For our Scripture reading this morning, if you would turn with me to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, we'll read a few verses from chapter 1 and a few verses from chapter 3 of 1 Peter. This serves as the background this morning for our text, once again from the Sermon on the Mount, the final beatitude, Matthew 5, verse 10. I read 10, 11, and 12. They kind of all go together. Well, they do all go together. And I'll explain that more a little bit later. We're only going to consider verse 10 this morning. But our Lord says, Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 1 Peter 1, verses 3-9 to begin with. Once again we hear the Word of God. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief and all kinds of trials. These have come, so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine, and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And then turning to chapter 3, verses 8-17. Finally, all of you live in harmony with one another. Be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called, so that you may inherit a blessing. For whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear. Do not be frightened. But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. May God add His blessing to the reading, preaching, and hearing of His Word this morning. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Sounds great, doesn't it? We know that is an evangelism phrase that is still used today to try to coax people, to try to convince people to believe in Jesus Christ, promising that those who put their trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will enjoy great blessing in this life as is preached by some still today. They will enjoy health and they will enjoy wealth and they will enjoy peace. They will enjoy the good life here all for putting their faith and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, we also know the problem with that phrase, don't we? It's very misleading. Because we cannot simply go up to anybody and just say, well, God loves you. Because we don't know. God does not love everyone in a saving sense. He hates the wicked. He hates those who reject Him. But He does love deeply those who do turn to Him in repentance and faith through Jesus Christ. And that we may say confidently. And as far as a wonderful plan for your life that's also misleading, it's true ultimately for the believer because ours is the kingdom of heaven as Jesus says. But in this life, the Bible and Jesus Himself teaches that there will be persecution for kingdom citizens, for those whom God loves. So how does that fit? God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. When the Bible teaches that there will be persecution for those whom God loves. It doesn't sound so wonderful, does it? It sounds a little bit like being placed in front of a firing squad, not really knowing when the shots are going to be fired. Yet it is wonderful. It is wonderful as Jesus speaks of the believer's blessing for persecution. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now again, persecution and blessing. Suffering and blessing don't seem to go together. They seem so uncommon, so unnatural, so abnormal. It doesn't make sense for so many. And that was indeed true for the Jews of Jesus' day. They thought that all suffering, including the suffering of persecution, was an indication that God was not pleased with the one who was suffering because probably of some specific sin of some sort. And it goes back even way before Jesus' day, you know. You know the book of Job, Job's three friends. Certainly, Job had sinned. Something was terribly wrong in his life. That's why these things were happening. And many still, I think, have that attitude somewhat today. Maybe we even fall a little bit into that attitude. When something bad happens, when something is going terribly wrong, we want to quick say, why is this happening? What did I do? to deserve this. Yet, Jesus teaches that certain suffering, certain persecution is common. It is normal for kingdom citizens. It is a part of that kingdom character, just like being poor in spirit and mourning and being meek and hungering and thirsting for righteousness and being merciful and being a peacemaker and all those other things. Indeed, I believe it flows from that. It is a result of those things. But it's very much a part of that kingdom character. And Jesus says that this certain suffering and persecution that is common is blessed. It is favored by God. And in the text, verse 10, Jesus specifies what kind of or what the nature of that persecution is. And then in verses 11 and 12, which many agree is a specific application of a verse 10 to the disciples and then through them to us as well, those verses focus on the response that is to be drawn from kingdom citizens through persecution. And we just consider verse 10 this morning, the believer's blessing for persecution. Noticing, first of all, it's inescapable fact. The reality of persecution. Blessed are those who are persecuted. Or as the Greek says, having been persecuted. Or as Jesus says in verse 11, when, meaning whenever. Pointing to something that really is ongoing, it is an ordinary part of that kingdom character. It is real for those who have experienced it not just once, not maybe simply experiencing a minor bump in the road, but then continuing on with this wonderful life. But we are to understand that Jesus is talking about the fact that it is a way of, it is part of kingdom life on this earth. Not that we necessarily sense it or feel it all the time, which is especially true for you and I today in the land in which we live, in which we're still free. We don't experience it like Paul did, like David did. The song that we sang from Psalm 56, he was running from Saul, He was all alone. He was in Gath. Do you remember who was from Gath? Goliath. And David was there all alone. We don't suffer it like those at the time of the Reformation or the early Christians. That is to cause us to sit up and take notice, I believe. We don't necessarily sense it or feel it all the time, but it's real. It's real for those who are shaped by it. Battle changes people sometimes. We know in that change, when someone comes home from battle, sometimes that change is visible to others. God