What does it mean that blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake?

Then follow two blessings of exceeding interest. They add much to the beauty of the scene and complete the picture in a most striking way. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (ver. 10). This is evidently to begin over again. The first blessedness was, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;" and the next three were all marked by righteousness. It is the first thing that God produces in a new-born soul. He who is awakened takes up God's cause against himself. He is, in measure at least, broken down, poor in spirit; and God looks for him to grow in poverty of spirit to the last. But here it is not so much what they are, as what their lot is from others. The last two beatitudes speak of their portion in the world from the hands of other people. The first four are characterized by intrinsic righteousness — the last three by intrinsic grace. These two, then, answer, one to the first four, and the other to the last three. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This does not go beyond the blessed state of things that the power of God will bring in upon the earth in connection with the Messiah. Being rejected, the kingdom of heaven is His with a stronger and deeper title, as it were — certainly with the means of blessing by grace for the lost. A suffering and despised Messiah is still dearer to the heart of God than if received all at once. And if He does not lose the kingdom because He was persecuted, neither do they. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Persecuted, not merely by the Gentiles or the Jews, but for righteousness' sake. Do not be looking at the people that persecute you, but at the reason why you are persecuted. If it is because you desire to be found in obedience to the will of God, blessed are you. You fear to sin? you suffer for it? Blessed are they which suffer for righteousness' sake: they will have their portion with the Messiah Himself.

But now we have, finally, another blessedness. And mark the change. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you for My sake." This change to ye is exceedingly precious. It is not merely put in an abstract form — "Blessed are they;" but it is a personal thing. He looks at the disciples there, knows what they were to go through for His sake, and gives them the highest and nearest place in His love. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you … for My sake." It is not now for righteousness' sake, but "for My sake." There is something still more precious than righteousness, and that is Christ. And when you have Christ, you can have nothing higher. Blessed indeed to be persecuted for His sake! The difference is just this: when a man suffers for righteousness' sake, it supposes that some evil has been put before him which he refuses. He would have perhaps to subscribe something against his conscience, and he cannot, nor would dare, to do it. He is offered a tempting bait, but it involves that which he knows is contrary to God. All is in vain: the tempter's object is seen. Righteousness prevails, and he suffers. He not only loses what is offered, but he is evil spoken of too. Blessed are they who suffer thus for righteousness' sake! But for Christ's sake is quite a different thing. There the enemy essays great execution. He tempts the soul with such questions as these: Is there any reason why you should stand up for Jesus and the gospel? There is no need for being so zealous for the truth. Why go out of your way so far for this person or that thing? Now in these cases it is not a question of a sin, open or covert. For, in the case of suffering for Christ's sake, it is the activity of grace that goes out to others. It answers to the last three of the seven beatitudes. A soul that is filled with a sense of mercy cannot refrain his lips. He who knows what God is, could not be silent merely because of what men think or do. Blessed are ye who thus suffer for Christ's name! The power of grace prevails there. Too often, alas, motives of prudence come in: people are afraid of giving offence to others, of losing influence for self, of spoiling the prospect of the children, etc. But the energy of grace, looking at all this, still says Christ is worth infinitely more; Christ commands my soul — I must follow Him. In suffering for righteousness' sake, a soul eschews evil earnestly and peremptorily, committing itself at all cost to what is right; but in the other it discerns the path of Christ — that which the gospel, the worship, or the will, of the Lord calls to, and at once throws itself with its whole heart on the Lord's side. Then comes in the comfort of that sweet word, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you … for My sake." The Lord could not refrain the expression of His soul's delight in His saints: "Blessed are ye. … Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven." Observe it is not now in the kingdom of heaven, but "in heaven." He identifies these with a higher place altogether. It is not only the power of God over the earth, and His giving them a portion here, but it is taking them out of the earthly scene to be with Himself above. "For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." What an honour to follow in earthly rejection and scorn those who preceded us in special communion with God — the heralds of Him for whom we suffer now! We may clearly then consider that these two final blessednesses, the persecutions for righteousness' sake and for Christ's sake, answer respectively to the first four blessings and to the last three.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This must have been a strange language to those who were looking for outward glory, or a reign of peace, a paradise on earth. But the Lord plainly sets before His disciples what their new position would be in this world, and the more distinct their likeness to Himself, the heavier would be their persecutions. But He especially refers in this first blessedness of position, to the first group of beatitudes, which are characterised by righteousness; as the last three are by grace. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Every new-born soul must have the sense, more or less, of its own nothingness, and a sincere and earnest desire to be found in obedience to the will of God. This is righteousness, and the righteousness. which brings persecution in this life. For example, a Christian who is walking with the Lord, fears to do what is wrong, he desires to do what is right; he seeks to maintain a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man. This is the breastplate of righteousness. But he is offered, it may be, certain preferment in his position if he will agree to do something which he fears not to be right. The offer may be a tempting one and he is needy; but no; he waits on the Lord; he brings the matter before Him; light shines, the tempter's object is seen, he positively refuses; righteousness prevails, but he suffers for it. He is misunderstood, is called foolish, or it may be fanatic and madman. He not only loses what was offered, but what he had; he is no use, he is turned out. Still he can say, My present loss, under the righteous government of God, will prove my eternal gain. He has a clear conscience, a happy heart: he is drawn closer to the Lord in dependence on Him. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When the king returns from the far country, and calls His own servants around Him, what will it be to hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord?" Matthew 25:21.

