The Republican., 1945-01-18

J.-H.
A kingdom must have laws. and
here we have the laws for Christ s
kingdom-the kingdom of heaven
which He shall one day establish on
this earth. In the Church we have
the Joy of living as loyal subjects of
Christ, and hence these standards
are fer our counsel and guidance.
The verses of this greatest of all
discourses are addressed to those
who have actually taken Christ as
King Of their lives. These beati-
tudes are not a substitute for. the
gospel. They are not laws that the
UnbeHever can keep and thus be
saved, for this would be Utterly i'm
possible. Only he who knows and
has called upon the power and grace
Of God in Christ can qualify to walk
as citizen Of Christ's kingdom.
We note two things in this won
derful and instructive passage from
Gods Word:
I. The Character of the Follower
of Christ wv. 3-10).
The eight characteristics of the
Christian here presented are worthy
Of extended individual attention, but
we can offer only brief suggestions.
BLESSED are the poor in spirit"
speaks Of humility as a commend
able quality. How contradictory the
present-day philosophy, which calls
for self-assertion and self-reliance.
But Jesus was not mistaken The
way into the Kingdom of heaven is
not that Of assertiVe self-suffciency.
Blessed are they that mourn" !"
The world does not believe that
statement. It shuns the house of
mourning. It tries without avail to
philOsophize away the fact of sor-
row. The Christian, on the other
hand, feels with his fellow man and
thus receives a blessing. One can
really learn from sorrow.
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chartered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er word said she;
But }i;,. on the thingS s., ! learned from her
"-'''' ''' -" "''-N'' " -'' ''''
"Blessed are the meek" Poverty
of spirit comes when a man rightly
sees himself, and has a sympathetic
touch with sorrow. Then he sir
herlts the earth" because he tru-
~ comes 10 enjoy IL as pace OF
service ana OHIIS'loh SIoWth' ana
not because ne mas d deeo 10 SIN
Sle looU Oh us soil
IL Is Ihe munger ana tillIst Tor
nervousness w. o. ana hot 'il9 ,,,
possession OF II, mat IS oIessed
SPIummer?. sen sallShed people
know nothlh8 OF the glory OF haVln2
IneIr munger ana thlrst satlsfied by
GQu'
we nave mere aiSo tL!e ClIlSI!a!l 5
spirit OF mercy Wnlch lhVItGs olVlle
mercy; purify OF hearI' cle3IIless
OF mlhd, ana Shcefl'y OF purpose
Whlch enable a man feally 10 see
Goo even IN thlS impure WoFlo' Ilat
ChrlStllKe spirit "hIch makes MN
peacemaker IN h&htlhg WoFio-
yes, !hat spirit Whlch makes hIn
IKE the Master IN sWeeuH bearing
unJustlfled persecuuoh. 1hese m
oeed are the marks OF the man VINO
1olloWs CHRIST as hlng'
ii. The Conduct Of the Follower Of
Christ wv. 43-48).
There can possibly be no more Sc
we're test Of q mans Christian char
acter than the manner in which he
treats his enemies. Manv who pass
the other tests meet failure lat least
in nart) a+ this noi.
# is no easv thing to love YOUR
enemies bIlt # is tbe standard of
Christ and He will enable us to live
I'm +o II Now is 2 good time to
mt If into practice. not only per
sona1lv b1+ nationally.
There can he M doubt that love
for tba brethren will he a more init
mate and satisfying experience be-
coreo +bo,, rct1rn our affection ".
4e( Anvore can do that and eniov
Il Enemies oftnn return hatred for
orr 1ovo-tbov nnreecuto us ", AL.
Rnt we arc e4ijI 70 love them.
Tbo+ 1ovo n9,Iet move ne 10 treat
4horo l.in,,I,, ard 10 nrav for Them
Sonooono e9ve "Tt can't be done"