Kingdom Living - Those Who are Persecuted

Matthew chapter 5 verses 10 to 12. So if you would take your Bible and turn back with me to that portion of Scripture, Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 10 on down to verse 12. Now if you've been here in our journey through the Beatitudes right now you're probably saying, "Oh my, we're gonna cover three verses this morning." Now that's the truth. We will be covering three verses this morning. I'll say this when you look at the Beatitudes, it's difficult to cover more than one of the Beatitudes because they are so rich, they are so deep, they are so powerful.

So we've just been taking each of these Beatitudes one at a time starting with verse 3 going on down and then last week we look at verse 9, "Blessed are the peacemakers," but we will wrap up the last of the Beatitudes in these three verses. Now this morning we're at the end, this morning we're at the end of the first section of the Sermon on the Mount. You know the Sermon on the Mount is three chapters. Chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, well the first section is the Beatitudes.

Starts in verse 2 and goes all the way down to verse 12 and we will finish up the last Beatitude this morning, but next week we will revisit the Beatitudes as a whole body of work, the entire body of work. We will also look at the different Jewish groups that were there listening to Jesus on that faithful day and we'll see how this teaching related to them and there's a lot that we can learn. There is a lot that we need to apply. It's very, very relevant and I'm excited to get to that message that's coming up next week. Now before we get into this last Beatitude we need to see how things are changing.

In this eighth Beatitude things are going from very positive truthfully to very, very negative, really, really fast. Jesus does not slowly ease into this new subject. He dives headfirst being brutally honest. Now let me show you what I mean. All of these Beatitudes that we've been studying are about the blessed life in Christ Jesus. Are they not? Verses 3 to 9 have been all about this inner joy, this inner happiness that Christ wants to bring about in all of His people. Notice what else we've seen that it's been very, very positive. Those Christians who mourn, verse 4 says they shall be comforted. That's positive.

The meek they shall inherit the earth, we saw that in verse 5, that's positive. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they will be satisfied. Again, very positive. The pure in heart they shall see God in verse 8. Again, that's very positive. And then the peacemaker shall be called sons and daughters of God. That's very positive. But to top it all off, those who live this life, the true Christian life, they possess the kingdom. They live in the kingdom and they do kingdom work. Now this is all very, very positive. I think that's obvious for you to see. But notice how things change very fast. Look at verse 10 with me, verse 10 and 11.

"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." Now we see this is very, very negative. Jesus is brutal here. He teaches what is a negative message. Now listen to your pastor here. Most Americans who identify as Christians quickly say yes to positive and encouraging Christianity, but quickly say no to persecution, being reviled, and being slandered. Most people who identify as Christian in the United States want Christianity that is accepted by everyone.

They don't want to be rejected and they want to be accepted. Let me show you what I mean here. Christians today, they want their Christianity in such a way where they will be accepted by presidents and politicians alike. Christians today, they want to be Christian and they want to be on television and in movies and accepted by Hollywood. They want to be able to be on TV shows like America's Got Talent and others. Why? They want to be accepted. They want to be in that world. Christians today, they want a Christianity that allows them to play professional sports and just be accepted.

Just here recently, a very famous NFL quarterback was ridiculed because of a quick Christian stance and of course he recanted. Why? Because he wanted to be accepted. Christians today, they want to sing Christian music and then they want to cross over. See, they want to be accepted into country music. See, all of that speaks to this attitude of wanting to be accepted. They want a Christianity that gets along with people. They want a Christianity that fits in with the church folks and the folks in the world. They want to be popular, not unpopular. They want to be accepted, not rejected.

They want to be applauded, not hated, and definitely not persecuted. Truthfully, most American Christians, so called American Christians, they want to carve out verses 10 to 11. They want to carve that out of their Christianity, but not verse 12 because verse 12 is all positive. Go back to the passage with me. Verse 12, "Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." They want the blessings of the Beatitudes, but many Christians, so-called Christians within our country, they don't want the sufferings that's taught within the Beatitudes.