BLESSED IF PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Then there are two additional beatitudes which really summarise the other seven. First, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10). That is, if you are poor in spirit, if you do not stand up for your rights, what do you get in this world? You get persecution, you are laughed at as a madman, because the difference between this world, as it now is, and in the millennial time, is, that now righteousness suffers, then righteousness will reign. Now you must do good, suffer for it, and take it patiently, for the kingdom is in mystery, and the King is hidden. By-and-by, when "a king shall reign in righteousness" (Isa. 32:1), when the kingdom is no longer in mystery, but displayed, then righteousness will reign. Now, in this world, if you do right, you may suffer for it, for now righteousness suffers. In the millennium evil will be put down, and righteousness will reign. Now, if you are poor in spirit, the world will say you are mad, why not stick up for your rights, why allow yourself to be trampled upon? This suffering may come in many shapes — in your business, your family, or from your neighbour.

BLESSED IF PERSECUTED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.

There is one distinguishing feature about this verse compared with the seven previous beatitudes. They deal with the characteristics and conduct of true disciples of the Lord Jesus, whereas here the Lord speaks about the consequences of their righteous behaviour. As long as He does not reign as King of righteousness, those living according to God’s principles and thoughts will be persecuted and suffer. This shows that from the very beginning the Lord had His rejection by Israel before His eyes, as well as the contrast between those who would receive His own in the time of His rejection and the world in its hostile attitude towards Him and them.

The fact that people hunger and thirst after righteousness proves that unrighteousness still reigns in this world. This is one of the lessons of the sixth verse. Here we are one step further on. Those who want to live righteously have to expect that they will be persecuted. Peter, one of the twelve disciples who listened to these words of the Lord, later used similar words in his first epistle which speaks so much about the sufferings of the children of God. “But if also ye should suffer for righteousness sake, blessed are ye” (1 Peter 3:14, J.N.D. Translation).

This righteousness does not only mean that we give everyone what is due to them. Practical righteousness means to live according to the Word of God and His principles. Love of the truth, honesty, faithfulness and respect towards other people are features which are appreciated in the world too. For this reason men like Joseph and Daniel in the Old Testament, and the first Christians in the New Testament era, found favour with their contemporaries. Even an unbelieving employer is normally pleased when he has a faithful and honest employee that he can rely on. But suppose he asked his Christian employee to hush up the truth in a situation that was awkward for the employer, and instead to tell a lie or co-operate in a fraudulent transaction. What will happen when the employee now says: “I can’t do this because it is inconsistent with the Word of God”? When his own honour or money are at stake, the previous friendliness of the employer can easily turn to anger. Many a believer has lost his job because he was unwilling to take part in the unrighteousness of this world.

Henceforward, therefore, delivered from evil we become zealous of the good; and who shall injure us if it be so? The worst of mankind are struck when they see the proud rendered lowly, the violent meek, the quarrelsome peacemakers, the frivolous and pleasure-hunting grave, the corrupt pure, the covetous liberal, the careless or even blasphemous godly. But no doubt an evil eye under Satan's power may refuse all moral evidence and impute ever so real change for good to hypocrisy, and only hate the more those who leave their own wretched and wicked ranks to follow Christ. They do therefore seek to draw His confessors into evil ways old or new; and if they fail in ensnaring, they will not fail to detract and persecute; for all that desire to live piously in Christ Jesus are surely persecuted, or (as our text says) "suffer for righteousness' sake." But "blessed are ye" says the word. It is God's mercy and their honour, as delivered by Christ out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.

Accordingly the saints are exhorted not to "fear their fear, nor to be troubled." Why should they, who now are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, and called out of darkness into God's wonderful light? Calling Him Father (for such He truly is) Who without respect of persons judges according to each one's work, they would pass the time of their sojourning here in fear, because they are so favoured and blessed, yet in a wilderness of trials and pitfalls and dangers. From "their fear" who hate and malign, once their own fear, they are set free by the Saviour; and they owe it to His honour not to be troubled, seeing that at His cost they are blessed supremely by His God and Father who is ours also. Instead of such unbelieving fear and trouble naturally, they can and do exult though now for a little while, if needed, put to grief by various trials, all of which His grace turns to account (Rom. 8:28) to those that love Him, to those that are called according to purpose.

