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(th.
6:21/1)
.The third Beatitude:
"Blessed Are You Who Weep
Now; ,or You Shall Laugh.
The Meaning
oj
You
ho eep Now
The Greek word
for
weep,
daio, denotes audible weeping
and sobbing. Hungering and
sobbing are evidences of our
poverty of spirit, and our
consciousness of it. The Christian
"sobs" over his poverty of spirit,
his sinfulness and unworthiness
before
God.
"Behind the sobbing of the
godly there is the recognition of
the merciless power of sin and of
our
helplessness to
ward off this
power and to
escape. Hence
this
sobbing is
a constant cry
to God in our
distress." -
Lenski. The
present
participle tells
us that
this
sobbing is a
constantly
sobbing. In
fact, as
Martin
Luther said in his 95 Theses, that
our entire life must be a
continuous contrition and
repentance.
This spiritual mourning
for
sin
is sOl lething the world and the
modem
church try
to
avoid. The
Christian is supposed to be always
.jovial and "
bubbly:
we are
told.
"Thus the defective doctrine of sin
and the shallow idea of joy,
working together, of necessity
produce a superficial kind of
person and a very inadequate kind
of Christian life."- lloyd-Jones,
pg. 55. "To 'mourn: (as Matthew
5:4 has it), is something that
follows of necessity from being
'poor in spirit.' It is
qUite
inevitable.
s
I confront God and
His holiness, and contemplate the
life that I am meant to live, I see
myself, my utter helplessness and
hopelessness. I discover my
quality of spirit and immediately
that makes me mourn. I must
mourn about the fact that I am
like that. But obviously it does
not stop there. A man who truly
faces himself, and examines
himself and his life, is a man who
must of necessity mourn for his
sins also, for the things he does.
--- And, as he realizes these
things, any man who is at aU
Christian is smitten with a sense
of grief and sorrow that he was
ever capable of such things in
action or in thought, and that
makes him mourn. But he does
not stop merely at things he has
done, he meditates upon and
contemplates his actions and his
state and condition of sinfulness,
and as he thus examines himself
he must go through the
experience of
Romans
7. ---
Yet
the Christian does not
stop even at that.
The
man who is
truly Christian
is
a man who
'
THE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon I May,
1997
mourns also because f the
sins
of
others. He does not stop at
himself. ---
He
is concerned about
the state of society, and the state
of the world....
He moUrns
because ...men can so spend their
life in this world. --- That is why
our Lord Himself mourned, that is
why
He was
'a
man
of .sorrows,
and acquainted with
grieP;
that is
why
He
wept at the grave of .
Lazarus.
He
saw this horrid, ugly,
foul thing called sin which had
come into life and introduced
death into life, and had upSet life
and made life unhappy. ,--- f ie
mourned
over
it and so does His .
truefoUower.... In other wordS,
he must
mourn
because of the
very nature of
sin itself., .
Indeed he
mourns
because he
has some
understanding
ofwhat sin
means to
God , of God's
utter
abhorrence
and hatred of
it, this terrible
thing that would stab, as it were,
into the heart of God, if
it
could,
this rebelliousness and arrogance
of man ....
-
lloyd-Jones, pg.57f.
The Meaning oj For
You Shall Laugh
The person who mourns over
his poverty of spirit is a nuly
happy person--
Blessed
are
those
who
mourn, for
they shall
be
comforted. Blessed are
you
who
weep
now,
for
you shall
laugh.
Wherever there is godly sobbing,
there
is
blessed laughing.
Why?
Godly sorrow
for
sin drives the
true believer to Jesus Christ, who
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said, 1 will not
leave
you
comfortless; will come
t
you, In.
14:18. "Nothing makes the
contrite heart happier than
the
Lord's absolution, (and the Lord's
support); and it cannot hear it
pronounced too often, for without
this all other comfort is vain.
God's Word, God's deliverance
and help, God's support, cheer
and uplift us in tribularion
s
nothing
else
could do. Finally,
God's promises of future
deliverance from all evil in the
heavenly kingdom of glory
now
fill us with happiness.' As our
sobbing sounds in God's ears in
this
vale
of sin and tears, so His
constant grace and help flow to
us.
And
thus those whoare
weeping are most blessed,
for
thty
shall, indeed, laugh.
But
they
who provide their own
laughter --the Lord says, 'I lso will
laugh
at your calamity,' Provo
1:26. - Lenski
How
is
it that he who mourns
is blessed,
Will
laugh and be
comforted?
The
man who truly
mourns because ofhis sinful state
and condition is a man who is
going to repent; he is, indeed,
actually repenting already. And
the man who truly repents as the
result of the work of the Holy
Spirit upon him, is a man who is
certain to be led to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Having seen his utter
sinfulness and hopelessness, he
looks
for
a Savior, and he finds
Him in Christ. Noone can truly
know Him as his personal Savior
and Redeemer unless he
has first
of all known what
it
is to mourn.
It is only the man who cries out,
0 wretched man that I
am
Who
shall deliver me?' who c n go on '
to
say,
'.J
thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord.' --
f
we truly
mourn, we shall rejoice, we shall
be made happy,
we
shall be
comforted. For it is when a man
sees himself in this unutterable
hopelessness that the Holy Spirit
reveals unto him the Lord Jesus
Christ as his perfect satisfaction.
Through the Spirit he sees that
Christ has died
for his
sins and
is
standing as his advocate in the
presence of
God.
He sees in Him
the perfect provision that God
has
made and immediately he is
c o m f o ~ d That is the astounding
thing about the Christian
life.
Your great sorrow leads to joy,
and Without sorrow there is no .
joy."- Lloyd-Jones, pg. 60.
This
is
not only true at
conversion; it is something that
continues to be true about the
Christian. He finds himself guilty
of sin, and at first it cast him
down and makes him mOUrn. But
that in turn drives him back to
Christ; and the moment he goes
back to Christ, his peace and
happiness return and he is
comforted. -- The man who
mourns truly is comforted and is
happy; and thus the Christian
life
is spent in this
way,
mourning
and joy,
Sorrow
and happiness,
and the one should lead to the .
. other immediately.- lloyd-Jones,
pg.60.
Let us, then, try
to
define this
man who mourns. What sort of
man is
he? He
is a sorrowful man,
but he is not morose:
He
is a
sorrowful man, but he is not a
miserable man. He is a serious
man,
but
he is not a solemn man.
He is a sober-minded man, but he
is
not a sullen man.
He is
a
grave
man, but he is never cold or
prohibitive. There is With his
gravity a warmth and attraction.
The Christian is never a man
who has to put on an appearance
of either sadness or joviality. No,
no; he is a man who looks at life
seriously; he contemplates it
spiritually, and he sees in it sin
and its effects.
--
His outlook is
always
serious,
but
because of
these views which he has, and his
understanding of truth, he also
has 'a joy unspeakable and full of
glory.' --- That is the man who
mourns; that is the Christian.
--
A
deep doctrine of sin, a high
doctrine of joy, and the two
together produce this blessed,
happy man who mourns, and who
at the same time is comforted.
The way
to experience that,
obviously, is to read the
Scriptures, to study and meditate
on them, to pray to God for His
Spirit to rveal sin in us to
ourselves, and then to reveaI'to us
the
Lord Jesus Christ
in
all His .
fullness."- Lloyd-Jones,
pg.62.
tit.
6:22) The FOUlth
Beatitude:
Blessed are you when men hate
you,
and
ostracize you, and
heap
insults upon you, and spurn your
name
as evil, for the sake o the
son oj man. Be
glad in
that day,
and
leap jor joy, jor
behold,
your
reward is great
in heaven;
jor
in
the
same way their fathers used
to treat the
prophets.
The last beatitude stands out
in twO ways: in the elaboration of
the infliction and
in
the full
statement of the1Jle..,sedness.