A very famous Christian from the early 20th century captures this demonic approach to Christianity very well. There's a little book called The Radical Cross by A.W. Tozer. I've had it for years. It's one of those that I go back and forth to, but notice what A.W. Tozer says, and he captures this approach very well, and I'm quoting, "We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and where our tinsel crown will all the pride of Caesar, but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility." Tozer is right.

That is what happens to Christianity when you take out the rejection, when you push away from suffering, when you reject even persecution. That's what happens to Christianity when you want to just get along with everybody. It turns into spiritual weakness, yes, being spiritually sterile, little so-called Christians, and I like this phrase, "with tinsel crowns full of the pride of a worldly king." It's powerless at best and demonic at worst. You need to hear that statement again. It is powerless at best and demonic at worst. Well, Jesus obliterates that view, that so-called Christian view, right here in the 8th beatitude.

Go right back to the verse. Verse 10, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Verse 11 is just an elaboration of verse 10, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Jesus obliterates that so-called American view of Christianity. Now, before we can get into the meaning of the verses, we must see the backdrop of verses 10, 11, and 12. Now, I'm not talking about the crowds that are there listening to Jesus. I'm not talking about the Jews and their religion.

I'm talking about the life spelled out here in the beatitudes. Verses 9 or verse 3 on down to verse 9, that's the background of verses 10 and 12, 10, 11, and 12. You see, all that is spelled out here is, and I've said this numerous times, the Christian life. Anything else is a cheap substitute. Anything else is a fraud. When we are born again, we experience verse 3, and then we progressively live out what is taught here. This is the Christian life. That's the background to verses 10, 11, and 12. So, here's the deal. When we live this Christian life as seen here in the beatitudes, then we can expect this to happen.

And what I mean by this is, verse 10, verse 11, and 12. We can expect to be rejected by the world, and at times, much, much worse. Now, it has been our custom to ask questions in these beatitudes. Truthfully, we've asked a lot of what questions have we not? Now, in dividing verses 10, 11, and 12, we're going to look primarily at three questions. We're going to look at the question of how. We're going to look at the question of why, and we're going to look at the question of what. Very easy for you to follow along. We'll answer these questions out of the verses, and a few other verses. And as always, I encourage you to take notes.

If I meet you in other scriptures, just jot them down and go back and study them on your own. I want you to follow me with your mind, and with your heart, and with your attention, because I want you to get all that the Lord wants to give us this morning. So let's start off with our first question. Number one, how would the world treat us? Let me state that again. How will the world treat us? And I mean those of us who desire to live this Christian life, the true Christian life. Now, I've already established the fact that many do not want rejection from the world, but many want acceptance from the world.

Here Jesus shows us that if we live the true Christian life, then we can expect to be treated pretty bad. Now, here there are three ways that we can be expected. We could be treated from the world. Three ways that we can be treated from the world. First is this word persecution. Look at verse 10 with me. "Blessed are those who are persecuted." And then verse 11, "Blessed are you when others revolve you and persecute you." Two times this word persecution is listed. Verse 10 and verse 11. Now, we needed to find the word biblically. We cannot assume that everyone knows the meaning of the word.

To persecute literally means to follow after or to pursue. Now, really a good picture of the definition is seen in two ways. The picture is one chasing after an enemy or a hunter who is pursuing gain. Now, here in the verses it means to oppress someone because of their religious actions and religious beliefs. Of course, the single greatest example of persecution is what the world did to Jesus. Truthfully, in one statement, Jesus summarizes all the persecution that He endured. John chapter 15, verse 18, and I'm reading the verse.

"If the world hates you," He's talking to His disciples, "know that it," that's the world, "has hated me before it hated you." And what do we see? This summarizes how the world treated Jesus. The world chased after Jesus like a bloodthirsty hunter chasing after helpless gain. They persecuted Him all throughout His earthly ministry right up to the cross. So first is persecution. We can expect persecution from the world. And then second, being reviled. Second, this word reviled or being reviled. Look at the beginning of verse 11. "Blessed are you when others revile you." Now, this revile, it has to do with speech.

