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My God and My Neighbor is a “Bible talk show” that looks at religious issues, Christian living and world events in light of the Word of God to give hope. This podcast is a ministry of Tennessee Bible College. TBC offers a bachelor's in Bible studies, a master of theology, and a doctorate of theology in apologetics and Christian evidences. TBC also provides Christian books, audio recordings on the Bible, and free Bible courses in English and Spanish. Tune in to My God and My Neighbor to experience the educational content that TBC has been delivering for nearly five decades!
Kerry Duke: Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My God and My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book. Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthen your faith and to share what you've learned with others.
Today, I want to talk with you about the subject of persecution. We're studying the Sermon on the Mount. And at this particular time, we're looking at a section called the beatitudes. Today, we come down to Matthew chapter 5, beginning in verse 10. I want to read with you Matthew 5, verse 10, 11, and 12. Then, I want to look with you at a few other verses in the Bible about this same subject. And there are many passages on persecution in the Bible. We'll look at a few of those passages. And then, I want us to apply what we've learned to your life and to mine.
So let's look at Matthew chapter 5 and I want to read with you verses 10, 11, and 12. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The first thing that I want you to notice is why this persecution takes place. He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake”—for that reason. And then He makes it even more clear in verse 11 when He says this is for My sake. He's not talking about any kind of mistreatment. Sometimes people are mistreated because they're successful in the world and people are jealous of them. Sometimes you might be mistreated just because somebody doesn't like you. It may not have anything to do with your religion. It may not have anything to do with the Bible. That person just doesn't like you. That's not what Jesus is talking about here.
Jesus is talking about people being persecuted because they believe in Him. They believe in His Word. They obey His Word and they stand up for His Word. That's what this persecution is all about in Matthew chapter five. Now, Peter explained the difference that I'm talking about here in 1st Peter chapter two. In 1st Peter, one of the main themes is the subject of suffering. So, in 1st Peter chapter two, he talks about Christians who suffer wrongfully.
And then he explains the difference in verse 20. He says, “For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults”—because you've done something wrong, He says. He says, “What credit is it when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God, for to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps.” And, and notice what he says in verse 22 and 23. He says, that's the way that Jesus suffered. He committed no sin. No deceit was found in his mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten. So he says, you need to suffer because Jesus suffered. And you need to suffer for the same reason that Jesus suffered, that is, for doing right, not for doing wrong.
I say this because people today are prone to complain about being mistreated for all kinds of reasons. And I'm not saying that some of those reasons are not legitimate. I'm not saying that it's right to mistreat other people. I'm just saying that Jesus is talking about a particular kind of mistreatment here. And I'm also saying this. There are people today that talk about being persecuted when they are absolutely wrong. For instance, there are homosexuals who complain about other people telling them that they are sinners. Well, that's the truth. The Bible teaches that in Romans 1:27. That passage says that men with men and women with women is against nature. And then there are people in the gay community that say well that's persecution. You Christians are persecuting us. You're being hateful toward us and all those kinds of reasons that they give.
That's not what Jesus is talking about here. You have Muslims who complain because people will not accept their religion, that people criticize, and rightly so, their view of religion and government, and they claim that they're being persecuted. Then, of course, they add on top of that the fact that they have martyrs for their cause.
That's not the kind of persecution that Jesus is talking about here either. Jesus is talking about being persecuted because you are a Christian, because you listen to His Word and you obey His Word. This is the mistreatment for one simple thing. I want you to notice some other verses right away as we talk about this.
In Matthew chapter 10, beginning in verse 25. Jesus said, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.” Listen to what he says now, in Matthew 10 verse 25. “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household?”
Now, the master of the house, obviously, is Jesus. Beelzebub was a current Jewish name for the devil, for Satan, in Jesus’ day. So, Jesus said if they have called Me the devil himself, how much more are they going to call you as My servants, that is, Christian people, His followers. So Jesus said you can expect this. It is going to happen.
And then listen to what Jesus says about this further in Matthew chapter 13 in the parable of the sower. He says in Matthew chapter 13, verse 20, “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”
Did you notice that expression? Why is it that they stumble? He says because tribulation or persecution arise because of the word. That's the Word of God. It's because they believe the Word of God. They're teaching the Word of God. They're living the Word of God in their life. People don't like it and they persecute them. That causes some Christians to fall away.
