Persecution Because of the Gospel of Grace

6.18.06

Let us begin this morning by reading today’s passage, Matthew 5:10-12.

Matthew 5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.

This is a hard sermon to preach, brothers and sisters. Unless you’re unlike me or you’re in denial, you don’t experience much of this persecution that Jesus talks about here. Simply put, we live in a nation where not much of this happens. So I have three options this morning as I come to this passage.

First, I can dumb down what persecution means. I can go off here about how there is no longer prayer in schools and how the homosexuals are taking over the country and how science classes teach evolution and so on. But that has nothing to do with what Jesus is talking about here. He is talking about intense, personal persecution.

Second, I can dumb down what righteousness means. I can go off about how, in reaction to what I just mentioned, you’re not doing enough in response. You’re not writing your congressmen enough, you’re not picketing like you should be, you’re not fighting the bad guys hard enough. But that has nothing to do with what Jesus is talking about here. He is talking about living and proclaiming the gospel.

Third, I can choose to preach the passage faithfully. I can strive to teach you what persecution means, and I can teach you what this righteousness is all about. And I can labor to explain how I think it applies right here in the U.S.A. and in Columbia, Missouri. That is what I plan to do, brothers and sisters, by God’s grace this morning.

The reality is that we don’t experience much persecution here, but changing cultural tides in America, as well as a deeper understanding of our calling to live on mission, can enable us to suffer for our Lord and experience the joy he speaks of here.

Let me speak briefly of those cultural tides. In an article entitled “The Missional Church” by Tim Keller, which we will read through as a church Wednesday night, he argues that America has shifted away from Christendom. He writes,

In the West for nearly 1,000 years, the relationship of Christian churches to
the broader culture was a relationship known as “Christendom.” The
institutions of society “Christianized” people, and stigmatized non-Christian
belief and behavior. Though people were “Christianized” by the culture,
they were not regenerated or converted with the Gospel. The church’s job
was then to challenge persons into a vital, living relation with Christ.

His point is that Europe and the U.S., up until recently, were Christian nations, where people claimed to be Christians and were shaped to do Christian things. He goes on:

One of the reasons much of the American evangelical church has not experienced
the same precipitous decline as the Protestant churches of Europe and Canada is
because in the U.S. there is still a “heartland” with the remnants of old
“Christendom” society. There the informal public culture (though not the
formal public institutions) still stigmatizes non-Christian beliefs and
behavior.

What we are seeing, brothers and sisters, is a shift in America from a “Christian” to a post-Christian society, and with it comes opportunities to do righteousness and experience persecution, as well as opportunities to do things that aren’t really righteousness and experience persecution for those blunders.

Before we get to that, however, let me recap the Beatitudes and set the final one, today’s text, in their context. Here are some introductory thoughts.

First, notice the progression that takes place. We begin with what is most basic, being “poor in spirit,” and we move to today’s passage, which speaks of being “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” As one moves from seeing he’s a sinner to crying over that sin to living gently before God and man to passionately desiring salvation to extending forgiveness to others to longing for inner holiness to seeking reconciliation with others, he has come to true righteousness as Jesus sees it. Then, due to that righteousness, he experiences persecution. There is a progression here.

Second, notice that persecution is basic for the Christian. I began our study on the Beatitudes by saying that these aren’t things we do to merit salvation; they are rather things God does in us that reflects our salvation. Just as we can’t truly be saved without mourning over our sins, we also can’t be saved apart from persecution of some form. All genuine believers will be persecuted.

Listen to these biblical passages that teach this:

1 Thessalonians 3:2-3 says,

1 Thessalonians 3:2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker1 in the
gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be
moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for
this.

Philippians 1:29 states, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for Him.” That word for “granted” has the word “grace” within it in the original language. Just as we believed by grace, we will also suffer by His grace. That is His will for us.

Acts 14:22 says that, after being stoned and dragged out of Lystra, Paul was “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

2 Timothy 3:12 puts it the most directly. It reads, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

This, brothers and sisters, is basic. We must experience this type of opposition. Writes the Puritan Thomas Watson, “Though they be never so meek, merciful, pure in heart, their piety will not shield them from sufferings. They must hang their harp on the willows and take the cross. The way to heaven is by way of thorns and blood….Set it down as a maxim, if you follow Christ you must see swords and staves” (MacArthur, 221).

