Introduction
Who are the Meek?
How the Meek inherit the Earth
Expostition
PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH, 1907
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON
ON THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 11TH, 1873
“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”—Matthew 5:5
I HAVE often reminded you that the beatitudes in this chapter rise one
above the other, and spring out, of one another, and that which come
before are always necessary to those that follow after. This third beatitude,
“Blessed are the meek,” could not have stood first,— it would have been
quite out of place there. When a man is converted, the first operation of the
grace of God within his soul is to give him true poverty of spirit, so the
first beatitude is, Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The Lord first makes
know our emptiness, and so humbles us; and then, next, he makes us
mourn over the deficiencies that are so manifest in us. Then comes the
second beatitude: “Blessed are they that mourn.” First there is a true
knowledge of ourselves; and then a sacred grief arising out of that
knowledge. Now, man ever becomes truly meek, in the Christian sense of
that word, until he first knows himself, and then begins to mourn and
lament that he is so far short of what he ought to be. Self-righteousness is
never meek; the man who is proud of himself will be quite sure to be hardhearted
in his dealings with others. To reach this rung of the ladder of light,
he must first set his feet upon the other two. There must be poverty of
spirit and mourning of heart before there will come that gracious meekness
of which our text speaks.
Note too, that this third beatitude is of a higher order than the other two.
There is something positive in it, as to virtue. The first two are rather
expressive of deficiency, but here there is a something supplied. A man is
poor in spirit; that is, he feels that he lacks a thousand things that he ought
to posses. The man mourns, that is he laments over his state of spiritual
poverty. But now there is something given to him by the grace of God;—
not a negative quality, but a positive proof of the work of the Holy Spirit
within his soul, so that he has become meek. The two character that
receive a benediction appears to be wrapped up in themselves. The man is
poor in spirit; that relates to himself. His mourning is his own personal
mourning which ends when he is comforted; but the meekness has to do
with other people. It is true that it has a relationship to God, but a man’s
meekness is specially towards his fellow-man. He is not simply meek within
himself; his meekness is manifested in his dealings with others. You would
not speak of a hermit, who never saw a follow-creature, as being meek; the
only way in which you could prove whether he was meek would be to put
him with those who would try his temper. So that this meekness is a virtue,
larger, more expansive, working in a wider sphere than the first two
characters which Christ has pronounced blessed. It is superior to the
others, as it should be, since it grows out of them; yet at the same time, as
there is, through the whole beatitudes, a full parallel with the rise, so is it
here. In the first case, the man was poor, that was low; in the second case
the man was mourning, that also was low; but if he kept his mourning to
himself, he might still seem great among his fellow-men. But now he has
come to be meek among them,—lowly and humble in the midst of society,
so that he is going lower and lower; yet he is rising with spiritual
exaltation, although he is sinking as to a personal humiliation, and so has
become more truly gracious.
Now, having spoken of the connection of this beatitude, we will make two
inquiries with the view of opening it up. They are these,— who are the
meek? and, secondly, how and in what sense can they be said to inherit the
earth?
I. First, then WHO ARE THE MEEK?
I have already said that they are those who have been made in spirit by
God, and who have been made to mourn before God, and have been
comforted; but here we learn, that they are also meek, that is, lowly and
gentle in mind before God and before men.
They are meek before God, and good old Watson divides that quality
under two head, namely, that they are submissive to do his will, and
flexible to his Word. May these two very expressive qualities be found in
each one of us!
So the truly meek are, first of all, submissive to God’s will. Whatever God
wills, they will. They are of the mind of that shepherd, on Salisbury Plain,
of whom good Dr. Stenhouse inquired, “What kind of weather shall we
have tomorrow?” “Well,” replied the shepherd, “we shall have the sort of
weather that pleases me.” The doctor then asked, “What do you man?”
