1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:23,280 A few months ago we started in the study of Matthew and we find ourselves in the greatest 2 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,480 sermon that has ever been preached by the greatest preacher who has ever lived, which 3 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:31,480 is the word Jesus Christ himself. Matthew chapter 5, we're just going to be looking 4 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:40,200 at verse 5 this morning. Jesus, pronouncing a benediction upon his people, says, blessed 5 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:48,440 are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 6 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:53,480 the earth. It's so good to have with us a dear friend and brother and colleague and minister 7 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:57,840 with us, Zach Heberlin and his family with us. Would you stand and ask the Lord to help 8 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,800 us as we enter into this time of preaching? 9 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:29,560 Amen. One of the interesting things about languages 10 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,320 and it's not just English but all languages is that how words tend to change meaning over 11 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:39,240 time. There's a whole branch of study that's devoted to this. I mean, each of us this morning 12 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:46,680 we can probably think of examples of words that no longer mean what they once did. I 13 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:51,200 have a couple of these written down and certainly you could add to this list. For example, the 14 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:58,840 word speed. Speed. It used to mean success or prosperity. One might even wish you God's 15 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:08,880 speed, God's blessing. Today it's used just as a rate of movement. The word naughty, N-A-U-G-H-T-Y. 16 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:14,960 It once meant poor, indigent. You didn't have anything. Today if someone is naughty, they 17 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:22,560 are mischievous or they're misbehaving in some fashion. The word bully. Did you know 18 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,280 that bully once meant sweetheart? And it could be a man or a woman. If you had a bully, you 19 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:33,240 had a sweetheart. And now of course we know it's just the exact opposite today. It's one 20 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:38,040 who seeks to hurt or intimidate others. Now admittedly we could go on this list for quite 21 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:43,720 some time but sometimes you even see the same dynamic at play in the scriptures where words 22 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:50,080 mean something different than what they once did. For example, the verse that Pastor Colle 23 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:55,320 just read out of Hebrews 13. If you have Hebrews 13 in the King James it will say, let your 24 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:00,200 conversation be without covetousness. For God has said he will never leave you nor forsake 25 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:05,240 you. When we think of the word conversation, we think of a dialogue between two people. 26 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,680 But in Hebrews 13 that is not the way the word is used at all. It's referring to your 27 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:16,040 manner of life. Let your lifestyle, let your way of living be without covetousness. The 28 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:22,340 word conversation simply has changed meaning over time. And in our text today we see this 29 00:03:22,340 --> 00:03:29,720 word meek. And the word meant something different than how we might use it today. Biblically, 30 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,480 I'm going to give you the definition up front and then we're going to try to explain it 31 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:39,360 throughout. Biblically, when we're talking about someone being meek, it is essentially 32 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:45,880 an attitude, we could say a quality of heart, whereby a person is willing to accept and 33 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:52,760 submit without resistance to the will or desire of someone else. In Christian theology it's 34 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:57,080 where we are meek before God. We are willing to submit ourselves to the will and desire 35 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:02,760 of God. But let me ask you this question. What comes to your mind when you hear someone 36 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:09,360 described as meek? I would think, just guessing, that for most of us when we hear this word 37 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:18,760 meek it usually conjures up ideas of being weak, soft, what they used to call milk toast. 38 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:24,720 We tend to think that someone who is meek is overly passive. Maybe someone who's lacking 39 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:30,760 in courage and doesn't have a backbone and will not stand up for their own convictions. 