Blessed are they ... Read more ...

• Blessed are they ... - The Greek word, makarios (G3107), is correctly translated as “blessed” in the King James, or Authorized, Version of our English Bible. It is improperly translated as “happy” in many other translations. Happiness depends upon what happens to us on the outside and is totally dependent upon ones circumstances and welfare – that is what happens at critical points in life. Blessedness depends upon Him – Christ – who is resident within the child of God and depends entirely on what God does for the believer in and through the person and work of His son Jesus Christ. It is vitally important that this be understood because the task of the child of God is not a pursuit of happiness but the art of enjoying the God who blesses. For example, we see in the Sermon on the mount in Matt 5, “blessed are they that mourn”, “blessed are they which are persecuted” – mournful people who are poor in spirit are not happy about their condition, the people who are persecuted are not happy how the world is treating them but they will have blessing of God resting upon them. They are not being stimulated to happiness by the happenings, on the other hand, they form the necessary ingredients of the development of the true blessedness in the life of a believer. Happiness is determined by pleasant circumstances which  may happen to us and which we like. Blessedness is determined by our attitude towards the events of life, pleasant or otherwise, because of our faith in God and in His Word. True blessedness is the state wherein one enjoys the favor and salvation of God. The ground for such blessedness is a proper relationship with God. Since no unbeliever can be blessed as this state of being depends upon a  right relationship with the Lord, it stands to reason that true blessedness begins with new-birth or regeneration. Since it is this Holy Spirit who brings this blessedness of a believer it is imperative that we be born of the Holy Spirit so that he indwell us and bring us blessing. A good definition of this word “blessed” is found in Psa 133:3: “As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore”. This is the blessing that the Bible is concerned with, and this is what Jesus is talking about in the Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes – “life for evermore” – Eternal Life in Christ. . Quoting from the Old Testament Psalm and referring to the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus, Rom 4:7-8 asserts, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin”. Those that God has graciously redeemed have received the gift of righteousness, as Psa 24:5 indicates, “He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation”. Rom 4:6 repeats this same idea: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth [bestows] righteousness without works”.

Psa 65:4 “Blessed is the man whom thou [God] choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts [Kingdom of God]: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”

Psa 32:1-2 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile”

Psa 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

Psa 112:1-2 “Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.”

Jam 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life [eternal life], which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

Eph 1:3-7 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

• Blessed are the Poor in Spirit - We are spiritually broken-hearted by our sin. We are spiritually poor because we need a Savior. Before salvation, God has to “break us down” spiritually, and humble us because by nature we are so proud and arrogant as we disdain God and His Word, the Bible. Mournful people who are poor in spirit are not happy about their condition. But the Word of God assures us poor and contrite heart are not despised by the Lord even though they might be miserable. On the contrary they will be blessed: “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psa 34:18). Lord Jesus indeed manifested a “… contrite and humble spirit …”. In turn, those whom God has elected to salvation will be “humbled” and will be “made contrite” as God gives them a new resurrected soul (Eze 36:26) and saves them by His grace and for His glory. The contrast between pride and humility is found throughout the pages of Scripture; and one such example is the historical parable of the Pharisee who do not understand his own sinfulness and the publican who is broken-hearted by his sin, found in Luke 18:9-16. Pride comes from self-righteousness and humility comes from “imputed” God’s righteousness.

Matt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Luke 6:20 “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor [poor in spirit or brokenhearted by sin]: for yours is the kingdom of God.”

Psa 51:16-17 “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Luke 18:9-14 “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 12And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Luke 4:18 (quoting Isa 61:1-3) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me [Jesus], because he hath anointed me [Jesus] to preach the gospel to the poor [poor in spirit or brokenhearted]; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”

• Blessed are they that Mourn - Those who have become saved by God’s grace can mourn along with the psalmist in Psa 38:18 “For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin”. Godly sorrow, or Godly mourning over sin produces, or causes, genuine repentance because it is the work of Holy Spirit and the Word of God in the hearts of His chosen people. Repentance (based on “godly sorrow”), which is a gift from God has everything to do with Salvation. Matt 5:4 declares, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted”. Those who mourn for their sin will escape God’s judgement as Job 5:11 assures us: “To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety”. Undoubtedly, Nineveh has to be one of the most dramatic examples of mourning and comfort (salvation) recorded in the Bible! when God commanded Jonah to preach a simple message, “And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”, the people of Nineveh believed and repented and “cried mightily unto God” and the Lord pitied them and spared them. God’s answer to Jonah in Jon 4:9-11 helps us see God’s love as the motivating force behind this wonderful salvation account, even though God had warned of impending judgment previously: “And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. 10Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?”

