Who is the audience?

When Christ told the Nephites that “blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you…” I wonder how many of them would experience any persecutions anytime in the remainder of their lives considering the peace and righteousness that prevailed in their society for the next multiple centuries. Perhaps the value to them in hearing this was a balm over the memory that many of them may have had of being persecuted earlier in their lives.