And the shepherd answered, “What weather pleases God always pleases
me.” “Shepherd,” said the doctor, “your lot seems somewhat hard.” “Oh,
no, sir!” he replied, “I don’t think so; for it abounds with mercies.” “But
you have to work very hard, do you not,?” “Yes,” he answered, “there is a
good deal of labor, but that is better than being lazy.” “But you have to
endure many hardships, do you not?” “Oh, yes sir!” he said, “a great many;
but then I don’t have so many temptations as those people have who live in
the midst of towns, and I have more time for meditating upon my God. So
I am perfectly satisfied that where God has placed me is the best position I
could be in.” With such a happy, contented spirit as that, those who are
meek do not quarrel with God. They do not talk, as some foolish people
do, of having been born under a wrong planet, and placed in circumstances
unfavorable to their development. And even when they are smitten by
God’s rod, they do not rebel against him, and call him a hard Master; but
they are either dumb with silence, and open not their mouth because God
hath done it, or if they do speak, it is to ask for grace that the trial they are
enduring may be sanctified to them, or they may even rise so high in grace
as to glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon them. The
proud-hearted may, if they will, arraign their Master, and the thing formed
may say to him who formed it, “Why hast thou made me thus?” But these
men of grace will not do so. It is enough for them if God wills anything; if
he wills it, so let it be, Solomon’s throne or Job’s dunghill; they desire to
be equally happy wherever the Lord may place them, or however he may
deal with them.
They are also flexible to God’s Word; if they are really meek, they are
always willing to bend. They do not imagine what the truth ought to be,
and come to the Bible for texts to prove what they think should be there;
but they go to the inspired Book with a candid mind, and pray, with the
psalmist, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of
thy law.” And when, in searching the scriptures, they find deep mysteries
which they cannot comprehend, believe where they cannot understand; and
where, sometimes, different parts of Scripture seem to conflict with one
another, they leave the explanation to the great Interpreter who alone can
make all plain. When they in with doctrines that are contrary to their own
notions, and hard for flesh and blood to receive, they yield up themselves
to the Divine Spirit, and pray, “What we know not, teach thou to us.”
When the meek in spirit find, in the Word of God, any precept, they seek
to obey it at once. They do not cavil at it, or ask if they can avoid it, or
raise that oft-repeated question, “Is it essential to salvation?” They are not
so selfish that they would do nothing except salvation depends upon it;
they love their God so much that they desire to obey even the least
command that he gives, simply out of love to him. The meek in spirit are
like a photographer’s sensitive plates, and as the Word of God passes
before them, they desire to have its image imprinted upon their hearts.
Their hearts are like the fleshy tablets on which mind of God is recorded;
God is the Writer, and they become living epistles, written, not with ink,
but with the finger of the living God. Thus are they meek towards God.
But meekness is a quality which also relates largely to men; and I think it
means, first, that the man is humble. He bears himself, among his fellowmen,
not as a Caesar who, as Shakespeare says, doth “bestride the narrow
world like a Colosseus,” beneath whose huge legs ordinary men may walk,
and peep about to find themselves dishonorable graves; but he knows that
he is only a man, and that the best of men are but men at the best, and he
does not even claim to be one of the best of men. He knows himself to be
less than the least of all saints; and, in some respects, the very chief of
sinners. Therefore he does not expect to have the first place in the
synagogue, nor the highest seat at the feast; but he is quite satisfied if he
may pass among his fellow-men as a notable instance of the power of
God’s grace, and may be known by them as one, who is a great debtor to
the lovingkindness of the Lord. He does not set himself up to be a very
superior being. If he is of high birth, he does not boast of it; if he is of low
birth, he does not try to put himself on a level with those who are in a
higher rank of life. He is not one who boasts of his wealth, or of his talents;
he knows that a man is not judged by God by any of these things; and if the
Lord is pleased to give him much grace, and to make him very useful in his
service, he only feels that he owes the more to his Master, and is the more
responsible to, him. So he lies the lower before God, and walks the more
humbly among men. The meek-spirited man is always of a humble temper
and carriage. He is the very opposite of proud man who, you feel must be a
person of consequence, at any rate to himself; and to whom you know that
you must give way, unless you would have an altercation with him. He is a
gentleman who expects always to have his top-gallants flying in all
weathers, he must ever have his banner borne in front of him, and
everybody else must pay respect to him. The great “I” stands conspicuous
in him at all times. He lives in the house in the street, in the best room, in
the front parlor; and when he, wakes in the morning, he shakes hands with
himself, and congratulates himself upon such a fine fellow as he is! That is
the very opposite of being meek; and, therefore, humility, although it is not
all that there is in meekness, is one of the chief characteristics of it.
