The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1900-03-29
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the lnterna tional Series for
April 4, 1OOO-The Beatl-
tudes.
Prepared by H. c. Lenington.l
THE LESSON TEXT.


Judea, and from beyond Jordan.
]. And seeing the multitude. He went up
into a mountain; and when He was set.
His disciples came unto Him;
2. And Ha opened His mouth. and taught
them, saying:
s. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for
theirs Is the Kingdom Of Heaven.
l. Blessed are they that mourn; for they
shall be comforted.
8 Blessed are the meek; for they shall in
herit the earth. r
9. Blessed are they which do hunger and
be filled.
2. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall
obtain mercy.
s. Blessed are the pure in heart; for they
shall see God.
O. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they
shall be called the children Of God.
10. Blessed are they which are prosecuted
for righteousness sake; for theirs Is the
Kingdom OF Heaven.
II. Blessed are ye. when men shall revilee
you, and persecute you, and shall say all
manner Of evil against you falsely. for my
i2. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for
great is your reward in Heaven: for so
prosecuted they the prophets which were
GOLDEN. TExT.-Blessed are the pure
in heart; for they shall see God.-Matt. 5:S.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
A parallel to the lesson is found in
Luke 6:12-26. In studying the lesson
note:
~ The Night in Prayer. Luke 6. IL
~ Choosing the Twelve. Luke 6l3-16
80 The Word "Ble Matt. D: Bill
(D The Beatitudes Taken Sing
ly .............. ..-.............M Matt. 8: Bill
(5) The Beatitudes as Whole. Matt. 5: 3-l2
A Night in Prayer.--From Luke we
learn that Jesus spent the whole night,
preceding the choosing of the 12
apostles and the utterance of His great
sermon, in prayer
The Word "Blessed."--This word is
nine times repeated in nine consecu-
tive verses. In paraphrasing the text
the word happy" has often been
used. But blessed" is more than
happy" The term is more nearly
expressed If we speak of the "blessed"
as those who enjoy the favor of
God.
The Beatitudes. OF whom does
Jesus speak as enjoying the favor of
God? O 'The poor in spirit" Those
who realize their unworthiness before
God, and who are conscious Of sin and
spiritual incompleteness. Theirs is
the Kingdom Of Heaven:" Because
only to those who deeply feel their
need Of the highest things can the
highest things bring satisfaction. 1t
implies Heaven here and now, for q
Christian character is Heaven on
earth.
(2) "They thatmourn:" Mourn in the
earthly sense, and more for those who
have to bear heavy burdens for the
sake of Christ; but chiefly, perhaps,
those who mourn their ignorance and
sin. For all of these the consolation
that Christ brings is the only COM
fort that fills the soul. They shall in
deed be comforted.
(s) "The meek:" This has come to
be q despised term, as signifying
those who are without stamina or
character. On the contrary, 1t is a
chief trait in every noble character,
for meekness is mildness of temper,
and patience under injuries. For
they shall inherit the earth:" An old
proverb has it that "all things come
to him who waits" Patience and hu-
mility are cardinal virtues.
(D "They which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness" 1t has
been said that hunger and thirst are
the strongest spurs to action. So 1T
is not so much promise as law of
nature that "they shall be filed"
(5) 1.-THE merciful:" Those disposed
to pity and spare; unwilling to give
pain. These find mercy. for Love is
the law of the kingdom of God, and
those who pity and spare others are
fulfilling the law of that kingdom.
(6) "The pure in heart:" A man sees
in others that which is within him
self. If he is selfish, he cannot real
ize that others can be unseltish. If
he is impure, all the world is impure;
but if he is pure in heart and mind,
he begins to realize something of the
character Of the Holy God
| (O ''The peacemakers:" If God is
love, then He desires peace among His
children. How natural that the
peacemakers should be called the chill
dren of God.
| (s) "They which are prosecuted for
righteousness sake:" Two conditions
are necessary for this blessed" One
is that the persecution is for right
eousness' sake and the other is that
the evil spoken against you is uttered
falsely" There is strength in the
consciousness of being right, and
heaven manifests approval, no mat
ter what is the attitude of the world.
The Deatitudes as Il Whole.-It has
been pointed out that three of the
beatitudes, the second, fourth and
sixth. represent the innerslife toward
God. CuriouslY dovetailed with these,
the third, fifth and seventh represent
the outward manifestation Of that in
ner life toward men. The first be-
attitude concerning 1.-THE poor in
spirit" is the condition cut of which
\ all the others grow. and "the perse-
cuted" of the last beatitude are those
who try to live the beatitudes out in
this evil world. They will be perse.
cuted and must stand ready to sub
NIT to the test
seed Thoughts.
His heart was as great as the world