The Tupelo journal., 1910-01-21
TRUE
BLESSEDNESS
Sunday School Lesson for Jan. %. 1910
Specially Arranged for This Paper
Specially Arranged for This Paper

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 Galilee, where Saladtn de-
feated the Crusaders and destroyed all
hope of Christian rule in Palestine.
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
We now come to some of the dis.
tinguishing marks of Matthews pre-
sentation 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, to Living in Accordance
with Them.
1. And seeing the multitudes, de-
scribed in v. rs above. He went up"
From the level place on the mountain
luke 6:12, I'D, where h people
were gathered, to a slight elevation,
from which he could more easily be
seer and heard by them. His disci-
pies came unto him." the twelve he had
just chosen.
The Beatitudes are the Gate Beau
lllul W liz lSulplC VI
First Beatitude-V. 8.
1. Who are the poor in spirit?
blessed are the poor in spirit" This
is not poverty of mental faculties n
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 1t mere poverty in world.
ly goods, though that often leads to
this spirit. But one may be poor and
proud.
2. 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 was 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, and
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.
/. 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 who are u
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. AID.
3. How do these blessings grow out
of the mourning? Because to sin
full beings there seems to be no other
way. There is no way to the bless
ings of forgiven sin save by the
mourning that leads to repentance.
a. 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 consola-
ton that came to him after the prayer
in G~ethsemane. His whole life is ex-
pressed in Heb. 1872.
Third Beatitude.-V. 5.
1. Who are the meek that shall in
herit the earth? Meekness is a dispo-
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 earn it, but
inherit it.
Fourth Beatitude.-V. 6.
1. 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.
3. What is the connection between
the hungering and its reward? Life
is made up of a series of desires and
their satisfaction. The nor 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.
j. Who are described as the merci-
full? Mercy is near of kin to love. It
is love to the needy, the troubled, the
sinful, even those who have wronged
us. It relieves spiritual want and
darkness as well as temporal; would
give the Gospel to the heather as well
as food to the hungry.
2. What is their reward? "For they
shall obtain mercy" From man and