Have you ever been slandered for your devotion to Jesus? Christians are promised opposition from the world--together with blessing from God. From his expositional series in the gospel of Matthew, today R.C. Sproul examines Christ's blessing for those persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Get a Copy of R.C. Sproul's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew for a Gift of Any Amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3467/matthew-expositional-commentary
Meet Today's Teacher:
R.C. Sproul (1939-2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God's Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.
Meet the Host:
Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children.
Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
Now, has anybody ever slandered you for the sake of Jesus? Has anyone ever falsely accused you for the sake of Jesus? If you have experienced that, you know how painful that can be. And so how, in any way, can that be an occasion for blessedness? Notice what Jesus says, that when that happens, you're supposed to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. The Apostle Paul tells us that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But we have this great consolation in the promise that Jesus gave us that blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness' sake, and blessed are you when they revile and persecute you. So whether slander, imprisonment, or laying down your life, these are promises that we can hold fast to. This is the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham, and it's these final Beatitudes that we'll be considering today. Each Lord's Day, we feature the preaching ministry of R.C. Sproul. In this Sunday, we come to the final sermon, a short series on the Sermon on the Mount, and as it's the final sermon, it's also your final opportunity to request Dr. Sproul's Expositional commentary on Matthew. You can request it at renewingyourmind.org, but be quick, as this offer ends at midnight and will not be repeated next week. How is it that those who are persecuted are to be considered blessed? Here's Dr. Sproul to explain. We're going to be looking again at the Beatitudes in verses 10 through 12 in the fifth chapter of Matthew, and I'd like the congregation to stand for the reading of the Word of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. This is the last in the list of Beatitudes recorded for us by Matthew, which pronouncements came from the lips of Jesus, not only for those who were present at the Sermon on the Mount, but for Christians of every generation. These words are for us. Here again we ask that you would take these words that are so familiar to us and give us a capacity to hear them with fresh ears and feel the weight of the import of them. For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. These last two Beatitudes that we've read this morning have a common theme with respect to persecution, and it has been said in church history that these two are perhaps the most unexpected Beatitudes in the list because people who endure the things that are mentioned here do not usually consider such experiences as occasions for blessedness, but let's look at them individually if we may. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Notice what this Beatitude does not say. It does not say, "Blessed are those who are persecuted," period, because people in every corridor of this world experience persecution of all sorts, but not always for the sake of righteousness. Peter focuses attention on the trials and sufferings that come in the path of Christian people, and he emphasizes the point it is one thing to suffer because we've done evil, but it's quite another thing to suffer for doing what is right. And in that regard, we are merely seeking to be imitators of Jesus himself who suffered perhaps more hostility, loathing, and persecution than any single individual in the history of the world, and yet every ounce of suffering that our Lord endured was altogether for the sake of righteousness. Now why would righteous behavior provoke persecution? Well the answer to that is simple, because the unrighteous in this world cannot stand to behold righteousness, we remember that those who hated Jesus most fiercely were the Pharisees. Because they had a public pretense of righteousness, that was not real. Their sin chiefly involved the sin of hypocrisy, because while they pretended righteousness, they were in fact unrighteous, and they in their pretense of righteousness crucified the son of glory, why? Because nothing exposes the counterfeit faster than the authentic. And when true righteousness appeared on this planet in the person of Jesus, the false righteousness of the Pharisees was exposed for what it was, and they hated it. On another occasion, another context I once told the congregation of a student I had in my first year of teaching at the university. This young lady had a four-point average, and in those were in the days where you couldn't exceed that four-point average. She was brilliant, she was the perennial person who broke the curve, and when she would break the curve, I noticed that the rest of the students did not cheer her for breaking the curve. Rather they didn't like it, and she was called goody two shoes. And in the second semester of her senior year, she took an examination from me, and when I graded her paper, she received an F, and I thought there's something strange going on here. So I called her in, and I said, "What's with