LESSON EIGHT
The persecuted for righteousness.
Memorize Mt 5:10 with proper punctuation.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."

Introduction: We must study this verse from two viewpoints, heavenly and earthly.

A. Definitions:
1. Gk dediwgmenoi, (de-dee-owg-menoi), fr. diwkw, diwkw (dee-o’-ko), to persecute
    a. Secular definition of persecute.
        1) To pursue in a manner to injure or afflict, as on account of religious beliefs.
        2) To harass. A synonym of persecute. Defined as follows:
                a) To trouble with importunities (constantly, persistently troublesome) cares,
                 or annoyances; vex, worry, perplex.

            fr. diwkw (dee-o’-ko), to rapidly pursue with malignity; to persecute.
2. Righteousness. Gk dikaiosunhV (dik-ah-yos-oo-nay)
    a. Secular definition: (F & W)
        1) Conforming in disposition and conduct to the divine standard of

                right justice; upright; virtuous; blameless.
        2) Morally right; equitable.
        3) Synopsis definition: right disposition and conduct to God and to man.
    b. Bible definition: Righteousness: Equity (in character or act.) Spec. (Christian) JUSTIFICATION.
         Righteous: equitable (in character or act); by impl. innocent, holy.

B. Two-fold study; earthly/heavenly.
1. Earthly viewpoint.
           Since we are flesh and blood we will study from the earthly viewpoint first.
    a. Righteousness, equity (in... act)
    b. When we try to live like God says that we must, then people will persecute you; i.e.,
         they will pursue us and harass us, in short they will persecute us!
        1) The unsaved will persecute us.
        2) Sometimes the saved will persecute us.
        3) Of course the devil and his bunch will persecute us.
2. Heavenly viewpoint.
    a. We may be considered rebels and troublemakers and be ostracized and persecuted on earth;
         but we will inherit the Kingdom from God.
        II Tim 2:12a "If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]:"
        II Tim 3:12 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
        Mt 5:10 "Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
                for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
    b. Remember our righteousness and our ability to live righteous are inextricably bound up in Christ.
                 Therefore: our persecution is two-sided.
        1) Persecution for righteousness.
        2) Persecution for righteousness- in Christ.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Make sure you have memorized Mt 5:10 with proper punctuation;
including the apostrophe. You will be required to quote it
from memory for the Scripture Memorization practice
Test and for the Lesson One Test. You will not
include the quotation marks nor the scripture
reference, Matthew 5:10, in your answer.

You will also be asked if you meditated on the precept taught in this Beatitude.

1. You are required to click HERE to go to the practice index page to practice your scripture memorization before proceeding to the Lesson test. On the practice index page, scroll down to the practice test for this Lesson and click on it. No practice test scores are added to your file. If you do not pass the practice quiz, then to take it again just close the test and you will return to the practice index page and you can choose the test to take it again. When you are finished with your practice, close the practice page to return to this page.

2. You can not proceed to the Lesson Test without first having a 100% score on the Scripture Memorization test. Take it as many times for practice as is necessary to achieve the required score of 100%. Each practice test will automatically come to the college. If you wish to take the practice test more times to make sure you have the scripture memorized, please feel free to do so. The first practice test with a score of 100% will be placed in your test file only for verification purposes and it is a prerequisite before you can take the Lesson Test and have the Lesson score credited to your file.

3. Did you meditate on this beatitude as you were instructed to do?
(Click one answer.) Yes No Was I supposed to meditate on it?

LESSON EIGHT TEST
Lesson test is "open book" except for the verse memorization question
which must be answered from memory alone as a closed book question.

You cannot proceed to the next Lesson until the day after you have
passed this Lesson Test and found all of the correct answers
in the textbook to all questions missed on this test
even though you received a passing score.