Mat. 5:10-12
Blessed are The Persecuted
In this sermon, Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Matthew 5:10-12, the final Beatitude, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He argues that persecution is an inevitable mark of true Christianity, stemming from the world's hatred of Christ and His righteousness. Martin distinguishes between persecution for righteousness and suffering for other reasons (race, foolishness, political causes, sin), emphasizing that only suffering for Christ-likeness is blessed. He challenges believers to examine their lives for evidence of this persecution, warning against the woe of being spoken well of by all men, which characterized false prophets.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 10 sections · 57 min
- Introduction to the Eighth Beatitude and its Significance 0:03
- The Interrelationship of the Beatitudes and the Searching Nature of Persecution 3:45
- Principle 1: God's Children Are Always a Persecuted People 7:34
- Historical and Scriptural Evidence of Persecution 10:52
- Principle 2: Persecution is for a Specific Reason: Righteousness' Sake 18:22
- Defining 'Righteousness' Sake' as Christ-likeness 27:59
- The World's Unchanging Hatred of Christ and His Followers 31:35
- The Source of Persecution: The World, Especially the Religious World 40:28
- Why the World Persecutes: Exposure of Evil 47:13
- The Call to Self-Examination and the Danger of Universal Approval 51:38
Key Quotes
“The Beatitudes are not a road map telling me how to get to heaven, how to be saved. The Beatitudes are a description of what will be true of me if I'm on my way to heaven, and if I am saved, and there's all the difference in the world.”
“But I will state this, if you are a member of the kingdom of heaven, and if God leaves you on earth any length of time, you're going to experience persecution. For our Lord says the only blessed people, are those who experience persecution, and they and they only are the members of the kingdom of heaven.”
“It's a paradox, isn't it? Isn't it strange? That the blessing of Christ, and the curses of men, center on the same head.”
“Beloved, don't you do it. There's no grounds in the New Testament, none whatsoever to justify the church making official political pronouncements.”
“Either you're going to throw it out, or you're going to have to say, persecution will be my portion if I live godly in Christ Jesus.”
“I'm just pouring out something of the conviction that has gripped my own heart as I've prepared for the ministry today.”
“But may I state to you that the word of God and the history of the church proves that the greatest persecution from the world toward the people of God has not been the unprofessing world. It's been the religious world that has brought the greatest persecution upon the church.”
“Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you. For so spake they of the false prophets.”
Applications
All listeners
- If you are a member of the kingdom of heaven and God leaves you on earth any length of time, you're going to experience persecution.
- Settle it, my dear friend. If you would be a true Christian, persecution would be part of your lot.
- Let's not be moved by sentiment when we see someone losing his life for a certain cause saying, well, surely God must accept him. No, Christ said the only ones who gain eternal life are those who lose their life for his sake and the gospel.
- Don't get involved in anti-communist crusades or other political causes as a church, as there are no New Testament grounds for the church to make official political pronouncements.
- You must either throw out 2 Timothy 3:12 or accept that persecution will be your portion if you live godly in Christ Jesus.
- Don't be surprised if there's persecution. In fact, you better search your heart if there isn't any.
- Do not go out and look for persecution, but get so occupied with wanting to be like Jesus, loving what He loves, doing what He would do, and reacting as He would react, that others see Christ in you, and persecution will inevitably follow.
- Rejoice and be exceeding glad when persecuted, for it is an evidence that you are one of Christ's and in the kingdom.
- If you don't want to be part of a church known as a bunch of fanatics with a narrow view of salvation, you better go to other stomping grounds.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 173 paragraphs, roughly 57 minutes.
Introduction to the Eighth Beatitude and its Significance
Now, if you will please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, as we come this morning to the last of the Beatitudes, this introductory section to the Sermon on the Mount, so absolutely vital to any understanding of all that follows.
Little did I know when we started in on the Sermon on the Mount sometime late last fall that it would be springtime before we got out of the Beatitudes. But I'm in no hurry. As far as I know, the Lord's going to give me a good bit of time to minister here. If I had some kind of revelation that my days were numbered, then we might step things up.
But until such, I will just plod along, trust that the Lord will direct us and make these times of study profitable to our hearts. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 10.
Blessed are they which are blessed. Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, or better translated according to the verb tense in the original, blessed are they that have been and are yet being persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Then verses 11 and 12 are a kind of commentary on verse 10. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you and persecute you. And say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
For so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. Now several things that we want to notice at the outset of our study here. You'll remember that the first Beatitude, verse 3 of Matthew 5, stated, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And you don't encounter that phrase, the kingdom of heaven, again, until you come to this eighth Beatitude.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so you get the definite impression that our Lord Jesus was not using this phrase, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, haphazardly. He was bracketing all of these. All of these Beatitudes were the little phrase, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, indicating what we have emphasized again and again in this study, that the Beatitudes are a description of the character traits of every true child of God.
