Scripture Memory Club

[brinny]

this is a blessed study and meditation, especially in this day and age. thank you.

 

[heirmiles]

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:9.

This is our first day memorizing Matthew 5:9. Remember to write it down in your notebook, and practice saying the verse out loud while you are committing it to memory.

The word "peacemaker" appears once in the Bible. You guessed it, here, in Matthew 5:9. However the word "peace" in its various forms appears in 397 verses of the Bible.

You may be familiar with the Hebrew word "Shalom". "Peace to you." Which is a greeting, a blessing, a prayer, and a hope which infers goodwill, fellowship, loyalty, and well-being.

Normally when we think of peace we think of the absence of violence and war. This is expressed by the desire for "world peace." We also notice that there isn't a country in the world that does not have some kind of military or military-police force. In the world in which we live "world peace" is more of an ideal than a reality. Until Jesus returns there will be no such thing as "world peace".

Also when we think of peace we think of the absence of conflict. More and more in the "professional world" training is being given in Conflict resolution and Conflict Management. Unfortunately the motivation is not founded on "employee well-being" but because employee conflict causes massive financial and productivity losses within any business or organization. It is not because "happy workers make a happy workplace," but because "happy workers make more money for the company."

Then we come to human service organizations, which usually have significantly better motivations than money or power based business and governmental organizations. There is a recognition of basic human needs, and are usually focused on helping people meet these needs. In fact in these kinds of organizations there is a huge recognition that "peace" has to happen before people can reach their actual potential. People have to have a significant sense of personal security before they can begin to make a life for themselves, a security of water, food, shelter, clothing, education and skill training, with safe social interaction, and family well-fare.

Unfortunately this is as far as most of us go, even as Christians, when we think of what it means to be a 'peacemaker', after all, it is the best that can be done in a fallen world.

But what is peace really? Or what is real or true peace?

One might say, "It's inner peace," where there is no anxiety, or worry, sorrow, anger, hatred, or even desire or need. Or one might say "Peace is when we all simply get along." Or, "Peace is when I am truly content, or am completely satisfied with my lot in life." Or, "Peace is when my parents aren't yelling at each other." Or "It is when my brother (or sister) isn't being a jerk."

But really, when we think about it, aren't these things, the things that we have called "peace" really more of the fruits of peace than being what peace really is? Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:25-28.

The Peace which Jesus is talking about is something that the world can't give. Only God can give peace, Only the Holy Spirit whom God gives in Christ can bring this peace. Only a few verses earlier Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with your forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." John 14:15-18.

Jesus' presence, God's presence, the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives is peace. This is the manifestation of peace that the world cannot give. It is God's indwelling in us that is peace. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and WE will come to him and make our Home with him." John 14:23.

The resurrection proclaims to us the truth and reality of Christ's presence in our lives, that He has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. In John 14:19-20 He said, "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."

And what is the fruit of the peace of God's presence within us? "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."! John 14:21.

So first, we see that the peace of God, the peace of our Saviour Jesus Christ does not leave us orphans, for He is within us and we within Him, we are not orphans, we are sons of God.


"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9.

 

[brinny]

Aah, beautiful verse.

 

[Matthew-59]

Aah, beautiful verse.

Thanks for showing me this thread, brinny!

Hmm... for some reason I seem to like this verse, Matthew 5:9. Already got it committed to memory. It's been a verse that God laid upon my heart a few years ago. It's been very helpful to me since then.

Awesome thread!

 

[heirmiles]

Hi, Matthew-59, thanks for joining us. You're very welcome

 

[heirmiles]

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9.

We have referred to the fruit of the Holy Spirit several times in our study of the Beatitudes, and once again we find that peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. If we think about it, this is something that is not only remarkable but amazing.

You see, from since the fall of Adam, man has been at war with God. It didn't take long until evil had permeated all the thoughts of men, that violence was a 'default mechanism' in all of men's actions, man became totally corrupt. It does not take much imagination to recognize this meant that anger, hate, misery and a lust for evil had become so prevalent that God saw no other way to deal with it than to wipe out all of mankind with the flood. Yet one person had found favour in the sight of the Lord, Noah, and from his progeny all the earth became populated once again.

