Once we become Peacemakers and start fearlessly preaching the Gospel of Peace, we will become targets for persecutions just as the Apostles and believers were in the early church.
In the scriptures, we know those who have been persecuted and are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, Daniel, Hananiah, Misael, Azariah comes to mind, the Apostles, the prophets, YESHUA himself the Chief. Daniel, Hananiah, Misael and Azariah in Babylon told the king as a matter of fact that they would not bow down to any idol or image and even if their Lord does not come to their aid they will still stand by His Word. These three Hebrew boys understood that YESHUA really means SALVATION and nothing else.
We must remember the story of Job and remember that we have to have the faith of Job who said though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. Job showed that he had the character of gold “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”[1] And this is the character of faith (gold) that Yeshua is calling on us in the church of Laodicea when He says “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich”, Job did not follow anyone (His three friends who did not have the spirit of God) but he pleaded to God to come to His aid and He was prepared to wait as long as it took God to respond and He did not budge. He was struck by pestilence, hurricanes or typhoons, fires and terrorists which destroyed his cattle, children and lost everything. Let us remember all these events were brought about by the powers of darkness SATAN, using his human agents,[2] from the pits of hell itself, where these natural disasters are devised as they were not from God. So, we must understand the things happening in our world today[3], just like Satan tried Job, Satan will also have permission from God to make our lives uncomfortable to try us and God will want to know if we truly love Him or we will abandon Him and prove Satan right. We need the faith of Job to be able to stand in these last days.
Currently in the world we see those who are being persecuted in the World for their political beliefs, through censorship etc., after the world is done with eliminating their political opponents, they will turn their attention to believers in Yeshua and those who keep the commandments of God and have faith and testimony of Yeshua.[4]
In Revelation 12:17 scripture tells us, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”. So, they are going to come for us who keep the commandments of God. But God says we must Rejoice and be exceedingly glad…! And we can only be able to withstand the trials ahead if we have allowed the holy spirit RUACH to work in us and prepare our hearts in the righteousness of God, because the trials will surely come as we see happening all around us everyday. Yeshua said this is just the beginning of sorrows.
In John 16:2 it tells us, “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.” This happened in Yeshua’s first advent when those who killed him said they were killing him because he had caused BLASPHEMY in Israel, and all his disciples were all martyred because they too were preaching by the Spirit of God. And we know the persecutions that believers went through during the dark ages, those who killed them said they had committed hearsay, same accusation they laid on Yeshua. And scripture tells us these scenes will be repeated in the end time to the followers of Yeshua and those who want to keep these tenets and preach the Gospel of Peace.
With this we have reached the top of the Mount with YESHUA, where we receive our CROWN of GLORY…. PRAISE BE TO HIS HOLY NAME!!
Summary
So, in summary, we have learnt that the Sermon on the Mount is like a staircase going upwards, or a domino stack which starts to fall in sequence only after the fall of the first domino. It is all connected in a chain-link just as the Ten commandments are connected, and they come as a package. And it all begins with the first step Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven!
It is a step-by-step upward climbing process where each takes us closer in our relationship with YESHUA. By the Sermon on the Mount Yeshua has given us a measurement tool to measure our faith and growth in him spiritually. In our formal education system in the world, we have grades 1, 2, 3 etc. where we mark our growth after each stage. So Yeshua has also basically simplified how we can measure our walk with him in the Spirit, by being able to ask ourselves and examine our walk in Him. He said if we judge ourselves, we will not be judged.[1] Using the sermon on the mount we will be able to gauge where we are in Yeshua.
So, we can ask ourselves where we are, and it all begins with the first step acknowledging our sins, repentance and baptism, and the Spirit will take over the rest as we continue to walk through sanctification through studying the Word, Prayer. Yeshua wants those who are willing to be taught. All it takes is to say I am willing Yeshua, I accept your offer of Salvation, Redemption and Renewal.
Through the Sermon on the Mount, we can literally know where we stand in YESHUA, if you do not have a pure heart like a child like love, then probably you are not merciful, and if you are not merciful. etc. etc. He has made it easy for us to see how we can reach him… and it all begins with step 1. If you keep the Shabbat but you are not merciful then we have to examine our understanding of the righteousness of Christ, loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbour as ourselves.
The sermon on the mount is the most beautiful and complete teaching about the entire Torah that Yeshua has given to us to understand the whole message of His gospel and mission. We thank him for giving us this insight at such a time as this know and keep in our hearts and minds.
[1] 1 Corinthians 11:13
[1] Job 23:10
[2] If Satan could bring fires, hurricanes, terrorists and other natural disasters 4000yrs ago, what about today?
[3] We have seen pestilence; we must expect more because Yeshua said these would just be the beginning of sorrows.
[4] Revelation 12:17.
Revelation by Grace Ministries 