40 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,240 That's what we think meek is. The meek person is just who is simply passive, goes along 41 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:40,040 with everything, no strong convictions that they're willing to stand upon. So today if 42 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,840 someone says, well, they're a meek person, usually that's not a compliment. But what 43 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:52,680 is so ironic is that in the text of sacred scripture our Lord says it is the meek who 44 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:59,600 are blessed, to be blessed favored by God. This group of people, he's pronouncing a benediction, 45 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:05,120 the people over whom he is pronouncing a blessing are the meek. He said those people, they 46 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:11,040 truly have God's blessing resting upon them. So what exactly did he mean when he pronounced 47 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:18,000 a blessing on the meek? Well, we've been looking at the Beatitudes for a couple weeks now, and 48 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:23,560 as we just follow them we start to see a natural progression forming. The very first Beatitude 49 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:30,520 we looked at several weeks ago was to be poor in spirit, bankrupt spiritually. These are 50 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:36,000 those who see themselves as spiritual beggars. They are unable to say themselves. And by 51 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,160 the way, let me just say this, this is the beginning of salvation. When the Lord, the 52 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:46,000 Holy Spirit brings conviction that you are absolutely spiritually bankrupt, you are poor 53 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:52,760 in spirit, you understand that you have nothing which to commend yourself to God. You know, 54 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:58,680 you understand you are not righteous in God's sight and you have no hope whatsoever unless 55 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:04,160 God intervenes to show you mercy. And that's really an intellectual awareness that's done 56 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,920 in the heart or in the mind. But it doesn't stop there. Once we start to truly understand 57 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:16,080 by the Spirit's conviction that we are bankrupt spiritually, it leads to an emotional response. 58 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:21,720 You understand your brokenness and you start to feel it. And the poor in spirit respond 59 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:28,880 by mourning, which is what we looked at last week. Mourning over their sin. For they're 60 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:35,280 the ones that are going to find comfort. They mourn over their disobedience and independence 61 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:43,720 from God. They're mourning over their corruption. We see our sin and we hate it and it causes 62 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:49,840 this emotional response of mourning. And then having been broken by sin, having felt the 63 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:58,920 weight of sin, humbled by it, amazed by God's grace, a genuine meekness is produced. The 64 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:06,880 response to being broken and mourning is being meek. So what is biblical meekness? Well first 65 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:12,680 I want to begin with what it is not. It is not a personality trait or some natural disposition. 66 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:17,440 This is not something you are born with. We all know people who may be shy or reticent 67 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,440 by nature, but that's not what Jesus is saying. He's not pronouncing the blessing upon the 68 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:28,480 timid. There are some people who are just naturally more passive. They're not assertive. 69 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:35,200 But that doesn't necessarily imply meekness. There are some people who are more just peaceful. 70 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:40,600 They get along with everyone. They're almost pacifists. They seek peace at any cost. That's 71 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:47,420 not meekness. Meekness is not a weakness either. And I think it's noteworthy. We have to understand 72 00:07:47,420 --> 00:07:52,840 the context in which Jesus is there in Matthew 5. He's speaking to primarily his disciples, 73 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:58,160 but by extension we know by chapter 7 a crowd is formed. So there's a crowd of Jewish people. 74 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:03,420 He's pronouncing this benediction and it really doesn't make sense. The Jews are living under 75 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:09,480 Roman occupation. Their hope was that a deliverer, a messiah would come and what were they hoping 76 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:15,520 for? Let's get Rome out of here. Let's get these pagan soldiers off our land. And they 77 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:22,160 thought the messiah would come as some political conqueror. He would free them from Roman occupation. 78 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,540 Then he would set up that Jewish kingdom that they longed for. So in their mind naturally 79 00:08:27,540 --> 00:08:33,480 they start to assume some things about their messiah. He's going to be strong, powerful 80 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:39,960 militarily speaking. They admire strength. After all a meek messiah isn't going to do 81 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:46,640 much to deliver them. They want someone who's going to ride into Jerusalem on a war horse, 82 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:52,600 not a man who's going to come in on a donkey. So what they were looking for is a soldier 83 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:57,800 like figure, much like Alexander the Great, a conqueror sweeping through nations. So when 84 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:02,920 they hear him, doubtless many in the crowd that day heard a man speaking so fondly of 85 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:09,040 meekness they must have assumed, oh this can't be the one. He can't be the one to free us 86 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:16,480 from Rome. And yet so many Jews on that day had overlooked many Old Testament passages. 