It is when people do evil toward someone with words. Now, this happened to Jesus often. I'm just going to give you a couple of examples. In John 8, verse 48, they said, this was the Jewish leaders, they said that Jesus was a Samaritan, which was a terrible insult, and they said that He was demon-possessed. See, they reviled Him with words. In Matthew 27, when Jesus was on the cross, they mocked Him. They reviled Him. The picture here is of someone who is literally grinding their teeth, and they're reviling another through their teeth. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 12. It's a short verse, but listen to what he says.

"And we," talking about those companions in ministry, "and we labor, working with our own hands," and notice, "when reviled, we bless." "When persecuted, we endure." See, Paul mentions this reviling and this persecuting. So, second, we can expect to be reviled. And then third, the word "slander." Third, we can expect to be "slandered." Now, look at the end of verse 11. I'm going to start at the beginning. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you," and here it is, "and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely." Now, this is a similar word to "reviled," but there is another layer.

An emphasis should be placed on the word "falsly." This is speaking of evil against someone, speaking evil against someone, but clearly just making up lies. This is lies, false accusations mixed in with reviling. The Apostle Peter speaks of this slander and this reviling. Again, they're connected. 1 Peter 3, 16 reads, "Having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." So, notice what Jesus is saying right here in these verses.

"For the one who lives this life, this true Christian life, found in the Beatitudes," they can expect to be rejected by the world, and this rejection takes on many forms. Persecution being reviled and being slandered. Now, a question or two that many may ask, these are legitimate questions. Does this apply to us today? We need to think about that. Does this apply to us today? Some may say, "Shouldn't this apply to those just who are listening?" Maybe the disciples, but does this apply to us? Truthfully, some have pushed back from this rejection, this persecution. Now, these verses do not teach that all will be reviled.

They do not teach that all will suffer every day, but we must see the natural progression of these verses. From verses 3 to 9, we have a list of Christian character traits ending here in verses 10 to 12. Within verses 10 to 12, there is a very powerful implication that the one who lives this life can expect rejection. The world will always hate those who live this life. Some are slandered, some are reviled, and it stops there. But some are persecuted, and even some are murdered or killed for their faith. Now, for me, I see this, this work here.

I see it in four stages or four levels, and all of these begin with an R, so it's easy for you to remember. It's easy for you to write it down, and I think this is accurate to the text. We see that the world will reject all, but notice some are ridiculed, and then it can move on. Some go from being ridiculed to being reviled. I see that as another layer, and then there are some that they are even really persecuted. So what do we see? We can be rejected, but then it can move to being ridiculed, and oh, then it can be moved to being reviled, and then it can move on to really being persecuted.

You need to get that because we are going to revisit these four stages. We are rejected, we are ridiculed, we are reviled, and then we can be really, really persecuted. Now, I want you to notice how the disciples received these verses. They knew it would be a part of their life, and they knew it would be a part of the lives of the believers that they ministered to. So the disciples show us that this goes beyond the original audience. Later on, the Apostle Peter in his teaching, he teaches from the Beatitudes twice in his own letter. He's quoting this verse in 1 Peter 3, 14.

The verse says, "But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled." Later on, he says the same thing in chapter 4, verse 14. "If you are insulted from the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." So think about who Peter was writing to. He's writing to Christians within the churches. So Peter clearly understood that this life was for the disciples and for others. I think most of us know that the Apostle Paul endured much persecution. Truthfully, he got every one of these R's, did he not? He got every one of them.

He was rejected, he was ridiculed, he was reviled, and he was really, really persecuted. And he expected this kind of life to those he ministered to as well. A couple of verses that I want you to hear that communicates this. Philippians 1, 29. Paul says, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake." In 2 Timothy 3, 12. Paul is writing to Timothy, ministering there in the Ephesian church.

He says, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Notice he says, "All who desire." And he says the same thing in 1 Thessalonians 3, verses 3 and 4. So in summary, what are we seeing here? Jesus is teaching that all of those who live this life, the true Christian life that is spelled out here in the Beatitudes, they will be rejected by the world. Yes, they will be rejected, but some they will be ridiculed, and then some they will be reviled, and some will really, really be persecuted. Now go back to the verses.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And then he is elaborating on what he's already said in verse 11. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." So we see a great persecution and reviling and rejection and real persecution should be expected for those who live this life. Now in application, I want to start off with this question. How will the world treat us? But I want to personalize it by asking, how does the world treat you? Yes, how does the lost world treat you?

