May 16
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 14
REJOICE
-Matthew 5:12 states, … Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they
the prophets which were before you … Not only are we called blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness’
sake, but we are told by the Lord to REJOICE! DO WHAT? REJOICE? YES … REJOICE!
-The word "rejoice" means: to be cheerful, calmly happy, well-off, glad, or full of joy. The next time you are persecuted
for righteousness’ sake it should make you CHEER UP! Be cheerful, happy, glad, and REJOICE!
-The next part of this scripture verse tells us that our reward is to be great. What kind of reward do you think it would
be? Our reward could be nothing less than THE LORD HIMSELF! Genesis 15:1 states, … the Lord came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, fear not, Abram: I AM YOUR SHIELD, AND YOUR EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD … Well … There you have it.
Our reward is the Lord Himself.
-This reward is the very life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His life that is to be revealed inside of us. This life is
available to us now, and is the same life that shall sustain us in the ages to come. It is referred to as ETERNAL LIFE ( THE
LIFE OF THE AGES ). This is the very abundant life that Jesus spoke about. It is available to us now in the form of a down
payment ( the earnest of our inheritance … Ephesians 1:14 ), and in its fullness in the ages to come. We have begun
to tap into His resurrection life. His resurrection life is raising us out of death in three phases, which are: spirit, soul,
and body. We are raised with Christ, we are being raised, and we shall be raised. The final stage of His resurrection life
will be the resurrection of our bodies.
-Listen to the persecution of the Hebrew people, and what they were pressing toward. Hebrews 11:33-35 states, … Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; THAT THEY
MIGHT OBTAIN A BETTER RESURRECTION: …
-Let us rejoice when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Our reward is the very resurrection life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Don’t you want to obtain a better resurrection? PRESS IN CHILD OF GOD! And again, I say …
-REJOICE!-
