Do you have your “Sacrifice Certificate?” During the first 300 years of the Church Christians faced what was arguably the bloodiest time for the Church. The Roman government systematically and brutally tried to put out the fire of Christianity. You may have heard the famous quote “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.” It comes from Tertullian, an early church father from the 2nd century, who was responding to the Roman authorities for their war on the name of Christ. He said, “We multiply whenever we are mowed down by you; the blood of Christians is seed.”
During these persecutions, the Roman government would allow people to escape torture and death if they were in possession of a sacrifice certificate. A sacrifice certificate was proof that you worshipped the gods of Rome. If you did not have one, and were unwilling to sacrifice to the gods of Rome to acquire one, you would be imprisoned and tortured. You can see the predicament for Christians. Let me read an actual certificate to you from 251AD:
To: The Sacrifice Commission
From: Diogenes, age 72 years, with a scar over my right eyebrow
‘I’ve always sacrificed to the gods. Now, in obedience to the emperor, I’ve sacrificed again, poured out a drink offering, and eaten meat offered to the gods. Please certify this below.’
‘I Syrus, saw Diogenes and his son sacrificing.’”
Much holy blood was spilled over those certificates. Many of our spiritual ancestors forfeited their lives because they refused to do what they needed to do to to get a sacrifice certificate. “Perhaps we only truly believe those things we’re willing to bleed for.” What do we truly believe?
Persecution has a way of sifting that out. Blessed are the Persecuted is our sermon title. It is going to be a mini-series within our bigger series on the beatitudes. This is a major theme in the NT because persecution is part of being a Christian in this world.
Our text is Matthew 5:10-12. Follow along with me…. I want to present 5 things from these verses, which will take us the next several Sundays:
- The Reality of Persecution
- The Reason for Persecution
- The Blessing of Persecution
- The Fellowship of Persecution
- The Reward of Persecution
THE REALITY OF PERSECUTION
When it comes to persecution it is not a matter of “if” but “when.” Notice Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you WHEN people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you…” I’m not stretching Jesus’ words to say that anyone whose allegiance belongs to Him is assured of persecution. This is the presentation of the whole NT.
- 2 Timothy 3:10-12….
- Matthew 24:9
- Acts 14:22
- The churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Philadelphia were all commended for their faithfulness in suffering.
- Paul was told he will see how much he must suffer for the name of Christ (Acts 9)
This persecution is not referring to the range of trials we encounter in life simply for being alive in this world. Persecution is not setbacks in employment or health, or dealing with difficult people, or financial squeezes from the state of the economy, or things just not seeming to go our way and so on.
Persecution is the active hostility we will face from the enemies of Christ specifically because of our faith and commitment to Christ.
Persecution is a word Jesus uses that carries the idea of being pursued or chased. Its used in the verse that says you will be pursued from one town to another until the Son of Man comes (Mt 10:23; 23:24). Its used in the verse that says “Many will say the Son of Man is out in the desert, but do not go running after them to see.” (Lk 17:23). So the idea of persecution we can see is that people will come after us because we are Christians. They have it out for us because we are Christians. The enemies of Christ will be our enemies. They will identify us with Jesus Christ and will be energized with hatred to injure us physically, materially, psychologically, and socially.
- Matthew 5:11, “….” (Insult and say evil things about you”)
- Luke 6:22-23, “…” (hate you, exclude you, insult you, reject you, see you as evil)
- Heb 10:32-24, “…” (publicly insulted and persecuted, confiscate your property)
- Heb 11:35-38, “…” (jeers, flogging, imprisonment, chains, stoned, destitute, etc)
- 2 Pet 3:3-7, “…” (scoff at your beliefs, trying to make you doubt them too)
- 2 Pet 3:16, “…” (twist the words of God and twist your words)
APPLICATION: Expect persecution. And embrace it. We should not act like it’s a strange thing when it happens. We should not act like it’s not supposed to happen.
The reality is the persecution is real.
THE REASON FOR PERSECUTION
Not only do we see the reality of persecution but we need to understand the reason for persecution. Let me show you 8 reasons the NT tells us we will be persecuted:
First, because of righteousness. Matthew 5:10 says, “….”
Notice he says, “because” several times. When you study the bible one of the things to look for is the “becauses.” It indicates a cause and effect. Something is causing something to happen. In verse 10, Jesus says “righteousness” is the cause of persecution. In other words, because people are committed to righteousness there are going to be people committed to persecuting them for their commitment to righteousness.
Turn with me to 1 Peter 4:1-6 with me and see this same thing explained….
Second, because of Jesus personally. He says in Matthew 5:11 that persecution will happen because of Him. He says because of Him those who follow Him will be persecuted. Luke 6:22 Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, BECAUSE of the Son of Man.”
Turn with me to John 15:20-21 where Jesus explicitly says that being identified with Him will bring the same treatment for us that He got from the world, “….”
Third persecution will come because we don’t belong to the world. John 15:19-20 says….
Fourth, the conviction we make the world feel results in persecution. Remember what 1 Peter 4:4 just said? “They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.” People feel validated in what they’re doing when they can get others to join in with them.
Fifth, persecution is appointed by God. The reason persecution happens is because God assigns it to our lives. Php 1:29..Acts 5:41… 2 Tim 1:11-12. It is not something happening that God didn’t foresee and plan. It is part of God’s design that the Church suffers. The next 3 points illustrate this more specifically:
Sixth, persecution comes for the progress of the Gospel. The going forward of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is another reason God uses persecution. Think of the pivotal moment in Acts when persecution broke out in Jerusalem in Acts 8. The believers scattered and as they ran to new places the Gospel spread. Often Paul left one town because of persecution but it resulted in the spread of the Gospel in another town. Second Timothy 2:8-10 captures perfectly the mindset of Paul regarding his own suffering of persecution….You see it again from him in Col 1:24-25…
Seventh, persecution comes to prove the genuineness of our faith. Turn to 1 Peter 1:6-7… True believers stand firm through persecution. Persecution weeds out the false believers. Remember the parable of the weeds? Matthew 13 says “the seed that falls on rocky ground is someone who hears and receives the message with joy at first. But they have no root and so only last a short while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word they quickly fall away.” The word of Christ is not worth the trouble so they quit Christ. But genuine believers are proven to be genuine in persecution because for them the word IS worth the trouble and they don’t quit Christ.
Eighth, persecution comes for our sanctification. Our growth, sanctification and purification. James 1:2-4…
APPLICATION: Expect persecution. Embrace it. It sanctifies, it proves your genuineness, it promotes the Gospel, it is appointed to you by God, it is because you don’t belong to the world, it is because you are identified with Christ and it is the righteousness in which you have taken your stand that you are being persecuted. Expect it. Embrace it.
CONCLUSION: Sacrifice Certificate
Do you have your Sacrifice Certificate? If you have one you may be approved by men but you will be condemned by God. But, on the other hand, there’s another kind of sacrifice certificate. Its one that when you stand before God it is your only hope with Him. It is the Sacrifice Certificate from Jesus Christ. Here’s what it says:
To: The Majesty of Heaven, the Judge of the Living and the Dead
From: Justin Smith
“I have acknowledged Jesus Christ as my Savior and that He is your Son who died as a sacrifice for my sins. I do not live for my sins or this world any longer, but always I worship you as the One true God and follow your commands. Please certify this truth below.
I, Jesus Christ, know Justin Smith as one of my own, and with my own blood have redeemed him forever.”
Do you have your sacrifice certificate?