lead no one into the kingdom of God. If you think God is tolerant of evil, you have not read your Bible very closely. Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Ephesians 5:5-6 warns, “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” Biblical peacemaking is not an accommodation of evil. It is not an appeasement of rebels. That’s why God’s brand of peacemaking so often results in persecution.
In the early chapters of Acts, we see persecution breaking out against the church almost from its inception. The confrontational nature of the gospel contributed to that reaction. When Peter preached Christ on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:37 records the people’s response: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, [what does that mean? It means their conscience was pricked. They were convicted of their guilt]xi and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” What did Peter tell them to do? He told them to repent. They would have to stop going their own way, turn to God, and live his way. The “gospel of peace” demands a surrender to God and a change of lifestyle. Acts 2:40 continues, “And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’” On that day, 3000 responded in repentance and found peace with God.
In Acts 3 the persecution began. The chapter opens with Peter and John healing the lame man at the temple. That opened the door for Peter to preach the gospel. Observe the confrontational nature of his message as we read Acts 3:12-15. “So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.”
Was Peter trying to flatter these people into the kingdom? Was his sermon a message of tolerance and self-esteem? No, he confronted their guilt so that they could repent. Verse 19 records him saying to the crowd, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” The obstruction to having peace with God is our sins. In the cross, God has made a way for us to be forgiven of those sins. If we embrace that provision, we can be reconciled to God. When people reject the provision, they tend to persecute the messenger.
Acts 4 describes the response to Peter’s message. About 5,000 men humbled themselves and received Christ. But Acts 4:1-3 tells us the response of others. “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. [Preaching Christ will lead some to repentance and salvation. Others will be ‘greatly disturbed.’] 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.” So, the persecution here takes the form of imprisonment.
The next day Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin to give an account of their activities. At this point did Peter and John decide to be a little more conciliatory in their message? This straightforward preaching has upset these people. Maybe we should tone it down. After all, “You can catch more bees with honey than vinegar.” Maybe we should lighten up on this call for repentance. If we bend some toward them, maybe they will bend a little toward us and let us go. Sadly, that is exactly what some preachers are doing. They go on the Oprah Winfrey and deny the exclusivity of Christ as the only Savior. They concede that if other religions are sincere, maybe they will go to heaven as well. They take no biblical stand against homosexuality and other sins. And they get invited back. They successfully avoid persecution by denying biblical truth.
But what did Peter and John do? When asked “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Peter answers in Acts 4:8-12. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Peter did not water down the truth for the sake of peace. Imagine their inner response when Peter said the words, “whom you crucified” He addressed their guilt. It was something they needed to acknowledge. They needed to humble themselves and ask God to forgive them for their sins. They knew God had raised Jesus from the dead. They had paid the guards to lie about that.xii They were being given an opportunity to repent and get right with God. They did not do that. The gospel call for repentance often provokes persecution from the ungodly. Biblical peacemaking confronts the sin. And that can be disturbing to people.
The exclusivity of the gospel provokes persecution as well. Peter concluded his answer in Acts 4:12 by saying, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” It is much more popular to say there are many ways to heaven. Our tolerant culture expects us to concede to that, and when we don’t, they are provoked. From their perspective, the Christian is simply not trying to get along with the other religions. From their perspective, we are not being very loving. But if there is only one way, then the most unloving thing we could do is to let people think some other path will get them to heaven. Jesus paid the only price for salvation acceptable to God. There is salvation in no other name. Jesus made this clear in John 14:6 when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The more we understand biblical peacemaking, the more we understand why persecution follows that beatitude.
We are often viewed as non-cooperative and non-compliant. The early church in Rome was persecuted because they would not burn a pinch of incense to Caesar and declare him lord. From their perspective, it was a reasonable demand: just a little compromise for the sake of peace. But a little compromise opens the door for more compromise. The devil is never satisfied with a little. We just as well let people get upset with on the first step as the second. If we live by biblical principles, some will respect that and inquire of the hope that lies in us.xiii Others will become angry.
There are various ways we can avoid persecution. We can compromise the truth and please more people. We can embrace a message of tolerance and accommodate a broader crowd. We can avoid controversial issues. Another way we might avoid persecution is to just isolate ourselves from the world. Stay within the four walls of our churches; don’t engage the culture; keep silent about our faith. The problem with that is revealed in what Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33. “Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Being denied by the Lord is not a price I am willing to pay to avoid persecution.
