UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. DISCOURSE I. MATT. v. 1, 2, 3, 4.
_And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted._
1. OUR Lord had now [47]_gone about all_ Galilee, beginning at the time [48]_when_ John _was cast into prison_, not only _teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom_, but likewise _healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people_. It was a natural consequence of this, that [49]_there followed him great multitudes from_ Galilee, _and from_ Decapolis, _and from_ Jerusalem, _and from_ Judea, _and from_ the region _beyond_ Jordan. [50]_And seeing the multitudes_, whom no synagogue could contain, even had there been any at hand, _he went up into a mountain_, where there was room for all, that _came unto him from every quarter. And when he was set_, as the manner of the _Jews_ was, _his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth_ (an expression denoting the beginning of a solemn discourse) _and taught them, saying_――
2. Let us observe, who it is, that is here speaking, that we may _take heed how_ we _hear_. It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all, who as such, has a right to dispose of all his creatures; the Lord our governor, whose kingdom is from everlasting, and ruleth over all; the great Lawgiver, who can well enforce all his laws, being _able to save and to destroy_; yea, to punish with everlasting destruction from his presence and from the glory of his power. It is the eternal Wisdom of the Father, who knoweth whereof we are made, and understands our inmost frame; who knows how we stand related to God, to one another, to every creature which God hath made; and consequently how to adapt every law he prescribes, to all the circumstances wherein he hath placed us. It is he who is _loving unto every man, whose mercy is over all his works_: the God of love, who having emptied himself of his eternal glory, is come forth from his Father, to declare his will to the children of men, and then, goeth again to the Father: who is sent of God _to open the eyes of the blind, to give light to them that sit in darkness_. It is the great Prophet of the Lord, concerning whom God had solemnly declared long ago, [51]_Whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him_. Or, as the apostle expresses it, [52]_Every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people_.
3. And what is it which he is teaching? The Son of God, who came from heaven, is here shewing us the way to heaven, to the place which he hath prepared for us, the glory he had before the world began. He is teaching us the true way to life everlasting, the royal way which leads to the kingdom. And the only true way; for there is none besides: all other paths lead to destruction. From the character of the speaker we are well assured, that he hath declared the full and perfect will of God. He hath uttered not one tittle too much; nothing more than he had received of the Father. Nor too little; he hath not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. Much less hath he uttered any thing wrong, any thing contrary to the will of him that sent him. All his words are true and right, concerning all things, and shall stand fast for ever and ever.
*And we may easily remark, that in explaining and confirming these faithful and true sayings, he takes care to refute not only the mistakes of the _Scribes_ and _Pharisees_ which then were, the false comments whereby the _Jewish_ teachers of that age had perverted the word of God; but all the practical mistakes, that are inconsistent with salvation, which should ever arise in the _Christian_ church: all the comments whereby the _Christian_ teachers (so called) of any age or nation, should pervert the word of God, and teach unwary souls, to seek death in the error of their life.