Yet, we would think that with such a new and fresh start, mankind would have learned its lesson. But no, that same desire to become gods in their own eyes motivated man to attempt to ascend to heaven and take their 'rightful' place, not only as gods of this world, but gods in heaven. God's response was to destroy their construct (the tower of Babel) and rend from man the ability to communicate with each other. (Note: This appears to be the motivation for the tower if we consider the first 11 chapters of Genesis according to its main themes, but I am not 100% certain. They definitely wanted to reach heaven, and were definitely rebelling against God.)

Unfortunately this tendency has never gone away within the human race. In the New Testament is describes the mind of the flesh, it is called "carnal". It is always grasping for its own. It is full of covetousness, greed, envy, hatred, lust, dissension, vindictiveness, spite, animosity, and a lot of other 'bad' things.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually mind is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:6-8). The word "enmity" means "to fight", "to be at war with".

First in the above passage we notice something, "the carnal mind is enmity against God; or it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." This is the core root of sin, not only open rebellion against God, but its complete inability to be subject to the law. This same sin nature is in all of us. That's the bad news.

The Good news.

"To be spiritually minded is life and peace."

The flesh cannot please God, The Law cannot be maintained by man. But in the Spirit of God there is life and peace, the mind and heart is renewed by the work of regeneration by Christ within us.

Let's look at Ephesians 2:14-18.
"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."

As a way of explanation, like Noah in his day, there came a man called Abraham, who also walked with God through faith in the promises of God, and God promised him that from Abe's descendants would come a son who would bless all nations. This person was our Saviour Jesus Christ. Now to Abraham's descendants there was given a law, we call it the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). This helps us understand what is meant by the Law when we talk about the carnal mind being unable to be subject to the Law. This also helps with understanding the context and thought in the above passage from Ephesians.

You see, it was specifically Abraham's descendants who were given the immediate promises of blessing. Yet, in Jesus, God has opened the promises and blessings to all who would receive Christ into their lives, gentile or Jew. The Jews always had the hopes of covenant and promise with God, but as we see throughout the Old Testament there was always failure in keeping the law, their hope was to be in the coming of the Saviour, the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, the One who would bless all nations.

As Gentiles (the vast majority of the earth's population) we have been grafted in to the family of promise, the family of blessing through Christ Jesus. We did not have God, we had no hope without God, we were strangers to God's covenant. It is through the New Covenant in Christ that we have been "brought near by the blood of Christ."

Now Christ is our peace, He has made both one, He has broken down the wall of separation, through His death on the cross, in fact in His flesh being fully God and fully man He has abolished the enmity of the Law (which was also God's testimony against the wickedness of man) and created in Himself one new man, fully God and fully man, having taken the full wrath of God against us upon Himself, and now reconciling both (Jew and gentile) to God in His one body on the cross.

Jesus has put to death the enmity between God and man. In Christ the war is over for those who receive Christ through faith. We are now a holy temple in the Lord, we are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone," upon Whom our faith, life, hope and peace completely relies.

I know its been a lot to read, but when it comes to peace with God there is so much than can be said, I would just like to finish with a reading from Galatians 5:13-25.

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty;
only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love serve one another.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this:
"You shall love you neighbor as yourself."

But if you bite and devour one another,
beware lest you be consumed by one another!
I say then: Walk in the Spirit,
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
and these are contrary to one another,
so that you do not do the things that you wish.
But if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,
dessensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like;
of which I tell you beforehand,
just as I also told you in time past,
that those who practice such things
will not inherit kingdom of God.

BUT the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.

And those who are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

As peacemakers in Christ, we are at peace with God, and God is at peace with us. As peace makers we are workers of peace. The work of peace is the ministry is reconciliation. Christ has worked reconciliation with God, and as disciples and followers of Christ, our ministry is a ministry of reconciliation, helping people to find reconciliation with God through Christ, and working reconciliation within Christ's body that we may grow in to a living temple of God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:9.

 

[brinny]

Amen!

 

[heirmiles]

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:9.

Yesterday we looked at the ministry of Christ in bringing us into peace with God. His death on the cross reconciled God's anger against sin and opened the door for God to pour his mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness upon us. We have seen that God is our peace as well, and that as ministers of reconciliation, as peacemakers, our response is to help people find reconciliation and peace with God through faith in Christ, as well as helping to bring peace within the body of Christ. It is this last aspect that I'd like us to think about today, as well as the inner working of the peace of God within our own personal lives as believers in Christ.

