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.

Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is … love.

   

Some questions that come from these verses are:

1. Why are we blessed for being reviled, persecuted, and uttered against?
2. What is this great reward in heaven?
3. What’s love got to do with it?
4. How do we apply these things?

WHAT IS REVILING, PERSECUTION, AND UTTERING?

God approves of those who are reviled, persecuted, and uttered evil against... and because of His approval they get a great reward in heaven!

This is quite the opening to a sermon by the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!  He’s basically saying, “Hey all you listening…do you want God’s approval and blessing?  Do you want to see God and be a part of His kingdom?  Do you want great rewards for being faithful and obedient?  Do you want God’s approval and love?”  Well, here’s a list for all you self-righteous list-making people so you will know how to get all those things:

1. Admit you have nothing to offer, you are dead in and of yourself, you can do nothing without me – you don’t even have a glimmer or a tiny spark of hope apart from God’s supernatural help.  All your human efforts are like filthy disgusting rags in God’s sight.  Whatever you do will never be good enough!  You will never save yourself; you can’t earn eternal life or do enough good works to get God’s favor…EVER!!
2. You might as well just mourn and weep over your pitiful and failed attempts.  No matter how good you think you’ve been, how selfless and loving, it’s still not good enough, nothing to throw a party and be excited about, just be sad…
3. And you better be humble and lowly too!  Not proud and boastful about who you are and what you think you can do…recognize that next to God you are basically nothing, and so is everyone else around you, no matter how special you think they are or you might be!
4. You better be starving to death for what God wants from you.  Put aside all your own hopes and dreams and submit to His will.  Understand that only the true bread of life comes from Him and apart from that you will starve to death spiritually.  No matter what you try to fill yourself with it will always make you empty, unsatisfied, and lead to starvation/death.
5. Unless you show mercy, you won’t receive mercy.  Put other people’s feelings and needs above your own!  Show others patience, kindness, and understanding, and if won’t do that you’ll get none of that good stuff from God in return! 
6. If you have even a tiny spot of blemish on your heart you won’t see God.  Only those who have a pure, perfect, spotless heart will.  Kinda like one strike in a million billion pitches, and you’re out forever! Imagine a baseball player batting 999.999999999 looked at as a failure!
7. You better be all about making and living in peace with whoever crosses your path, Jew, Gentile, friend, family, enemy, whoever!  If you don’t want to promote peace, then you are no child of God, and then of course you won’t have or see peace.
8. Not only all that, but you are going to suffer greatly for doing the right thing.  You won’t fit in, even your own family might shun or turn against you, you’ll lose friends and all those “good times” you could have had together.  You’ll most likely be killed or at least tortured.
9. To top all that, now we are going to be hated, attacked, and slandered – and all because of who this Jesus guy is and our willingness to follow Him!

So far this sermon of Jesus has been like opening the daily newspaper and only reading bad news!  Reading the obituaries might be less depressing!  Each of those is summed up like this:

1. You suck.
2. You should weep because you suck so much.
3. Your pride and arrogance sucks.
4. Your self-righteousness really sucks.
5. Your lack of mercy is sucky.
6. Your heart…guess what…it sucks.
7. Your promotion of strife and anxiety sucks.
8. If you actually manage to figure out and do the right thing, you will suffer for it – that sucks!
9. Because of who Jesus is we will be hated, attacked, and slandered on all levels – that really sucks!

I can just picture what the crowd was murmuring to each other - Great message, right Jacob?  I bet you can’t wait to jump in the front of the line to follow that guy…Remind me not to have Jesus do any motivational speaking any time soon! I mean, hasn’t He heard of self-help, self-improvement, self-esteem, or self-awareness?  This guy will never make it as a speaker…

It’s amazing what the truth sounds like to those who don’t want to hear it!  It sounds like it is upside down from reality.  That reminds me of the effects of sin, especially on a nation, like we see in the end of Romans chapter 1, where sin is elevated as if it is righteous and celebrated, while what is right is deemed evil and frowned upon.

Anyway, turning back now to Matthew 5:11 and the persecution – notice that it is now laid out as a 3-fold attack:

1. Reviled.
2. Persecuted.
3. Utter all kinds of evil against you.

Back in verse 10 believers are persecuted for doing what is right.  Now in verse 11, because of who Jesus is, they will not only be persecuted, but it also throws in the idea of hatred and slander as well, which are also forms of persecution.

