Matthew 5:10

When was the last time somebody let you know that you do not belong? You do not fit in.

! You are not in. You are not in. You are not in. You are not in. You are not in. You are not

longer a part of this family. Whether it's subtly or secretly behind your back or violently,

you now know that you do not belong there anymore. I want to speak to you this morning

about persecution because it's the last of the Beatitudes that we've been dipping into

over the last month in the summer. If you look at verse 10 of Matthew 5, blessed are those

who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It's another

one of these paradoxical promises from Jesus, isn't it? It just sounds so upside down to

our normal way of thinking. Blessed are the persecuted. But actually it's the only promise

that Jesus pushes that little bit further, isn't it? If you look on in verse 11 and 12,

blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you

falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. He pushes this point,

doesn't he, on persecution. Notice it is not a question of if, but when you are persecuted,

isn't it? And this is pointed directly to his disciples. When they revile you. When they persecute

you. This will be your experience, my disciples. This is the Christian experience. This is the

mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Persecution of some variety. So that is our sales pitch to

you this morning if you're not a Christian. This is the Christian experience. Come and be

persecuted. Sounds odd, doesn't it? But the strange thing here is Jesus is saying this will be a mark

of blessing, of tremendous blessing. Rejoice and be glad in it, Jesus says. The word rejoice

means to leap for joy, to celebrate in your persecution. It's so different from the things that we

normally hear, isn't it? Even from people who might say they are Christians, from the prosperity

gospel. A mark of blessing in that false gospel is prosperity and popularity and prestige. That's

how the world normally thinks, isn't it? But that's just so against what Jesus is saying here.

Jesus says to his disciples in John's gospel, if they persecute me, they will persecute you.

Paul says to Timothy, all who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution.

So this is a subject, it's an issue that is relevant to all of Jesus' disciples, not just some in the

world. And so what we need is a robust view of persecution, but as a mark of blessing.

We're not wanting to dumb down Christians' suffering this morning in any way, but to see actually the

wonderful reason that it happens and its purpose and the reward for persecuted disciples of Jesus.

So that when somebody makes it clear that you do not belong in this world, because you are a disciple of Jesus,

we can rejoice and be glad as Jesus commands us to.

There are three things that I want us to think about this morning. The reason, the purpose and the reward

in persecution. The reason, the reason, the reason, the reason a distinctive life will collide with the world.

That's the reason. A distinctive life will collide with the world.

Now Jesus saves this beatitude, this blessed promise, doesn't he, until the end of his list.

I don't think he does that because it's the hardest one, he's sort of trying to keep the worst till the end.

But it's because actually living a life in accordance with the first seven beatitudes will mean that you will get the eighth.

It is just the natural consequence of living the authentic Christian life.

So the reason for persecution is this distinctive life, ordered and governed by the Lord Jesus.

It is how we already live, laid out in his beatitudes, that leads to this persecution.

It will provoke the world to respond.

Now if you just go through them, you can see that, can't you, maybe really quickly.

I know we haven't gone through all of these.

But if you look in verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Poverty of spirit clashes, doesn't it, with human pride in the world.

Just look down again, mourning for sin.

We looked at that a few weeks ago.

That just jars, doesn't it, with human arrogance.

And the idea that actually we're all fine.

We don't need God to sort our sin problem out.

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

That's totally, totally at odds with our permissive society, isn't it?

Meekness clashes against self-assertion.

Purity of heart is opposed to all of the compromise and all of the hypocrisy in the world.

Peacemaking cuts against the argumentative and the cynicism, doesn't it?

And it just goes on, doesn't it?

You see at every point here, the authentic Christian life laid out by Jesus clashes with the world.

In every moment.

Because Jesus' disciples live a distinctive, Christ-centered, God-centered life that is lived for the honor of God and not for man.

It lives for the blessings that come from him and not in this world.

And so it's a drastic contrast.

It's a collision with the world.

John Stott, the Anglican preacher, said that persecution, Christian suffering, is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value systems.

In other words, Christianity lived like this in the world is like chalk and cheese, isn't it?

It just does not mix.

It's on a collision course.

You cannot reconcile them.

There will always be a conflict of interests.

I hope there are some non-Christians here this morning.

You're really welcome, if that's you.

And maybe if you are a Christian, you've got friends, you're in the community.

It's good, isn't it, to do that.

To love folk who don't know Jesus Christ yet.

And have relationships and friendships.

And to love those people.

But there is always that sense where there comes a point and there's just a difference.

There is a world of difference between how Christians live their lives and how others don't.

And maybe you feel that this morning.

