of God is to be realised in this renovated
earth, when it becomes the 'new earth in which dwelleth righteousness.'
Whether that be so or no, at all events we may fairly gather from the
words the thought that in the ultimate state of assimilation and
fellowship with God and Christ to which Christian people have a right to
look forward, there will be an external universe on which they will
exercise their activities, and from which they will draw as yet
unimagined delights.

But, at all events, dear brethren, we may be sure of this blessed
thought, that they who meekly live, knowing and mourning their sin, and
who meekly take to their hearts as their only hope the comfort of
Christ's pardon and cleansing, who are meekly recipient, meekly
enduring, meekly obedient, shall have in their hearts, even here, a
quiet fountain of peace which shall make the wilderness rejoice and
blossom as the rose, and hereafter shall be crowned with the lordship of
all. Meekness overcomes, 'and he that overcometh shall inherit all
things.'

THE FOURTH BEATITUDE

'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.'--MATT. v. 6.

Two preliminary remarks will give us the point of view from which I
desire to consider these words now. First, we have seen, in previous
sermons, that these paradoxes of the Christian life which we call the
Beatitudes are a linked chain, or, rather, an outgrowth from a common
root. Each presupposes all the preceding. Now, of course, it is a
mistake to expect uniformity in the process of building up character,
and stages which are separable and successive in thought may be
simultaneous and coalesce in fact. But none the less is our Lord here
outlining successive stages in the growth of a true Christian life. I
shall have more to say about the place in the series which this
Beatitude holds, but for the present I simply ask you to remember that
it has a background and set of previous experiences, out of which it
springs, and that we shall not understand the depth of Christ's meaning
if we isolate it from these and regard it as standing alone.

Then, another consideration is the remarkable divergence in this
Beatitude from the others. The 'meek,' the 'merciful,' the 'pure in
heart' the 'peacemakers,' have all attained to certain characteristics.
But this is not a benediction pronounced upon those who have attained to
righteousness, but upon those who long after it. De