The Greek words used to describe this are:

1. (Revile) oneidizo, on-i-did´-zo; to defame, i.e. rail at, chide, taunt: — cast in teeth, suffer reproach, revile.
2. (Persecute) dioko, dee-o´-ko; to pursue (literally or figuratively); by implication, to persecute: — ensue, follow (after), given to, (suffer) persecute(-ion), press forward.
3. (Utter) lego, leg´-o; to “lay” forth, to relate by implication: — ask, bid, boast, call, describe, give out, name, put forth, say(-ing, on), shew, speak, tell, utter. (Evil) Poneros, pon-ay-ros´; hurtful, bad, evil, grievous, harmful, lewd, malicious, or wicked(-ness).

Using all 3 of these together gives us this mental picture: Because of who Jesus is and what He stands for, if we are willing to follow Him then the first thing other people will do is feel hatred towards us.  Then they will not leave that feeling alone but pursue after us (kind of the opposite of turning the other cheek or forgiving someone umpteen million times).  Often that pursuit will lead to malicious words to vilify, slander, and put you and your beliefs out of the picture of the realm of truth and worldly standards of living.  It is a rather simple 3-fold progression that further describes what verse 10 of chapter 5 was describing, which is being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.  We are now persecuted for Jesus’ name, who is imputed righteousness to us, and that persecution starts with hatred leading to relentless pursuit ending in evil actions.

This is the normal effect of sin – what starts as a thought/feeling then turns into something we obsess over and pursue, leading in the end to the peak of those evil intentions. 

Notice also that verse 11 says that they do all these things “falsely” because of our stand with who Jesus is.  There might be good reason to slander us and say evil things against us when we are not doing things in a godly way.  Hard to imagine we might act in a hypocritical way, but it just might happen to someone from time to time.  Because Jesus is perfect and sinless, if we follow Him then by extension there should be no just cause to slander or revile against us.  It would have to be out of malicious unfounded false intent.

WHAT IS THIS GREAT REWARD IN HEAVEN?

The idea of being blessed and the reward in heaven are tied together.  The blessing comes both now and in heaven, and the reward is proportionate to the obedience and generally the higher the obedience equals then the higher the persecution.  Let’s look at a parable in Scripture about the kingdom of heaven. It comes near the end of Jesus’ ministry just before He is betrayed, tried, and crucified.  He is teaching on the signs of the end of the age and His coming, along with final judgments in Matthew 24 & 25, and in the middle of that He tells 2 parables about the kingdom of heaven: 1 is the parable of the 10 virgins whose lesson is to be prepared as no one knows the day or hour of His coming and the 2^nd is:

The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. (Jesus would be going away shortly on a journey and was entrusting His disciples and other believers with the call to continue the ministry – His most valuable property here on earth!)

Matthew 25:15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. (Spiritual gifts are precious and valued above all else in the spiritual realm and are given to each person with what capacity they have to use them, giving us the Holy Spirit as a helper, but only after He went away.)

Matthew 25:16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. (The sure sign of a good steward is to use what is given regardless of the ability or the amount given to them.  This is also the idea of yielding much fruit and being a faithful servant.)

Matthew 25:17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. (Even though this servant had been given much less he was still just as faithful as the one who had much, showing no signs of jealousy or pouting because of what some would call an unfair distribution of gifts.)

Matthew 25:18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. (At first this might seem like a wise thing to do, if you looked only at external circumstances – maybe the economy was bad or there was high theft in the area, or he was just too busy to do anything with it now and was saving it for retirement or a rainy day before he went about investing or using it.)

Matthew 25:19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. (After a long time is significant with the previous teachings and parables of Christ about the 10 virgins and their lamps and not being prepared as the time had grown long and they weren’t sure when the bridegroom would be there – as well as Jesus telling the disciples that no one knows the day or the hour and it will be like the time of Noah when no one was prepared – but now, it is time for judgment as the Master has returned.)

Matthew 25:20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ (A 100% yield from the one He had given the most to!)

Matthew 25:21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (This servant gets a commendation from his Master, is told his faith over something the Master considers as small will entrust him to be set over much, and to enter into the joy of your Master is a reference to heaven.) 

Matthew 25:22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ (A 100% yield from the one He had given the 2^nd most to!)

Matthew 25:23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (This servant also gets a commendation from his Master, is told his faith over something the Master considers as small will entrust him to be set over much, and to enter into the joy of your Master is again a reference to heaven.) 

Matthew 25:24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, (This servant starts off by basically saying he thought the Master was dishonest and harsh and someone to be afraid of!)

Matthew 25:25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ (He confirms his fear and reveals he did nothing with it, perhaps too scared to even spend it, so he just hid it and gave it back as if it was something that was of no value to him.)