Out of this grows gentleness of spirit. The man is gentle; he does not speak
harshly; his tones are not imperious, his spirit is not domineering. He will
give up what he thinks to be lawful, because he does not think it is
expedient for the good of others. He seeks to be a true brother among his
brethren, thinks himself most honored when can be the doorkeeper of the
house of the Lord, or perform any menial service for the household of
faith. I know some professing Christians who are very harsh and repellent.
You would not think of going to tell them your troubles; you could not
open your heart to them. They do not seem to be able to come down to
your level. They are up on a mountain, and they speak down to you as a
poor creature far below them. That is not the true Christian spirit; that is
not being meek. The Christian who is really superior to others amongst
whom he moves is just the man who lowers himself to the level the lowest
for the general good of all. He imitates his Master, who, though he was
equal with God, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the
form of a servant.” And in consequence, he is loved and trusted as his
Master was, and even little children come to him, and he does not repel
them. He is gentle towards them, as a loving mother avoids all harshness in
dealing with her children.
In addition to being humble and gentle, the meek are patient. They know
“it must needs be that offences come;” yet they are meek either to give
offence or to take offence. If others grieve them, they put up with it. They
do not merely forgive seven times, but seventy times seven; in fact, they do
not feel as if anything had been done that needed any forgiveness, for have
not taken it as an affront; they consider that a mistake was made, so they
are not angry at it. He may be angry for a moment; he would not be a man
if he were not. But there is such a thing as being angry, and yet not sinning;
and the meek man turns his anger wholly upon the evil, and away from the
person who did the wrong, and is as ready to do him a kindness as if he
had never transgressed at all. If there should be anybody here who is of an
angry spirit, kindly take home these remarks, and try to mend that matter,
for a Christian must get the better of an angry temper. Little pots soon boil
over; and I have known some professing Christians, who are such very
little pots, that the smallest fire has them boil over. When you never meant
anything to hurt their feelings, they have been terribly hurt. The simplest
remark has been taken as an insult, and a construction put upon things that
never was intended, and they make their brethren offenders for a word, or
half a word, at, and even for not saying a word. Sometimes, if a man does
not see them in the street through being short-sighted, they are sure he
passed them on purpose, and would not speak to them because they are
not so well off as he is. Whether a thing be done or be left undone, it
equally fails to please them. They are always on the alert for cause of
annoyance, and almost reminds one of the Irishman at Donnybrook Fair,
trailing his coat in the dirt and asking for somebody to tread on it, that he
may have the pleasure of knocking that somebody down. When I hear of
anybody like that losing his temper, I always pray that he may not find it
again, for such tempers are lost. The meek-spirited man may be, naturally,
very hot and fiery, but he has had grace given to him to keep his temper in
subjection. He does not say, “That is my constitution, and I cannot help it,”
as so many do. God will never excuse us because of our constitution; his
grace is given to us to cure our evil constitutions, and to kill our
corruptions. We are not to spare any Amalekites because they are called
constitutional sins, but we are to bring them out,— even Agag who goeth
delicately,—and slay them before the Lord, who can make us more than
conquerors over every sin, whether constitutional or otherwise.