First, offenses happen (Matthew 18:7). Even as Christians are redeemed and regenerated, there is still the principle of sin in our lives. While Christ has finished His perfecting work on the cross, we are not yet perfect in our own lives. We still have tendencies towards selfishness, conceit, pride, and anger. While we are sanctified in Christ, we are still being sanctified as people. There is still a seed of corruption, we play favourites, we like those who like us, we ignore and neglect people who are different, we can be blind to other peoples sufferings, and the list can go on and on.

Then there are people who enjoy strife, enjoy seeing other people suffer, who find ridicule and blame as being a necessary part of life. The rich look down upon the poor, the well despise the ill, those who don't have addictions see those who do as being weak, both of stature and will. Status in the west is as engrained in culture as the caste system is in India. It is the "pride of life" that is inbred into us as is our sin. You could say that it is a biological imperative. The "alphas" in society have to be in control, and anyone who is not an "alpha" is to be manipulated, despised and degraded.

Hence, strife, envy, jealousy and hatred runs rampant under the surface of most people's calm and civil demeanor. This internal strife also causes great damage within the souls and minds of each individual. People's hearts are cut down to misery and desperation, hoping for love and peace, but finding neither, they fill these needs with wanton desires and are constantly grasping for more, and once they feel they have found it, even these are torn away from them.People need stability, people need a peace that is eternal and everlasting, otherwise anything that is attained is only temporary and thus cannot be relied upon.

Yet we as Christians have found somebody who can be relied upon, who is eternal, who is able to work within us to bring healing, love, hope, and peace. Yes, we too are assailed with the cares of this world, with the fears of temporal insecurity, with the confusion of the acts of selfishness, spite and hatred. But we know the person in whom we hope, we know that His abilities are way beyond our own, that He has the power to make true and lasting change, that He is righteous, and good, and holy, and full of grace and lovingkindness toward those who seek Him, toward those who find Him. His Holy Spirit is at work within us. His Spirit brings true peace within our lives. It is He whose love can not be taken away from us, which is given freely according to His mercy, and His grace. It is in Christ Jesus in whom we hope, it is in Christ that we can be truly content, it is in His work of righteousness that brings us into communion and fellowship with our Creator. It is Christ who has given us the right to be called sons of God.

It is this peace that Christ freely bestows upon us which gives us hope, meaning, and purpose when the tempests of life assail us. It is when we look to Him and find His hope within us, that we know within our hearts that He is here with us, that He is dwelling within, strengthening and encouraging us to focus upon His life and His mercy.This is the peace that we bring with us into the world, a peace wrought by the love of Christ with the hope of glory deep within our hearts.

There will always be strife until our Lord returns, and as peace makers, rather than sowing conflict, we sow peace. James tells us in the third chapter of his epistle, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:16-18.)

It is God's wisdom that has been sown in our hearts, that has been given life through faith in Christ Jesus, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit within us. His word is our well-spring, our fountain by which we feed upon His knowledge and wisdom, and it is by His Spirit that His truth grows within us and brings life. It is by His fruit in our lives that we see His peace come upon us and grow within us. That we see His purity at work, His gentleness, His forbearance, His mercy, and all the fruit of His light and life, that is within us without partiality or hypocrisy. It is by God's work within us that we see peace grow into the fullness that He promises and works within and guards our hearts and minds.

The Apostle Paul asks this question in Romans 8:35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Let me quote his answer:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written:
"For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This is the love and security that we bring in to all of our relationships, because this is the love and security given by Christ Jesus to us within our own lives. It is this gift of peace, this work of the Holy Spirit that fills us within in the knowledge of His truth and life within us. This is the peace that we share with one another in the Body of Christ. And this is the peace we bring to an aching and fallen world that is desperately searching for an answer within each and every soul of man.

As children of the Highest in Christ how can we not share our hope in the Holy wisdom of God, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. It is by Christ that we gain such a rich and valuable inheritance, and we live in a world where people cry out for peace, we live in a world that in itself has no peace, that needs to know that true peace in Christ can be found, peace with God and His work of peace within us. Let us as sons of God bring the word of His peace to those who have none.

