The Persecuted (Lesson 9, Sermon on the Mount) | Nate Fritz | October 11, 2026

Good evening.

If you want to turn your Bibles to we're going to start in Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

But we're looking at Matthew 5, 10 through 12, and we are finishing the B attitudes.

Right?

And we're going to finish with blessed are the persecuted.

We're going to start in Hebrews 11.

I want us to look, it's a little bit of a lengthy reading, but I want us to look at what the Hebrew writer says about those who lived and died by the faith.

We're going to start in verse 32.

Hebrews 11, verse 32.

Hebrews 11:32

Says 32, and what more shall I say?

He's already spent time talking about individual men and women who have lived faithfully.

And then he goes and gives a quick list.

For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Brock, Samson, Japheth, of David, and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women received back their dead by resurrection.

You read that, and you see men and women here who have accomplished amazing things.

But then as you keep reading, the focus begins to shift on what feels like at first failures, but what we'll realize are those that were persecuted for the faith.

Continue in verse 35.

Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two.

They were killed with a sword.

They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world has was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.

And then he says, I commend you these men of faith.

You look at that list, and those are some serious persecutions.

You look at that list, and some of them really sound rough.

Right?

Just look at verse 36, they're just sawed in two.

Traditionally, that's believed to be Isaiah by King Manasseh.

Traditionally.

Without God, that doesn't sound like a victory.

Especially when you compare that to the verses right above when we read about the heroes of faith that accomplished so much and overcame so much.

But what I want us to understand is even though you have these listed in verses 35 through 40, and they're persecuted, doesn't make them any less heroes and examples of faith.

Just because they were overcome by the sword and didn't escape the edge of the sword, as the Hebrew writer makes that distinction, doesn't mean that they didn't accomplish anything.

Instead, they did accomplish something.

They further the faith in hard times and through trials, and they stood as examples for us.

And so if we turn over to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says, Blessed are the persecuted.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Blessed are the persecuted for righteousness' sake.

Right?

Blessed Ashray, the good life is for these.

Verse 10.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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.

For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now zoom out a little bit and go to verse three and notice what it says about the poor in spirit.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Notice it's the same promise for verse three, the poor in spirit, and for those that are persecuted for righteousness' sake in verse 10.

Those should be seen as two bookends about of these beatitudes, if you will.

And the point is that there's an order to these things.

Jesus is saying, when you look at all the beatitudes, that if you live by these, in the world, if you are poor in spirit and you are mournful about sin, and you are meek, and you are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and you're merciful, and you're pure in heart, and you're a peacemaker.

What can happen is verse 10.

What can happen is you're persecuted.

Because all of these that Jesus is talking about, all these beatitudes are the antithesis of what it means to live a blessed and good life in this world.

They are literally in conflict with what the world says and how the world lives in every way.

And sometimes when we do what Jesus says, it costs us everything.

And so this is what we're going to look at.

We're going to look at these three verses.

And as we look at these three verses, and we go verse by verse, we're going to sprinkle in some examples of persecution and those who were persecuted for the faith, both in Scripture and in history as well.

So let's zoom in on verse 10.

Right?

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Righteousness is one's right standing before God and other people.

The idea is I'm going to do right by God.

If I'm going to do right by God, I'm going to do right by my neighbor.

And so Jesus is saying, Blessed are those who are persecuted for their right standing before God, for what they did that was right by God.

Which you would expect if they were doing what is right, that it wouldn't get them into any trouble.

It wouldn't get you into any trouble.

If anything, it would maybe earn you some respect.

But that's not what we always see in this life as we live in this world.

Now, I want us to clearly understand something and what Jesus is not talking about.

Jesus is not talking about every time there's a personal injustice on you.

Sometimes we have a tendency to hear that word persecution and play the victim, to victimize ourselves and our situation and in every situation we find ourselves in.

This is not talking about everyone at all times, nor is Jesus validating our situations because we feel like we were wronged.

What Jesus is saying here is that when you find yourself doing what is right by the Lord, you also might find yourself being persecuted.

You also might find yourself put in a position where people of the world don't like that.

For example, we are in class, in class we're in 1 Peter.

We're looking at 1 Peter, and Peter says this about those who live differently from the world.

This is in 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 4 through 5.

1 Peter 4:4–5

He lists a bunch of sins and he says, Now I need you to act differently from the world, and people are going to be surprised by that.

With respect to this, they are surprised.

Surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you.

But they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

We live in a broken world.

And Peter here is really pointing out that the root cause of persecution.

