Blessed and Persecuted

Welcome to the Thirst with Hunger podcast with Pastor Sandy Edwards, where we destroy every obstacle that hinders people from knowing God. Here, you'll be challenged, encouraged, and equipped to pursue his presence, walk in truth, and live with bold faith. Let's dive in.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Thirst with Hunger podcast. I have really been enjoying teaching this season on the Thirst with Hunger podcast and just all the things that God has been revealing about the Beatitudes and how that applies to soul health. I think it's very easy to read scriptures and think about other people or talk about other people and what they're doing and what they're not doing instead of allowing ourselves to be the first partakers of everything we read and study in the Bible. Before I externally give it to someone else, I need to make sure that I'm allowing the word of God to examine me. You know, it's very important that we focus On making sure that we are internally righteous over trying to strive and trying to appear to be externally righteous. And there's a lot of God's people who do that, right? Where we get excited about sharing words and we get excited about telling people the truth. And all of that is great, but it does no good if your heart hasn't received it either. Right? What good is it for other people to go and inherit the kingdom and you to lose your soul because you did not allow the Lord to examine you? You didn't allow the Lord to tell you the truth. You didn't allow the word to become real and alive to you, right? It's not that the word isn't alive. It's not that God's word isn't active and moving and breathing. It's that it's not real to you yet, and we need it to become real to you, right? There needs to be evidence of your faith. We need to hear it in your voice. We need to hear it in the way that you speak. It doesn't mean that you are without flaws. It just means that if you really are practicing your faith— practicing your faith, that's the key, practicing— if you're really practicing, if you're really practicing the faith There will be evidence in the way that you speak. Your mind ought to be renewed, and if it's not being renewed, there's a disconnect there. There's a disconnect, and it doesn't mean that you are without flaws. It just means that you press towards the mark of the high calling, which is Christ Jesus, right? So let's hop right into it. Over the past 9 episodes, we've talked about all of the Beatitudes, and we've talked about what Jesus really meant and why he started there, right? And in Matthew 5:10, it says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom Of heaven. This is the 8th word that Jesus associates blessing with, that word persecution. And then he describes the first 7 as, you are blessed when you're poor in spirit, You are blessed when you're mourning. You are blessed when you are meek. You are blessed when you hunger for righteousness. You are blessed when you are merciful. You are blessed when you're pure in heart, and you are blessed when you make peace. And here's the thing about all of that: is that none of these things that Jesus is describing. Feels good to our flesh. It doesn't feel good to depend on God in your flesh. It doesn't feel good to grieve over your sin or to grieve with other people over their own sin or to grieve with other people in general. It doesn't feel good to do that to your flesh. It doesn't feel good to be meek. It doesn't feel good to be merciful. It doesn't feel good to be pure in heart. It doesn't feel good to be a peacemaker. But this is why your life must be lived dependent on God and in the Spirit, because your flesh doesn't naturally want to do these things. And so Jesus is giving them the heads up that if you want to be developed and grow in God, if you want to have a personal relationship with him, your flesh is gonna have to Die. You're gonna have to give up your flesh in order to be poor in spirit, to be blessed in mourning, to be blessed in meek, to be blessed in hunger for righteousness, and to be blessed and merciful, to be blessed and pure in heart, to be blessed in a peacemaker. So In Matthew 5:10, it says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The word righteousness here has nothing to do with you being a good person. And as I've said in previous episodes, that good people can go to hell too, right? Good people can lose their soul too. Righteousness, when Jesus is talking about it, is a life consistently yielding to God. It's about what God calls right, we call it right. What God calls wrong, we call it wrong. What God says is sin, we say that it is sin. We don't label it as something else in order to make ourselves and our flesh comfortable or to make other people comfortable. Believer or not, Jesus is the same to the Christian as he is to the unbeliever. The word persecuted here, when Jesus is using it, means to pursue, to chase down, to press hard against. And we need to really understand that Jesus isn't talking about regular suffering when he's talking about persecution. He's talking about people who are being pursued because of their righteousness in God, because they are following The righteousness of God. They are being beheaded. They are being persecuted and coming up against— and people are throwing word curses and everything else against a person because of their righteousness in God, because they are preaching the gospel, and because they won't come out of agreement with what God's word says. That's persecution. Jesus is not talking about regular suffering. And that brings me to say this: not every conflict that you have with a person is persecution. Not every conflict that you have in this life with a person is persecution. We need to really be mindful of how we're using certain terminology in scripture to apply to our life. Because not every conflict you have is persecution. I have watched believers, people of God who mean well, where we reach for that word every single time that something makes us uncomfortable. Oh, you persecuting me. Someone