Now we are never going to get far in understanding Christ's statements until we realize that in the Bible meekness does not mean what most people think it means. It does not mean spiritlessness. It does not mean weakness, indolence or cowardice. Actually, it is compatible with high spirits, courage, and great strength. 

The final aspect of God's comfort lies in the fact that one day Christ will remove sin and all of its effects from the believer forever. This will mean a deliverance even from sin's presence; and it will mean an end to pride, hate, suffering, sickness, and death. Now, we are aware of our sin. The smell of it is about us. But the day is coming when we shall be taken from this world to Christ's presence. In that day there will be no more sin to confess, for we shall be like him (1 John 3:2).

Christians should be concerned about social ills because of a heartfelt love of humanity and from an acute awareness of the horror and destructiveness of man's sin. I believe that this has often been true in past periods of Church history. Lord Shaftesbury was one of the great Christian social reformers, but there were others: Calvin, Oberlin, Wilberforce, Moorehouse. And it would be proper to include in this list most of the pioneers of the modern missionary movement—William Carey, Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, John Paton, and others—all of whom combined an evangelistic zeal with social action. Unfortunately, however, much of the force of their social concern has been lost to the believing church today. 

In one of the great Old Testament psalms, after a passionate description of the disappointments and bitterness of this life, David cries out, "Oh, that I had wings 11ke a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest" (Psalm 55:6-8). In these words David voices a wish that is as ancient as fallen humanity, and which will endure as long as men live on this planet. It is a cry for freedom, for life on wings. And it is uttered by those who yearn for comfort in a life of bitterness, frustration, disappointment, and trials. 

The second great principle suggested by Matthew 5:3 is that there must be an emptying in our lives before there can be a filling. We must become poor in spirit before we can become rich in God's spiritual blessings. The old wine must be poured out of the wineskins before the new wine can be poured in.