Lenski.
Matthew records It this
way: Blessed are those who
have
been persecuted for the
sake of
righteousness, for
theirs
is the
kingdom ofheaven. J3lessed are you
when men revile you, nd persecute
you,
and say all kinds oj
evil
against
.
you
falsely, on account of
Me.
Rejoice, and be
glad,
Jar
your
reward
in
heaven
is
great,
for
so they
persecuted the prophets who
were
before you, Mat. 5: 1Of.
The Reality
and
Nature o
the Persecution
of Christians
by
an Evil Culture
May,
1997
t;HE COUNSEL of
Chalcedon
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5
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he
Kinds of
Persecuti01l
Christians who are faithful to
Christ must not be naive. We
~ t
expect slander and
persecution fro\fi the evil cultures
in
which we live, simply because
of
our faithfulness to Christ.
Evil
cultures hate faithful Christians,
because they hate Christ, John
15: 18f. Apostate churches will
ostractze,
i.e., excommunicate,
slander and seek to discredit
faithful Christians, In. 9:22.
Evil
cultures
heap
insults on faithful
Christians to discourage and
diScredit them as extreme radicals
who are threats to society.
Slander
is
a powerful weapon in
the hands
6f
evil men. They
will
spurn
your name as
evil,
for the
sake
of the Son ofMan.
Evil men w ll not tolerate
those who think and
live
consistendy with their
name, Christian. They will
take whatever severe
measures are necessary
to silence
us
and stop our efforts
at
advancing the kingdom of God
n
our cultures.
The eason for
the Persecution
Jesus makes clear that His true
followers w ll be slandered and
persecuted by a sinful world,
because of their relationship
to
Him--- for the sake,o the Son of
Man, Lk. 6:22, on
account
of Me,
Mat.5: 10, and not because of our
own faults or lack of wisdom.
Furthermore, not everyone who
claims to be a Christian, nor
everyone who believes in Jesus,
john 2:23-25, will be persecuted
by
the world; bilt only those who
believe that JESUS CHRIST IS
THE SON OF
MAN,
the sUffering
Servant of God, who is the
Sovereign of all individuals and
cultures; because those who serve
jesus as The Son of Man , will
work to bring every area of
life
and every facet of culture into
submission
to
His infallible
authOrity and sovereign rule, Dan.
7: 13-14. his faith in Christ as
the Son of
Man
puts Christ s
servants in direct opposition to
the plans and dreams of
anti-Christian man and of
anti -Christian cultures.
Reconciliation or peaceful
coexistence or religious/ethical
pluralism
is
impossible between
them, unless one side surrenders
to the other. Hence, these
Christians who believe in Jesus as
The Son of
Man
are the most
despised people by an evil culture,
because they are the biggest threat
to
aU
cultures built upon a
principle of revolt against the God
of the Bible.
Being persecuted
for
righteousness' sake, Mat. 5:
10
,
is
being persecuted
for
being like
jesus Christ in your life and
thought. And those who are like
Him will always be persecuted by
this sinful world.
If
the world
hates you, you know that it has hated
Me before it hated you .
If
you were
of the
world,
the
world
would love Its
own; but because you are not
of
the
,world, but I chose you out of the
world, therefore the world hates
you.
Remember the
word that
I said t
you,
A slave
is
not greater
than
his
master
.'
If
they
persecuted Me, they
will
also
persecute you;if they kept
My Word, they will
keep yours
also.
But all these things they will do
to
you for My name's sake, because
they do
not
know
the One woo sent
Me, jn 15:18f.
6 m COUNSEL of ChaIcedon t May, 1997
The Blessedness of eing
Persecutedfor Christ's Sake '
Knowing that he will face
persecution by the world, the
Christian is not to seek
persecution with a
martyr-complex, nor
is he to
grieve over the fact that
he
will be
persecuted, nor should he be
terrified by it, nor should he face
it stoiely with clinched teeth.
