Dear Community, we are still busy with the Holy Sermon. We are now at the last Holy Sermon. Holy is what is pursued for the sake of justice. Let us read it again, verse 10 to 12. And then let us also read 1 Peter 3. The idea is to break into the next group. to stand still on this topic of persecution and also to think about what is the cause of persecution in our time, in our place, where we are, in the place where we live, in the world where we are here. But let us now listen to the Holy Word of the Lord our God. It is 5, verse 10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of justice, for to them belongs the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and speak to you falsely, all kinds of evil against me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in this way they persecute the prophet who was before you. Let's also listen to 1 Peter 3. Then let's listen to the whole chapter. Just as you women should be submissive to your husband, so that if someone is disobedient to the word, they too can be won by the walk of the woman without words, if they have a pure, God-fearing walk. Your adornment should not be appearance, not hair braiding and wearing of gold and attire of clothes, but the hidden person of the heart, in the immeasurable adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious to God. For in the past also the holy women who had hoped on God had desecrated themselves, and they were disobedient to their own men. So Sarah was obedient to Abram, and she took him as her lord. Whose children you have become if you do good and do not fear any terror? Just as you should live wisely with your men, and show honor to the women as to the weak, that you may inherit more of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be in vain. And finally, all of you, be united, humbly, full of brotherly love, and receive, in a friendly manner. Do not be angry with each other, nor speak ill of each other, but pity, on the contrary, because you know that you have been called to this, so that you may inherit pity. For whosoever will love life, and will see good in it, shall keep his tongue for what is wrong, and his lips, that they speak no deceit. He shall turn away from what is wrong, and do what is good. He shall seek peace, and pursue it. For the eye of the Lord is on the righteous, and his ear is to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against the wrongdoers. And know that what you will do evil, if you are followers of the good, but if you also want to lead by the righteousness, you are blessed. And fear not, and be not dismayed, but holy the Lord God in your hearts. And always be ready to take responsibility for everyone who is in your account, and train the hope that is in you with patience and fear. with the preservation of a good conscience, so that in the case where they speak ill of you, as they speak ill of those who do evil, they may be ashamed of their good life in Christ. For it is better than the will of God to lead you when you do good, than to lead you when you do evil. For Christ also once led the sinners. He is the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He who is dead to the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, in whom He also went forth and prayed for the spirits in the prison, which was forever unheard when the patience of God awoke one more time in the day of Noah, while the ark was prepared, wherein few, but eight souls were saved by the water. Amen. This is the Word of the Lord. Beloved community, we have now heard again how our Lord Jesus says, Blessed, happy, full of joy is he who is pursued for the sake of righteousness, who is pursued for his own desires. Blessed, happy, they are the ones who have the true joy, is he who is pursued for the sake of righteousness. Like the other Salah speeches, this is something that should catch your attention. That the Lord says, the people who are persecuted for the sake of justice, they receive the true joy. They discover the way of joy, of happiness. This is something that should surprise you. But still, it is absolutely true. It is so. What does it mean to be pursued? This term is also used in other contexts. It is also when someone has committed a murder, then we hear how the police are after him, they pursue him, they try to catch him. And then we read about how a murderer is accused and put in jail. And we also read that he is prosecuted. He is prosecuted. And he is finally found guilty and the sentence is imposed. He was prosecuted and justice was served. Now, when we talk about prosecution, We don't mean that kind of persecution. And the Stokes make it so clear time and again. The persecution that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 5 is persecution for the sake of justice. Not persecution because you have transgressed. But persecution for the sake of justice. So what is the problem? The problem is... The definition of what is right and what is wrong, is cocaine. The world has a different idea of what is right and what is wrong. And so they will, those who are dealing with true justice, as the Lord defines it in his scripture, they will sometimes see it as injustice. As something bad, as something bad, as something to get rid of. It is something that needs to be stopped. We are not looking for these things. Why is there such a difference? Why are there such far-reaching ideas about right and