Matthew 25:26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? (The master condemns this servant as wicked and lazy, and does not confirm that He was a wicked master, but just reiterates what this servant thought to use it against him.)

Matthew 25:27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. (He could have at least kept up with inflation!)

Matthew 25:28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. (Instead of just taking back what was rightfully His, the Master just takes it and gives it to one of the ones who was faithful.)

Matthew 25:29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Faith produces blessing, which yields more faith which produces more blessing, which yields even more faith which produces even more blessing, and so on!  No Faith produces no blessing and no reward which only leads to death where everything is taken away!)

Matthew 25:30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Away from the light – God – and where they will regret their choices enough to be weeping and grinding their own teeth in sorrow and bitterness - HELL.)

Romans 14:11 for it is written,

     “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

             and every tongue shall confess to God.”

Romans 14:12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

The ultimate reward is heaven itself, along with rewards that are in proportion in keeping with our faithfulness in this lifetime – just like the Scriptures confirm over and over.  Each person is accountable for what they do, and what they don’t do, plain and simple.  You are not responsible for anybody else, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be encouraging and helpful along the way.

The verse on our great rewards in heaven also mentions that we are compared with all the prophets who suffered for proclaiming the truth all those years ago, and that they will also be rewarded for their faithfulness during great persecution! Jesus tells us to rejoice (chairo, khah´-ee-ro;) and be glad (agalliao, ag-al-lee-ah´-o)! Translated as glad and exceeding gladness, or in another words, be so filled with joy that you literally have to jump for joy!  The idea of almost inexpressible joy over being hated, hunted, and humiliated for Christ’s sake is quite the paradox or absurdity from our human perspective!  We seek to avoid persecution, we want to fit in and get along with others, and we find what we think is joy, or happiness, when we have the world’s attention and approval.

 

WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Besides being a 1984 pop song, love is the fruit of the spirit that is the umbrella.  It is the central controlling factor, a force-field of protection, and an unstoppable weapon of warfare.  Listen to how Paul describes the spiritual fruit and gift of love:

The Way of Love

1Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (The perfect pronouncement of words in the perfect combination spoken by the most perfect voice with all the right emotions and inflections is worthless without the right motivation – love.) – imagine if Jesus spoke everything He said but did so without backing it up by sacrificing Himself in love for His followers – what good would His message have been?

1Corinthians 13:2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (If you had all the knowledge and all the wisdom to use that knowledge, along with the ability to see the future and perform miraculous acts would be worthless without the right application – love.) – all the knowledge and miracles Jesus possessed and performed if done for the wrong reasons would have made Him popular for a time, but never would have had the effect it did because it was love that directed and guided Him.

1Corinthians 13:3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (Imagine sacrificing everything for the wrong reasons, such as personal gain or fame of some kind – like the elevation of your name/status and leaving a legacy for others to remember and worship you by – and missing out on the ultimate purpose for sacrifice – love!) – Jesus’ sacrifice would have gained nothing if it was not done in love and obedience to the Father’s will on behalf of fallen mankind.

1Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind (2 of the fruits of the spirit); love does not envy or boast (it is humble, 1 of the beatitudes); it is not arrogant

1Corinthians 13:5 or rude (but gentle, another fruit). It does not insist on its own way (not self-centered but self-controlled, another fruit); it is not irritable or resentful (but patient, good and faithful);

1Corinthians 13:6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth (joy is found in the truth).

1Corinthians 13:7 Love bears all things (endures patiently, never giving up), believes all things (entrusts to God), hopes all things (puts one’s trust completely in God), endures all things (outlasts any suffering).

1Corinthians 13:8A Love never ends (It never fails, falls, or loses – it has existed from eternity past, continues through all time, and extends into eternity future).

Jesus is the gold-standard for every aspect of love!  Every single thing listed He lived out and displayed for us to emulate, through His sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. Try to see how you can endure trials and ridicule without love.  Just how much willpower do you possess?  You will never last without His love and become bitter, combative, and resentful, or just give in.  His love is the only thing that makes the joy even possible, let alone the ability to endure.

HOW DO WE APPLY THESE THINGS?

 

How can we be happy and loving, when people are unloading everything they have at us, in an attempt to discredit, dishonor, and destroy us?

If you look at the world system and everything it has to offer – whatever is pleasing to our fleshly desires, whatever our eyes look at and long for, and whatever gives us a sense of pride and importance – all of those are fleeting and empty promises.  They might give a temporary boost to our ego or satisfaction to what the flesh wants in the moment, but it never lasts.  True love, joy, peace, and contentment in life are never found in what the world offers under the best of circumstances.  Imagine now trying to find those things under the worst of circumstances!  Yet, that’s what the Bible tells us will happen to those who follow Jesus – immense hatred and persecution that we are blessed by and to find the silver lining in that dark cloud of despair!