And I think about several areas of life where you live and where you operate and where you go. What about in the life of your family? Maybe what about work life? And maybe what about in the life of your friends and you young people? What about within your peer group or maybe your school? How does the world treat you? And we need to see that this is a test, a test that proves, a test that proves for us who we truly are. I thought about a good example that might help you see this as a test. A good friend of mine back home, his family, most of his family, all of his uncles are involved in the pipeline and business.

My friend Rocky has told me many stories about how his dad has traveled all over the United States as a pipeline inspector. Literally, simplistically, he inspects whales where these guys are welding up those pipelines. Very dangerous work because see if that weld isn't true, if that weld doesn't hold, what happens? Great catastrophe. But what he does is, as an expert, he gets in that hole and he expects well after well after well. He inspects it and he tests it to see if it is true. And we must see that the beatitude right here in verse 10 and 11, it is a test for all of the beatitudes.

Just as a person must be poor in spirit to enter the kingdom, that same person will be persecuted if he is in the kingdom. Now let me say it this way, if someone is in the kingdom, then all of the characteristics listed from verse 3 to 9 are present in their life. And this persecution is a final characteristic on the list of beatitudes. It serves as a test. This beatitude wraps up the rest. So I go back. How do the lost people in your family react to you? How do they treat you? The lost people in your world of work, the lost people, your friends that maybe you know. Wherever you go, how does the lost world treat you?

And we'll talk about this more as we proceed. So let's notice our second question, our number two. Why? Why will the world reject us? Why will the world reject us? Now here we see the why in two places. We see this in verse 10 and we see this in verse 11. In verse 10 it says, "For righteousness sake," go back to the verse, "Blessed are those who persecute you for righteousness sake." And then verse 11, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Now there can be much misunderstanding and misapplication of these verses.

Now the key to understanding the why is found in verse 10. This rejection, this ridicule, this reviling, this real persecution comes from righteousness but Christ's righteousness. It is because of righteous living from being a son and daughter of God. It comes from hungering and thirsting for and attaining Christ's righteousness. We studied that in the Beatitudes as well. Remember what we learned in verse 6. I stated that verse 6 is the key. The key is Christ hungering and thirsting for Christ and his righteousness. What am I showing you? This is not religion. This is not a system of living. This is not a list of do's and don'ts or rules.

This is personal. Notice the connection in verse 10 and 11. This persecution comes from righteousness in verse 10. Righteousness that is connected to Christ personally because what does he say at the end of verse 11? "On my account it is connected to Christ. It's relational. It's not external." Now I want to take the time to clear up some misunderstandings. It's a list of nots. I came across this list from a Bible scholar, Bible commentator Jim Boyce. I changed it up a bit. I took his and just infused it with a little bit of mine but there are four nots that I want us to see. This is not being a nuisance.

You might laugh at that phrase but it needs to be said. This is not being a nuisance. There is no promise of joy and happiness from Christ for the one is nothing more than a big nuisance. You know some so-called Christians are difficult. Some are condescending and rude and insulting and even more so with non-Christian people. You know that guy? Sometimes we call him a jerk for Jesus. You know sometimes when a lady is like this we might say well you know she's just a bitty. They're the one who always gets on people's nerves. They see them coming and they recoil. Why? Because they're a nuisance. Well that's not what this is talking about.

Second, this is not being mean. This is not being mean. There are those who are just mean. Some of the most religious people can be downright mean. Now I don't think these people are converted. Now I am not talking about perfection but there are people who can be mean. They're mean in their family. They're mean to the closest people around them and if you really get to know them they are not kind and considerate. They are mean people. Peter deals with this in 1st Peter 4.15.

