Blessed are the Persecuted

Father, we thank you for today and just the opportunity to to

be here tonight. Lord, we realize that there's so

much that we do not understand about you and your Kingdom, and

yet you've given us your word that explains things to us.

And we want to be students of the word.

We want to learn about you and we want to know our God, our

prayer. Father is like the apostle Paul

that we might know you and the fellowship of your sufferings.

He was a man who who wrote so much of the New Testament, yet

was always longing to know you even more.

I I pray that that would be us, that Lord, we would never get

enough of you and that we would always be longing to know more

of who you are. And that Lord, as we get to know

you, you rub off on us in such a way it transforms everything

that we say and do and think and act.

So it is to ask, Lord, that tonight, as we come to

understand more of who You are, that You would shape us and mold

us into Your image, that we might better glorify Your

precious name. I pray for the downtrodden this

evening, or that You encourage them.

I pray, Lord, for those who are discouraged that you'd uplift

them. I pray for those who are

hurting, that Your word would provide some some remedy, some

comfort for them during this time.

And pray that Lord, we learn to minister to one another even

more so as you see the day of Your coming drawing near.

Pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Take your Bible and turn with

me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5 is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

simply because the Lord went up on to a mount, sat down and

began to preach the sermon in Matthew chapter 8.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

When he's done preaching, he descends the mount, and so we

know that this is a place where our Lord would ascend to teach

people the truth about Kingdom living.

Where that mount exactly is, no one really knows.

There is a traditional place. It's not necessarily the actual

place, but people go there and reminisce about what Christ said

in Matthews 5-6 and seven. It's not so much the place where

he said these things, it's the it's the person who said them.

It's not necessarily the mountain that's important.

It's the message that Christ gave on that mountain which is

so important. And the message he gives is all

about learning to live like a child of the King.

Have you ever wondered what a child of the king looks like?

Well, wonder no more, because in Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 to

Matthew 5:1–12

12, he describes to us the children of the Kingdom.

He teaches us what it means to grow up in the Kingdom, how to

get into the Kingdom. He explains to us what it means

to live like a child of the king.

And so you can easily see someone as a child of the king

if they understand the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, verses

Matthew 5:1–12

1 to 12, you can understand those people who are children of

the king because they're merciful, they're meek, they're

peacemakers, they hunger and thirst for righteousness.

They are the ones who have mourned over their sin and over

the judgement that awaits them, so much so that they give their

life to Christ. They recognize that they are so

poor in spirit, they have nothing to give toward their

salvation. Those are people that Christ

describes as those who have come into His Kingdom, and they're

growing in His Kingdom. So if you want to know whether

or not you're a child of the King, match yourself against

what Jesus says. He says these words in Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 verse #3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs

is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for

they and they only shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle or the meek, for they and they only

shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and

thirst for righteousness, for they and they only shall be

satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for

they and they only shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure heart, for only they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of

God. You could imagine what it must

have been like for all these people, scores of them,

thousands of them on the mountainside, listening to the

words of Jesus. He preaches his sermon and he

begins with blessedness, happiness, true inner joy and

contentment and inner and inner contentment that's non affected

by circumstances around them. Because there is an inner joy,

there's an inner peace, there's a inner contentment, there's an

inner blessedness, a, a blissfulness about their lives.

And so they, they, they are sitting there listening to Jesus

speak and, and he begins by talking to them about true

blessing. And the words that he uses are

probably contrary to anything they had ever heard simply

because Jesus never quotes a rabbi.

He never quotes the Mishnah. He just speaks at the end of the

sermon. They are, they are astounded

because never a man spoke like this man.

He spoke differently than everybody else spoke.

And so there would be scores of people that would follow him

down the mountain, probably as many as have followed him up the

mountain. But when you come to the

Beatitudes and you come to the next one, I'm sure it must have

caused people to pause, because listen to what Jesus says next.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of

righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and

falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.

For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were

before you. I'm sure that there were people

on the mountain that would scratch their heads, maybe begin

to snicker or sneer or even begin to scratch their heads and

look to their friend and say this can't be true.

Blessed are they persecuted? How?

How can that possibly be? How can those who are persecuted

rejoice and be glad? How can they be exuberant?

How can they ever receive a blessing if they are persecuted?

