Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Ver. 10. Blessed are they that are persecuted] To be persecuted (as simply considered) is no blessed thing; for then it were to be desired and prayed for. But let a man love a quiet life, and labour to see good days, said those two great champions, David and Peter, Psalms 34:12; 1 Peter 3:10, who themselves had endured a world of persecution, and paid for their learning. The like counsel gives St Paul and the author to the Hebrews, 1Ti 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:11; Hebrews 12:11; for they felt by experience how unable they were to bear crosses when they fell upon them. It was this Peter that denied his Master upon the sight of a silly wench that questioned him; and this David that changed his behaviour before Abimelech, and thereupon gave this advice to all that should come after him.
For righteousness' sake] This it is that makes the martyr a good cause and a good conscience. Martyrem facit causa, non supplicium, saith Augustine: not the suffering, but the cause makes a martyr. And Multum interest, et qualia quis, et qualis quisque patiatur, saith Gregory: it greatly skilleth, both what it is a man suffereth, and what a one he is that suffereth. If he suffer as an evildoer, he hath his mends in his own hands, Talia quisque luat, qualia quisque facit; but if for righteousness' sake, as here, and if men say and do all manner of evil against you (falsely and lyingly, ψευδομενοι) for my sake, as in the next verse, and for the gospel's sake, as Mark hath it, this is no bar to blessedness: nay, it is a high preferment on earth, Philippians 1:20, and hath a crown abiding it in heaven, beyond the which mortal men's wishes cannot extend. Ultra cuius excellentiam mortalium vota non extenduntur. (Scult.) But let all that will have share in these comforts, see that they be able to say with the Church, Psalms 44:21,22 "Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of the hearts, that for thy sake we are slain continually." Upon which words excellently St Austin, Quid est, inquit, novit occulta? quae occulta, &c. What secrets of the heart, saith he, are those that God is here said to know? Surely these, that for thy sake are we slain, &c.; slain thou mayest see a man, but wherefore or for whose sake he is slain, thou knowest not, God only knoweth. Potes videre hominem morte affici; quare mortificctur nescis, Res in occulto est. Sunt qui causa humanae gloriae paterentur, as that Father goeth on. There want not those that would suffer death (and seemingly for rightousness' sake) only for applause of the world and vain glory: as Lucian telleth of Peregrinus the philosopher, that merely for the glory of it he would have been made a martyr. ως επι τουτω δοξαν απολιποι, et propterea ab Asiae proconsule dimissus est, tanquam ea gloria indignus. The Circumcelliones (a most pernicious branch of the heresy of the Donatists) were so desirous to obtain (by suffering) the praise of martyrdom, that they would seem to throw themselves down headlong from high places, or cast themselves into fire or water. Alexander the coppersmith was near martyrdom, Acts 19:33, who yet afterward made shipwreck of the faith, and became a bitter enemy to the truth that he had professed, 1 Timothy 1:19,20; 1 Timothy 4:14,15. Felix Mauzius, an Anabaptist of Helvetia, being put to death for his obstinace and ill practices at Tigere, praised God that had called him to the sealing up of his truth with his blood, was animated to constancy by his mother and brother, and ended his life with these words, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit." What could any hearty Hooper, trusty Taylor, or sincere Saunders have said or done more in such a case? It is not then the suffering, but the suffering for righteousness' sake, that proverb a man blessed and entitleth him to heaven. The Philistines died by the fall of the house, as well as Samson; sed diverso fine, ac fato, as Bucholcer saith. Christ and the thieves were in the same condemnation. Similis poena, sed dissimilis causa, saith Austin: their punishment was all alike, but not their cause. Baltasar Gerardus the Burgundian that slew the Prince of Orange, June 30th, 1584, endured very grievous torments: but it was pertinace in him rather than patience; stupidity of sense, not a solidity of faith; a reckless disposition, not a confident resolution. Therefore no heaven followed upon it, because he suffered not as a martyr, but as a malefactor.