Anyone who's in the kingdom of heaven will have some manifestation of all of these characteristics, from poverty, poverty of spirit, which is the first indication of God's working in our hearts, all the way down to this matter of persecution for righteousness' sake, which is the response of the world to the character of a true Christian. And I want to emphasize this again and again in our study, that the Beatitudes are not a road map telling me how to get to heaven, how to be saved.
The Interrelationship of the Beatitudes and the Searching Nature of Persecution
The Beatitudes are a description of what will be true of me if I'm on my way to heaven, and if I am saved, and there's all the difference in the world. We have seen that there's an interrelationship of all of these Beatitudes. When I see myself in the light of God's holiness and His word, then I cannot help but be made poor in spirit. I know that I have nothing to commend me to God.
I know that I have nothing to commend me to God. If I know that I am this condition, then I will mourn my sin, and if I've been truly broken before God, I'll be a meek person, and if my sense of sin has been genuine, it will drive me to hunger and thirst after a righteousness not my own, and if I've appropriated that righteousness not my own and have received mercy, then I'll be a merciful person. If I've received mercy, I'll be pure in heart. If I've been made at peace with God.
I'll also be a peacemaker. And so we've seen there is an interrelationship of all of these Beatitudes, which brings us to the last one, which is the object of our study today, and I cannot help but feel that of all the Beatitudes, this is perhaps, in the practical sense, the most searching. In an inward sense, the most searching, I think, is verse 6. Verse 6.
Verse 6. Verse 6. Verse 6. First, after righteousness.
Or possibly verse 8, the pure in heart. But of all the outward responses or characteristics of the Christian, delineated by our Lord Jesus, none is more searching to my way of thinking than this text that is set before us this morning, Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And it's interesting, is it not? That these.
But the only beatitude upon which our Lord further elaborates is this one.
All the others are simply stated. Blessed are the poor in spirit, then the promised. Blessed are the meek, then the promised. Blessed are they that hunger, the promised.
Blessed are the pure in heart, the promised. But when he comes to this beatitude, he elaborates and expands upon it and gives an added commentary indicating that it's tremendously important that we understand what he's seeking to tell us. The same thing is true, you remember, in what we commonly call the Lord's Prayer. We have given to us several petitions.
Our Father who art in heaven, thy name be hallowed. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Three petitions relating to God.
Then three petitions relating to ourselves. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses or our sins. Lead us not into temptation.
Then, in Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15, the Lord Jesus goes back and elaborates on only one of those petitions. Do you remember which one it was? For, if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your trespasses. He does the same thing here.
Having given to us these eight beatitudes, only one upon which there is further elaboration, this one, indicating, I'm sure, to all of us, that there is tremendous importance in the words that he spoke. Now, what are some of the principles embodied in the text this morning? We'll not even attempt to touch verses 11 and 12. They'll be the subject of the ministry next Lord's Day morning, God willing.
Principle 1: God's Children Are Always a Persecuted People
But what are some of the principles found in verse 10? Let's just look at the text itself. The truth is here. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs, and theirs only, is the kingdom of heaven.
What does this tell us? It tells us, first of all, that God, that God's true children have always been and will always be a persecuted people.
All who've ever been members of the kingdom of heaven have been a persecuted people. Blessed are they that have been and yet are, is the sense of the verb used here of the tense, blessed are they that have been and are yet persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now our Lord indicates in the next two verses that the real persecution of his own disciples had not yet come, for he says, changing the tense, notice, excuse me, verse 11, blessed are ye when men shall reproach you in persecution. The persecution hadn't been let loose as yet upon his own disciples.
But he said, it's coming. He said, if you're members of the kingdom of heaven, it's coming. It's coming. And he tells them what to do.
So I would not state today, because I have no scriptural grounds, that if up to this hour you have not experienced persecution, you are not a Christian. I would not state that, for I have no grounds to. But I will state this, if you are a member of the kingdom of heaven, and if God leaves you on earth any length of time, you're going to experience persecution. For our Lord says the only blessed people, are those who experience persecution, and they and they only are the members of the kingdom of heaven.
Now it's amazing, is it not, in the light of what's preceded this. How has our Lord described the Christian? As a contentious, dogmatic, nasty, troublemaking person? No, he's described him as a meek man.
As one who's pure in heart. As one who's merciful. As one who's a peacemaker. And yet this person, who demonstrates these character traits of meekness, of gentleness, of being a peacemaker, of purity of heart, this person is the object of the world's persecution.
It's a paradox, isn't it? Isn't it strange? That the blessing of Christ, and the curses of men,
center on the same head.
And the world curses the very one that our Lord pronounces blessed. And so our Lord would set, before us, this basic principle, taught and reinforced throughout the length and breadth of the scriptures, that God's true children have always been and will always be a persecuted people. When you say, Pastor, what does the Lord mean by the term persecution? Well, I get wonderful help in understanding my Bible from my dictionary.