87 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,960 There's many passages in the Old Testament speaking of how meek the messiah would be. 88 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:26,920 Isaiah writing about the suffering servant of the Lord. They had missed it. They had 89 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,600 misinterpreted so many of the Old Testament passages. The nation was looking for brute 90 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,920 strength and Christ is there pronouncing a blessing on the meek. So we know what meekness 91 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:45,440 is not. Well what exactly is it? Well the word there is just pros. It can be mild. It 92 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:51,800 can be gentle. It also, a good translation, at times could be humble. So it's used to 93 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,800 refer to both animate and inanimate things. For example, like a gentle breeze. So you 94 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,800 think wind. Wind has the power to destroy. You think hurricanes, think tornadoes. But 95 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:08,240 a pros, a gentle breeze. So it has power but it's a power that's being used for good. It's 96 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:14,160 also used to refer to wild animals that had been broken by a trainer so that they're now 97 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:19,000 able to use them for useful work. So these animals, think about with me, these wild animals 98 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:27,880 are broken so that their power could be harnessed and then put to good use. So remember meekness 99 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:35,480 is to accept, I'm reading my notes and I wrote in here, sorry I was editing my notes this 100 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:40,000 morning and I don't usually use my handwriting and I couldn't read it right there. So meekness 101 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:45,320 is to accept without resistance the will of someone else. And that's what these animals 102 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:50,320 did. They're more powerful than their trainer but they had been broken by it. So meekness, 103 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:56,720 and here's how I'm defining it and I'm sure it's not unique to me, power under control. 104 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:03,920 Power that's harnessed. Aristotle said that it's someone of steady courage. Neither too 105 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:12,160 reckless but neither too cowardly. It's the person who doesn't get too angry but it's 106 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:16,720 also the person who does not get angry enough. So a meek person, they're going to take a 107 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:21,840 stand but they will take a stand at the right time, with the right people, and in the right 108 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:29,280 way. So it's used also elsewhere in text as someone who's not easily angered. They have 109 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:34,720 power but they're able to control it. Jesus used this designation to refer to himself 110 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:43,240 in Matthew chapter 11. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me for I am gentle. Same word there. 111 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:49,840 I am gentle. A gentle savior. Lowly in heart. And I love this. This is one of my favorite 112 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,440 verses in scriptures. It says you will find rest but it's not just physical rest. Where's 113 00:11:53,440 --> 00:12:00,640 this rest? It's a rest for your soul. So we have a meek, a gentle savior. What does that 114 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:07,040 mean? He's not using his power to crush. He's not using his power to destroy. He's using 115 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:13,560 his power to heal and to save. Nelson's Bible dictionary says meekness is an attitude of 116 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:19,560 humility toward God and gentleness toward people because it realizes God is in control. 117 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:26,440 And I love that. So the meek is what? Humble before God. And if you're humble before God 118 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:34,720 vertically, you are gentle before people horizontally. So meekness is going to show itself submitting 119 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:39,600 to what the will and the providence, accepting circumstances that God providentially brings 120 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:45,800 into your life. That means the meek person does not kick and scream, why me, every time 121 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:53,160 something goes awry in their life. Because he realizes God has a good plan behind it. 122 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:58,720 Every week as I'm doing sermon prep, I am convicted by the text. Some weeks more than 123 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,280 others. And this week, I'm like, I've told Sandy multiple times, some of you have called 124 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,200 this week and I'm like, we've laughed about it because like I've realized I'm not a meek 125 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,760 person and people talking to me said, yeah, we knew that. And I'm like, well, thank you 126 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:16,080 very much. But this has been very convicting in my life. So the meek person doesn't kick 127 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:22,560 and scream why. I love what J.I. Packer said. He said, meekness for a child of God means 128 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:29,120 accepting uncomplainingly what comes, knowing that it comes from the hand of God who orders 129 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:37,880 all things. What he sends, we accept in faith even if it hurts, knowing that it is for our 130 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:49,840 and others good. So that means injury, illness, heartache, difficult diagnoses, we accept 131 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:58,320 in faith because God has a redemptive loving purpose behind it. Now that's before God. 132 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:04,560 But then in relation to others, it is being gentle. What this means, church, is forgiving 133 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:13,080 