But that's what Jesus says as he concludes the first part of a

sermon. Verse 10 is the beatitude.

Verses 11 and 12 are the explanation to the beatitude.

And so in order for us to understand it, we will go

through the same outline that we've gone over the last several

weeks. And that is what we will define

the condition persecution. Then we'll describe the

consequences of those who are persecuted, detail their

characteristics, and then determine which course we will

follow as a result of what Christ has said.

Very simple outline. We've used it for all the

Beatitudes. But let's first of all define

the condition. You can define it several ways.

You can define it #1 personally #2 that which is promised and #3

that which is painful, and you can add a fourth one, that which

is purposeful. But this persecution is that

which is personal. Listen to what Jesus says.

He says blessed are those. He continues in the same way of

the other Beatitudes until he comes to verse 11 and then he

personalizes it. He says blessed are you when

people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of

evil against you. So he wants to personalize the

persecution and take it away from that which is generic, the

populace to the individual. And the question would come,

well, how? How is it the meek person is

persecuted? How is it you just said that

the, the peacemakers are, are called the sons of God?

Why would peacemakers be persecuted?

Are peacemakers really troublemakers?

Are peacemakers the ones who cause the most strife?

How can that possibly be? How is it that those who hunger

and thirst for truth and righteousness, why is it they

are persecuted? And those who show mercy, why

would they be persecuted? And those in the audience would

have to ask that question. Whether or not Jesus pause, I

don't know. Text doesn't tell us, but but he

repeats it to make sure that you get it.

Blessed are those who are are persecuted for righteousness

sake for for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

And then he reiterates it by saying blessed are you when men

insult you. Blessed are men when you when

people abuse you. So he he, he wants to double

down on the persecution to make sure that you understand it,

because the question would be, are you kidding?

How can that possibly be? So Christ makes it very

personal. But the persecution is that

which is also promised. It's promised.

It's going to come. It's the natural outflow of

living like a child of the King. Listen carefully.

If you are not being persecuted, it's because you are reflecting

the world, not rebuking the world.

It's that simple. If you're not being persecuted

for righteousness sake, it's because your lifestyle more

reflects the things of the world instead of rebuking the things

of the world. You see, if you're a peacemaker,

we started this last week, you, you're committed to, to

righteousness and truth. Psalm 85, righteousness and

truth have have kissed each other because they're one in the

same. And so if you're a peacemaker,

you are a truth teller. If you're a truth teller, all

those who don't want to adhere to truth are going to be upset.

They're not going to like that. They're going to become very,

very angry. It would be the apostle Paul

said in Second Timothy 312 that all those who live godly in

Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

So if you don't want to suffer persecution, live ungodly, but

if you live godly, you shall suffer persecution.

Paul tells that the young Timothy, so he understands the

fact that when you live for Christ, it's going to cost you.

It was Moses who chose to suffer affliction with the people of

God than to choose the passing pleasures of sin.

Moses made a choice. He chose to forego the passing

pleasures of sin, that which the world would give him.

And he was Nixon line to to be the Pharaoh.

He was educated in the greatest educational system of his day.

He had wealth that had no limits and yet he chose to suffer

affliction with the people of God, then to enjoy the passing

pleasures of sin for a season. The Bible also says in

Philippians 129 these words for to you it has been granted for

Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but to suffer

for him. For Christ's sake it has been

granted to you. For the sake of Christ's name,

for the sake of who Christ is, it's been granted you not just

to believe in his name, because we know that belief is a gift.

And if you believe in God, it's something that God has granted

you, but also to suffer for his name.

That's also a gift that God gives.

That's why persecution is is promised.

Acts 18 When you receive the Spirit of God, you will become

my witnesses, literally motor race, my martyrs.

When you receive the Spirit of God, you will be martyred for

me. And is it not true that all the

apostles were martyred in some brutal kind of way except for

the apostle John? He was exiled to the island of

Patmos, but all the rest were were martyred.

Church history tells us that Peter was crucified upside down

because he wasn't worthy to be crucified right side up like his

Lord. Andrew was crucified on an X

shaped cross. And you go down through church

history and you read about these men that everything that was

promised to them came true because persecution is the

promise given to the Son of God, to the child of God.

It makes you, makes you pause for a moment, doesn't it?

And ask yourself the question, how is it I'm being persecuted?

How is it I'm being insulted or abused?