this examination?" And she began to cry, and I said, "You couldn't make these many wrong answers without knowing what the right answers were." And so this examination tells me that you flunked it deliberately, and she said, "Yes." I said, "Why?" And she said, "Because she wanted to get married," and none of the guys would date her because they thought that she was too smart for them. And so she made a pretense of failure so that she could be accepted. You see, this woman in her way had suffered because she was doing what was right. You know what happens when Christians will not agree to participate in certain activities that are common with the world. Even if you don't say any word of rebuke to your non-Christian friends, they will look at you as scants and can call you holier than that. Now, that kind of persecution is not the kind of persecution that people around the world suffer for the sake of Christ where they can lose their jobs and their lives if they even publicly declare their allegiance to Jesus. But there are all different tiers and levels of persecution, and no Christian can go through life without receiving some of these things. Jesus goes into greater detail in the next beatitude. Listen to this. "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake." Here what our Lord has in view is specifically the type of persecution that involves slander, where you are reviled, where you are falsely accused, and where people tarnish your reputation behind your back by accusing you of all kinds of things that you have not done. Again, the beatitude does not say, "Blessed are you when men revile you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely and persecute you period." But the blessing is promised when these things happen for Jesus' sake. When that happens, you are blessed. Now, has anybody ever slandered you for the sake of Jesus? Has anyone ever falsely accused you for the sake of Jesus? If you have experienced that, you know how painful that can be. Our reputations are precious to us, and it's very difficult to endure it when we are accused of things that we have not done or of saying things that we have not said. That's painful. And so how in any way can that be an occasion for blessedness? Notice what Jesus says that when that happens, you're supposed to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. That's one of the most difficult things in the world to be the object of slander and be glad about it. I'll never forget the one of the most traumatic experiences I've ever had as a student in seminary took place when I was selected by the seminary to give the sermon in chapel on the day that was the annual day when the whole presbytery would convene in the chapel. And all the ministers from some two hundred churches would be there along with the student body of the seminary and the faculty. It was a great honor to be selected for that, and I was shocked because, theologically, I was in the smallest conceivable minority among the seminary students. And I remember on that occasion preaching on the doctrine of sin. And in the context of that sermon, I mentioned that as a student I had learned that sin was an existential failure to achieve authentic existence. I had learned that sin in the final analysis was simply a matter of finitude, something that is a necessary component of creatureliness. And thirdly, I had learned in the seminary that sin was simply a psychological malady, a type of psychological neurosis. And I said that day to the faculty, to the staff, to the students, and to the presbytery. I said, "I agree that we struggle with all three of these things. Who among us is not neurotic to some degree?" Today every one of us is finite, we know that, and we understand the limitations that go with finitude. And if we were to have our personal character examined, it would seem as if we're doing everything in our power to undermine any authenticity of existence we might have as existential beings. I said, "But not one of these things individually or three of them collectively even begin to touch the biblical understanding of the nature of sin, which is a violation of the holiness of God. It is a transgression of His law which such transgression cannot be minimized by explaining it away in psychological categories of neurosis, existential categories of inauthenticity, for reducing it simply to finitude," that was basically the essence of that sermon. When the sermon was finished and I stepped down from the pulpit, there was a rush from the student body that came forward to me, and the students, most of which were liberal in their thinking, came to me, moved, and excited about the sermon that they had heard, and they told me they said, "Boy, that was just what we needed to hear, that was great." And I was so amazed, I thought they'd want to tar and feather me. Well, not all of them were happy. And as I made my way to the back of the chapel, the dean of the seminary came up to me and he was irate, to say the least. His face was red, his face was contorted with rage, and he began to yell at me and in front of the whole Presbyterian front of the whole student body, he physically pushed me up against the back of the wall and said, "You have distorted every truth of Protestantism in that sermon this morning." I mean, can you imagine this as your senior and publicly the dean physically throws you against the wall with that kind of an accusation? I was devastated. I walked out of there and I thought, "Did I really distort historic Protestantism?" So I went upstairs