JESUS' Sermon on the Mount may well be called a discourse on blessedness, for from the opening promises of the Beatitudes to the closing story of the house built upon the sand it shows us clearly how through conforming to the law of God we may prove our unity with Him. This law of God which demands our obedience is summarized in the Master's two great commandments: to love God with all our heart and soul and mind, and to live this love in our contacts with our fellow men and women.
This law is scientific and exact. It is impartial, universal, always operative, and it can never be abrogated. It is the law of Love, ever jealous of its own allness. To the degree that each one obeys this law in the minutiae of his daily affairs does he prove his possession of Love's benediction and bounty.
Just as obedience to the First Commandment alone makes possible the observance of the other nine, so conformity to the first beatitude (Matt. 5:3), "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven," enables us to observe the conditions and receive the blessings of all the others. As we become conscious of our spiritual needs and humbly seek to enrich our lives through expressing more of the graces of Spirit which man reflects—more consecration, humility, kindness, unselfishness—we necessarily find happiness instead of mourning, abundance instead of penury, satisfaction instead of hunger, charity instead of unmercifulness. And we become pure, peaceful, poised, and unmoved by persecution. Thus do we begin to see the unlimited nature of true substance and joy.