Here's another verse. In Luke chapter 6, verse 26, Jesus said, “Woe to you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets”. Jesus said if everybody is speaking well of you, if everybody is singing your praises, there's something wrong because if you're a Christian, there will be some people that oppose you. Now, again, this will happen to different degrees. There are some people that are persecuted more than others, but it will happen. So Jesus said instead of trying to please everybody and worrying about what people say about you, just accept the fact that if you live the Christian life, people are going to talk bad about you.
This will happen. In John chapter 15, you have another interesting passage. John chapter 15, verse 18: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you. A servant is not greater than his master.” In other words, your Master is Jesus. I'm your master. And if they have treated Me like this, they're going to treat you like this. Look at what he says in John 15 verse 20 again. He said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” It's going to happen.
Later, in Acts chapter 14, the Apostle Paul was stoned. The other disciples thought that he was dead. He was pounded with rocks until they thought that he was dead. And yet Paul rose up. That's the kind of persecution that he endured. But I want you to notice what happened. In Acts chapter 14, verse 19, the Bible says the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there “having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe, and when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra.”
Lystra was where they almost kill Paul. He goes right back there and the Bible says he keeps preaching the word. They returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Now, sometimes somebody says something bad about us or criticizes what we believe or what we're doing or how we are living our lives as Christians and we get discouraged. The Apostle Paul was almost killed on this occasion, but he didn't give up. He didn't even slow down. He kept preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's Acts 14, beginning in verse 19.
But I want you to notice what the Bible says about this now in verse 21. Again, when they “had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying we must, through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” The Bible teaches that this is our lot in this life. We will suffer persecution.
Notice Philippians chapter 1 verse 29; “For to you”—if you're a Christian, this is to you, this is for you—"for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.”
Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 12: Paul talks about the persecutions that he had endured and he mentions Antioch and Iconium and Lystra in particular in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 11. Then he says this in verse 12: “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Another great passage is Hebrews chapter 11. That chapter is often times called the Hall of Faith. It talks about the great characters of the Old Testament who had such great faith that they endured things that you and I will never experience. And one of those was persecution. Notice what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11, beginning in verse 33. Now if you think that you have troubles, if you think that you're being opposed, if you think that you're tired of people talking about you and you're tired of arguing with people about religion, and you're being persecuted, listen to what the Bible says here in Hebrews chapter 11, beginning in verse 33, about these Old Testament saints, who “through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, and were saved. Stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings, And scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.” You talk about persecution, that's a great example of it.
In 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 12, he said, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, You may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.” Living the Christian life is not easy. Jesus never said it would be. The apostles never taught that it would be. And I want you to notice later in this same book of first Peter, if you look down at first Peter chapter 5, that he warns about this battle with the devil. In first Peter chapter five verse eight, he said, “Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” But then notice how he encourages these suffering Christians here and just put yourself in their shoes and think about your situation today. He says in verse nine: resist him steadfast in the faith. In other words, resist the devil, “knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect your faith, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” So, Peter says you're going to be tempted. The devil is going to attack you, but you resist him and just realize that other Christians are experiencing the same thing that you are. These sufferings and this persecution that we're talking about have always been a part of the Christian life.
The church has always experienced these things. As a matter of fact, good people thousands of years before the church was established experienced the same kind of persecution. In fact, if you go back to the very beginning in the first human family in the book of Genesis, you find persecution. John talks about this in 1 John chapter 3. So if you go back, in other words, to Genesis chapter 4, you read the story of Cain and Abel. What is that story about? That story is about one son who obeyed God and the other one didn't. And what did the disobedient son do? He persecuted his own brother. John talks about that in 1 John chapter 3, and then he applies that to Christians. That includes Christians today. In 1 John chapter 3, beginning in verse 11, he said, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning: that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brothers righteous.”
Then he applies what he has just said to Christians. He says the same thing is going to happen to you thousands of years later. He has said in verses 11 and 12 that Cain persecuted his brother. Why? Because his brother did right and Cain was wrong. It's just as simple as that. He says in verse 1—and this applies to any Christian today; so if you're a Christian, listen carefully to what he says in verse 13—"Do not marvel.” Don't be amazed. Don't be surprised. Don't be discouraged and quit because if it happened to Abel, it's going to happen to you. So those are just a few of the many verses in the New Testament that further explain and shed light on what we're looking at in Matthew chapter 5.
