Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1898-01-20


s Lesson for january %. sd
Golden Text.--''Ye are the light Of the
worl.L"--Matt. 3: IA. nh go
This lesson is found in Matt. 3: liz,
and treats OF the bcatitudes. Compare
son with Luke O: 2O-26 IL most interest
ing. .Ssteadr Of eight beatitudes there
are four beatitudes and four woes. TO
account for this difference, and inquire
what bearing Il has on the relation OF the
two gospels, Is too large question to en-
ter here.
"The poor in spirit: We are SO famil-
lar with these beatitudes that often we
suppose we understand them perfectly.
But at the very beginning we meet difi-
ctiIties. Does this mean what we call
poor-spirited. unresisting peoplel III It
does, there Is almost repetition In the
third beatitude-thoueh as wenshall sec
meekness is not cowardice. But this first
beatitude means something different.
Prof. A. b. Bruce, in the new "Exposi-
tors Greek Testament" OF which the first
volume is just ont, defines ii thus: Poor
in their own esteem. Self-estimnte Is the
essence of the matter, and is compatible
with real wealth. Only the noble think
meanly of themselves. Poverty laid to
heart passes into riches. A high ideal OF
life lies beneath all. The Ioor man passes
into the blessedness of the kingdom as
soon as he realizes what a man Is or Ought
to be. Poor i'm purse or even in charac-
ter, no man is beggared who has a vision
of mans chief end and chief good" Such
men have the kingdom of heaven within
them. 1t should be remembered that In
these beatitudes Jesus Is In reality defin-
ing the kingdom of heaven; defining 1t
by description. Eight different qualities
of the heart he names as characteristic or
the men who belong to the kingdom.
Blessed are they that mourn: surely
there must be some limitation OF this.
There is nothing intrinsieally worthy in
grief, nothing which ensures future COM
fort. We cannot suppose that Jesus
meant merely to utter the commonplace
statement that all sorrows lose their
sharpness by the fight Of time. Some
thing far deeper must be his meaning.
We shall not attempt to limit q, define 1t,
The mourners who belong to the Kingdom
of heaven are in no danger Of mistaking
the scope of the promise. They. know
well enough when their mourning is bless
ed, when it is sure to receive ultimate
comfort, and they know when their grief
is only remorse for sin, or sinful worry
over things that cannot be helped; for
such grief comfort Is not promised. But
all ''goodly SORROW" Jesus says, shall end
in comfort.
Blessed are the meek": Here again,
we quote from Prof. Bruce on this pas.
sage: 'The men who suffer wrong with
out bitterness or desire for revenge, o
oil xx,ho "a, nj fo IN
| the wall. In this case we should have
expected the teacher to end with the com
mon refrain: theirs is the kingdom OF
heaven, that being the only thing they
are likely to get. But Jesus promises to
| the meek the empire of the solid earth.
| Is it not delusive promise? Not alto
gether. II is at least true as a doctrine
of moral tendency. The meek of Eng.
land, driven from their native land by
religious intolerance, have inherited the
continent of America"
BLESSED are they that hunger and
thirst after righteousness, for they shall
| be filed" Perhaps none of the beatitudes
| is dearer to the Christian heart than this
| 1t is the beatitude of the unsatisfed; the
| premise of fulfillment to all who long for
| the best things. But no man has the right
because he has frequent desires to be bet
! ter and purposes to reform. To hunger
and thirst after Righteousness means to
| long for righteousness intensely, persist
| emily and actively, as the one greatest
| thing in life, as the thing absolutely neces
sary to sustain the life of the soul. A
man who. thinks of righteousness only OF
| Sundays does not hunger and thirst fol
/ hol m foI al
| ton for goodness in poetry, in romance, OF
in real life, does not hunger and thirst at
ter righteousness. What we hunger anf
thirst for, we work for, with all our might
| knowing that we must have it or die.
] 1t is true that the merciful do Obtain
! mercy from their Fellow men, il
many cases. but not always. tn,
| ultimate meaning is that merciful mel
shall receive mercy from God W'Forgiv,
us our debts, AS we forgive our debtors.
Commentators remark that mercy is
peculiarly Christian virtue. ,lOf cours
mercy is enjoined in tho Old Testament
but along with il are many things tina
seem to us cruel and harsh.
blessed are the pure in heart; for the.
shall see God" In its perfect simplicit.
and sublimity this sentence Is perhap
the greatest of all. 1t is true that simia
statements had been made by philoso
pliers, by sacred books Of other religions
/ But in most cases those other statement
are in O form which has made il easy 70
them to be interpreted in support of ascot
icism and other errors. Thus the orienta
devotee holds that he must be ''pure II
heart" that is, free from any disturbing
thought of earthly things, i'm order to at
tain the mood of contemplation, which en-
ables him to approach the divine. Blu
he does it in absurd ways. quite impossi
bic to the thought of Jesus. The phras
of Jesus surpasses all these philosophers
The sentence implies, though it does no
say, that only the pure in heart shall SC
God. Hence the words cannot refer t
that ignorance Of evil which Is possibl
only to children and to the most protect
ed lives; for that would shut out from tn
vision of God the vast majority even o
good men, who have been tempted al
Though they have conquered temptation
"They shall be called the children D
Cod. beciitIse God himself is the great
est of peacemakers. Compare the beau
tiful collect OF the Book of Common
Prayer" Almighty God, who art the au
thor Of peace and lover of concord, Il
knowledge OF whom standeth our eterna
life, whose service IL perfect freedom
defend us thy humble servants in all as
saults OF our enemies" etc.
4 Never forget these three words, so
righteousness sake" This promise Ia
often been claimed by those who are per
= secuted for their own folly or obstinacy