Blessed Are Those Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake
Scripture: Matthew 5:10-12 (NRSVue)
We’ve come full circle with Jesus’ Eight Beatitudes. The first beatitude is: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The eighth beatitude is: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven. Jesus allows us to experience the kingdom of heaven on earth (the movie trailer, the preview of what is yet to come) and we will one day experience the kingdom of heaven in heaven (the not yet, the fullness of the promise for all eternity). If you follow Jesus, if you pledge your allegiance to God and bend your knee to Christ’s reign, you will live a heavenly life on earth committed to a life of: being poor in spirit, mourning, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being meek and merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker. You will not only be blessed, you will be persecuted. Guaranteed. You will get into good trouble. You won’t have to seek it out, it will come to you. To follow Jesus leads to blessedness and joy and to life abundant and eternal, but it always goes through the cross to get to there. Always. The death of self must come before the newness of life Jesus gives. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
April 3, 2022 – Worship Service Bulletin and Bible Study
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Sermon Art: “Come, ye blessed . . .” (1980) by Nathaniel Mokgosi (South African)
This linocut is one of ten in a series on the Beatitudes at https://artandtheology.org/tab/beatitudes/
Other Sermons In This Series
Blessed Are the Meek
February 27, 2022
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
March 06, 2022
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
March 27, 2022