But let's go back to Matthew chapter 5. I want to pick up in Matthew 5 verse 11. We're going to look at some of the specific words that Jesus uses here to describe the nature of this persecution. What is it like? So in Matthew chapter 5 verse 11. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you.”
So, first of all, look at the word revile. That means to speak evil of someone. Now, people can say some pretty bad things. And they can say some bad things about Christian people. Sometimes they will call you names. In the New Testament, do you remember that the church was called a sect? And do you know what that means? That's right, it means a cult. In Acts chapter 24 verse 5, the Bible shows that some of the Jews said this about the Apostle Paul: “We have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” They say the same thing in Acts chapter 28 verse 22.
So don't be surprised if people call you names today because you are a Christian. If they call Jesus Beelzebub, remember that Jesus said they're going to call you even worse. And if they called the early church a cult, they're going to call you all kinds of things. They're going to say that you belong to a cult. They're going to say that you're a fanatic. They're going to say that you're crazy. They're going to say that you're a homophobe if you oppose homosexuality. They're going to say that you're unscientific and ignorant because you don't believe in evolution. So they're going to load up some of these terms and try to make fun of you any way that they possibly can.
Jesus said they will revile you. Sometimes they'll ridicule you. This happened to Jesus, though. In Mark chapter 5, verse 40, the Bible says that some of the Jews laughed him to scorn. In Acts chapter 17, verse 30, the Bible says that some of the people mocked the apostle Paul. So today, don't be surprised if sometimes people laugh at, mock you, belittle you, and try to embarrass you in front of coworkers and fellow students.
They may say things like this: “Do you really believe that?” They may say to somebody standing by: “Why did you know that he thinks…” and then they finished the sentence. Or they may say, “Why she thinks it's wrong to...” and then they bring up something that you've opposed. Or they may just come right out and say, “Why that's crazy.” Nobody believes that. So be ready, be prepared. The Bible says that if you believe in Jesus, you believe in His Word and you obey His Word, people will revile you. Then Jesus says that they will “persecute you.” And this refers more to what they do to you than it does to what they say to you or about you.
Now again, this is not an option. This is not a maybe. This is not a danger here. The Bible says this is the reality of living the Christian life. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” [2nd Timothy 3, verse 12]. Let me suggest that you do something. When you're studying the Bible sometime, just start in the book of Matthew, go through the book of Revelation, and try to remember how many times the Bible talks about persecution or it talks about people who were persecuted.
It's absolutely amazing, because from one end of the New Testament to the other, that is, from Matthew to Revelation, people were persecuted. So, what you find is that John the Baptist was beheaded [Matthew chapter 14]. Jesus was crucified [Matthew chapter 27]. James the Apostle was beheaded [Acts chapter 12]. Stephen was stoned [Acts chapter 7]. Peter was bound and executed according to what Jesus said would happen in John chapter 21 verse 18. Paul was executed according to what he said in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 6. He said, “The time of my departure is at hand” and that he was ready to be offered and to be poured out. And to be poured out evidently means that he was poured out like a drink offering, and that probably refers to the violent death that Paul suffered.
But at any rate, when you get to the book of Revelation, you find that people were being persecuted because they were Christians. That's much of what this book is about. And in Revelation chapter 2, verse 13, Jesus said, “I know your works, and where you dwell, and where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast to My name and did not deny My faith, even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.” It's sad that the Islamic religion has almost hijacked the term martyr.
When you look at the Bible, the word martyr describes somebody who died for the faith, someone who died for Jesus Christ because they believed in the gospel of Christ and they were members of his body.
But in the New Testament, you find that there were two waves of this persecution. There was the Jewish wave, and there was the Roman wave.
So let's look first of all at the Jewish wave of persecuting Christians. This occurred when Jewish authorities arrested Christians, they had them thrown in prison, they had them beaten, and also, they put them to death. And among those Jewish leaders was a man named Saul of Tarsus, who was called, of course, the Apostle Paul later.
And you read about that persecution in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but it intensified after the church was established in Acts chapter 2. These Jews were arresting Christians, they were throwing men and women in prison, and as I said, they were torturing, they were beating them and putting them to death.
Jesus had warned about that in John 16 verse 2. He said, “The time will come when whoever kills you will think that he is doing service to God.” In other words, Jesus is saying that people are going to kill you and they think that they're going to be doing God a favor, that they're going to be glorifying God by putting you Christians to death.
