I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:1-12
Matthew 5:1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up
on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to
teach them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute
you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and
be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- when I was a kid, the circus came to town -- this
wasn’t a big circus -- this wasn’t like Ringling Brothers or Barnum and Bailey
-- this was one of those tiny little circuses that used to make the circuit
between the smallest communities around the country
-- I remember when it rolled into town -- it set up in an
open area south of Adel -- with one large tent and a few smaller tents and the
ubiquitous carnival stands with games of chance that no one ever seemed to win
at
-- I was probably only about 5 or 6 years old -- and I
don’t remember a great deal about the circus -- but the one thing I do remember
is the elephant -- this was the first time I ever really saw an elephant in
person
-- this circus just had one elephant -- and when it
wasn’t in the tent doing its act, they had it tied up outside the tent for
people to look at -- I was amazed at this large creature -- how powerful it was
-- at the quiet strength that was hidden right below the surface -- it’s one
thing to see an elephant on TV -- it’s another thing to be that close to an
elephant in person
-- you just knew that this animal could break loose if it
wanted -- the only thing that kept it in place was a metal stake driven into
the ground and a chain that went from the stake and around the elephant’s foot
-- even at my young age, I knew that that chain and stake couldn’t hold that
elephant if it wanted to leave -- it was too strong -- it was only the power of
the relationship between the trainer and the elephant that made it stay there
enduring the gazes of little boys and girls
-- this elephant is a perfect example of the Beatitude
that we are going to be discussing this morning -- today, we are continuing in
our sermon series on the Beatitudes and are going to be focusing on the third
Beatitude, which we find in Matthew 5:5 -- look at that with me again
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the
earth.
-- as you remember, we can think of these Beatitudes as
rungs on the ladder of faith -- as the steps to Christian maturity as we seek
to become true disciples of Christ
-- keep in mind that, while the definition of a disciple
is someone who follows another, to be a disciple of Jesus means more than just
following Him -- it means striving to become like Him -- to take upon yourself the
very nature and character of Christ as you follow Him and learn from His
example
-- the first step on the road of discipleship with Christ
is seen in the first Beatitude -- blessed are the poor in spirit -- we cannot
begin our spiritual journey of faith until we become aware of our spiritual
condition -- until we become aware of our need for a Savior -- the first
Beatitude is the step of salvation and being justified through the atoning
sacrifice of Jesus
-- the second Beatitude -- blessed are they who mourn --
calls us to begin to grow in our faith and in our walk with Jesus as we become
aware of our sinfulness and of the depth of forgiveness that Jesus showed us
from the cross -- as we discussed last week, knowing how great a sinner we are
leads us to mourn over our sin and to rejoice over the fact of just how great a
Savior we have -- recognizing our sins -- turning from them in repentance --
and striving to live holy and righteous lives through the power of the Holy
Spirit is the beginning of sanctification in our lives -- becoming more and more
like Jesus as we let go of the past and take up our cross and follow Him in
righteousness
-- we find the next step on the path of Christian
discipleship and spiritual maturity in the third beatitude -- blessed are the
meek
-- as we go through this series, the one thing I hope
that you are starting to recognize is the supernatural quality of these
characteristics -- by calling us to live counter to the ways of the world -- by
calling us to live counter to our natural inclinations and our natural way of
thinking and living -- Jesus is asking us to do something and to be something
that we cannot do or be on our own
-- we cannot simply choose to become poor in spirit -- we
have to respond to a call from God to do so -- we have to respond to His
prevenient grace -- the grace that calls us to move from where we are to the
cross of Calvary -- it is a supernatural act of God that creates in us the
condition that Jesus calls “poor in spirit”
-- in the same way, we cannot simply choose to become
aware of our sinful nature and mourn our condition and our sin -- it is a
supernatural awakening to the fact of who we are and how we compare to a holy
God
-- and, in the same sense, we cannot simply choose to
become meek -- we become meek only when God gives us the power to truly submit
ourselves to Him -- body, mind, and spirit -- and we respond to His call and
willingly place ourselves under His lordship
II. Meekness
-- so, as we begin this discussion of the third Beatitude
-- let’s start with the question, “What is meekness?” -- when you hear the
word, ‘meek,’ what comes to mind?
