Each one of the beatitudes is amply sufficient for an entire lesson, so that it can scarcely be expected that any teacher will cover the whole of them in one lesson. We shall therefore select only a few for consideration at present.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3)
The Greek word here rendered "poor" means literally "beggar;" it indicates abject poverty. There is also the idea of cowering or cringing,--the opposite of self-assertion,--such as would be expected in a beggar.
The ones here referred to are those who do not insist on their own rights, because they do not feel that they have any. Nevertheless they have everything. He who demands, and gets his rights, gets very little, for it is but little that we deserve. Far better is it to let our "rights" alone, so that we may have the infinitely larger gifts that mercy bestows.
God has a special care for the poor. It is common for people to think that God is indifferent to the needs of the poor, and the poor themselves often think that He does not care for them; but the fact is that there is more said in the Bible about the poor than about any other class. To them are the richest promises. Thus, for example: "Has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to them that love Him?" (James 2:5) "I know that God will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor." (Psalm 140:13) "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." (1 Samuel 2:8)
God has pronounced a blessing upon the poor, but not upon the rich, thus showing that the best use a man can make of riches is to get rid of them in the Lord's cause. To the church in Smyrna the Lord said: "I know your works and tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich)." (Revelation 2:9)
What greater riches could one have than the kingdom of heaven?
"Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)
Note that this blessing, like all the others, is not limited, not qualified. The real mourners shall be comforted. What mourners? All mourners, for there is no discrimination. All mourning shall have an end. To every mourner it seems as though his grief would always continue. The future looks dark and forbidding; that is why he mourns.
It is not the present sorrow or loss that causes us to mourn, but the loss which we expect to sustain in the future. This is shown by the fact that if the loss or grief, no matter how great, were only for a moment, no one would mourn. It is the dreary future, the utter absence of anticipation, that makes men mourn. Now we have the assurance that: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
That is a blessing. We are assured that the cause of all sorrow will soon cease, and of course the sorrow itself; then we can at once "Be joyful in hope." (Romans 12:12)
The time is soon corning when: "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." (Revelation 21:4)
The message of God to His people is one of comfort: "Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." (Isaiah 40:1-2)
Blessed comfort! and it is ours now. Of course there is no comfort for those who will not believe the message of comfort. But believe the promise of the Lord, and, walking in the fear of the Lord you will enjoy "the comfort of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 9:31)
"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)
Another unconditional assurance. That is, there are no qualifications or limitations. All the meek, not merely a few of them, shall inherit the earth, and never have inherited this earth; but they shall.
Take two prominent examples: Moses and Christ. Both were patterns of meekness. "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3)
How much of the earth did Moses possess? Not a particle. Because of his meekness he gave up the prospect of the throne of Egypt, and was a wanderer all the rest of his life. Nothing did he possess at his death. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls." (Matthew 11:29)
Christ had not a place to lay His head. "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has not where to lay his head." (Luke 9:58)
So it is always with the meek. The possessions of this present world are for those who push their claims, and assert their rights, yea, and deprive others of their rights. The meek and unobtrusive are pushed to the wall and trampled underfoot in the scramble for the possession of this earth? When, then, will it be that the meek shall inherit the earth?
Let it be settled that they shall inherit the earth. They do not now; they never have; but they shall. Shall we say that the world is growing better, or that by and by it will begin to grow better, until a perfect generation comes, and that from that time on the promise will be fulfilled? Even if there were any ground for such a hope, the Saviour's promise would not thereby be fulfilled, for all the meek of past ages would be left out; and it is not merely some of the meek, but "the meek,"--all of them,--who are to inherit the earth.
Then there is but one answer, and that is that it will be after the resurrection. When the righteous shall have been raised from the dead, and all the wicked destroyed from the earth, then shall the meek inherit the earth, "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:9-11)
It is the earth, that the meek are to inherit. The earth was given to man in the beginning (Genesis 1:26-28), and: "Whatsoever God does, it shall be for ever." (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
He made the earth to be inhabited: "For thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else." (Isaiah 45:18)
But it is to be inhabited only by the good. This purpose will be accomplished; therefore: "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)
God gave the children of Israel bread, in order that they might know that man lives by the Word of God. "All the commandments which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers. And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments, or no. And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live." (Deuteronomy 8:1-3)
Food and drink are therefore designed to bring us salvation. Not simply do they illustrate salvation, but if we accept them as gifts of God, that is, as means by which God conveys His own life to us, we shall get righteousness by eating and drinking for it is by that means that we get life, and the Christian has but one life, namely, a righteous life, Christ is the bread of life: "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35)
And with Him is the fountain of life: "For with You is the fountain of life." (Psalm 36:9)
The Israelites ate and drank of Him in the wilderness, although many of them did not realize it, and so did not get the life of righteousness. "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:1-4) They did not eat by faith, and: "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)
Read the whole of the 6th chapter of John, and also Exodus 17:1-6 in connection with 1 Corinthians 10:4. This is a great subject, and can be only hinted at in the space at our disposal this time.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10)
The larger portion of the Christian world are doing their best to destroy this beatitude. They are trying to get things so adjusted that there cannot be any persecution. The task that so-called "Christian statesmanship" has set itself is to take it as easy as possible to do right, and as difficult as possible to do wrong. This can only he done by accommodating religion to the standard of the world, in which case evil is put for good, and good for evil; and in that there is no blessing, but a curse. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20) "All they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution," (2 Timothy 3:12) because "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. ... In the last days perilous times shall come, For they shall be lovers of their own selves, ... incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good." (2 Timothy 3:13,1-3)
Even Christian ministers seem to take it for granted that a man cannot be expected to follow his convictions, and rest on Sunday, if by so doing he will be likely to lose his situation. So they plead piteously for Sunday laws that shall compel all employers to give their men Sundays, so that they can follow their religious convictions without suffering any inconvenience or loss. Why can they not see that in so doing they are advertising their religion as not that of Christ?
But when we come to the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week, the day before the first day of the week, "the Sabbath according to the commandment," (Luke 24:56) then at once we hear men say, "Oh, I couldn't think of keeping it, for I should lose my situation; I could not make a living; it is so very unpopular and inconvenient."
Well, our lesson says that men who suffer for righteousness sake, that is, for the sake of the commandments of God, are blessed. God is abundantly able to keep His servants alive; surely He is as able to preserve the lives of men who keep His commandments as He is to keep those in life who disobey Him. But even if men should die for the sake of the truth of God, there is a blessing on them. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." (Revelation 14:13)
If they are persecuted to death, then they have a double blessing. It is better to be dead with God's blessing, than alive under His curse.
In China and India men cannot be Christians without suffering persecutions such as are unknown elsewhere. They must suffer the loss of all things. The very men who wish to make Christianity so easy in this country that it will cost no effort to profess to be a Christian, will encourage missionaries to work in those heathen lands, and urge men to accept Christ in the face of the most bitter persecution. That is to say, they wish the type of Christianity in Great Britain to be lower than in China or India. But any Christianity that is less than the best, is not the religion of Jesus Christ.
No man is warranted in seeking persecution, for that would he self-assertion; but when persecution comes for simple obedience to God's commandments, then: "Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven." (Matthew 5:12)
The God of all comfort, comforts all who are in any tribulation, in order that they may comfort others. "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ." (2 Corinthians 1:5)
Therefore, says the Apostle Paul, "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)--Present Truth, January 13, 1898--Notes on the International Sunday-School Lessons--Timeline: IV-15 (Sermon on the Mount)--Matthew 5:1-12.