“Blessed are they which are persecuted righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matt. 5:10-12)
Let me give you a simple explanation of this Beatitude. I’m afraid that some people have the wrong idea of what this means. They think it applies to them when it really doesn’t.
“Oh, Brother Stancil, nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. People treat me so badly. I’m so persecuted.” Hold on a minute. Who is this passage actually talking about?
First of all, persecution is not a consequence for sin or bad decisions. Nearly every Thursday I go and speak to men at the Federal Corrections Complex in Beaumont, Texas. It is amazing that, out of 1,700 men incarcerated there at any given time, all but one or two are innocent. At least, that’s what they tell me. “It was my lawyer. The man is keeping my down. I didn’t do it. It’s not my fault. They’re just out to get me.”
When you make bad choices or decisions, there are consequences. When a prisoner complains to me about the 20 years he has to serve, he has to realize that his own choice to rob a liquor store led to that result. I love the guys I minister to at the prison, but don’t expect me to feel bad for them because they are locked up after what they have done.
The same goes for events in our own lives. Even if we are not in prison, many of us are going through things that we incorrectly label as some kind of suffering God has decided to let us endure, when in reality we are just living with the results of some bad decisions. That is a hard concept for so many people to grasp today.
We live in a generation that is foreign to many older people because they were taught about consequences when they were younger. So many younger people today have never had so much as a spanking while growing up, and they were never taught about right and wrong, and suddenly they find themselves in jail because of things they have done. That is not persecution; that is just the normal result of some really stupid choices.
Persecution does not arise from conflicts over your personality. “Nobody likes me,” you whine. Well, it could be because you’re a jerk. It’s amazing to me how many people are rude, mean or unkind to everyone around them and then wonder why no one wants anything to do with them. If that is your story, you are not suffering for Jesus. You’re just suffering the effects of your toxic personality that clashes with normal, acceptable behavior.
“Well, that’s just who I am,” you say. If that is your position, then you will be like that all by yourself because no one wants to be associated with you.
I can choose not to be around people that I don’t have to be around. If you’re dragging other people down, I am not going down with you. I’ll just cut myself loose and watch you sink. I have enough in my own world to deal with, and if you have a bad spirit or a bad attitude, people do not want to be infected by it. You can correct that if you work on it.
Persecution does not come about because of your lack of common sense. It’s funny to me how some people think that being a Christian is a license to be brutal to one another. Under the guise of “truth” or “trying to help” a friend, you say something that is just ridiculous and it comes across in the worst way.
I have been the pastor of my church 11 years as of this writing. There are things I can say from the pulpit now that I couldn’t say 10 years ago, because my people can handle it and they know how much I love them. Some young preacher will complain about being run off from his church in just a few months for “preaching the truth,” claiming that he’s being “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” No, he’s just an idiot who tried to unload everything on people in his first few weeks. That’s not common sense. A new Christian is not going to take some preaching as well as those of us who have been saved for 30 years. It’s a no-brainer.
All four of my children are very different. I’ve learned that some kids only need to be spoken to and others might need a two-by-four to get their attention. It’s the same with any group of people. The book of Jude talks about preachers using compassion with some and fear with others. Some newer Christians in my church think I am rough and hard but they have no idea. There are preachers I would not invite to speak at my church because some of the people aren’t ready for it.
You say, “My spouse wants to divorce me and all I did was speak the truth.” Are you divorcing because you tried to lead softly or because you crammed certain things down your spouse’s throat? Use common sense.
Are you wondering why your kids hate you? Maybe it’s because you gave them all of the rules without any of the love. The Bible says in Eph. 6:4, “Provoke not your children to wrath.” You can actually provoke your children into rebellion if you’re not careful. I’ve had to apologize to my kids before. When I start gritting my teeth during my dealings with them, it is a “me” problem and not a “them” problem. Use common sense.
There are many times that we claim to be persecuted when really we are just bringing problems upon ourselves. We are approaching the problem from the wrong perspective.
So if it is not brought about by consequences, or personality conflicts, or a lack of common sense, what is this persecution we are talking about? It is an attitude that expects persecution and endures it with a sense of responsibility and privilege for Jesus’ sake.
Look again at verse 11. “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” To be reviled is to be reproached, insulted or disgraced.
When is the last time someone insulted you just for being a Christian? I don’t mean because you were rude or something you did, but just for Jesus’ sake.
To persecute means to zealously pursue, to take out or drive away. When is the last time someone tried to run you out or chase you off, not because you were hard to live with, but for Jesus’ sake?
The latter part of verse 11 talks about people who just lie about you. Has that happened to you lately solely because of your faith?
The truth is that many of our problems are brought about by us, and we try to spin the truth and make it sound as though it’s because we are Christians. Let’s face it – we live in the United States of America with freedom of religion. That’s not going to happen too often here. Very few of us can claim this Beatitude because most of our problems are “me” problems.
Now some of you may have been brought up in a Catholic family, as a Hindu or Muslim or even a Satanic type of environment. If you came out of that and are born again, you may face some real trouble within your own family. You might have been reared in a good family that was not religious, and when you go back and try to witness to them you hear, “Who do you think you are to talk to us about God? We’re OK here.”
People in those situations may have good reasons to claim this verse, but the majority of us who say we are persecuted for our faith need to realize that our Christianity has nothing to do with it, except that we don’t present our Christianity correctly.
Let’s look at some Biblical examples of real persecution. In Acts 4 Peter and John healed a man in the name of Jesus, and for that they were beaten and driven out of town. In Acts 7 Stephen stood and presented the Gospel, and he was stoned to death even while he forgave them.