Third, note that this Beatitude, along with the others, is about the “kingdom of heaven.” In verse 10, it reads, “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” If you look back at Matthew 5:3, it reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We will return later to look again at what this means, but the fact that the “kingdom” is mentioned in both the beginning Beatitude, as well as the last, indicates that all the blessings described are kingdom blessings. The two phrases function as brackets. All those that display these qualities will gain the kingdom of heaven.

Fourth, notice that this Beatitude, along with all the others, begins with “blessed.” As I noted the first week, some authors want to translate this word as “happy,” which is possible. But this doesn’t convey the richness of what Jesus is saying. We are happy because we are blessed or favored by God. We’re objects of His grace. So being persecuted, along with the other Beatitudes, means that we’re “blessed.”

Fifth, note how this Beatitude, unlike the others, is expanded and personalized. Two more verses follow where Jesus explains verse 10. Also, the pronoun turns from being in the third person, “theirs,” to second person, “you.” It’s as if Jesus turns to those that evidence all the other Beatitudes and speaks additional, intimate, personal words to them.

Let’s turn now to look at today’s passage in detail. I want to remind you, once again, of the format of the Beatitudes. You have three things for each verse. First, you see a pronouncement of God’s favor. Second, you see a condition met by one favored. Third, you see a promise for one favored. Or, you see the reason why one is favored or called “blessed.”

I just touched again on what it means to be “blessed,” so let us turn to looking, first, at the condition that is met, and second, the promise that is given.

First, the condition met—“Blessed are those who are persecuted.” In Philippians 3:12 and 14, Paul speaks of “pressing on” or “pursuing Christ.” That is the same word, in the original language, as what is used here. As we pursue Christ, others will pursue us. This sometimes takes the form of physical persecution, but it’s not always the case. Jesus here expands the idea of “persecution” in verse 10. He writes, in verse 11, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” So persecution includes insult and slander—as John Wesley put it, people saying bad things to your face and false things behind your back. If we are believers in Christ, this will happen.

So, if the Tiger Hotel people don’t want us here, and they say bad things about us—to our faces, as well as false things behind our backs, which they haven’t, we shouldn’t be surprised. We should expect it.

Persecution includes both physical and verbal abuse. In other nations, Christians experience bodily suffering. In this nation, we mainly should expect insults and slander, but with the move away from Christendom, we don’t know what the future holds. Regardless, both hurt. Whoever said “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me” must have skipped junior high or must be a tin man. Words hurt badly. But we should expect this as believers. We may get sticks or stones. We may get words. But, as believers, we must receive persecution.

That’s what will happen. Let’s turn to why it will happen. Jesus says, in verse 10, that we will be persecuted “for righteousness sake.” In verse 11, Jesus says that this abuse will come “on my account.” I want to explain that idea to you, but first let me make a point to you that is a bit of a tangent.

If someone says to you that Jesus never claimed to be God, they’re wrong. We can take him or her to specific, explicit texts that say the opposite. But here is a text where this idea is implicit. Notice what Jesus says here. He says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
He then states, in verse 12, that they did the same thing to the prophets of old. In the Old Testament era, the prophets experienced persecution, and they did this for their faith in God, the covenant Lord. Jesus is talking to his disciples here. Note that Jesus doesn’t compare Himself to a prophet that people persecuted. He compares the disciples to those that were persecuted in the past, the prophets. He equates Himself with the Lord God of the Old Testament. Just as the prophets were persecuted for God, so shall the disciples be persecuted on Christ’s account. Christ Jesus is God!

What, then, is Jesus saying here? Believers will be persecuted “for righteousness’ sake” or “on [his] account.” We will suffer because of righteous living and, that righteous living comes because of Jesus. People will look at our righteousness produced in us by Christ, and they will persecute us. They will afflict us because of our living out of the gospel.

This must include, though, our preaching of the gospel. We don’t just live his righteousness. We are called to proclaim it. That is what the prophets of old did, as well. Sure, they were godly. But they also preached. We’ve seen what will happen—we will be afflicted physically and verbally. We’ve seen now why it will happen—we will live and proclaim the gospel.