injuries. You bear reproaches. And when someone does you wrong, you do them good. You return 134 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,800 good for evil. So you don't revenge. You don't seek revenge. You don't retaliate in kind 135 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,040 because someone did you wrong. And in the Old Testament, we see many examples of this. 136 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,680 We see Abraham being meek. We see Joseph, Moses, David. We'll look at those a little 137 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:33,480 bit later. But if you look at just those four men, none of them is considered weak. Abraham's 138 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,400 the great patriarch, but he's also the great warrior who went to battle and rescued his 139 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:44,560 nephew Lot. Joseph, he had risen to the second most powerful position in the world, really 140 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:50,000 in all of Egypt, but the world by extension. Moses was a dynamic leader who led the Hebrew 141 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:55,200 people out of Egyptian bondage. He was the one who was willing to go stand before Pharaoh. 142 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:01,920 David, yes, he's the great psalmist, but he's also the great warrior king of Israel. None 143 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:08,800 of them would be weak. And yet all of them are considered meek. In Ephesians chapter 144 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:14,280 four, verse two, Paul writing to the church, this to us, he said, our Christian walk, our 145 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:22,480 daily lifestyle, Ephesians four two, ought to be with all lowliness and gentleness. Same 146 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:29,400 word meekness there. Lowly and gentle. By the way, both of those words are used to describe 147 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:35,200 Christ as well. Meekness, it's the opposite of violence. It's the opposite of vengeance. 148 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:39,560 We don't take matters into our own hands. Now, the problem here is that we start to 149 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:46,520 think incorrectly. Some people then equate and conflate meekness with being nice. You 150 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:51,800 just have that Christian niceness. But did you understand nice is not necessarily a Christian 151 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:58,000 virtue? Nice is not one of the fruits of the spirit at all. Galatians five 22, the fruit 152 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,560 of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness 153 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:08,600 and self control against such there is no law. So you said, nice is not in there, but 154 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:15,480 kind is. Aren't they the same? No. Today, here's another way words change. We use someone 155 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,240 being kind, someone being nice in the same way. We use them interchangeably, but they 156 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:27,920 actually have two different definitions. Nice is being polite to someone. Courteous. Kind, 157 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:36,400 kindness historically has meant performing good acts for others out of compassion. Niceness 158 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:44,080 is words. Kindness is actions. And what we're seeing in the text this morning is the courage 159 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:49,960 and the strength and the kindness of meekness come from the Lord. They're generated by the 160 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:56,280 spirit of God. So before we are ever meek, we have to have been broken by God. That's 161 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:01,680 the poverty of spirit. Died to self. We're no longer defending ourselves. We don't live 162 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:06,320 for ourselves. We don't exalt ourselves. Yes, we will stand up for what is right, but we're 163 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:12,640 not going to call attention to ourselves while doing it. Think of our Lord, the perfect example 164 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:17,160 in anything you might mention as far as virtues. He stood up for the right things at the right 165 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:24,400 time without regard to any personal cost. The hypocritical religious leaders, he stared 166 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:29,560 him down. When the temple was being profaned by money changers, what did he do? He goes 167 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:34,160 in there. Here's the meek person, the lowly Jesus. He makes a cord and he makes a whip 168 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,280 and he drives them out. He turns over the temple or turns over the tables, pours out 169 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:43,280 all the money because they were buying and selling and making profit in the temple. It 170 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:50,440 angered him. Not personally, but they were defaming his father. And so Christ, he stands 171 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:55,200 up for his father's house. He stands up for the glory and reputation of his father. He 172 00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:01,000 stood up for the defenseless and weak, but he did not stand up for himself. Peter tells 173 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:10,400 us that, speaking of Christ, who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When 174 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:16,440 he suffered, he didn't threaten. He committed himself to him who judges righteously. You 175 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,400 know, we don't think of these as being a marriage text, but think about it. When he's reviled, 176 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,600 if you ever feel like your spouse reviles you, what normally happens? Well, I'll tell 177 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:28,720 