1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian 9a - Blessed are those who are persecuted _1_ | Page 3

Monday
Reading: Matthew 5 v 10 - “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”
We come today to an aspect of Christianity that has always created much
confusion. We are speaking about those who have been declared “righteous”.
Confusion arises from the question that is asked, why on earth would the
righteous be persecuted? It seems so strange that those who have this right
relationship with God would be such an offence to the world that it would lead to
the world hating them and despising them to the point of taking their lives. It
has always been like this; the world does not hate you(the righteous) when it
persecutes you, the world hates the righteousnessin you.
From the earliest times, even way back in the Garden of Eden, evil has always
hated good. It is for this reason that Cain killed Abel; he didn’t hate Abel, he just
hated the righteousness that Abel stood for. It is a very strange paradox where
Jesus says happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. You see,
even though the world may hate your righteousness, there is a sense of godly
happiness and contentment that comes to the persecuted simply because they
win the approval of God.
Many of the observers on the outside of this phenomenon have thought the
Christians to be “crazy”. The question they ask is simple: what is it in the
Christian faith that causes these “crazy” people to be willing to lay down their
lives for the cause of Christ? It is these “crazy” people that will become the
subject of our devotionals this week. Let me today, give you an example of the
extent of this craziness…
In the 1950’s, in a persecuted country, there lived a pastor, his name was Kim.
He had a wife and four children. They were dragged in front of 30 000 people to
attend a public trial. In front of all these people they were given the chance to
deny Christ, or die. Pastor Kim, looked at his wife and four children, and did not
know quite what to do. In front of everybody the four children began to talk to
him and they said “Daddy, do not deny Jesus. Do not worry about us if we
should die, we will see you in heaven just now.” This family stood bravely before
the crowd and a steam roller was summoned to flatten them. As the steam roller
approached, the family stood together and sang these words, “More love to thee

oh Christ, this be my parting cry, my heart shall raise more love to thee oh
Christ…” As that family were killed, the crowd shook its head and said, “That’s
crazy.”