Matthew 5: 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Today I want to speak on something that has been going on since the birth of Cain and Able… the persecution of the children of God. It is no coincidence the last Beatitude that Jesus gives us in Matthew 5 is on persecution. The prior seven Beatitudes teach us how to live godly lives by being repentant, obedient, humble, merciful, hungry for God, and peacemakers in this world. The lifestyle that Jesus is teaching us, is foreign and uncomfortable to this world. It’s uncomfortable because it challenges the way we think about ourselves and the way we react to the world around us.
In John chapter 3 Jesus compares the child of God’s lifestyle and the children of this world’s lifestyle with light and darkness. And He says those who live in darkness will not come to the light because the light reproves them of their sins. In other words, if you are a child of God, someone who calls themselves a Christian, your lifestyle, at certain times, is going to make someone who is not a Christian very uncomfortable because it’s going to convict them. It may be when you pass on the glass of wine at a social event. It may be when you suggest forgiveness to someone who’s been wronged. It may be when you bow your head and pray over your biscuit and gravy at the local Hardees. It may be when you say no to a girl’s night out down at the local nightclub. It may be when you express your belief about a certain cultural hot-topic in the break room at work.
You don’t have to force someone to come to church so they will experience conviction; the way you live your life should cause them to experience conviction. Conviction takes place when the light of Jesus shines from your actions and words and the Spirit exposes darkness in the lives of unbelievers. And people don’t like to feel convicted.
The world will always say, Away with such fellows from the earth. They are made to reprove our thoughts. They are grievous to us even to behold. Their lives are not like other men's; their ways are of another fashion. —Wesley's Commentary
John 15:19-21 (GW) Jesus addresses this…
19 “If you had anything in common with the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But you don't have anything in common with the world. I chose you from the world, and that's why the world hates you.
20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant isn't greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you… 21 Indeed, they will do all this to you because you are committed to me...”
The Apostle Paul addresses young Timothy on this matter in 2 Timothy 3:12-15
12 “… all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is saying if you choose to follow Jesus and live according to His Word, you will be persecuted for that lifestyle. But you must continue in the things you’ve learned, understanding the scriptures are what teach you about salvation in Jesus. When a spirit of deception is going through the body of Christ as it is now, Paul says it is the Scriptures that will keep you from being deceived.
The day is coming, if it hasn’t already came for you, when you will face a situation where you will either compromise what you know is right and just go along with the crowd, or you will stand firm on the truth of God’s Word and you will be persecuted for it. It’s happening all over America and the world.
I can show you cases where people have been fired from jobs, dismissed from Universities, sued, physically and verbally attacked, all right here in America, because they were Christian and they stood up for what they believed. We have Military Chaplains whose careers are at stake, simply because they believe what the Word of God says… marriage is between a man and a woman and they are refusing to perform homosexual marriages on our military bases. We have school teachers who are being threatened with expulsion if they so much as bow their heads while students are praying.
I read an article this week about a University student who was dismissed from her counseling studies because she refused to counsel a man who was having troubles with his lover who was also a man. Here is part of that article…
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Tuesday heard the appeal of a former Eastern Michigan University graduate student who was expelled over her refusal to counsel a homosexual patient.
Julie Ward enrolled in a counseling practicum course at EMU in 2009 in order to fulfill the requirements for her graduate degree. A few credits shy of finishing her degree, she was assigned a potential client who was seeking assistance regarding a homosexual relationship.
However, as a Christian, Ward felt her values and beliefs on homosexuality and extra-marital affairs would not allow her to counsel the patient.
Ward sought the advice of a supervisor.
“She went to her supervisor and said, ‘I may not be the right person for this particular client,” her attorney, Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund, told The Christian Post.
Consistent with ethical and professional standards on patient referral, Ward was advised to assign the patient to another counselor. But that’s when her trouble began.
Soon thereafter, she was informed the only way she could remain in the program was if she agreed to undergo a “remediation” program, with the sole purpose to help her “see the error of her ways” and change her “belief system,” as it related to homosexual relationships.
After Ward refused, a disciplinary hearing was held, whereby an EMU faculty denigrated Ward’s Christian beliefs, leading another faculty member to ask Ward if she viewed her “brand” of Christianity as “superior” to that of other Christians. As a result of the hearing, Ward was dismissed from the counseling program and after appealing to the dean of the College of Education, her expulsion was upheld. (http://www.christianpost.com)
What happened? She was persecuted for her beliefs. That’s where we are in America. Outside of America Christians are not only persecuted but they are being put to death by the thousands, just for being a Christian.
Now I want to focus on two types of persecutions this morning… physical and mental.
In Genesis 4 we have the first reference to physical persecution.
Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
8 Now Cain talked (speak against, challenge) with Abel his brother and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Why did he kill Abel… because Abel pleased God (his worship pleased God… worship is a lifestyle. It is not a lifting of the hands or a bowing of the knees, these are just a part of worship. It is a bowing of the heart to the will of God that changes the way we live our lives) and it convicted Cain to the point that he hated being around Abel. Every time he noticed Abel going to worship God, it irritated him. Abel approached God in a way that pleased God. I believe his worship, which was by the shed blood of an animal, spoke of the coming day when Jesus would shed His blood for mankind, a work that only God could do that came from Heaven. Cain approached God in a way that didn’t please God. I believe his offering, which came from the earth, spoke of the work of man’s hands… man trying to get to God in their own strength and abilities and in their own way. If you will notice the world around you, everyone is talking about God. The only problem is many are trying to approach Him without the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And you can’t get to God without going through Jesus.
Abel’s decision to please God and not man marked him and made him an object of physical persecution.
We could go on and on about those in the Bible who were physically persecuted. But Hebrews chapter 11 speaking about persecuted saints sums it up…
Hebrews 11:35 …Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
These were the physically persecuted ones. We don’t know a lot about that here in America but I will tell you what we do know a lot about… mental persecution.
Persecute -- to pursue after something; follow (after), press forward.—Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
I have never in my Christian life seen so many people being pressed upon with seemingly unending pressure from the enemy.
I want to remind you of Ephesians 6:12 (GW)…
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.”
Our battle is not with one another, our battle is with satan and his army of fallen angels who are trying to stop the advancement of the church. And if you ever lose sight of that you will find yourself fighting flesh and blood and nobody wins when you do that. Jesus could’ve called the warring angels of heaven to destroy the Roman army and every one of His accusers. But His fight wasn’t with them it was against spiritual wickedness. He came to die for the Roman soldier not kill him.
Why is this mental attack so strong now? Two reasons…
1. 2 Tim 3:1-8 (GW)
1 You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time. 2 People will be selfish and love money. They will brag, be arrogant, and use abusive language. They will curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, 3 and lack normal affection for their families.
They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. 4 They will be traitors.
They will be reckless and conceited. They will love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will appear to have a godly life, but they will not let its power change them. Stay away from such people.
Somebody might say these types of individuals have always been around. God’s Word doesn’t deny that fact. What I believe its saying is these kinds of behaviors are going to be multiplied. You’re going to see people acting out, who you never expected to see. There will be mobs and protest for all the wrong reasons; people rationalizing lifestyles that are directly opposed to the Word of God. And there can be no other explanation for this other than spiritual wickedness in high places orchestrating an attack against the apple of God’s eye, the human race.
I believe the first goal of this last day evil attack is to keep as many humans as possible in bondage to sin and shame by hijacking their minds into thinking wrong is right and right is wrong. If satan controls the minds of the people he can make them do whatever he wants them to do.
Which brings me to my second point… the reason you’re under such an attack, the reason you’re being hounded mentally day in and day out… is the same reason Abel was persecuted by Cain… he carried a sacrificial lamb to God and Cain couldn’t stand it, it irritated him. It aggravated him because Abel was under God’s blessings but he was under God’s curse. God told Cain he didn’t have to be eaten up with sin; he didn’t have to be in bondage. All he had to do was ask Abel for a lamb to sacrifice and the blood of that lamb would’ve brought God’s blessings; but instead he persecuted him and he killed him; his mind had been hijacked into thinking right was wrong and wrong was right. Have you picked up on the why of your persecution yet… it’s because you are carrying the blood of the Lamb and the devil can’t stand it. He has a plan that he’s trying his best to work out in this world but he knows as long as there’s a child of God who’s walking in the freedom of the Spirit and understands the power of the blood of Jesus, his plans can be defeated. He has the power of sickness, but the blood of Jesus heals sickness. He has the power of division, but the blood of Jesus cures division. He has the power of confusion, but the blood of Jesus overcomes confusion. He’s not trying to stop you from getting into heaven, he’s trying to stop you from telling somebody about the Lamb of God. He’s trying to stop you from laying hands on the sick and watching them recover. He’s trying to stop you from laying hands on the oppressed and watching them set free. He’s trying to stop you from laying hands on the confused and watching as the blood of Jesus Christ drives that confusion out of their mind.
Persecution is meant to do two things… stop your testimony by shutting you up and stop your working in the Kingdom of God by shutting you down. If false accusations can shut you down you can look for false accusations to come. If intimidation can stop your testimony, you can look for intimidation to come. If insulting you can stop you from being on the battle for God, you can look for the insults to fly. If attacking your family can make you give up, you can look for the attacks to come. You have to be stronger than that… you have to remember there’s a blessing for those who follow God through the persecution…
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “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.