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven] "Surely if there be any way to heaven on horseback, it is by the cross," said that martyr, Bradford, that was hasting thither in a fiery chariot. The Turks account all them whom the Christians kill in battle, Mahometan saints and martyrs; assigning them a very high place in Paradise. In some parts of the West Indies there is an opinion in gross, that the soul is immortal, and that there is a life after this life, where beyond certain hills (they know not where) those that died in defence of their country should remain after death in much blessedness; which opinion made them very valiant in their fights. Should not the assurance of heaven make us valiant for the truth? Jeremiah 9:3; should we not suffer with joy the spoiling of our goods, Hebrews 10:34, yea, the loss of our lives for life eternal? should we not look up to the recompense of reward? to Christ the author and finisher of our faith, who stands over us in the encounter, as once over Stephen, with a crown on his head, and another in his hand, and saith, Vincenti dabo, to him that overcometh will I give this, Acts 7:56; Revelation 3:11. Surely this Son of David will shortly remove us from the ashes of our forlorn Ziklag, to the Hebron of our peace and glory, 1 Samuel 30:26; 1 Samuel 30:31. This Son of Jesse will give every one of us, not fields and vineyards, but crowns, sceptres, kingdoms, glories, beauties, &c. The expectation of this blessed day, this nightless day (as one calleth it, ανεσπερος ημερα. Naz.), must (as it did with David's soldiers all the time of their banishment) digest all our sorrows, and make us in the midst of miseries for Christ to over abound exceedingly with joy, as Paul did. υπερπερισσευομαι τη χαρα, 2 Corinthians 7:4. Queen Elizabeth's government was so much the more happy and welcome, because it ensued upon the stormy times of Queen Mary. She came as a fresh spring after a sharp winter; and brought the ship of England from a troublous and tempestuous sea to a safe and quiet harbour. So will the Lord Christ do for all his persecuted people. "Ye see" (said Bilney the martyr, and they were his last words, to one that exhorted him to be constant and take his death patiently)-"ye see," saith he, "when the mariner is entered his ship to sail on the troublous sea, how he, for a while, is tossed in the billows of the same; but yet in hope that he shall once come to the quiet haven, he beareth in better comfort the troubles that he feeleth. So am I now towards this failing: and whatsoever storms I shall feel, yet shortly after shall my ship be in the haven, as I doubt not thereof by the grace of God," &c. Lo, this was that which held the good man's head above water-the hope of heaven. And so it did many others, whom it were easy to instance. Elizabeth Cooper, martyr, being condemned, and at the stake with Simon Miller, when the fire came unto her, she a little shrank thereat, crying once, Ha. When Simon heard the same, he put his hand behind him toward her, and willed her to be strong and of good cheer. "For, good sister," said he, "we shall have a joyful and sweet supper." Whereat she being strengthened, stood as still and as quiet as one most glad to finish that good course. "Now I take my leave of you" (writeth William Tims, martyr, in a letter to a friend of his, a little before his death) "till we meet in heaven: and hie you after. I have tarried a great while for you; and seeing you be so long in making ready, I will tarry no longer for you. You shall find me merrily singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,' at my journey's end," &c. (Acts and Mon.) And I cannot here let slip that golden paraclesis, wherewith those forty martyrs (mentioned by St Basil) comforted one another, when they were cast out naked all night in the winter and were to be burned the next morrow: "Sharp is the winter," said they, "but sweet is paradise; painful is the frost, but joyful the fruition that followeth it. Wait but a while, and the patriarch's bosom shall cherish us. After one night we shall lay hold upon eternal life. Let our feet feel the fire for a season, that we may for ever walk arm in arm with angels. Let our hands fall off, that they may for ever be lifted up to the praise of the Almighty," &c. Δριμυς χειμων, αλλα γλυκυς ο παραδεισος, αλγεινη η πηξις, αλλ ' ηδεια η απολαυσις μικρον αναμενωμεν, και ο κολπος ημας θαλψει του πατραιρχου μιας νυκτος ολον τον αιωνα ανταλλαξωμεθα ..