THE PROOF: SUFFERING

Oct 12, 2025 • Rory Mosley

123 THE PROOF: SUFFERING

Matthew 5:9-12

October 12, 2025

Ok, this morning we come to

The final message here of our Disciple Now weekend.

For you adults, we’ve been discussing what true blessing is.

Our world loves to throw out the world blessed,

But as is the case with so many things, the focus is wrong.

Our world associates blessing

With things like wealth or fame or comfort.

It’s always something temporal.

And that is the way the Greeks looked at it in Jesus’ day too.

The word blessed is MAKARIOS in the Greek and it means

“happy or blissful or prosperous”.

So it would seem that the world

Has always looked at blessing as worldly prosperity.

That is when Jesus turns everything on its head.

He uses the word MAKARIOS but totally redefines what it looks like.

He says

· “Happy are the Humble”

· “Happy are the Sad”

· “Rich are the Poor”

· “Full are the Hungry”

And in so doing He teaches us that true blessing is not about what you get from this life, but rather what you receive in the next life in eternity.

THAT HAS BEEN OUR THEME.

We’ve been working through the beatitudes

And we’ve been looking at them and asking some questions.

WHAT IS BLESSING?

To be forgiven of my sin

We learned from Jesus that

· It’s the humble man who realizes that he has nothing of spiritual value to offer God who is blessed.

· It’s the man who mourns over his sin who is blessed.

Matthew 5:3-4 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

And that is because God gives grace to the humble.

God revives the spirit of the lowly

The next session we asked:

HOW DO I PURSUE FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION?

By believing in and submitting my life to Jesus Christ.

We learned that there is a Savior who dies in our place.

And He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

And so:

Matthew 5:5-6 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

You must be gentle and willing to entrust your life to Jesus.

You must want righteousness and desire Him above this world.

The next session we asked:

IS BEING RELIGIOUS ENOUGH?

No, perfect righteousness is required.

We looked at the Pharisees who were very religious, but their hearts were not right before God.

· They cleaned the outside of the cup, but not the inside.

· They were beautiful on the outside, but full of dead man’s bones

· They tithed but neglected what really mattered like justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Then we saw:

Matthew 5:7-8 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

We realized that simply religion is no substitute for righteousness.

If we want an eternal blessing we must be real.

We must actually submit to Jesus who alone can give us righteousness and not seek to settle for just being a little religious

That’s where we’ve come thus far in our weekend.

THIS MORNING let’s introduce our final question of the weekend.

SHOULD MY SALVATION BE EVIDENT?

Let’s work on that one.

(9-12) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Like all the others,

Jesus is NOT telling you something you MUST DO TO EARN salvation.

· He is NOT SAYING that if you will go out and be a peacemaker then I’ll bless you in eternity.

· He is NOT SAYING that if you will go out and get persecuted then I’ll bless you in eternity.

These are not a recipe to earn blessing.

These are evidences of a life that has already obtained blessing.

Obviously when we speak of eternal blessing,

It isn’t fully realized until eternity.

So how is a person supposed to know in this life if they have secured the eternal blessing Jesus talks about?

Jesus says that you should look at these last two attitudes.

· Are you a peacemaker?

· Are you persecuted?

· Then you are blessed.

Jesus says that “peacemakers” are blessed.

We should make sure we recognize that

Jesus didn’t say “peacekeepers” are blessed.

He’s NOT talking about non-confrontational people

Who know how to get through life without ever ruffling any feathers.

Jesus is talking about people who labor to make peace.

Specifically this is peace between men and God.

Jesus is talking about people who share the good news of the gospel.

It is those who confront those in sin that they might also be forgiven.

These people are blessed and Jesus says “for they shall be called sons of God.”

What a title!

To be called a son of God!

Jesus is identifying the work as a peacemaker

As the work that best resembles what He came to do.

Didn’t Jesus come to secure peace?

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

· We were God’s enemies.

· We were rebellious sinners.

· We deserved destruction.

But Jesus came in human form to bear the punishment for our sin

That He might satisfy God’s wrath.

We also lacked the righteousness God required.

· We were spiritually bankrupt in every way.

But Jesus came, earned righteousness, and then imputed that to us

So that we might be acceptable to God.

Jesus came and brought peace between man and God.

