“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)
People, in general, get persecuted for many different things, but mainly, I believe, because they are different from others around them. Many people in this world are prejudice against those who are not like them. It can be because their color of skin is different from theirs, or they speak a foreign language, or because they are of a particular religion. But it can also be because they are tall or short, plump or skinny, brainy or not so brainy, rich or poor, advanced in education, or having not much formal education, etc.
Television, movies, videos, cartoons, comedy shows, and all sorts of other ways of communicating, one with another, have been known to promote prejudice and treating others badly who are different from us, even mocking them or doing evil against them or playing tricks on them or whatever. But it is not funny to the ones being picked on, to the ones being bullied, to the ones being laughed at and made fun of. It is very hurtful, even if they do not show that they feel hurt by it. And some of this ends in someone dying.
Now, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you should have been warned in advance that being a genuine follower of Christ will mean that you will be hated and persecuted like Jesus was. But in America, where about ¾ of the population professes Christianity as their religion of choice, you will not generally be hated and persecuted just because you profess faith in Jesus Christ. You will be hated and persecuted and rejected, though, if you are truly following Jesus in obedience to his word, in truth and in practice.
You will not be hated and persecuted, though, just for being a “good deed doer,” or for being “nice” to people, or for helping people in need, etc. You won’t even be rejected by most if you quote Bible verses (select ones) or if you make general references to faith in Jesus Christ and to your church gatherings. But if you teach the Scriptures in context, and you teach the fulness of what Jesus and the NT apostles taught (in biblical doctrine), and if you call people to repentance and to obedience to God, then watch out!
Especially if you are one who is calling out and refuting the lies which are being taught as truth, and if you are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are, and if you are leading people to the truth of what God’s word teaches regarding the gospel of our salvation and what it really teaches, you will not be well liked, and you may be hated, rejected, persecuted, cast aside, and even falsely accused of what you did not do. And your persecutors may be others who profess faith in Jesus Christ.
Now, I have faced this kind of treatment quite a bit over the course of my lifetime. But there was this one time when my husband and I were taking a “discipleship” class, of sorts, when I began to see the lies and trickery and manipulations of truth going on within the course we were being taught. At the same time my husband was following the teachings of a particular famous author, and I could see the lies in what the author was teaching, too, and so I was writing about these lies being taught as truth, on the internet.
One of the couples in our group then came to our house, and the man “reamed me out” because I was questioning both the teaching of that certain book author and because I was questioning the teaching in our “discipleship” book, and because I was posting my findings on the internet. He yelled and screamed at me in my own living room, and he told me that I was wrong because I was in the minority. He told me that the majority is right, and so I needed to be like the majority, instead. But is that biblical? No!
We don’t get persecuted for righteousness’ sake because we are in the majority, but because we are in the minority, because we are different, because we go against the flow, and we examine what is being taught against what the Scriptures teach, and we expose the lies for what they are, and we expound the truth in hopes that some people will stop believing the lies and that they will now begin believing in and following the truth. For their location in eternity depends on them believing and living the truth.
For that very reason Jesus Christ was hated and persecuted and put to death. And for that very reason the prophets of the Old Testament, and the New Testament apostles, and followers of Jesus Christ were hated and persecuted and falsely accused of wrongdoing. And they were falsely arrested and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. And many of them were martyred for their walks of faith in Jesus Christ because they obeyed the Lord Jesus and they did what he said they must do as his followers.
But we are not to be disheartened by such treatment as this, as painful as it can be. For to this we have been called. So we are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and we are blessed of God when others revile us, and persecute us, and utter all kinds of evil against us falsely on account of our Lord and his gospel message. And, instead of us letting it get us down, we are to rejoice and be glad, for they persecuted the prophets in the same way. We will be rewarded. Ours is the kingdom of heaven.
[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; 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; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]
My Jesus, My Savior
Michael W. Smith
My Jesus, My Saviour,
Lord, there is none like you,
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing,
Power and majesty, praise to the King!
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,
At the sound of your name!
I sing for joy at the work of your hands,
Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqSQvoinDE4
Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment