Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 5:11-12
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Matthew 5:11-12
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Matthew 5:11-12
SCRIPTURE
"Blessed are ye when [men] shall reproach you, and persecute you, and 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 that were before you." — Matthew 5:11-12 (ASV)
Blessed are you, 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.
You have an elevation by persecution; you are lifted into the peerage of martyrdom, though you occupy only an inferior place in it, yet you are in it; therefore, rejoice, and be exceeding glad.
Persecution of the tongue is more common, but not less cruel than that of the hand. Slander is unscrupulous and indulges in accusations of every kind—all manner of evil is a comprehensive phrase. No crime is too base to be laid at the door of the innocent, nor will the persecutor have any hesitation as to the vileness of the charge. The rule seems to be, "Throw plenty of mud and some of it will stick."
Under this very grievous trial, good men are to be more than ordinarily happy, for thus they are elevated to the rank of the prophets, upon whom the storm of falsehood beat with tremendous fury. So persecuted they the prophets. This is the heritage of the Lord's messengers. They killed one and stoned another. The honor of suffering with the prophets, for the Lord's sake, is so great that it may well reconcile us to all that it involves.
There is an inquisitorial succession of persecutors, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you, and there is a prophetical succession of saints, ordained to glorify the Lord in the fires. To this succession it is our high privilege to belong, and we are happy that it is so. Our joy and gladness are to exceed all ordinary bounds when we are honored with the decoration of the iron cross and the collar of S.S., or savage slander.