Matthew v,-7:(From the French.)

(Continued from page 18.)

We have now the second feature of those whom our Lord pronounces blest:"Blessed are they that mourn."This implies more activity of life, a heart more in touch with the things by which we are surrounded. One might be "poor in spirit " even if alone in the world, because of the consciousness of what he is in himself-it is ever the case when we have to do with God. But to " mourn" is not simply because of our own condition; it is that holy affliction arising from the condition of the world in which we are, and in the midst of which we have, alas, so little strength to glorify God." Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." There is not a sigh which rises from our hearts to God, but that He will surely meet and satisfy. "Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves."Here, then, is the affliction which marks every godly soul.

In the third case we come to what is much deeper still:to a state of soul produced by a more perfect knowledge of God. It is, in a special manner, what has characterized our blessed Lord. " am meek and lowly in heart" He says, after sighing in His . spirit over the condition of men who rejected the God whose witness He was among them. This was to Him a great source of affliction. He could only say, " Woe " to those cities in which the greater part of His miracles had been done; and when He comes to Capernaum He has to declare that her condemnation would be the greater, because there His greatest miracles had been wrought in vain. And what could He do but groan in spirit in the presence of such despisal of God, and of such indifference to His own love ? Yet, "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father." What manifests the meekness of Jesus-a meekness that has no equal-is that at the same moment is manifest, His deep sorrow as regards men, and His perfect submission to God-a submission which involved the yielding of all that which was His right to claim for Himself.

"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." Well, this meekness, which in absolute perfection is seen in Jesus, is what is produced in the saints through a deepening knowledge of the ways of God, as also of the evil which abounds in the world, and the failures of what bears the name of Christ. For, midst what surrounds them, they see the hidden purpose of God being fulfilled, spite of all which seems to stand in its way. Thus the heart finds in God endless resources, which enables it to be free from all envy at the prosperity of the wicked, and not to be discouraged at the sight of the evil which he is powerless to undo. "Lord of heaven and earth" is a most blessed ex-expression, because it tells the absolute control which God has over all things.

Jesus is, in excellence, the meek One, and those who belong to Jesus are formed at this school of meekness. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." " The earth.'"-why not heaven? Because the earth is the scene of this evil which has begotten so much affliction and mourning. Now
that they have understood God's ways, however, they can commit themselves entirely to Him. Meekness does not consist simply in a sense of bur nothingness, nor of the spirit of mourning which is rightly experienced in a world opposed to God; it is more the calm which knows how to leave to God the care of all things; which bows with thanksgivings before the will of God, even when, from the stand-point of nature, it. seems difficult to accept it.

The fourth beatitude has, in a much greater degree than the preceding, the active element. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled,"Perfect satisfaction of soul, that is what they will get. Whatever be the form of the soul's experience, God will always give it a perfect answer. Is it mourning? they shall be comforted. Is it the meek? they shall inherit the earth-the very earth where they have known trial. Now it is the question of the activity of our spiritual senses which is in view; of seeking that which is according to God, suited to maintain the will of God as, specially speaking, it had been revealed to the Jew in the Old Testament:hence the definition, "They which do hunger and thirst after righteous-ness."There are in the New Testament principles deeper yet, which were to come to light only when the disciples would be able to bear them.

Here ends what we may call the first section of the beatitudes. As it occurs often in the series found in Scripture, they divide in four and three. We have just seen four classes of " Blesseds." All the features by which they are known are to be found in each individual, though some more prominent in one than in the other. For instance, we can see great activity in one, and remarkable meekness in another, but all these virtues abide, in principle, in every soul which is born of God. In ver. 7 we come to a class somewhat different; yet it will be easily seen that the three last beatitudes, analogous to the first four in this respect, have a common character.

(To be continued.)