The true northerner., 1898-01-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON w, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 20.


ory Verses. 3-iO-Goiden Text. Math. v.
IA Commentary by the Rev ID. M.
stearns.
l. And seeing the multitudes He went
up into mountain, and when He was set
His disciples came unto Him" IL would
be most instructive TO gather together all
the mountain scenes and incidents of
Scripture and contrast them with those of
the plains. In connection with this lesson
one might glance forward to the mountain
scenes i'm the life of Christ, the mount of
prayer the mount of TRANSPORTATION, the
mount of the ascension.
2. And He opened His mouth and
taught them, saying" Ii seems TO me very
plain that He taught His disciples these
things and that this is a sermon for those
who have received Him and are willing To
be His disciples. All who truly receive
Him are saved, but to be disciple one
must be willing to be given up wholly to
Him, to be taught by Him, and to be an
apostle one must be willing TO go any
where for Him. There are few among the
saved who by word and deed proclaim
Jesus Lord to the glory of God the Father
! (Phil. Ii, ID. Do you?
g. blessed are the poor in spirit for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven" In
Jas. Ii, 3, we read of the poor of this world
rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. In
Zeph iii, IL, we read of an afflicted and
poor people who trust in the Lord. But it
Is not their poverty, but their faith, that
unites them to Christ. Our Lord speaks
of the poor and contrite spirit that trem-
bles at His Word the broken and contrite
heart that is acceptable to Him lisa. lvii,
! 15; Xvi, q Ps. Ii, ~.
A. Blessed are they that mourn, for
! they shall be comforted. If we consider
the kingdom and the glory of the King,
! yet to be manifested, and then see Him as
the Teacher sitting here in humiliation
uttering these words, we shall be greatly
helped in our meditation thereon OF all the
sorrowful people that ever lived on earth
He was pre- -eminently the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief Qsa lii, 3) and
| yet He is the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort (II Cor. i, 81, who comforts
us even here, that we may comfort others
while we wait for the fullness of comfort
at His coming Q Thess. iv, 1s).
B. blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth" His glory shall be the
fullness of the whole earth, all the king
doms of the world shall be His and ours
with Him lisa. VII 3, margin; Rev. XII, Is;
John xvii, 22 Rom. viii, II, 1S). None
on earth, not even Moses meekest of men
of his time (Num. xii, 81, was ever as
meek as Him, who said am meek and low
! ly in heart Since the earth is ours we
can afford to let others have it just now If
necessary and be miscalled and misunder-
/ stood for so doing.
6. blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled. We must still keep before
us the kingdom when the earth shall be
! filed with the knowledge of the glory Of
the Lord and the King who is righteous
ness itself, the Lord our righteousness, the
righteous Lord, who loveth righteousness
/ (Jer xiii, g; Ps. xi, y. OF course there
is in each case present application while
waiting for the kingdom, and every disci-
pie may daily be filled with the Spirit
! (Eph. V, 1S).
z. blessed are the merciful, for they
shall obtain mercy" Part of His name is
the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
gracious (Ex. xxxiv, 81. He delights to
exercise mercy or loving kindness (Jer. tx,
/ 23, 24), and the earth shall yet be filled
with it, but now He longs to find those
who will be the bearers of il TO Others
Wherever any one is willing to show mercy
to others, they shall obtain freely an
abundance of it to pass on. 1t is a great
mistake to desire anything just for one s
own Use. Our Lord never lived unto Him
self, but having all things in Him, if we
are willing to be channels of blessing TO
others He will see that the channel is filed
s. Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God" " He alone was truly
pure in heart, and He was God. When we
see Him, we see God Some day we shall
sec Him and be like Him, even as TO our
bodies Q John iii, 2; Phil. iii, 21). Now
we are to behold Him in the glass of His
word (II Cor iii, 1S), and in proportion
as we do we shall be changed into His
image, so that others seeing Him in us
shall want to know Him.
8. blessed are the peacemakers, for
they shall be called the children of God -
AS God is the God of Peace and the Lord
Jesus the Prince of Peace, we are acting
very much like children of God when we
carry peace everywhere. When the king
dom comes, there will be peace on earth
war no more. AS those to whom the king
dom belongs we are to carry samples of it
in our daily life--love, joy, peace for all
We are children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus (Gal. iii, 26), and there is no other
such We are 10 manifest it and yield SO
fully to God that He may do all He desires
to through us to carry peace through
Christ TO all people.
10. blessed are they which are perse-
cuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven" The world will
not tolerate this kind of life any more than
it tolerated John the Baptist or the Lord
Jesus. In the eyes of the world, even the
religious world, this life of the kingdom
with its lowliness, sorrow for sin, meek
ness, righteousness, mercy, purity and
peace, is simply ridiculous fanatical, not
fit for the times; may do well enough for
old people and little children, but men
and women who are men and women in
deed lin their own estimation) will not
put up with it, or even suffer il to be
taught if they can help it.
IL. blessed are ye when men shall re-
vile you and persecutc you and shall say
all manner of evil against you falsely, for
My sake" In other words, IT, for Christ S
sake, you are lied about (see margin), mis-
represented, slandered, falsely accused
things said about you without "A particle of
foundation, you are "A blessed person, for
you are thus privileged to have intimate
and wondrous fellowship with your Lord
II. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for