And that is what those who follow Him do.

It is those who have received mercy who talk about it.

It is those who have been forgiven of hypocrisy that seek purity.

And it is those who were forgiven of their rebellion

That work to help other rebels be forgiven.

Being a peacemaker is evidence of one who has been blessed by Jesus

And they await that fullness of that blessing in eternity.

· They are people who are real.

· They are people who value mercy.

· They are people who value righteousness.

· They are people who have learned to hate sin.

· They are people who long for others to find forgiveness too.

They are evangelists.

They are missionaries.

They are satisfied customers.

They want everyone to have what they’ve received.

This is how you spot someone who has secured the blessing.

They want everyone to have it.

And so we use this one to evaluate our lives too.

· We already asked if we realized our spiritual bankruptcy

· We already asked if we mourned over our sin

· We already asked if we were submissive to whatever Jesus asked

· We already asked if hungered for righteousness

· We already asked if we were merciful to others

· We already asked if we were genuine and real

Those are ways we evaluate if we have received the blessed life.

And now we ask, if we are those

Who are sharing that good news with others.

This is an evidence.

Light shines.

Salt tastes.

Blessed lives share their blessing.

So you evaluate your life there and ask if that is you.

(10-12) “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

One of the ways you can tell if you’ve been saved is if your desire matches Jesus’ desire to see others find peace with God.

ANOTHER WAY YOU CAN TELL you’ve been saved is when people treat you like they treated Jesus.

This is an indicator that the world can see Jesus in you.

Jesus says “theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

And not just the kingdom, but great reward there.

See we don’t know we’ve been saved by our clothing

Or even by our church attendance.

We know we’ve been saved when

We are transformed to live like Jesus

And when that transformation is evident

Even to those who hate Jesus.

And that may even be through persecution.

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

And this morning, to examine this further:

TURN TO: JOHN 15:12-25

This is Jesus, the night before He was crucified.

John 13 - John 17 is called “The Upper Room Discourse” because it was the preaching of Jesus to His disciples in that upper room where they gathered to take the Passover. And the information is rich.

But we notice here that Jesus lays out for the disciples

Exactly what these final two beatitudes revealed.

First, that His followers would be peacemakers.

That is to say that they would be men who went into the world to carry on the ministry of Jesus.

It is a ministry of love, but it is also a ministry of gospel preaching.

Look specifically at verses 16-17

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. “This I command you, that you love one another.”

Do you see the phrase there that Jesus’ disciples

Were appointed to “go and bear fruit”.

They are called to go and be productive

In the very ministry that He began.

They are not only to be His followers, but His co-laborers.

Later He will say:

John 20:21 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

They were to take the peace Jesus purchased

AND PROCLAIM IT TO THE WORLD.

You even get a story to emphasize that in the last chapter of John.

John 21:1-3 “After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.”

Peter was going back to fishing.

· The ministry was over, and Peter thought he might return to his former occupation.

· But that night Jesus didn’t let them catch anything.

· (This is the second time that had happened)

If you know the story, Jesus appears and, just like before, tells them to cast their nets on the other side and they do and catch a huge amount and they recognize it was Jesus.

They had gone back to fishing and Jesus had caught them.

It is then that Jesus confronted Peter.

John 21:15-17 “So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

Jesus reminded Peter that he wasn’t a fisherman anymore,

He was a shepherd.

They were now followers of Jesus.

They were to be peacemakers.

Their old life was gone, they had denied self.

If you know anything about the disciples that is exactly what they did.

Their lives became devoted to proclaiming the good news of Jesus to all who would hear it.

You knew they were followers of Jesus

Because they kept doing what Jesus did.

It is very difficult for someone to claim to be a follower of Jesus

When you never hear them talk about Jesus.

But you also see the persecution reality in John 15.

John 15:18-25 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave 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. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. “He who hates Me hates My Father also. “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”

You will know you look like Jesus

When the world treats you like it treated Jesus.

Does the world love you? It hated Jesus.

Does the world honor you? It mocked Jesus.

Does the world cheer you on? It crucified Jesus.

It is very difficult for a man to say he is a follower of Jesus

When no one else in the world can see Jesus in him.

Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”

Young people I want you to listen now as we close out this weekend.

We are talking about true blessing.

And we are listening to Jesus to find out what it is.