The Beatitudes
Audio:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/X43EXzv5gNw?list=PLmtiSpKWaiFDemlnk34s9dzJ83TCOA9fP
Throughout the Beatitudes there is an advancing line of Christian experience.
Whom Christ pardons, He first makes penitent, and it is the office of the Holy Spirit to convince of sin. They see that all they have ever done is mingled with self and sin. Like the poor publican, they stand afar off, not daring to lift up so much as their eyes to heaven, and cry, God, be merciful to me the sinner. Luke 18:13 Blessed are they also who weep with Jesus in sympathy with the world's sorrow and in sorrow for its sin.
*Of the poor in spirit Jesus says, Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. His subjects are the poor in spirit, the meek, the persecuted for righteousness' sake. God would not have us remain pressed
*Blessed are the meek...Human nature is ever struggling for expression, ready for contest; but he who learns of Christ is emptied of self, of pride, of love of supremacy, and there is silence in the soul. It is the love of self that destroys our peace.
*Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
Righteousness is love, and love is the light and the life of God. As we discern the perfection of our Saviour's character we shall desire to become wholly transformed and renewed in the image of His purity.
*Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy....The merciful are partakers of the divine nature, and in them the compassionate love of God finds expression. To the appeal of the erring, the tempted, the wretched victims of want and sin, the Christian does not ask, Are they worthy? but, How can I benefit them? Kind words, looks of sympathy, expressions of appreciation, would be to many a struggling and lonely one as the cup of cold water to a thirsty soul.
*Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God...Only like can appreciate like. To the great mass of mankind, Christ Himself is as a root out of a dry ground, and they see in Him no beauty that they should desire Him. Isaiah 53:2. The beauty and preciousness of truth, which are undiscerned by the worldly-wise, are constantly unfolding to those who have a trusting, childlike desire to know and to do the will of God.
*Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God... Whoever, by the quiet, unconscious influence of a holy life, shall reveal the love of Christ; whoever, by word or deed, shall lead another to renounce sin and yield his heart to God, is a peacemaker.
*Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...He who came to redeem the lost world was opposed by the united forces of the adversaries of God and man. In an unpitying confederacy, evil men and evil angels arrayed themselves against the Prince of Peace. Between righteousness and sin, love and hatred, truth and falsehood, there is an irrepressible conflict. When one presents the love of Christ and the beauty of holiness, he is drawing away the subjects of Satan's kingdom, and the prince of evil is aroused to resist it. Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the Spirit of Christ.
*Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you...There was never one who walked among men more cruelly slandered than the Son of man. They hated Him without a cause. Yet He stood calmly before His enemies,...How often this result has been seen in the history of God's messengers!
*Ye are the salt of the earth...Salt is valued for its preservative properties; and when God calls His children salt, He would teach them that His purpose in making them the subjects of His grace is that they may become agents in saving others. Salt must be mingled with the substance to which it is added; it must penetrate and infuse in order to preserve. So it is through personal contact and association that men are reached .... They are not saved in masses, but as individuals. Personal influence is a power.
*Ye are the light of the world...The glorious sun, climbing higher and higher in the blue sky, was chasing away the shadows that lurked in the valleys and among the narrow defiles of the mountains. The glory of the eastern heavens had not yet faded out. As the sun goes forth on its errand of love, dispelling the shades of night and awakening the world to life, so the followers of Christ are to go forth on their mission, diffusing the light of heaven upon those who are in the darkness of error and sin. As the rays of the sun penetrate to the remotest corners of the globe, so God designs that the light of the gospel shall extend to every soul upon the earth.
He who feels whole, who thinks that he is reasonably good, and is contented with his condition, does not seek to become a partaker of the grace and righteousness of Christ. Pride feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite blessings He came to give.
Trials patiently borne, blessings gratefully received, temptations manfully resisted, meekness, kindness, mercy, and love habitually revealed, are the lights that shine forth in the character in contrast with the darkness of the selfish heart, into which the light of life has never shone.