But since is a wicked world, and there are some men who will persecute
us, and others who will try to rob us of our rights, and do us serious injury,
the meek man goes beyond merely bearing what has to be borne, for he
freely forgives the injury that is done to him. It is an ill sign when anyone
refuses to forgive another. I have heard of a father saying that his child
should darken his door again. Does that father know that he can never
enter heaven while he cherishes such a spirit as that? I have heard of one
saying, “I will never forgive So-and-so.” Do you know that God will never
hear your prayer for forgiveness until you forgive others? That is the very
condition which Christ taught his disciples to present: “Forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors.” If thou takest thy brother by the throat,
because he oweth a hundred pence, canst thou think that God will forgive
thee the thousand talents which thou owest to him? So the meek-spirited
man forgives those who wrong him; he reckons that injuries are permitted
to be done to him as trials of his grace, to see whether he can forgive them,
and he does so, and does so right heartily. It used to be said of Archbishop
Cranmer, “Do my lord of Canterbury an ill turn, and he be a friend to you
as long as you live.” That was a noble spirit, to take the man who had been
his enemy, and to make him henceforth to be a friend. This is the way to
imitate him who prayed for his murderers, “Father, forgive them; for they
know not what they do;” and this is the very opposite of a revengeful
spirit. There are some who say that they have been wronged, and they will
retaliate; but “retaliation” is not a Christian word. “Revenge” is not a word
that ought to be found in a Christian’s dictionary; he reckons it to be of the
Babylonian dialect, and of the language of Satan. His only revenge is to
heap coals of fire upon his adversary’s head by doing him all the good he
can in return for the evil that he has done.
I think that meekness also involves contentment. The meek-spirited man is
not ambitious; he is satisfied with what God provides for him. He does not
say that his soul loathes the daily manna, and the water from the rock never
loses its sweetness to his taste. His motto is, “God’s providence is my
inheritance.” He has his ups and his downs, but he blesses the Lord that his
God is a God of the hills, and also of the valleys; and if he can have God’s
face shining upon him, he cares little whether it be hills or valleys upon
which he walks. He is content with what he has, and he says, “Enough is as
good as a feast.” Whatever happens to him, seeing that his times are in
God’s hand, it is with him well, in the best and most emphatic sense. The
meek man is no Napoleon who will wade through human blood to reach a
throne, and shut the gates of mercy on mankind. The meek man is no
miser, hoarding up, with an all-devouring greed, everything that comes to
his hand, and adding house to house, and field to field, so long as he lives.
The meek man has a laudable desire to make use of his God-given talents,
and to find for himself a position in which he may do more good to his
fellow-men; but he is not unrestful, anxious. fretful, grieving, grasping; he
is contented and thankful.
Put those five qualities together, and you have the truly meek man,—
humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, and contented; the very opposite of the
man who is proud, harsh, angry, revengeful, and ambitious. It is only the
grace of God, as it works in us by the Holy Spirit, that can make us meek.
There have been some who have thought themselves meek when they were
not the Fifth Monarchy men, in Cromwell’s day, said that they were meek,
and that were, therefore, to inherit the earth; so they wanted to turn other
men out of their estates and houses so that they might have them, and
thereby they proved that they were not meek; for if they had been, they
would have been content with what they had, and let other people enjoy
what belonged to them. There are some people who are very gentle and
meek so long as nobody tries them. We are all of us remarkably goodtempered
while we have our own way; but the true meekness, which is a
work of grace, will stand the fire of persecution, and will endure the test of
enmity, cruelty, and wrong, even as the meekness of Christ did upon the
cross of Calvary
.
II. NOW, in the second place, let us think of HOW THE MEEK INHERIT THE
EARTH.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” This
promise is similar to the inspired declaration of Paul, “Godliness is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come.” So, first, it is the meek man who inherits the earth, for
he is the earth’s conqueror. He is the conqueror of the world wherever he
goes. William the Conqueror came to England with sword and fire, but the
Christian conqueror wins victories in a superior manner by the weapons of
kindness and meekness. In the Puritan times, there was an eminent and
godly minister, named Mr. Deering, who has left some writings that are
still valuable. While sitting at table, one day, a graceless fellow insulted him
by throwing a glass of beer in his face. The good man simply took his
handkerchief, wiped his face and went on eating his dinner. The man
provoked him a second time by doing the same thing, and he even did it a
third time with many oaths and blasphemy. Mr. Deering made no reply, but
simply wiped big face; and, on third occasion, the man came and fell at his
feet, and said that the spectacle of his Christian meekness, and the look of
tender, pitying love that Me. Deering had cast upon him, had quite subdued
him. So the good man was the conqueror of the bad one. No Alexander
was ever greater than the man who could bear such insults like that. And
holy Mr. Dodd, when he spoke to a man who was swearing in the street,
received a blow in the mouth that knocked out two of his teeth. The holy
man wiped the blood from his face, and said to his assailant, “You may
knock out all my teeth if you will permit me just to speak to you so that
you soul may be saved;” and the man was won by this Christian
forbearance. It is wonderful what rough natures will yield before gentle
natures. After all, it is not the strong who conquer the weak. There has
been a long enmity, as you know, between the wolves and the sheep; and
the sheep have never taken to fighting, yet they have won the victory, and
there are more sheep than wolves in the world to-day. In our country, the
wolves are all dead, but the sheep have multiplied by tens of thousands.