Related to those two questions (what happens to us? And why does it happen?), let me pose two more. First, what is persecution not? Let me return to my opening quotes from Keller. Persecution is not us living through cultural shifts where America goes from Christian to post-Christian. Persecution is not the advent of gay marriage. Persecution is not evolution taught in schools. Persecution is not the presence of ungodly leaders in congress. Persecution is us being reproached for living and proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

Second, what is not a good reason for experiencing persecution? The answer is clinging to and fighting for Christendom. We are called to, as Jesus said, suffer “for righteousness sake,” and, “on [his] account.” We are to proclaim the message of the gospel promiscuously and aggressively and live it authentically and compellingly. That is the only reason we should suffer.

I read this week of a man who is bringing a lawsuit against an AutoZone store he tried to hold up. Believe it or not, a man in Rochester, New York is trying to sue after he waved a semiautomatic pistol, demanded money, and got the snot beaten out of him with a metal pipe. Apparently he claims that, as he tried to flee, the men in the store continued to chase him and continued to beat him. But his argument is ridiculous. Do something stupid. Expect to get beat up.

This applies to us as the church. If we picket a school for teaching evolution, and we get reamed in the press, we deserve it. If we bring a lawsuit against the school system for not having a graduation prayer, and the TV station makes fun of it, we deserve it. If we protest at a gay wedding, and people laugh, we deserve it. This is no longer a Christian nation. We can’t expect non-Christians to live like us. Writes D.A. Carson, “This final beatitude does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are objectionable, or because they rave like wild-eyed fanatics, or because they pursue some religio-political cause.’”

The only reason that we will be blessed is if we experience persecution for the gospel—for living like Jesus and talking about Jesus.

Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t oppose those things I mentioned. It doesn’t mean that we don’t speak out for Christ in the public square. It just means that we don’t expect unbelievers to act like us, and we don’t pout and kick and scream and throw fits like 2 year olds, refusing to let go of a passing Christianized society.

I began our study in the Sermon of the Mount by saying that Christ warns us of being like both the pagans and the Pharisees. In a society that is increasingly post-Christian, our temptation is to become like the ungodliness around us, not living or proclaiming the gospel. We could turn into pagans and never experience persecution.

In addition, in that same society, we are tempted to become like Pharisees, condemning those around us, again clinging to days gone by like those legalists did in the days of the Roman Empire. We could turn into Pharisees and experience persecution for the wrong thing—like the guy who got wacked in Autozone.

We are called to do neither. God wants us to experience persecution, unlike pagans, and He wants it to be for the right thing—the gospel—unlike the Pharisees. He wants us to have an inward, true righteousness that can be seen in our lives and can be then heard from our mouths. He wants us to take the gospel, and not our agendas, into the culture and allow God to change hearts through that gospel.

If we just stand and yell and fight for Christendom, it’s a lost cause. We’re standing over caskets, screaming at people to act alive. That doesn’t work in funeral parlors. It doesn’t work in the public square. And both things make us look stupid.

Living and proclaiming the righteousness of the kingdom will bring real persecution. If we live out the Beatitudes, people will persecute us.
· People don’t want to see people that think they’re “poor in Spirit,” that they’re sinners. Today’s society assumes people are good by nature. Those people make them think they’re guilty.
· People don’t want to witness others “mourn” for those sins. Problems we have are caused by nature or nurture. We will either take pills or we’ll blame other people. But I’m not the problem, they say.
· People don’t want to see those “meek” and not strong. Bowing before a strong God and the needs of others is never popular.
· People don’t want to see people “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” This is a pluralistic world. There are many ways to God, they say. How dare we say that we should have one hunger and one thirst.
· People don’t want to see the “merciful.” Our sinful tendency is to fight back and give others what they deserve.
· People don’t want to see others being “pure in heart.” People want to see God or religious experience on their own terms. They don’t want to be told to be holy or be told to just focus on the one God.
· People don’t want to witness Christians as “peacemakers.” True, there are people holding signs out on Providence and Broadway every week, but most don’t want to have peace in accordance with righteousness. They don’t want peace through the Prince of Peace.
If we live this life of righteousness, people will get angry.

