Jump Start # 159

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in Heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

  Of all the beatitudes, this one is the most unpleasant to us. This is about us! The verse before showed that others have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Now it’s our turn. The word “you” appears 5x and the word “your” once in these two verses. The Lord is telling His disciples what will happen. This is the world’s response to the gospel of Christ.

  The New Testament tells us this over and over.

• In Revelation 12, Satan went off to make war with those who “keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
• Peter would say, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you.” He then said, “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God.”
• Paul said, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
• Paul also said, “to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless…when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have be come as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things”.
• Jesus said, “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
• Jesus also said, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

  We are part of something that the world can’t stand. There is a temptation to make our faith more pleasing with the world, to be less offensive and more tolerant of what the world is doing. The modern church has done that. Church doesn’t seem so “churchy” in many places. Preachers wear Hawaiian shirts, put on skits and tell jokes while the audience sits in laughter eating donuts. Little is said about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Holiness and righteousness are rarely mentioned and God appears as our great big buddy. Don’t go there! That’s not what the New Testament teaches. God’s message is central. It is to be taught in kindness but without alterations.

 Insults, speaking evil, and persecution is what comes from the world. It happened to the prophets of old. It happened to our Savior. It happened to the apostles and early Christians. You may not be invited to some after work parties. So be it. Some may whisper about you. Some may spread false rumors. Many do not understand. Some are jealous. Some fear. Most do not want anything to do with it, because it means changing, and they certainly are never going to do that. Most are looking for a religion that is all about them having a good time. You won’t find that in the Bible. The Bible points to God. It is all about God.

  Our response to rejection, hatred and persecution? Rejoice. Jesus said that. Peter said that. That’s hard when you are hurting. It doesn’t matter whether the hurt is on the inside or outside, it still hurts. But it’s not you, it’s Jesus that they hate. They wish He never was. They’d rather die in their sins than to have the hope of Heaven. How sad! The reward for those persecuted—HEAVEN! Wow! That’s amazing.

  So, stand in there. Don’t back down. Don’t run. It may come from roommates at college. It may come from teachers. It may come from family members. It doesn’t matter. Rejoice. Pray. Continue on. Someday this will all end.

Roger