Living in Babylon: Blessed are the Persecuted

The Bible gives several warnings to nations that have enjoyed periods of prosperity and earthly power. They are at risk of radical moral decay. This has been the case since Genesis 11, where the city of Babel fell into the trap of pride and rebellion against God. So God judged them for what they were doing. This pattern has been repeated over and and over again throughout human history. We get insight into how Babylon cultures go wrong from the phrase, “This will make us famous.” They are cultures built on pride. Their downfall is found in the belief that: Nobody can achieve anything for us that is better than what we can achieve in our 

own strength and by our own might! They had removed God from their thinking and made themselves the greatest thing, rather than God. 

When a culture begins to mirror Babylon, pride and rebellion against God rises to the surface. This leads to hostility toward the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. When you tell a proud and rebellious people that humility and repentance is the path to God’s Kingdom, you are striking at the heart of their idols. The result is often hostility and persecution. This is the challenge we face today as Christians living in our culture. How do we live faithfully in the face of hostility and persecution? As we study Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter 5, we will discover an important truth: When we give in to the pressure and compromise with Babylon, we lose our witnesses to the goodness and sufficiency of our Savior, Jesus Christ.