Relationships are often fraught with that feeling that you just don't mix.

And when the world lives that sees Christianity like this, there will be a disparity.

There will be a conflict.

And it will threaten some folk, won't it?

As we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

And as we mourn for sin.

Some will find that unpalatable.

They will be convicted.

They will feel guilty.

They may even resent you and be hostile to you.

You'll be accused of being moralistic and straight-laced.

People might talk behind your back.

They might think you're deluded for believing in a God.

They might think you're lazy for not working on a Sunday.

All sorts of things.

Because you are distinctive.

And you are on a collision course with the world.

And so Christian persecution, it says to you, actually, you are living the Christian life as it's meant to be lived.

This radical, Christ-centered, upside-down life of blessing, it will clash with the world.

And it will provoke a response.

And the world will want to say to you, you do not belong here.

So if you're persecuted in any way, be encouraged that this is authentic Christian living.

Because you are on a collision course with the world.

That is the reason.

I want to mention a fairly big caveat, though, at this point.

Because not all persecution is caused by our godly distinctiveness, is it?

If we're honest.

Jesus says quite clearly here, blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness' sake.

Isn't it?

That's an important addition.

Not all persecution is a mark of blessing.

Because not all persecution is for righteousness' sake.

Jesus says here.

So you've got to ask, why is it happening to me?

What has provoked this?

What have I done?

What are they angry about?

As to why I'm being persecuted?

It is not good to be persecuted for doing bad things, is it?

Augustine said it's not the punishment that makes the martyr, but it's the cause.

Do you see?

It is not simply because we might get a hard time that we are doing the right thing.

It is why we are doing it.

The persecution does not tell you about the person's cause.

Persecution in itself is not a good gauge necessarily for somebody's orthodoxy.

Let me try and explain that.

Some sort of false Christian groups, even some preachers, use this verse, verse 10, to warrant false teaching.

Or evangelism that is just abrasive.

And they think it gives them license to be overly aggressive, to be inflammatory, to be arrogant, to be tasteless, to be unloving.

And to be quite frank, to be just downright unhelpful.

And when they get thrown into prison, or they get abused, or they get egged in the streets,

they think that is a divine endorsement of what they're doing.

The Jehovah's Witnesses use this verse, don't they, to endorse their beliefs and behaviour.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are not Christians.

They just say that.

The more they're sent away, though, from house to house, the more they feel better about what they're doing.

Because they get a frosty response, they're annoying people, but they think persecution is a sign that they are doing the right thing.

But it can be an awkward gauge for orthodoxy.

So we've got to be careful on this, haven't we?

Just because people are annoyed by you, does not mean that you are being persecuted for the right reason.

The persecution that Jesus speaks about here is for the sake of righteousness.

It happens because of this biblical, Trinitarian, Jesus worshipping radical life that is meek, that is poor in spirit,

that is humble, that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, that grieves over sin and so on.

So I just want to have that in mind.

But with that in mind, I don't you know what this really is about.

You notice, don't you, when other people snub you because you will not cut corners at work.

You're singled out for not getting drunk at university.

Your family will not speak to you because of your faith or words.

It is not just physical violence, is it?

Persecution.

Look at verse 11.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

It's verbal, it's social, it's financial, it's emotional, unfairness and discrimination and snubbing and awkwardness.

But when that happens, Jesus says we can rejoice because we know the reason.

And it tells us that we're living the authentic Christian life as disciples of Jesus and we're on a collision course with the world.

And so we will get a response.

Actually, we should be thinking to ourselves, shouldn't we, I should be a bit worried if none of this ever happens to me.

That is the reason.

That is the reason.

A distinctive life collides with the world.

Secondly, the purpose.

The purpose, a distinctive life will bring glory to the Father.

A distinctive life will bring glory to the Father.

Just drop your eye down to verse 13 to 16 for a second.

Jesus here gives us three images, doesn't he, to illustrate the distinctiveness of the disciples in the world.

So you've got the salt of the earth, the light of the world and the light in the house.

They're all images, aren't they, of the difference, the contrast that the disciples of Jesus have in the world.

The difference they make.

This is the distinctive life.

He's carrying on the same theme, really.

But the important thing is the reaction it gets from the world.

Just look at verse 16.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

As the world sees this authentic disciple living way, it will look so different to the world.

It will be bright and tasty.

As different as light is from the dark, it looks like it's from another world.

It is life, but it's life not as we've seen it or as we know it.

It is an alien kind of life.

And as they see that, there will be a conflict, there will be a collision, but there will be conclusions made about the people living this life.