-- in preparing for this message, I read an article where
the author went out into the street with a tape recorder and asked this
question to a lot of people who were passing by on the street
-- “What does the word, ‘meek,’ mean?” -- invariably, the
answer came back the same -- almost to a person, each of them said that
meekness was the same thing as weakness -- to be meek was to be weak -- wimpy
-- cowardly -- frail -- afraid
-- that is what this word has come to mean in our day and
age -- but that is not the true biblical definition of what it means to be meek
-- think about the people that the Bible lifts up as being meek men
-- Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek,
above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”
-- is Moses someone you would call weak or cowardly or
frail? -- think about what this man did -- at the age of 80, he stood in front
of Pharaoh -- the most powerful leader in the world -- and pointed his finger
at him and said, “Thus saith the Lord, let my people go”
-- it was Moses who led the people out of Egypt and
through the Red Sea with the entire Egyptian army hot on their heels -- it was
Moses who brought them to the edge of the Promised Land -- who led them in the
wilderness -- we served as their judge and their leader and their visionary --
who planned their battles and led them to victory against those nations who
tried to destroy them -- who spoke to the Lord God Almighty face to face and
lived -- who saw God’s glory and heard His name as He passed by Moses on the
mountain while all the Israelites trembled in their tents
-- does this sound like a weak or cowardly man? -- no --
and yet the Bible tells us he was very meek -- meeker than any other man on the
face of the earth
-- who else? -- turn over to Matthew 11:29
Matthew 11:29, “Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls.”
-- in the KJV, Jesus says here to take His yoke and learn
from Him because “I am meek and lowly of heart” -- Jesus called Himself meek --
and there is no way you can call Jesus weak or cowardly or afraid
-- even before you get to the cross and the fact that
Jesus willingly carried His own instrument of death to Golgotha and willingly
sacrificed Himself for us, think about what Jesus did as a man
-- while others around Him fled in the presence of people
who were possessed by demons, Jesus looked evil in the eye and commanded a
whole legion of demons to come out of the man at Gerasene and to leave him
alone
-- Jesus went into the temple and turned over the tables
of the money changers -- He made a whip out of cords and ran those merchants
out of God’s house
-- He associated with the dregs of society -- with the
sinners and the tax collectors and the murderers and thieves -- with those
people that good society would have nothing to do with out of fear
-- He was friends with prostitutes and priests -- and He
stood toe-to-toe against the Pharisees and the religious leaders, calling them
out for the wrong they were doing
-- does this sound like the actions of a weak and
cowardly man? -- not at all
-- so, meekness is not weakness -- a meek man is not
wimpy or girly or cowardly or afraid
-- the true definition of meekness is “great power under
control” -- the willing laying aside of your power and your nature and your
will to another without the need to express your strength or authority over
them
-- think about that elephant I told you about -- that
elephant was much stronger than its trainer -- it was more powerful than that
little chain that held it in the ground -- if it had wanted to, it could have
ripped that stake up and took off down the street -- it could have easily
broken loose and killed its trainer -- but it didn’t -- it was the epitome of
what it means to be meek -- it submitted its will to another -- and its great
power was under control
-- other ways to describe meekness are humbleness --
being lowly of spirit -- being gentle -- to be meek means that you are strong
and you know it, but that you have chosen to not use your strength over another
-- that you have surrendered your strength to another
-- the true measure of meekness comes through our
relationships with others -- meekness is expressed through how we treat those
around us -- to be meek means that we move past the point where anger and
bitterness and hatred rule our lives -- meekness is curbing the
"natural" desires to rebel, fight, and have our own way -- to push
ourselves forward and to demand our right and what we should be getting
-- to be meek is to be kind and considerate to others,
even to those who oppose us -- to be meek is to be easily approachable, not
prideful or resentful, not temperamental or harsh -- to be meek is to submit
your will to the Lord so that you might act like Jesus in all situations
-- in other words, when you exhibiting meekness, you are
making a choice to respond rather than to react -- you are choosing to express
love and respect and grace rather than anger or harshness or pride
--
the greatest definition of meekness is the description of Jesus that we read in
Philippians 2:5-8
Philippians 2:5-8
New International
Version
5 In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very
nature[a] God,
did not consider
equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made
himself nothing
by taking the very
nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human
likeness.
