Today is the last in a series on the Sermon on the Mount. So, today consider these words by Jesus:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”(Matthew 5:10-12, NIV)
And again, in Matthew 5:44, He said, this: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Later Paul said, " That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV)
Peter reminded us that: “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” (1 Peter 3:14, NIV)
Another Apostle, James, counseled in this manner: “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12, NIV)
Are you persecuted? Do you do the right thing—the thing that pleases our Savior, only to find that others are contemptuous to you you for being holy? And if you are not being persecuted, you might think you’re fortunate, blessed and protected…but are you? Think about it. Persecution happens because another person or a group or persons wants us out of the way. No no one sane person should go around looking for a way to make others to want them dead. And just because people are throwing stones at you, or in some other persecuting you, does mean you’re righteous, a prophet or a martyr. Right now you might be receiving insults because you really are a jerk!
But there is no way to avoid persecution, in this life, in this nation, if you are truly striving to live a righteous life. And again, though we should not seek it, we should wonder why Satan and his minions do not have a target on our back if our life is easy and uneventful.
What causes persecution, anger, hate, jealousy, fear and wrath. Well, just look at the life of Jesus! The man never did a single thing wrong and people wanted Him dead! If you live for Christ, it’s going to happen—you will be the subject of gossip and your motives will always be questioned by someone. Righteous people make the unrighteous quite uncharitable and irritated. And let me testify to this: The suffering for righteousness’ sake—being persecuted for doing the will of our Master—is a blessing! When we do the right thing and then get attacked, or are the object of gossip, or find that we’re being lampooned on social media, it will hurt, but we come to understand that this is proof that the gates or hell are being rattled and our enemy is threatened. As long as we live like we are members of the Kingdom of God the attack and the misunderstandings will continue. We will understand more and more, that we don’t fit in the more we do righteous things, and the enemy is making sure we get that message! I believe that God is allowing Satan to remind us that God’s righteous rule (that is, the Kingdom of heaven) is not man’s way.
We admire, don’t we, those that stand up for what’s right, especially those that are long gone and talked about in history books? But today’s message isn’t about the heroes of old, but for those who are under persecution right now, today, all over the world, for living lives that glorify God—-not some figure on a stained glass window or a marble statue of someone that’s been dead for 500 years. And right now, in our nation, there are people that are being persecuted, attacked, marginalized, called bad names, all because the follow the teachings of Jesus, have discernment over right and wrong, and fear God more than they fear man.
Unless we change the way we worship and obey, the time is coming when the righteous might no longer be persecuted, but simply ignored, because we present no threat to the powers of darkness.
I read the two largest newspapers in our nation each day, and one of my favorite editors, William McGurn, is from the WSJ. This past week he said this, and you can be sure he’s being persecuted for it. I like him because he’s not afraid to say what other editors and politicians will not. He said this:
“In the thick of a presidential election it’s easy to forget that, for pro-lifers, abortion isn’t merely one box on an issues checklist. It is a beachhead for an ethic that says that what the Declaration calls the “unalienable right to life” can disappear when that life is inconvenient to others. This has implications for everything from assisted suicide to in vitro fertilization.
In American politics today, this is a hard sell—and those advancing the pro-life argument must expect to be unpopular. We are, after all, the new counterculture. Though our counterculture seeks to build and not tear down.
At times it can be tempting to think, “We are just a court ruling or an election away from getting what we want.” It’s at precisely these moments we must recognize that the only secure defense for the unborn is persuading our fellow Americans of the intrinsic dignity of the life off that infant.
Pro-lifers understand that what is most needed is a culture of life. Absent that, laws and Supreme Court rulings make for a brittle foundation. It is simply too much to expect an ordinary politician to parse the complexities of abortion—not least the real hardships the denial of an abortion can bring—and then, in the face of a hostile media looking to trip that politician up at every turn, deliver a public and compelling defense of the unborn. It is harder still when the pro-choice side holds the commanding heights of the culture, and even the pulpits are timid.
Neither Democrats, who spent their convention celebrating abortion, nor Republicans, who spent theirs running away from it, challenged the idea that the 60 million abortions since Roe raise no troubling questions. The public debate is dominated by gut-wrenching stories of women denied abortion in truly horrific circumstances.
(But) far less reported on is a Charlotte Lozier Institute study last year of women who had abortions. Sixty percent of these women said they would have preferred to give birth if they had received either more emotional support or financial wherewithal.
The good news is that today yeoman’s work is being done to ensure that the cold front door of a Planned Parenthood clinic isn’t these women’s only choice. In New York and New Jersey, Chris Bell runs four Good Counsel homes helping women, mostly African-American, keep their babies—and go back to school or whatever else a new mom might need to do to support herself and her baby.
