Persecution- Matthew 5:10-12

This post concerns persecution of Christians.

Persecution describes the eighth beatitude stated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:10-12. “Blessed… those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake, for theirs … the kingdom of heaven. Blessed you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and… glad, for your reward … great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Consider the beatitudes as a whole. The first seven beatitudes cover what the Christian should show to the world: a contrite spirit, and an attitude of doing right with pure hearts seeking to be peacemakers between God and man. Thus, ill treatment of these people may surprise us.

However, this subject clearly matters to Jesus. Only on this beatitude does Jesus’ comment further to show clearly what the disciple should expect. He also makes the reason for maltreatment clear: for righteousness’s sake. This means that some people will persecute the disciple for trying to mimic what God does— doing right.

In addition, Jesus says that ill-usage can come because of me referring to Himself. When I try to obey Jesus and walk as He directs, unkind things may occur.

Note what this beatitude does not say. Jesus does not say that maltreatment will come due to the disciple exhibiting a hateful or unkind attitude toward unconverted people. The first seven beatitudes stress the kind attitude of the Christian. Ill treatment occurs anyway.

This beatitude offers a way to examine self. If abuse occurs, such verifies my claim as a child of God.

Finally, we can rejoice in being mistreated. The reason for rejoicing under these unjust actions clearly appears—a great reward in heaven.

So, what did we learn?

1.God will bless us when we suffer persecution.

2.Maltreatment occurs when we practice righteousness and follow Jesus.

3.When ill-treated, we rejoice because of our reward in heaven.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#forRighteousnessSake #rejoiceInPersecution #GodBlessesPersecuted

Paying Taxes   Luke 20:19-26

This post concerns paying taxes as a dilemma for Jesus.

Paying Taxes describes a trick the scribes and chief priests used to try to trap Jesus. They wanted to seize and kill Jesus but feared the people. So, they sent spies to try to put Him in a dilemma, namely should the Jewish people pay taxes to the Roman government? Then, if He said no, they could take Him to Pilot as a rebel against the government. If He answered yes, then the people would turn against Him because they hated paying taxes to the Romans.

So, Jesus saw what they were doing and asked for a coin. Then, He asked whose likeness was on the coin. They answered “Caesar’s.” Therefore, Jesus said they should render, or give, to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Then, He added an important rule: “Give to God the things that are God’s.”

Thus, coins in any country belong to the government and are only utilized by the people for commercial purposes. They had asked about paying taxes. So, Jesus’ comment to render to the government what belongs to the government also authorizes governments to regulate and tax people. This also means we should pay our taxes.

But Jesus took the occasion to add this important lesson. They should render or give to God what was His, namely faith and obedience to His word and respect for His temple.

The religious leaders had rejected all three. They did not believe or obey Jesus and had desecrated the temple by buying and selling in it.

So, what did we learn?

1.We should respect the government and pay taxes.

2.We should believe in Jesus and show respect for God by following His word.

3.We should honor the church which Jesus established.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#dilemmaForJesus #payTaxes #renderToGodWhatIsHis

PEACEMAKERS, the SEVENTH BEATITUDE    Matthew 5:9

This post concerns the names assigned to peacemakers.

Peacemakers according to Jesus, have a special designation, Matthew 5:9. “Blessed… the peacemakers, for they shall… called sons of God.” People’s names come from what they do. The Cat Lady befriends stray cats. The Coffee Man knows everything about coffee. Those engaged in peacemaking find themselves named Sons of God. Thus, peacemakers belong to God’s family.

This identifying should not surprise us. Consider what the angels sang at Jesus’ birth, Luke 2:13-14.  “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”  Jesus came to provide peace to people in a world constantly torn by sin and conflict.

God always desired peace for the world. He offered peace to Israel, Numbers 6:26. “…the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

God prophesied through Isaiah about Jesus, Isaiah 9:6. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; … and his name shall be called … Prince of Peace.”

So, how does this peace come about? Romans 5:1. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, peace with God comes from obedience to the gospel because Jesus died on the cross to cover our sins. Romans 5:6-9. “For while we were still weak, …Christ died for the ungodly. …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we… saved by him from the wrath of God.”

As peacemakers, we constantly strive to convert others to Jesus so that they can have the peace of God in their lives.

So, what did we learn?

1.God wants peace for all people.

2.Peace with God comes from accepting and obeying His Son.

3.We are called Sons of God when we convert others to obeying Jesus.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#peacemakersChildrenOfGod #peaceThroughObedienceJesus #peacemakersConvertOthers

Authority   Luke 20:1-18

This post concerns the authority of Jesus to cleanse and teach in the temple.

Authority as a post discusses how Jesus dealt with the religious leaders when asked about cleansing and teaching. After earlier cleaning the temple, Jesus continued to teach, Luke 20:1-2. “One day… teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came… “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who… gave you this authority.”

Jesus answered by asking them a question, Luke 20:4. “…was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?”

John had said that Jesus was the Son of God. If they believed John, they would have accepted Jesus and understood His authority. Now they were afraid to explicitly state that John’s baptism was from man, because they were afraid the people would stone them. They did not want to say John was from God because they had rejected what he said about Jesus. So, they said they did not know.

Due to this answer, Jesus also would not answer these men who had already decided in their hearts to reject Him.

So, Jesus immediately told the crowd a story that illustrated His authority and rejection by these religious leaders, Luke 20:9. “And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country…”

The man repeatedly sent servants for his share of the crop. The tenants abused the servants and gave them nothing. He then sent his beloved son. They killed him thinking they would then get the vineyard. Instead, the owner came and destroyed them and gave the vineyard to others.

The audience sensed that the parable applied to the Old Testament prophets and the current religious leaders and said, “Surely not!” Jesus quoted Ps. 118:22 about builders rejecting a stone that became the chief cornerstone to show that His rejection by the religious leaders was prophesied.

So, what did we learn?

1.The religious leaders did not believe John and now rejected Jesus also.

2.In the future, they will be destroyed and the kingdom given to others.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#parableWickedHusbandmen #JesusAuthority

SEE GOD, the SIXTH BEATITUDE     Matthew 5:8

This post explains the sixth beatitude and seeing God.

Matthew 5:8, “Blessed … the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Firstly, focus on the goal of a pure heart: seeing God. What does this mean? In the Old Testament, several people saw a partial vision of God. For example, Moses in the tent of meeting saw something of God, Exodus 33:11. “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

However, humans could not view God in His entirety, Exodus 33:23. “Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” Thus, Moses saw only a part of God.

However, Moses saw God mentally, Hebrews 11:27. “By faith he left Egypt, not… afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”

Therefore, this beatitude expresses a way that those with pure hearts can see God either mentally on this earth or fully in heaven.

What does pure in heart mean? James expressed the end result as an increase in the relationship of the Christian to God, James 4:8. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

The Apostle Peter explained heart purification, 1 Peter 1:22, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,” Obedience to the word of God purifies the heart.

Sometimes, a Christian sins. Consider Simon, Acts 8:18-19. “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit…given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also,”

Peter told him to repent and pray for forgiveness. Thus, a Christian can purify his heart of sin by repenting and praying.

Likewise, God will bless us with seeing God in heaven, if we have pure hearts

So, what did we learn?

1.We can see God mentally on this earth or actually later in Heaven.

2.Heart purification occurs when we obediently submit to God’s commands.

For more on the Bible, click tdroberts.org or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#seeingGodMentally #seeingGodHeaven #obediencePurifiesHeart Continue reading