wrong, about justice and injustice, that this conflict, this battle, this war is actually happening? Well, we already read about it in Genesis, where the Lord says He will make enmity between the serpent and the woman, between her offspring and the serpent's offspring. It doesn't mean that the snake, as the Bible says, had a relationship with Eve, and then it gave birth to a offspring, and that Cain is now Satan's child, and Abel is Adam's child. That's not what the text says. If you read, it also says, Adam knew Eve, and Cain was born. But there is this idea, that's what the offspring means. That's not what the text says. What is it about? It's about the battle from the beginning between the believers and the unbelievers, the just and the unjust. It's about this war, this battle, which is being fought from the beginning through history. So what happens then? If the offspring of the snake, the unbeliever, gets to do with the believer, and the believer is busy learning things and doing things that they don't like. Persecution. They see it as something that is bad. It is what we also read about in the Gospels. The darkness has the light. And when our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, He is the true light that has the power to enlighten other people, that they also become enlightened, that He shines through them. And He came into the darkness and the light shone in the darkness. And the darkness could not overcome it. But the darkness has the light. The darkness has it. So, everything that looks like light, everything that shines in the darkness, that will try to attack and get rid of the darkness. We also talked about this in a previous lecture. It's like if you were in a dark room for a long time, and someone turns on the light and pulls your eyes like this. Your eyes don't like the bright light that shines. And this is how it happens with the unbelieving world. The unbelieving world, the Satan and all his followers, they don't like the light. And if Jesus Christ is the true light, that means they don't like Him. They don't like Christ. They don't want to do anything with Him. And that is where they start to pursue. You can work with the same concept, what is pursuit? But the problem is, the definition of what should be pursued, that's where the problem is. That's where the problem lies. The world also pursues the righteous. Because they hate Christ, and they hate everything that looks and sounds like Him. They want to give it away, as far as possible from themselves. We have already mentioned something in that direction. Persecution comes as a result of words and as a result of deeds. What you say and what you do can awaken persecution. So when we read in Acts 1 verse 8 and hear how our Lord Jesus says, You will be my witnesses. It's a striking part. It's a retelling of what our Lord Jesus said to the disciples just before he ascended to heaven. Then he said to the disciples, you will be tied up in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the corners of the world. See how it's circles that go on and on and on and on. In all the actions, you see how it's actually happening. The Gentiles begin to leave. The Gentiles move out. The Gentiles are first in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then to the corners of the world. This is what Acts wants to show. This is how this is happening. Jesus, a Gentile, is about to leave. But it's interesting if you read the word for Gentiles. Then it says, Martyrs. Does it sound like a clock? This is the name that the church later gave to individuals who died as a result of the persecution. They were martyrs. They died for the martyrs. They were called martyrs. So in that sense, if you take Acts 1, verse 8 seriously, then we should all be martyrs in that sense. Be witnesses. People who are busy going out and with word and deed to let the testimony of Jesus Christ be heard everywhere. Or, in the other image, we should be lights that shine. If Jesus Christ took you out of the darkness and placed you in his kingdom of light, then make of you also a light that will shine in the darkness. And the darkness hates the light. So when we are living as Christians, then that witness must become, you must say things that are a witness of the light, and you must live in such a way that it is a witness of the light, of Christ. They have to see Christ in the believers. And when that happens, it's irresponsible. They don't like that. They don't like the teaching of Christ and the life of Christ. They don't want to do anything about it. So, if we ask ourselves, why are people still persecuted? Why are people still persecuted? Then you can give more than one answer. In a way, it depends on where you live. I've already said it today, but you could also say when you live. This morning we had the solution policy of the SEA policy. We could easily mention a part of the European catechism, or the German ideals, or the Dutch solution policy. But if we go back to history, then there were religious fathers who died for those policies. You know, the Dutch Religious Policy System was written by Guido de Bray. It was because the reformers were being persecuted, they were being tortured for the reformed policies and the reformed lives. And when he wrote this book, he threw it over the wall together with a letter, so that it would reach the king. It reached the king, but what is the end of