Or am I, am I just fitting into the the the fabric of society?

Do I fit in so well that my whole Christianity is

camouflaged that no one really knows my stand on the truth?

Even in your own family, right? A lot of you have unsafe family

members. Some of you have unsaved

husbands or wives. Or are you just fitting into the

framework of the family? Or you standing strong on the

truth of the gospel and your husband or wife are persecuting

you because of your stand on the truth, your unwillingness to

compromise? See, you can avoid persecution

by compromise. You can avoid persecution by

being tolerant. You can avoid persecution by not

saying anything. You can avoid persecution by by

accepting and affirming all the things of the world and not

going against the things of the world.

We, we so many times just want to fit in and, and, and just be

silent and just go through life on a bed of ease.

Except the Lord said, blessed are you when men persecute you,

when they insult you, when they speak all matter of evil against

you, for my name's sake. Very important.

Jesus also said, I think it's important to note this, that

those who are shamed of me and my words, I will be ashamed of

them before my Father who is in heaven.

He says my words because you can't be ashamed of what God

says. Christ says don't be ashamed of

me nor nor my words, my truth, my gospel.

Don't be ashamed of that because you run the danger of me being

you being ashamed before my Father who is in heaven, which

means that the Lord has no part with you.

You see, persecution is a great thing.

We don't see this great, but it really is.

It's it's the greatest purifier of the church.

Nothing purifies the church greater than persecution.

Think about the Tribulation. Revelation 69 to 11 speaks about

those martyrs who have been killed during the Tribulation.

And they, they're asking how long the Lord, how long the Lord

And the Lord says it will happen until others like you have been

killed as well, because Christians will be martyred

during the Tribulation period. We don't, we don't face much of

that today in our society. We will, but not now.

We don't face being beheaded as those in Revelation 20 will die

in this tribulation. They'll have their heads cut

off. We don't face that today in

America. And yet I wonder how how we'd

fare if those who speak against us would threaten our lives and

they could actually carry it out.

The early church was was a purified church because they

really suffered persecution. If you were a Jew and and you

gave your life to Christ, you were you were excommunicated

from the synagogue. You are excommunicated from your

family. So if you're a Jew in the days

of Jesus, to be committed to Christ would be you lose

everything, everything. So Jesus says in Luke 9, if any

man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and

follow me. And the cross of course, was a

symbol of derision. It was a symbol of of pain and

suffering. So Jesus made it very clear that

if you want to follow me, do so, but you must deny yourself then,

and then only can you take up your cross and be a disciple of

mine. He spoke very clearly.

He didn't want anybody to have a mixed message about

Christianity. See, the problem in our day is

that we've we've downplayed Christianity, we've downplayed

the gospel. We've diluted the gospel to such

an extent that anybody who hears it can believe it.

That's why in our churches, when we we downplay the gospel and we

we seek to accommodate the unbeliever.

The church was never designed to accommodate the believer, to

make the church a place where the unbeliever is, is

comfortable. If an unbeliever walks through

our doors, they should be extremely uncomfortable.

But isn't it interesting that the church today has changed all

that to make the unbeliever so comfortable in our setting?

They just feel right at home. That's not true Christianity.

That's not what Jesus said. You want the unbeliever to come

and feel convicted because they've heard something that

goes against their life and they get so mad they never want to

come back. Or they truly repent of sin and

say, right, I need the Lord. That's what you want to see

happen. The worst thing you can do is

make the unbeliever feel comfortable in your church.

That would not be a church. That would be a whole bunch of

people pretending to be churches or pretending to be Christians

in a church. The church was never designed to

do that. The church is the pillar and

foundation of the truth. First Timothy 3, right?

And if we don't stand for the truth, who will?

So Christ comes out and says, look, if you're going to live

like a child of the king, this is the end result.

This is where it's leading you. If, if you come into my Kingdom

because you're, you're poor in spirit.

If you come into my Kingdom because you mourn over your sin,

because that's the only way to get in.

And you demonstrated a meek and gentle spirit and you hunger and

thirst for that which is true and righteous.

And you're merciful to others because you've been shown mercy.

At the same time, you, you desire to have a pure and holy

heart that you might get a clear glimpse of the Lord, and you

seek to make peace with those who are at odds with God.

The only natural result is persecution.