Rather, the Christian should
consider persecution for the sake
,of the Son ofMan one of the
greatest privileges and joys of his
life. Although persecution is
painful, it is
also
the cause of
rejoicing in
the
experience of the
faithful. It is a Blessed
experience according to the
judgment ofJesus.
KnOwing that it is a
privilege to suffer for the
sake of Christ, to know the
fellowship
of
His suffering,
being
confonned to
His
death,
Phil.
3:
10, is more
precious to the Christian than
anything
else
in his
life,
Phil. 3:8f.
See James 1:2f; I Pet. 3: 14f; 4:12f;
5: 10;
II
Cor. 6:3-10. The believer
is never more like Jesus, or closer
to
jesus, than when he is ,suffering
for
Jesus
It
is
such a blessed:'
privilege, that the Christian not
only will
be
glad in that day, he
will
want to
leap
for joy. Glad
people leaping for joy describes
Christians who cannot contain
themselves because of the joy they
have in the suffering for Christ
they are undergoing.
WHAT
MAKES
BEING
PERSECUTED FOR CHRIST SO
BLESSED BRINGING THE
CHRISTIAN SO
MUCH jOy?
(1).
It deepens His eloseness to Christ
and advances his likeness to
Christ. (2). Their reward
is
great
in heaven. This reason is
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introduced with the exclamation it
deserves.
Beholdi When evil
people persecute Christians. they
are helping Christians to obtain
the great and gracious
rewards
of
heaven. This
reward
is not
based
on
the merit or degree of
our suffering. but on
the
free .
undeserved and unmerited grace
of
God
in Christ.
Mat. 19:29.
"For
He
is ever such a
God
who
will
let no man do
a
hing for
Him
and His Son unless He reward it
with an abundance that comports
with is own
greatness
and
glory.
This
'
pay'
is 'great' not according
to
our merit. of which none
exists.
but according to
Him
who
bestows
it.
n Lenski
. This
"reward"
is in "heaven," safe and
imperishable with God certain
to
be
bestowed upon us at
the
proper time. See I'hi . 4:19. (3).
"For In the same way thlrtr fathers
used
to
treat the prophets.
When
we suffer for
Christ
at the
hands
of
evil
people and
cu
ltures.
we
are
privileged to join that glorious
company of prophets and
mar }'rS.
who the evil forefathers of
the
present evil cultures also
persecuted
for
the
sake
of
Christ.
"Not
in spite of pur persecutions
are we to
rejOice
as
if ours
were
a
hard lot. but because of our
persecutions. which
make
our lot
such a blessed and happy one.
The wounds and hurts
are
medals
of honor. They attest
more
than
anything
else
could that
we
belong
to
Christ and not to the
world. promotion
is
rapid in war.
and the war for Christ never
ceases. II Tim . 4:7.8. Yet so many
are
afraid
of a
few
scars for His
sake.
n _ j..enski
The Conclusions Drawn From a
Study
o
This Beatitude
FIRST. it tells
us
a great deal
about our
ide;lS
concerning the
Person of the
Lord
Jesus Christ.
If
our conception of
Him
is such
that He can be admired and
applauded by the non-Christian.
we
have a wrong
view
of
Him."
Uoyd-jones. pg. 136.
SECOND. this Beatitude
tests
our ideas as to what the Christian
is. The
Christian is like his Lord .
--- ... the real Christian is a man
who
is
not praised by
everybody.
They
did not praise our Lord. and
they
will
never praise the man
who is like
Him
."- Uoyd-Jones.
pg . 136.
THIRD. fallen. unregenerate
people are at war with God and
His
Christ. Although they may
talk about
God.
they really hate
Him.
Psa.
2. The
unregenerate
world ofJesus' day hated
Him
and
crucified
Him.
And
t h a ~
is
the
attitude of the unregenerate world
toward
Him today.
FOURTH. the Christian is
unlike everybody who is not a
Christian.
Mat.
10:34.