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:9.

Tomorrow we will be beginning to memorize Matthew 5:10. Be sure to write it into your notebook. It is a little longer than the verses we have been memorizing, so it might be a little more challenging. The good news is that you will have already memorized the second half of the verse from Matthew 5:3, you will only have to remember that it goes here as well when you recite it.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10.

 

[brinny]

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:9.

Yesterday we looked at the ministry of Christ in bringing us into peace with God. His death on the cross reconciled God's anger against sin and opened the door for God to pour his mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness upon us. We have seen that God is our peace as well, and that as ministers of reconciliation, as peacemakers, our response is to help people find reconciliation and peace with God through faith in Christ, as well as helping to bring peace within the body of Christ. It is this last aspect that I'd like us to think about today, as well as the inner working of the peace of God within our own personal lives as believers in Christ.

First, offenses happen (Matthew 18:7). Even as Christians are redeemed and regenerated, there is still the principle of sin in our lives. While Christ has finished His perfecting work on the cross, we are not yet perfect in our own lives. We still have tendencies towards selfishness, conceit, pride, and anger. While we are sanctified in Christ, we are still being sanctified as people. There is still a seed of corruption, we play favourites, we like those who like us, we ignore and neglect people who are different, we can be blind to other peoples sufferings, and the list can go on and on.

Then there are people who enjoy strife, enjoy seeing other people suffer, who find ridicule and blame as being a necessary part of life. The rich look down upon the poor, the well despise the ill, those who don't have addictions see those who do as being weak, both of stature and will. Status in the west is as engrained in culture as the caste system is in India. It is the "pride of life" that is inbred into us as is our sin. You could say that it is a biological imperative. The "alphas" in society have to be in control, and anyone who is not an "alpha" is to be manipulated, despised and degraded.

Hence, strife, envy, jealousy and hatred runs rampant under the surface of most people's calm and civil demeanor. This internal strife also causes great damage within the souls and minds of each individual. People's hearts are cut down to misery and desperation, hoping for love and peace, but finding neither, they fill these needs with wanton desires and are constantly grasping for more, and once they feel they have found it, even these are torn away from them.People need stability, people need a peace that is eternal and everlasting, otherwise anything that is attained is only temporary and thus cannot be relied upon.

Yet we as Christians have found somebody who can be relied upon, who is eternal, who is able to work within us to bring healing, love, hope, and peace. Yes, we too are assailed with the cares of this world, with the fears of temporal insecurity, with the confusion of the acts of selfishness, spite and hatred. But we know the person in whom we hope, we know that His abilities are way beyond our own, that He has the power to make true and lasting change, that He is righteous, and good, and holy, and full of grace and lovingkindness toward those who seek Him, toward those who find Him. His Holy Spirit is at work within us. His Spirit brings true peace within our lives. It is He whose love can not be taken away from us, which is given freely according to His mercy, and His grace. It is in Christ Jesus in whom we hope, it is in Christ that we can be truly content, it is in His work of righteousness that brings us into communion and fellowship with our Creator. It is Christ who has given us the right to be called sons of God.

It is this peace that Christ freely bestows upon us which gives us hope, meaning, and purpose when the tempests of life assail us. It is when we look to Him and find His hope within us, that we know within our hearts that He is here with us, that He is dwelling within, strengthening and encouraging us to focus upon His life and His mercy.This is the peace that we bring with us into the world, a peace wrought by the love of Christ with the hope of glory deep within our hearts.

There will always be strife until our Lord returns, and as peace makers, rather than sowing conflict, we sow peace. James tells us in the third chapter of his epistle, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:16-18.)

It is God's wisdom that has been sown in our hearts, that has been given life through faith in Christ Jesus, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit within us. His word is our well-spring, our fountain by which we feed upon His knowledge and wisdom, and it is by His Spirit that His truth grows within us and brings life. It is by His fruit in our lives that we see His peace come upon us and grow within us. That we see His purity at work, His gentleness, His forbearance, His mercy, and all the fruit of His light and life, that is within us without partiality or hypocrisy. It is by God's work within us that we see peace grow into the fullness that He promises and works within and guards our hearts and minds.