He says and I'm quoting, "But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler." When this person tells the lost that they are Christian they really don't believe it because they see them as being mean. So this is not being a nuisance. This is not being mean and this is not being a fanatic. You know those people that are fanatics? There are always those around Christianity who are fanatics. They go overboard. Many times people can become overly religious and they can become fanatical and get involved in fanatical behavior. This is not being a fanatic. And then forth this is not following a cause.

This is not following a cause. There are many people who get caught up in a cause. Some are caught up in the cause in social movements. Some are caught up in denominational work. Some are caught up in parachurch work or parachurch organizations. Some are caught up in standing up against sin and injustice in society. But right here this righteousness is not a cause. This cause may even be a religious cause but that doesn't mean it is true righteousness. Well the question then, what is this righteousness? We need to ask that question. What is this righteousness? What is it? Simply it means being like Jesus.

It means being called sons and daughters of God who do God-like stuff because they are like God. See how it flows out of the Beatitudes? The other Beatitudes? It means hungering and thirsting after His righteousness which is hungering and thirsting for Christ Himself. See how this flows out of the Beatitudes? This in turn makes one like Christ therefore they are righteous. So in summary what do we see with this second question? The world reacts to the true Christian in one of two ways. First they may be attracted to them and I haven't said that yet.

See the Holy Spirit performs this work so as to expose them to Christ through us and our righteousness and Christ-likeness. This is a part of the loss being drawn to Christ for salvation. But second is the opposite. Most people in the world reject the true Christian. The true Christian is rejected, they are ridiculed, they are reviled and even persecuted because of their Christ-like righteousness because of Christ-like righteousness in them that comes out of them. Again this is an external first. This is internal first and then it becomes external.

The world rejects and persecutes true Christians because they are like Christ, they are little Christ people, they are Christians. Now an application I asked you earlier, how does the world treat you? Now I ask, do you have a righteousness that draws sinners to faith in Christ or do you have a righteousness that causes the lost world to reject you?

It's one of the two, unless you're bland, unless you're just vanilla, unless you're just gray, unless you just want to be accepted by everybody, unless you just want to get along with this group and that group, this group in your family, this group at work, this group of friends, this group at school, you see what I mean? Now folks you need to listen. How the world treats you reveals the righteousness that is within you. Let me say it another way, how the world treats you reveals how much Christ-likeness is in you.

Now let me say it another way, if the lost world can get along with you, if you can get along with the lost world and there's no rejection, no ridicule, no reviling, then something might be wrong. Let me say that again, if the lost world can get along with you and if you can get along with the lost world and there's no rejection and ridicule and reviling, then something can be wrong. D.A. Carson, the Bible commentator, D.A. Carson kind of wraps this up in a better way for me and I'm quoting, "The basic principle reappears again and again in the New Testament.

The Christian lives in a sinful world, therefore he exhibits genuine transparent righteousness and he will be rejected by many. Genuine righteousness condemns people by implication. Small wonder that people often lash out in retaliation. Christ's disciples bother righteous living thus divide men. Men are either repelled or drawn to the Savior." So again I'll go back to the world in which you live, your family, your work, your friends, those you come in contact with, even in school. Are lost sinners drawn to you or do they reject you?

Do you have a righteousness that comes from Christ whereby people have to choose to be drawn to Christ through you or to reject you and revile you and hate you? And that's the question. How does the world treat you? So let's move on to our third question and our outline. Number three, what is this reward? What is this reward? We finally get to the question what? I know we've asked the what question all throughout verses three to nine. We've asked it quite a few times. Now there's a lot going on here with this word reward. Now simple reading or a simple memory of verse 12 shows us this word reward. Go back to the verse, verse 12.

"Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great." But there is a lot more to this word reward than just in verse 12. Now I want us to see that there are three rewards. There are two for the here and now, life on earth, and then there's one in the life after. First I want us to see this reward on earth, the blessed life. The reward on earth, the blessed life. Now here in verse 10 and verse 11 we see this familiar word blessed. Verse 10, "Blessed are those who are persecuted." Verse 11, "Blessed are you when others revile you." Now you notice that two times he uses this word blessing for persecution. Now why does he use the word two times?