Historical and Scriptural Evidence of Persecution
My dictionary and my concordance. They're like my left hand and my right hand. So I looked up the word persecution, and what did it tell me? And I think it's an accurate definition, a definition of the biblical concept.
To persecute means, quote, to afflict or to harass constantly with an intention to injure or to distress.
To persecute means to afflict or to harass constantly with an intent to injure or distress. That's what it means. And the Lord said, Blessed are those who are the objects of the attempts, of men, to harass them, to disturb them, who have a purpose to harm them. Jesus said, People who experience that harassment and that injurious treatment from the world are the blessed people of earth.
Now, any reading of the word of God or of the history of the church will confirm that God's people have always been a persecuted people. You know where you find the first instance of persecution?
With the, the first clearly saved man and the first one that the scripture makes clear was an unsaved man. Cain and Abel. Now, whether Adam was saved or not, we don't know. There's speculation both sides.
And so what the scripture doesn't make clear, I'm not going to be dogmatic. But the scripture does say, Abel was a righteous man. He's called righteous Abel. Cain is called a wicked man.
And the first persecution of the righteous followers of the wicked was evidenced in the first two men born of woman here on earth. Cain and Abel. For the scripture says that Cain rose up in the field and slew Abel, his brother. And why did he slay him?
First John tells us because his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous. It was persecution for what? Righteousness. The first two born of woman.
And then you begin to read through the Old Testament history and you see this principle continue. May I just pick out a few at random? There's Moses. This mighty man of God trained in all the wisdom of Egypt.
And under the call of God he leaves Egypt. And Hebrews tells us he left Egypt willing to suffer affliction with the people of God. He had the wrath of the king upon him. But it says he feared not the wrath of the king, but the wrath of the king was raised against Moses.
Then he had to endure the persecution of his own backslidden nation, the nation of Israel. We move on and we begin to view the life of other, of the patriarchs, of the prophets. Elijah, tormented by that wicked woman Jezebel who saw his life. We move on to Jeremiah placed in the dungeon by the very people whose lives he was trying to spare by his prophetic ministry.
We come on into the New Testament and we see in the life of the apostles, this persecution constantly through the book of Acts. If someone said it was riot or revival, it was jails and synagogues. That is where they spent all the time. In the synagogues preaching or in the jails by the authorities.
Persecution. You pick up the books of church history and you find it early in the history of the church, the catechome. You find the arena where the Christians were thrown. You come on down and find the Hussites And you find the Waldenses, and then those under the Wesleyan revival, and under the movings of God in what is called the evangelical awakening, down to our present day. And persecution has been the portion of the true people of God.
Right from the beginning, Cain and Abel, and our Lord Jesus said it will be this way right down until the time that he comes. In fact, it's going to get worse. As the hour of our Lord's appearing draws near, there will be an intensification of persecution of the saints of God. And so you might as well count it as an absolutely undeniable, inflexible rule.
If you would be a true subject. If you would be a true subject of the kingdom of heaven, then persecution will be your law just as much as meekness, as a peacemaking spirit, as purity of heart, as gentleness, and all the other character traits of the true child of God. But above all the examples in the history of the church and in the scriptures, there is that example of our Lord himself. Think for a moment of who he was.
The scripture says he was holy, undefiled, separate from sinners. Spotless character. Now what did he do? Well, Peter tells us he was a man anointed with the Holy Ghost who went about doing good. Healing the sick, raising the dead, unstopping the deaf ears and opening the blind eye.
In his character, spotless moral purity. In his work, nothing but bananas. And yet what was done to our Lord? Listen to what our Lord says in John chapter 15, a passage that we'll be referring to several times throughout the course of our message this morning.
Listen to the words of Christ in John chapter 15 and verse 20. Remember the word that I said unto you. A servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecution...
If they have persecuted me, they'll persecute you. If they've kept my word, they'll keep yours. But all these things will they do unto you for my sake, because they know not him that sent me. Then after several words relating to that, he says in verse 25, But this cometh to pass, that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the clearest example of the principle set forth in this eighth beatitude that the righteous will always be a persecuted people. For no one was more righteous than he. Never did a life bless earth with such kindness and condescension and acts of love and mercy.
But never was a life the object of more abuse and hatred and venom of carnal wicked hearts than our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. And so settle it, my dear friend. If you would be a true Christian, persecution would be part of your lot. Now there's a second principle here that I want us to hasten on to.
Principle 2: Persecution is for a Specific Reason: Righteousness' Sake
Not only does our Lord state that God's true children have been and always will be a persecuted people, but he states so clearly that God's children are persecuted for a specific reason.
Only one reason. Notice what it is. Blessed are they that have been persecuted. Blessed are they that have been persecuted.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted. Blessed are they that have been persecuted. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for, and then he gives us the one reason. What is it?