uses persecution to refine His people, to draw His people closer to Himself, to prove their faith genuine and real, as Peter says. And it becomes visible to others, maybe through humility before men or through an uncommon confidence in Christ or through a joy that simply doesn't fit in the eyes of the world as we hope to consider next time, the Lord willing. But indeed, the Bible teaches that it is real for those who believe the Word of God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 12, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And Jesus says in John 15, verse 20, No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Persecution for believers is an inescapable fact. An inescapable reality. And we can also talk about the method of persecution. First of all, persecution, what does it mean to persecute? To put it simply, it means to pursue hotly, to pursue in anger and spite, to put pressure on, to harass, to cause grief. And this can be carried out in various ways because the one doing the pursuing hates something about the one being pursued. And persecution includes treating the other badly, maybe through physically harming them like torture of some sort, or shunning them, making them to be an outcast, Or maybe even forcing compliance with something. I think specifically, maybe you saw in the news a little bit this past week about the hate crimes bill being considered in our nation's capital. And I didn't hear whether a conclusion was drawn, whether a vote was taken. But if it passes, what would happen is, for example, if you and I would even say that homosexuality is wrong, it would be considered a hate crime. It would be illegal. And we could be prosecuted because of it. Jesus broadens out this idea of persecution in verse 11 when He includes insults and saying all kinds of evil. So it includes verbal abuse or defamation of character. He includes the full spectrum of persecution physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. And we know of some of these throughout history. For example, stoning to death or the early Christians being put into an arena because they would not renounce Jesus as Lord and say the emperor is Lord and therefore they were put in front of many spectators, boys and girls, and wild beasts, maybe lions, are let go and they kill them. They tear them to bits. Or burning at the stake like those in the time of the Reformation, for example. Or whipping or torturing or being thrown in prison like Paul and Stephen and many others. And those things are happening today too. You and I haven't seen it. I've mentioned before that I get this magazine, Voice of the Martyr. I don't always read it faithfully, but when I do, it's heartbreaking. Oh, it's encouraging to hear about how God is upholding so many people, but it's heartbreaking that those, especially in Muslim countries, if they will not renounce their faith in Christ, they have acid poured down their throats. Or one lady that I saw in the magazine was put on fire. Their fingers, their hands are cut off. We don't face that kind of stuff, do we? That kind of persecution. But we do face it. Maybe in much more subtle ways. I think Satan is especially working much more subtly, maybe through the laws of our land, to try to force believers to have to live a certain way. And that way we will be tested. But even among people, individuals at times, we are laughed at because of our faith or we are made fun of. Or maybe you have lost a job or been passed over for a position. God's people are sometimes deprived of certain opportunities because of their faith, because as Christians, they are not willing to participate in certain activities on the Lord's Day. And the fleshly, the human side of us has a hard time with this truth that Jesus teaches that Christians will be and can't expect to be persecuted. But along with this, we need to be reminded that not all persecution is blessed by God. Jesus doesn't say that. Not all persecution is considered to be favored by Him. There is much persecution that takes place in the world, even among the wicked, against each other, in order to gain an advantage over one another. But here, as we consider the believer's blessing for persecution, Jesus points out in the second place it's unmistakable reason because of righteousness. Because of righteousness versus persecution for other reasons, such as sin. Peter again says in 1 Peter 3.17, it is better if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. And in chapter 4, verse 15, he says, if you suffer, We should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler. You see, there is nothing honoring to God if we suffer because of our own sin. Boys and girls, if you suffer a punishment because of something you did wrong, that's not honoring to God. That's not what Jesus says is blessed. But along with this, what also is not honoring to God is when we suffer because of our zealousness. Now, what I'm saying here, I'm trying to put it in a nice way, not saying that we're not to be zealous, not at all, but it's not honoring to God if we suffer because of arrogance over unbelievers or being pushy and offensive or insulting toward them or shoving our religion in their face in an offensive way. The Gospel by its very nature is offensive. We know that. But we are not to bring it in an offensive way. Or it's not honoring to God even breaking the law by being involved in a religious protest of some sort. Again, throwing it in the world's face in that way. It brings hatred. It brings persecution. Indeed, we are to stand up for the truth. We are to hunger and thirst for righteousness. That is a part of that kingdom character. And to do so without compromise. But not in a way that compromises being a peacemaker. Not in a way that compromises the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. Indeed, Peter says, Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that you have to anyone who asks. But notice he says, do so with gentleness and reverence. Jesus said, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The only persecution that is blessed in God's sight is because of righteousness. That is true persecution in the sight of God. That righteousness for which we are to hunger and thirst. The righteousness of sanctification