them. They think they're perfect. Let me show them how they're not. And then of course, 178 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:38,000 we just denigrate into a chaotic situation. Christ, the son of God is reviled. He's insulted, 179 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,720 treated contemptuously. And he says, I'll trust God in this. He didn't stand up for 180 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:50,720 himself. Why? Because in his meekness, he entrusted himself to his father's care. My 181 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:56,480 father will take care of it. But you remember, he's there before Pilate. Pilate's like, hey, 182 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:00,120 don't you know, buddy, I have the power to crucify you, which is the most really, not 183 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:07,720 ironic, but the most laughable statement. Jesus never makes a plea for his own defense. 184 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:14,200 He stands there silently, not offering anything. He had all the power in the world, but he 185 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:23,720 would not use it for personal benefit or selfish reasons. Meekness, it's power wrapped in goodness. 186 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:28,160 And you see that supremely in Christ Jesus. I love the designation. You go to the book 187 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:33,500 of Revelation and John, he looks and he sees a lion, powerful, king of the jungle, a lion 188 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:38,400 from the tribe of Judah, this powerful conquering animal. But then he turns again and what does 189 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:47,600 he see? Same person, just different. He sees a lamb, a lamb slain who allowed himself, 190 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:54,720 willingly submitted himself to contemptible treatment because he was meek. All powerful 191 00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:00,280 our Lord is, but he's all good. And he would only use his power and authority for God's 192 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:05,920 noble intentions. That's it. So it really is a strength that is surrendered to God's 193 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:10,920 control. As I mentioned earlier, there's some men in the Old Testament. I'll go through 194 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:16,200 these quickly. Think of Abraham. Again, he's a great patriarch. God made this covenant, 195 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:20,920 the Abrahamic covenant with him. Yet when Abraham and his lot, remember Lot's his nephew, 196 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:26,160 and they have all this cattle and the pasture is not big enough for them. So he goes to, 197 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:31,120 in a spirit of meekness, Abraham tells Lot, he says, Lot, you choose the land you want 198 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:37,440 first. And of course we knew where Lot chose. He looked for the well watered plains of Sodom 199 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:45,680 and Gomorrah. So Lot chose the better pasture land. Abraham didn't argue. He didn't get 200 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:50,840 Lot to seek to change his mind. He gave up his own rights for the sake of harmony with 201 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,320 the family and for testimony's sake. He had the right to demand whatever he wanted. He's 202 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:02,840 the elder. Lot would have had to surrender. But in meekness, Abraham surrendered that 203 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,960 right. Abraham was not weak. And again, later on, he had to go rescue Lot. He goes into 204 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:15,560 battle for him. Think of Joseph. Here's a young man sold into slavery by jealous brothers. 205 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:21,520 But God later vindicates him and elevates him to the second most powerful man in Egypt. 206 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,300 His brothers are standing before him on that fateful day. Here's a man, he's in a position 207 00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:32,160 to take revenge on his brothers for the true manifest evil they had done to him. He could 208 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,880 do whatever he wanted with his brothers. He could have had them killed on the spot. Instead, 209 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:45,600 he wept and forgave. He was meek. He knew that it was God's place to judge his brothers. 210 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:52,400 It was his responsibility to forgive and help them. What about Moses? Moses, we're told 211 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:57,440 in Numbers chapter 12, listen to the text, now the man Moses was very meek, more than 212 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:03,200 all men who were on the face of the earth. That's scripture. Meekest man on the planet 213 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:10,920 at that time. You think he was weak? No. It's the same Moses who smashed the Ten Commandments 214 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:16,200 as he came down from Mount Sinai when he sees Israel involved in that drunken party. It's 215 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:21,240 the same Moses who's known for his meekness, who is so angry with Pharaoh for his mistreatment 216 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:30,200 of the Israelites. How is Moses meek then? Because he became angry at the right things. 