Righteousness sake. For the sake of righteousness. Now we dare not read this text without bringing that principle into sharp focus. We have a similar thing when our Lord Jesus says in Mark 8, I believe verse 35, He that loseth his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it.
Now, many times in our human sympathy, it's really sentimentality, we see a man or woman who in the cause of something that is not really true, gives his life, sacrifices his life for the country, and we say, oh surely a man, a young man will leave his wife and family and home and go out and die on a battlefield for his country. Surely God will be merciful and take him to heaven. No, if he's lost his life merely to save his country, but has not lost his life for Christ's sake in the gospels, if he dies, unrepentant and unbelieving, he'll go to hell as much as the man who was a pacifist and stayed home as a coward and wouldn't defend his country.
Now let's not be moved by sentiment when we see someone losing his life for a certain cause saying, well, surely God must accept him. No, Christ said the only ones who gain eternal life are those who lose their life for his sake and the gospel. Now this is true in this matter as well. The scripture says, blessed are they that are.
They are persecuted for a specific cause for righteousness sake. The Lord does not say blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of certain things that they have no control over. Now may I be very frank here and give some word of direction. As a pastor living in an age filled with revolution and conflict and tension and strife, God does not call upon me to enter in and get on the bandwagon, in a march to Washington or an anti-communist crusade.
But where the word of God speaks clearly on these issues, it's my obligation to give application concerning those issues.
Now, if you happen to be born with yellow skin or black skin because of the wicked attitudes of the hearts of unregenerate men, certain people, because of the color of the skin with which they were born, are persecuted. This persecution is unjust. It's absolutely wicked. For God says that if you show respect to persons, ye commit sin.
And that's exactly what God calls it. As far as I know, there's none of that attitude here in our fellowship. Our doors, and we don't have to have call an integration service. Our doors are open to people of any color, any national background.
They are here and have been here and will continue to be here. But I would remind you that men and women who are being persecuted for the race cause can't claim this. They can't claim this promise for men and women who are trumpeting the race issue and claiming to be champions of biblical truth. Men like Dr.
Martin Luther King, that man who professes to be a gospel minister. He's not a minister of the gospel. He's long since left the ministry of the gospel,
and he will gather about him as other men do. Men who hate our Christ, but who feel that they're being. Persecuted for righteousness sake because of their great cause. No, they aren't.
Dear ones to be persecuted because of the color of your skin is not to be persecuted for righteousness sake to be persecuted because of your national background. God have mercy on any of us who look down on someone because of their national background. God made of one blood all nations. The scripture says the dear ones.
If you're persecuted because of your national background, don't take any comfort in this verse. It has nothing to do. With any persecution that comes because of situations over which I have no control. Now, I trust I won't be misunderstood,
but I feel I must speak on this issue. Nor does Jesus pronounce blessing on those that are persecuted because of their foolishness or their fanaticism. There's some people that instead of being wise as serpents are about as wise as little Abner. I read something the other day from a W Tozer in which he mentioned some illusion, a little Abner, and he said, he'd rather fall on his head than on his feet because he's got more feeling in his feet than in his head.
Well, you know, there are some Christians who in their zeal fall into that trap and because they just don't use good horse sense, if I may use the phrase, they bring all kinds of reproach upon themselves. They use no wisdom or tact in their witness. I find no indication in the scriptures where Jesus barged in on people and made himself. Oh, fencing.
I find him going into the home of publicans and sinners and sitting down to eat with them and beginning to graciously talk to them about himself and his salvation. I find the Lord Jesus standing by a well, and when a wicked woman comes, he doesn't grab her by the lapel and say, are you saying you don't repent? You'll go to hell. No, he says to her woman, could I have a drink of water?
Well, how is it that I'll be a Jew? Ask water of me, a Samaritan. And then the Lord, graciously begins to talk about the water of life. You see,
he walks by and there's a man looking to see. This is Zacchaeus. Come on down. Let's go to house and have a cup of tea.
I'm paraphrased. And while he's there in the home, the Lord Jesus, by his burning gaze, begins to look around. Probably you can read between the lines. He sees all the wealthy possessions of this man and begins to look at Zacchaeus and without our Lord speaking a word conviction deepens and grips him.
Until he says, Lord, half of my goods I give to the pool. If I've taken anything wrongfully, I'll restore it fourfold. And the Lord says, today salvation has come. You don't find any of this nasty barging in by our Lord.
Oh, yes, there are times when he had to face the religious leaders of his day and say, thou whited sepulchers, blind leaders of the blind. Yes, but in his personal dealings of witness, what a graciousness in our Lord. Now, some of you, now some of you may be persecuted, not for righteousness sake, but for your own foolishness sake, for your own lack of obedience to what the scripture says. Be wise as a serpent, but harmless as a dove.
