Let us turn to God's Word and
I want, with the Lord's help, to direct you to words that we
find in Matthew. In Matthew chapter 5 and verses
10, 11, and 12. Matthew 5, 10, 11, and 12. 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. Rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. It was last Lord's Day we did
read through the sermon that is recorded here in these three
chapters, Matthew 5, 6, and seven, and we considered something of
the setting of the sermon. We looked at the opening verses
here in chapter 5, and then in the evening we considered the
closing words in chapter 7, where we're reminded of the gracious
authority with which the Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words,
preached this particular sermon. And so we return to it tonight
as we come to look at the last of the Beatitudes. These opening
words of the sermon where the Lord pronounces blessings upon
his disciples. He had gone into the mountains
seeing the multitudes and was told when he was set His disciples
came unto Him and He opened His mouth and taught them. And then He says to them, Bless
it, bless it, bless it. The great multitude of blessings
are those that belong to the people of God. Now, you might wonder why was
it then that I read that portion in 1 Chronicles chapter 17. Well it's a lovely passage of
course and it's full of the Lord Jesus Christ because the promise
that God gives to David there concerning his house, although
there's reference to King Solomon who was to build the temple of
the Lord, but ultimately it is referring to David's greatest
son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But it was those words that we
have at the end of that chapter for thou blessest, O Lord, and
ye shall be blessed indeed." Or when God blesses, that person
who hears that word of blessing is blessed indeed. As the wise
man says in Proverbs, the blessing of God it maketh rich and he
addeth no sorrow with it. And here the Lord is pronouncing
a double blessing on certain characters. He speaks of characters
of course throughout each of the verses. The poor in spirit
are blessed. They that mourn are blessed. The meek are blessed. Those that
hunger and thirst after righteousness and so on. But in the words that
I've read here, verses 10, 11 and 12, we see that there is
a double blessing pronounced upon those who are the persecuted
ones. He says, Blessed are they which
are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are ye. He speaks very
directly now to his disciples. 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. And so to consider something
of this double blessing in verse 10 and then again in verse 11. and dividing the subject matter
simply into two parts. I want to say something with
regards to their persecution, and then in the second place
to consider something of that portion that God has appointed
for them. First of all, their persecution. And we have to observe that there
is an emphasis here. There's no question with regards
to the matter of persecutions for those whom God blesses. They are blessed indeed and yet
they are a persecuted people. We have it of course in verse
10 as I say and then again in verse 11. Blessed are they which
are persecuted. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you. And we know from the teaching
of Scripture that trial, trouble, tribulation is very much the
appointed lot of those who are the Lord's blessed ones. When
writing to Timothy, Paul says, Yea, all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. and He prefixes
what He is saying there with the Yah. Oh, there's no disputing
this fact. Yah, all who are the godly, without
any exception, will know something of persecution. We have the words
of the Lord Jesus when we come to those great discourses in
John's Gospel. There, at the end of chapter
16, in the world, Christ says to His disciples, ye shall have
tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world, for there is their blessing. Is that those
who know the great Overcomer, the one who has vanquished all
the powers of darkness? Or that one who has risen from
the dead, having accomplished the great work of redemption,
and so conquered sin and Satan, death and the grey? But nonetheless
in the world, in the world you shall have tribulation, says
the Lord Jesus. And then how those words are
echoed when we come to the ministry of the apostles in Acts, Acts
14 and verse 22, we read those words, we must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of heaven. And how true it is. It's through tribulation that
we enter the kingdom, even to enter in at the beginning. Why?
is not the gate to life, a narrow gate. How there is that difficulty
even in entering through the gates and to go into that narrow
way, straight is the gate, narrow is the way, that lead us onto
life and as There are those troubles at the beginning, when the believer
is brought to a realization of what his real condition is, what
his sins aren't, the grievous nature of those sins, and the
great need of the pardon of his sins. And all that exercise,
all that struggle that often goes into the believer's experience,
entering into that narrow way. And then when he's in the way,
it's a narrow way. as it's a straight gate, a narrow gate, so the way
itself is also a narrow way. Now, where there is that saving
faith, there is always with it the trial of faith. When the
apostle writes to the believers at Philippi, he reminds them
what was given them. unto you it is given, he says,
in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also
to suffer for his sake. Where does their faith come from?