217 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:34,720 He was personally attacked even by his own people. He didn't retaliate. What did he do? 218 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:38,420 He goes to God and then he intercedes when God's going to judge those people for speaking 219 00:22:38,420 --> 00:22:45,800 against them. He was meek. He takes his complaint to God and he interceded. Nothing for personal 220 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:54,260 gain and he didn't assert his own rights. David. David had been anointed by Samuel to 221 00:22:54,260 --> 00:22:59,800 replace Saul as the next king. Everyone knew it. Saul's in this jealous rage since he's 222 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:05,280 trying to kill David. He's a maniac. So he's hunting him down so much so that David is 223 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:11,720 on the run. He had to go try to live in caves. Then one day, David's in the cave of En-Gedi. 224 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:18,560 Saul comes in there, unbeknownst to him, David's hiding. Saul doesn't know it. And David sneaks 225 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:24,040 up on Saul and cuts a piece of his robe off. Just a piece of his robe. And later he would 226 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:32,360 show it to Saul. Notice the meekness here. David's conscience was bothered by that act. 227 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,560 He said, I should have never stretched out my hand against the words anointed. What do 228 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,960 you mean stretch out your hand? You cut a piece of robe, a piece of cloth. Saul's doing 229 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:46,320 you wickedly. Saul wants to cut off your head. You just cut off a piece of his robe. And 230 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:54,360 he did that to show Saul he meant no harm. David had all the opportunity to kill Saul 231 00:23:54,360 --> 00:24:01,040 and he was convicted of cutting his office robe. Here's a man who's meek. His power under 232 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:07,600 control and the Lord would exalt him. He would be the next warrior king of Israel. In the 233 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:12,160 New Testament, we see the apostle Paul. Here's the most erudite scholar of his time, sophisticated, 234 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:16,200 more educated than all the apostles, yet he refused to call himself anything but the least 235 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:22,400 of the apostles. He didn't put any confidence in his flesh although he had impressive pedigree. 236 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,880 When people did Paul wrong, what did he do? He said, the Lord will pay him. The Lord will 237 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:32,680 deal with him. See, this is what it means to be meek. We don't personally retaliate. 238 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:39,160 We don't seek revenge. We don't take matters into our own hands. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, he 239 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:45,280 said, the man who is meek is not even sensitive about himself. He's not always watching himself 240 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:50,640 and his own interests. He's not always on the defensive. We spend the whole of our lives 241 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:56,520 watching ourselves. But when a man becomes meek, he is finished with all that. He no 242 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:01,560 longer worries about himself and what other people say. To be truly meek means we no longer 243 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:07,360 protect ourselves because we see there's nothing worth defending. So we're not on the defensive. 244 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:12,600 All that is gone. The man who's truly meek never pities himself. He is never sorry for 245 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:19,960 himself. Wow. But there's a promise that's attached to each of these beatitudes, isn't 246 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:25,680 it? What did Jesus say? The meek, they're blessed. Why? Well, they're going to inherit 247 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:30,200 the earth. You find that expression several times in the Old Testament as a way to show 248 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:34,920 God's great blessing. You find this exact phrase in Psalm 37, 11. I put verse 10 up 249 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,120 there as well. But look at verse 11. But the meek shall inherit the earth. Jesus is just 250 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:46,080 quoting Psalm 37, 11. And they shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. But 251 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:50,560 right now, let's be honest, right now we live east of Eden. We live in a fallen world. And 252 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:58,440 today it seems that the earth or the blessings go to the strong and those who know how to 253 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:05,360 advance and promote themselves. Have you ever wondered why the wicked seem to be blessed? 254 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:09,680 I mean, it seems some people had the Midas touch and a lot of times they're just evil 255 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:16,920 wicked men. And yet the righteous and the godly, they seem to suffer so much tragedy. 256 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:21,600 The meek commits themselves to Christ, commits themselves to God and His care. Chris Miller 257 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:27,720 in his commentary, he said, the meek do not demand their rights because they cower, intimidated. 258 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:34,500 No, they're not fearful, but because they refuse to act out of selfish ambition, preferring 259 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:38,880 the interests of others ahead of their own. They give God room to act on their behalf 260 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:48,560 and then and in time, on their behalf in the due time He will. If I ask today, we could 261 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:54,160 all give examples of how life does not seem fair. Some of you may be tempted to look at 262 00:26:54,160 --> 00:27:00,560 the lives of wicked people and you begin to envy them. The psalmist says, don't, don't 263 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:07,320 do it. God will be vindicated. God is going to judge them. We're in Psalm 37, look at 264 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:13,200 the first three verses. Do not fret, do not worry because of evil doers. Don't be