Luke 6:21, 25 “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now [mourn for their sin]: for ye shall laugh. 25Woe unto you that are full! [with false doctrines] for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep [on judgement day].”

2 Cor 7:8-10 “For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

Joel 2:12-13 “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”

Jonah 3:5-9 “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”

Isa 61:1-3 [quoted in Luke 4:18] “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me [Jesus]; because the LORD hath anointed me [Jesus] to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” 

• Blessed are the Meek - The Hebrew word for “meek” (‘anav:H6035) is found some 26 times, and is generally translated as “meek”, “humble”, “poor”, and “lowly”. The meek are those who have been “made beautiful” (or clothed) with salvation: “For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation” (Psa 149:4). The Bible gives us some wonderful pictures of the “meek”, or those who are “born-again” and have inherited the quality of “meekness” as “the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit”. As we ponder this word “meekness”, we are reminded of the Lord Jesus, the Ultimate Servant, who uttered these words in Matt 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls”. Matt 21:5 also portrays the Lord Jesus in such a fashion: “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass”. Moses, as a great type of Christ, is described in Num 12:3 in these words, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth”. Matt 5:5 declares “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth”. God will destroy this present universe by fire and create New Heavens and a New Earth (2 Pet 3:7, 10, 13). This is the earth the meek will inherit. This is where only God and His people will live forever in righteousness.

Gal 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Isa 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me [Jesus]; because the LORD hath anointed me [Jesus] to preach good tidings unto the meek [to preach the gospel to the poor; in parallel verse in Luke 4:18]; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

Psa 37:9, 11, 22, 29, 34 “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. 11But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 22For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. 29The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. 34Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.”

• Blessed are they which do Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness - We read in Zep 2:3, “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger”. So, who are the “meek”? As we have seen above, they are God’s redeemed children. Who are the “righteous”? Those who have been covered with Christ’s robe of righteousness (Isa 61:10, Php 3:9). In other words, all who have become saved will be “hid” from the Lord’s anger on Judgment Day. Matt 5:6 describes these individuals “blessed”. One of the greatest declarations regarding the purpose and scope of the Bible is found in 2 Tim 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. The Greek word for “instruction” in this phrase gives the connotation of nurturing, or teaching, or correcting on the subject of righteousness. Matt 5:6 declares “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”. Psa 36:8 gives the child of God this assurance: “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures”. In verse Psa 23:2 we read, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”. As the most nourishing physical food for sheep is tender, green grass, so is the most nourishing spiritual food for God’s people is His Word, the Bible. We believers “feed” spiritually upon the Word of God in its written form, upon the Bread of Life and the Living Water – the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 6:21, 25 “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 25Woe unto you that are full! [with false doctrines] for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.”

John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

John 7:37-39 “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

Psa 23:1-3 “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

• Blessed are the Merciful - Now let us meditate on Matt 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy”. An English dictionary says that being “merciful” is a willingness to grant “a reprieve from a fate of considerable severity without further implication”. In short, we can say that “mercy is not receiving the punishment deserved”. Thus, the greatest act of mercy is that of God’s forgiving a person’s sins through the atoning work of Jesus Christ at the cross and, thereby, granting them a reprieve from a fate of ultimate severity – eternal damnation in Hell. God allows sinners to humbly petition Him for mercy through prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt 6:12). A casual reading of this Beatitude might lead us to conclude that we must somehow first be “merciful” in order to “obtain mercy”, but we know from many other verses in the Bible that there is nothing we can do to obtain God’s mercy – it is an undeserved gift. It is God who enables those who first obtain His mercy through salvation to reflect His merciful nature towards others. In other words, those who “obtain mercy” (salvation) are called “the people of God” (believers): “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Pet 2:10), and God gives His people the ability to “love mercy”: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic 6:8). Although believers do not have the authority to forgive sins, they do have a duty to share God’s mercy with others by proclaiming the True Gospel of Grace so that God may forgive their sins.

