Coming to the 8th beatitude, we find Jesus exhorting us once more toward having the kingdom of heaven, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” One immediately recalls the first beatitude, where He said that being poor in spirit would result in having the kingdom of heaven. Here He says that being persecuted for righteousness has the same result. The connection between humility (a right view of one’s standing before God as being poor in spirit) and righteousness (a right standing before God as He sees it) is not to be overlooked.
Of course, to recognize who He is and to stand rightly before Him requires that one must acknowledge Him in both speech and in action. And it is that – the acknowledgment of God in action – that results in persecution.
As the late AW Pink once put it, “Who would have thought that a man could be persecuted and reviled, and have all manner of evil said of him for righteousness’ sake? And do wicked men really hate justice and love those who defraud and wrong their neighbours? No; they do not dislike righteousness as it respects themselves: it is only that species of it which respects God and religion that excites their hatred. If Christians were content with doing justly and loving mercy, and would cease walking humbly with God, they might go through the world, not only in peace, but with applause; but he that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). Such a life reproves the ungodliness of men and provokes their resentment.”
Ironically, it is their resentment is actually the recognition of your blessing. The ungodly can see and know that you have blessing, on account of the way you live, what you say and how you act. They see and observe and immediately have an internal witness that you are blessed. The persecution then happens because they so resent that you should have the blessing of God and they not. To the ungodly this is injustice, for they believe the devil’s lie that though they refuse to acknowledge God they should have blessing all the same. Believing that lie, they believe the next – that if they persecute you, they will gain a sense of satisfaction. They will be frustrated in that also of course, but the persecution comes all the same.
Of course the believer is already blessed before the persecution begins, but the persecution itself is also a blessing. As Paul said, “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” And as Peter said, “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” The believer who is so persecuted because of righteousness is then understood as simultaneously blessed with God’s peace, presence and power, with perseverance, character and hope, with the Spirit of glory and of God. That is a lot of blessing!
Yet as many of the blessings we already have in Christ, while the persecution persists and the saint suffers, those blessings must be received in faith. For while the blessings are more real than our physical selves, but they are not yet physically realized. The suffering saint must daily – sometimes hourly, sometimes every minute – look to the absolute truth of God’s Word. And this is what God says of Himself, “those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Great is that blessing indeed!
We must not be disappointed if the tides are not always equally high. Even at low tide the ocean is just as full.
A.B. Simpson
APPLICATION: Intentionality
There is solace with God, even in those days we feel let down by Him. Remember Isaiah 49:23!