it? It's not that he was merciful and saved the reformers, no. But in the end, Dido de Bray was also martyred for the witnesses. He is now also a martyr. So if you, today, You can talk about this policy, you can talk about the Dutch Religious Policy, and you can do it, and you will never think that someone will look at you, because you say, I am advocating the Dutch Religious Policy. I would be very surprised if you get opposition. Because it is so totally unknown. Unless you take certain parts from it, and you say, I believe this, this, this. Then you will start to get resistance. But at a certain point, it was enough that people will catch you and put you on fire, just as you say, I advocate this doctrine. Then you are killed for it. In our time it is different. So the question is then also, what are the things that make people persecuted today? But also, what is the thing that makes Christians to be persecuted here? Because there is, if you look at other places in the world, and it is a good exercise to do with the children, it is a good exercise to see how the map of the world looks like, but also to realize that we are part of a larger religious family, which is spread all over the world, and our party is religious, which is in other countries, who are being persecuted more violently than we are. And we have to pray for them, for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted in other countries. If you're looking for a source, it's open to you. You have a useful explanation of in which countries there are which types of persecutions. So you can become more aware of what's going on in the church all over the world. And your persecution has never, never stopped. It's still going on. It's still going on. There are still Christians who are trying to die for the testimony of Jesus Christ. It's still going on. There are party countries, where if you possess a Bible, you don't get thrown around. How many Bibles do you have in your house? There are people who have a Bible that they share with each other, And then they just memorize the parts of the Bible. Because they know that at some point this physical copy will be taken away. And then they just memorize the Bible. So that they can keep thinking about the words of the Lord and use them. That's the type of persecution that happened today. It was a persecution of... You can own a Bible. But if you come together with more believers. Then the police will come and arrest you and you will see that they never know about you. They are locked up somewhere in a prison. That's what happened today. Or you can come together with more believers, but you can't talk to anyone else on the street about Jesus Christ. If you do that, then you will be arrested and thrown in the trunk. These are things that we... It is so obvious that we can do it. We can own more than one Bible. We can have a whole library of different Bibles and commentaries on the Bibles. We can own all these treasures. But there are brothers and sisters who lie in the trunk because they only had one copy of the Bible. There are brothers and sisters who lie in the trunk because they came together, just like we came together this morning, to pray. As brothers and sisters who are in the throes of death, because they had faith in the Lord's commandment, among other things in Acts 1, verse 8, went out and testified of our Lord Jesus Christ. The persecution is bloody and is serious. In South Africa, the picture is different at the moment. We do not expect this type of persecution on these types of matters. But on other topics, What you need to know is that if you say something about it, if you hold on to it, then you need to know that there will be consequences. And that is what we want to talk about in the coming weeks. In the preaching, volunteering in the preaching. What are those themes? What you need to know is that there is a burning point in our time, in the place where we live. And that we need to hold on to that point. Not because we want it to end up in our throats, no. But it is important that we stand, that we be light. Especially now in the topics where the Germans say, but here, here is where we want to be. Then we have to let the light shine right there. But today, then first the question, what is the heart of all persecution? The persecution here, and the persecution in China. The persecution here, and the persecution in North Korea. What is the source of all the persecution that exists? We read in 1 Peter 3. We read in 1 Peter 3. We read in 1 Peter 3. We read in 1 Peter 3. We read in 1 Peter 3. Read us a few of the commandments that the Apostle has given to the Church through all the ages. Also for you this morning. And finally, be all one. Be all compassionate. You don't have to be cold to your fellow believers who are sitting here. Be compassionate. Give to each other. Be all full of brotherly love and warmth. He is all-friendly. Further, verse 9 says, Do not be angry with anger, nor be angry with anger. This is something that comes so easily from a sinful nature, which lives so vividly among the unbelievers, is that if someone is angry with me, then you must know that I will get him back. If you cut me, then I will cut you back. If you say a bad word to me, I will say a bad word back. I will punish you with evil for the evil you have done. But the Lord commands us here, the Lord the Apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, do