The Apostle Paul asks this question in Romans 8:35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Let me quote his answer:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written:
"For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This is the love and security that we bring in to all of our relationships, because this is the love and security given by Christ Jesus to us within our own lives. It is this gift of peace, this work of the Holy Spirit that fills us within in the knowledge of His truth and life within us. This is the peace that we share with one another in the Body of Christ. And this is the peace we bring to an aching and fallen world that is desperately searching for an answer within each and every soul of man.

As children of the Highest in Christ how can we not share our hope in the Holy wisdom of God, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. It is by Christ that we gain such a rich and valuable inheritance, and we live in a world where people cry out for peace, we live in a world that in itself has no peace, that needs to know that true peace in Christ can be found, peace with God and His work of peace within us. Let us as sons of God bring the word of His peace to those who have none.

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:9.

Tomorrow we will be beginning to memorize Matthew 5:10. Be sure to write it into your notebook. It is a little longer than the verses we have been memorizing, so it might be a little more challenging. The good news is that you will have already memorized the second half of the verse from Matthew 5:3, you will only have to remember that it goes here as well when you recite it.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10.

Do you write these. This is excellent, and really breaks down what is to walk a fer-real walk with God. Thank you.

This thread is helping me tremendously in memorizing Bible verses.

 

[heirmiles]

Hi Brinny,
I always find your comments very encouraging, and thank you for them. I am glad (insert: overjoyed) that you have been keeping up with the memory verses too and are benefiting from the studies and meditations.

I find your question difficult to answer: Do you write these?

Short answer, Yes. I try to write them each morning just before I post them, but I am sometimes a little late, being finished in the early afternoon. I just do better in the morning (long story).

Long answer, No. By that I mean I am the "monkey" at the keyboard, and yes they are in my own words, but over the years I have had some tremendous Bible teachers in my life, and I use study resources for some things I am not clear on, and of course BibleGateway lets me look quickly through the verses for other related Bible passages. Then I think for a while, ask God to help me understand, and then I start writing hoping that I won't get in the way. Then of course add life with all its ups and downs, things we learn from each other, and all those Samaritans in our lives who actually help us much more than we could ever have expected. Then there's our parents who simply love us (even though sometimes we don't recognize it) who are simply happy we're not doing 20 years in a state/provincial penitentiary . So my answer would be, is anything we write truly original?

Big smiles

 

[brinny]

Well bottom line is it's the Holy Spirit working through us. He always knows how to minister and encourage and uplift. So yes, it appears He's working through you. God is a good God, amen?

 

[heirmiles]

Amen Brinny, I'd have to agree, most times I feel inadequate for the task, but then I remember my Mom, how she would come home after a hard days work, and prepare a wonderful meal for us. I like to think that that is what God is asking me to do, when I mentioned "not getting in the way", I truly meant letting God speak for Himself, and it is according to His ministry that I am able to write. I would not be able to do it otherwise, and I am blessed that you see that He is working through me.

Sorry for my previous silly answer, that what just me getting in the way, I guess.

Thanks again Brinny, for all your encouragement. God is blessing through you too.

 

[brinny]

Not silly at all....just being a willing vessel frees the Holy Spirit to do the rest, amen?

 

[heirmiles]

Amen!

 

[brinny]

Amen brother, and God bless you for being His vessel.

 

[heirmiles]

Matthew 5:10.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Welcome to our first day of memorizing this verse. This is the last of the Beatitudes here in the Sermon of the Mount. Though, the next two verses are closely related to it we are going to consider what it means to be persecuted and what the righteousness is that causes people to be persecuted. In fact it has a lot to do with the whole set of Beatitudes. When you think about it, the Beatitudes are pretty revolutionary even in Jesus' day, let alone our own. Though they all have their roots in the Old Testament they go one step further, not only in terms of Blessing but in terms of the responses to the many events and situations within our own lives as believers in Christ.

The Beatitudes have a lot to say about our hearts and minds as well as our life in our walk with Christ, and the ones that we have looked at are also a preparation for the difficult times in our lives that lay ahead of us. Being a Christian does not mean that we are not going to suffer, in fact at times it is quite the opposite. Yet we have the hope and knowledge that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

For some people, when we read about being persecuted we think about the big kinds of persecution, people being tortured and killed for their faith and beliefs. And yet when we look at our own struggles we know we can't compare these to the 'giants' of the faith.