And I don’t want to appear politically biased in what I am saying. The Republicans are hardly more encouraging. There was a time when Trump liked to call himself “the most pro-life president in American history.” But last Friday he posted the following on his social-media site, Truth Social: “My administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” This was followed by his running mate, JD Vance, promising NBC that Mr. Trump would veto any federal abortion ban.
It gets worse. In 10 weeks, voters in 10 states will decide whether to enshrine abortion as a right in their state constitutions. In the two years since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, voters in seven states—red ones included—have already come down on the pro-choice side on ballot measures.”
Think about what has happened in our nation since Bill Clinton said that he wanted to make sure that abortion was “safe, legal and rare.” “This has been replaced by Kamala Harris’s full-throated celebration of what Democrats call “reproductive freedom.” Oddly underscoring the party’s commitment not to reproduce was a Planned Parenthood, outside the rally this past week was a van offering free vasectomies and abortions.
But, as the name implies, pro-lifers are in it for life. We don’t oppose abortion because we can end it. We oppose abortion because it’s the taking of a human life at its most innocent and vulnerable—and we are compelled to try.” (William McGurn)
William McGurn will be persecuted for trying to save the unborn baby’s life. God bless him and all the others who stand of what is righteous, regardless of the names they are called or hated thrown towards them. Planned Parenthood has lied about many things, but perhaps you did not know that only 1% of the abortions performed last year were because or rape, and less than 1/2 of 1% for incest. 99% of abortions are because the baby is an inconvenience. 25 years ago, 16 years ago and 13 years ago, if Planned Parenthood had been readily available to two women, I believe I would not have three sons in my home today.
But the promise of Christ to Mr McGurn and to us is that He will bless us if we suffer for Christ’s sake. And let me declare to you that the these babies, the unborn in a mother’s womb, are the ones for whom He suffered and died—no less than the promiscuous teenager, the careless couple or the unloved parent that conceived a child. When we are persecuted for defending the unborn, or for any other righteous purpose, Christ declares, “good for you—you acting like a child of the King!”, and we can remain resolute that the kingdom of heaven is ours. It is a source of joy because we have become identified with our Lord when we swim against the current of common prgressive thought and declare, unflinchingly, “this is wrong!” When we choose to pursue righteousness, we become a signpost—a light along the path to those that would seek Jesus Himself.
So I ask you a second time, are you being persecuted? Perhaps not about your stance on abortion, but I totally convinced that abortion is scripturally and spiritually indefensible. But even if you do not take a stand against the killing of babies, if you are not being persecuted it’s only because you are fitting in too well with the world. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, it means that we have exchanged discipleship for citizenship. God help you!
But friend, persecution testifies to our union with Christ. In Philippians 3:8–11. Union with Christ means a share in all things that are Christ’s, including the rejection, reviling, and persecution that was His. For if we have a share in Him, ours truly is the kingdom of heaven. And with this knowledge, we will be able to persevere with joy in trials and answer our persecutors with a blessing—not a curse (James 5:1; 1 Peter 3:9).
Any of you who are parents, perhaps understand persecution in your own homes for doing what’s righteous. Standing firm on what is honoring and pleasing to God will bring you into conflict with teenagers—unless God has blessed you with a perfect teenager. It’s so much easier going downstream, with the godless society than to swim upstream. But it will always bring us into conflict with those that aren’t listening, if we choose to listen to the Holy Spirit rather than the rabble who don’t know His voice.
My personal challenge is the constant, daily persecution a particularly, handsome thirteen year old, and incredibly athletic sixteen year old give me for denying them access to vulgarity, pornography, violence, unwholesome talk, addiction to social media, laziness, anger and pride. That list is not exhaustive of what I must put up with. But I am truly persecuted by them, and others I love and care about, when I point out that this or that is not right. It’s far easier journey in parenthood to give in than to stand up and be—well, quite frequently lately, unloved and even mocked or ridiculed for demanding holy living in my home or at my camp.
In this small community of Pilot Mountain, you can be certain of gossip and unkind talk if you determine to try to live a righteous life. The persecution often begins at the local beauty shop here in Pilot Mountain, I’ve been told—that seems to be the place gossip begins around here. But James would say, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
If you find yourself being persecuted, ask God for strength and wisdom to help you do the right thing—but don’t expect persecutors to give up or apologize. God constantly reminds us through his gospel to pray without ceasing. I must commit to reading the Word of God daily because God’s answers are always found there! It reminds me that I should trust God more than my own eyes and hearts in times of sadness and despair…. and to forgive those at the hair dresser, in my home, at my camp and even in my church! Our earthly suffering and pain are temporary and ephemeral. You and I are called to be patient and continue to profess our faith with zeal and gratitude because our heavenly and eternal rewards are waiting for us in the kingdom of God!
Finally, hear this: there is no blessing in store for those of us who persecute our persecutors. That’s God’s job—-get out of the way and stop your whining! Live by Romans 12:19! “ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”
Amen
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