"The
gospel
of jesus Christ
creates
a
clear-cut division and distinction
between the Christian and the
non-Christian. The non-Christian
himself proves that by persecuting
the
Christian.
"-
Uoyd-jones.
pg.
139.
FIFTH. "the Christian's life is
controlled and dominated
by
jesus Christ. by his
loyalty to
Christ. and by his concern to do
everything for Christ's sake."
Uoyd-jones.
pg. 139
SIXTH
,
the
Christian faces
persecution in a particular way:
He does
not retaliate.
He
does not
feel
resentment.
He
does not
let
persecution depress him,. But
instead.
HE
REJOICES WHEN
HE
FACES
PERSECUTION . He
does
not rejoice
over
the mere
experience of persecution; it is
always to
be regretted.
The
Christian feels his heart brealdng
at the effect of sin
in
others that
makes them do this.
Uoyd-jones. pg. 143. Rather, he
rejoices in persecution for Christ's
sake because it is proof of his
union with Christ. and ofthe fact
that he will spend eternity with
Christ.
This is one of the ways in
which our Lord turns everything
into a victory. n a sense
He
makes even the
devil
a cause of
bleSsing. The devil through his
agencies persecutes the Christian
and makes him unhappy.
But
if
you
look at it in
the
right
way.
you will find a cause of rejoicing.
and will turn to Satan and
say
.
'Thank you; you
are
giving me
proof that I am a child of God,
otherwise I should never be
persecuted like this
for
Christ's
sake ."'- Uoyd-jones, pg. 143.
(6:24-26) The Four Woes
The Significance o
These Woes
The Relation o These Woes
to the Beatitudes
These
four woes correspond
to
the previous four beatitudes:
First Woe.
vs.
24
corresponds
to
First Beatitude.
vs
. 2
Second Woe.
vs. 25
corresponds
to
Second Beatitude.
vs.21
Third Woe.
vs
. 25 corresponds
to
Third Beatitude. vs. 21
Fourth Woe. vs. 26
corresponds to Fourth e a t i t u d e ~
vs.22
The Meaning
o
the Word, Woe
The pronouncement of "woe"
upon the qualities of character
and
life
described in these verses
is THE DECLARATION
OF
THE
AUTHORITATIVE
U ~ N T
OF JESUS CHRIST on those who
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manifest such attitudes and
behavior. s the beatitudes
are
pronouncements of blessing on
believers, the woes are
pronouncements of curses upon
hypoCrites and other
non-believers.
The
repetition of
these woes is like the tolling of
the bells of
do()m.
-
Lenski.
They pronouce a surprising
verdict on qualities and states
which men have universally
regarded as desirable. -
Morris
The Exposition
o
the Woes
(6:24) The
FiTst Woe:
But
Woe to You Who ATe Rich,
FaT You
ATe Receiving
Your
Comfort In Full.
The Identity
o
the Rich
"You
who
are rich" is the
oppOsite
of
"you who
are
poor.
Both phrases are equally
figurative, referring to spiritual
and moral attitudes and
characters. Just as
the
poor
are
those who recognize and grteve
over their sinful condition in true
repentance, so the "rich"
are
those who imagine that they have
all thal'they need and can
do
without the kingdom of
God,
its
pardon, sonship, and promise of
heaven. They hold themselves
high, talk boldly and proudly, and
are well satisfied with
themselves. - Lenski. The "rich"
may be those who are poor in
money,
jUst
as the
poor
may
include those who have much
money. The focus of both words
is on the hean and the inner life
of a person.
J he
riches
of these
rich
consist of anything in which
their souls trust,
Mk.
10:24, and
with which their souls are
satisfied,
so
that they
do
not trust
in
God and in Christ and i.n His
grace for their salvation. All the
impenitent are thus the rich."- Lenski
Furthermore,
the "rich"
are
those who trust in their riches,
Mk. 10:24. The attainment
()f
wealth and affiuence is their only
ambition. It is their all-absorbing,
life-consuming passion.