8 And being found in
appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient
to death—
even death on a
cross!
-- Jesus demonstrated the attitude of meekness
when He chose to lay aside His power and His glory and came to earth to be one
of us -- the Creator of the universe willingly became a baby in a manger -- and
during His time here on earth, He never once demanded what was rightfully His
as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords -- through His life, Jesus showed us the
true image of meekness -- power under control and submission to the Father’s
will
-- don’t miss how radical a concept this was to everyone
in first century Palestine, Jews and Gentiles alike
-- the Jews were very proud of their heritage and their
race -- they were proud of their position as God’s chosen people -- and this
was instilled in them at birth -- they considered themselves powerful in spirit
and greater than all around them because of their relationship with God
-- similarly, the Romans were renowned for their military
might and strength -- they were in control of the whole world at that time as
one of the great empires of history -- and they flaunted their power and their
strength from Africa through the Middle East to Europe -- all the way to
Britain
-- we’re not that different from them today, are we? --
as American Christians, we are proud of our country -- proud of our heritage --
we rejoice in the fact that we are the world’s last remaining superpower -- we
have a swagger in our step
-- and even in our personal lives, we are told that the
way to get ahead is to promote ourselves -- never be weak -- never look weak --
but instead, become stronger and more powerful than those around you -- strive to
rise to the top -- go for the gold -- be the best you can be
-- this is what we are taught -- this is what we strive
for -- this is what the people we admire look like -- that’s why America makes
idols of athletes and movie stars and men and women of great power in business
and politics
-- but Jesus comes along and says, “let me show you a
different way” -- and He tells us, “blessed are the meek”
-- blessed are those who don’t express their strength --
blessed are those who aren’t prideful -- who don’t demand their own way -- who
don’t fight for their rights -- blessed are those who submit to the will of God
-- blessed are the meek
-- it goes against logic -- it goes against everything
that we know and everything that we have been taught -- to become meek basically
comes down to this
-- we accept Jesus as our Savior when we come to the
cross -- when we ask Him to forgive our sins and to give us eternal life -- no
one has a problem with Jesus as Savior
-- but when Jesus calls us to be meek -- when He calls us
to lay aside our strength and our power and what we consider our rights in
order to allow God’s will to be done -- He is calling us to make Him both Lord and
Savior
-- He is telling us to choose whether we are going to be
the god of our lives or if we are going to let Him be God -- He is calling for
us to surrender our strength and our power and our rights to Him -- to let Him
make all the decisions -- to let Him be our God and our King and the Lord who
directs our path -- He is calling for us to say, “not my will, but yours be
done” -- and that is hard
-- a friend of mine said he had a woman come to the altar
after the service one time to be saved -- as he spoke to her about what it
meant to be a Christian -- to receive forgiveness of your sins and to start
following Jesus -- to let Him be her Savior and her Lord -- to start living for
Him and not her or the world any longer -- she balked
--
she said she wanted to be saved, but she wasn’t ready to follow all the rules
-- to obey Jesus in everything -- to give up her life and the things she was
doing -- in other words, she wanted Jesus as Savior -- as a fire escape -- as a
“Get out of Hell” card -- but she didn’t want Jesus as Lord -- as someone who
would tell her what to do -- my friend suggested she wait to respond until they
could meet and discuss what it meant to truly follow Christ
-- a lot of us live that way, myself included -- we come
to Jesus as our Savior -- we come seeking the forgiveness of our sins -- but we
find it hard to lay down our lives and pick up our crosses and submit to Jesus
as our Lord -- to rearrange our lives to the point where we are submitting to
God and His way of living -- where we stop demanding our way and our will and,
instead, let Jesus be Lord and call the shots -- but that is what Jesus is
saying is required when He tells us here, “blessed are the meek”
-- to become mature in our faith -- to become a true
disciple of Christ who not only follows Jesus in salvation but who takes up the
character and nature of Jesus -- laying down our rights and our will in
meekness is the next step -- we have to submit our will to His and allow Jesus
to not only be our Savior, but to be our Lord and King
-- and the reward for this, Jesus tells us, is that we
will inherit the earth
III. Inherit the Earth
-- what does it mean to inherit the earth? -- it is
simple a recognition of the state of mind that accompanies the Godly
characteristic of meekness
-- a meek person is satisfied -- content -- joyful in
their position with the Lord regardless of their position on earth
-- in Philippians 4:11-12, Paul wrote, “I have learned to
be content whatever the circumstances. -- I know what it is to be in need, and
I know what it is to have plenty. -- I have learned the secret of being content
in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in
plenty or in want.” -- and that secret?
