1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian 9b - Blessed are those who are persecuted _2_ | Page 6

tried to defend Himself, He never tried to justify Himself; He just endured it without response. There are many Christians today who, in some form, will probably have experienced this form of verbal abuse. We all know the pain that can come from people speaking like this to us. It so goes in the face of the saying that we learn as children, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” This little saying is clearly not true, I am sure we all know the pain that comes from name calling. #2: “Blessed are you when people…persecute you…” – the word “persecution” persecute you literally means to chase after in order to hurt. It was this kind of persecution that David suffered at the hands of King Saul, and it is this kind of persecution that Saul (Paul) inflicted upon the church prior to his conversion. It is kind of like the fox and the hound scenario; the hound, with a single mind, seeks to destroy the fox. To many of us this form of persecution is unlikely, but to many in other parts of the world, this persecution is a reality. #3: “Blessed are you when people…falsely say all kinds of evil against you.” – This is falsely the kind of talk that is so hurtful and it comes about when people speak behind your back, saying things that are not true about you. Sadly, in today’s world, people love to hear this kind of talk. It seems to feed some sort of morbid attraction that we have as human nature and it makes other people look less than they really are. There is nothing more dangerous in a church than rumours and half-truths (I appeal to you all to root this behaviour out and never be party to it). When people come to you and say: “Have you heard…?” or “Did you know…?” or “I just need to tell you so that you can pray for them…” you must know that you are about to hear what Jesus speaks about in this verse. Respond boldly to people who speak like this and appeal to them to just STOP IT! Let me end today by stating again that these three forms of persecution are not things, I hope, that are against you all the time, but I do, however, want to affirm the fact that there will come times in your life when you will most definitely have to stand against these three forms of onslaught. My prayer for you is that you will recognise them for what they are and be able to stand boldly against them recognising that Jesus Himself had to face the same. Remember as well that “…this too shall pass”. Prayer Thought: Won’t you pray today, prayers of preparation; where you will prepare your heart and your mind for the inevitable. If you acknowledge upfront that from time to time, persecution will come in some format; this helps you at the time when it does arrive. Do not be so naïve as to believe that you will be the exception to this rule, but pray today that you will be strong enough and bold enough to stand graciously in the face of these things to the glory of God.