SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/4/2020
11:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Persecution”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
5:10-12
Message of the verses: “10 “Blessed are
those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when men cast insults at
you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on
account of Me. 12 "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is
great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
As
we begin this second SD on “The Persecution” I want to ask a question: What do you think one of the main reasons why
believers are persecuted? I suppose that
hatred is probably the main reason that this happens, but then what causes the
hatred from those who are doing the persecution? My answer to this is righteousness. We mentioned in our last SD about if a
believer is living out the first seven beatitudes that it can cause others
around them to become uncomfortable. The
reason that others are uncomfortable is because what they see is believers
living righteously and I believe this convicts them and so they become angry
and want to hurt believers. If we look
at the reason that the leaders of Israel crucified Jesus Christ it was because
He lived a perfect life while on earth and they could not stand it so they had
Him killed.
John
MacArthur writes that “Righteousness is confrontational, and even when it is
not preached in so many words, it confronts wickedness by its very contrast.” An example of this comes from the life of
Able as he did not preach to his brother Cain, but his life certainly did
preach to him and Cain could not stand it so he killed Able. One more example comes from the life of
Moses, for when Moses began to identify with the Hebrew people he would not
compromise himself with the pleasures of the pagan Egyptian society and
according to the book of Hebrews Moses considered “the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt” (Heb. 11:26).
John
MacArthur quotes the Puritan writer Thomas Watson who said of Christians “Though
they be never so meek, merciful, pure in heart, their piety will not shield
them from sufferings. They must hang
their harp on the willows and take the cross.
The way to heaven is by way of thorns and blood…Set it down as a maxim,
if you will follow Christ you must see the swords and staves.” This quote comes from “The Beatitudes” published by Banner of Truth Trust in 1971.
MacArthur
next quotes from a man who was one of the greatest reformers in the history of
the church named Savonarola, and this preacher powerfully condemned personal
sin and also ecclesiastical corruption before the Protestant Reformation which
began shortly after his death. One of
his biographers writes “His preaching was a voice of thunder, and his denunciation
of sin was so terrible that the people who listened to him went about the
streets half-dazed, bewildered and speechless.
His congregations were so often in tears that the whole building
resounded with their sobs and their weeping.”
Some of the people who heard him preach protested against him and he was
convicted of “heresy,” he hanged, and his body was burned.”
We
can learn from all this that persecution is one of the surest and also most
tangible evidences of salvation. Persecution
is not incidental to faithful Christian living but what it is, is certain
evidence of it. Paul was actually kicked
out of Thessalonica after only a few weeks and it was because of his preaching
the truth, and so Paul wanted to encourage this church so we read that he sent
Timothy, “so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you
yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept
telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came
to pass, as you know” (1 Thess. 3:3-4).
According to Romans 8:16-17 suffering persecution is part of the normal
Christian life: “16 The Spirit Himself
testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,17 and if children, heirs
also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also
be glorified with Him.”
Persecution tests our faith and if we are not exercising ridicule,
criticism, or rejection because of our faith we have reason to examine the
genuineness of our faith. Let us look at
Philippians 1:29-30 “29 For to you it
has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to
suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the
same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” We can learn from persecution that it is a
sign of our own salvation and it is also a sign of damnation for those who do
the persecuting. “28 in no way alarmed
by your opponents-which is a sign of destruction for them, but of
salvation for you, and that too, from God” (V. 28).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have to say that all of the beatitudes have
been very hard to look at and to write about, but perhaps this one is the most
difficult, and I suppose the reason for this is that as I look back at my life
time of over 70 years I cannot find that the United States of America has never
been so close to persecution Christians as they are today.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I must trust the Lord to allow me to live a
life that shows that I belong to my Lord Jesus Christ and to give me the grace
for what lies ahead.
6/4/2020 11:47 AM
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