These last 2 beatitudes are based on a transformation that has taken place in the first 7.  There’s no skipping the line or shortcuts involved in spiritual growth and maturity!  If you’re missing a step, then it’s like you’re missing a piece of armor and vulnerable to attacks. There are 7 pieces of spiritual armor to put on to protect against the attacks of the Devil and his world system.  There are 7 beatitudes to prepare us for the promised persecution to come – again, the attacks of the Devil and his world system!  And those attacks are described in the beatitudes as going after anyone who does what is right (according to God’s standard of right), and also going after anyone who trusts in Jesus.

Preparation for persecution:

1. Spiritual birth – acknowledging we are dead in our trespasses and sins:

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Ephesians 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

1. Spiritual truth - Acknowledging we fall short of God’s standard of perfection and need help:

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Isaiah 41:13 For I, the LORD your God,

             hold your right hand;

     it is I who say to you, “Fear not,

             I am the one who helps you.”

1. Spiritual humility – acknowledging our strength is found in the Lord and our dependence is upon Him:

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

2Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1. Spiritual hunger – acknowledging that what God’s wants for me is the best and earnestly seeking after that (righteousness):

Romans 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

Romans 10:3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Romans 8:10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

1. Spiritual compassion – acknowledging God’s mercy is granted to us and something we should reflect to others who are made in God’s image, whether they deserve it or not as we did nothing to deserve the mercy we received:

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Lamentations 3:22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

             his mercies never come to an end;

Lamentations 3:23 they are new every morning;

             great is your faithfulness.

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Luke 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

1. Spiritual purity – acknowledging our hearts are not right without regeneration from God, and the standard of purity is found in Him:

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Psalms 24:3   Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?

             And who shall stand in his holy place?

Psalms 24:4   He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

             who does not lift up his soul to what is false

             and does not swear deceitfully.

Psalms 24:5   He will receive blessing from the LORD

             and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

1. Spiritual peace – acknowledging our peace and rest is found in the Lord, in His will and in His Word, and is something that is internalized and then made manifest to those around us:

Philippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Romans 12:20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

God has given us every tool that we need to be successful and content in this life. He has given us His Word – to convict, convince, and convert us to be His children.  He has given us His Son – to trust in, to teach us, and be transformed into His likeness.  He has given us His Spirit – to dwell in us, direct us, and deploy us for action.  All the pieces are there for the taking if we would only pick them up and use them!

We have a pattern, a plan, and a procedure that will cause us to be blessed and joyous under whatever circumstances come along – something the world can’t offer even if we possessed everything they promised to us.  The beatitudes are there to show us who God approves of and what the blessings are for those individuals – along with the warnings of rejection and persecution from others not willing to accept them. 

The armor of God gives us the necessary protections we can put in place to guard our hearts and minds from all the attacks of the evil system, and the fruits of the spirit are evidence of the beatitudes and effectiveness of the armor of God.

Do you have a better plan?  Do you think you know better than God?  I’d like to see that conversation that you might have with the creator of the universe – as you proudly and boldly go to state your case, all puffed up, determined, and immovable, but then when you are in His presence, like every single person in Scripture does, you fall on your face in terror and awe and cower before His majesty and power.  Your thoughts of mockery and boldness have flown out the window and you are left trembling and broken and realize:

◦ He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End!

◦ He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!

◦ He is the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times.

◦ He always was, He always is, and He always will be...

◦ he is Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!

◦ He was bruised but brought healing!

◦ He was pierced but eased pain!

◦ He was persecuted but brought freedom!

◦ He was killed to bring life!

◦ He is risen and brings power!

◦ He rules and reigns and brings Peace!

◦ The world can't understand him,

◦ The armies can't defeat Him,

◦ The schools can't explain Him, and

◦ The leaders can't ignore Him.

◦ Herod couldn't kill Him,

◦ The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him, and

◦ The grave couldn't hold Him!

◦ Nero couldn't crush Him,

◦ Hitler couldn't silence Him,

◦ Other religions can't replace Him, and

◦ The world can't explain Him away!

◦ He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.

◦ He is Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and Sovereign.

◦ He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.

◦ His ways are right, His word is eternal,

◦ His will is unchanging, and His mind is on us.

◦ He is my Redeemer, He is my Savior,

◦ He is my guide, and He is my peace!

◦ He is my Joy, He is my comfort,

◦ He is my Lord, and He rules my life!

Maybe I should listen to what He has to say after all…

 

Let’s pray…