In Acts 16 Paul and Silas came into town to have a revival, and they were beaten and thrown in prison. When God flung open the doors so they could escape, they stopped long enough to lead a jailer and his family to Christ.
What did all of these men do wrong? Nothing. These were not personality issues. These were men who took a stand for Christ and were hated by the world for it.
One of my favorite verses is John 10:32, when Jesus is about to be stoned. “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?”
There will be some persecution if you live for Christ. People will hate what you stand for. But you have to stop and think about whether your persecution is because of Christ or because of you. If it’s because of you, don’t blame your Christianity for it.
Here is some very encouraging news for you regarding persecution. First, it is a reality in every believer’s life and you should expect it. You may wonder how in the world that is supposed to be encouraging. Well, it shouldn’t surprise you when it comes.
Some people are shocked when they get saved only to discover that their lost family members are not thrilled at the idea. Young people find out that their parents will not allow them to be baptized because they are so chained to religion and what they have believed all of their lives that they will not be happy when you find the truth of God’s Word. “Just forget the Bible,” they say. “Do what we tell you to do.”
II Tim. 3:12 says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” To take that thought a step further, look at Luke 6:26. “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” If somebody is not mad at you, you’re not living for Christ.
If you’re just doing what is right, some people are going to say, “Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re better than me?” You should expect that people are not going to be happy when you get saved and become sold out for Christ.
Remember that your persecution is restrained by the Lord. The only things happening in your life are the things that God allows to happen. When Satan wanted to go after Job, God let him do it up to a point. But He dictated how far the devil could go.
You may be under a heavy load right now and being treated badly for His sake, but He is not giving you more than you are able to bear. Sometimes I wish I weren’t as able as I am, but I will always be able to carry my load. It’s not as bad as you may think it is because God always has your best interest at heart.
If you bear persecution correctly, you will earn great rewards. Verse 12 says, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Consider II Cor. 4:16-18. “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Fundamentalist Christians will always be compared to the worst things people can think of, such as Islamic fundamentalists. But God promises that if we handle the things the world throws at us, there will be great benefits down the road.
Persecution is part of a Christian’s refining process. Rom. 8:28-29 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Sometimes God uses the most difficult thing in your life for your best interest. He will use heathen people to help you become a better Christian. He did it for years with the Israelites, bringing along the Philistines and other nations to stir things up whenever His chosen people got out of line. The Philistines were wicked people and God judged them severely, but He also used them for His purpose to help His people.
One of the reasons Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh was that he wanted God’s judgment to rain down on that wicked city for what it had done in the past to Israel. God had used Nineveh and its ungodly people in past times to teach Israel a lesson or two.
So if some vile person is causing you problems and it is true persecution for Christ’s sake, stand up and deal with it. God will bless you for it. He just might be allowing it to happen so you can become more like Him. You will learn important principles in battle that you would never learn if you didn’t have to go through it.
I am always a better Christian after the battle than I was before. I look back at some things I have endured in my ministry and, while I wouldn’t want to go through it again, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. God taught me about myself through those times. There were doors I would never have opened on my own, so He had other people open them for me.
Persecution makes us pliable. We are often broken when we are persecuted. Sometimes we are so hard and unmovable when God wants to do something in our lives that He has to blow us up and remake us.
Persecution also makes us more powerful. It gets us down to where we are nothing, and then we realize that He is everything. The less we have of ourselves and the more we have of Christ, the better off we are.
Persecution brings praise to God. If you read the book of Job, you will see several important things. In chapter 1 Job was the best Christian that God had, but it took him 40 chapters to repent of his sin. Job was a better Christian in chapter 41 than he was in chapter 1 because he finally said, “Lord, it’s all about you.” When you can praise God after the battle, God is truly praised.
There is a method to enduring persecution correctly. You must respond and not react. Our first impulse when someone says something we don’t like is to say something back. We instinctively tense up and get ready to fight when someone just bumps into us.
The key to responding and not reacting is to consider the consequences of your decision or action. The person who provokes you might be an idiot, but if you react in like manner a third party will see you both and think that both of you are idiots. If you respond with love, people will notice that as well. If you stop to think about it, you might realize that your adversary is just a person who is having a tough time in life and needs your help.
You have to recognize that you are a Christian and should simply act differently than a lost person. When I visit the prison, I expect to see and hear certain things because it is a prison. It’s a very different world. But if I go to your home or we are eating together in a restaurant, I don’t expect you to stab me because I accidentally bump into you, as someone in prison might try to do. I’m not thinking about you possibly beating me or cussing me because I “disrespected” you. People in prison are killed for less than that.
You are salt and light in a dark world full of lost people, so you should not act the same way a lost person acts. If you are in a contest with a coworker or a neighbor to see how low you can go, acting petty over some stupid disagreement, you are not being salt and light. You expect a lost person to act that, but you are supposed to be different.
Rejoice over the privilege of being persecuted. If you read the New Testament, in every instance of persecution you will find great rejoicing, because they were doing something great for Christ.
When talking about the reward for enduring persecution, verse 10 says, “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The word “is” means present tense. It means that I will have a secure life, unaffected by circumstances. I will be satisfied with what God is doing for me. I will be safe in His protective arms.
In addition to those present benefits, I will have the assurance of a future reward, as verse 12 indicates. I will be with Christ forever and be reunited in Heaven with family and friends.
The key in persecution is recognizing whether it is for His sake or just because of something you are doing wrong. If you are doing right and living for God, but people talk about you and behave in unkind ways, you should expect it and rejoice in it while trying to show Christ-like love to those who need it so desperately.