Remember verse 11 is an expansion of what's being taught in verse 10. Verse 10 takes on the familiar form but notice verse 11 says the same thing but it's expanded. But notice the verses state two times that blessing comes to the Christian who is rejected and ridiculed, reviled, and really persecuted. We know what this blessing is. It is an inner work, an inner joy, an inner blissfulness and happiness that comes from a work of God. So the first reward on earth is a blessed life. Now the second reward on earth is kingdom living. Kingdom living.

Go back to verse 10, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." We know that that phrase is attached to every one of the Beatitudes. Then we know what kingdom living is. We live in the kingdom. We possess the kingdom. We're involved in kingdom work. We possess kingdom work. That is an earthly reward. Those who are persecuted are rewarded with kingdom living and kingdom work. And then third, the future reward, the reward in heaven. In verse 12 we see this future reward. Here Jesus says to rejoice and be glad.

He is saying that the rejected, the ridiculed, the reviled, those who are really persecuted should count it as a great privilege to suffer for Christ. He is saying that it is a high honor, a great honor. So Jesus is saying that a great reward awaits for those who suffer for Christ and his righteousness. Now in summary, what do we see here with this reward? Great reward for rejection and persecution. It is all wrapped up in this treatment from the world. Jesus piles on the rewards. Two times he says that we are blessed. Then one time he says and states again that this is part of kingdom living.

Then he speaks of a great future reward which is in heaven. And notice some incentive. Notice some encouragement. He puts the one being persecuted in the company of the prophets of old. Go back to verse 12. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." He is saying rejoice and be glad you are in good company. Now remember my four R's. If the world is not drawn to us and drawn to our Christ's righteousness, then the world rejects us. They ridicule us. They may even revile us. And the world could really, really persecute us.

But see, our American Christianity does not see the Christian life that way. Oh, they want the great reward, but they don't want the rejection, the ridicule, the revilement, and the real persecution. But here is my question for you. Do we want the reward but yet reject being reviled? Do we want the reward and reject being persecuted and rejected by the world? See, if we're not careful, we can admire it when we study Christians of old. We can look up to that when we study missionaries who go off into the jungle and they're persecuted even unto death.

We can look at this great characteristic in the lives of other Christians, but yet we can still reject it. But yet we can want to hold on to the reward. But I want to say this to you. If you're a true Christian and you live out this life, if you're a true Christian and you seek to live out what's taught here in these Beatitudes, listen, you will be rejected and if you're rejected in your family, if you're rejected in your job, if you're rejected in this world that you live in, there is a reward here and there is a reward there. But I'll say this before I move on from this reward.

I think that we need to really pay attention to the fact that our world is changing even in our culture. Christians are being persecuted and ridiculed. Even in our culture persecution comes to churches and it's coming faster and faster and I believe that there will be a day when we will see overt persecution against Christians greater than we know. I'm going to speak more about this in the conclusion. And so my question for you is this. Will we receive the reward because we have received rejection, revilement, and even persecution?

Now as I move away from dividing the verses, I get to the part of the message that we've done in every one of these Beatitudes and that is reassembling the verse. We have assembled every one of these verses from verse 3 all the way down to verse 9. Now being that this Beatitude is long, this is a lot. This is a big one because it does cover verses 10, 11, and 12. But here is my reassembly. We've broken all of this down and here is the reassembly. Oh the great joy, oh the great happiness, oh the great inner work of peace and fulfillment and joy that comes to the one who is persecuted by the world for Christ's sake.

They experience rejection, they are ridiculed by some and reviled as well. Some are really persecuted, even persecuted to death like the prophets of old. All this rejection and persecution is because of Christ and Christ's likeness. They receive a reward, the reward of a blessed life on earth and the reward in heaven to come. This is the true kingdom life. This is kingdom living. Though rejected and persecuted, possess the kingdom, they are in the kingdom and they possess kingdom work. Now as I move to conclude, I want to revisit two of the questions that I posed throughout the message. First, how will the world treat us?