disagrees with us, somebody laughs at us, somebody does something, and we call it persecution. That's the first word we reach for. And I understand why, but Jesus wasn't talking about you being uncomfortable. He told you what qualifies as persecution. For righteousness' sake. Not for you being right. Not because you're being loud, but for righteousness' sake. For righteousness' sake. In 1 Peter 4, verse 15 through 16— again, the whole Bible works together to give us revelation and understanding. We need to just search out the scriptures. In 1 Peter 4, verse 15 through 16, it says But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. Let him glorify God in that name. Notice the words and the verbiage here is that some of us believe that we're being persecuted When people tell us the truth about something that we did that was a sin, or when someone confronts us with a truth, or we have to receive a hard truth, instead of saying ouch and amen, we get offended. And then we want to call that persecution when that person, out of love for us, out of genuine, pure, unadulterated love in Christ for us as a brother or sister in Christ, When a person tells us the truth, we want to holler persecution. But 1 Peter 4:15-16 says, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. Some of the things we suffer from is consequences of things that we've done. Maybe we said something foolish. Maybe people pushed back on what we said that was foolish. That's not persecution. That's someone telling you the truth about something that you did and said. That is not persecution. Maybe you crossed a boundary and, and someone told you about yourself and they corrected you. That's not persecution. Persecution is for righteousness' sake. You're not being persecuted when someone tells you the truth. You're not being persecuted if you have to repent for sin. You're not being persecuted if other people call you out on what you did that was sinful or crossing boundaries or being foolish. That's not persecution.

Thank you for listening to the Thirst with Hunger podcast. We have one more episode left in season 2. And I wanna share a few announcements with you. First, we just launched our brand new online community as part of Thirst With Hunger Institute called Filled. There you'll find the podcast study guide hub, new and improved. Pastor Sandy's brand new personal memoir, More Than a Song, releases August 31st. Go to morethanasongbook.com to join our email list and get notified when it releases. And last, our 12-week inner healing self-paced course, Holy Yearning, just launched, and you can enroll today for $597. You get lifetime access to video teachings that will help you partner with God at your own pace as you experience healing in your soul. A payment plan is also available. Visit thirstwithhunger.institute today to enroll. Now, back to the Thirst With Hunger podcast.

And so the question we need to be asking ourselves before we reach for that word is, is this happening because I follow Christ? And because I live according to the Word, or is this happening because of something that I did or that I said? I've discovered that there are 3 reasons as to why we reach for that word so quickly, and one of those reasons is we want the weight of suffering Without counting the cost. We want to sound like we are faithful to God, and we want our— everybody else to look at our lives like it, it matters and has some significance. But in private, we're not really dying to self. But in public, whenever we say something that is out of pocket or do something that is foolish, or we say something and people are challenged It— the first thing we do is say that we're experiencing persecution when it's not that at all. 2, we take on a victim mentality too many times in our lives, and God has not called us to be victims. Yes, the culture that is around us today is not welcoming to Christianity on a large level. It's just not. But you being uncomfortable is not persecution either. Having— experiencing being uncomfortable is not the same as persecution. Feeling unwelcome because of your beliefs is not the same as persecution. And as I said before, the third one is we confuse someone telling us the truth with being attacked. And at some point, we have to mature to the place when someone comes and tells you the truth, or you hear a hard word, or you receive conviction from God and it leads you to repentance Ouch. You just need to learn to say ouch, but amen, because it's the truth of God's word. At some point, we have to start asking what offends God with our offended hearts and the offense that we take on. At some point, we got to start asking what offends God. And it is in all 3 of those that we can misuse this word persecution. We use that word because, again, some of us love the lies that we have told ourselves More than we love the truth of God's word, and God in all of His mercy will allow you to be deceived. He will. You'll keep hollering persecution until you've gotten so far away from the line of truth in God's word, where you can't recognize the difference between a brother or sister in the Lord. Who's telling you the truth, or even reading God's word is convicting, but you're not allowing it to pierce your heart. And you'll keep calling correction persecution. You'll keep calling someone telling you or calling you out on foolish behavior— you'll keep calling it persecution when it's not. You will only be persecuted for righteousness' sake, and foolish behavior is not righteous. When you wrong, that's not righteousness. When it's sin, it's not righteousness. For righteousness' sake. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. So ask yourself the question before you call it persecution: Is this happening because of Christ for righteousness' sake, or because of my foolish and sinful behavior? There are people in the United States and, and in the world who are experiencing what the Bible calls, what God sees as persecution for righteousness' sake. There's believers being thrown in prison because they won't stop preaching the name of Jesus. When we keep calling every little small thing that is not righteousness, right, persecution, we make it cheap. We make it seem like anything can be considered persecution. Anytime you want, it's persecution, persecution, persecution. And that's why it's so important that you have a worldview that is shaped by the Word of God consistently, the full counsel of God consistently. Your mind must be renewed consistently. You must start praying, God, help me to love the truth because I don't want to be deceived. Help me to love the truth, not my truth, not, not my sister truth, not my brother truth, not my mama truth, not even my pastor truth. Help me to love your truth, God, the truth that is in your word, because I don't want to be deceived. I don't want to be using words out of context. Because my feelings are hurt. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Philippians 1:29 says, for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. Notice the words that the scripture is using: for God's sake, for his sake, for the sake of Christ. Those who desire to live godly lives in Christ, in Christ, for the sake of Christ, suffer for his sake, not on your own account. All right, so you don't need to do things to even allow yourself to be persecuted because there's people who manipulate other people on social media and all this other stuff and, and crying and hoopla and carrying on, and they be lying to y'all, okay? They be lying to y'all, acting as if they didn't just do something that is foolish or say something that is foolish and try to say that the people of God are coming against them and asking for your sympathy. For what? You're not being persecuted for righteousness' sake. And it's not everyone I'm talking about, those specific people That y'all continue to be manipulated by. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In Christ Jesus, for the sake of Christ, suffer for his sake. So you don't need to put on a show to be persecuted. Just follow Christ, and, and it will happen as a result of you following Christ, the way, the truth, the life. John 15:18-20 says, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. So if you are experiencing persecution, the world isn't persecuting you because you're a difficult person to get along with. The world hates you because they hated Christ. It's Christ in you that they hate. So the question again needs to be, is this happening because of righteousness in God, for the sake of Christ, in Christ Jesus, because I desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus? Am I suffering for his sake, or am I suffering because of my foolish and sinful behavior? So the next time that you feel wrong or your feelings— you feel attacked, the question needs to be, is this about Christ or is this about me? Is This about Christ, for Christ's sake, or is this about me? And it cannot be both. Because when it's something that you've done, you need to repent and turn from your wicked ways so that God can heal your land. And if it's about Christ, then you keep pressing towards the mark of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus. Very, very simple. No, your flesh won't like it. Yes, you will be tempted to compromise when you're being persecuted for righteousness' sake. But thanks be unto God who gives you the victory Through the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the parallels. The word of God is always using— it's always through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Lord Jesus Christ. If you try to walk this life of faith without being in Christ, it's going to cause you to fold and crumble. And when the day of persecution comes, or when somebody attacks you for your faith, you will fall. And you will hit the ground hard because you're trying to walk this faith without being in Christ. And the one distinction that separates you as a Christian from those in the world who are fighting battles is that you are in Christ, so you have the victory. You cannot take worldly measures And worldly perspectives and worldly understanding, and think that God is going to cause you to triumph. It's not gonna work. Blessed are those, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom. Of heaven, righteousness. So ask yourself the question: Am I being persecuted for righteousness' sake, or is this happening because of me? True persecution looks like what happened in Acts chapter 5, verse 40 through 42. And it says, then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching That the Christ is Jesus. That's Acts 5:40-42. They were rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. They were beaten for preaching Jesus, and they walked out rejoicing and kept right on preaching, kept right on preaching. Kept right on preaching. They didn't take on the offense of the people who were persecuting them. They kept right on preaching. And these were humans like you and me. They were human beings like you and me, filled with the Spirit. They didn't take on the offense of the people who were persecuting them. The Bible is too good for us not to be reading it, studying it, and soaking it in, okay? They didn't take on the offense of the people who were persecuting them. They kept right on preaching that Christ is Jesus. They kept right on teaching in Jesus' name. They kept right on healing. Delivering in Jesus' name despite the persecution. Only joy. And this is why I teach all the time that joy is not, is not an emotion. It is a posture of the heart that comes from living a life in the Spirit. We are supposed to be living a life in the Spirit, not in our flesh, not in our flesh, not in our flesh. Not in our flesh. Every day we have to choose to live a life in the Spirit. So this week, deal with this word from the Lord. And the next time that you feel like you being persecuted, don't use the word persecution first. Ask yourself, Is this happening because of Christ and my, my desire to live holy, or is it happening because of something I did? Am I experiencing consequences? God bless you.

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