to see my mentor, Dr. Gerstner, and I walked into his office and I told him what had just happened, and he broke out in a grin and he said, "Oh, Roberto." He said, "This is your blessed day." I said, "Really?" He said, "You should be exceedingly glad." I said, "I don't feel very glad right now." And he said, and I said, "Well, Dr. Gerstner, did I distort reform theology in that sermon?" And he looked at me and he said, "Orsay here, Roberto." He said, "Every Calvinist from John Calvin to BB Warfield are rejoicing in heaven this morning for what they heard out of that pulpit." And he said, "You're blessed that people reviled you for Christ's sake." Obviously, I never forgot that because, as I said, I sure didn't feel very happy. I sure didn't feel very blessed, but in a very small way, not anything to be compared with the heroic behavior that Christians have had to do when they've endured trials and tribulations throughout church history. At least on that occasion, I was able to experience the wrath of men for the sake of the truth of God. But we don't want to leave this beatitude without going to the next section. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven. The whole concept of rewards is something that we often struggle with. We put so much emphasis that we are justified by faith alone and not by works, that we sometimes tend to despise whatever works we may be able to achieve. And we don't think in terms of getting into heaven on the basis of merit because we can't get into heaven on the basis of merit except on the basis of the merit of Christ and Christ alone. Well since Christ is our only merit to get us into heaven, what is this business here about having a great reward in heaven? Well there are at least 25 texts in the New Testament that teach dear friends that the rewards that will be distributed by Christ in His Kingdom in heaven will be distributed according to our works. What? What our rewards will be distributed, what I said, according to our works. Again, getting there is by faith alone. The reward we experience once we're there will be based upon the works that we do in this world. Now again, we are justified not by works but we are justified by faith unto works, that those who are justified are called to live fruitful, godly lives that produce good works. And the production of those works will be the basis by which our rewards will be received. And you say, "Well I thought it was all by grace." Well Augustine put it this way, that when God rewards us for the works that we do, even the works that we do as Christians are so tainted by sin that they are, as Augustine said, at best splendid vices. The best work that you ever do will not deserve a reward in heaven. And the last, even though we won't deserve it, we will receive it. And Augustine used this way of describing that, that when God distributes rewards to His people in heaven, He will be crowning His own gifts. Isn't that beautiful? That even the work that you do that is pleasing His side is because He has gifted you to do it and because you do it, it is only by grace that you're able to do it. And so that good work merits nothing that God's grace goes beyond the initial grace to crown that gift with reward. And the reward that is promised there is a future one, though if we look at the last clause of this beatitude, you will see that there is a present reward. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven, comma. Or so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Do you realize that if you were slandered in this world for the sake of Christ, for righteousness sake, you will indeed receive a great reward when you get into heaven. But even now, you will be numbered among the prophets of the Old Testament, whom the Bible says the world was not worthy. Even now in God's sight, you will be included in that select company of those who have gone before us, who have tasted the same slander, who have tasted the same revulsion, who have said as Jeremiah did, "I am in derision daily." And in God's sight, if you experience this, you're in the company of Jeremiah, and of Isaiah and Ezekiel and Daniel, Amos, Micah, Hosea, all the prophets who have gone before you, that is splendid company in which to be numbered, so that the reward is not future only, but comes to us even now, if we understand the blessed way in which our Lord looks at us. We're listening to the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, and that was RC Sproul finishing his sermon series on Jesus' well-known sermon on the Mount. I'm glad you're with us today. When Dr. Sproul preached through Matthew's gospel, he preached 129 sermons, and it was those sermons that became the foundation for his expositional commentary on Matthew. This commentary is an opportunity for you to slow down and spend time in Matthew, as RC Sproul walks you through it line by line. So for the final time, you can add this commentary to your collection when you give a gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. We'll send you this hardcover expositional commentary, and your generosity will fuel not only the daily outreach of renewing your mind, but also the global outreach of Ligonier Ministries. So click the link in the podcast show notes, or visit renewingyourmind.org while there's still time. Remember, this author will not be repeated next Sunday. Dr. Sproul mentioned first Peter today, and that's the New Testament letter that he'll be preaching from, beginning next Sunday, here on Renewing Your Mind. [Music] (gentle music)
