'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven.'--MATT. v. 2.
'Ye are not come unto the mount that burned with fire, nor unto the
sound of a trumpet, and the voice of "awful" words.' With such
accompaniments the old law was promulgated, but here, in this Sermon on
the Mount, as it is called, the laws of the Kingdom are proclaimed by
the King Himself; and He does not lay them down with the sternness of
those written on tables of stone. No rigid 'thou shalt' compels, no iron
'thou shalt not' forbids; but each precept is linked with a blessing,
and every characteristic that is required is enforced by the thought
that it contributes to our highest good. It fitted well Christ's
character and the lips 'into which grace is poured,' that He spake His
laws under the guise of these Beatitudes.
This, the first of them, is dead in the teeth of flesh and sense, a
paradox to the men who judge good and evil by things external and
visible, but deeply, everlastingly, unconditionally, and inwardly true.
All that the world commends and pats on the back, Christ condemns, and
all that the world shrinks from and dreads, Christ bids us make our own,
and assures us that in it we shall find our true blessing. 'The poor in
spirit,' they are the happy men.
The reason for the benediction is as foreign to law and earthly thoughts
as is the benediction of which it is the reason--'for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.' Poverty of spirit will not further earthly designs,
nor be an instrument for what the world calls success and prosperity.
But it will give us something better than earth, it will give us heaven.
Do you think that that _is_ better than earth, and should you be
disposed to acquiesce in the benediction of those who may lose the
world's gifts but are sure to have heaven's felicities?
Now, I think I shall best deal with these words by considering, most
simply, the fundamental characteristic of a disciple of Jesus Christ,
and the blessed issues of that character.