not punish evil with evil, nor be angry with anger, but be kind to one another, because you know that you have been called to this, so that you can inherit kindness. I have now read through Matthew 5 a few times in this series, and then I will read the part Our Lord Jesus' words about this. Peter is busy saying things more than once in his letter that our Lord Jesus said. Here is one of them. Because whoever wants to see life in good faith, must keep his tongue for what is wrong. and their lips that they speak no deceit. This is a quote from Psalm 34. So stay away from evil in teaching and in life. You have to avoid what is wrong and do what is good. You have to seek peace in this pursuit. Christians should not be persecuted because of iniquity. That's not what we should be doing. about this serious warning, because the eye of the Lord is on the righteous and his eyes to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against the wrongdoers. Why do we live the way we live? Because we know that our whole life is for the face of the Lord. Your life is in front of the face of the Lord. There is a Latin phrase that is used a lot here. It is Coram Deo. You have to live in front of the face of the Lord. You have to realize that when you are in a conversation, it is a conversation in front of the face of the Lord. When you think about what you should do to someone, your thoughts are in front of the face of the Lord. When you perform to someone, you should know, my performance is in front of the face of the Lord. My whole life is in front of the face of the Lord. When you are at home and there are words between you and your wife, realize, this conflict now in the house is in front of the face of the Lord. When you are busy with your children, you have to realize that this is before the face of the Lord. Everything of our lives is before the face of the Lord. And then there is the positive, as it is said in verse 12. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are to their prayer. So beautiful, so beautiful. That God's ears are turned to you. to hear your actions. He wants to hear what you say. But the evil-doers, is the warning, the face of the Lord is against the evil-doers. He becomes the enemy of the evil-doers. That's the warning here. You don't want to be the enemy of the Lord. You don't want to fall into the category of the evil-doer, that the Lord's face is against you. In the Old Testament you heard something similar. In verse 7, there is this serious warning to the men. Where the Pharisees focus more on the duties of the man in marriage, and a little more on the woman, it is nicely changed in 1 Peter. Much more on the duties of the woman, and a little more on the man. So you men should live wisely with your wives, and treat the female gender as the weaker proof of honor. And we'll get to that in a moment. If you stand here today, you can only expect difficulty. If you say in today's world, in certain circles, that women are a weaker gender, You can see it now, they explode. Explode-proof people. But if the weaker one proves, because you are also taken in by the grace of life, about the warning, if you don't have such a life as your wives do, then the Lord says, so that your prayers will not be hindered. Your prayers, men, will be hindered. if you don't live righteously towards your wife. It sounds a lot like what the Lord says a little later. The Lord who turns his ear away. He says how serious it is that a man should live righteously towards his wife. Otherwise, the Lord says, your prayers will be interrupted. What your soul desires the most as a believer is to come before the Lord. is to be in communion with Him, to be close to Him. And the Lord says, do evil with your wife, and I will not give her to you. This is the warning that the Lord gives to you men, look nicely at your wives. But then again back to verse 12, Verse 12 is broader, it's not just about a man, it's about everything that falls under the category of a coordinator. The face of the Lord is against the coordinator. That's why we read in Romans 13 that the part of the government's duty is to punish the coordinator. It is the duty of the government. It is why he is there. It is why he is there. It is to punish the coordinators. But it is the Lord who acts as the coordinator through a government that is obedient. The Lord's face is against the coordinators. And then we come to verse 13 to 15. This is the verse that is very relevant. And who is this? that will do evil to you if you are followers of the good. Peter says, as a rule, it is supposed to be so, that if you do good, if you are obedient to the Lord, if you do what He commands you to do, if you do this, then you are not supposed to get resistance. The expectation is that if you are obedient and do what is right, you are not subject to persecution for the good. Persecution should come from the wrongdoers. As we mentioned earlier, the problem is... that some in the community, some in the world, have a wrong idea about what a good doer and a bad doer is. And then they will start to follow someone who does good, like a bad doer. And that's why Peter goes on. He's not naive, is he? It's as if he thinks, if you don't stick to the rules and do everything the Lord commands, then there will never be any resistance in your life. There will never be any persecution. That's not what Peter is