The anvil stands still while the hammer beats upon it, but one anvil wears
out many hammers. And gentleness and patience will ultimately win the
day. At this present moment, who is the mightier? Caesar with his legions
or Christ with his cross? We know who will be the victor before long,—
Mahomet with his sharp scimitar or Christ with his doctrine of love. When
all earthly forces are overthrown, Christ’s kingdom will stand. Nothing is
mightier than meekness, and it is the meek who inherit the earth in that
sense.
They inherit the earth in another sense, namely, that they enjoy what they
have. If you find me a man who thoroughly enjoys life, I will tell you at
once that he is a meek, quiet-spirited man. Enjoyment of life does not
consist in the possession or riches. There are many rich men who are
utterly miserable, and there are many poor men who are equally miserable.
You may have misery, or you may have happiness, according to your state
of heart in any condition of life. The meek man is thankful, happy, and
contented, and it is contentment that makes life enjoyable. It is so at our
common meals. Here comes a man home to his dinner; he bows his head,
and say, “for what we are about to receive, the Lord makes us truly
thankful;” and then opens his eyes, and grumbles, “What! Cold mutton
again?” His spirit is very different from that of the good old Christian who,
when he reached home, found two herrings and two or three potatoes on
the table, and he pronounced over them this blessing, “Heavenly Father, we
thank thee that thou hast ransacked both earth and sea to find us this
entertainment.” His dinner was not so good as the other man’s, but he was
content with it, and that made it better. Oh, the grumblings that some have,
when rolling in wealth, and the enjoyment that others have, when they have
but little, for the dinner of herbs is sweeter than the stalled ox if
contentment be but there. “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of
the things which he possesseth,” but in the meek and quiet spirit which
thanks God for whatever he pleases to give.
“Oh!” says someone, “but that is not inheriting the earth; it is only
inheriting a part of it.” Well, it is inheriting as much of it as we need, and
there is a sense in which the meek do really inherit the whole earth. I have
often felt, when I have been in a meek and quiet spirit, as if everything
around belonged to me. I have walked through a gentleman’s park, and I
have been very much obliged to him for keeping it in such order on
purpose for me to walk through it. I have gone inside his house, and seen
his picture gallery, and I have been very grateful to him for buying such
grand pictures, and I have hoped that he would buy a few more so that I
might see them when I came next time. I was very glad that I had not to
buy them, and to pay the servants to watch over them, and that everything
was done for me. And I have sometimes looked, from a hill, upon some
far-reaching plain or some quiet village, or some manufacturing town,
crowded with houses and shops, and I have felt that they were all mine,
although I had not the trouble of collecting the rents which people perhaps
might not like to pay. I had only to look upon it all as the sun shone upon
it, and then to look up to heaven, and say, “My Father, this is all thine; and,
therefore, it is all mine; for I am an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus
Christ.” So, in this sense, the meek-spirited man inherits the whole earth.
