Sermon on the Mount
143
But in his sermon on the mount Christ disappointed their hopes of
earthly glory. He opened his discourse by stating the principles that
should govern his kingdom of divine grace, as contained in the several
beatitudes.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”
The poor in spirit are those who claim no personal merit, and boast of
no virtue in themselves. Realizing their utter helplessness, and deeply
convicted of sin, they no faith in mere outward ceremonies, but cast
themselves upon Jesus who is all-righteous and all-compassionate.
[205]
The Christian can only rise through humility. The proud heart strives in
vain to earn salvation by good works; for though one cannot be saved
without good works, yet these alone will not suffice to win eternal
life. After he has done all he can, Christ must ime to him his own
righteousness.
In Christ, God has bestowed Heaven’s best gift to redeem man,
and, as the gift is full and infinite, so is saving grace boundless and
all-sufficient. This saying of Christ struck at the very root of the self-
righteousness of the Pharisees, who felt themselves already rich in
spiritual knowledge, and did not realize their need to learn more. Such
characters could have no part in the kingdom of Christ.
“Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” In
pronouncing a blessing upon those who mourn, Jesus did not design
to teach that there is any virtue in living under a perpetual cloud, nor
that selfish sorrow and repining has any merit of itself to remove a
single stain of sin. The mourning spoken of by Christ is a godly sorrow
for sin, that works repentance unto eternal life. Many grieve when
their guilt is discovered, because the result of their evil course has
brought them into disagreeable circumstances. It was thus that Esau
mourned the sin of despising and selling his birth-right; but it was
the unexpected consequences of that sin which caused his grief. So
Pharaoh regretted his stubborn defiance of God, when he cried for the
plagues to be removed from him; but his heart was unchanged, and he
was ready to repeat his crime when tempted. Such mourning is not
unto repentance.
[206]
He who is truly convicted of sin feels his whole life to have been
one continued scene of ingratitude. He feels that he has robbed his
best friend of the time and strength which was bought for him at an
infinite price. His whole soul is filled with unutterable sorrow that he