him on his day. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for this blessed privilege. We pray, Lord, that we will seize the opportunity and come with an attitude of gaining from thee what we can, that we can live out our lives in this world, that we may be profitable to those around us and even to be profitable to your kingdom. We pray now this day that your spirit will rest upon us as we meditate your word on your word and share some thoughts from your word. We pray you will continually guide us into truth and that we would express that we have come to truth in how we react to that truth. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Beatitude number four, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter five, verses 10 through 12. And I read the text. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. We have come to the last of eight Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Some say that there are nine Beatitudes because the word blessed is used twice in this text. But there is only one topic in view. The text we have before us in Matthew 5 10 through 12 is the context of the topic. How one understands this passage will determine if there are two Beatitudes or one that is in view. If one is forming their opinion on the word blessed, blessed, they haven't read the text carefully enough. When we read the text carefully, we will see that the Beatitude is stated and then an expansion of the Beatitude, an expansion or an elaboration of the Beatitude is given. Now this is the only Beatitude that our Lord makes an expansion and gives a definition of what is in view as he presents to us this Beatitude. The other times we had to read the Bible and make our own expansion, which I was doing, of the text. But here the teacher helps us in understanding what is meant by blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs the kingdom of heaven. In other words, the persecution is not really the blessing, But the fact that the persecuted are of the kingdom of heaven is the blessing. Not only do we find a uniqueness about this Beatitude in its definition, we see a uniqueness in its instruction. There are no instructions given in the other Beatitudes that are mentioned. No other one give instructive comments after the Beatitude is stated. Therefore, we will treat the passage as it is given to us. And here we see first the Beatitude stated in verse 10. The verse identifies the persecuted as they. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. As I said, the verse itself identifies the persecuted ones as they. This gives the implication that everyone will not be persecuted. Furthermore, a specific kind of persecution is mentioned. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. The biblical word persecuted, or persecute, the same word, is not only used as a negative verb in the Bible. The word, the verb is used in a good way in the Bible at times. The verb rendered or the verb is rendered in many other places in the New Testament as follow after or pursue something or someone. You can check the verb yourself in your interlinear, Greek interlinear, if you're a student of the Bible, or your Strong's Concordance, if you care. You can check the verb carefully. For instance, the verb is used in 1 Corinthians 14, verse one, when the apostle was speaking to the church at Corinth about love. And then as he begins chapter one of 1 Corinthians, Chapter verse 1 of chapter 14. He the verb is used follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts But rather that you may prophesy Here we are told to follow after love to persecute love so you see how the verb is rendered Hebrews 12 14 also use the same verb as and translate the word persecuted, the verb, in the same way, saying, follow after peace with all men who call on the name of the Lord. So you can use the word in a good way. There are things worthy of pursuing or persecuting, but one should not persecute a person for righteousness sake. Thirdly, the last part of the Beatitudes states, for there is the kingdom of heaven. I often say to you that there is no difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. It's the same kingdom or the kingdom of Christ. You know, you pick up books and you read like good commentators like Warren Wiersbe. He's not a bad guy. He's not one of these guys that is critical. But he holds the position, the dispensationalist position. And he would interpret the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven as different, which is not correct. There's only one kingdom. and it is the kingdom of God. It is the kingdom of Christ. It is the kingdom that is expressed on earth. So understand this and people may make a big deal of it too, you know, and you can trace your Bible and see how the word is used interchangeably. So the Bible says, for there's the kingdom of heaven. The last sentence does not suggest, or this sentence does not suggest, that there is a reward for the persecuted. That, The persecuted reward is the kingdom of heaven, but it shows the status of the persecuted. They belong to the kingdom of heaven. I hope I made myself clear in explaining that to you. The kingdom of heaven is where believers enter when they have become children of God. And one of the expectations of such, of being in the kingdom, is given in the verse. And one of those expectations is persecution. Remember the great persecutor Paul, who was Saul, when he was called, God said to Ananias, look, go and tell this man, show this man the things that he must suffer for my sake. The persecutor, Paul, later in his life became the persecuted for the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God was the gospel. It was salvation. It was the church. The same thing that Paul was persecuting, he became persecuted for the same kingdom of God. So remember, the kingdom of heaven is what a believer enters into when they become saved. Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless you be born again, you cannot see. Is it the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, Colin? You were doing John 3. Which one? You don't remember? Senior Mormon. But which one it is in John 3, 3? Unless, except you be born again, you shall not see the kingdom of of God or heaven? It's the same thing, but if you continue reading, you would also find that Jesus mentioned heaven, you know, that which is born whatever of the flesh is flesh. So understand these things, and these things may not have a particular bearing on you, but they certainly have a bearing on the one who is teaching the word of God. And that's why we must carefully make these clarifications. Our Lord taught this principle himself throughout his ministry, but here in the Sermon on the Mount, he announces this principle forthwith. You remember later in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus alluded to this after John was in prison and probably executed already. And he said, and from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffer with violence and the violent take it by force. The all-important phrase in the text is, for righteousness' sake. For righteousness' sake. Because people can be persecuted for another sake, or another cause they may have. It may not be a righteous cause because when religion is being persecuted, all the religious people are persecuted, no matter which denomination they're from. If a country says, I don't want any Christians coming in here, right down the line who is under the umbrella of Christian, even if they're not Christian, will be barred. Jehovah's Witnesses, everyone. They don't distinguish between Baptist and Presbyterian. They don't distinguish when they are persecuting Christians. But the all-important phrase here is, for righteousness' sake, As we have said already, the word blessed is not as some say it is, or the word bless. The word infers a state of being and not an experience or a feeling, an emotional feeling or condition. So then we have seen that I've shared with you that I shared with you first the Beatitudes stated But we also see the beatitude defined. It is defined with an expansion of the beatitude. And I read, blessed are ye when men shall revile you. Now here is the persecutor. Or if you want to use the word plural, if I may, the persecutors. Men, and the generic word is used, people. Blessed are ye when people shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Notice, notice carefully the various definitions of persecution. When men shall revile, persecute you, say all manner of evil against you. How? Falsely. Why? For my sin. This persecution is defined with the words revile. And evil words said about the persecuted ones, but never ignore the important word falsely. You know, sometimes people are persecuted and they're not persecuted falsely, but they are persecuted rightly. The word here, revile, is similar to the word reproach. It is to say something about another person. The word is also used to mean to cast in the teeth. You may remember when Stephen was preaching that those who are listening gnash on their teeth. And you know what happened to Stephen. Matthew 27, 44 uses this word when Jesus was on the cross and was taunted by the crowd, for we read that the thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth. Can you imagine that people in their latter stage of their life, on their dying bed, on their death bed, are still persecuting. This is to show you the heart of man. I tell you that I always remember this, that I went to visit with a guy that was on his dying bed and apparently this IV was in his hand and it was hurting him. And he said to me, Brian, this guy come and put this IV in my hand. I feel like I would have punched him. I says, Charlie, relax. Relax, Charlie. Why would you want to punch him? So you see, God haven't given us the wisdom and the mercy. We would be persecutors. I mean, he wasn't persecuted. A person for righteousness said, but you can still say because he was confined to a hospital bed and you see his attitude. And even up to this very day, you see the attitude of some people. The Bible says in Peter, these words, if you'll be reproached for the name of Christ, happy, same word, Makarios, are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. I says on their part he, Christ, is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. So it tells me Peter uses the same word Makarios, happy are ye. At times, it may be to God's glory that we Christians are persecuted. That may be how God gets his glory. To be persecuted for righteousness sake, therefore means to be, like I said, to be pursued or to be followed after. To be persecuted for righteousness' sake means to be persecuted for the gospel, not only for believing the gospel, but oftentimes for proclaiming the gospel. This is where most of the persecution came in those days, for the proclamation of the gospel. Peter broadens his meaning, saying in verse 15 and 16, of 1 Peter 4. He says this, but let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. So here the Apostle Peter is echoing what he is taught by the Lord Jesus. And by the way, this is how we should be. He's repeating what the Lord said because he believes it. Now we're discussing the subject in the Beatitude in verses 10 through 12, the subject persecution. And I all have already shared the Beatitudes stated, but we also look at how it was expanded. And we will continue in saying that persecution is not as open and as obvious in our day and in