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 cannot be denied that we have here before us a Beatitude, and one warm with life and comfort and love. It is, however, particularly addressed to the disciples present, face to face, with Jesus. As the foregoing Beatitude seemed to be in the mind of St. Peter (1 Peter 3:14), so his words, as written in the same Epistle (1 Peter 4:14), seem the very reminiscence of this ninth and closing Beatitude, which his ears had heard more than thirty years before. Notice how, by this kind, direct appeal, Christ betokens his forethought for those on whom should fall the first severity of trial, temptation, and suffering "for his sake." Notice -

I. THE THREE FORMS OF TRIAL PREDICTED FOR THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. They are, reproach or railing; persecution; and "falsely saying every evil thing about them," i.e. all kind of slanderous abuse. Even so in all these respects "Christ suffered for us in the flesh." The parallel suggestions in the second, third, and fourth chapters of the First Epistle of St. Peter are frequent (1 Peter 2:12, 19-23; 1 Peter 3:9, 13, 14, 16-18; 1 Peter 4:12-19). They are great types of the wounds the world inflicts. They are very liable to be successful assailers of our peace and of our principles, of our temper and of our steadfast endurance. To be forewarned, in order to be forearmed, was never a wiser precaution to take, nor a more gracious one to give. As St. James says," If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body;" so in most manifest harmony must it be true, that if any man can silently, patiently, forgivingly stand against and withstand the sort of darts described above, he has not in vain learned of the Lord Jesus, whether of his word or his deed - that one perfect Man!

II. THE FIRST RECORDED USE ON THE PART OF JESUS CHRIST OF THAT SUPREME CLAIM OF HIS, WITH ALL ITS SPLENDID SIGNIFICANCE, "FOR MY SAKE." Note:

1. How sovereign this claim is!

2. How the more remarkable from the known "lowliness and meekness" of Jesus Christ!

3. How deeply imbued it is with faith in the force and fidelity of affection - what a condescending bond as between Jesus Christ and any man! And, once more:

4. How wonderfully it has shown itself equal to all whatsoever that it has been called to bear or to do! Granted that love is a strong principle in human nature, the mightiest of its forces, yet what surpassing strength, continuance, inseparableness have through Christ been made all its own, for all its service of him and for all his requirement of it! So still the gift from him has exceeded infinitely all the gift to him, though he speaks of those that are "reproached, persecuted falsely, evil spoken of, for his sake."

III. THE ENERGY OF JOY WHICH THE CASE JUSTIFIES AND WHICH CHRIST ENCOURAGES. How few things to be had on earth, or even to be begun on earth, do warrant such energy of joy; and how utterly averse the verdict of the world from this of Jesus Christ! But the grounds of this joy are real, and they look far, far on; they command a prospect bounded by no earthly horizon. And the bright joy and succeeding gladness will do much to revive the soul, vexed, humbled, worn by the evil speech of the world. This contrast and the effect of it can hardly have been undesigned, in the merciful calculation of the Lord and Master of souls. Nor undesigned the combination of the joy, of "the glorious company of the apostles" with "the goodly fellowship of the prophets." For is not this the inspiriting outcome of the last sentence, "For so persecuted they the prophets, which were before you"? "Their reward great in heaven" had already been ascertained. And apostles now in their earliest training, putting on of the armour, and young fresh aspirations, emulate their historic renown, their everlasting reward. - B.

The supreme and commanding claims implied. Endeavour to understand the meaning of the words, "for my sake." All intelligent creatures act from some consideration or other — for the " sake " of something. At the root of the life we are living there is a strong and dominant reason; or, if not one, several that sway us in turn. Motive in every action — money, pleasure, etc., regard for others. So that the principle which is contained in the text is by no means new or exceptional, but is as old and as wide as the world. Comes before us in its highest and most glorious application. The claims involved. We have, then, here —

I. A person. A unique person.

III. A unique person who claims to be Lord of our life. What are we to do for the sake of Christ? To labour and suffer.

(Dr. Mellor.)

1. There is a self-assertion here, which is justified by the character and position of the speaker.

2. All beings capable of love and hatred must, if placed together, act with direct regard to each other, and they will do many things for each other's sake.

I. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF JESUS' CLAIMS?

1. Jesus claims work for His sake.

2. We owe to Jesus Christ patient endurance of suffering for His sake.

3. Jesus claims cheerful and generous gifts for His sake.

4. Jesus claims attachment to life, with a readiness to die, for His sake.

5. Jesus claims the devotion of ourselves to Him.

II. SOME OF THE MEANS BY WHICH WE MAY STIR UP OURSELVES TO RECOGNIZE THESE CLAIMS MORE CORDIALLY.

1. Distinct ideas of the person of Christ are essential to our being moved by considerations which originate in Himself.

2. Frequent meditation upon the service He has rendered.

3. In order to this we need the communion of the Holy Ghost.

(S. Martin, D,D.)The words bring before us the relation of the Christian to his living and loving Lord.

I. Let us seek clearer views of the INFLUENCE of Christian motive. Christ has certain peculiar and special claims on us. There is the authority of His Godhead. The love of His incarnation and death.

II. Let us get a juster estimate of its RANGE.

1. It bears on our efforts after personal holiness.

2. On the Christian's work for others.

3. It extends to the enduring of suffering for conscience' sake.

4. It applies to the sacrifices we are required to make. This principle possesses a testing power to reveal whether or not we are what we profess to be as followers of Christ.

(Dr. W. M. Taylor.)

JesusGalilee, JerusalemAccount, Bad, Blessed, Cruel, Evil, Falsely, Happy, Insult, Insulted, Kinds, Lying, Manner, Persecute, Persecuted, Reproach, Revile, Sake, Utter, Whenever, Wicked1. Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3. The Beattitudes;
13. the salt of the earth;
14. the light of the world.
17. He came to fulfill the law.
21. What it is to kill;
27. to commit adultery;
33. to swear.
38. He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43. to love our enemies;
48. and to labor after perfection.

Matthew 5:11

     5346   injury
     5775   abuse
     5879   humiliation
     6163   faults
     8402   claims
     8796   persecution, forms of

Matthew 5:3-12

     1620   beatitudes, the
     2318   Christ, as prophet
     4020   life, of faith
     5874   happiness
     8117   discipleship, benefits

Matthew 5:3-48

     1660   Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:10-12

     5565   suffering, of believers
     8369   worthiness

Matthew 5:11-12

     5202   accusation, false
     5348   injustice, nature and source
     5836   disgrace
     5893   insults
     5951   slander
     6647   eternal life, experience
     7775   prophets, lives
     8289   joy, of church
     8751   false witness
     8797   persecution, attitudes

Agree with Thine Adversary
Eversley, 1861. Windsor Castle, 1867. St. Matthew v. 25, 26. "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." This parable our Lord seems to have spoken at least twice, as He did several others. For we find it also in the 12th …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

June 9. "Ye are the Light of the World" (Matt. v. 14).
"Ye are the light of the world" (Matt. v. 14). We are called the lights of the world, light-bearers, reflectors, candle-sticks, lamps. We are to be kindled ourselves, and then we will burn and give light to others. We are the only light the world has. The Lord might come down Himself and give light to the world, but He has chosen differently. He wants to send it through us, and if we don't give it the world will not have it. We should be giving light all the time to our neighbors. God does not put …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Eighth Beatitude
'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'--MATT. v. 10. We have seen the description of the true subjects of the kingdom growing into form and completeness before our eyes in the preceding verses, which tell us what they are in their own consciousness, what they are in their longings, what they become in inward nature by God's gift of purity, how they move among men as angels of God, meek, merciful, peace-bringing. Is anything more needed …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Salt Without Savour
'Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.'--MATT. v. 13. These words must have seemed ridiculously presumptuous when they were first spoken, and they have too often seemed mere mockery and irony in the ages since. A Galilean peasant, with a few of his rude countrymen who had gathered round him, stands up there on the mountain, and says to them, 'You, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The First Beatitude
'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.'--MATT. v. 2. 'Ye are not come unto the mount that burned with fire, nor unto the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of "awful" words.' With such accompaniments the old law was promulgated, but here, in this Sermon on the Mount, as it is called, the laws of the Kingdom are proclaimed by the King Himself; and He does not lay them down with the sternness of those written on tables of stone. No rigid 'thou shalt' compels, no iron 'thou …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Second Beatitude
'Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.'--MATT. v. 4. An ordinary superficial view of these so-called Beatitudes is that they are simply a collection of unrelated sayings. But they are a great deal more than that. There is a vital connection and progress in them. The jewels are not flung down in a heap; they are wreathed into a chain, which whosoever wears shall have 'an ornament of grace about his neck.' They are an outgrowth from a common root; stages in the evolution of Christian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Fourth Beatitude
'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.'--MATT. v. 6. Two preliminary remarks will give us the point of view from which I desire to consider these words now. First, we have seen, in previous sermons, that these paradoxes of the Christian life which we call the Beatitudes are a linked chain, or, rather, an outgrowth from a common root. Each presupposes all the preceding. Now, of course, it is a mistake to expect uniformity in the process of building …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Fifth Beatitude
'Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.'--MATT. v. 7. THE divine simplicity of the Beatitudes covers a divine depth, both in regard to the single precepts and to the sequence of the whole. I have already pointed out that the first of the series Is to be regarded as the root and germ of all the subsequent ones. If for a moment we set it aside and consider only the fruits which are successively developed from it, we shall see that the remaining members of the sequence are arranged in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Sixth Beatitude
'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.'--MATT. v. 8. AT first hearing one scarcely knows whether the character described in this great saying, or the promise held out, is the more inaccessible to men. 'The pure in heart': who may they be? Is there one of us that can imagine himself possessed of a character fitting him for the vision of God, or such as to make him bear with delight that dazzling blaze? 'They shall see God,' whom 'no man hath seen at any time, nor can see.' Surely …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Seventh Beatitude
'Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.' MATT. v. 9. This is the last Beatitude descriptive of the character of the Christian. There follows one more, which describes his reception by the world. But this one sets the top stone, the shining apex, upon the whole temple-structure which the previous Beatitudes had been gradually building up. You may remember that I have pointed out in previous sermons how all these various traits of the Christian life are deduced from …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The New Sinai
'And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: 2. And He opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Lamp and the Bushel
'Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.'--Matt. v. 14-16. The conception of the office of Christ's disciples contained in these words is a still bolder one than that expressed by the preceding metaphor, which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The New Form of the Old Law
'Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20. For I say …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Swear not at All'
'Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34. But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35. Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Non-Resistance
'Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.'--MATT. v. 38-42. The old law …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Law of Love
'Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Redemption
"Ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect."--MATT. V. 48. "Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver from the body of this death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."--ROM. VII. 24, 25. We have studied the meaning of reconciliation through the Cross. We have said that to be reconciled to God means to cease to be the object of the Wrath of God, that is, His hostility to sin. We can only cease to be the objects of this Divine Wrath by identifying ourselves …
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