-- Paul tells us in verse 13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens
me”
-- when you walk through this life without having the
burden of chasing after the American dream -- without running to the end of
each rainbow looking for the pot of gold -- without striving for everything
that the world tells us makes a person full and complete -- without demanding
your will be done and getting mad when people slight you or cut you off in
traffic or ignore you or your rules -- then you have truly arrived as a
disciple of Christ
-- you can enjoy life, because while the world is running
around, you can sit and rest in the presence of God -- knowing that in Him you
have all things -- that every need is being met -- and that He is with you and
His presence fills you
-- to inherit the earth means that you are experiencing
the best of life from a spiritual and supernatural perspective -- right here, right
now
-- there is also a future component to this promise from
Jesus -- while a meek person goes through this life satisfied and contented,
this is also a promise for eternity -- for the future inheritance that we will
receive when Jesus comes again and His Kingdom is established
-- the Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, there will
be a new earth -- an earth established -- not on the principles that drive it
now -- not on pride and wealth and power -- but on the Kingdom principles of
love and grace and mercy
-- the glimpse of peace and contentment and joy that a
meek person realizes now will be truly expressed in the new earth as we enjoy
God’s presence forever
IV. Closing
-- so, how do we become meek?
-- the answer is easy, but not easy to do -- the simple
answer is...we surrender
-- we surrender ourselves -- our hearts -- our minds --
our will -- our strength -- to God
-- as John the Baptist put it -- we decrease so that
Christ might increase
-- this is not an easy thing to do -- this is really not
even possible for us as humans in our own strength -- we are born selfish,
demanding our will be done, and this just gets worse the older we get -- it’s
part of who we are and we can’t break that on our own -- we just don’t have the
strength
-- the only way to become truly meek as Jesus calls us to
here is through His power and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us -- it
is an act of grace that begins with a decision on our part to surrender
ourselves to God -- to lay aside our wants and our wishes and to submit our
will to God
-- to become meek, we have to first choose to let Jesus
be the Lord of our life -- and we have to choose to go against our nature and
our flesh and say, “not my will, but yours be done”
-- secondly, you cultivate a relationship of faith and
trust with God -- as you walk with God on a daily basis -- as you become more
mature in your faith, you will naturally begin to trust Him more and more as
you see how He has been with you and worked on your behalf in the past
-- look for the fingerprints of God in your life -- keep
track of the ways that God has moved and has made a difference -- and then
choose to let Him do so again and again and again instead of always demanding
your way and your will be done
-- finally, we measure
ourselves in our relationships with others -- before you react to another
person -- before you take offense at what someone has done -- take a moment to
think about that old question, “What Would Jesus Do?”
-- when someone says something against you -- when
someone hurts you -- think, “how would Jesus react?” -- would He react with
anger -- with harsh words -- with cutting comments -- or would He respond with
love and kindness and grace?
-- and then you respond in the way you think Jesus would
-- as R.K. Hughes wrote, the ultimate "test as to
whether we are truly meek is not whether we can say we are poor sinners, but
rather what we do when someone else calls us vile sinners.” -- your response
displays the level of meekness and humbleness in your heart
-- if we are to be disciples of Christ -- if we are to
become mature in our faith -- then we must seek to have the same mind and
attitude that He displayed on earth -- Jesus modeled meekness for us with His
life -- and we must strive to do the same with ours
-- our Christian lives begin with salvation, with asking
Jesus to forgive our sins -- it continues through sanctification -- recognizing
the depth of sin in our lives and repenting of them -- turning from them to
righteousness in Jesus’ name -- and it leads us to meekness -- to surrendering
our will to God and choosing to live for Him rather than ourselves
-- blessed are the meek -- blessed are those who lay down
their lives and pick up their crosses and follow Jesus and His ways in all
things
-- let us pray
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