By  historical  necessity,  the  Sermon  on  the
Mount  is,  then,  the  proclamation  of  the  law  of
the  kingdom.  How  beautifully  it  opens!  Not,
as  the  listening  crowd,  hanging  eagerly  upon  the
lips  of  the  wondrous  teacher,  expected,  with  a
clarion  call  to  arms,  or  a  ringing  promise  of  re
ward  to  him  who  fought  valiantly  for  Israel.
Not  as  we  might  expect,  with  a  stinging  rebuke
to  their  carnal  hopes  and  a  stern  correction  and
repression  of  their  ungentle  spirit.  But  gently
and  winningly,  wooing  Ihe  hearers  to  the  higher
ideal,  by  depicting  in  the  most  attractively  simple
language  the  blessedness  of  those  in  whom  should
be  found  the  marks  of  the  true  children  of  the
kingdom.  When  the  Lord  speaks  to  His  chil
dren  it  is  not  in  the  voice  of  the  great  and  strong
wind  that  rends  the  mountain  and  breaks  in
pieces  the  rocks,  nor  in  that  of  the  earthquake,  or
of  the  fire,  but  in  that  still  small  voice  or  "sound
of  a  gentle  stillness"  in  which  He  spoke  to  Elijah
in  the  mountain.  The  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah
had  come  and  He  opens  His  mouth  and  blesses
the  people  in  the  voice  of  a  Lamb.