The reason why there's a problem, the reason why there's persecution is because there's friction.

There's friction between our faith and the world.

And it's not always just a matter of if that will happen, it's really a matter of when.

May not be in our lifetime, it may be in the next, but it will happen.

If we live like Christ, there will be friction.

Friction between our faith and the world.

Now that doesn't always mean death.

Sometimes we can think that when we think persecution.

Persecution, and Jesus is going to point this out later, comes in many different forms and levels.

The question is, are we willing to stand for righteousness?

To stand in righteousness.

Turn over to 1 Kings 22.

A great example of this is Micaiah, the prophet.

And if you if you remember this story, 1 Kings 22, Micaiah is one of the prophets of the Lord.

And there's 400 self-proclaiming prophets of the Lord that King Ahab asks their guidance for, on, I should say.

And King Ahab here, he does not like Micaiah at all.

Micaiah's crime is that he speaks the truth because his loyalty is to God first.

And so to set the scene here, King Ahab wants to go to war, and he wants to go to war with the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, but Jehoshaphat wants to know if God's going to back them.

What are the prophets of the Lord saying here?

So 1 Kings 22, verse 5.

1 Kings 22:5

And Jehosaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire first for the word of the Lord.

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go to battle against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?

And they said, Go up, go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.

But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord.

Micaiah.

But I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.

That should tell you something about Ahab's morals.

Maybe the problem isn't Micaiah.

Maybe the problem is Ahab.

Maybe it's his misunderstanding of what is righteous, what is right, and what is wrong.

But Jehoshaphat says, Let not the king say so.

But I love that he says that.

He's like, I hate Micaiah.

He only prophesies evil, right?

Not good concerning me.

Micaiah's crime again is I'm telling the truth.

He's saying what the Lord says.

And they send for him.

And the messenger comes to Micaiah and says, Ahab wants you.

And the messenger says, Just go along with all the other prophets.

Just go along with them and say that King Ahab will be successful.

And what does Micaiah say in verse 14?

He says, As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.

That is righteousness.

Faithfulness to God's word, even under pressure, even if it's going to cost him everything.

And it does cost him.

Ahab has him thrown in prison with meager rations and just bread and water in verses 26 and 27.

But in the end, God was right.

Micaiah was right here.

And Ahab goes to battle and he dies there in verses 34 through 37.

And where's Micaiah?

He's persecuted.

He's in prison with little food.

This is an example of blessed are the persecuted for righteousness' sake.

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The comfort is the promise that we see from Jesus.

The promise that Jesus gives in verse 10.

Because it's not comforting to be in prison, it's not comforting to be to be persecuted, but the comfort does come from the promise that we as God's people are a part of his kingdom and in his church.

We as Christians have a sanctuary where righteousness should be upheld and defended.

A place where we are not alone.

And a kingdom where ideally all should follow Jesus and live for righteousness' sake.

And so our mission as God's people is to live right before the Lord and others, to do right by others, to do right by God, to speak what the Lord speaks, to do and act as the Lord acts.

Even though as Americans today we don't find ourselves, for the most part, like Micaiah, going to prison or maybe dying for our faith.

But I want us to look at these examples and not take for granted the blessings that we do have.

I want us as we look at Matthew 5, 10, 11, and 12, listen to the words of Jesus and cultivate a heart that is willing to give everything to him.

Even if the persecution is simple and small, if it's insults or just being misunderstood.

That's what Jesus says.

There's different levels of persecution.

Look at Matthew 5, verse 11.

Matthew 5:11

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

Persecution can look like reviling and insults and being falsely accused.

And those are not fun things.

We don't want to go through those.

But they are versions of persecution.

And those are things that maybe we can experience even here in America.

Nobody likes to be misunderstood or accused of doing things that they didn't do.

But again, we have to understand the reason that persecution happens.

It is for righteousness' sake, and we are standing for what is righteous.

That is the same preposition in the Greek as on account.

The only difference is the object.

Whereas verse 10 says righteousness, Jesus then goes on to say, on my account.

He doesn't say on the account of righteousness, he says, on my account.

It's him in verse 11.

He is righteousness.

And standing for what is righteousness is standing with Jesus.

And that's a big claim.

Jesus is saying that suffering for righteousness is suffering for him.

That living for him is what righteousness looks like.

And so this beatitude is not just about persecution, it's also about recognizing who Jesus is and who he is in my life.

He is our God, our king, and he's our example, as we looked at during the Lord's Supper, both this morning and tonight.

I mean, look at the example of Jesus.