On the other hand, if an abnormal state should exist, one might suffer for doing right. In this case, our attitude is of utmost importance if we are to rightly represent God. "Happy are ye." For God's eye of precious approval is upon such as suffer in genuine patience under these circumstances. Not merely are we to bear it in resigned patience, but to rejoice, for God takes full account of this. No matter how vindictive and cruel the enemy, the believer is told not to be afraid, nor even troubled. Certainly only faith can act upon this but what is more reasonable than faith, and what more normal for the child of God?

We have here, first, the fact that under such a government as that of God righteousness must of necessity be a requisite for blessing. If we love life and would see good days, then we must refrain the tongue from evil, and the lips, that they speak no guile; we must turn from evil, and do good; seeking peace with all, as followers of the Prince of Peace; for "the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears open continually to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." We are never, therefore, to pursue a policy of adaptation to our surroundings. We are never forced to yield because of the dominance of evil. "Who shall harm you," he asks, "if ye have become zealous of that which is good?" But at once this seems to be contrary to the fact, not, of course, of God governing, but of the world being what it is. The world may indeed accept much of what is good because of the consequences of it. Men would sooner be served by those who would conscientiously serve them than by such as would serve themselves at their expense; but then, on the other hand, if they are going to be consistently righteous all the way through, when this righteousness may cause the interests of an employer, for instance, to suffer, this, it is plain, will not be so acceptable; and thus, we must be prepared, after all, to suffer for righteousness' sake. The apostle looks this full in the face. He asks, as it were: is this, then, in reality an exception to the rule that none shall harm those earnestly seeking good? He answers, no, it is no exception. It is in reality only blessing. "If ye suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are ye." There may be, of course, the sacrifice of that which, after all, is not our portion, but only, in that way, an increase, in fact, of that which is our portion. Thus there is no loss, there is gain. We lose the temporal to gain the eternal; with the continual ministry of God also to us, and His care over us all the way through, so that we need not fear the fear of other men, nor be troubled about results as they are. We have only in our hearts to sanctify the Lord whom we serve — to take care that His name and His service are not dishonored in us; and thus we shall be sustained by that strong hand which already rules upon the Father's throne: for God has "translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." Here we have a hope which brightens everything, a hope that can give account of itself, a hope that we can cheerfully give account of to others, and yet in the spirit of meekness and fear as always; of course, a fear not of men, but of God; walking under the control of this, having a good conscience. The very thing for which they revile us as evil-doers shall testify in their own consciences in spite of all, and put to silence the revilers.

Suffering for righteousness' sake must be, but there is a "blessedness" connected with it. The Lord pronounced this in one of the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:10). How fitting it is that in this Epistle, in addressing these Jewish believers as a remnant of the nation, this should be mentioned. It is the comfort in persecution, "be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled." The quotation in verse 15 is from Isaiah 8:12, 13. There it is a prophecy concerning the future remnant of Israel during their coming great tribulation, foreshadowed in Isaiah by the Assyrian invasion.

The admonition to children and parents follows. Children are to obey their parents "in the Lord." This preserves, of necessity, His rights. "In the Lord" means in subjection to the authority of Christ, and therefore, of necessity, preserves that authority in everything. The apostle quotes the commandment with the sanction given to it in the Old Testament, — not at all as what is absolutely true for the present time, but to show the importance attached to it by God, — the first commandment having a promise connected with it: "That it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth" or "in the land," as the connection would rather make it. No doubt there is a government of God that goes on through all the present time, in which these things have a measure of fulfilment. The law was, or is still, the rule of God's government, which, however, the peculiar position of Christians upon the earth necessarily modifies as to them. As Christians, they may be cut off from the earth, when, as obedient children simply, they would be preserved upon it; but the Christian loss is gain, as we know, so that the apostle Peter elsewhere refuses, as we may say, to consider it as loss. "Who is he that shall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?" But, he immediately adds: "But if ye should suffer for righteousness, sake, happy are ye." The suffering for righteousness, sake might seem to be a setting aside of what he had just urged, the question being the most positive form of statement, in fact. No one could harm them in following that which was good, but then, "suffering for righteousness' sake" is not finding harm. A Christian cut off from the earth simply goes to heaven and to Christ. The Jew cut off from his land was, at least as to Jewish blessing which was in the land, in a different case.