One brief announcement remains. The magistrates have agreed to call our
CHAPTER 3: The Meek Those Who Hunger for Righteousness and the Merciful
One brief announcement remains. The magistrates have agreed to call our brother N. to this city, where he previously served in the ministry. To preserve the freedom of the whole church, he will be presented next Sunday. If anyone knows a reason why he should not be received, he should report it to the magistrates before Sunday.
Now let us bow before the majesty of our good God, etc.
C H A P T E R 4 THE PURE IN HEART PEACEMAKERS
AND THE PERSECUTED
Matthew 5:8-10. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. 10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 6:22-23. Blessed are you when men hate you, exclude you, reproach you, and reject your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; their fathers did the same to the prophets.
Everyone will confess that the main virtue that should be in us is purity and sincerity of heart. For without this it is certain that all the good that could be highly valued is nothing but smoke and rubbish before God. So everyone will praise integrity: but there is an evil, which no one wishes to practice. For we see that without cunning and malice we cannot converse between men, without being subjected to many troubles, because clever men have their nets set to surprise us. It therefore seems to us that they must be followed: and yet, after each has given his sentence, that we must walk roundly and without pretense, and have a pure and clean heart, there is no one who does not decline, and who does not seek devious devices, and who is not disguised. So our Lord Jesus Christ pronounces a common sentence at once, when he says that those who are clean and pure in heart are blessed: but if we look at the custom and the way of living, and even as men delight in their schemes, and that they never proceed except by circuitous and crooked paths, we will find that not without cause our Lord Jesus Christ brings his disciples back to sincerity and integrity. Now he assumes that they will see God: and uses this way of speaking, because those who have the most confused hearts will be the most keen to know how to guard themselves, and even to circumvent others. Nothing escapes them: for they make their speeches, and search into hidden matters, and when we have to deal with them, they know how to conduct their case so well that they disguise themselves by