It's the gift of God. It's that that God has given
to them. And he's given it on the behalf of Christ. Jesus the
author is of true and living faith. But where there is that
gift of saving faith, there will also come those sufferings because
that is what God has joined together and what God joins together man
is not to put asunder unto you it is given in the behalf of
Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his
sake or the trial the trial of faith were not to be surprising
the troubles will come why we can think of the figure that
is used concerning the people of God in that remarkable book,
the Song of Solomon. And there in the Song of Solomon
chapter 2 and verse 2 we have these words, As the lily among
thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Oh, the Lord's beloved one, That
one who is blessed of the Lord is like a lily, but the lily
is among thorns. There is tribulation, there's
trouble. The souls that would to Jesus press must fix this
firm, ensure the tribulation more or less. They shall and
must endure. But there is always that blessed
promise that God has given to his people. Has not the Lord
assured them? He has assured them there in
the language of Ezekiel chapter 28 and verse 24 the promise that
there will be a blessed deliverance It says there, And there shall
be no more a pricking briar unto the house of Israel, nor any
grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despise
them. And they shall know that I am
the Lord. God will deliver His people.
Rejoice, be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven,
says the Lord. for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. But this persecution then that
is the appointed lot of God's people, these blessed ones, what's
the reasons for the persecution? What's the reason for it? Well,
first of all, there's a negative. We're not to conclude that all
trouble is virtuous in and of itself we're not to imagine that
just because we find ourselves in a strait, in difficulties
or even being persecuted that there's something virtuous because
we're in that situation there must be something more
than the trouble you see it's the same with chastening, isn't
it? We're told no chastening for the present seemeth to be
joyous but grievous. Nevertheless afterward, it yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness, it says, to them who exercise
thereby. It's got to have some effect.
There's got to be some exercise, some spiritual exercise in the
chastening to make it profitable. We know that it is possible for
a person to suffer many things and yet not to be saved. It's not just believers who have
troubles in this life. Remember the language of Job
5, 7. Man, mankind is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. That's a truth. Because we live
in a world that is under God's curse. because of the transgression
of Adam and Eve there in the Garden of Eden. There they were
in paradise and there was that willful act of disobedience.
They transgressed the command of God, they fell and the curse. Cursed is the ground for thy
sake. There is trouble, suffering for all. It's not just a mark
of those who are the saved or those who are the blessed. And
even with regards to the godly, what does Paul say there in that
13th chapter of 1 Corinthians? Though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, profit of me nothing. Even martyrdom
is not virtuous in and of itself. I can give my body to be burned.
We can think of the awful sufferings of the Protestant martyrs. suffering
there at the stake, burnt alive. And yet if there's not charity,
if there's not that Christian love, what profit is there in
it? Again Peter says, and he's addressing
believers, let none of you suffer as an evildoer. Or we might suffer
and the cause might be ourselves and the folly of what we've done,
some sin that we've committed. God does pardon his people but
he does take vengeance on their invention sometimes. We have to attend then to that
negative. Trouble of all sorts is not virtuous
of itself simply because it's trouble. But there is a positive. Blessed are they which are persecuted,
it says, for righteousness sake. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. All we have is here for righteousness
sake and for my sake. You see if we think of the believer
the very way of his life should be an offense to the world. Why? The people of God are to be different
to the worldling. We're not to conform to the ways
of the world. Be not conformed to this world,
says Paul. Be ye transformed by the renewing
of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. Oh, that's the believer's calling.
To be different. Not to follow the ways of the
worldly. But how that is an offence. How
that is an offence. How the world hates those who
are different to themselves. You go and think of the words
of the Lord Jesus in his discourses there in John, in John chapter
15. What does he say? Verse 18, If the world hates
you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were
of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye
are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. For the way of life of the child
of God is different to that of the world's ways. Why? The believer
is walking in that narrow way that is leading to life. And
there is that clear command that is given that he is to be different.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh. the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is
of the world. Why? The believer wants to please
his Heavenly Father. Or the believer has known something
of that tender love of the Father. For like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pities them. But fear Him, the Lord
is good and gracious, and here is the motivation. to do that
that is pleasing to the Father, rather than to follow the ways
of the world. But then also, the believer's
witness is an offense here upon the earth. When we read here
of righteousness, well there is a righteousness. A believer
is to seek to live an upright life, a godly life, to walk in
the path of obedience, But surely when we think of righteousness
we must go to the Lord Jesus Christ and that's what we see
in the following 11th verse, it's for my sake. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are
you when men shall revive you and persecute you and say all
manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. It's because the
believer will bear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Lord is righteousness. Or the believer is one who will
speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see it, do we not, in the
life of King David, that man after God's own heart. Remember
the words that he utters there in Psalm 71, and it does seem
from the content of that Psalm that it's one of the last of
the Psalms of David. because he's old, he's grey-headed.
And what does he say there in the psalm? I will go in the strength
of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only, he says. My tongue also shall talk of
thy righteousness all the day long. Or the believer, this blessed
one lives his life for the Lord, he wants to make much of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And now Paul of course is a remarkable
pattern to that. In the words that he uses there
in Philippians, his great desire to be found in Christ, he says.
