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 the prophets which were before you. (Mathew 5:10-12)
As with all the previous Beatitudes, following and receiving the accompanying promise leads a person to want to experience the next Beatitude. In the case of those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, they are lead to this point after becoming peacemakers. It is the natural order of progression leading to persecution and obtaining the kingdom of heaven. The first beatitude is for the poor in spirit and its blessing is to be given the kingdom of heaven, which is the same blessing given to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The first blessing is a promise of reward and the last is the fulfillment of the promise.
Living and sharing the gospel of Christ, which you really haven’t fully understood until you become pure in heart and “seen God”, will always bring persecution because the principles you live and teach are looked upon as aberrations by the world. Christ taught that if the world hates Him they will hate His disciples. People will reject your message because of ignorance and a lack of any desire to really know the truth. Religious people will reject your message because it does not support their understanding of God and do not want to rock the boat. Very religious people will not only reject your message, but will persecute you, denigrate your reputation, and have you punished for blasphemy. Priests who consider themselves defenders of the faith, will believe it appropriate and necessary to excise the “peacemaker” from society. At a minimum it will consist of excommunication, isolation, and making him look ridiculous. If they have the power and the law lets them, they will inflict worse. This is necessary, in their minds, to protect the church from contamination. But their zeal is really a covering for their lack of confidence in what they teach. They will vehemently deny there is any uncertainty in their minds, but it is there lying below the surface of their conscious minds where they have shoved it so it doesn’t bother them any more.
As a peacemaker you must expect to experience opposition and downright persecution. In fact, one of the signs that you are teaching the Doctrine of Christ is that you will be persecuted. If you follow Christ you should expect that you will be treated the same way Christ and His apostles were. Christ experienced the full wrath of the authorities because they felt threatened by His message. If they had honestly investigated the claims that Jesus had declared and the miracles that occurred they would have been forced to admit that He was the Messiah. Instead, they utterly refused to investigate and acknowledge that He was a prophet let alone the Messiah. The Peacemaker today finds himself in the same position; threatened with ostracism and excommunication. Thankfully in this country you cannot be sentenced to death. Unfortunately, however, in some cultures death is allowed as punishment for teaching the Doctrines of Christ.
Why does the Lord allow such extreme measures taken against the faithful and the righteous? I believe there are five main reasons:
- First, the truth has to come to light and people be given a chance to repent. In Lecture Second, in the Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith lays out the argument that a knowledge of God is necessary for all men to begin to understand what is expected of them. The idea that God exists comes initially from the testimony of men.
- Second, A testimony of the wickedness of souls has to be obtained. Those souls who perpetrate crimes in the name of religion must be made aware of their gross violation of the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. This terrible realization that will come to them on the day of judgement will actually help them to progress.
- The third reason is to create a milieu or environment on the earth where souls can be tested to the uttermost whether they will follow Christ or the world.
- The fourth reason is that persecution is one of the signs that truth and light is being taught. Being persecuted doesn’t always mean that correct doctrine is being taught, but the absence of persecution means that the world is not opposed and therefore suspect.
- The fifth reason is to give experience to the righteous peacemakers; experience that will prepare them for advancement in the kingdom of Heaven. They are being taught patience, compassion, forgiveness, and faith among others. This is the kind of experience that cannot be gained anywhere else under any other circumstances. The experience also becomes a complete syllabus on the word “hope”. It is in the crucible of persecution that one learns the meaning of hope.
- There may even be a sixth reason. In the Testimony of St. John, The Savior tells Peter, “In the name of Father Ahman I tell you, when you were progressing, you dressed yourself, and went where you chose to go; but as you approach the end of the path, you will have to let others stretch out your hands and likewise nail you, even if you plead to have the bitter cup removed. This He said to foretell the sacrificial death that is required for endless glory. And then He added, You must follow after me.” (Verse 18). It may be required of you to suffer extreme persecution, perhaps an ultimate sacrifice, to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven. At any rate, you must have proven that you will sacrifice all things, endure all things, to seal your faith.
When the Lord says to “Rejoice and be glad” he is not just using poetic language or metaphor. It is a great blessing to be persecuted and to be able to come through the experience with your integrity unbroken. By doing so you have proved that your faith is stronger then the bonds of death. You are trustworthy in all things and you can expect that the Lord will entrust you with greater things. You are worthy of exaltation and eternal lives.
The Beatitudes – In conclusion.
The beatitudes are a road map that the Lord has given us to follow Him and enter the kingdom of Heaven. His whole life is a sermon on how to do that. The Seventh Lecture in the Lectures on Faith, asks, “Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? …..for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to be saved….It is Christ…” (Paragraph 9)
The Lectures on Faith goes on to explain that any person who desires eternal life and salvation must be precisely like Jesus. How can we do that? He was a perfect man, and we are so far from that mark, how could we ever become precisely like Him to gain eternal life? The beatitudes is the program whereby we are changed so that we qualify. You cannot do it yourself, but if you follow the steps that Christ gives us, follow the path He lived as an example for us, we will be transformed by the Holy Spirit.
In this journey we cannot see the final goal. We only have faith that it is there. Paul says we can’t even imagine what the Lord has in store for us. We only know that something better awaits us if we stay the path. We can only see small segments of the path and glimpses of what we are striving for. Usually we only see the segment we happen to be on. This is because much of the journey requires a great deal of sacrifice; if we knew what was required before a sacrifice is asked of us, we may lose heart and become discouraged long before we get to that point.
The Lord’s syllabus is a perfect one for us. First we become poor in spirit, then we mourn, then we are led to become meek, and so on. Each step requires tremendous work, experience and study to master, but the blessings are tailored specifically to help with the next steps. There really are no short cuts, each lesson is required to be fully tested before being able to fully engage the next one. It is true that there are overlaps, and the fulfillment of one promised blessing may coincide with another, but the eight beatitudes spell out specific objectives and blessings. For instance, as I have explained earlier, becoming poor in spirit is recognizing you don’t have God in your life and you begin to exercise faith. Mourning is repenting and turning towards God. The great blessing of receiving comfort is knowing that your sins are forgiven you. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness and being filled is receiving the Holy Ghost; the baptism of fire or being born again. The pure in heart receive a literal audience with God in this life. Each beatitude marks a specific event, ordinance, or marker that is obtained by the true follower of Christ on the path to exaltation in this life.
“When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel–you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.348)
The beatitudes can also serve as a yardstick to help determine areas of growth we need to concentrate. Do we desire mercy, relief from difficult worldly demands, or suffer from the consequences of sin or bad decisions? The Lord promises us mercy if we are ourselves merciful. Do you wonder why you have not seen God, or received an audience with the Lord as others have reported having? The Lord tells us it is probably because you are not sufficiently pure in heart (Matt. 5:8). Your heart is holding on to some aspects of pride, judgement, or worldliness. It has been my testimony that if you want to know what is holding you back, and it is sometimes very difficult to see error in ourselves, ask the Lord. He will tell you, if you are ready to listen and accept what He has to tell you.
God bless you on your journey.