That's it. Now look, I, I didn't make this

up. These are not my words.

These are Christ's words. I'm just quoting what Jesus

says. And so we need to understand

that persecution, persecution is that which is #1 personal #2

that which is promised #3 that which is is painful, painful.

The difference between persecution and punishment is

huge. You are punished by good men for

doing evil, but you're persecuted by bad men for doing

good. There's a big difference there.

And the reason you're persecuted is because of Christ's sake, for

righteousness sake. You're not.

You're not persecuted because you're belligerent, That would

be wrong. You're not persecuted because

you're egotistical. That would be wrong.

You're not persecution for any other reason other than for

righteousness sake because you're acting in accordance with

the law of God. Peter says that this way over in

first Peter chapter 4. He says these words.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

First Peter 4 verse 14. If you are reviled for the name

1 Peter 4:14

of Christ, you are blessed. Peter picks up on this.

Peter understands it was was Peter there on the mountain

side? How how long did it take Peter

to get this? If you are reviled for the name

of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and

of God rests on you. That's just a an incredible

statement. This is this.

Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, thief,

evildoer, or troublesome meddler, that that's not being

persecuted for righteousness sake, he says.

But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be

ashamed, but it's to glorify God in this name.

Jesus would say it again differently in John 15 verse #18

He says it this way. If the world hates you, you know

that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world will love its own.

So He makes it very clear, if you're of the world, the world

loves you. If you're not of the world, the

world hates you. Does the world hate you or love

you? Then he says this, but because

you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,

because of this the world hates you.

The world hates you because of Christ, because you bear his

name. You're a child of the King, and

you live like a child of the King.

It says, Remember the word that I said to you, A slave is not

greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will

also persecute you. In other words, if they

persecuted the sinless Son of God, they're certainly going to

persecute you because you're not sinless.

And so Christ makes it very clear to his men on the on the

eve of the crucifixion that don't don't expect to be loved

by the world. You're going to be hated by the

world if you stand strong on the truth.

That's why Solomon says Proverbs 2328 Buy truth.

Never sell it. Do all you can to obtain the

truth. Once you get it, never

compromise it. Never let it go.

Never sell it out. Don't sell out the truth.

Do all you can to obtain it. Once you obtain it, protect it.

Watch over it because it's priceless, but never compromise.

But so many times we find ourselves willing to compromise

for the sake of keeping the peace and all reality.

You're just pushing off the inevitable.

Christ never compromised the truth to keep the peace.

He always spoke the truth because there is no peace

without the truth. This isn't.

I think the Prince of Peace knows that really well.

Remember Matthew 13, the parable of the soul and the soil?

There was the rocky soil that when they heard the word, they,

they jumped on the Jesus bandwagon.

They received the word with joy. They they heard a message, they

heard the gospel. They receded with joy.

And they're like, wow, this is great.

Until affliction and persecution came.

And because they had no roots, they fell away.

They were never truly born again to begin with.

They had no firm roots. They had no foundation.

And that's what happens with people when when they realize

that man, I want to follow Jesus.

I want to live for this is great.

I'll give my life to Jesus. He forgives my sin.

That's great. And then all of a sudden the

persecution comes their way and they're like, oh, I didn't ask

for this. I don't want this.

Who bargains for this kind of behavior or treatment?

They fall away. That's a lot of people.

That's why persecution is a purifier.

That's why persecution, and this is a fourth point, is not just

personal, not just promise, not just painful, but it's

purposeful. This is what Peter says.

Peter says this way. First Peter, chapter 3.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Sorry. First Peter, chapter one, verse

6. In this you greatly rejoice,

even though now, for a little while, if necessary, you have

been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of

your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable,

even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and

glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And though you have not seen Him, you love Him.

And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you

greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory,

obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your

souls. Again, Peter understands.

And Peter didn't want people who claim to be a follower of Christ

to misunderstand Christianity, just like Paul didn't want

people to misunderstand Christianity, just like Jesus

didn't want them to misunderstand Christianity.

But you see, we we have stripped our gospel presentation of the

bite that it's supposed to have by watering it down, taking out

the law, taking out repentance, taking out the persecution,

taking out what it means to be a follower of Christ just so that

we can win someone to Christ. But what did you really win them

to just to get them to say a prayer?

Or did you really win them to the the true Jesus?

