Blessed are they which are persecuted | Matthew 5:10

Matthew 5:10 "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

We live in a country and time when Christianity is not being suppressed by torture but by ease. Since we have no personal knowledge of persecution, it is a good idea for us to familiarize ourselves with all those down through the ages who have been persecuted for the faith and for righteousness' sake. Christ was, and many of His children have followed in His steps: Stephen stoned, Paul beheaded, Timothy beaten, Polycarp burned at the stake, Perpetua fed to lions, Peter crucified, Matthew speared, Luke hanged, John boiled in oil and banished to an island—and the list goes on. All of these, along with the millions of others we never heard of, were persecuted not for evil but for good.

The Blood of the Martyrs

Something amazing happened in the midst of such darkness. These persecuted Christians went to the grave with a peace and grace unexplainable by human means, and this whetted the appetite of the onlookers for the source of such peace in the midst of such persecution. There is an old quote etched on the foundation stone of Spurgeon's church in London: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." The early church was grown by a faith so resilient that not even death could stamp it out. Persecution comes to destroy the church, but it never has. It has actually grown it.

Faith Built on the Rock

While we may never see such things, we will experience persecution on some level or another, and when we do it will bear the same fruits as it has in days gone by. People will see a faith not shaken by exclusion, jesting, or loss of position, but one that is unmovable because of what it is built upon: the Rock, Jesus Christ. That is where faith stands in the midst of persecution—on Christ—and when it does, it cannot fail. "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Perhaps God has allowed some level of persecution to come into your life. Maybe He wants you to shine and show the world around you what real peace looks like.

Theirs Is the Kingdom of Heaven

This promise answers the age-old question: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" That question is only a quandary if we forget that there is another kingdom, another life, and that kingdom belongs to those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Death does not close the door on repayment for those made righteous in Christ, but opens the door to all the rewards laid up in seasons of struggle and persecution. Death will deliver us to the kingdom where the last shall be first and the first shall be last! Surely, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."