And then second, why will the world reject us? I want you to hold on to those questions as we get into the conclusion. But we need to be honest, most professing Christians do not want to face rejection and persecution and all that is in between. Now why is that the case? I see four reasons why many who profess to be Christians are not rejected, they're not persecuted and everything in between. First, Brother Keith coined this phrase years ago, "home-filled advantage." We have in many ways what is called home-filled advantage. We live in a society where Christianity is accepted and even respected.

Yes, we're in the Bible Belt and we're down here in South Mississippi and we live in a small community and listen, in our society Christianity is accepted and even respected and that's what's called home-filled advantage. You know when a sports team has home-filled advantage, there are perks that come with that. Our country used to be home-filled advantage.

I remember studying about Jim Elliott and those American Christians who were martyred in the 1950s down in South America and when our American boys were murdered in the jungles trying to take the gospel to a savage people, all of America was enraged, even the lost, because they felt like our Christian boys were down there doing the right thing. They had home-filled advantage. Now that's disappearing real fast, but the reason a lot of people are not persecuted and rejected and reviled is because even lost people in certain segments of society look up to Christianity. That's how it called home-filled advantage. Well, it's going away fast.

A second reason why Christians are not rejected and persecuted and everything in between is that many have lowered the standard. Many have lowered the standard. Many, if not most, professing Christians in churches have lowered the standard. Let me show you some areas. The standard of morals. Listen, if you'll adopt the world's morals, if you'll adopt the changing morals of the day and time, you'll be accepted.

Oh, but if you stand against homosexuality and adultery and sex outside of marriage and all of this stuff going on with the LGBT and I can't even list all of the things that are going on with that, listen, if you will cower down to their standards, you'll be accepted, but yet if you reject that, you'll be reviled and many have lowered the standard. If you step out into the world and say Jesus is the only way, the one true way, and any other way is a false way, you'll be rejected and many Christians lower the standard.

So called Christians will get out there and be very ecumenical and they'll make positive and respecting comments about other religions and allude to and profess that there are other ways to have it, lowering the standard. I tell you why you can be accepted by the world is if you never mention hell. You just don't mention hell. Everybody goes to heaven, but nobody mentions hell. See, that's just lowering the standard and the list really just goes on and on and on and many, many professing Christians lower the standard so they're accepted by the world.

A third way that many so-called Christians are persecuted and rejected and everything in between is that they have no confrontation in them. Listen, many so-called Christians are just not confrontational about sin and man's lostness all around them. Many of them do not confront sin in their families and in the workplace and in their community. Many of these dare not tell someone that they're lost and they're going to hell.

See, if you don't confront someone about sin, if you don't confront someone about sexual, sinful, moral issues, if you don't step out and say Jesus is the only way, if you don't step out and talk about hell and damnation, listen, you're not confronting people in the society and culture and most people just don't want to do that. They don't want to confront so they're not rejected and persecuted. And then fourth, many, simply many who profess to be Christians really are not. They're just like the world because they're of the world and they're not Christian. Now what am I trying to show you?

Ways in which we are not rejected and we're not persecuted and we're not reviled and we're not mistreated. Ways in which we quote-unquote fly under the radar and I go back to those questions, how will the world treat us and why will the world treat us the way that we see in the scripture? Listen, the world will always reject Christ. The world will always reject Christ's likeness and Christ's righteousness unless God is using us to draw sinners to Christ. So what have we looked at this morning? It's very simple.

I think that you can guess the first part of the message title and that is Kingdom Living because this is all about Kingdom Living, those who are persecuted. Now a word of warning and then we'll close the message. Don't go seeking persecution. Don't go seeking to be rejected. Don't go seeking to be reviled. Don't go picking a fight, looking for a fight. See you'll become a nuisance. You'll be mean. You'll be a fanatic. You'll just have a cause. No. You seek to be Christlike. You seek Christ Jesus. You hunger and thirst for His righteousness. That's the key.

You desire to be like Christ and have Christ real and alive in your life and you just let God worry about the rest and there'll be one of two things happening. You'll be used to draw sinners to Christ or they'll reject you and revile you and maybe even persecute you. So seek Christ. Don't seek to be persecuted and just let Him take care of the rest.