And the conclusion will be that Christians have a heavenly Father who should be praised and worshipped.

This distinctive life, it says to the world that we have a heavenly Father because we are heavenly people.

And when we are persecuted, you're simply reminding us of the truth that we already know.

We do not belong here.

Persecution is a heavenly Father.

And in turn, Jesus says, they will give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Persecution, it isn't just an unwanted by-product.

It is part and parcel of this life that we have to live in this world.

It must happen.

it's as if, isn't it

we are aliens in the world

and we appear in the world

and our lives should be so different

so alien

and people look at us and they say

you're not from around here

you're like foreigners

you're like aliens

you're like strangers

and if you try and avoid the persecution

and the collision with the world

this will not work

that is Jesus' point in these three images

isn't it

if the salt loses its saltiness

if the lamp is hidden

or the hidden city on a hill

they're pointless aren't they

the whole purpose of them

is to be different

and to stand out

and to give light

and to show or have a contrast

with the world around it

to give flavour and light to the world around

so we must

we must

we must go through with it

because there is a purpose behind

persecution

and we will be persecuted

and the glory of God is at stake

and there will be those who draw

the right conclusion

and praise our Father in Heaven

when they see this distinctive life

when we don't shrink back

I'm sure you

most of you know the story of Saul's conversion

we're going to be looking at it next week

in Holiday Club

it's great isn't it

he is converted on the road to Emmaus

that famous scene where Jesus appears to him

in blinding light

he meets the risen Lord Jesus

but interestingly

interestingly in reflection

in the book of Acts

Paul remembers what happened

in that moment

he relays that incident

to King Agrippa

in Acts chapter 26

Acts 26 · chapter mention

if you want to follow along

it's in Acts 26

Acts 26:13

verse 13

he said

I saw on the way

a light from heaven

brighter than the sun

that shone around me

and those who journeyed with me

and when we fall into the ground

I heard a voice saying to me

in the Hebrew language

Saul, Saul

why are you persecuting me?