Matt 18:23-38 “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses”

• Blessed are the Pure in Heart - Matt 5:8 declares, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God”. But a “stony heart” is a vivid description of unsaved man’s sinful condition: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9). Rom 2:5 goes on to pinpoint man’s innate rebelliousness: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God …”. Psa 51:10 is a prayer for God to have mercy because only God can create eternal life in a person’s dead soul (or “heart”) by giving him the Holy Spirit and making a “new creature” of that person: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”. Those who have received the gift of salvation have actually been given a new heart, or soul, and only God is capable of performing such a Divine operation for which He uses the two-edge sword “His Word”. Eze 36:25-26 portrays the reality of the new birth and describes what has to take place: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ...”. The “water” in “I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean” typifies the Holy Spirit and the Gospel: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). Heb 12:14 declares, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”. Only a heart that has been made alive spiritually and infused with the Spirit of God can see or fellowship with God.

Matt 15:19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:”

Eze 36:25-26 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh”

Eph 5:26-27 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it [his elect] with the washing of water by the word,  27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

• Blessed are the Peacemakers - Matt 5:9 declares, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God”. Lord Jesus is called “the Prince of Peace” because he came to bring peace between God and His people. Rom 5:10 records, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life”. In other words, if we have truly become saved, we are no longer God’s “enemies”, and our war with God has ended. The peace that results from salvation is called “peace with God” in Rom 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”. True believers have peace with God because of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross that has “reconciled” them to God, as explained in 2 Cor 5:19 and Col 1:20: “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven”. It is the mission of every true child of God as 2 Cor 5:18 affirms, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” God commands all of His saints to “go ye into all the world” and to “shew mercy” to the lost by being “ambassadors for Christ” and proclaiming the “Gospel of Christ”. Rom 10:15 announces “beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” which is found in the Gospel of the Bible. The “glad tidings of good things” in this verse is referring to: “... warfare is accomplished… iniquity is pardoned.”(Isa 40:2).

Eph 2:3, 13-17 “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”

2 Cor 5:18-20 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

• Blessed are they which are Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake - Indeed, Christians are called upon to suffer for righteousness’ sake, and never for evil-doing, as we read in 1 Pet 4:12-16. The People who are persecuted are not happy how the world is treating them but they will have blessing of God resting upon them. The degree of blessedness enjoyed is determined by our response to the creator through faith in His Word and acting upon that Faith. When a born-again believer who is in Christ Jesus lays hold on Rom 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” – by faith, acknowledging that “all” in this verse is “all things” is to be taken literally, he begins to enjoy the blessedness that already is his through faith in God. The more he exercises the faith in the Word of God, the greater the degree of his blessedness he enjoys. This means he will face the tragedies and persecutions in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. Why and how can he do this? He does so because he is confident in the word of God, that his God is sovereign and that indeed that “all things” of this life are under His absolute control, to the end that only that which is for the good of the believer can come out of it. Even evil deed perpetuated against him by wicked men will be looked upon as tools or agencies of good, permitted by a dear father for the blessedness of the elect. Biblical example of a such a blessed person is Joseph of the OT. Although hated, and plotted against, and persecuted by his brothers, wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife, punished unjustly in prison, still Joseph trusted in the sovereign love and rule of God knowing that all things of life are indeed a part of the creator’s plan designed for the good of his elect one. Bible reiterates that only if we suffer for Christ’s sake it is a blessing, not if we suffer for our own wrong doings. After all, we are to pattern our lives after the Master whom we follow. Jesus said in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you …”. But He also proclaimed these words of comfort in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. God used Paul as an outstanding example of “suffering” as he typifies His Master in this respect. When Paul penned Php 1:29 under divine inspiration he was speaking from personal experience: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” and in 2 Tim 3:11-12: “what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Matt 5:10-12 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

1 Pet 2:19-20 “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”

1 Pet 4:12-16 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”