The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-03-30
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON !, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL 4.

v. Os W. StGaEmAs
tOopynght 1900 by D. NJ stearns.l
iv, 20, to v, 2. If Matthew has the or
der of events here-and it is probable
that he has, though he does not always
state events in the order of their occur
rence-then the sermon on the mount was
delivered while our Lord was making His
first general circuit of Galilee and before
the events which we have studied in the
last two lessons. The great aim of the
Holy Spirit in either of the gospels does
not seem to be to set forth all the events
of our Lords life in their historical order,
but rather to select and set forth the do
ings and sayings which best prove the
point in hand. The aim in Matthew
seems to be primarily to set forth the
Lord Jesus as Son of David and Son of
Abraham Il, y or the Messiah OF Israel
so long expected.
3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs Is the kingdom of heaven" God 5
two dwelling places, heaven and the hum
BILE heart, are set forth in lisa. wi, Is;
Xvi, 2. And where God dwells there is
a foretaste of the. kingdom. The poor in
spirit are not necessarily the same as
the poor of this world, rich in faith and
heirs of the kingdom" GAS. ii, 81. They
are the opposite of the proud, for God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto
the humble" (Jas. iv, O.. They are such
as have the spirit of Him who became
poor for our sakes Oh Cor viii, 81, and
they only can truly say, "Hallowed be
Thy name
A. Blessed are they that mourn, for
they shall be comforted." We must bear
in mind that He is speaking to His dis
ciples verses l, y in the hearing of the
multitude. The whole teaching of the
sermon is for the saved not for the I'M
saved. He could not say to the unsaved
''Ye are the salt of the earth" ''ye are
the light of the world verses 10. Ia.
Who, then, are these that mourn but the
redeemed who know that when the king
dom comes the days of their mourning
shall be ended Elsa. *, 20; Xvi, 10; XII, l.,
p. And such truly and continually pray,
'Thy kingdom come"
5. Blessed are the meek. for they shall
inherit the earth" SO said the Spirit
through David. 'The meek shall inherit
the earth" FPS. xxxvii. H. This again
is the spirit of the King for He said: Il
am meek and lowly in heart Take My
yoke upon you and learn of Me- (Math.
XII. 29). 1t is also written that 1.-THE or
nament of a meek and quiet spirit is in
the sight of God of great price" q Pet.
ill., ~. The meek do not live unto them
selves nor seek their own will. but de-
light in the will of God, and. knowing
the blessedness of that will. they long and
pray for the time when it shall be done
on earth as it is done in heaven wi, 10).
g. BLESSED are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they
HI l. H.
tial to our entrance into the kingdom, for
the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom Il Cor. vi, 81, but Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth Rom. X, A. He is
made unto us righteousness q Cor. i,
30: ii Cor. V. 2l). Then as we yield to
Him He fulflls the righteousness of the
law in us from viii, A. and points us to
the time when "A King shall reign in
righteousness, and the work of righteous
ness shall be peace. and the effect Tor
seryice) of righteousness quietness and
assurance forever" lisa. xxi, l, III. 1t
is this hunger which enables us to pray
from the heart. Give us this day our
daily bread" for we do not live by bread
only. but by every word of God.
Z. blessed are the merciful. for they
shah obtain mercy The Lord is merci.
full and gracious Dps. CHI, 8; Tx. xxxiv.
e; Deut iv, 81. The true Christian life
is Christ living in us tGal. ii, 20; ii Cor.
iy, III, and all these beatitudes are just
, different features of the Christ life.
whether in Him or in us. II is written,
with the merciful thou wilt show thy.
self merciful"
8. BLESSED are the pure in heart for
they shall see God" Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord or who shall
stand in His holy place? He that hath
clean hands and pure heart FPS. xiv.
3, u. 1t is Christ Himself who is our
purity, our holiness, our wisdom right
eousness. sanctiication and redemption
Il Cor j. 30i We have nothing good ex-
cept in Him. and only in Him do we see
God Some are continually seeing and
imagining evil; some see God in Christ.
and Christ in all things and have neither
eyes nor heart for the evil
o. Blessed are the peacemakers. for
they shall be called the children of God"
1t is nowhere said. Blessed are the peace
breakers, but there are many such even
among Christians. who either thought
lessly or willfully are continually break
ing the peace of some person or family.
Do not look around to lind such people,
but ask, honestly. Is il /: Our Lord is
the Prince of Peace He made peace by
the blood of His cross; He proclaimed
peace lisa. TX, q; Col. i. 20; Eph. ii. III.
We are commissioned as His representa-
tiyes to publish peace, the peace made by
His blood TO all creatures that all who
will may have peace with God and enjoy
the peace of God from Y. /: Phil iv. &.
y. The devil is the great author of con.
fusion and of all that is not peaceful
therefore the peacemakers pray. "Deliver
us from the evil one" revised versionl
1912. Having glanced at the seven
blesseds which are parallel, as we have
seen. with the seven petitions in the
prayer of chapter vi, 9-13. we now come
TO double eighth for The prosecuted and
the suffering for Christs sake Such are
taught that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy TO be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed from.
viii. 1S), and they find comfort in the con.
clusion of the prayer: For Thine is the
kingdom and tho power and the glory
forever Amen" All that win live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,
for as the world hated Christ. so ii will
hate us If we are like Him I'll Tim. iii.
-: John XIV, 1920. Paul prayed, THAT
/ may know Him and the power OF His
resurrection and the fellowship of His
sufferings" Phil ill., l0), and every be,
lever should be willing to help ill up the
Affections which are behind for His
body's sake, which is the church (Col. i,
pa. When reyiled or prosecuted or suf-
fering from having evil things said about
us falsely. however hard II may he TO
bear these things, the suffering one should