On that which is Written in the Gospel, Matt. v. 16, "Even So Let Your Light Shine Before Men, that they May See Your Good Works,
1. It is wont to perplex many persons, Dearly beloved, that our Lord Jesus Christ in His Evangelical Sermon, after He had first said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven;" [1934] said afterwards, "Take heed that ye do not your righteousness [1935] before men to be seen of them." [1936] For so the mind of him who is weak in understanding is disturbed, is desirous to obey both precepts, and distracted by diverse, and contradictory …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. v. 22, "Whosoever Shall Say to his Brother, Thou Fool, Shall be in Danger of the Hell of Fire. "
1. The section of the Holy Gospel which we just now heard when it was read, must have sorely alarmed us, if we have faith; but those who have not faith, it alarmed not. And because it does not alarm them, they are minded to continue in their false security, as knowing not how to divide and distinguish the proper times of security and fear. Let him then who is leading now that life which has an end, fear, that in that life which is without end, he may have security. Therefore were we alarmed. For …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 3 "Blessed are the pure in heart: For they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers: For they shall be called the children of God. "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." …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Christian Aim and Motive.
Preached January 4, 1852. THE CHRISTIAN AIM AND MOTIVE. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."--Matthew v. 48. There are two erroneous views held respecting the character of the Sermon on the Mount. The first may be called an error of worldly-minded men, the other an error of mistaken religionists. Worldly-minded men--men that is, in whom the devotional feeling is but feeble--are accustomed to look upon morality as the whole of religion; and they suppose …
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

A Call to Holy Living
Too many persons judge themselves by others; and if upon the whole they discover that they are no worse than the mass of mankind, they give themselves a mark of special commendation; they strike a sort of average amongst their neighbors, and if they cannot pretend to be the very best, yet, if they are not the very worst, they are pretty comfortable. There are certain scribes and Pharisees among their acquaintance, who fast thrice in the week, and pay tithes of all they possess, and they look upon …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

Persistency in Wrong Doing.
6th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. v. 25. "Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him." INTRODUCTION.--I spoke to you the Sunday before last about the obstinacy of persisting in an opinion after you have good cause to believe that this opinion is unjust, or unreasonable. I am going to speak to you to-day of another form of obstinacy. SUBJECT.--My subject is Persistency in doing wrong, because you have begun wrong. This is only another form of the same fault. The other …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

"That the Righteousness of the Law Might be Fulfilled in Us,"
Rom. viii. 4.--"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," &c. "Think not," saith our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, "that I am come to destroy the law,--I am come to fulfil it," Matt. v. 17. It was a needful caveat, and a very timeous advertisement, because of the natural misapprehensions in men's minds of the gospel. When free forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting, is preached in Jesus Christ, without our works; when the mercy of God is proclaimed in its freedom and fulness, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

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