He also inherits it in another sense,—that is to say, whatever other men
have, he is glad to think that they have it. Perhaps he is walking, and gets
weary; someone comes riding by, and he says to himself, “Thank God that
my neighbor does not have such a pinch as I have; I should not like to see
him in such a plight as I am in.” Sometimes, when I am ill, someone comes
in, and says, “I have been to see somebody who is worse than you are;” but
I never get any comfort out of such a remark as that, and my usual answer
is, “You have made me feel worse than I was before by telling me that
there is somebody worse even than I am.” The greater comfort for a meek
man is this, “Though I am depressed in spirit, I am glad that there are
sweet-voiced singers;” or this, “though I am an owl, I rejoice that there are
larks to soar and sing, and eagles to mount towards the sun.” The meekspirited
man is glad to know that other people are happy, and their
happiness is his happiness; he will have a great number of heavens, for
everybody else’s heaven will be a heaven to him. It will be a heaven to him
to know that so many other people are in heaven, and for each one whom
he sees there he will praise the Lord. Meekness gives us the enjoyment of
what is other people’s, yet they have none the less because of our
enjoyment of it.
Again, the meek-spirited man inherits the earth in this sense,–if there is
anybody who is good anywhere near him, he is sure to see him. I have
known persons joining the church, and after they have been a little while in
it, they have said, “There is no love there.” Now, when a brother says,
“There is no love there,” I know that he has been looking in the glass, and
that his own reflection has suggested his remark. Such persons cry out
about the deceptions and hypocrisies in the professing church, and they
have some cause for doing so; only it is a pity that they cannot also see the
good people, the true saints, who are there. The Lord still has a people
who love and fear him, a people who will be his in the day when he makes
up his jewels; and it is a pity if we are not able to see what God so much
admires. If we are meek, we shall the more readily see the excellences of
other people. That is a very beautiful passage, in the second part of “The
Pilgrim’s Progress,” which tells that, when Christiana and Mercy had both
been bathed in the bath, and clothed in fine linen, white and clean, “they
began to esteem each other better than themselves.” If we also do this, we
shall not think so badly as some of us now do of this poor present life, but
shall go through it thanking God, and praising his name, and so inheriting
the earth.
With a gentle temper, and a quiet spirit, and grace to keep you so, you will
be inheriting the earth under any circumstances. If trouble should come,
you will bow to it, as the willow bows to the wind, and so escapes the
injury that falls upon sturdier trees. If there should come little vexations,
you will not allow yourself to be vexed by them; but will say, “With a little
patience, they will all pass away.” I think I never admired Archbishop
Leighton more than when I read a certain incident that is recorded in his
life. He lived in a small house in Scotland, and had only a man-servant
beside himself in the house. John, the manservant, was very forgetful; and,
one morning, when he got up before his master, he thought he would like
to have a day’s fishing, so he went off, and locked his master in. He fished
until late in the evening, forgot all about his master, and when he came
back, what do you think the bishop said to him. He simply said, “John, if
you go out for a day’s fishing another time, kindly leave me the key.” He
had had a happy day of prayer and study all by himself. If it had been some
of us, we should have been fuming, and fretting, and getting up a nice
lecture for John when he came back; and he richly deserved it; but I do not
suppose it was worth while for the good man to put himself out about him.
The incident is, I think, a good illustration of our text.
But the text means more than I have yet said, for the promise, “They shall
inherit the earth,” may be read, “they shall inherit the land,” that is, the
promised land, the heavenly Canaan. These are the men who shall inherit
heaven, for up there they are all meek-spirited. There are no contentions
there; pride cannot enter there. Anger, wrath, and malice never pollute the
atmosphere of the celestial city. There, all bow before the Kings of kings,
and all rejoice in communion with him and with one another. Ah, beloved,
if we are ever to enter heaven, we must fling away ambition, and
discontent, and wrath, and self-seeking, and selfishness. May God’s grace
purge us of all these; for, as long as any of that evil leaven is in our soul,
where God is we cannot go.
And then, dear friends, the text means yet more than that,—we shall inherit
this earth by-and-by. David wrote, “The meek shall inherit the earth; and
shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” After this earth has
been purified by fire, after God shall have burned the works of men to
ashes, and every trace of corrupt humanity shall have been destroyed by the
fervent heat, then shall this earth be fitted up again, and angels shall
descend with new songs to sing, and the New Jerusalem shall come down
out of heaven from God in all her glory. And then upon this earth, where
once was war, the clarion shall ring no more; there shall be neither swords
nor spears, and men shall learn the arts of war no more. The meek shall
then possess the land, and every hill and valley shall be glad, and every
fruitful plain shall ring with shoutings of joy, and peace, and gladness,
throughout the long millennial day. The Lord send it, and may we all be
among the meek who shall possess the new Eden, whose flowers shall
never wither, and where no serpent’s trail shall ever be seen!