thinking, because of the following verse. But if you also have to lead for the sake of justice. What is that justice? That is obedience to the Lord. If you come into a conversation, and in that conversation you realize, in this conversation I have to say A, B, C, and C. That will mean that I am now obedient to the Lord. Then there is a life of justice. He is busy being obedient to the Lord. Or if you say, in this situation, I have to do this and this and this, because it is my duty to the Lord. Well, in practice, you are going to lead on the will of your duty to the Lord. And so, Peter says, if you also lead on the will of justice, you are blessed. Where they defend the voice of our Lord, Matthew 5. He is basically trying to translate our sermon here. He just changed the words a bit. But it is basically the last sermon. Then he says, And fear them not, and be not dismayed. Do not fear your followers. Do not be dismayed over your followers. I can ask you, why not? What a difficult task that is. Think about it, if we were in a different place and we came together here in secret. Recently we also came together in secret to the extent that we didn't expect the same type of persecution as you would get in other countries. But you could get into trouble. You could get fined. They also threatened to forcefully punish you, if they had caught you in secret, recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, I think, if you know, here we are, in obedience to the Lord, praying to each other. And, if the police hear about this, and they come here, Our members will never see it again. It's a reality in some places. And then you hear how the gentlemen here say, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of those people. Your heart shouldn't be controlled by the fear of people. Because that's what fear does. That's what fear does. It grabs your heart. It grabs your thoughts. It grabs your life. You live in fear. It determines your decisions. It determines your emotions. It determines everything you do. This fear. And the Lord says, don't be afraid of people. You can hear the words of our Lord again. He says, don't be afraid. that can take your life. But fear is the one that can take your life and throw your soul into eternal destruction. Put your fear in the right place. Let the right one have the control over your thoughts, your emotions, your decisions. And it is the Lord Almighty. There must be a greater fear in the heart of a believer than the fear for people. It drives away the fear of people. The fear of the Lord drives away the fear of people. So if you see in your own heart, but I have this problem. I am afraid of people. I am afraid of what these people are going to say, if I open my mouth. If someone is bothering you, they use the name of the Lord in a conversation. Then a type of fear comes up in your heart. I know I have to say something, but now you stay quiet. What determines your actions there is a fear of people. You were afraid of what they would react, what they would say about me. Even in a society where they talk about more serious things. About the role of a man and a woman. What is the role of a man, what is the role of a woman? And now you stand up and say, no, that's not what the word says. The word does not say that the man and the woman have exactly the same role. The word says this and that. And now you can think in that situation, what are they going to do? How are they going to react? It is a fear of people that can easily live in our hearts. And that can determine our decisions. That we are not obedient, right? Because sometimes we are disobedient. So what is the answer? If you find out, I have a fear of people who live in my heart. Then that must be a bigger fear for the Lord. Discover again who the Lord your God is. Discover again that you live for the face of the Lord your God. And that the fear of the Lord drives away the fear of people. So fear them not, and be not dismayed. But see what the answer is in verse 15. What is the answer to the fear of people? But holy is the Lord God in your hearts, and be always prepared to take responsibility for everything that is in your account, including the hope that is in you, with humility and fear, with a good conscience, so that in the case in which they speak ill of you, as they speak ill of evil-doers, they may be ashamed, which burdens your good life in Christ. Holy is the Lord God in your hearts, And what we just talked about here is the source of all persecution. It doesn't matter what time it is in history, it doesn't matter what place it is. The source of all persecution is who your Lord is. Who is your Lord? Who is the one who is sanctified in your heart as Lord? This is the one that has a different translation for you, as you can see. It's a bit different, because there's a text-critical note there. It's part manuscripts that say, Holy Christ in your hearts, and other manuscripts that say, Holy Lord God in your hearts. And because we don't believe in the one and only God, it doesn't make a big difference. The question is, who is the master? Who do you say this heart belongs to? Who rules over this heart? Who is the king of this heart? Who is the absolute authority over my life? For whom is my heart consecrated? Who is the one who holds the throne? It is here. He rules here. It is his temple. It is his home. Who is that? The unbelievers have sanctified