If we proclaim the gospel of grace, people will persecute us.
· People don’t want to hear that there is one God and that He is holy.
· People don’t want to hear that we are sinners and under the wrath of that God.
· People don’t want to hear that there is one source of redemption and that we must repent and place faith in him.
· People don’t want to hear that we are all moving toward judgment and that those apart from Christ will go to hell.
If we preach this gospel of righteousness, people will get angry.

Some people will be offended by our message and lifestyle. However, others will be attracted to it. In John 3:20-21, Jesus says,

John 3:20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come
to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true
comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been
carried out in God."

Some people will hate the light. But some people will come into it. Most will scatter like cockroaches when you flip the light-switch. But others will be like beetles that come up and sit right on the bulb.

We must be certain that people are being repelled by the cross. In Columbia, there is much potential for people to be repelled by the wrong things. That is because Columbia is largely a post-Christian town situated right in the middle of remaining Christendom. People in Columbia largely don’t like Christianity—often because of the baggage they see going along with it. Despite that, I see Columbia as an exciting place to do ministry.

First, I’d argue that ministry is harder in Christendom. Working with Pharisees isn’t fun. Of course, not all those in Southern states or in remaining Christendom are Pharisees, but you certainly deal with it there. My experience in Springfield was incredibly frustrating. People were raised in church there. They knew all the Bible stories. They knew how they were supposed to live. The task was to get them lost before you got them saved. And that’s hard and not fun.

Second, I’d argue that ministry in a post-Christian society is better. Here most people weren’t raised in the church. They don’t have the same points of connection. But, if they look deep enough, they know their lives stink. They know they need help. They may not appear open to the gospel, but since they don’t already know it, they’re in another sense more open to it. It’s not “been there, done that.”

The problem is getting around all the stereotypes that the pagans have about the Pharisees that they throw at us. The challenge is to get back to the gospel, to living it and proclaiming it. This is an amazing opportunity for us. We can strive to truly be a counter-cultural community here in Columbia, who believe a certain message—we’re confessional, who love each other in a certain way—we’re relational, and who love outsiders in a certain way—we’re missional. We have this amazing opportunity to stand as a strikingly different sort of community within the larger community of Columbia. Persecution will come, but it will come for the right reasons, and it will be used by God to draw others in as they see the light of the gospel against a backdrop of sinful darkness.

In this sense, we’ll be like the early church. America is becoming more and more like the Roman Empire. People worship any god they want and how many they want. Just as in Rome, the sin today isn’t being religious, it’s being narrowly religious—it’s worshipping one God instead of all the other gods. It’s being intolerant. Just like those early Christians, we can take a message to a culture hostile to it and see God draw people to His Son. This is incredibly exciting. By living on mission in Columbia, we can experience the blessing of persecution.
In Luke, the parallel passage to the Beatitudes, there are blessings, along with corresponding woes. The blessing sounds similar. The corresponding woe says a lot. It reads, in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” Sure, we want the people of Columbia to see us as friends of the community, but if we’re living and proclaiming the gospel, people will always oppose us. Ultimately, people are opposed to the cross. When people say good things about us, we should worry. We’re probably looking like pagans. We must make sure we’re not being Pharisees, but we should also make sure we’re not looking like pagans.

Let us turn now to the promise of the passage. It says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom belongs to those, as verse 3 states, who are poor, not the rich. And, it belongs to those, as this verse teaches, who get beat up, not those who deliver the blows. Jesus unpacks this in verses 11-12. He tells us to think eternity and ponder history.

First, he tells us to think eternity. He says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” He tells us, “Look at the big picture. Right now you’re being persecuted. One day you will be in glory.” You may be suffering now, but one day, you’ll be ruling. You’ll have a great reward.

Jesus isn’t telling us to rejoice in the persecution itself. He isn’t telling us to be masochistic. He is telling us to rejoice over the reward. He wants us to look to the future, recognizing that, as James 4:14 says, this life is but a “mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Eternity is coming, and the pain now will be followed by joy.

I want you to notice two things associated with this. First, Jesus is teaching people that it’s ok to be motivated by the reward. Sometimes we act like, if we look to the reward, we’re being selfish and it makes our action ungodly. But Hebrews 12:2 said that Jesus “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” If it was ok for Jesus to look at the reward and have that as a motivation, it’s ok for us.