Or this man who was once so self-righteous, so full of himself, he was a
pharisee. But how different when the Lord
deals with him. when he's brought to see the
spirituality of that Lord of God that he thought he was obeying. He thought he was blameless.
He was so self-righteous, this man. But then that desire that
he expresses to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith. Are we those then who would bear
testimony and say that our only hope, anyone's only hope is to
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, His blood, His righteousness.
There's nothing else. There's no other way of salvation.
This is the only name under heaven given amongst men whereby we
must be saved. He is the Lord, our righteousness. That's the name. whereby he is
to be caught. And what's the corollary of all
of this? Well if we would speak of the
Lord Jesus Christ we must also speak plainly of man's sins.
We must speak the truth concerning what man is in his very nature.
And how men hate that! How men hate that! Or think of the sufferings that were endured
by the Lord's faithful prophets men like Jeremiah and Ezekiel
how they preferred the talk of the false prophets those prophets
that prophesy falsely and those priests that bear false witness
and how the people loved to have it so I don't want to hear the
ministry of men like Jeremiah or of Ezekiel. No, those false
prophets have come and seduced the people. And the people love it when they
say peace, peace, and yet there's no peace at all. All we have
to be those who if we would come into the text at all we must He prepared to suffer, not just
for righteousness sake, not just for the sake of the Lord Jesus
Christ as the only Saviour, but because we seek to tell men the
truth concerning themselves and their state by nature. We are
to spell out then what sin is, the awful doctrine of total depravity. And often you see they will say
of us or we dwell too much on the dark side of religion. But
it's only those who understand what they are and where they
are. Those who are brought to that
realization of their sinful condition. The doctrine of total depravity.
The sinner's complete and utter impotence, his inability to do
anything. that salvation can only come
by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Men don't like to hear the truths
concerning themselves. Though they rejected the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, he came unto his own, we're taught,
and his own received him not. He comes to Israel, his ministry
is very much there in Palestine, he's sent to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel, but how few How few realize that this
is the promised Messiah. What does the Lord say? Woe unto
you, when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their
fathers of the false prophets. We are to be those who would
follow Him who is the true Prophet of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. How the Lord ministers His Word
as a faithful prophet, how He separates the precious from the
vile. Wasn't that the great promise
that God gave to His servant Jeremiah? If thou take forth
the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth, He says.
Well, if that was true of Jeremiah, how much more? How much more
is that the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? Here then
we see something of the cause and the reason for their persecutions. But here is also the comforts.
They are to have a portion. And what is their portion? Well,
it's both the present reality and it's also something that
they have in prospect. It's not all in prospect. Ultimately
that is what they shall enter into the fullness of. Rejoice
and be exceeding glad, great is your reward in heaven. But
observe what it says here concerning a present reality. Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He doesn't say, there shall be
the Kingdom of Heaven. No, it's in the present tense.
It's something that they have here and now. This is the paradox
really of the believers' experience. Because In the midst of all these
persecutions he discovers something more of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a paradoxical life that
he's living. It's a strange course that he
has to tread. Oh beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial that is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you. In the midst of all these things
there's something secret. says Joseph Hart, there's something
secret that sweetens it all. And what is that secret thing?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself and it's the establishment of
that kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of his people. Isn't it interesting that when
we look at these Beatitudes both the first of them and the last
of them speaks of the kingdom of heaven. In verse 3, blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And
then here in verse 10, blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Or when the Lord Jesus Christ
comes and begins to exercise his ministry, He preaches the Gospel of the
Kingdom. Remember the words that we have
in the opening chapter of Mark's Gospel. Mark gives no record
of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ as we find in Matthew
and in Luke. In the very first chapter we're
almost immediately introduced to the public ministry of Christ.