their hearts for another master, another king, another god. The believers say, the Lord is the Lord of my heart. My heart is sanctified for Him alone. And that is where the war comes from. This is where the persecution comes from. Because if one person says, this one is the most important one that can be, and everyone should be proud of him. You too, every single one of you, should live for this one. And here comes another one and he says, no, this one is the most important one that can be. Everyone should live for this one, everyone should serve him. What happens? You have different definitions of what is a bad doer and what is a good doer. As long as you don't turn this one Dini, the one on the other side, he is a bad doer. He is made to live for this one. He is made to live and be loyal to him. And the same on the other side. You see, that is the origin of all persecution. Persecution comes It comes to fruition on the basis of different themes. In practice, it's like this. You have the word of this one. Throw it in the trunk. You spread the word of this one. Throw it in the trunk. Or you say, this one also rules over family. This one also defines what it means to be a man and a woman. This one also rules and determines what the marriage is. The marriage is not between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. And then, what happens, he is saying, this queen rules over the whole life. He rules over everything. There is not a single piece of society that is not ruled by Christ. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Christ is the absolute One. Over everything that exists. And the unbeliever is confronted with that. He has to honor. He has a different master. He has a different definition of what marriage is. He has a different definition of being a man, being a woman, of gender. And that's where the persecution comes from. So the source, the heart of persecution, must be that you see the unbelief in your life, hear in your words, that you say, Christ is Lord. He is Lord over this earth. He is Lord over you. He is Lord over this community. He is Lord over this world. He is Lord over creation. He reigns, absolutely. And that makes the darkness say, we can't. We can't. We can't do this. If you start to embrace Christ's Kingdom and say, Christ is King, yes. but only about some people in society. What's the darkness? It's easy with that. You say, the light stays away, we can still have our dark room. Or you say, Christ is a king, but only about a certain time in my week. He is king over Sunday. Or even in some cases, He is King just like the time I spent with other people on Sunday. That is the time where He is. But for the rest of the week, it can only be darkness. The world will be comfortable with that. The light is under the bucket. But if you say, Christ is King over all places, over all times, over all people. His dominion is absolute. Then the bucket is lit, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hates it. They hate it. Then the persecution comes in different forms. Tomorrow, dear ones, we hear the promises of the Lord. We hear that he says, the one who is pursued is happy for his own sake. The one who is pursued is happy for the sake of justice. Would it make sense if it meant that the enemy will eventually overcome? The darkness will eventually cover the light. The darkness will eventually overcome. Yes. We're not going to say that those who follow the law are happy, because then they will be defeated. And that's the end. But the kingdom of darkness cannot overcome the kingdom of light. It could be that you are going to lie. It could be that you are going to die. But what can you know? Every part of the Kingdom of Light, of the One who lives forever. And even if they take away my body, even if they take away my work, even if they take away my family, even if they do anything, they can't take away everything. And everything is in the hands of the Lord. The Lord is the conqueror king. The victory is certain. So the realization of who Christ is, also gives you the comfort. Also makes you have hope. This is what verse 15 also speaks of. But the Christ is a constant hope. That hope, in the midst of persecution, the Christians can say, let there be hope. Let there be hope. Because Christ is who He is. Who He says He is, and He will overcome. So let there be hope. And see what it brings under the unbelief. Verse 15. But holy is the Lord God in your hearts. And be always prepared to give responsibility to all who are of your countenance, because of the hope that is in you. When the believers in this world actively live for the King of Kings, and even when the world starts opposing them, and the believers are still trying to shine, because they have hope in Christ. What happens, Dickwills? The unbelievers start asking questions. They start saying, what's going on here? You're supposed to be fearless. You are under pressure to complain. You are under pressure to say, this is going so terribly bad with me. Everything is just dark. But I still see hope. How do you get hope? And then verse 15 says, Be prepared to serve with the Gospel. Be ready to give an answer for the hope that lives in you. Be ready to defend this hope. And to say, Christ, it's Him. It's Him. It's who He is. It's what He does. That gives me hope. It's His promise. That gives me hope. Because you have the opportunity to be a witness. Amen.