So the Lord doesn't pronounce blessedness upon those that are persecuted for foolishness sake, for natural traits, nor does he pronounce blessedness upon those who are persecuted for a cause. There are some who would like to get us to believe that as Christians, we should all become invited to the Lord, and we should all be involved in some kind of anti-communist cause. Beloved, don't you do it. There's no grounds in the New Testament, none whatsoever to justify the church making official political pronouncements.
There's not an ounce of grounds in the New Testament to do it. Jesus said, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. Does that mean we should become communists? Of course not.
I hate that diabolical system as much as anyone hates it. But God hasn't called me to be an anti-communist. He's called me to love all men and preach the gospel to all men. When Paul wrote his letters, do you know what government was in power?
The Roman government, with a despotic emperor sitting on the throne. And what did Paul say? The powers that be are ordained of God. Paul?
You mean even that godless Roman emperor Nero? Yep. God put him up on that throne. So people who are getting persecuted because they're banging the anti-communist, the anti-communist drum, or some other kind of political race-issued drum, let them find no comfort in this text.
It has nothing to say to them whatsoever. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Nothing whatsoever. It certainly does not mean, blessed are those that are persecuted because of sin and inconsistency. Peter said in 1 Peter 3, 14, let none of you suffer as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. Isn't it interesting the two things he puts together?
Evildoers and busybodies? Busybodies are really busy telling us. Peter said don't let any of you suffer as an evildoer or a busybody. But he says in the next verse, verse 15, if any of you suffer as a Christian, let him glorify God on this day.
Defining 'Righteousness' Sake' as Christ-likeness
He said, Pastor, if suffering for righteousness' sake does not mean that, what does it mean? What does the word righteousness mean? Well, basically, in its context, it means blessed are those who suffer for the sake of being committed to righteousness. Righteousness.
Righteousness. Righteousness is that which is in conformity with God's will. That's what makes it right. It's in keeping with God's expressed purpose and plan and will.
So those that suffer for righteousness' sake are those who suffer because their lives are conformed to the will of God. Practically speaking, that conformity means being like the Lord Jesus. He's the perfect embodiment of righteousness. He said, I came to fulfill all righteousness.
So when Jesus said, blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, he was saying, in essence, blessed are those who are persecuted for being like me. Well, you say, Pastor, what do you mean, being like him? You got to put on a toga and grow a beard? No, I don't know that he had a beard.
And I don't put stock in anybody who says they had a vision of Christ and drew his picture. Because none of the visions jive. If the Lord were giving me visions, I think he'd give them consistently. Don't you?
That's why I put no stock in pictures of Christ. What does it mean to be like him then? It means to be like him in moral likeness. To love what he loves, and to hate what he hates.
Hebrews 1.8, in that portion there, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Speaking of Christ, Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. To suffer for righteousness' sake means that I suffer for righteousness' sake.
It means that I suffer because I'm like Christ. I love what he loves, and I hate what he hates. In a given situation, to be like Christ means that I react as he would react. I would say what he would say.
I do what he would do in that situation. Isn't that what the pre-seeing Beatitudes have been? Basically a description of Christ-likeness? What is poverty of spirit but the recognition of my utter dependence upon God?
Who more perfectly embodied that than the one who said, I can do nothing but Christ? Think of it. The eternal Son of God, made flesh, I can do nothing but Christ. Isn't it he who said, I'm meek and lowly in heart?
Who's the perfect embodiment of meekness? But our Lord Jesus. Who's the perfect picture of mercifulness? But our Lord Jesus.
Who's the perfect picture of purity? But our Lord Jesus. Who's the perfect embodiment of a peaceful life? But our Lord Jesus.
Who made peace between rebel sinners and a holy God? And so these Beatitudes have been in one sense a description of the Christ-like character of the Christian. And now Jesus said, if my spirit makes you this way, and you go out into a world that doesn't love me and doesn't love my truth, then there's going to be persecution for righteousness sake, for the sake of being like me. Now what was the world's attitude to him?
The World's Unchanging Hatred of Christ and His Followers
We already touched on it in John 15. It says they hated him. The proof of the world's hate started way back even before our Lord Jesus came to years to minister. Do you remember the report came to Herod that the wise men were going to seek out he who was born King of the Jews?
Do you remember what Herod did? When the wise men returned another way, he sent out the decree that all the children two years old and under should be killed. The hatred of the hearts of men aimed at our Lord Jesus while he was yet obeyed. Herod sought to exterminate him.
After his baptism, the Lord Jesus had ministered in other areas, came back to his hometown. Luke chapter 4 gives the record, and it says he stood up to read. This was their custom, that the reader would stand and read from the scroll. And he read from Isaiah 61.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach the gospel. To open the prison to them that are bound, etc. Then it says he sat down.