And Jesus is the consummate evangelist.

I mean, if anybody could evangelize the world to be

Jesus, right? I mean, he is the gospel.

He is the truth. So whatever he says is gospel

truth. He knows how to how to present

what needs to be presented to people so that they might come

to follow him. That's why there were so many

people who believed him or believed in him, but he never

committed himself to them because he knew what was in the

heart of man. You and I, we don't know what's

in the heart of man. We don't know.

Only the Lord knows. But here our Lord comes along

and says these words because he wants everybody to know that the

true blessing, the true blissfulness, the true

contentment that comes to those who are children of the King

results in persecution for my name's sake.

But rejoice and be glad, he says.

These are the consequences. Let me describe them for you.

A glad heart, a glorious home and great, great honor.

A glad heart, he says. Rejoice and be glad.

The blessing is on the inner part of a man.

It's it's the heart blessing. It's, it's almost like it's a

double blessing. Blessed are those who have been

persecuted and blessed are you when people insult you and you

can rejoice and be glad. He, he's doubling down on the

blessing. He's doubling down on the joy.

He's doubling down because people are not going to believe

what he says. They're going to like, are you

kidding me? Who wants that?

And Jesus said no, the blessing comes this way.

Believe me, this is what a true blessing is.

Why? Simply because of a glad heart.

Remember in Acts 541, I love this.

Acts 540 they took this his advice and after calling the

apostles and they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in

the name of Jesus and then release them.

So they went on their way from the presence of the council,

rejoicing that they've been considered worthy to suffer

shame for his name. Imagine being flogged that

that's that's 30 times in the back, nine times on the front

with no shirt on, with a whip, with bone fragments and glass in

it. And they went away rejoicing.

It's almost like, man, this is great.

We're suffering for the sake of his name.

And they went on and kept preaching the gospel, even

though they were threatened not to do it anymore.

Was there any question about their Christianity?

No, we get told that work don't do that anymore.

And So what do we do? We don't do it anymore for fear

of what? Losing our job?

Not losing your life, losing your job.

You can always get another job, right?

There's another job next door, on the side of the street,

someplace else. And so we, we, we, we fear man

more than we fear God. Can't do that.

Can't say that anymore. Really.

You can tell me what I can and cannot say when it comes to the

truth of the, of the gospel. You going to try to muzzle me?

The apostles weren't muzzled. They were threatened with the

end of their life. And you're not threatened within

the end of your life just with the fact that you might lose a

job. I love the illustration that's

given by that 2nd century Christian leader to Tolian, who

was approached by a man who said, I, I have come to Christ,

but I do not know what to do. I have a job that I don't think

is consistent with what the Scriptures teach.

What can I do? I must live.

To which Tertullian said, must you?

You'd rather compromise and keep your life than stand for truth

and lose your life. You see, we, we, we so easily

just acquiesce to the ways of the world.

We don't want to get in trouble. Will anybody say anything bad

about us? Don't lose their job.

Don't want to offend somebody because I'm speaking the truth,

so I don't do anything. We hide ourselves away.

That's not what Christians do. Christians always stand for

truth and on the gospel. Amen.

They're not afraid of what man can do to them.

They fear only God, not man. And so the consequences are

glad, a glad heart. I wonder what Joseph would have

done. Joseph was falsely accused,

imprisoned, but because he never lost sight of the God of his

life, he rose to great power in Egypt.

Daniel threatened with the lion's den, would not worship a

false idol, not bow down to anyone but the true God, and was

thrown in the lion's den. But behold, he was not eaten.

God protected him. Why?

Because of their commitment to never compromise the truth would

it be that every one of us would would be like that.

Not just a glad heart, but a glorious home.

Yours is the Kingdom of heaven. That's the same thing he says in

in the first beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Now he wants to reiterate that now that you're in the Kingdom,

you're going to be persecuted for the Kingdom.

But because you are, don't worry, the home is still yours,

the glorious home, your final destiny, the promise of God's

glorious Kingdom, his presence, the place where the King dwells.

And then great honor, Look what he says, Rejoice in me.

Glad we reward. And heaven is great.