our culture as it was in those days, or as it is in some countries. But persecution exists in real ways in the world, in the church, and also in the domestic sphere. As a matter of fact, this kind of persecution is the worst because it can be very destructive. So we look at this person, this Beatitude stated, Beatitude expanded. We see a directive given in the latter verse 12. Directive is given by the Lord himself who said, Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Now the word they obviously is not the same people who persecuted the prophets that persecute the church. The word they simply means or it's categorizing a people. And that people obviously are those who are listed as the persecutors, the they. So they, the persecutors, persecuted the prophets that were before you. And of course you can even You can even put a title on the there, and I leave you to put the title on the there who are persecuting. And if you're following me, you should know which direction that I'm going. But let us be realistic for a minute. No one is happy when persecuted or followed or pursued after for righteousness sake. No one is happy about that. But here we are told in the directive, rejoice, not for the persecution, you don't rejoice for persecution, but for the one who accompanies the persecuted, providing that one is persecuted as a true believer. We should also rejoice that we are the persecuted and not the persecutor, for if we are, woe is that one who is a persecutor. Let me explain some things here, because you may say, Well, none of us here fit into that category as persecutors, are you sure? Before you run off with that, are you sure? Because when I begin to explain this, we will have to ask ourselves if we are persecuted or if we are a persecutor. Jesus is speaking to a group of people. There are varied forms of persecution we read about in the Bible, and there are various forms of persecution that exist today. First, there is severe persecution. I don't think that any of us here ever was severely persecuted. In some countries, people cannot express their faith publicly. You heard Jeff Smith was here in February. You heard some of the statements he made about China and Pakistan. You heard that from him. In certain parts of the Far East, people are wronged up and incarcerated for being Christians. It still happen in some countries. There was one man that we know from India, I think he visited this church here to talk to some of us, one day in the week, who ministers in India, whose house was torched because he left his native religion and became a pastor of a Christian church. There are many cases like that. This is severe persecution. This kind was prevalent in the days of the early church when the established religion was severely persecuting the Christian faith. Just think of the Saul of Tarsus who I mentioned. When he was arrested, he was asked the question, why are you persecuting me? God didn't ask him, why are you persecuting the church? He says, why are you persecuting me? And this agrees with what Jesus is teaching. There is only one reason why men persecute believers. And that question that Paul was asked was a gracious question. God didn't ask that question for information. God doesn't have to ask questions. Jesus don't ask questions for information. He asks questions to let us know where we stay so that we can agree and change. Why are you persecuting me? Saul knew exactly why he was persecuting Jesus. He hated him. And he hated the name that he had. And he hated those who called on his name. Jesus' name. And Saul was arrested. And for the first time, it came out of his lips, Lord, what would you have me to do? And God said to him, no, I'm going to now turn you around from being the persecutor to a persecuted. And everywhere Paul went, there were people pursuing him to kill him. They finally kill him, but he was only killed when his work was finished. This is severe persecution. This kind was prevalent in the days of the early church when the established religion were the chief culprits of persecuting the church. You remember the great Christian reformer Martin Luther? If you was to take a biography and read of him, he has a spot in his life. because he said that he, the persecuted, now will become the persecutor. I don't know if you know of this part of Martin Luther Jean. You don't know. Yes, he began to order those who was persecuting him to be killed. And he was retaliated. There's a bad spot on his biography. And at times when you tell people about Martin Luther, that people that have read they cite this. So you gotta be careful when you are talking about these men. Martin Luther King, sorry, Martin Luther, not Martin Luther King. Martin Luther began to retaliate because he was heavily persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. So the first form of persecution I shared with you is severe persecution. But there's a second form of persecution and I call it subtle persecution. Subtle persecution. This kind of persecution is not necessarily open but it is the most deadly because at times it is not easy to identify the persecution or the persecutor. Think of what the Psalmist said concerning Judas and his relationship to Jesus in Psalm 55 verses 11 through 14. And you can turn there with me. In Psalm 55, 11 through 14, the Psalmist penned these words years before Christ came about his relationship to Judas. And here we read in Psalm 55, 11. Wickedness is in the midst thereof. He's talking about the assembly. Deceit and guile depart not from her streets. for it was not an enemy that reproached me. Then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide. and mine acquaintance. We took street counsel together, and walked on to the house of