What they would do is read, and then the teacher would sit. And all the eyes, it says, were fastened upon him. And the Lord Jesus began to speak and said, This day hath this prophecy been fulfilled in your ears. And then our Lord Jesus, as he expounded the scriptures, it says that their hearts were filled with hate.
And they tried to take him and cast him off a cliff. But he passed through the midst. The first time he ministered in his own hometown, men sought to kill him. Other times, through his ministry, it says they took up stones and sought to kill him.
They said, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil. Until finally the hatred of men to our lovely Lord Jesus found its ultimate expression in Calvary. When they took the spotless Lamb of God and pressed his pure, sinless body to that cruel Roman cross and pounded in the nails and hung him there to die like a common criminal. What did he do?
Spotless, undefiled, went about doing good, healing the sick. But the world's attitude to our Lord Jesus was one of perfect hate. And dear ones, if we're like him, the world is going to do the same thing whenever they discover of Christ in us. The world hates him.
And if you and I are indwelt by him, and are in any measure like him, then the world's going to do the same thing to you. Not quite so violent, perhaps, now. The hour may come when the violence will break out upon us here in America. But it's already broken out in other areas.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3.12, a text that I trust God will burn in our hearts. Yea, Paul says, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now what are you going to do with a verse like that?
What are you going to do with it? We love Romans 10.13. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And we tell people that's what it says. You shall be saved. No ifs, ands, buts, no clauses, no exceptions. You shall be saved.
Emphasize it. And rightly so. What are you going to do with 2 Timothy 3.12?
All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. What are you going to do with that? You're going to do one of two things. Either you're going to throw it out, or you're going to have to say, persecution will be my portion if I live godly in Christ Jesus.
One of the two things. No middle ground, is there? And all my flesh doesn't like verses like that. Is yours?
No loopholes in it. You didn't study it in the original and you won't find any loopholes. There it is. You can read it in 16 different new translations.
It'll still be there. There it is. All that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution. Philippians 1.27, Paul said,
For unto you it is given unto the half of Christ, not only to believe in his name, but to suffer for him. Then I read in Romans 16 and 17, The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, it so be that we suffer with him that we may reign with him. The other night I took down my knave's topical concordance. Some of you may have it.
But it is. It's a concordance dealing not with words. Most concordances, you look up a word like faith, and it'll give every reference where faith is mentioned. But this man, Mr. Knave,
spent years making a concordance according to topics, and then actually printing the verses out. And so I turned to the section on persecution. It's a large volume, and I believe there were at least one, two, three, four, five whole pages with text after text printed out, double column, big pages, with what the Scripture teaches about persecution. Until after I'd read it and my wife would bear witness to this, I just shook my head and I said, I wonder if I'm a Christian.
Not that I really doubted my salvation, but as I compared the Christianity depicted in the Word of God with our bloodless, anemic, wishy-washy brand of Christianity, I had to hang my head with shame and get on my knees and say, Oh God, what's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? I read 1 Corinthians chapter 4, and I said to my dear wife, I said, Honey, I wonder if I'm a preacher. Can I claim to be a minister of the Gospel after what I've read concerning Paul?
Listen to what Paul said. We are fools for Christ's sake. We are weak. Even to this hour we've hungered.
We thirst. We're naked. We're buffeted. We have no certain dwelling place.
We toil, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. Being defamed, we entreat.
And listen. We are made as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things until now. I said, if that's the Christian ministry, I haven't denied it. So dear ones, I'm not berating you.
I'm just pouring out something of the conviction that has gripped my own heart as I've prepared for the ministry today. Jesus said the disciple's not above his Lord. If they've persecuted me, they're going to persecute you. Are they persecuting?
Under death. Are they persecuting me? If not, there's only one answer. He is just not being manifested.
That's it. For the world has never changed its attitude to Him. And wherever the world sees the true Jesus, they're going to hate Him. They proved it when He was here in the flesh.
The world has proved it. Wherever men and women have really lived Jesus Christ, at any period in church history, there's always been persecution. True? This is a fact of church history.
Oh, but you say this is polite, cultured America. This is the ecumenical age when everyone's in a lovey-dovey spirit and we're all together. Ah, no. No, no.
You and I begin to live Jesus Christ, and you watch these men who talk about their lovey-dovey ecumenical spirit and we're all brothers in Christ. You watch. You watch the venom begin to flow and the fangs begin to be bared simply because, this is the world's attitude to Christ. But you say, Pastor, who's going to do the persecuting?
The Source of Persecution: The World, Especially the Religious World
Well, Jesus tells us in John 15, 19 that it's going to be the world that's going to do it. Notice what He said now in John 15, 19. If you're of the world, the world would love its own, but because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Keep this in mind now.