For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were

before you. Great honor, not just a crown,

but a company of class. So they persecuted the prophets

that were before you remember what it says over in in the book

of Hebrews the the 11th chapter as it speaks about the followers

of of Christ. It helps us understand it says

these words verse 35 of Hebrews 11 women received back their

dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not

accepting their release so that they might obtain a better

resurrection and others experienced mockings and

scourging. Yes, also changed and

imprisonment. They were stoned.

They were son and two they were tempted.

They were they were put to death with a sword and they went about

in sheepskins in goat skins, being destitute afflicted.

I'll treated men of whom the world was not worthy, but they

were worthy of God's Kingdom. They just weren't worthy of the

world. Why the world hated them?

What had nothing to do with them?

Could you imagine being sawn in two?

That's not with an electric saw. That's what the guys on each

side doing this. You know what I'm saying?

Very slowly. That would be very painful.

Ask Isaiah, because that's what happened to him.

Wasn't very pretty way to go, very painful way to go.

But the world was not worthy of them, but God was worthy of

them. So what are the characteristics

of those people who abuse you? Well, there is a verbally verbal

abuse, there is a physical attack and there is false

accusations. First of all, verbally abused

people insult you, revile you. It's it's a word that means to,

to, to cast in the teeth. It's a face to face

confrontation. It's what happened with with

Christ when they reviled him before the Sanhedrin, when they

said prophesied to us, you Christ, who's the one who hits

you. If you're a prophet, tell us

what is the name of the person who hits you?

And they insulted him, they slapped his face and they mocked

him. And Paul would talk about it in

First Corinthians chapter 4. We said these words about what

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

his life was like. First Corinthians 4.

He said we are persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but

not destroyed, always caring about in the body the dying of

Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our

body. For we who live are constantly

being delivered over to death for Jesus sake, so that the life

of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death works in us, but life in you.

There there was a man who took no account of his own life but

the life of other people. There is verbal abuse, insults,

reviling and there's physical attacks being persecuted.

The word Diyoko it's it's a word that means to pursue to to chase

down and that's what happened to early Christians.

They they were chased and haunted fact it says in act

seven that Stephen was was haunted down and stone.

Acts 14 Paul was haunted, down and stoned and Acts 16 Peter and

Paul Acts 12 Peter Acts 16 Paul and Silas were in prison because

they were chased down, haunted and thrown to prison.

People will go after you, take you down.

Acts 752 Stephen says which of the prophets have your father's

not persecuted? Paul says in Romans 836, For thy

sake we are killed all day long. So there will be verbal abuse,

there will be physical attacks, and there will be false

accusations. It says that they will speak all

kinds of evil against you falsely because of my namesake.

They they will not say things to your face, though they'll say

things to others about you, but they won't be true.

Like of our Lord in John 9 when they accused him of being the

illegitimate son of a Roman soldier, or in John chapter 8

John 8 · chapter mention

when they charged Christ with being a devil when he would cast

out devils. Matthew 11, 19 That says of

Christ, Behold, he is a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a

friend of tax gatherers and sinners.

They would falsely accuse him. They could find nothing against

him, so they falsely accused him.

Luke 626 has these words which probably you should memorize and

live according to. It says beware if all men speak

well of you. You ever talk to somebody, say

this is a friend of mine and and everybody has something good to

say about him. That's not a good thing to say

about anybody. That's an indictment against

them. Beware, if all men speak well of

you, that that means you're not saying anything to upset the

apple cart. That means you're not standing

on truth. You're not speaking the truth

because truth always opposes those who live in error, who

want to live in sin. And they don't want to hear

that. They don't want to follow that.

So it's important to understand, as Peter says in first Peter

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, these words, first Peter 4 verse one.

Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm

yourselves also with the same purpose, because He has suffered

in the flesh, has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of

the time in the flesh, no longer for the lust of men, but for the

will of God. But the time already passed is

sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the

Gentiles. Having pursued a course of

sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and

abominable idolatry, idolatries and all this, they are surprised

that you do not run with them into the same excesses of

dissipation. And they malign you.

They malign you. Why?

Because you were this way and now you are no longer that way.

You don't no longer live according to your lust.

You no longer live engaging in drunken parties.

You no longer live the way you used to live.

Why? Because Christ is in you.

And because Christ is in you now they malign you.

They speak against you because you don't run in the same

circles you ran before with the same people used to run with

before. You don't do that.

Why? Because you want to live like a

child of the King. You have one, an audience of one

that you want to please, and that is our our Lord.

