The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-01-28

IR& %sf King of the spir-
iEl III itual kingdom to
l9sdllessllEz.s..ssss sssxMMzA organize his peo-
pie by laying
down the principles of the new dis
pensation in a magma charta of faith,
and He does this at the very outset
Of His mission in the Sermon on the
Mount. This marvellous discourse is
no mere sermon; it stands alone as
! the grand charter of the kingdom of
| heaven. 1t is not to be considered as
mere series of lessons on different
subjects. 1t is the answer to such
questions as these: What is this
| kingdom, what advantage does 1t Of
fer, and who are it's subjects? What
| is required of those that belong to it?
| What are it's laws and obligations?
| How may we become citizens of this
commonwealth of kings?"
These are questions that were ask
ed then, and have been propounded in
every age and nation since. Hence
the value of the Sermon on the
! Mount. In these words of Christ are
! found clear, complete and systema-
! tic statement of the principles of
| Christianity and the righteousness of
the kingdom that He had come to es-
! tablish. 1t was addressed to the dis
ciples, but was for the benefit OF the
| listening multitudes, to whom pos
sibly, it was, by them repeated. Mat
| thew, records it in extenso, while the
other gospel writer's quote it more or
| less at length, in its application to
special cases.
Improvement on Moses.
Every soul of man bears testimony
to the marvellous scope of these words.
It's wonderful summary of moral and
spiritual truth is acknowledged to be
high above all the ethics of ancient
philosophy, and the worlds purest
teaching. And it was also immeasur-
ably in advance, even of the teach
ings of Moses and the prophets. and
al the old dspensation. While it, in
some sense embodied the Mosaic law,
1t selected only what was permanent
in that original code, and enlarged
and improved it, so that it could
truthfully be called these sayings of
mine" And it was made the SUI
preme and abiding standard of life
and obedience for all the disciples of
the king through all ages.
Old Law and New.
The ancient law was robed in terror
and sanctioned by tremendous curses,
almost the last word of the Old Testa-
ment, was the word curse" But the
new law of Jesus, begins with the
word blessed" and repeats it in the
seven-fold chain of the beatitudes.
The old law of Moses was law that
referred to conduct; the new law re-
fers to character. The old law limited
its grip to action. If a man did not
bow down to idols, did not break the
Sabbath, did not kill, did not bias
pheme, did not commit adultery, did
not steal, ETC., the law had nothing
against him. But in the new law, as
laid down by Christ mental idolatry
was recognized, to covet was to steal,
to hate was to kill, to lust was to be
unclean, the thought of the heart and
the desires of the souls were to be
reckoned with in estimating a per-
sons loyalty to the king. The man
who is all right within has no fear of
the law. II there was no law at all
against doing rong, he ould not do
wrong. He is not all the time watch
ing for chances of evil. His heart is
right and hence his conduct.
Gods law is tree of many
branches, full of bloom and fruit. Man
had allowed it to be filled with parasi.
tic growths, and these had dropped
poison. Men had piled up rubbish un-
derneath 1t, so that the weary found
no place to rest among its shadows.
Birds OF the night and birds of prey
had builded their nests in its branches,
and all the fragrance Of its flowers
and the usefulness of its fruitage had
been lost.
Christ came, not to cut down the
tree which God had planted, nor to re-
move one twig that belonged to the
tree. but to remove the eXcrescences,
to clear away the rubbish, to tear
down the nests of unclean birds, and
TO put into the tree new life, new beau
ty. new fruit, and ampler expanse OF
shade, and to cause the tree to spread
and grow till it filled the earth and
turned the deserts into garden OF
the Lord.
The secret OF the new dispensation
Is found in one word-LOVE. BY
love all the law is fulfilled. Love pro
duces righteousness which far ex-
ceeds that of the Scribes and Phari-
sees. Love sheathes the sword OF
murder. Love stills the tongue OF
abuse. Love stiles the first pulsa-
tions Of anger in the heart Love
seeks the offended brother for recon.
citation before II asks to be recon.
ciled to God. Love thus potent is by
, the Lord emphasized. and all the
, sanctions of the law are quoted to