Three or four references in this text to the fact that it's the world, that would hate the people of God. Now turning over to John 17, we have a similar reference, verse 14. John 17 and verse 14. I have given them thy word, and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Now our Lord makes clear that persecution of God's people is going to come from this body of people called the world. Now what comprises the world? Now I want you to listen carefully now. The best answer to that I know is given in Galatians chapter 4, and it's far better than any explanation I could give.
Galatians 4 and verse 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also it is now. You get it? Paul says he that was born after the flesh and never experienced the regenerating, renewing power of the Holy Ghost, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so it is today.
Now you get the connection between this verse and the two verses in John? Jesus said, the world hath hated them. What is the world? The world is that group of men and women who've never been born of the Holy Spirit.
They've never experienced that marvelous quickening to life by the indwelling Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. That's the world. Now it's broken down into two categories. There's the non-religious world, men and women who don't know the Lord and who make no profession of religion or Christianity or anything.
And you find some persecution came from them in the book of Acts. Herod began to persecute the children of the church. He put James to death. It was a non-religious persecution.
It was the world without any profession. And sometimes in the history of the church you find this. May I say you'll find this, some of you. I know there's someone here in our fellowship who experiences a little bit of this at work.
Some of others may experience it. Someone who makes no real profession of Christianity or religion of any kind, and they put the pressure on you. They may boycott you. They may keep you from getting proper promotions.
They may needle you. There are men and women who are not born of the Spirit and they make no profession of Christianity or religion of any kind. But may I state to you that the word of God and the history of the church proves that the greatest persecution from the world toward the people of God has not been the unprofessing world. It's been the religious world that has brought the greatest persecution upon the church.
Starting with Cain who persecuted Abel, and that was a religious persecution. Never forget it. When Cain saw Abel's offering accepted by God and his own was not, he became enraged that Cain's religion was the true and his was revealed to be false. The first persecution was a religious persecution.
First one. And you read through the Old Testament the prophets who suffered again and again and Jesus makes reference to them in verses 10 and 11 of our basic text today. He says the prophets suffered. Whose hands did they suffer from?
Not the hands of the Babylonians and the Egyptians. They suffered from the hands of the religious leaders of their own day. Look at our Lord. Who stirred up the mob and put Him to death?
It was the scribes, the chief priests and the elders. Read through the book of Acts. Who stirred up the persecution against Paul everywhere he went? It was the leaders of the synagogues wherever he went.
Who drew the sword and slaked that sword in the blood of countless thousands? During the great purges and massacres it was organized religion that rose up against the Waldenses and the Hussites and the Wycliffites and the Covenanters and the other great movements of God. Dear ones, I challenge you to search the scriptures that when Jesus said, Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, He was inferring and the rest of His teaching confirms it and the history of the church doubly confirms it that that persecution
would come from the religious world. Religion that was a stranger to the operations of the Holy Ghost. Never forget that. And if you and I are to live to see physical persecution it may not so much come from communism as from other forms of organized religion.
And if you experience any degree of persecution in our day, and most of it's just verbal and boycotting and pressures, you know where it'll come from? It'll come from men and women who are religious but devoid of the Holy Ghost. I thank God that at least I can speak a little bit on this subject this morning without feeling that I don't know anything of what it's about. I've never been beaten physically that I can remember.
But I know what it is to be boycotted, to have my name and my character maligned. I know what it's like to feel division in my own home. Do you know where the greatest persecution, what little bit I've experienced, has come from? It's come from organized Orthodox religion devoid of the Holy Ghost.
Why the World Persecutes: Exposure of Evil
Exactly where our Lord received it. You say, Pastor, why should that be? I think the answer's simple. But it won't be simple if you don't believe the two things the Bible makes clear all the time.
That men, the world, is basically and willfully evil. If you don't believe the world, those apart from Christ who have never been engulfed by the Spirit, if you don't believe that they're basically and willfully evil, you could never understand this text. But the Scripture says the whole world lieth in the lap of the wicked one, 1 John 5, 19. And the second truth the Bible says, the Bible makes clear, is that people in the world don't want to be exposed.
John 3, 19 says, this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. Men love darkness rather than light and will not come to the light. Men are willfully and basically evil and they do not want their evil to be exposed. Now do you see why persecution comes and especially it comes from the religious world?
Do you see why? Jesus stated it in John 7, 7. He said, to his own brothers and sisters, he says, the world can't hate you, but me it hateth because, I'm quoting John 7, 7, this is not my opinion, this is the words of Christ. Now I'm quoting.
He said, the world cannot hate you, but me it hateth because I testify of its works that they are evil. Jesus in unqualified terms says, the reason the world, and it was primarily the religious world that hated him. The mixed crowds followed him. It was the religious world that hated him.
And he said, the world hates me because I testify of its works that they are evil. This is why I've had some people hate me. This is why I've had people boycott my ministry. This is why I've had people, after they've met God, come to me and tell me they're sorry for the things they said.