And what do we read? There in Mark 1.14, after John
was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee saying the time
is fulfilled. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repent ye and believe the gospel. And it struck me, he begins his
ministry by saying the time is fulfilled. And I thought of that
that we were looking at on Thursday in in 1st Timothy 2. That's testimony in due time. A testimony in the precise point
in time that God had ordained from all eternity. Even as the
Lord begins His ministry, He says the time is fulfilled. And
so He begins to proclaim this great message. And it centers
in the Kingdom. Oh, He comes, does He not, in
that office as a King? Why, even when a child there
are, those wise men that come from the East and they're seeking
Him that has been born King of the Jews. He is the King of the
Jews. He has come to establish His
blessed reign of grace in the soul of sinners. And so he goes about doing good,
performing mighty works, many miracles, but all of that authenticating
his ministry as that one who is the Christ, the mediator,
and his offices as not only a priest and a king, but also as one who
is the great prophet. And so we have him there in Mark
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And to whom is that gospel
preached? We see quite clearly that it
is not a universal offer, is it? Here he goes into the mountain
seeing the multitudes, all those that had followed Him in the
end of the previous chapter, we remarked on it last time,
all those mighty deeds, those miracles, those healings, seeing
the multitudes, He went up into a mountain, when it was said
His disciples came unto Him. Oh, what discrimination we have
here! Oh, it's the poor in spirit who are
the blessed ones. Or as we see in chapter 11 and
verse 5, the poor have the gospel preached to them. It's for these who are poor in
spirit. We see it again when the Lord, after his baptizing,
after his lead of the spirit into the wilderness, And then
he returns in the fullness of the Spirit and goes to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and he goes into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day. And remember what's said there
in Luke's account, in Luke chapter 4 and verse 18. When he goes into the synagogue,
we're told there was delivered unto him the book of the prophets,
Esaias, or Isaiah. When he had opened the book,
he found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. Because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book. And he
gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is the scripture fulfilled
in your ears. And all bear him witness and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's
son? All the gracious words, you see, grace was poured into
his lips. But what does he declare here?
He reads Isaiah 61 and he says, this day, this scripture is being
fulfilled. And what is the scripture? It's
very much his preaching. Three times he mentions the preaching
in that passage. He has anointed me to preach
the gospel. To whom? To the poor. To preach
deliverance to the captives. to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord. All this message there, this
kingdom that He has come to establish, it is for a certain people. They that are whole have no need
of the physician, but they that are sick. Christ says it Himself,
I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And as the Gospel is clearly
intended for certain peoples, even the poor in spirit, so this
Gospel is also suited for those who are the persecuted ones. All these come to such a knowledge
of God, a real experimental knowledge of God. Sin has made such a reality
to them. And now the Lord Jesus Christ
is that one who ministers to them. In the midst of all their
afflictions they learn the truth concerning themselves. We often
sing those lines, afflictions make us see what else would escape
our sight, how very foul and dim our world, and God, how pure
and bright. All there is then that is for
these people a present reality. It's for the here and now. Yes, they know what it is to
suffer. They know something of persecution.
They know much of trials and troubles. They experience the
chastings of the Lord. But in the midst of all these
things, what he's got doing is establishing in their soul his
everlasting kingdom. But then, besides that present
reality, we see here that there is also something in prospect.
There's a promise. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
says Christ, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you. You see the gospel,
as Paul says, as the promise of the life that now is, and
of that which is to come. As there is a double blessing
here, two blessings in verses 10 and 11 so there is that two-fold
promise the promise of the life that
now is but also that promise that concerns the life that is
to come I hath not seen nor hear heard
neither hath entered into the hearts of men the things that
God hath prepared for them that love him there is that prospect
there is that blessed prospect and what is it? you know there
is a connection between the now and the then now they know the
grace of God and then they will enter into all the glory of God
and it has been well observed that grace grace now is glory
in the bud and Glory is grace in the full flower. How true. There's a connection you see.
They're being fitted for heaven. They're walking in that path
that the Lord Jesus Christ himself has walked in. They have a reward
that's laid up for them in heaven. The blessed man. Blessed is the
man that endures temptation when he is tried. we're told he shall
receive the crown of life and God is faithful, God is true
to his word of promise and there are those examples that are given
us in the Word of God do we not have that great catalogue in
Hebrews chapter 11 of those of the Old Testament who were men
and women of faith and amongst them of course we read of a man
like Moses. What do we read? Hebrews 11.24,
by faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season, esteeming the reproaches of Christ, greater riches, than
the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward." Or whatever he suffered, there was that blessed
prospect before him. And how that buoyed him up, how
that sustained him, how that strengthened him. But it's not
just in the case of a man like Moses or others of the saints
that we read of in the Old Testament. Above all, we have the example
of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. There in Hebrews chapter 12,
for the joy that was set before Him, it says, He endured the
cross, despising the shame, and He sat down on the right hand
of the throne of God. For it was the joy that was set
before Him Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, says Christ. Great is your
reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were
before you. And though the believer has to
be constantly living his life with a view to this blessed prospect,
the psalmist knew it. Whom have I in heaven but thee,
he says. There is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. Here
and now he desires to know more of God and the ways of God and
the dealings with God. This is the only one he has. He has a blessed prospect of
entering into all the fullness of God when he enters heaven
itself. Oh no wonder here with regards to those who are persecuted. The Lord pronounces such a blessing,
a double blessing, I say, on the persecuted ones. or that
we might be those then who in some measure can enter in to
these blessings that blessing of God that maketh rich and he
addeth no sorrow with it 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. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. O the Lord then, be pleased to
bless this word to us each. Amen.