Being Persecuted is Cause for Rejoicing

“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.” (Matthew 5:10-12 ESV)

What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake? How might that look? And what is righteousness? 

Righteousness is all that God judges or deems as right in his sight. It is all that God approves, which is what is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, faithful, honest, and obedient to our Lord and to his commandments under the New Covenant. And those who are righteous in his sight are those who have died with Christ to sin, and who were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And they are all who make the righteousness of God their practice.

So, if we who are followers of Jesus Christ are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, that means we are being persecuted because we are living righteously, in practice, by the grace of God, and in his power and strength. We are doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in practice, although not necessarily in absolute perfection. But we are not those who make sin our practice, but we are those who are walking in obedience to our Lord and who are following him wherever he leads us in obedience to him.

And if we are being persecuted, it means that we are being wronged in some way, that we are being oppressed, harassed, bullied, tortured, tormented, and/or falsely accused of wrongdoing. And/or that we are being lied about, mistreated, rejected, cast aside, and treated as though we are dirt under people’s feet for them to stomp on and/or as though we are nothing, and as though we have no value at all, but we are just someone to be ignored and disregarded and discarded like a piece of unwanted trash. 

It is how Jesus was treated. And it is how his NT apostles were treated, and the prophets before them, and many people down through the ages who have followed God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – with their lives in walks of obedience and in submission to his will. Especially those of us who are out there in the public who are sharing the truth of the gospel, and who are refuting the lies of the enemy, and who are calling people to repentance and to walks of obedience, we are being persecuted.

Now this is not saying that everyone persecutes us. We have encouragers, too, and some have more, and some have less. But when we are out there in the public teaching what the Scriptures teach, in context, and when we are refuting the lies of the enemy, we are going to have enemies. We are going to have people who will oppose us, and some of them may not be so kind when they do so, either. And I am not speaking here of friendly disagreements, but of strong opposition and unfair treatment.

So, what is our response to be to such treatment as this? Well, we are to rejoice and be glad, for our reward is great in heaven. Now this doesn’t mean that we are to enjoy being persecuted or that it won’t hurt us or that it will not bring us to tears. If we are loving and compassionate and tenderhearted people, it should bring us to tears. We should hurt. We should feel it. For if it grieves the Holy Spirit when we sin against him, it should grieve us when others sin against us, especially people we know.

But we are not to internalize it and to let it turn to bitterness or to fear or to hate. We are to see this persecution in the light of the Scriptures that this is something that we must endure for the sake of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ and for the sake of the gospel of our salvation which we are sharing with other people. For when we go through trials and tribulations and persecutions, and we respond to them in the right way, they actually help us to grow to maturity in our walks of faith and to learn endurance.

So, we thank the Lord even for persecutions because we know that through them our Lord is drawing us closer to him, we are growing to maturity in our walks of faith, we are learning endurance, and we are learning to rely on the Lord and not on ourselves. And so our faith is increasing, as well as our love for others is increasing and growing to maturity, too. So, good will come out of this, and not just in our own lives, for as we grow in the Lord we are reaching out more to others and we are influencing their lives, too.

For example, it was because of the persecutions and rejections that I faced in my life that I am where I am today, doing what I am doing. It was because I was rejected and cast aside as worthless, and as though I am a nothing, that the Lord led me to the internet to share on the internet what he was teaching me through his word each day, which then led to so many other areas of ministry and other avenues of sharing all that the Lord has been teaching me, too. So good has come out of something bad.

And that is cause for rejoicing! Not that being persecuted is fun or enjoyable, but because of what it is producing in the lives of those whose lives are committed to following the Lord with their lives in faithful service to him. For we are blessed of God because of all the good that the Lord is doing in our lives as a direct result of the persecutions and the rejections. And that is cause for rejoicing! Therefore, I am so thankful to God for all that he has done in my life to make me into who I am today serving him in the way he has called me to serve him. But all glory belongs to God, and not to me. 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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