The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 160

011r llla~t~r is referri~g to thoBe who hunger after rightrousne~s, who l\re l\tTected by a k(ICn spmtual l\ppet1te. These are in a stale of earnest religions inquiry; they are lil{8 the young man who ran eagerly and anxiously to " know what he must do to inherit et<'rnal life" (eh. xvii_i. 18). In other words, they are earnestly desirous of gaining the favour and also the like11ess of God; of being such that God will not condemn them us g~ilty, but <'.Ount them _as ~ghteous; such also that they will in a very smious sense be n_ghteolll! even as he 1s nghteous, be "partakers of his holineBB," Now wherein conHsts the blessedness of this spiritual condition? ' I. SEEKING GOD ISTRE ONLY HONEST AND RIGHT THING TO DO, Thoae who believe of God what most men do believe-that he is the Author of their being and the Source of all thei~ ble.ssings, that h:e is more nearly and importantly related to them than any human bemg can be, that they owe everything they are and have to him-are most 1>trongly and sacredly bound to seek his favour. To be blind when he is beckoning, deaf when he is calling, insensible when he lays his hand upon them1-this is to be wholly, sadly, shamefully in the wrong. II. SEEKING GoD 1s THE LOFTY AND NOBLE THING. To seek God, to hunger nnd thirst after bim and his righteousness, is the true heritage of our manhood; it is that which, incalculably more than anything else, lifts us up to a high and noble level. Not to be a-bungred and athirst after tlie living God is to be forfeiting the very best portion for which our Creator called us int.o existence. Ill. SEEKING GoD IS TUE ONE SATISFYING THlNG. "Blessed are ye that hunger: for ye shall be filled;" and those who hunger after that which is lesser and lower are not filled. No earthly joy fills the soul; it leave~ it still craving. 1. Not even the purer joys of earth fill the soul; not even beholding the beauties and glories of creation; " the eye is not satisfied with seeing " these. Not even listening to the sweetest melodies that can be heard; "the ear is not satisfied with hearing" them. 2. Much less with the grosser delights-making money, wielding power, receiving homage, indulging in bodily gratifications; certai11ly the tongue is not satisfied with tasting, and "he that loveth silver is not satisfied with silver" (Eccles. v. 10). But: 3. The love of God, the possession of the friendship of Jesus Christ, the spending of our days and our powers in the holy, elevating service of a Divine Redeemer,-this is that which fills the heart with a restful and abiding joy, and which brightens the life with a light t.hat does not fade. " These are the joys which satisfy And sa.nctify the mind." These are the joys which last; which live when the passions of youth have been burnt out, when the ambitions of manhood are dead, when life is lived through and death iB waiting fur its own; the joys which, as all else grows dim and worthless, become more and more precious still "Blessed are they that hunger thus: for they shall be fi/,led."-C. Vere. 22, 23.-The blessedness of martyrdom. Using the word "martyrdom" in its br11ader sense, we have to consider the Lord's saying respecting it, It certainly is paradoxical euough. Yet his meauing is to be found for the looking. It is, indeed, true- I. THAT THE ENMITY OF OTHERS 18 A f!OllE TllIAL TO OUR BPillIT, Other things bruise us beside blud·•eone, and other thiugs cut us beRide whipcord, The manifest hatred of other hearts: the cruel reproaches of unsparing lips, banishment from the socidy of our fellow-men ~ being unwur_tl,y to remain, blighting a fai_r fame with ur,just aspersiuns,-thebe thrngs cut deep 11,to the human soul, they bruise almost to breakinu tender and s~nsltive spirits. Some, indeed, are so contitituted that the roughest treatme~t on the part of others will not hurt them; they can throw it off, can cast it 01ide with indifference; it is to them "as the idle wind which they regard not." But these are the exception, and not the rule among men. God meant us to be affected by tLe judgment of our brethren and si:;ters, to. be eucouraged_ and sustained by th_eir approval. t.o be discouraged and checked by thetr censure. It 1s a part. of our hu!Ilam_ty that upon the wholt works for righteousness. But only too often its effect 1s evil; 91,.ly toe, ,,fteu tLe pur'e are ,;ielted with reproaches, the faithful are condemned for their 011. v1, 1---40.) TJIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 157 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- --- fidelity, the holy e.re exposed to the hatred and riualclry of the profane. 