The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 179

HOMILETICS. Vere. l-l6.-.1V1e sermon on the rncunt. The first part of the sermon: the law of the kingdom of heaven. L THE BEATITUDES. 1. The.first Beatitude. (1) Illessedness. It is a deeper word than "happiness." Short-sighted and unwise, we call men happy when the world goes well with them, when they are cheerful, good-natured, loved by relations and friends. We do not always call them blessed. That word, we feel instinctively, implies more heavenly affections, a deeper, holier joy. Blessedness is inward and abiding; outward prosperity cannot give it, nor can adversity take it away. It is like the depths of the ocean: the surface is changeful, sometimes calm and wave- less, sometimes tossed hither and thither by the restless winds; while far and deep below there is ever the same changeless rest, silence, and peace unbroken and eternal. This deep meaning was felt by the heathen writers. The simplest form of the Greek word (1'-tUCa.p) was used in old Greek poetry first of the gods-the blessed gods as opposed to mortal men-then of the dead who were supposed to dwell in" the islands of the blest" (compare the use of the German selig and the French feu, derived from 'felur). The collateral form /J,tut:ttp,as, sometimes used with the same higher reference, was not unfrequently degraded into a more worldly sense, the rich and the better educated; as people say "the better classes" now. The New Testament has rescued the word from this mistaken application, and filled it with a high and holy meaning. The world is wrong. Good fortune is not blessedness; blessedness is the gift of God; what be gives cannot be taken away by the chanceR and changes of this mortal life. Blessedness is not an outward ornament of life; it is a man's own, for God has given it; it is in the heart, wrought into the inner being; it is holy, spiritual, heavenly. It is the character, the privilege of the children of the kingdom, for they must bear the image of their King: "As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly," He first exhibited the heavenly life upon earth; it had never been seen there before. The conception of that life is absolutely original; it had never entered into the thoughts of ancient poets or sages. It is altogether different from the portraitures of virtue drawn by the old heathen philosophers. The Lord Jesus is at once Example and Teacher. His life is the blessed life. He bids us learn of him ; there, and there only, shall we find rest for our souls. This blessedness which is learned of Christ dieth not; it is the beginning of the blessedness of heaven. We must be blessed here to be blessed there; we must have the Beatitudes of the sermon. first, then shall we have the Beatitude of the holy dead which die in the Lord. (2) The poor in spirit are blessed. Not necessarily, or always the poor in worldly means; nor, again, the poor in the endowments of the soul, in intellect, strength of will, elevation of character. This was the scoff of the Emperor Julian the Apostate; but, blessed be God, not only many men of rank and wealth, but also many of great natural gifts and highly cultivated minds, have learned of the Lord Jesus this first Beatitude. "With men this is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." The seat of this evangelical poverty is the spirit. The spirit, when distinguished from the soul in the sacred writing, is that highest part of man's immaterial being, which was breathed into his nostrils by God; which enables him, alone of the animal creation, to feel after God, to form, more or less imperfectly, an idea of God; which is receptive of the Holy Spirit, and can, when illuminated by his gracious presence, abide in communion with God. The spirit of the true Christian is brought into an intimate relation with God. Such a one feels his own littleness, his own sinfulness, in the presence of the Almighty, the Most Holy. Led by the Spirit of God, ho is brought near to Christ, and learns the grace of lowliness from him who, being in the form of God, made himself of no reputa- tion, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death. Poverty of spirit comes first in the deBCription of the blessed life. Lowliness is the beginning of holiness; we can make no real progress in the B'piritual life without it. Christ was lowly in heart. He raised that word, which the world regarded as equivalent to mean or abject, to be the cm. v. 1-48.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 171