So where do we go from here? Well, number one, you want to

live the life that Christ has prescribed.

Will you live that life? Will you live a Beatitude kind

of life? Paul would say it this way very

simply. For me to live is Christ.

To die is gain. For me to live is Christ.

I'm going to live for Christ. I'm going to live as Christ.

I'm going to please Christ. That's a child of the King.

I want to please the King. I want to honor the king.

I want to praise his name. Again, Peter in first Peter

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 said these words, verse 13.

Who was there to harm you? If you prove zealous for what is

good, but even if you should suffer for the sake of

righteousness, you are blessed. Again, Peter talks about

suffering for righteousness, and you are blessed, he says.

And do not fear their intimidation and do not be

troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always

being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an

account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and

reverence. And keep a good conscience so

that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile

your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

For it's better if God should. Will it so that you suffer for

doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

Peter knows that. The question is, what kind of

life will you live? Will you live the life that

doesn't compromise the truth? Will you live a life that always

stands on the truth? Will you kind of live the life

that that doesn't laugh with the the jokes of the world?

Will you, will you stand against those things?

You know, so many times we understand what people stand

for, but what do you stand against?

Does anybody know that that's very, very important?

Will you stand on the truth of the gospel without compromise?

Do you live the life of a child of the king?

That's the question you got to ask yourself.

Have you been doing that? Will you do that?

Number 2, Will you pay the price of the child of the king?

Are you willing to pay the price?

John Christendom. He was the godly leader in the

4th century church. He preached strongly against

sin, so much so that he offended.

He offended many church officials, so he summoned before

the Emperor. He was threatened with

banishment if he did not cease his uncompromising preaching.

This was his response. Sire, you cannot banish me, for

the world is my father's house. Then the emperor said, Then I

will slay you. He said Nay, but you cannot, for

my life is hid with Christ and God.

He said, Then your treasures will be confiscated.

To which John replied, Sire, that cannot be either, for my

treasures are in heaven, where none can breakthrough and steal.

That would drive you from man, and you will have no friends

left, was the final warning. With that you cannot do either,

sire, for I have a friend in heaven who has said I will never

leave you nor forsake you. He was banished, but before he

got to his destination, he was he was killed, he died.

But you see the the point is this.

The things that he valued most he could not lose.

They could not be taken away. And therefore there was nothing

the emperor could do to him that would diminish his joy because

he recognized the price. He's willing to pay the price,

the cost, because he counted the cost before following Christ.

How about you? Will you live the life of the

child of the king? Will you pay the price as a

child of the king? Then comes the question, will

you receive the reward as a child of the king?

Because reward is great. There's a crown of glory,

there's a crown which is life, the crown of righteousness, the

the imperishable crown, the reward that God gives to those

who who live for him and honor him and are never ashamed of

him. This is so important in a world

of of tolerance. That's where we live where

nobody wants to upset the apple cart.

Nobody wants to say anything that will cause a disruption,

whether it's in your family or at work or at school.

Just want to keep the peace. The child of the King will

always live for the King and never compromise the king in

public, but will represent him purely and truly and honestly,

not in a belligerent way, but in a very kind and honest and

truthful way, as John Christendom did.

Sir, I can't banish me. I This is my father's world.

You, you can't leave me alone. My father will always be with

me. He'll always be there.

Hit that ironclad assurance. A man who never feared the

feared man, but only feared the Lord.

That that's the kind of people we need.

Why? Because these are the only

people who can do what's next. These are people that are the

salt of the earth. These are the people that are

the light of the world. You want to be salt and light.

Well, to do so, you got to be child of the king.

And, and Christ calls us to make an impact on our environment.

And the only way you can do that is to live like a child of the

king. And that's the theme of the

Sermon on the Mount. May God give us the grace to

accomplish that. Let's pray together.

Lord God, we thank you for tonight, the opportunity that

you've given us to study your word.

I pray for everyone in the room that you strengthen them,

encourage them, move them to action, to live for the glory of

your Kingdom. Our prayer, Father, is that we

would always stand strong, never compromising the truth, the Word

of God, never been ashamed of the gospel, never been ashamed

of our God, but always, always standing strong, head held high,

knowing that our God is the King of all kings, Lord of all Lords.

We pray in Jesus name, Amen.