1'hen thP.re is sulforing which God n~ver intended his children to endure,-that of the faithful witness to tho truth, that of the bro.ve, unyidding martyr to the cause of Jesus Shrist. A11d many ore they whCl would more roaclily welcome 1md more easily endure blows or imprisoumout the.n bitter malignity of heart and cold severity of speech. But then it is also true- 11, THAT CHIUBTIAN CONSIDERATIONS TRIUMPH OVER ALL. Our Master and Teacher would have our hearts to be so filled with the other and opposite a~pect of the case, that our natural inclination to be saddened and stricken in spirit will be completely overborne, and that, instead of sorrow, tliere will be joy. "Our reward is great in heaven;" so great that we who are reproached for Christ's sake are "blessed;" we are, indeed, to "leap for joy." What, then, are these balancin.~, these overhala.ncing con- siderations? 1. That we are taking rank with the very noblest men: "In like manner , .. unto the prophets." ',Ve stand, then, c,n the same level with M,,ses, with Samuel, with Elijah, with Isaiah, with Jeremiah; with a noble company of men and women who, long since their day and their dispensation, have" gone without the camp, hearing his reproach;" men and women were these "of whom the world was not worthy," to be classed with whom is the highest honour we can enjoy. 2. That we take rank with One who was nobler than all; for did not he, our Lord himself, bear shame and obloquy? was not be crowned with the crown of thorns, because he was here "bearing witness unto the truth" (John xviii. 37)? 3. That we are serving our self-sacrificing Saviour. A modern missionary relates that when he and another were assaulted by a Chinese crowd, and when, putting his hand to his bead where he had been hit, be found it moist with his blood, he felt a strange thrill of exceeding joy as he realized that he had been permitted to shod his blood for that Divine Saviour who had poured out his life for him. 4. That we are truly serving our race; for the truth to which we bear a rejected testimony to-day will, and partly as the result of Dill' suffering witness, be accepted further on, and become the nourishment of the people. 5. That we are on our way to the highest heavenly honour. They who ~uffer shame "for the Son of man's &'.\ke" now shall one day be exalted in the presence of the holy angels. Great will be their reward in the heavenly kingdom,-C. Vers. 27, 28, 32-36.-Seeking the highest good from the highest moti~. In these words our Lord commends to us- I. THE IIIGHEST C0NCEIVADLE MORAL EXCELLENCE. There are four gradations by which we may ascend from the devilish to the Divine, in spirit and in character. 1. ',Ve may hate those who love us. There are bad men bad enough, like enough to the evil one himself, to positively hate those who are trying to redeem them, who repay the devoted efforts of their truest friends with sneers and revilings. 2. We may hate those who hate us. Not only may we do this, we do it. As sin has perverted it, it is in the human heart to return hatred for hatred, blow for blow. 3. We may love those who love us. Most men are equal to that: "Sinners also love those that love them," 4. We may love tl,ose who hate us. "I say unto you, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you," etc. Let us understand whom Christ would have w consider our enemies, and whom, RB such, he would have us love. These are not only our national enemies; but they are certainly included. To allow ourselves to be carried into the current of bitter animosity against those with whom our country is at strife, so as to rejoice in their suffering and their death,-this is here rebuked by our Master. But our "enemies II arc more often found e.t home. They include all those whose relution to ourselves is likely to provoke ill feeling; e.g. those effectively opposing us in counsul or debate; those successfully contending with us in business; those engaged in vindicating their "rights" (as they seem to them) against us; those whose material interests clnsh with ours; those who have spoken against us or he.ve taken any active steps to injure us. We must also understand what Christ meant by our loving these. Clearly he could not have intended that we should cherish toward them that full and complete friendship which is the very precious fruit of gratitude and esteE\m 1 and 'l"hich can only be felt Loward those to whom we owe great things, or for whom wo have a real veneration. That is impossible in the nature of things. Bnt it ill not im11ossible, it is quite open to us, to ox tract from our hell'l't every root of bitterne111  158 THE GO~l'EL ACCOUDING TO ST. LURK [on. VI. 1--49.