But this must be the work of grace. We must be born again, or else our
proud spirits will never be meek. And if we have been born again, let it be
our joy, as long as we live, to show that we are the followers of the meek
and lowly Jesus, with whose gracious words I close my discourse: “Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.” So may it be, for Christ’s sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON.
MATTHEW 5:1-12.
Verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:
For convenience, and quietude, and to be out of the way of traffic, he went
up into a mountain. Elevated doctrines would seem most at home on the
high places of the earth.
1. And when he was set,
For that was the mode of Eastern teaching,
1. His disciples came unto him:
They made the inner ring around him, and others gathered around them.
2. And he opened his mouth, and taught them, —
Chrysostom says that he taught them even when he did not open his
mouth; his very silence was instructive. But when he did open his mouth,
what streams of wisdom flowed forth! He “taught them.” He did not open
his mouth to make an oration. He was a Teacher, so his aim was to teach
those who came to him; and his ministers best follow their Lord’s example
when they keep to the vein of teaching. The pulpit is not the place for the
display of oratory and eloquence, but for real instruction: “He opened his
mouth, and taught them,” —
2, 3. Saying, Blessed—
The Old Testament closes with the word “curse.” The New Testament
begins here, in the preaching of Christ, with the word “Blessed.” He has
changed the curse into a blessing: “ Blessed”—
3. Are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.
This is a paradox that puzzles many, for the poor in spirit often seem to
have nothing yet they have the kingdom of heaven, so they have
everything. He who thinks the least of himself is the man of whom God
thinks the most. You are not poor in God’s sight if you are poor in spirit.
4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
They are not only poor in spirit, but they are weeping, lamenting,
mourning. Worldlings are frivolous, frolicsome, light-hearted, and loving
everything that is akin to mirth; yet it is not said of them, but of those that
mourn, that “they shall be comforted.”
5. Blessed are the meek:
Not your high-spirited, quick-tempered men, who will put up with no
insult, your hectoring, lofty ones, who are ever ready to resent any real or
imagined disrespect, there is no blessing here for them; but blessed are the
gentle, those who are ready to be thought nothing of, —
5. For they shall inherit the earth.
Some say that the best way to get through the world is to swagger along
with a coarse impudence, and to push out of your way all who may be in it;
but there is no truth in that idea. The truth lies in quite another direction:
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for
they shall be filled.
The course of these beatitudes is like going downstairs. They began with
spiritual poverty, went on to mourning, came down to gentle-spiritedness,
and now we come to hunger and thirst. Yet we have been going up all the
time, for here we read, “They shall be filled.” What more can we have than
full satisfaction?
7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
“The merciful: are those who are always ready to forgive, always ready to
help the poor and needy, always ready to overlook what they might well
condemn; and “they shall obtain mercy.”
8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
When the heart is washed, the dirt is taken from the mental eye. The heart
that loves God is connected with an understanding that perceives God.
There is no way of seeing God until the heart is renewed by sovereign
grace. It is not greatness of intellect, but purity of affection that enables us
to see God.
9. Blessed are the peacemakers:
Not only the passively peaceful, but the actively peaceful, who try to
rectify mistakes, and to end all quarrels in a peaceful way.
9. For they shall be called the children of God.
They shall not only be the children of God, but men shall call them so; they
shall recognize in them the likeness to the peace-making God.
10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for
their’s is the kingdom of heaven.
They have it now, they are participating in it already; for, as Christ was
persecuted, and he is again persecuted in them, as they are partakers of his
sufferings, so are they sharers in his kingdom.
11, 12. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and
be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you.
You have an elevation by persecution; you are lifted into the peerage of
martyrdom, though you occupy but an inferior place in it, yet you are in it;
therefore, “rejoice, be exceedingly glad.
