This discourse gives the principles of the kingdom, but supposes the
rejection of the King, and the position into which this would bring those
that were His; who consequently must look for a heavenly reward. They were
to be a divine savour where God was known and was dealing, and would be a
spectacle to the whole world. Moreover this was God's object. Their
confession was to be so open that the world should refer their works to the
Father. They were to act, on the one hand, according to a judgment of evil
which reached the heart and motives, but also, on the other, according to
the Father's character in grace-to approve themselves to the Father who saw
in secret, where the eye of man could not penetrate. They were to have full
confidence in Him for all their need. His will was the rule according to
which there was entrance into the kingdom.
We may observe that this discourse is connected with the proclamation of
the kingdom as being near at hand, and that all these principles of conduct
are given as characterising the kingdom, and as the conditions of entrance
into it. No doubt it follows that they are suitable to those who have
entered in. But the discourse is pronounced in the midst of Israel,
[see note #19]
before the kingdom is set up, and as the previous state called for in order
to enter, and to set forth the fundamental principles of the kingdom in
connection with that people, and in moral contrast with the ideas they had
formed respecting it.
In examining the beatitudes, we shall find that this portion in general
gives the character of Christ Himself. They suppose two things; the coming
possession of the land of Israel by the meek; and the persecution of the
faithful remnant, really righteous in their ways, and who asserted the
rights of the true King (heaven being set before them as their hope to
sustain their hearts).
[see note #20]
This will be the position of the remnant in the last days before the
introduction of the kingdom, the last being exceptional. It was so,
morally, in the days of the Lord's disciples, in reference to Israel, the
earthly part being delayed. In reference to heaven, the disciples are
looked at as witnesses in Israel; but-while the only preservative of the
earth-they were a testimony to the world. So that the disciples are seen as
in connection with Israel, but, at the same time, as witnesses on God's
part to the world (the kingdom being in view, but not yet established). The
connection with the last days is evident; nevertheless their testimony then
had, morally, this character. Only the establishment of the earthly kingdom
has been delayed, and the church, which is heavenly, brought in. Chapter 5:
25 evidently alludes to the position of Israel in the days of Christ. And
in fact they remain captive, in prison, until they have received their full
chastisement, and then they shall come forth.
The Lord ever speaks and acts as the obedient man, moved and guided by the
Holy Ghost; but we see in the most striking manner, in this Gospel, who it
is that acts thus. And it is this which gives its true moral character to
the kingdom of heaven. John the Baptist might announce it as a change of
dispensation, but his ministry was earthly. Christ might equally announce
this same change (and the change was all-important); but in Him there was
more than this. He was from heaven, the Lord who came from heaven. In
speaking of the kingdom of heaven, He spoke out of the deep and divine
abundance of His heart. No man had been in heaven, excepting Him who had
come down from thence, the Son of man who was in heaven. Therefore, when
speaking of heaven, He spoke of that which He knew, and testified of that
which He had seen This was the case in two ways, as shewn forth in Matthew's
Gospel. It was no longer an earthly government according to the law;
Jehovah, the Saviour, Emmanuel, was present Could He be otherwise than
heavenly in His character, in the tone, in the essence, of His whole life?
Moreover, when He began His public ministry and was sealed by the Holy
Ghost, heaven was opened to Him. He was identified with heaven as a man
sealed with the Holy Ghost on earth. He was thus the continual expression
of the spirit, of the reality, of heaven. There was not yet the exercise of
the judicial power which would uphold this character in the face of all
that opposed it. It was its manifestation in patience, notwithstanding the
opposition of all around Him and the inability of His disciples to
understand Him. Thus in the sermon on the Mount we find the description of
that which was suitable to the kingdom of heaven, and even the assurance of
reward in heaven for those who should suffer on earth for His sake. This
description, as we have seen, is essentially the character of Christ
Himself. It is thus that a heavenly spirit expresses itself on earth. If
the Lord taught these things, it is because He loved them, because He was
them and delighted in them. Being the God of heaven, filled as man with the
Spirit without measure, His heart was perfectly in unison with a heaven
that He perfectly knew. Consequently therefore He concludes the character
which His disciples were to assume by these words: "Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." All their conduct was
to be in reference to their Father in heaven. The more we understand the
divine glory of Jesus, the more we understand the way in which He was as
man in connection with heaven, the better shall we apprehend what the
kingdom of heaven was to Him with regard to that which was suitable to it.
When it shall be established hereafter in power, the world will be governed
according to these principles, although they are not, properly speaking,
its own.
The remnant in the last days, I doubt not, finding all around them contrary
to faithfulness, and seeing all Jewish hope fail before their eyes, will be
forced to look upward, and will more and more acquire this character,
which, if not heavenly, is at least very much conformed to Christ.
[see note #21]
