The Rewards of Being Reviled

Only as we understand the rewards that come from being reviled will we be able to have the response Jesus called for when he said, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:11-12). Often we are rewarded in the very areas in which we are reviled. For example, Joseph's brothers reviled him for dreaming that one day he would be a great leader. They put him in a pit and sold him as a slave while saying, "We shall see what will become of his dreams" (Genesis 37:20). Jesus was reviled on the cross for saying, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). In both cases, the very ones who did the reviling were used of God to bring fulfillment to the statements and individuals whom they reviled. - Back cover.