The Bliss of the Sufferer for Christ

The Bliss of the Sufferer for Christ

by Estelle Nazary

Matthew 5:10-12

"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus came not to make life easy, but to make men great.

I.                    First Christians had to suffer. 

1.      Their Christianity might well disrupt their work.

·         Suppose a man was a stone mason. His firm received a contract to build a temple to one of the heathen gods. What was that man to do?

·         A Christian was a tailor who was asked to produce robes for heathen priests. What would he do?

·         There was hardly any job which a man might not find a conflict between his business interests and his loyalty to Jesus.

·         Tertullian answered a man with this problem, "What can I do? I must live?" "Must you?" asked Tertullian.

·         If it came to a choice between a loyalty and a living, the real Christian never hesitated to choose loyalty.

2.      Their Christianity would certainly disrupt their social life.

·         Most feasts were held in the temple of some god. Could a Christian share in these?

·         Even an ordinary meal began with a cup of wine poured out in honor of the gods.

·         The Christian must cut himself off from his fellows rather than by his presence give approval to such a thing. A man had to be prepared to be lonely in order to be a Christian.

3.      Worst of all, their Christianity was liable to disrupt their home life.

·         Often the door was shut forever in the face of the one who had accepted Christ.

·         It was literally true that a man might have to love Christ more than he loved father or mother, wife, or brother or sister.

·         Christianity involved a choice between a man's nearest and dearest and Jesus Christ.

4.      Penalties which a Christian had to suffer were terrible beyond description.

·         Christians were flung to the lions or burned at the stake.

·         Nero wrapped the Christians in pitch and set them on fire as living torches to light his gardens.

·         Nero sewed them in the skins of wild animals and set his hunting dogs upon them to tear them to death.

·         Eyes were torn out. Parts of their bodies were cut off and roasted before their eyes.

II.                  Why the Romans persecuted the Christians?

1.      Certain slanders were spread about the Christians.

·         Christians were accused of cannibalism - The words of the Lord Supper "This is my body", "blood".

·         Christians were accused of immoral practices.

·         Christians were accused of being incendiaries.

·         Christians were accused of tampering with family relationships.

2.      The great ground of persecution was political.

·         The worship of the Emperor was compulsory - This the Christian refused to do - Christ was Lord.

·         The only crime of the Christian was that he set Christ above Caesar; and for this loyalty they died by the thousands and faced torture.

III.               The Bliss of the Blood Stained Way

1.      To have to suffer persecution was an opportunity to show one's loyalty to Jesus Christ.

2.      To have to suffer persecution is, as Jesus Himself said, the way to walk the same road as the prophets and the saints and the martyrs have walked.

3.      To have to suffer persecution is to share in the great occasion.

·         When a man suffers for his Christianity that is always a crucial moment. It is a great occasion.

·         It is the clash between the world and Christ.

4.      To suffer persecution is to make things easier for those who are to follow. We enjoy liberty and freedom because men were willing to shed blood, sweat, and tears.

5.      No man ever suffers persecution alone. Christ will be nearer to him than at any time. This is closest possible companionship to Christ.  Illustration from Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego who refused to move from their loyalty to God.

       IV.      Why is this persecution so inevitable?

1.      It is inevitable because the church when it really is the Church is bound to be the conscience of the nation and the conscience of society.

2.      Where there is good the church must praise; where there is evil the church must condemn, and inevitably men will try to silence the troublesome voice of conscience.

3.      It is not the duty of the individual Christian to find fault, to criticize, to condemn, but it may well be that his every action is a silent condemnation of the unchristian lives of others and he will not escape their hatred.

4.      Insult awaits the man who insists on Christian honor.

5.      Mockery awaits the man who practices Christian love and Christian forgiveness

6.      Christ still needs his witnesses.

7.      Christ needs those who are prepared not so much to die for Him as to live for Him.

8.      The Christian struggle and the Christian glory still exist.