BLESSED ARE (PART 8)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Those who are poor in spirit.

Those who are mourning.

The meek.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

The merciful.

The pure in heart.

and

Those who are peacemakers.

What do all these people have in common?

In delivering the opening to His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that they each are blessed. In other words, everyone included within each of these categories of people will be happy as a result for various reasons.

The poor in spirit will have the kingdom of heaven.

Those mourning will be comforted.

The meek will inherit the earth.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.

The merciful will be shown mercy.

The pure in heart will see God.

The peacemakers will be called children of God.

It’s quite a compilation of those who are blessed and today we will add to the list in the next to last devotion in this nine devotion series. Look at these words of Jesus from Matthew 5:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:10

Persecution was something Jesus knew all about and He would experience it exponentially as His ministry progressed as would anyone who followed Him like His trusty twelve disciples. In fact, Jesus would later warn them in this fashion:

“You will be hated by everyone because of Me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.” Matthew 10:22-23

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also.” John 15:18-20

Indeed, the disciples would suffer persecution but that persecution would not stop the Gospel from spreading but rather it caused it to disperse to the point where it could no longer be contained. Look at these passages as proof of this:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.  Acts 8:1-3

Before He ascended to sit at His Father’s right hand, Jesus promised His apostles that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit and at Pentecost, that happened. The apostles would begin to boldly spread the Gospel in Jerusalem to the point where they raised the ire of the Sanhedrin just as Jesus had. And after Stephen, one of the seven chosen to assist the apostles with their ministry, was stoned to death, a great persecution broke out against the Christian church led by none other than a devout Jew named Saul who would later become arguably the greatest apostle, Paul, after an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. The persecution led to the apostles being scattered to where Jesus predicted they would go. Paul later would embark on missionary journeys to take the good news of salvation through Jesus to the “end of the earth”.

Today, persecution is still happening every single day in parts of the world as Christians are threatened, tortured, and killed for the cause of Jesus and the righteousness found in Him. If you want to read about it, go to either of these two websites of organizations who are advocating and supporting the persecuted”

Voice of the Martyrs      https://www.persecution.com/

and

International Christian Concern   http://www.persecution.org/

Even in nations where people are free to worship as they choose, there is still increasing persecution of Christians as their rights and liberties are continuously challenged. It seems that persecution is going to be around for as long as this world exists and we know that’s going to be until Jesus returns and hits the reset button on creation. Until that time, persecuted Christians need to draw strength, comfort, and assurance from the words of Jesus and today’s Beatitude:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

For the Lord Jesus will not forsake anyone who suffers for the His sake and cause. Rather, He will bless them and give them the kingdom of heaven where they will share life with Him forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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