Talk about someone who was reviled and falsely accused.

Turn over to Matthew chapter 26, Matthew 26, and let's look at the example of our Savior.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

Matthew 26, verses 59 through 60.

Matthew 26:59–60

Notice what the religious leaders are doing here.

The chief priests.

And Matthew 26, verse 59.

Matthew 26:59

It says in verse 59, now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony.

They were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward, at least two came forward.

Right, that of that level of persecution.

But that level of persecution and more continues and gets more and more and worse and worse with beatings and insults all the way to the cross until he's nailed to the cross.

And even to the point where he's nailed to the cross, you have the thieves on their own crosses next to him, who are reviling him and insulting him.

Where in Matthew 27, verse 44, it says, And the robbers who were crucified with him also, same word, reviled him in the same way.

Matthew 27:44

Same word that Jesus uses.

Reviled.

This is what happens when the innocent are falsely accused, when you have light surrounded by darkness.

He died a criminal's death.

Isaiah would prophesy in Isaiah 53, 12, that he would be numbered with the transgressors, he'd be falsely accused.

Just as he talked about in Matthew chapter 5, verse 11, as he preached about, he led by example.

Matthew 5:11

In fact, if you look at the people who are witnessing this event, like Peter, who talks about the crucifixion in 1 Peter chapter 2, he says this about the character of Jesus while he's nailed to the cross in verses 21 to 23.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

When he was reviled, reviled, he did not revile in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten.

He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly, the Father, God.

And so the midst of persecution, he preached in the midst of persecution, he also practiced what he preached.

He turned the other cheek.

That's our example.

When he was reviled, he didn't return and returned with insults and also reviling.

He didn't breathe threats and curses against them.

We need to entrust ourselves to God as well.

Because if we can, then Jesus says, at that point, when we entrust ourselves to God, at that point we can rejoice and be glad.

Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5, look at verses 12, uh verse 12.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

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

For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now Jesus chooses some interesting words to use within the context of persecution.

To rejoice here, to be glad.

Those are ideas of being exceedingly joyful and happy and almost jumping for joy.

As you can see there on the definitions.

These are things that you just would not expect anyone who's being persecuted to experience, to do, to have.

But Jesus wants us to understand this is a mindset.

When our mind is set on our future glory.

When our mind is set on our future glory, it makes this temporal life worth living, even if that means we're being persecuted.

Now, just because Jesus says rejoice and be glad doesn't mean that in the midst of persecution and as we're going through pain, we need to be jumping for joy and saying, Oh, I just love this pain.

It's not, Jesus didn't even do that himself.

But there is joy within his heart.

There is joy within his heart when he, Jesus, considered the eternal meaning of the cross.

We can have that same joy when we consider the eternal meaning of our suffering and standing for the sake of righteousness.

Standing with Jesus.

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.

He had joy.

Now he despised the shame, but he had joy and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

He didn't enjoy the process of the cross, but he endured it for the joy that was set before him.

And that's the idea that Jesus is getting at in Matthew chapter 5, verse 12, when he says, Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

Matthew 5:12

When I think of an example of someone who did that, who followed that just like Jesus, I think of Stephen in Acts chapter 7.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

If you want to turn over there, look at his example.

Acts chapter 7, verses 55 through 56.

Acts 7:55–56

He gives this great sermon in front of the religious leaders here, the Jewish leaders, and they are enraged and they grind their teeth and they hate what he has to say.

And this is what happens in verse 55.

Full the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and like Hebrews 12, verse 2, looking to Jesus, and Jesus he sees, standing there, the right hand of God.

Hebrews 12:2

And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

And they hate this, and they drag him out to be stoned, and he is stoned.

And his last words are found in verse 60.

And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them.

And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Now, most people, if you're Stephen here and you're the one being stoned, I imagine the focus would be on the stones that are being thrown at you, that are coming your way.

But Stephen has his eyes set on the joy that is before him.

He has his eyes set on Jesus.

And like Jesus, he doesn't revile in return.

Praise for his enemies.

The apostles had the same mentality.

Even after they were beaten.

For example, in Acts 5 41, they're beaten and thrown in prison.

When they're released, they're rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name, for the name of Christ.

In Acts 12, James is persecuted and put to death.

James the Apostle.

You look at history and traditionally, you have almost all the apostles were told that were persecuted to death traditionally.

With our salvation in view, we can rejoice and be glad even in the face of persecution.

If we look at Matthew 5, verse 12, Jesus gives us two reasons why we should rejoice and be glad.

