“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Earlier on we saw, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” When we take a position of humility and pursuing peace and hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and we pursue gentleness and we don't fight for our rights, we will find that we will run into people in the world who are evil persecutors. All those who seek to live in a godly way will be persecuted. So if we seek to live in righteousness, we will be persecuted.

2 Timothy 3:12 is an absolute statement inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”It doesn't say “some;” it doesn't say “many;” it doesn't say “most.” It could be some, many, most, or all. It says “all.” All includes every single believer in Christ Jesus (not every single person who calls himself a believer, but everyone who desires to live a godly life). 

What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness? We need to consider what it means to stand up for righteousness. It means that in your place of work or in some situation, you say, “I will not do that wrong.” There are many jobs in which people compromise - they tell lies, they cheat, and they give bribes in order to get something unrighteous done. When Christians go that way, they of course will not face persecution; but if they refuse to go that way, if they refuse to take a bribe, or to do something unrighteous, they may face threats from the people above them, who want a share of that bribe or something. There are many cases like this. When you stand for uprightness, you may lose your job or find disfavor with your bosses, but the kingdom of heaven belongs to you. You may lose something of earth in that process - maybe a position, maybe some promotion - but you will get something of heaven in exchange. Is that worth it?

Is it right for a person to tell a lie to get admission or to get a job in some situation? It’s not worth it! It’s never worth it for a Christian. It's far better that he doesn't do it because he will be out of the will of God. If you get admission into some situation by telling a lie, you can be pretty sure that God didn’t lead you there. When you face a tight spot, the devil may tell you, “Tell a lie here because a lie is almighty; it can get you anything.” And the Holy Spirit says, “No, that's a lie; God is almighty. Telling a lie is not the most powerful way to get what you want. Stand up for God. God is able to give you what He wants you to get.” Then you will find that God will give you what you should get.

I remember numerous situations when I was working in the Navy, where I had to stand up to my senior officers and say, “I'm sorry, sir, I cannot do that because my conscience does not permit me. I'm a Christian.” And that is a very risky, dangerous thing to say in the military. If you say that in a secular job, you just get sacked and turned out of your job. But when you say that in the military, you're in danger of being court-martialled, which means being taken before a court and probably put into jail, because it is a very serious thing not to obey orders in the military. I remember numerous situations where that happened and I had to trust God to take care of me. If they asked me to do something that violated my conscience, I would say, “Sorry, sir, I am a Christian, I can’t do that.” It didn’t matter how senior the officer was.

It’s possible that I would have suffered in some way because of that, meaning that the commanding officer wouldn't give me a good recommendation for a promotion. Once I was transferred within half an hour to another post. I could suffer inconvenience, but that's okay. You can’t call this persecution at all; these are like little mosquito bites compared to the lions that ate up the early Christians. But the early Christians faced these too.

God will test you in this. I know God has tested me at different times and I believe that if I had failed that test in those places, I would not be where I am today and I would not have the ministry God has given me. Perhaps you could have had a ministry if you had been upright and had been willing to suffer earthly loss in some places for the sake of righteousness. The kingdom of heaven would have been more greatly yours to some extent, but you lost some of that. You can't do anything about the past; what you have lost is gone and you can’t get it back. But you can do something about the future. Say, “Lord, at least in the days to come, I want to stand up for what is righteous and upright.” A Christian is not supposed to be crooked in any area. A Christian is not supposed to tell a lie or cheat for any type of profit. God is looking for those who will stand upright so that he can commit a greater ministry to them.