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Advent Lessons

Lesson 1 · May 26, 1900

The Beatitudes

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(; compare .)

  1. 1.Where was this sermon of Jesus given? To whom was it spoken? . See note 1.
  2. 2.What disposition or quality of character did Jesus first pronounce blessed, or happy? What did He declare concerning those who possessed it? . See note 2. Side texts: .
  3. 3.Who does our Lord declare shall receive comfort? . Side texts: .
  4. 4.What promise is made to the meek? . Do the meek inherit the earth now? Side texts: .
  5. 5.Upon what class does our Lord next pronounce a blessing? What is the promise? . See note 3. Side texts: .
  6. 6.Who next are the recipients of His blessing? What promise is given? . Side texts: ; .
  7. 7.What promise is made to the pure in heart? . See note 4.
  8. 8.What class does Jesus next bless? What will they be called? . Whose child would a strife-maker properly be called?
  9. 9.Who are next mentioned as blessed? What promise is given them? . Side texts: .
  10. 10.What does Jesus further say to those who suffer for His sake? . Side texts: .
  11. 11.What should the righteous do under such treatment? What assurance have they? Who have thus suffered before them? . Side texts: .
  12. 12.To what does Jesus liken His disciples? Of what good is salt which has lost its preserving power? What becomes of it, as well as the thing designed to be preserved by it? . Side texts: .
  13. 13.What further illustration does He use? . For what purpose is a light? What would be the prosperity of a hidden city? Of what use is a candle completely covered? Side texts: ;
  14. 14.What conclusion does Jesus draw from these common but forcible illustrations? , first clause. Side texts: .
  15. 15.What is the object of this shining? , last clause.

Notes

1. The location of the Mount of Beatitudes (the meaning of which is blessings) is not certainly known. It is somewhere near the Sea of Galilee. The Lord would have us mind the teachings, not the mountain. The instruction was spoken first of all to His disciples gathered around Him, and beyond them to the great multitude eager to hear. They are written for us upon whom the ends of the world are come.

2. It will be noticed by the careful student that these "blesseds" (or "happys") are pronounced not upon special classes who are naturally humble, meek, pure, etc., but upon dispositions which every soul by grace may acquire. In fact, each "blessed" marks a step forward and upward in Christian character; they are telescopic, so to speak, all of them being contained in the truly humble, or "poor in spirit." The thoroughness of the first step will mark the degree and rapidity of progress in the subsequent steps. The very beginning of Christian character is to have a sense of one's own utter unworthiness and nothingness apart from God. This is to acquiesce in what God says to us in such scriptures as ; . Neither are the blessings and promises all to be put off to the future. God gives the "earnest" of the very greatest of them here.

3. Hunger and thirst are longings for that which will meet our needs. Every longing desire for something satisfying to heart and soul is from God; its perversion to evil things is of Satan. Both hunger and thirst become strong passions, sometimes breaking through and overruling every other sentiment. But only one thing can meet the soul's longing,—Christ.

4. "The pure in heart" see God even here as do no others. They see Him in all His created works, marred though they are by sin. They see Him in His Word. In that better, sinless world, "they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads." .

Bible texts in this lesson

Matthew 5:1-16 · Luke 6:20-27 · Matthew 5:1 · Matthew 5:2 · Matthew 5:3 · Isaiah 57:15 · Isaiah 66:2 · Isaiah 66:4 · Isaiah 61:1-3 · Isaiah 61:10 · Isaiah 61:5 · Psalms 37:11 · Psalms 37:6 · Isaiah 44:3 · Isaiah 44:4 · Isaiah 55:1 · Isaiah 55:7 · James 2:13 · Mark 11:25 · Mark 11:26 · Mark 11:8 · Mark 11:9 · Mark 11:10 · 2 Timothy 2:12 · 2 Timothy 2:11 · 1 Peter 4:14 · 1 Peter 4:12 · James 5:10 · James 5:13 · Mark 9:50 · Mark 9:14 · Mark 9:15 · John 8:12 · Psalms 119:105 · Psalms 119:16 · John 15:8 · John 15:16 · Jeremiah 17:9 · Revelation 3:17 · Revelation 22:4

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