Matthew 5:12

Let's look at those two reasons.

You see the two fours there, these two points as we begin to close.

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

And the second is, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What is a reward in heaven?

Because we can hear this reward, this word reward, and we can think riches and power, and think of all these things that we think of in a worldly sense.

And yes, we are promised a crown of glory.

But when we think of reward, we should think of our reward in heaven, we should think of an investment.

We talked about this in class as we looked at 1 Peter.

Notice what Jesus says about our reward later on in his Sermon on the Mount and Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 21.

Matthew 6:19–21

This is how he describes the reward.

He says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither raw moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What is the language of Jesus here?

The language to lay up, its investment language.

Every time we choose righteousness over, let's say, comfort, every time we take the insult instead of returning it, or every time we speak what God speaks, instead of sometimes when it's easier to remain quiet, we're putting treasure where moth and rust and thieves can't break in and steal and destroy.

And that's true even for persecution.

Persecution does not destroy what we have stored in heaven.

The world can take our reputation and our comfort and even our life, but it cannot touch what God is guarding and stored in heaven.

When we live by the example of Jesus, we invest in that hope.

We invest in that new creation we're told about in Revelation 21.

We invest in that.

And how we treat other people, and how we keep the faith, and how we handle evil.

We invest in that.

And that is why we can, when we are persecuted, rejoice.

Because Jesus says, where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

Their heart is already where their treasure is.

Which then leads to the second example, the second four, if you will, where Jesus talks about, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

He persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This reward is true for them.

And we looked at some of these examples, right?

We looked at examples in Hebrews, we looked at some examples in 1 Kings, but this is true not just for the prophets, but it's true for Christians throughout history.

One of my favorite examples of this is actually Polycarp.

You may know this example of persecution.

Polycarp is an old man at this time.

This is around 155 AD, so second century.

Polycarp is traditionally believed to be one of the disciples of John the Apostle.

He's a Christian at this time.

He's been a Christian for a long time.

He's about, you know, in his 80s or 90s, we're told, at least traditionally, from this story.

And he's in the city of Smyrna, an elder at the church in Smyrna.

Jesus talks about this in Revelation chapter 2.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

And basically, the Roman government comes and says to Polycarp, who's an old man, I want you to swear allegiance to Caesar.

I want you to revile Christ, is the exact words there that we have quoted.

And you'll go free.

And Polycarp famously says, Eighty-six years I've served him, and he has done me no wrong.

How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?

And I love that line.

But then they burned him at the stake.

He's part of the same church in Smyrna where Jesus says, Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life in Revelation 2.10.

Persecution is not some distant idea or concept that only belongs to primitive Christianity.

It can be true even today, and it can take on many different forms and at many different times.

Just in September, there was a preacher on the way to church in Africa who was gunned down.

That's an extreme.

Then there's smaller versions of this, right?

I was talking to actually Caleb Spear, who preaches up in Seattle.

He was here for the Youth for God just a few months ago.

And he was telling me of when he was at a Barnes and Noble with a coffee shop, right?

You've seen those.

And he was studying the Bible, and he was studying with a group of guys, I believe.

And one of the employees or the manager comes to him and says, Look, we're uncomfortable with you doing this here.

We would like for you to leave.

And Caleb kindly points out, rightfully so, says, You sell these Bibles right over there on that shelf.

Like it'd be no different if I picked off a different book and I decided to study that book here.

And they continue to say, No, we would like you to leave and do that somewhere else.

And he did.

Even though we are comfortable now and not experiencing persecution in Lubbock, and that may be the case for the rest of our life, I don't want us to take for granted the blessings that we have, especially here and throughout the Bible belt.

Because when you talk to people from other places in the U.S.

and around the world, the things that we argue about and we bicker about and we decide to divide over, and the things that we think are important or that we like seeing in the face of persecution, if it's not aligned with Jesus, is really unimportant.

In fact, to be frank, it's a luxury.

I want us to look at Matthew 5, look at the words of Jesus here, listen to the Beatitudes and understand this is what God wants from His people.

This is what He wants his people to look like.

Because Christians who act like Christ in this world may have to face persecution.

Are we cultivating a heart willing to give everything to God, even if that means our very lives?

I hope that it is, because Christ gave his life for you.

Are you willing to give your life for him?

If you haven't yet given your life to him, now's the time to do so.

It starts with baptism.

It starts by saying, I declare my allegiance to Jesus and having your sins washed away, coming up out of that water, a new creation.

If that's what you want this evening, you can come forward now while we stand and we sing.