it is hard for you

to kick against the goads

he is saying there isn't he

that the Lord Jesus

before that moment

had already been working on him

the Lord Jesus

had been goading him

had been pricking his conscience

had been prodding him

to turn and praise

Jesus

now the only time

that we've actually heard about

about Saul

in the book of Acts

before his conversion

is that scene

where he watches

the Christian disciple

Stephen die

he is martyred

and he watches

and he approves

of his death

he persecutes Stephen

for his Christian faith

for the sake of righteousness

Stephen dies

and he is the one

dishing out the persecution

he watches

as this disciple

of Jesus

dies

in front of him

and he does it

for his beloved Lord

in the same way

actually

it's very similar

to the death of Jesus

and he watches

this brave man

die for the sake

of the gospel

and I wonder

at that moment

was the Lord

goading him

there

it must have been

mustn't it

it must have goaded him

to watch this disciple

so faithfully

and bravely

die for the gospel

it must have convicted him

deep

in his soul

somewhere

it must have challenged him

it may have caused

resentment

and jealousy

and even more hostility

against the church

and for a time

he kicked against

those goads

but in the end

he couldn't resist

the Lord's command

of his life

but you see

even in Saul's conversion

the persecution

of a disciple

of Jesus

when he received it

and took it

and gracefully

bore it

it goaded

the world around him

Stephen

it goads

the souls

of this world

and it convicts them

and it shouts to them

we have a heavenly father

who you need to praise

and ask forgiveness from

we have a heavenly father

and we will respond

with gladness

and rejoicing

in this persecution

because we don't belong here

we have a heavenly father

you know your parents

may hate your new faith

and you still honour them

that shouts to them

that you have a heavenly father

you're misunderstood

and misrepresented

and you don't repay evil

with evil

and it shouts to them

you have a heavenly father

you may suffer

and die

and it will say to the world

I have a heavenly father

and he is worth dying for

he is worth putting up

with whatever it is

that you throw at me

he is the one

that I fear

and love

and praise

and you need to give him

the glory

persecution

means that

you are calling

the world

to praise

your heavenly father

you are a worship leader

as you are persecuted

in different ways

when they see

your good works

Jesus says

that sort of persecution

it goads the world

and convicts the world

and moves them

to praise God

so if you are getting

a hard time

for your Christian faith

this morning

don't think that

that is in vain

because every time

you bite your tongue

and every time

you show grace

and you respond

with mercy

and every time

you're falsely accused

and every time

you're faced with

ignorance

and arrogance

and you respond

with kindness

and patience

you are living

the authentic

Christian life

and every time

you're hurt

and laid aside

and mistreated

and you love

your enemies

you are calling

them to worship

you are calling

them to praise

your heavenly father

and they will be

moved at times

they will be

convicted

they may resent

you and hate you

but some of them

in the end

will join you

and will praise

your heavenly father

they will want

to join

the aliens

as they see

this distinctive

life

displayed before

them

they will want

to be a foreigner

they will want

to be a blessed

disciple

of Jesus

that's the reason

a distinctive

life collides

with the world

it brings glory

to the father

thirdly the result

the result

a distinctive

life

brings a distinctive

reward

a distinctive

life

brings a distinctive

reward

just look at

verse 12

again

rejoice

and be glad

for your reward

is great

in heaven

for so they

persecuted

the prophets

who were before

you

this is the

big incentive

isn't it

this is the

meat

this is

what we have

been looking

forward to

this is what

it's all about

a reward

a reward

Jesus says

it's not the

sufferings

themselves

that are your

prize

we're not to be

masochistic

we're not looking

for some

perverse pleasure

in suffering

as a Christian

and Jesus

isn't coy

he isn't

embarrassed

about talking

of the

prospect of

rewards

the word

can mean

wages

or salary

you know

it's the same

word that you

might use

as a merchant

in the ancient

world

a merchant

who goes

to find

expensive goods

in another

land

and you invest

all of your

money in

buying some

goods

you maybe

buy a shipment

in Italy

or in Africa

and you know

that if you

can get it

home

it will be

a priceless

cargo

you can sell

it at a

massive profit

but

sailing

taking cargo

around the

Mediterranean

was a really

risky business

it was a

risky thing

to do

often cargo

was lost

in perilous

journeys

in storms

in rough

seas

you could lose

everything

but this

merchant

does not

mind a few

rough seas

he does

not mind

a few

storms

he doesn't

mind some

danger

he doesn't

mind a lot

of suffering

when his

ship

comes into

port

because of

the opulent

riches that

will follow

and you will

not mind

suffering

or persecution

when this

reward

comes in

it is a

reward given

by grace

we do not

earn it

Thomas Watson

said it is a

reward as far

above your

thoughts

as it is

above your

desert

the greatest

of the greatness

of it is

opposite to how

much you deserve

it

it is a reward

given in grace

not merit

and the reward

Jesus speaks

about is very

distinctive

verse 10

theirs is the

kingdom of

heaven

great is your

reward in

heaven

this is not an

earthly reward

but a heavenly

one

it is something

above and

beyond what

this world

offers

it is to

enjoy and

behold

the kingdom

of heaven

to enjoy

God

to go

as aliens

to the

home that

we love

it is a

picture that

we get of

the disciples

of Jesus

ushered into

God's throne

room in the

kingdom of

heaven

and it is a

picture of

satisfaction

if you look at

Revelation

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

maybe read it

later on

it is a

great scene

of enjoyment

and awe

joy and

wonder and

joy and

love and

peace and

harmony and

protection

as Jesus'

disciples are

around the

throne worshipping

God

Revelation 7

they are before

the throne of

God and

serve him day

and night in

his temple

and he who

sits on the

throne will

shelter them

with his

presence

never again

will they

hunger

never again

will they

thirst

the sun

will not

beat down

on them

nor any

scorching

heat

for the

lamb at

the centre

of the

throne

will be

their

shepherd

he will

lead them

to springs

of living

water

and God

will wipe

away

every tear

from their

eyes

one writer

said that

one breath

of this

paradise

will extinguish

all the

fires of

earth

it will

be

wonderful

so as we

finish

has someone

made it

clear to

you that

you do

not

belong

because you

belong to

Jesus

let me

close with a

quote from

the preacher

Martin Lloyd

James

he said

by thus

persecuting

you the

world is

just telling

you that

you do not

belong to

it that

you are a

man or

woman apart

you belong

to another

realm thus

proving the

fact that you

are going to

heaven

the Beatitudes

they are

paradoxical

aren't they

they are

upside down

in this

world

they describe

a life which

collides with

this world

at every

moment

and this is

authentic

Christianity

and as we

live it out

we will

provoke all

sorts of

responses

won't we

but some

will see

that distinctive

life and

they will

wonder and

they will

see that we

have a

father in

heaven who

needs to be

praised and

glorified

but others

when they

see that

they will

hate us

and they

will resent

us and

they will

say you

do not

belong

here

and actually

when they

say that

they will

be right

won't they

because we

are waiting

for our

wonderful

wonderful

reward

in heaven

let's

pray

Thank you.