Instead of avoiding persecution, Jesus tells us to embrace it. We don’t try to bring it on. As much as we can, we live in peace with others.xiv But when persecution comes “for righteousness’ sake,” we are to not only endure it, but to rejoice that God has counted us worthy to suffer for his name’s sake. Matthew 5:12 says, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” We are not to compromise our faith to avoid the hardship of persecution.
We have processed two reasons that the godly experience persecution.
(1) Darkness hates the light. The light that is in us exposes the darkness and that prompts a response.
(2) The gospel of peace calls people to repent. It confronts the sins that men love and tells them to turn from their iniquity to a holy God. The condition for peace with God is total surrender. Rebels don’t like that message. Now let’s consider one other reason persecution comes to followers of Christ.
III. The peacemaker’s passion for biblical peace motivates him to take the gospel of peace into hostile territory.
Christ’s love for the lost constrains him to go to them with God’s offer of peace. (2 Cor. 5:14). “Now then,” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.” The first step in biblical peacemaking is that people “be reconciled to God.” There can be no lasting peace among men without that. The love of Christ in our hearts compels us to go to people with God’s message of reconciliation.
Not only that, but Christ commands us to do it. Isolation is not an option. Withdrawal from the world is not an option. The Great Commission commands us to go into hostile territory with the gospel of peace. In Mark 16:15-16 Jesus commands all his followers: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” So, there is that little two-letter word “Go.” Being passive for the sake of peace is not an option. We are to “Go.” Go to church? No, we need to do that for our own edification so that we are equipped to evangelize. But we are to go into enemy territory. We are to “Go into all the world.” And when we get there, whether it is on the job, in the school, or in the marketplace, we are to “preach the gospel to every creature.” Some will respond with repentance; others will respond with persecution. That’s the decision they must make. We cannot make that decision for them. What we must do is give opportunity to everyone of them to turn from their sin to God.
From the sinner’s perspective, when we obey the Great Commission, we are invading their territory.xv And in a sense that is true.xvi But we only do that out of love and concern for their eternal wellbeing. We are not doing it for personal gain. We are not just trying to add another notch to our evangelistic gun. We’re trying to help people find peace with God. We are introducing them to God’s offer of eternal life. Some will understand that and receive God’s gift of mercy. Others will resent the confrontation and persecute us.
In Matthew 28:20 Jesus included in the Great Commission, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” The NIV says, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Fallen sinners do not like that word “obey.” They want to follow their own lusts with no accountability to anyone. They are like a wild horse being saddled. They will kick and bite and persecute. God does not compromise the conditions of peace for anyone. It’s obedience to the gospel that brings salvation. But you can see how us coming into their territory with a message of surrender could provoke some negative reactions in the unrepentant.
Next week we will talk more about this beatitude. Today we have focused on one question: Why is the result of living according to the first seven beatitudes persecution? Righteous living exposes the wickedness of the ungodly. It pricks their conscience and makes them uncomfortable. Our message confronts their sin and calls them to repentance. We do not withdraw from the world. Instead, we go into all the world and preach the gospel. That gets a reaction one way or the other.
Following his teaching of the Beatitudes and especially this last one, Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16,
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Persecution or no persecution, we are to let our light shine. We are to live our lives according to the Beatitudes. We are to go into all the world and declare the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are not to let persecution deter us. The eternal destiny of those around us depends on it. May God grace you and me to carry the gospel of peace to the lost whatever the cost may be.
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
ii Cf. Eph. 2:1-2; Phil. 3:20; Col. 1:12-13; John 16:11; 1 John 5:19; Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019), 403-405.
iii John 3:7.
iv Cf. Rom. 8:29; Phil. 2:12-13; 2 Pet. 3:5-7, 18.
v Cf. Luke 6:26.
vi Cf. John 15:25; Ps. 109:3.
vii Cf. John 8:44.
viii Cf. 1 Cor. 12:10; 2 Cor. 5:16.
ix Cf. Isa. 9:6; Luke 2:14.
x Biblical peacemaking was explained in the previous teaching about the seventh beatitude. Cf. Isa. 32:17; 57:21.
xi Cf. John 16:8.
xii Matt. 28:12-13.
xiii Cf. 1 Peter 3:15.
xiv Cf. Ps. 34:14; Rom. 12:18; Heb. 12:14.
xv Cf. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus promised to build his church, then added, “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” In that ancient culture, the gates were the defense of the city. If the gates could be breached, the city could be taken. The Great Commission is that we go and assault territory Satan has usurped and free his captives.
xvi However, ultimately it is all God’s territory. The territory does not actually belong to those in rebellion against God. Nor does it belong to Satan and his host. They are usurpers of territory that belongs to God. And we come as representatives of the true King.
