The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-04-11
POVERTY in THE SPIRIT
"Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit for
Theirs Is the Kingdom of Heaven"
Rev. DIR. Cleyelands Sermon YesterdaY-The
Life of Christ-St Paul's New Pastor
The Rev. Todds Sermon.

"My text" said DIR. Cleveland. yesterday
morning. at Meridian-stree NJ. L. Church.
"is Palm Sunday text-'Blessed are the
poor in spirit. for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven These words to those who heard
them opened n new way of life. a new
world of thought. q new system of religion.
Meek and lowly IN HIS own heart Christ
gave a new meaning to simplicity. placed
new stress OF humility. The consciousness
of poverty in spirit leads to endeavor after
enrichment in virtue. conduces to teacha-
bleness. and impels to earnesrness and to
devotion. Poverty in spirit aud the pusil-
luminous in spirit are wholly uaIlke.
Christ urged upon men no decrepit quality.
required of them no watery sentimentality.
He taught nothing that is not rooted in
manliness. it is morally dangerous
thing to pride ones self on any special re-
hgious possession. Men never grow In
moral and spiritual excellence who think
they already possess all necessary excel
lence.
1T is the poor in spirit who make spirit
ual progress. The spirit is that side of
mans nature that lies open to the eternal
and the infinite. 1t includes all those fac
ultIes which seek God. and crave TO be at
one with Him and like Him. 1t is o fact
that the literally poor. In Christ's time.
did far more frequently and gladly than
the rich. become His descIples. Yet there
js nothing In His gospel that antagonizes
wealth in itself. and there is nothing that
encourages hatred or jealousy of wealthy
men. It regards men and deals with them
as they are in themselves. and seeks TO
make them regard and treat each other as
brothers. 1t furnishes no motive 10 the
Anarchist: 1t guards well the foundations
of social stability. The man of great
riches who becomes and lives n sincere and
true disciple of Christ is. on the face of the
case, a stronger men than is be who glldes
into that discipleship pressed merely by
his poverty.
1.-The poor in spirit are they who. what
ever their outward possessions, are con-
scious of their own souls deep lack and
needs. They see and deplOre their def
cIencies o: mind land heart. and life. They
have not met. and which they feel they
cannot meet. Other men. it may be. have
glimpses of their own poverty of soul. but
they do not look steadily at 1t until its
are not pained by 1t; they do not realize il.
But the poor in spirit look at their poverty
and 1eplore it. The poor III spirit frankly
faces the sad truth about himself. He
mixed with base material. and that even
his best resolutions are weak, and
fluctuating. and perhaps evanescent. And
yet it Ia TO this poverty In spirit, this con-
seriousness of impoverIshment. that Jesus
assigns the kingdom of heaven, and that
not as future inheritance, but as pres
ent possession. The beauty and glory of
the days in June are yours by your apDre-
ciation of them. 1t is not the nominal own
ership of a landscapes that makes you its
real pOssessOr. but the sense within You of
its meaning and spirit. He who sees the
nobility of truth. the beauty of virtue. the
worth of goodness already possesses their
kingdom. Ii is within him. In his painful
estimate of himself are the germs of a di-
vine. q progressive and eternal goodness
He has sense of darkness because no has
seen the sun.
POVERTY IN SPIRIT.
How shall man come by this poverty in
spirit which lies at the foundation of
blessednessi Take q survey of the king
dom of heaven in himself as Christ has re-
vealed. embodied and uttered it. Think
long and earnestly of the richness and
splendors of faith. and hope. and love as
Christianity has portrayed them. as Christ
lived them and as they are manifested in
the lives and characters of long line OF
his saints. the halo of whose sweet faces
illumines the galleries of history. Look
then into yourself and the sight there will
extort from you Il am Door and needy If
mon know their spiritual poverty and the
knowledge gives them no uneasness it is
because they have such knowledge only as
In dream. They believe in poverty,
but know no source of wealth.
Without the loving God the glory fades
from the universe the crown falls from the
brow Of man and all the lamps of his hope
60 out in darkness Without Coo our jour
ney through this world is the journey of
an ant over q narrow field that will soon
absorb him entirely. We spend our ener-
Ries as mole constructing his little hill,
and soon we and what we have builded
shall be crushed. and scattered, and utterly
lost in natures great chemistry.
The true meaning of poverty in spirit Is
that somewhere there Is wealth OF spirit.
He who feels spiritually poor is he who
has sn ideal of spiritual wealth. Wealth
of soul Is possible for us because We are
the offspring of the spiritual God with
whom all things are possible and who has
The man who looks only at himself Will
always despond and despair. But let him
look to God. the God of patience and prog
ress. the God of the flowers. and the loves
ham and of Jacob, the God of the pu biican
and the pr0digal, the God of Jesus and of
Easter. the God who has always been tho
help of the poor and tho needy. and turns
none away who inquire after HIM. and
there will be in that man not only q sense
of poverty. but the inspiration of an
uplifting and unextinguishable hope
The men who have come thus
to God with their thoughts and
faith. their hope and love. have
never been disappointed. From all the
places and experiences of life men have
come thus and have found rest aud ex-
pectation. They have come from the
scenes of revelry, from the chase after
fame. from the perplexity of lIfe's changes.
from the pressure of it's sorrows. from the
strife of its am billions. and have found In
Him a spring of JOY and been lifted above
the tyrannies and evils of the world. Pnt
away your dependencies andIreluctancies
and come yourself thus to Him, and thine
shall be a satisfying and secure possession
beyond the reach of oil mutation; shall be
treasure that can never know any loss or
decay. or cause any ennui. and shall be q
good that will remain with you when
deaths cold hand has struck forever from
your grasp all material things. The king
dom OF heaven belongs to those who feel
unworthy of IL. because they see and ap-
that humility that conditions all spiritual
progress and all spiritual possession"
Rev. Rondthsier's Sermon.
Rev. DR.. Rondthaler preached yesterday
in preparation for the week beginning
with Palm Sunday and closing with
Easter. He read the Scripture detailing
the last days of Christ 1t is his custom,