Living in Heaven on Earth

Matthew 5:10-12

"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." 

Greek word persecuted: to be put to flight The English definition is: to subject someone to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of religious beliefs. 

Greek word kingdom: royal power, sovereignty, reigns

Greek word heaven: from the skies, heavens, lofty heights
Greek word revile: to reproach--denounce, insult
Greek word falsely: to lie, false testimony, false witness

By now, we have an understanding of our blessings as children of the Father, Jesus Christ, and how he delights to live in every part of our lives within our hearts. We are called to be set apart from the world by how we live our lives differently from the world (James 4:4-10). We are not sitting on fences waiting on the return of the bridegroom, or at least we shouldn't be doing the waiting game of life for our coming home party but have our lamps lit ready for a wedding feast with other siblings in Christ Jesus. 

Our sinful nature before Jesus, made us at opposition with him in our lives. Now, we are compelled to bare witness to the transformation power of the Father within us to the world. Nobody wants to be informed that they are in the wrong,and as sinners ourselves shouldn't judge but share God's law, especially when they think compared to others in the world they are good.

Let's break these two "Be-Attitudes" down...

Persecuted for righteousness sake

The righteousness we have received came with the Holy Spirit. We as Christians are called to be set a part from the world. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." We should not even resemble what the world is like, especially when our lives mirror Jesus. The word of God says, "Therefor, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" Matthew 5:48. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we will become more like Him. Nobody likes different, but so what? God promises us in His word that, (Isaiah 54:17)

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

And their righteousness is from Me,”

Says the Lord."

God will fight your battles as we learned yesterday as being peacemakers. There is no need for us to be offended, quarrelsome, angry, dismayed, or have hurt feelings when people poke fun of our faith. They make the choice as we did to believe in Jesus the source of our salvation, to surrender, follow, and serve, or reject the Father. So, when they persecute us for righteousness sake, they are rejecting Jesus, and we should not take it personally in our own spirit. 

Your's is the kingdom of Heaven

Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Paul wrote this about his own persecution to express that in the earthly body, though imprisoned and tortured, he lives not to himself but for Christ. Even though, eventually he would be put to death for the sake of Christ, he says, "to die is gain," because he will be in the presence of Jesus in heaven. We have the same guarantee. Paul's ministry is a great example of how we should endure while ministering to this world. We should not fear the persecution of mankind, but look towards God's approval. I know personally, I have struggled in the past with this, but as I am studying and drawing closer to my Father, I want to be approved by God when he says, "well done my good and faithful servant." (Matthew 25:21)

Our reward for faithful relationship and service to the Father, is that we get to live eternity with Him in the physical in heaven on earth. This is why I used the title. We have a loving, merciful, and just God. He is all knowing, all powerful, ever present and perfect. Nothing that is in opposition with God will enter the kingdom of God. We are to be Gospel sharing, God honoring, always loving, peacemakers for Christ. 

Reviled, Rejected, and Rumored

I encourage you to read Isaiah 53 and see that being mirror images of Jesus in our lives, by living as He would have us live, we will be reviled, rejected, and lied about (rumored). Isaiah 53, is a prophesy about Christ Jesus the Messiah, salvation for our sins. When we stand up about issues in today's media that go against God's word, we will be rejected, reviled, and have lies told about us. People love to gossip and point fingers, but our response should be long suffering and show kindness as our response when presenting the Word of Truth.

Rejoice and be Glad

Psalms 118:19-24..."This is the day the LORD has made, I will be glad and rejoice in it." (v. 24) We have reason to hope and that is Jesus who is our salvation and eternal promise of freedom from our sins. There was not a single day of lasting joy or happiness in my life until I fully surrendered to Jesus as my savior. Philippians 1:9-11 Paul prayed, "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." That is a prayer for all Christians who live like Jesus would because of the Spirit within us. We have all hope and love of a Father who has adopted us as His own. Remember that Helmet of Salvation, we have a promise of our salvation which is hope and the Word of God to keep us trained in righteousness. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!! Yeah Jesus! May your praise ever be on my lips, O God! 

Prophets Persecuted Before Us

Acts 7:51-60 is about Stephen who was martyred for his faith in Jesus. Here we see a good example of what it means to live for Christ until death. My friends and family, like on judgement day, we will have to account for our choices, we will face the judgement of mankind. God is the only one who is just. Mankind's spirit alone is at war with God because of sin. The prophets knew this and were persecuted unto death in many cases throughout the bible. I am not saying this to scare you, but to motivate you to stand firm in the hope we have in Christ Jesus. Stephen looks up to heaven and sees Jesus on the throne. 

Look at the times we live in now my friends. We need to take our stand against the devil and all his lies. Abortion, it is murder; homosexuality, is sexual sin and an abomination to God; transgender, is a sexual sin and blasphemy to God because God makes no mistakes; Adultery, is a sexual sin even pornography and BDSM or strip/sex clubs are included; drug addiction is a form of demonic oppression; little white lies are the same as big ones; taking something by accident is stealing; being rude, talking back in a disrespectful manner, or screaming at your parents are being disobedient and not honoring them as God commanded you to do; making God into something He isn't is Idol worship....

Jesus said of the commandments, if you follow the two he gave, you will be able to obey the law given to Moses. Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus replied to the disciples question, 

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Keeping these things in mind we have such hope that the world doesn't have to share with others. If you tonight have realized that you need this hope in your life, please email me so that I may pray for you personally. If this is you realizing that as a Christian, you need more of Jesus in your life and need to connect with a church in your local area, I would be happy to help and pray any way I can.