Sermon on the Mount
251
great, the beneficent, will gain a passport to the heavenly courts; not
only the busy worker, full of zeal and restless activity. No; the poor
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in spirit, who crave the presence of an abiding Christ, the humble in
heart, whose highest ambition is to do God’s will,—these will gain an
abundant entrance. They will be among that number who have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His
temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.”
Revelation 7:15
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“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
The sense of unworthiness will lead the heart to hunger and thirst for
righteousness, and this desire will not be disappointed. Those who
make room in their hearts for Jesus will realize His love. All who
long to bear the likeness of the character of God shall be satisfied.
The Holy Spirit never leaves unassisted the soul who is looking unto
Jesus. He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto him.
If the eye is kept fixed on Christ, the work of the Spirit ceases not
until the soul is conformed to His image. The pure element of love
will expand the soul, giving it a capacity for higher attainments, for
increased knowledge of heavenly things, so that it will not rest short
of the fullness. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness; for they shall be filled.”
The merciful shall find mercy, and the pure in heart shall see God.
Every impure thought defiles the soul, impairs the moral sense, and
tends to obliterate the impressions of the Holy Spirit. It dims the
spiritual vision, so that men cannot behold God. The Lord may and
does forgive the repenting sinner; but though forgiven, the soul is
marred. All impurity of speech or of thought must be shunned by him
who would have clear discernment of spiritual truth.
But the words of Christ cover more than freedom from sensual im-
purity, more than freedom from that ceremonial defilement which the
Jews so rigorously shunned. Selfishness prevents us from beholding
God. The self-seeking spirit judges of God as altogether such a one as
itself. Until we have renounced this, we cannot understand Him who
is love. Only the unselfish heart, the humble and trustful spirit, shall
see God as “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth.”
Exodus 34:6
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