Lesson Text:  Matthew 5: 1,2 and 10, 11, and 12

 

"1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:…

 

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 
11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
 
Blessed are those who are persecuted, that is a big word. We need to understand this word before we can go on.
 
To persecute is to be mean to someone by making fun of them, acting as though there is something wrong with them, causing them pain either physically such as hitting or mentally which is by words.
 
During the time that the Bible was being written many people who believed and obeyed Jesus were thrown into jail, made to leave where they lived, and even killed. These people were persecuted because they believed and obeyed Jesus.  What God wants us to do is to believe and be obedient to His Son, Jesus.
We find that people persecuted Jesus, God’s Son:
 
John 5:16
"For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath."
They wanted to and did kill Him.
 
We are told that those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (loving, believing and obeying Jesus) should be happy. It may seem a little hard to be happy when someone is being mean to us but if we are doing what Jesus says, we can be happy because one day we are going to go to Heaven and be with God and His Son, Jesus.
 
Look what He tells His followers:
 
John 15:20
"Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also."
 
Jesus and God know that there are going to be people out there who will not love, believe and obey Jesus. They also know that these people will persecute those who do love, believe and obey Jesus.
 
Jesus also tells us how to act towards those who do these mean things to us:
 
Matthew 5:44
"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,"
 
He tells us to pray for them. Seems a bit hard to do doesn’t it? If someone is mean to us we usually want to be mean back to them, but we must learn that when we truly love God and Jesus we will live and do things the way they say. We need to pray to God that these people will learn the truth and obey God so that they also can one day go to Heaven.
 
 
FAMILY DISCUSSION:
 

Talk with your parents about ways you and your family may have been persecuted.
 
 
 

Put an X by the sentences in which someone is being persecuted

 

 

____ 1. Michael called Kenzie and Daygon names and made fun of them because they went to Bible study Wednesday night instead of going to the ball game at school.
 
____ 2. Anna and Eric invited Paxton to go to Sunday School with them and he was happy that they invited him and he went with them.
 
____ 3. Sunni told her friend Kara that we have to be baptized or we cannot be saved. Kara laughed and then went around telling everyone that Sunni believed that only those who were baptized will be saved.
 
____ 4. Billie and BJ were singing Jesus Loves Me when two of BJ’s friends walked up and they began singing with them.
 
____ 5. Kenzie was telling Gabriella and Sharpa about her sister Keltzie who died and would go to heaven to be with God. They told her there is no God.
 
 
 

YES OR NO

 

6. God knew that those who love, believe and obey Him would be persecuted. 
 
7. We should be mean to those who are mean to us. 
 
8. Jesus tells us to pray for those who are mean to us. 
 
9. Those who are persecuted for loving, believing and obeying God will go to Heaven. 
 
10. We should persecute each other because this makes God happy.