Vers. 8-12.-.&rmon on ehe fflO'lffll: 1. The Beaeitudea. The 111bject of the sermon on the mount may be said to be the righteousness of the kingdom. To give all bis hearers a clearer conce,12tion of this fundamental idea, our Lord speaks (1) of the citizens of the kingdom; (2) of the law of the kingdom; (3) of the life, the devotional and practical conduct of the kingdom, The citizens of the kingdom are first described, their cha- racter being indicated in the first paragraph, their influence being referred to in vers. 13-16. '!'he passage containing the Beatitudea will best yield its meanin~ if we con- si\ler (1) that Christ offers blessedness; (2) in what this hleasedneSB consiijts; (3) to whom it is imparted. I. Oun LonD I8 IN A0BEEIIENT WITH TllE INSTIN<n' OF HUH AN NATURE, WBICH CBAVE9 B.!.PPINE88, AND SETS THIS .AB THE ULTIMATE Elm, OB CHIEF GOOD. It is indeed almost a truism to call it so, because to say that a man is happy or blessed is just to say that no more need be done for him; that he has attained. Other things, such as wealth, power, knowledge, we seek as a meaas to some end beyond themselves; happiness we seek for its own snke, and not as a means to something beyond itself. A man does no\ seek to be happy in order that he may be rich; he seeks to be rich in order that he may be happy. And though this idea has been eo much abused, and made the pretext for fin<lina enjoyment in sensual and debasing pleasure, our Lord makes no scruple in giving the id~a a foremost place in his teaching, and implying it throughout his whole scheme of human life. No one preaches self-sacrifice as our Lord does; no one goes the same length in requiring that we shall lay down life ltself for others. But with what argu- ment does he induce 118 to do so? B1 assuring 118 that he that loaetb bis life, the 111.m, 202 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [cH. v. 1--4.8.
shall save it. In the very words which command absolute self-sucrifice, he respects the instinct for self-preservation. But to say that happiness is the chief.good is quite 11 different thing from saying that we oon find our way to happiness by choosing what promises t-0 bring it us. This would require in us the power of looking at life as a whole, of weighing to-morrow with to-<iay, and giving no part of our nature a prefer- ence over other parts-I\ wisdom which we have not got. As with many other thin<rs, we most certainly attain when we cease to seek. The child does not grow to manho~ by considering how he can grow, but by following his natural appetite for food. And to s~cnre the great end of happiness ~here is ~lso a~ appetite that guides us-the appetite for nghte?usness. It is not by askmg-W1ll this or that conduce to my happiness? that we discover what we should do, but by asking ourselves-Is this right or wrong? Through neglect of this consideration many have been scandalized that so much should be said about rewards and punishments in the Bible. It is true that our Lord con- siders happiness the chief good, and promises it continually, but he nevor bids men make this their practical aim in life. On the contrary, in this very sermon, so full of rewarc. and of promise of happiness, he lays down another law of conduct: " Seek ye first thE. kingdom of God, and his righteousness." Happiness is found when righteousness is sought. Neither could the conduct enjoined by our Lord have been done-from a self- seeking motive. No hope of reward could make a man love his enemies, or hunger and thirst for righteousness. II. To describe the blessedness offered, OUB LORD MAE:ES USE-OF PBBASES WITH WHICH THE PEOPLE WERE FAMILIAR AS DENOTING TilE BLESSEDNESS 01!' THE KING- DOM, but which here start into new significance. The Comforter WBB one of the most familiar designations of the Messiah among :hose who waited for the con- solation of Israel, and he says to them, " Blessed are ye that mourn : for ye shall be comforted." The inheritance of the land was looked for as an accompaniment of Messiah's reign, and he says, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." They were to be filled, not with corn and wine, but in a spiritual sense. Bu\ is the blessedness here described such as really auswers our wants? Use our Lord's method, and contrast it with the blessedness which many in our own day look for. There are earnest men among us who hold the confident faith that if only the sources of mental and physical suffering were removed, there is no •reason why. every man should not enjoy the happiness which every one seeks. The sources of suffering are, they think, within human control, and though the conquest is grievously slow, yet every individual may derive deep and rational enjoyment from his efforts for the common advancement. But the blessedness of an advancing civilization offers no relief for the two most pain- ful of human woes-separation from those we love, and bondage to evil desires. It has nothing to say of death or sin. Will the individual work for his race if there is no wider horizon than this world? Will any but those naturally virtuous abstain from sin, if all yon can offer is that in some far-off-age they may possibly benefit in an infinitesimal degree one or two individuals? The blessedness our Lord offers is of a very different kind. Look at one or two of the terms in which it is described: "Fulnessof righteousness to those who hunger and thirst for it." It is a remarkable fact that, bad as we are, there should be in so many of us an insatiable craving for what is good. Through all conditions of men we find this craving to stand free from pollution, s~periur to infirmity. And this blessedness our Lord gives. Again, there is the intense persistent craving to see God, to be as sure that God is with us as if we saw him. With what gladness and steadfastness, with what strength and hope, with what con- fident self-sacrifice, should we face the world and its ills if we knew and were sure that a loving, mighty God was at our side I What is there in duty, what is there in self- devolion, that can be difficult for those who have seen God? 'l'he day, says our Lord, is coming when this shall be. ·u Be pure in heart," he says, " and you will know and see me. De like me, and you shall look upon me." Such is the blessedness which Christ does not despair of bringing to the world. He reveals a kingdom "different from that we see, but not less real "-a kingdom in which there is to be found "satisfaction for all the wants the world fails to satisfy, and a remedy for tho miseries it inflicts." III. THIS BLESSEDNESS IS FOB INDIVIDOALB, AND ESPECIALLY FOB TBE WEAi[ ANJJ 'l'HE BUFFERING, FOB THOSE WUO HAVE FAILED IN Tlllfl LIFE ANO WHO !!'EEL THAT rr IS A POOB .urn l'ITUJILE DECEPTION if there is nothing to com~nsate for the_wrong aud 011, v. 1-48.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING 'l'O ST. MATTHEW. 203