Because I refuse to preach in general terms. I refuse to talk about the evils of communism and the evils of alcoholism. And leave untouched the evils of our coldness and our indifference and our carnality and our pride and our sloth and our spiritual indolence. And it's when a man of God, by the help of the Spirit, begins to expose the evil that is present in his people that the hatred of the human heart begins to manifest.
Is this true? Sure it is. This is why our Lord was hated. This is why the prophets were hated.
Jesus said, you'll be like the prophets. He says, they were persecuted for righteousness sake. Rejoice, you're like them. Who was a prophet?
A prophet was a man who stood in his own generation and saw things as God did and had courage enough and insight to come and take hold of the veneer, the religious veneer, and peel it off. And tell people, look, underneath all this veneer things are pretty rotten. That's what a prophet was. That's what Isaiah did.
You read Isaiah 1, Isaiah 58. You don't have time to go into all of these. But the basic function of the prophet was to stand in his generation and to see things as God did. And the world looked at situations and everything looked fine.
There was a big veneer of religiosity. And the prophet came along under God and says, Thus saith the Lord. And he peeled off the veneer and said to men, Look, this is what God knows you are. And they hated him.
You see, that's what happens in the life of a true Christian. A true Christian by his life and his words is an instrument of exposing the sin of those who know not Jesus Christ. He's an instrument to expose the shallowness of religion without a perfect knowledge, an intimate, warm, living knowledge of Christ. Perhaps I'll leave because I've got some more material, but I think it would be wise to leave it because we've given an awful lot this morning as to how this actually works.
The Call to Self-Examination and the Danger of Universal Approval
in specific instances. And I think we'll save that for next week. I trust you get hold of the basic principles this morning that if you're a true Christian, Christ dwells in you. And if Christ dwells in you, then Christ in you is going to be exposing the shame, the sin, the shallowness of the generation of which you live.
Dear one, don't be surprised if there's persecution. In fact, I would go so far to say you better search your heart if there isn't any. For my Lord said in Luke chapter 6, Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you. For so spake they of the false prophets.
You know who the false prophets were? They were the people that came and said, Thus saith Jehovah, everything's all right. Let's live with the status quo. Everything's fine.
We're Israelites. We're the chosen of God. We've got the Bible. We've got the truth.
Everything's fine. We're all going to heaven. Everything's well and good. Chuck them under the chin and tickle their cheek and make them smile and give them little lollipops of watered down, sugar-coated truth and make them all feel good.
And everybody said, Ah, you're a wonderful man. Oh, how we love the false prophets. Jesus said, You beware when all men speak well of you. He says, The only people that were ever spoken well of by the Lord Jesus Christ are those who speak well of you.
He says, The only people that were ever spoken well of by the Lord Jesus Christ are those who speak well of you. He says, The only people that were ever spoken well of by the masses were the false prophets. He says, You want to join their company? Beloved, as for me, I don't.
Oh, you say, All right, now do we go out and look for persecution? No. No, Jesus didn't say, Blessed are those who are persecuted for persecution's sake, but for righteousness' sake. See?
You just get so occupied with wanting to be like Jesus, to love what He loves in the home, in the shop, to do what He would do in the home, in the shop, to do what He would do in the home, in the shop, in the school, to react as He would react in the home, in the shop, in the office, in the school, on the street, wherever you are. You just get so occupied with Jesus Christ and longing to be like Him and having Him so fill you with Himself that others see Christ in you, and their ones, you only to look for persecution. It'll be there. It'll be there.
It'll be there. And then when it is, you can hear the words of Christ. Bless. Amen.
Blessed are you. Blessed are you. This is an evidence that you're one of Mine, that you're in the kingdom. So rather than getting a martyr's complex, pulling down the chin and wearing holes in the sidewalk with our chins, what do we do?
Well, we'll see next week. We rejoice. We're exceeding glad. And you see that in the book of Acts where it says they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for His name.
I somehow have the feeling and maybe it's just a feeling that I'm not the only one in the world who has this feeling. Maybe it's more. But in the next few months we're going to see a new tide of blessing here at North Caldwell. But I know if we are, there'll be a new tide of persecution.
And if you don't want to be part of a church that's known as a bunch of fanatics, if you want to be a part of a church that's got a nice polite reputation in the community, dear one, you just better go to other stomping grounds pretty quick because you're going to be a part of it. When people know you go up to that place, well, those people, they just go around and knock on doors and talk about Christianity. They're so narrow, they believe there's only one way of salvation. Boy, you want that?
If so, come along. Amen. Oh, may the Lord help us not to seek persecution but to seek Him to be like Him. And then He said, well, of course, you'll come next week.
Didn't get all the way through what we planned this morning, so you come and we'll get the rest of it God willing next week and carry on to verses 11 and 12. Shall we look to God in prayer?
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This passage is the central text, with Martin expounding the meaning of persecution for righteousness' sake and the promised blessing.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
More from the archive