Listen to what the book of Acts says about the Apostle Paul before he was converted. The Bible says in Acts chapter 8 verse 3, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” And then listen to what Paul later said about what he had done. In Acts 26 verse 9, Paul said, “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priest, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.” So the Apostle Paul himself admits that he had been one of the chief instigators of persecution against Christian people.
This was a bad time for the church. This was a dangerous time for Christians in the first century. The Jews hunted down and persecuted these members of the body of Christ. But if that weren't enough, speaking from the devil's point of view, the Romans then began to persecute these Christians.
There was a Roman historian named Cornelius Tacitus. He lived from 56 to 120 A. D. and he wrote about what the Romans did to these Christian people. It's well known that there was a great fire in the city of Rome that destroyed much of that city. And Cornelius Tacitus, this Roman historian [we're not talking about a Jewish enemy of the Romans, but a Roman himself] said that Nero the Emperor blamed that fire on Christians and began to arrest them and persecute them.
That started in July of 64 AD. Here is what this Roman historian says Nero did to the Christians. “But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations called Christians by the populace, Christus.” Now again, this is what this Roman historian Tacitus calls him, Christus, “from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and this most mischievous superstition…”
Now let me stop the quotation here and remind you that this is a Roman historian who is saying these things. He is against Jesus Christ. He is against these Christians. He thinks it's just some kind of superstition. But he is, as we would call him, an antagonistic witness. And that means this is very powerful evidence of the authenticity of the Bible record. It happened. Here's a man who's not even a Christian. He's not even a believer. But he agrees with what the New Testament says. And as an antagonistic witness, he gives some strong evidence of the authenticity of the Bible record that we find in the New Testament of Jesus’ death. He was crucified by Pontius Pilate, a Roman, during the reign of Tiberius. But let's continue.
He says this “most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out, not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was made first of all who pleaded guilty. Then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.” This is what they accuse Christians of doing. They accuse Christians of harboring hatred against all mankind. “Mockery,” he says, of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn to shreds by dogs and perished or were nailed to crosses or were doomed to the flames and burned to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired.” Do you see what he's saying here? Nero wanted to mock these Christians so much that he used them as streetlights. He lit them, literally. He burned them to death and used them as lights for the Romans at night. Now, you talk about persecution, you talk about something that was horrible, that's just one example of what Nero did to these people. And that kind of Roman persecution continued off and on for over 200 years after this.
You read about Diocletian, who was another Roman emperor in the early 300s, who burned church buildings and burned copies of the Bible. And that's just a start. That's just really the opening chapter in the whole history of the persecution of the body of Christ.
But let's look back at Matthew chapter 5 verse 11 at the wording again. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.” So now we're talking about people lying, saying things that are not true about you because you are a Christian misrepresenting you. Now, Jesus was no stranger to this. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 19, some of the Jews said that he was a glutton and a wine bibber. Now nobody likes to be misrepresented. Nobody likes to be lied about. But sometimes this happens to Christians just because they are Christians. And this kind of thing happened to many, many people in the Bible.
People today are going to say things about you as a Christian. They're going to say that you did things that you never did. They're going to say that you said things that you did not say. If they misrepresented Jesus and lied about him, it's going to happen to you today as a Christian. Now a similar verse is in Luke chapter 6 verse 22. Listen to what Jesus said there. “Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake.”
But you know the good and the encouraging thing about this is that Jesus puts this whole matter of persecution into perspective. He doesn't just talk about persecution for the sake of talking about all the bad things that happen to Christian people. Listen to what he says again in verse 12. In light of and in spite of all these bad things that people do to you, He says, “Rejoice and be exceeding glad.” Now, obviously, that doesn't mean that you're to rejoice and be exceedingly glad because of what they're doing, but in spite of what they are doing and what they are saying.
“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” Why? Number one: “For great is your reward in heaven.” All the persecution in the world is nothing compared to the glory of heaven. And number two, Jesus said you need to rejoice because they persecuted the prophets who were before you in the same way. The Old Testament prophets were persecuted, and if you're being persecuted, then you're in the same camp as them.
In other words, you're in good company if you're being persecuted for the cause of Christ. Now, let me refer you to two passages. Romans 8 verse 18 says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” And also in Acts chapter 5 beginning in verse 40 the Bible says this about the mistreatment and persecution of the Apostles: “And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the Apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Remember, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
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