produced in the believer by the Holy Spirit through His cleansing work, molding and shaping and making us more and more after God's will. Righteousness that understands my sin and causes me to be poor in spirit and to hate it and to mourn over it. Righteousness that submits one's life to God in meekness and in humility all because God's people understand the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Indeed, the righteousness that is evidence of true faith. For Jesus' sake, he says in verse 11. And that righteousness is displayed in striving to be Christ-like. Striving to be Christ-like in our living. Imitating the One whose image we bear. Through being merciful, through seeking purity and peace, through earnestly desiring to do what is good and right in the sight of God according to His will. That righteousness displayed in honesty and integrity at home, at work and play. Jesus is not talking here about a periodic righteousness, doing the right thing simply once in a while. but he's talking about lives characterized by righteousness. Not embracing the ways of godlessness, but living for Jesus as a way of life. Righteousness demonstrated by walking with God. In Micah 6, verse 8, we read, And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. but notice it is possible, I believe, for an unbeliever to do those first two, in a sense, as far as the world is concerned, to act justly and to love mercy of sorts. It's the walking humbly with God that ties them together for you and me. But it's possible for an unbeliever, we know, to do all kinds of good things, and it's for that reason, I believe, that for selfish reasons, the world doesn't mind if Christians or even ordinary people act justly or love mercy because in some way it benefits the world. And they may even applaud those who do all kinds of good things, like a philanthropist, like Oprah, who likes to give all of her favorite things to others. And the world may even reward them. I think of the show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. If you've ever watched it, you know that it seems like the family that is being built for, Indeed, they are needy. There's no question about that. But there always seems to be a catch with it. They are a family that is doing all kinds of humanitarian good. And therefore, it's booked as one new home for one deserving family because they're suffering and because they're doing all kinds of good humanitarian things. But never do you simply see a believing family that is struggling through this life. Maybe they are being harassed because of their faith and suffering some sort of deprivation. You never see a home being built simply for a believing family who is struggling financially in that way. The world, you see, applauds those who do good things that help the world, yet the world will not tolerate openly walking with God. It will not tolerate being righteous. Oh, again, we are tolerated somewhat in our free land yet, but around the world many are not. The world will not tolerate righteousness because of its righteous indictment. Jesus is talking here about innocent suffering. Not that the people are innocent. That's not what we're saying. But He talks about being insulted and them saying all kinds of evil against you falsely. It's made up. Christians are not perfect people. Our righteousness is not even close to perfect. And that's not even the question here. But maybe that's part of the problem. The world sees our sin and our failures as well. And the world expects us and even wants us to be like them and calls Christians hypocrites. But in Christ, we are not like the world. And beloved, we are not to act like it. We are not to look like it. Yet, when new life becomes visible, that new life which is the extreme opposite of the old life that is still embraced by the world, the world is angered by it. The world hates it because it indicts the world. It convicts them to a point of its unrighteousness. And the world persecutes Christians because Christians are different than they are. The Christian's life of righteousness very simply is a very bold statement that the unbelieving world's life of unrighteousness and godlessness is simply wrong. And again, we see that throughout history, Bible history. Abel, Noah, Abraham, David, Paul, Stephen. And we could go on throughout Reformation history. Those whose lives indicted the world. We think of Daniel. Boys and girls, you remember Daniel. He was thrown into the lion's den. Do you remember why? In chapter 6 of Daniel's prophecy, we read that he was despised, he was hated by the satraps and the administrators of which he was one. We read that they could not find an accusation against him because they couldn't find any corruption in him. And finally, we read that they said, we will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God. They had to make something up. Daniel was persecuted not for what he said, but for how he lived. For walking with God. Now we too have to admit that there have been times when we have been indicted. We have been convicted to a point by the obedience and the righteousness of others that somehow, for whatever reason, made us feel a bit guilty about whatever it was we were doing or not doing. And when we were made to feel a bit guilty, we have been guilty then also of persecuting them by calling them maybe goody-two-shoes. Well, who do you think you are? You think you're better than me. Sometimes young people, when your friends or classmates don't want to participate in certain activities that you would never want your parents watching you participating in, but yet you're willing to do it when they're not around and someone won't do that, you want to pick on them. You want to laugh at them. You want to say, what's the matter with you? You think you're better than we are? We're tempted to call others when we're indicted, Little Miss Perfect or Little Mr. Perfect or boys and girls to accuse someone of being a teacher's pet. Why? Because their actions convict us that our actions are not being right. Jesus' righteousness exposed hypocrisy and lying and dishonesty and pride like dark illumines light and makes clear what is hiding in the dark. And they didn't like it very much. The believer's righteousness, for example, is