(E) It is better to be unpopular than popular.

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. v23

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their father's treated the fasle prophets. v26.

(1) Clarification.

Not many of us leap for joy when we are hated, excluded and rejected. We do not even like the thought of it. Most Christians in Britain want to be liked, accepted and respected by the World.

Let me hasten to say: there is no virtue in being hated, excluded and rejected unless it is for Christ's sake. It is possible to be rejected for being belligerent, ungracious and difficult to get on with. Jesus said that we should count it a privilege to suffer for his sake.

(2) The characteristics of the man 'well spoken of'.

It is interesting that in the years before Jesus began his public ministry he grew in .... favour with God and men. Lk2v52. See exposition on Luke2v39to52 Now a person will be popular for a number of positive qualities combined with some negative ones. It helps to be sociable, affable, cheerful, helpful, generous and good-humoured - but these in themselves are not enough. It is also important to keep your opinions to yourself, to be conformist, compliant, uncontroversial and undemanding, to never rock the boat and to be non-judgemental. As soon as Jesus began his forthright and controversial mission his popularity waned.

(3) The woe of the 'well spoken of'.

Jesus said that those who courted popularity were like the false prophets of the Old Testament; they lacked integrity and were dishonest.

When king Ahab of Israel and king Jehoshaphat of Judah formed an alliance to attack Ramoth Gilead, Ahab asked 400 false prophets for advice. They said: "Go for God will give it into the king's hand." 2Chron18v5. Jehoshaphat, however, wanted to hear from a prophet of the LORD. Ahab had one at his disposal - Micaiah. He was not popular! The king of Israel said of Micaiah: "I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but always bad." 2Chr18v7. Micaiah told the truth - whatever the cost!

Hananiah was another false prophet in the time of Jeremiah. Hananiah told the people of Judah what they wanted to hear: "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'" Jeremiah said in reply: "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies." Jer28. We know which of these prophets was well thought of!

It is despicable to be a false prophet. There is no honour in it. Peter and John were prepared to tell the truth whatever the cost. They said to the members of the Sanhedrin who were desperately trying to shut them up: "For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts4v18.

(4) The characteristics of the persecuted for Christ's sake.

A persecuted Christian puts Christ's interest first whatever it takes. Jesus warns us that the cost may be very great. He told his disciples that they would be persecuted: "'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." Jn15v20.

In Britain the cost of being a Christian is rising. I was talking to a young farm worker a few Sundays ago about his work. He took a responsible job on a 1000-acre arable farm on the understanding that he would not work on Sunday. This did not stop unpleasantness occurring at harvest time when pressure was brought to bear on him to reconsider his position. Doctors and nurses who take a stand against that great moral evil, abortion, are not immune from criticism. Christian couples are prevented from being foster parents because they refuse to accept that a homosexual relationship is an acceptable alternative to a heterosexual one. Christian teachers must find it difficult to peddle the government line that homosexual and heterosexual relationships are morally equivalent.

In Moslem, Hindu and Buddhist countries there is often a high price to pay for becoming a Christian and witnessing for Jesus. Every month in the 'World in Brief' section of Evangelicals Now there is information about Christian suffering. Here are just two items from the March 2008 issue: The Iranian parliament may mandate the death penalty for citizens who leave Islam a human rights group announced on Feb 5th. For the first time in Iranian history a proposed penal code demands the death penalty for 'apostates', according to a statement by the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.

Hindu radicals disrupted a prayer meeting and beat five Christians on January 10th in Chhattisgarh state's Raipur district. The attackers then filed a police complaint against three of the victims, who were arrested.

(5) The blessedness of persecution.

Jesus said that the persecuted should leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. v23. If we are hated, excluded and rejected for Christ's sake we will be numbered amongst the truest of God's servants; we will be part of a noble company.

Very few Christians have endured as much persecution as the apostle Paul, yet he was able to write: I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain the resurrection from the dead. Phil3v10and11.

Paul knew that if he shared in the sufferings of Jesus he would share, too, in his resurrection - he would be raised to eternal life.

These are wonderful truths but I have to say that if I was imprisoned for my faith in some foul jail in central Sudan I wouldn't feel like leaping for joy! The resurrection would seem a long way off! I would need God's help just to hang in there. Easy living in the West has made us soft. If trouble overtook me for being a Christian I just hope I could sing along with Paul and Silas in prison.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
Resting in my Saviour as my All in All,
Standing on the promises of God.