God in company. And then judgment is pronounced on this one. Let death seethe upon them, and let them go down quick into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. And you can read This was predicting what Judas did to the Lord Jesus. He was fellowshipping with him. They had sweet counsel together. They walked together. But Judas was a persecutor for righteousness' sake. Judas' persecution was subtle. Think of the Apostle Paul. who was not only persecuted severely, but in a subtle way because of the message she brought. And there's subtle persecution today. There's a pastor friend of mine who wanted to air his messages on the Harbor Light radio station in the windwards. He sent in his document of his statement of faith, and he was simply shunned because he adhered to the doctrines of grace. This is subtle persecution. Can you imagine that? The registrations there, they didn't openly persecute him, but they subtly persecuted the man. And I hear about many of these cases still. So there's subtle persecution. Believers would be shunned with a smiling face. Some may listen to us in our preaching, but they will listen without intent to hear. This is subtle persecution. Maybe there may be some right here. So don't think that persecution is something that is just severe. It's not severe only. It is subtle. And sometimes you don't even discover it, but it is there for the sake of the gospel. And I like that, and I'm talking about the gospel. I'm not talking about a gospel. Because obviously everybody is not persecuted for a gospel. But a lot of people are persecuted for the gospel sake. And I hope you understand what is being said. And if you do it, maybe I could help you later. But I ain't gonna help you now. But lastly, in talking about the forms of persecution, severe, subtle, there is silent persecution. silent persecution. Some people don't even have to say a word and yet they are silently persecuting the gospel and the carrier of the gospel. They may argue the fact that it is better to be silent than to express their true feelings. Some do this by avoidance. You know, I'm going to avoid him or her because if they see me and talk to me, I know they're going to ask me something about my Christian life. I'm going to avoid them. That is persecution. Oh, some of us are good at that. You see a brother or a sister somewhere in the store and you duck around somewhere that you don't have to deal with them because of something they may ask you. and some right here are like that. So we better be careful that we are not persecutors for righteousness sake, that we are persecuted and not, I'm giving you some forms of persecution that is real, real, real, severe, subtle, silent. This is also true in the home. And this is a place where persecution is played out most. Where two people, one may be a believer, one may not be a believer. You know it is when two people get into bed, husband and wife. Silent persecution. Maybe it might be another problem, I don't know. I was reading this thing on the internet now that they have what they call sleep divorce. I said, well, what is this? Let me read this, sleep divorce. I said, Carl, hang on, I'll tell you about this. I don't mean to make any joke of you, but one of the things they're reciting for sleep divorce is if the partner snores too hard, I guess my wife will have to have a sleep divorce. The partner goes into another bedroom, their spouses agree to have a sleep divorce therefore. So you go out there on the couch and your wife stay in the bed. And now they're building two master bedrooms because of sleep divorce. And some of us may like to hear that. I think I'm gonna get one of them. But I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about domestic silence in a way that is one persecuting the other. How do you handle these forms of persecution? I don't know. Jesus gives a directive, rejoice. and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For in this way they persecuted the prophets which were before you." As I was saying, if you was to read biographies of great men, such as the one I mentioned, Luther, and others, you would find that they were severely persecuted for the sake of the gospel. Reformation started on a bloody note, a bloody note. I do not know if in your walk as a Christian, if you ever experienced persecution. If you have, the Lord gives a directive. The scriptures teach in Timothy, Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, 2 Timothy 3, 12. But Timothy went on to say, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And then he gives an instruction to young Timothy, But continue thou in the things which thou hast learnt, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. The apostle Paul, in instructing this young preacher, tell him to expect persecution, because all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." In one of these forms, you can write that down. So remember, in this Beatitude, this is the last one on the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, 10 through 12. Remember, persecution comes in different forms. It may be severe as it is in some lands. but not necessarily in our culture. It comes in subtle ways. This is the most popular form of persecution. It also can be silent. And Jesus says these words to us, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely. For my sake 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. At times these words are hard to digest, but oh Lord God, we pray that we would not seek to be persecuted, but we pray that we would even rejoice when we are persecuted, if our names are recorded in your book of life. Be with us in the remainder of our service, and we ask that you will glorify your son in Jesus' name. Amen.