Second, Jesus is teaching that our present sufferings will be exceeded by eternal pleasure. 2 Corinthians 4:17 reads, “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Paul is making, in this passage, three comparisons. He is saying that our “affliction” will be replaced by “glory.” That our light or “slight” affliction will be replaced by a “weight” of joy. Our “momentary” pain will be exceeded by “eternal” delight. Jesus teaches the same idea. Rejoice, he says, because your pain will be blown away by that joy.

Second, he tells us to ponder history. Christ teaches, “For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Now I could take you to the Old Testament and read passage after passage where the prophets of old endured suffering. But let me just read Hebrews 11:32-38.

Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets- 33 who
through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped
the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign
armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were
tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better
life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword.
They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-
38 of whom the world was not worthy- wandering about in deserts and mountains,
and in dens and caves of the earth.

Jesus told us to rejoice because of eternity. Here he tells us to consider history. We not only will receive a kingdom. We are also receiving the treatment of those who are worthy of the kingdom. Notice Hebrews 11:38 again. He calls the persecuted those “of whom the world was not worthy.” Because they were persecuted, they were only worthy to be in a kingdom—the kingdom of heaven. Are we in their company?

When we experience persecution, it displays that our faith is real. Not only is it real enough that others are hating it, but our God who loves us is also testing it. Listen to 1 Peter 4:12-14.

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon
you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But
rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and
be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of
Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory1 and of God rests upon you.

We shouldn’t think it “strange” if we’re persecuted. It has happened to all of God’s people. That persecution shows that “the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon [us].” It shoes that we’re genuine. Persecution displays our salvation, our partnership with the prophets, the early church, Christians since, and our crucified Lord in suffering for the kingdom and our destiny toward the kingdom. Writes Carson,

They have aligned themselves with the prophets who were persecuted before them, and thereby testify that in every age God’s people are under the gun. Far from being a depressing prospect, their suffering under persecution, which has been prompted by their righteousness, becomes a triumphant sign that the kingdom is theirs.

As John 15:18-21 reads,

John 15:18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated
you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but
because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not
greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they
will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent
me.

If people hate us, it shows that we’re his. All we have to do is open up our Old Testaments and remember that all God’s servants had to suffer. It shows that we’ll receive the kingdom.

But this kingdom has already broken into the here and now. As Jesus said, in Matthew 12:28, “The kingdom of God has come upon you.” It’s now here. We experience a foretaste of the kingdom through the gospel of Christ and through the community of Christ, the church. But we await the kingdom’s consummation. Some day, Christ will put all His enemies under His feet in the new heavens and new earth. We will be with Him. We will reign with Him.

You may remember from the first week that I said “kingdom of heaven” is an effort by a Jewish disciple to get around using God’s covenant name to his Jewish audience. Mark says “kingdom of God,” but he’s writing to Gentiles. I also mentioned before that this “kingdom” won’t be us just floating around in the sky like Casper. We’ll have bodies. We’ll be on a new heavens and earth where Jesus rules over all. That is, as long as we are characterized by these Beatitudes, which includes being “persecuted for righteousness.”

So, brothers and sisters, hear what Jesus says. Think eternity. Take the troubling moment caused by suffering at the hands of unbelievers and see it as a tiny dot on an infinite line going on in both directions. Think of the big picture that includes you spending forever with Him in a kingdom.

Ponder history. Those of God’s have always suffered. Nothing has changed. If you’re suffering it shows that you’re like Jeremiah and Zechariah and the other guys who put their lives on the line.

One day we will join them in the kingdom. Remember that!

Let me return to how we began. I don’t want to dumb down persecution. It would dishonor those suffering of old and those across the globe. It’s people hurting us—with hands or words—because of Christ. It’s not us experiencing cultural changes.

I don’t want to dumb down His righteousness. I’m not commanding you to fight more or yell more or start doing stupid things so that people beat you. It’s not us fighting those cultural changes. That would be like trying to stop an earthquake. It doesn’t work. I’m saying we should all live and proclaim the gospel faithfully.

People will see us as weird for that righteousness. People will then persecute us. And we will be blessed! Brothers and sisters, let us rejoice that we live on the frontlines, that we live in a pocket of post-Christian society where the gospel can shine. Let us not long for the boring days in peaceful lands of Christendom. Let’s be risk-taking, Indiana Jones-type missionaries and enjoy it. Let’s be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” More about that next week.