Mat 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who suffer for the advancement of God’s kingdom and not for those who are guilty of wrong doing. It’s mind boggling that people are being persecuted for doing right. The persecutor who does “…wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (Joh 3:20).
Blessed are those who are evil spoken of and evil entreated for Christ’s sake. The world hates them, but the world is not worthy of them and cannot diminish the light of Christ in their lives. While it is true that , “…all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Ti 3:12), God has not forgotten the persecuted.
In the 1950s David Wilkerson infiltrated a gang controlled neighborhood on the streets of NY preaching the gospel. One day Nicky Cruz, one of the most feared gang leaders approached the preacher and said, “You come near me and I’ll kill you!” Wilkerson replied, “Yeah, you could do that. You could cut me up into a thousand pieces and lay them in the street, and every piece will still love you.” There is comfort from the Holy Spirit to those who endure, for even the ability to endure is grace based. Rom 8:35-37 “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”