The Prominence
o
"You"
Here
Jesus is addressing
hypocrites and other unbelievers
in the audience. Don't forget
Judas was in that audience, as well
as several others
who were
anything but poor in spirit.
The CUTse Upon the
"Rich"
Jesus declares
to
those
who
He
judges
as
the rich, that "you are
receiving
your comfort in full.'
Compare Matthew 6:2,6.
In
this
life they will receive what they
deslte, and that is all. After this
life it is hell.
The term, paraklesis,
(comfort),
is masterly in
every way.
Recall
'the Parae ete: the
Comforter, that predous name for
the Holy Spirit, which.
as
Jesus
spoke, implied thatHe (Jesus) was
the
first
Comforter, who
was
called to the disdples' side as their
aid and support. In the use of
the
word here
the
implication is that,
in whatever
they deem themselves
rich, these rich have
all
the
aid
and comfort they
will
ever
get.
The further suggestion is that the
terrible moment
will come,
perhaps not until in the hour of
death, when
all
their other riches
shall fuil them, when they
will
need what
'the beggarly'
have, the
kingdom of
God,
the everlasting
consolation. and then, when it is
too late, will not be able to obtain
it, 16:25. -
Lenski
(6:25a) The Second Woe: Woe
to You Who Are Well-Fed Now,
FaT ouShaJl Be Hungry.
The Identity o Yau Who
Are Well-Fed Now
8 THE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon May,
1997
Just as the
"poor"
"hunger,"
so
the "rich" "are
well:fed
now.
And
the perfect paniciple indicates
that they continue indefinitely in .
this condition of being satisfied
and content
with
themselves and
with
all
the
things
on which
they
have set their
heiUtS
ill this world.
The
adverb, '
now,
denotes,
as
it
did in
vs.
21: ill this
life as over
against the life to come. n this
life they may live happy,
prosperous,satisfied
lives;
but
because there is n ) room in their
hearts for
God's
kingdom, God's
righteousness and
God's
Son,
at
death theylose everything and
enter the empty eternal darkness
ofhell.
. The Meaning of You
Shall
e
Hungry ;
The
godly hunger or
righteousness
NOW,
and are
satisfied with it NOW and in
ETERNITY. There
life here and
beyond the grave is blessed. On
the
other hand, those who
do
not
h ~ g r
for
God in
Christ and for
righteousness here, because they
are filled up
with self and material
thillgs, will starve forever. All
that now
satisfieS
so thoroughly
will
prove an
absolute
disappointment in the end. The
money, for
instance,whichjudas
desired so keenly burned in his
hands at last
so
that he threw it
away and fot his foUy had left
nothing but
despair.
When
the final, fatal hunger sets in,
these,
(whatever
we
have
deSire
more than
God),
cannot
satisfy,
and
one
heavenly gift that would
and
could
satisfy
is
forever
removed.
-
Lenski Unless
they
are converted in this Ufe, the "rich"
face the never-endillg future with
a maddenillg ache that can never
be
assuaged, a burning thirst that
can
never be quenched, a
ravenillg
hunger that can never be
alleviated. - Hendriksen
-
8/12/2019 1997 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 6:17-49 - The Third Beatitude - Counsel of Chalcedon
6/6
(6:25b) The Third Woe: Woe
to You Who Laugh Now, For
You Shall
Mourn
and Weep.
The Identity oj You
Who
Laugh
Now
Just as the
poor
sob over
their poveny of spirit,
so
the rich
shall
laugh with
glee in
the
enjoyment
of
their things,
and
in
profound self-satisfaction and
self-esteem. The self-satisfied
have no
time
for soul-searching,
contrition, godly
sorroW
and
true
repentance; their
lives
are
devoted
to the acquisition and enjoyment
of ease and afflue
nce, Fsa. 37:35.
Eat, drink and
be
merry; and let
the future take
care
of itself.
Seize
the moment, actions and ideas
have no consequences.
