Rejoice And Be Glad! - Matthew 5:12 Series

Matthew 5:1-12 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

Introduction: Let’s Get Ready to Suffer

Imagine tomorrow evening you are sitting in your living room reading a book, and suddenly there is a knock at the door. You open it up and there stands the Lord Jesus Christ. And you fall at His feet in worship, and you invite Him in, and you start to think of a whole bunch of questions you want to ask Him, but before you can ask the first one you notice a very concerned – almost distressed look on His face. And it scares you. You ask Him “What’s wrong?” And Jesus looks straight into your eyes and grabs you by both shoulders and says, “I’ve got to warn you! You are in grave danger – it’s a matter of eternal life and death, and I’ve come here to warn you. Listen carefully…” Do you think you would take that seriously? During Jesus’ ministry on earth He did give us some very strong and urgent warnings – especially about persecution. And I wonder sometimes how seriously the Church takes those warnings.

When they asked Jesus about the end times the first words out of His mouth were, “Watch out!”

Matthew 24:3 "Tell us … what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4 Jesus answered: "Watch out…”

- and goes on to warn them about being deceived. And then He says this:

9 you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith ... 12 … the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Does that sound to you like something Jesus is serious about? Jesus was very concerned about what was going to happen to us when the big persecution comes.

Luke 18:8 when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

John 15:20 If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also … 16:1 All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

Jesus was concerned to warn us about persecution – especially the increased persecution at the end. Isn’t that what the Book of Revelation is all about? At the beginning He addresses all the various churches, and to each one he gives the promise of heaven only to those who overcome. “To those who overcome … to those who overcome … to those who overcome… - to the overcomers alone I will give the rewards of heaven.” Overcome what? Well, the rest of the book describes God’s wrath on unbelievers, and persecution for believers. And then at the end of the book He describes God’s final victory and the glories of heaven and then says:

Revelation 21:7 He who overcomes will inherit all this

So it starts by saying, “You need to overcome” – then warns about extreme persecution – then at the end the overcomers inherit everything. A whole book warning us about being overcomers in the coming persecution.

And it gets worse as we get closer to the end. That is why the ministry of the Church becomes more and more important the closer we get to the Second Coming.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

As we approach closer and closer to the Second Coming persecution will increase, the pressure will increase, those with shallow soil will give up and die out, the love of most will grow cold, and more and more will turn away from the faith, and mutual encouragement in the Church will become more and more critical because only the overcomers – only those who stand firm to the end will be saved.