demonstrated in promoting right to life or marriage between one man and one woman or a divine creator. Again, I'm not talking about in a demonstration sort of way, but simply in how we live. And that indicts the world that God disapproves of abortion and homosexuality and euthanasia and evolution. Now those are very broad examples, I know, but also the believer's righteousness expressed in honesty or in pure language or in faithful worship of the only true God or in a godly work ethic. Or a believer's righteousness expressed in not being willing to lie and cheat and steal and commit adultery or to laugh at dirty jokes or to endorse those who do. Or that righteousness expressed in asking someone to please not take the Lord's name in your presence will not make them happy. It indicts the world of dishonesty and godlessness, of sin and of a need for a Savior. And that's what the world hates, as Jesus says, because of me. The world hates that and prompted by the devil seeks to silence and stop kingdom citizens from openly living their faith. And again, I believe we need to be careful in our nation. It's coming subtly. Through laws, through pressures. And how are we going to respond to it if and when it happens? You see, Christians will not flee persecution. Kingdom citizens willingly submit confidence in the third place of its unbelievable guarantee for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Notice, that's the very same blessing Jesus announced with the first beatitude. He brings it around full circle showing us the most important thing for you and me is citizenship in the kingdom of God. That unbelievable guarantee for theirs is the kingdom of heaven earned by Jesus Christ. He endured persecution unto death. There was no unrighteousness in Him, only absolute perfection and meekness and gentleness, yet He endured persecution unapologetically, without complaining, without being afraid. He lived for God unto death. And He paid for our sin, even our sin of persecution, our sin of persecuting Him by our unbelief. Our sin of despising Him, of not wanting Him, yet He brought us to Himself by faith through the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, and that is true for all who look to Him in faith. That's our confidence. Being brought securely into the Kingdom of Heaven so that even now, all the blessings, all the privileges of Heaven belong right now to those who believe. And our status, beloved, is that we are adopted as children of God. God, whose care for His children is perfect and complete and eternal. That's our status. Our citizenship is in heaven and nothing will be able to separate us from Him. Our future home will be face to face with Jesus and the glory of heaven. Persecuted for righteousness is proof that one is not of this world. you see that logo on t-shirts, N-O-T with the T looking kind of like a cross, on t-shirts, on hats, on bumper stickers, not of this world. So many claim that. And proof of that is being persecuted for righteousness, along with all of the other kingdom characteristics. If you're like me, you might struggle with this a little bit, not because you don't believe in Jesus, but because you do not really feel like you're being persecuted. Sometimes that bothers me. I know that I believe. But yet the Bible says that those who want to live godly in Christ will be persecuted. And therefore this is to cause us to examine ourselves, our lives. Maybe in our weakness we still are afraid to let our light shine too brightly. And at times, beloved, the Lord spares us in our weakness and He does not allow the wicked to torment us. That's part of God's mercy. May we never have a lack of persecution because of a lack of righteousness. Because we are not living that faith. But praise God that our hope is not in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ who suffered that persecution unto death. Persecution will come. You see, we don't need to go looking for it. That's not what Jesus is saying. He's not saying go out and be obnoxious and bring all kinds of persecution on yourself. It will come. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will come. And when it comes, it may hurt. It may hurt physically or financially or emotionally. It may cause us all kinds of grief. We don't know exactly what to expect. Yet it is evidence of belonging to Jesus Christ. And we do know that persecution cannot separate us from our God. It cannot and will not destroy us. How do we know that? Because Jesus says ours is the kingdom of heaven. God will see us through. He will deliver his people to that eternal inheritance that Peter speaks about. And what an awesome incentive for living our faith. Yet, beloved, when God spares us, as He is right now in many ways, when God spares us, may we pray that the Holy Spirit would encourage us to more and more let our light shine, that we would not be afraid to claim the name of Jesus openly and joyfully. And may He make us ready. May He prepare us if persecution comes for Jesus' sake. And when it comes, may we rejoice and be glad in it, knowing that true persecution for righteousness comes only to those in whom the love and salvation of Jesus Christ is real by the grace of God and is made visible. O believer, God loves you indeed. And He has a most wonderful plan for your life eternally. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that You would strengthen and help us. That You would give us courage. Remove our fear and anxiety. But instead to live openly and honestly for Jesus Christ. knowing that indeed we are safe in your hand knowing that there is a large world out there filled with so many unbelievers who need that very same hope with which you have blessed us so many who are at this point running headlong to hell and not caring not knowing what they are in for and Father may we not hide our light but may we be used of you if it is your will to shine forth bright the light of Jesus Christ and his saving love that if it pleases you you would use that to draw many to yourself Father we thank you for the hope that we have even in the midst of suffering and persecution, to know that we are safe in the palm of your hand and nothing can ever tear us from you. Hear our prayer, Father, for Jesus' sake. And in His name we pray. Amen.