SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/5/2020
8:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Persecution”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
5:10-12
Message of the verses: “10 Blessed are
those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all
kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 “Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.”
It
doesn’t really matter what kind of society that you live in the world will find
ways to persecute Christ’s church. We
are actually seeing this in what is going on in our country today. If we live a redeemed life to its fullest we
are inviting and can expect resentment and reaction from the world.
We
may see believers in our world today who have made professions for Christ and
seem to be very popular, however that does not mean that the world has raised
its standards, but that the popular believer has lowered his standards. John MacArthur writes “As the time for Christ’s
appearing grows closer we can expect opposition from the world to increase, not
decrease. When Christians are not
persecuted in some way by society it means that they are reflecting rather than
confronting that society. And when we please
the world we can be sure that we grieve the Lord (cf. James 4:4; 1 John
2:15-16).
In
verse eleven we see the word “when” and MacArthur helps us understand this
word: “When (hotan) can also mean whenever.
The idea conveyed in the term is not that believers will be in a
constant state of opposition, ridicule, or persecution, but that, whenever
those things come to us because of our faith, we should not be surprised or
resentful. Jesus was not constantly opposed and ridiculed, nor
were the apostles. There were times of
peace and even popularity. But every
faithful believer will at times have some resistance and ridicule from the
world, while others, for God’s own purposes, will endure more extreme
suffering. But whenever and however
affliction comes to the child of God, his heavenly Father will be there with
him to encourage and to bless. Our
responsibility is not to seek our persecution, but to be willing to endure
whatever trouble our faithfulness to Jesus Christ may bring, and to see it as a
confirmation of true salvation.” I have
to say that this paragraph has been a help to me in understanding what Jesus
was saying about persecution in this section of Matthew.
So
the obvious answer to the question of how to avoid persecution is to act like
the world and in doing that a person is not standing up for the cause of Christ
who suffered and died so that all who accept Him as their Savior and Lord. Believers can keep quiet about the gospel
especially the truth that apart from its saving power men remain in their sins
and are destined for hell. I realize that
we cannot force the gospel down on anyone, but we can be like Peter says “ready
to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that
is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” 1 Peter 3:15).
Looking
at Luke 9:26 we can see that Jesus does not take faithlessness lightly “"For
whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him
when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy
angels.” If we are ashamed of Christ He
will be ashamed of us as He also warned in Luke 6:26 “"Woe to you
when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false
prophets in the same way.” If we are
popular with everyone it is either to have compromised the faith or not to have
true faith at all.
Even
though it was early in the ministry of our Lord that He preached through The
Sermon on the Mount He had already had faced opposition as seen in Mark 3:6
which is written after Jesus heals the man on the Sabbath: “The Pharisees went out and immediately began
conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy
Him.” From the gospel of Luke we learn
that His opponents wanted Jesus to heal on the Sabbath so that they could
accuse Him “The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see
if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse
Him.” We know that Jesus opponents
already hated Jesus’ teaching and they wanted Him to commit an act serious
enough to warrant His arrest.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As a believer I am to share Christ with
people who I come into contact with, but not be overbearing with them. As a believer I am to be willing to suffer
for the cause of Christ if that is what He desires for me to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that
the Lord will lead me to do all that He has planned for me to do. Trust that He will continue to teach me
contentment and humility and to give me joy as I study His Word each day.
6/5/2020 9:17 AM
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