The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1910-01-21
TRUE
BLESSEDNESS
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LESSON TExT.-Matt. 5:1-16. Memory
GOLDEN TExT.-"Blessed are the
pure in heart: for they shall see God"
Matt. SIS.
TIME.-The summer of A.. d. Is, near
the middle OF Christ's ministry.
PLACE.-The traditional site Is the
Horns of Hattin. two or three miles west
of the Sea of Gallee. where Saladin de-
feated the Crusaders and destroyed all
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
We now come to some of the dis
tinguishing marks of Matthew's pre-
s%entation of the life of our Lord, and
to distinct eras in the work of Jesus.
The B~eatitudes. The Text of the
Sermon, with the Inspiration. the
Motor Power, t. Living in Accordance
with Them.
1. And seeing the multitudes, de-
scribed in v. 25 above. H went up
From the level place on the mountain
duke 6:12, I'D, where the people
were gathered, to a slight elevation,
from which he could more easily be
seen and heard by them. His disci-
pies came unto him. the twelve he had
just chosen.
Nc bcdllluuSS dlC II ootC DSoo'
tiful to the Temple of Holiness.
First Beatitude-V. 3.
/. Who are the poor in spirit?
blessed are the poor in spirit" This
is not poverty of mental faculties and
gifts. 1t is no mean, abject feeling;
no Uriah Heep humbleness, no want
of self-respect, no apologizing for
ones existence, no cringing before
man. Nor is it mere poverty in world
ly goods, though that often leads to
this spirit. But one may be poor n
proud.
g. How does the blessing grow out
of this spirit? Because it is the same
spirit that is required when we are
told that we must become as little
children If we would enter into the
kingdom; willing and anxious to
learn, to ask, to seek, which is the
spirit which stands back of all the
magnificent achievements of modern
science, which made Newton feel that
he vas a child gathering pebbles on
the shore of the vast ocean of truth.
3. What is the blessing? For theirs
is the kingdom of Heaven" They be-
long to that kingdom. they are ruled
by it's laws and principles, have en-
tered the door through which they
can reach the heavenly character, n
all that belongs to the kingdom.
4. What part has this Beatitude In
forming the perfect man, and hence
the perfect world? 1t is the spirit
and atmosphere in which all virtues
flourish.
Second Beatitude.-V. 4.
1. Who are described by the term
they that mourn? THE mourners
whom Christ pronounces blessed
are those who are poor in spirit
Maclaren.
2. Why are those that mourn
blessed? For they shall be com.
forted."
God comforts those h are mourn
ing on account of sickness, sorrows,
troubles and losses, by causing them
to work "for us more and more ex-
ceedingly an eternal weight of glory"
G. Cor. 40.
8. How do these blessings grow out
of the mourning? Because to sin
full beings there seems to be no other
way. There is no a to the bless
1llSo VI given III save Wy IL
mourning that leads to repentance.
4. This is also the answer to the
question What part has this .Beati-
tude in making the perfect man and
the perfect world? "a high ideal of
life lies beneath all. No man is beg
CARED who has a vision of mans chief
end and chief good."-Exp. Greek
Test.
5. How is this Beatitude illustrated
in the life of Christ? The c~onsola-
ton that came to him after the prayer
in Gethsemane. His whole life is ex-
pressed in Heb. 1872.
Third Beatitude.-V. s..
1. Who are the meek hat shall in
herit the earth? Weakness is a dispo-
sition of the soul in reference to the
wrongs, Or seeming wrongs, which
come to us from others. It's basis is
the control of all earthly tempers by
the spirit.
2. What is the reward of the meek?
"They shall inherit the earth" from
their king. They do not carr it, but
inherit it.
Fourth Beatitude.-V. 6.
/. Who are they who hunger and
thirst after righteousness? Hunger
and thirst express the most intense
of all desires.
In this Beatitude are included those
who have this intense desire to be
good, to be righteous; everything else
success, riches, pleasure, knowledge
must be as nothing in comparison
with righteousness.
2. What is their reward. ''They
shall be filed" with the righteousness
they desire.
g.. What is the connection between
the hungering and its reward? Life
is made up of a series of desires and
their satisfaction. The more desires
we have, and the nobler they are. and
the intenser, the larger is our being.
1t is this that distinguishes between
a civilized and a savage life.
Fifth Beatitude.-V. z.
]. Who are described as the mercf-
full? Mercy is near of kin to love. It
is love to the needy, the troubled, the
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