We think of Abel, the victim of the first murder, because his offering was found to be pleasing in God's sight. We think of the Children of Israel during their times in captivity to the Egyptians, we think of David when king Saul was bent on destroying him, we think of Jeremiah hiding in the well, we think of Daniel being thrown into a den of lions, we think of Stephen being stoned to death for proclaiming his faith in Christ, and we think of Paul with his many persecutions and sufferings for the Gospel of Christ. We think, now these were people who were persecuted for their faith, and who are we to consider ourselves in any way equal with these true saints and martyrs.

And we think of Jesus Himself. Of whom Cleopas and another, who were speaking with Jesus on the day of His resurrection on the road to Emmaus; who answered His question of what things had been happening in Jerusalem, said, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened" Luke 24: 19-21.

And Jesus answered, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"

Now that's suffering for righteousness sake! How can we possibly compare our own suffering to Christ's? But you know what, Jesus said something very amazing to Saul (also known as Paul the apostle) when he was traveling to Damascus and was intending to root out the Christians who lived there, place them in shackles and take them to Jerusalem to be charged for the crime of believing in Christ. But "suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:1-6.)

With all the things that Saul had been doing to His people, Jesus asked "Why are you persecuting Me?" Jesus' peoples' suffering was His own suffering as well. Jesus suffered when His people suffered. His people's persecution was His own persecution. Saul was not only persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Christ.

In Isaiah 53:2-6, we read of Jesus,

"He shall grow up before Him as a tender root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness,
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Jesus suffered far beyond our comprehension when HE was dying upon the cross, He was taking upon Himself all of our sins, and He was facing the full wrath of God against those sins. He opened the way for us to be forgiven and to find mercy before God. And because of His sacrifice we can come joyfully before our Father any time we please and celebrate His presence in our lives.

Again, there is no way that we could equate the persecution and suffering that He went through with our own, and yet He has not left us alone so that we are simply suffering out of some sense of duty. He is within us, He is with us, and is hurting and comforting right along with us as we walk in our lives with Him.

Jesus said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." And Jesus tells us it is because of hatred toward God that makes the world hate us as well. "'They hated Me without a cause.'" (John 15:18,19, 25b).

And of his own experiences David wrote in Psalm 69,

"Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I must restore it."


The world is full of injustice. And God's saints suffer from injustice and ridicule every day. Even If only because we look to our Saviour as the light of our lives; and the darkness of this world blinds men's hearts to the wonderful blessings of God's peace; and in seeing the light in us, not being able to comprehend it, they curse those who live within God's light. They are fleeing from Him and fighting against Him because it is all that they know or are able to do.

Yet even those in darkness cannot help wondering what it is that is in men's hearts, that takes the cursings of hatred and yet responds in the light of love. That when people are stricken, they turn and heal instead. And then there are the people who even after being hurt and ridiculed respond with a joyous smile that sees their attacker as one for whom they deeply care. They are they that would suffer with Christ and say from the depths of their hearts, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."

It is Christ's love and righteousness within us that convicts men's hearts in such a way as to make them feel threatened, that questions and challenges their most heartfelt beliefs, that reveals to themselves their own sins, and their own inadequacies. They see those things that cause within themselves so much pain, that it forces them to respond the only way they know how. With hatred, animosity, and hostility. It is God revealing their sin to them within their hearts, as well as their futility in dealing with it through their own devices. The hardest thing in a man's life is to admit his incapacity to solve his own problems. And it is Jesus who provides the answer, even though they don't even know what the question is. Yet this is God's way in revealing Himself to man and in bringing sinners to Himself. He uses His people to shine His light into the world, and it is God's light that they are responding to, it is Christ Jesus in us that reveals to them their need for Him.

It is in Christ that we have our lives, It is Christ who has given us mercy, and as each one of us, at one time, reviled and hated those who love Him, we too have been brought into His loving arms and found His grace, love, and mercy poured upon us.

Matthew 5:10.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 

[heirmiles]

Hey guys, you might have noticed a huge error in pronouns on my part (talk about me getting in the way) Huge apologies on that. I've edited the post to fix it. It really was only a type-o and has nothing to do with my theology, honest.

