Amen. Well, once more we'll turn
to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. Pray and the Lord will bless
the meditation on verses 11 and 12. So the Gospel of Matthew,
chapter 5 and verses 11 and 12. And really the 11th verse is
the last verse that commences with these words, blessed, and
then goes on to the 12th verse which really joins with it. So
the two verses 11 and 12 in the fifth chapter read as follows.
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 exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. These verses seem to sum up really
the previous verses. And the Lord Jesus speaks here
to encourage the Church of God in our pathway through this life,
the difficulties which a true believer is to encounter, and
not to think therefore that we are strangers because we find
ourselves criticised and tempted to perhaps give up But here the
Lord tells us, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and
persecute you. Well, this clearly comes when
the devil is very annoyed and upset because perhaps we've stood
firm for the things of God you see if we go along with the things
of the world and make no stand for the things of God then there
won't be any persecution and there won't be any opposition
but yet the wonderful thing is if we are blessed and with this
ability which only God can give because left to ourselves we
won't be any better than the Apostle Peter who denied his
Lord and Master those three times and so the Apostle tells us Blessed
are ye it's a wonderful statement isn't it? when men shall revile
you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake those last three words are critical
really when we're reviled and persecuted and receive even a
false statements for the Lord's sake for my sake it's not for
our sake it's for his sake so what a blessing it is and to
be numbered amongst those who are able to stand firm for the
great truth of God and not be surprised when we are reviled,
when we are persecuted and when there are all manner of evil
spoken against us falsely. We only have to look back through
history, don't we? We look through the Word of God
and then we look through the history of our nation. And we
see how many were walking and walked this path. They stood
firm, especially in the days of the Reformation, when it was
great objection to any who followed the Word of God. And many were
reviled, and many were persecuted, indeed right down to having to
sacrifice their life. and many had to bear evil against
them falsely. But it was for the Lord's sake. The Lord gave them strength to
stand firm. What a blessing that was. And
then the Lord Jesus says, doesn't he then,
having given that statement, he then says, Rejoice! Rejoice! because of this opposition. This is not something that you
and I would do naturally. We'd probably do the opposite,
try and hide and feel sorry for ourselves. But here, this word
is encouraging. Rejoice, and it doesn't stop
there. It says, and be exceedingly glad. It doesn't say also, and
be glad. it speaks very positively and
be exceeding glad and then the Word of God goes on to give us
this wonderful encouragement to those who walk this way those
who are reviled those who are persecuted those who do bear
all manner of evil against them for the Lord's sake the result
is For great is your reward in heaven. We can't think, surely,
of a greater blessing than to have a reward in heaven. Because this won't be something
which is transient. It won't be something which is
trivial. It won't be something which is passing. It'll be an
eternal blessing. to be forever with the Lord. What an encouraging statement
surely that is. We can understand why we read
in that fourth chapter of the Philippians, rejoice in the Lord
always. And again I say rejoice. And these words are not written
by mistake, they're written for our encouragement. And if we
have this in view, the reward in heaven, it puts things in
a right perspective. We recognize then that here we
have no continuing city, we're just passing through time. and
we're facing opposition we're facing those things which are
against the flesh the flesh dislikes the way but faith approves it
well you see it's an evidence that we are doing those things
which are right if there's no reviling, if there's no persecution
if there's no speaking against us falsely we have to question
whether we're doing things rightly what a mercy it is therefore
if we realise that God is on our side and God is with us and
God is blessing us and to think that this great God has gone
to prepare a place for us and as he said If I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also. Well, how true is this
statement? Great is your reward in heaven. It's good for us today to understand
this great favour, as we might find difficulty in this life. but my friends this life's very
short and the oppositions and the difficulties and the persecutions
will soon fade away but the blessings of God in heaven are eternal
forever and ever so we shouldn't be surprised and then we have
this closing statement to encourage us for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you We're not alone. We're not isolated. We're not the only ones that
suffer like this. We only have to trace out in
the Word of God, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the
prophets and the apostles, how they suffered, how they were
persecuted. And yet God was with them. And
it's good to be reminded that they all got safely home. God didn't leave them, he didn't
forsake them. He stood with them and received
them unto himself into glory. So really these are wonderful
verses to be able to conclude this little meditation in what
we term the Beatitudes. And thank God for the many examples
of being blessed. And may we be blessed even to
think of this tonight. 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, for so persecuted they the prophets. which were before you. Well may
God bless his word and help our brethren to lead