Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”
There are several things mentioned here; first – “when men shall revile you”; second - “persecute you”; third – “say all manner of evil against you falsely”; “and for my sake.” Let’s look at these independently of each other.
“when men shall revile you” The word “revile” means – to defame or to taunt – therefore those that try to mark us as hate mongers for believing the truth are actually blessing us; because God said this make us blessed. Let us not forget what they called our Lord Jesus Christ in John 10:20 “And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?” but we need to remember what God said in Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” We are blessed because we are actually suffering in the place of Jesus Christ as He did for us at Calvary. They hate us because of Him and His word or truths. Beloved count it joy when men revile you.
“when men shall persecute you” This is different of sort from verse 10 “which are persecuted for righteousness' sake” because verse 10 deals with doing an act of righteousness and verse 11 deals with just any Christian that suffer persecution for any reason. This also includes verbal persecution.
“when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely” The word falsely here means - to utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood – As sovereign grace Baptist we are always spoken of in an untruthful matter and described as evil people because of what we believe in the scriptures. There are not many today who believe any of God’s doctrinal truths anymore; they all fall under the category of those who call the truth a lie and a lie the truth. Beloved we are greatly hated and not just by non-Christians but by actual Christians who follow untrue teachings because we are landmark sovereign grace. The words “all manner” means any hurtful or evil thing uttered. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 4:14 “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”
“for my sake.” This is the bottom-line purpose for their persecution and evils against us; it is because of Jesus Christ. It is not that they hate us personally because in the flesh we are all the same but when we believe in Christ, when we believe in
His truths, then they turn against us as they did Him. Our Lord reminds us in Matthew 10:22 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” And the Psalmist reminds us in Psalms 44:22 “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” – beloved don’t count it bad when you are persecuted in the name of the Lord but rather a blessing and a joy!!
This is a Landmark Sovereign Grace Baptist Blog. "Teaching The Truths Of God's Holy Script"
Meet Pastor Johnson
- Pastor Randy Johnson
- Texarkana, Texas, United States
- I am the Pastor of the Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas
Pastor Randy Johnson
Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church
I would like to welcome you to my blog. It is my purpose to bring glory to the glorious name of my Saviour Jesus Christ. It is my hope and prayer that you are saved from eternal damnation if not please read the following scriptures.
Acts 8:35-38 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. (36.) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (37.) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (38.) And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him."
Acts 16:30-31 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
Acts 8:35-38 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. (36.) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (37.) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (38.) And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him."
Acts 16:30-31 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."