I also fixed the grammar to be a little more clear. Thanks for your patience.
Blessings and lots of love.

 

[brinny]

THis is a hard one..it really gets to the bottom line, doesn't it? It has been a stickler for me because i don't much like suffering (persecution), yet God, in His inexplicable grace walks us each step of the way through it, doesn't He?

Memorizing "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." ~Matthew 5:10.

 

[heirmiles]

Yes HE does walk with us every step, like the poem "Foot prints" says, when we look back upon our path and only see one set of footprints at the most difficult times in our lives, its not that Jesus left us, but rather that He has carried us.

 

[heirmiles]

Matthew 5:10.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Yesterday we talked about how most times when we think of persecution we think in terms of the giants of the faith, how they suffered and died for being righteous, and pleasing to God. We also looked at Christ's suffering on the cross who Himself was without sin, as well as mentioning Psalm 69 where David was expressing his grief and sorrow for those who hated him for no good reason. And we talked about one of the reasons why people persecute those who have the light of Christ in their lives, and how Christ sees our sufferings as His own.

What we didn't discuss was the suffering and persecution we all suffer from for simply living in a world that has way too much hate, and way too little love and compassion. We haven't discussed all those times where we feel hated, and we feel persecuted even though we are not being burned at the stake or tortured in the inquisition.

We haven't talked about how much we hurt because people are so centered on their own needs, that they have no conception of how their words, attitudes, and actions effect other people. And we haven't discussed how people are as effected by neglect as others are effected by abuse.

We haven't talked about all those daily hurts that we face everyday, hoping to display God's love, grace, and mercy, and yet being slighted, torn down, and ridiculed simply because we happen to be around and involved in a world filled with misery.

We haven't talked about the many sacrifices that those around us make everyday who in their hearts place other people as greater than themselves and work at jobs they don't enjoy, regardless of how much they themselves suffer from ill health, in order to place food on the table and provide a living for their families and children. And doing so in the knowledge that if they were to take time for their own needs, they would find that there is someone else just waiting to take from them the job they hold, without a second's thought.

In some way all of these situations involve persecution, and there are many other situations that we haven't mentioned. We think that as saints we need to put on a smile, be brave, and stand as mighty fortresses in the face of any attempt which would assail us and break down those mighty walls and bring them to dust.

It is at these times when horrible and unfair afflictions happen that rather than acting impregnable we run to Jesus in our thoughts and prayers. When we pray for His strength to endure, and His power to overcome the pain and fear that we are feeling in our own hearts. It is at these times when we recognize what Jesus tells us when He tells us that when He enters into one member of a family that rather than peace in that family He brings a sword. Even in the times of the Roman Empire, the people of Rome could not fathom how faith in Christ could exclude all other religious beliefs and practices. How a person could possibly love God more than their own family or be so disloyal to their own heritage.

But, amazingly this sword that Christ brings is not a sword of violence and hatred on the part of the believer but rather of love, life, compassion and mercy. Such is the love of Christ that love toward Christ is so great that love toward one's family would appear as hate in comparison. And in contrast, such is the jealousy of man that demands love to the exclusion of all others, that it cannot comprehend a love that is inclusive of all others because of the fullness of love toward God.

Being one who had actively persecuted Christ, Paul knew the motivations of hatred toward God's people, and hatred toward Christ, he understood them when he wrote, "For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers." (Galatians 1:13,14).

When Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians even more physical persecution against the faith was rampant. Yet, for all these things he saw that the love of God, the love of Christ was the highest motivation in our faith in Christ, of which he wrote,

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3.)

Yet why would we open and expose ourselves to the dangers of persecution. What is it about Christ Jesus that motivates us in such a way as to face the disdain and disrespect of others for what we believe?

Paul wrote, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us." (Romans 8:35-37)

It is our hope in Christ, our love of Christ, our devotion to Christ, our joy in him, that we look forward to His glorious appearing, knowing that even now Christ has promised "I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5,6.

From Psalm 118:5-9 we read.

I called on the LORD in distress;
The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
The LORD is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
The LORD is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
It is better to trust in the LORD
Than to put confidence in man.
It is better to trust in the LORD
Than to put confidence in princes."

"The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation." Psalm 118:14.

"Bless are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10.