The
Meaning o You
Shall
Mourn
and Weep
he self-satisfied
may think
that he can live however he
pleases and in the end everything
will
be alright; but, they could not
be fanher from the t11:\lh in their
self-deception.
At the
end oflife
here, when it is too late, they will
mourn and
weep
and sob for
more pleasure and
esC
pe after
death, but because they sought
salvation without repeiltance,
even in de
ath,
they will perish
forever
in hell, where there will be
weeping and Wailing
and
gnashing
oj teeth. See Hebrews 12:15_17.
While the
godly are
sobbing, the
ungodly are laughing; but when,
at the end ofliie, the godly laugh,
the ungodly
will sob. In
eternity
the mourning of the ungodly will
never
cease,
and their tears
will
never be wiped
away
. Comfoned
with their materialism and
egOigrl
now, they
will
remain comfortless
forever.
(6:26) The
Fourth
Woe: Woe
to
You When All Speak Well of
You, For In the Same Way
Their Fathers Used to Treat
the
False
Prophets.
The Identity of the True
Christian Contrasted
With the
Hypocrite
The
clauses
used in v.
22
which describe
the
persecutions of
the godly
are counterbalanced by
only one shon clause in
v.
26
which describes
the
universal
favor enjoyed by the ungodly and
seals
that with the
final
woe .
..
.
Lenski
If a man may be known by the
friends
he
has
he
ma
y
also
be
known by the enemies he has
made.
A
disciple
must
hav
e the
right kind of enemies in
his
discipleship and his testimony
for
Christ.. he
has
made none
such, something is
fatally wrong
as
the
GAR for
clause
explains.
Worldly men
may
regard it
as
a
great achievement to have
all
men
speak
well
of them; in the case of
a disciple this would be plain
evidence that his discipleship is
false. - Lenski
The
point is that the Christian
is unlike
everybody who
is not a .
Christian.
The gospel
of Christ
divides people, Mat. 10:34, and
places a clear-cut antithesis
between the Christian and the
non-Christian.
The
non-Christian
proves
this point
by
his
persecution of the Christian
.
There is an antagonism in the
non-Christian towards
the
true
Chris
tian. That is why
..
the last
Beatitude is such a subtle and
profound test of the Christian.
There is something ...about the
Christian character, due to its
being like the character ofOur
Lord Bimself, which always
calls
fonh this persecution. -- The
non-Christian tends to revile , to
persecute, and to speak all
manner of
evil falsely
against the
Christian. Why?
Because
he is
fundamentally different, and the
non-Chlisiian recognizes this.
Uoyd-Jones,
pg.
l39. See Eph.
6:6; Col. 3:22.
feverybody speaks
well
of
you,
it must be that you are a
decei
ver, compromiser, and
flatterer, II Sam. 15:2-6. When
all
men speak well of you tbere
must
be
something wrong with
you
, You are not taking a stand
for
the
truth. You are not being a
blessing. And you are digging
your own grave. - Hendriksen.
The Meaning of For In the
Same Way Their Fathers Used
to
Treat the False Prophets
Jesus pronounces
His
curse
upon these men-pleasers
FOR
in
the
same
way their
fathers
used to
treat the Jalse prophetS. The
pseudo-prophets of the Old
Testament period basked in the
universal
favor
of the people,
whereas the true prophets
were
ridiculed, persecuted and killed.
As
there is a way in which
to
join
the galaxy
of the latter, so there is
a
way in
which to join the horde
of the former. Just drop
from
your discipleship everything that
displeases the world, both
as
to
doctrine and
as
to
life;
make it so
that it will suit and please the
world and win its applause, then
you
will be in exactly the same
position as the false prophets.
And
your damnation
will
be about
cenain
as
theirs. Lenski. {ie
who
leads a truly holy
life
will
come
into collision with the sins
of tbe ungodly and so fall into
disfavor with them. - Geldenhuys
(TO cmrnNUED)
May,
997
THE COUNSEL of
Chalcedon
9