envious 265 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,240 of the workers of iniquity. Yeah, they may have some money right now. For they shall 266 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:25,400 soon be cut down like the grass and they will wither as the green herb. You trust in the 267 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:32,200 Lord and do good. Look at down to verse 10, for you'll get a little while and the wicked 268 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:36,880 there will be no more, they're gone. One day the Lord will take away the wicked from the 269 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:45,400 earth and He will give it to His people. What do you and I do right now? We walk by faith, 270 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:52,800 trusting that God and His word will be vindicated. We believe Psalm 37. We believe that the meek 271 00:27:52,800 --> 00:28:00,000 will inherit the earth. The entire cosmos, the entire earth has been given to Jesus and 272 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:08,440 His people will share with Him in His inheritance. The earth and the fullness belong to God and 273 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,640 He is very happy to share it with His people. Paul tells us in Romans 8 that all of creation 274 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:19,160 right now is currently groaning, waiting for the redemption of the sons of God. What's 275 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:24,840 that mean? All of creation, the entire cosmos is patiently waiting for the Lord Jesus to 276 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:30,240 return and the consummation of the kingdom that He began when He first came in His first 277 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:37,160 advent. They're waiting for that day and when our Lord returns, there's going to be a grand 278 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:45,720 megas renovation. A new heaven doesn't mean new in the way we think, it's restored, renovated 279 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:51,240 heaven, a new, a restored, renovated earth and the meek, you're going to inherit this 280 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:59,960 entire new, renovated, restored cosmos given to Christ. That's why you're blessed. So what 281 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:04,880 do we do in the meantime? I love what MacArthur said, I'm quoting too much but forgive me. 282 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,240 Our responsibility is to trust the Lord and obey His will. That's it. The setting of a 283 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,520 settling of accounts, whether judgment or blessing is in His hands, it will be accomplished 284 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:19,400 in the right time and in the right way. Yet now, God's children live in faith and hope 285 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:27,920 based on the certain promise, the divine pronouncement, they inherit the earth. So meekness, it is 286 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:33,160 produced by seeing ourselves who we really are, poor in spirit, spiritually bankrupt, 287 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:39,200 poverty stricken people, and who God really is, the absolutely holy sovereign one, and 288 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:44,320 that leads to humble meek disposition. So we've seen what it is, we've seen what it's 289 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:50,240 like, but how can you tell if you're living a meek life? Again, Martin Lloyd-Jones, I'm 290 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,920 just going to read these. If you're taking notes, I'm sorry, you can get my slides later. 291 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:59,560 Meek people do not boast in themselves. They don't find glory in themselves and they don't 292 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,360 desire that other people glory in them either. Meek people are not sensitive about themselves 293 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:09,360 and don't always feel the need to defend themselves when people point out their flaws and weaknesses. 294 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:13,700 Meek people have a teachable spirit. They're not gullible but they are open to criticism 295 00:30:13,700 --> 00:30:17,920 and they expect it because they know they have a lot to learn. We've not yet arrived. 296 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,400 Who amongst us can claim perfection? Meek people love the word of God and submit to 297 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:26,720 it. They don't chafe against it. Meek people tend to be satisfied because they don't always 298 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:32,720 believe they're entitled to more. They're blessed with what they have. Meek people are 299 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:38,600 not weak people. A meek person will stand immovable, immovable in God's truth because 300 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:47,120 they submit to God before they will submit to man. Amen. This is the character of Christ 301 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:58,000 which means that my application cannot be be meek. You can't do it. I can't do it. 302 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,760 This is not something you produce or I produce. It's a spirit produced. You can't make yourself 303 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:09,160 be meek. How foolish if I would get up there and say, now church having heard this, be 304 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,760 meek. You ought to go out with ashes on your head and lament and wailing. You can't do 305 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:20,480 it. I can't do this. Naturally on our own we are bent in toward ourselves, curved inwardly. 306 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:25,080 We seek our own. We want our own. We want revenge on those who cross us. We want our 307 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:31,600 pound of flesh. But God in this glorious salvation, in our union with Christ, he has given to 308 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:37,560 us not just forgiveness of sins, he has given to us his Holy Spirit. And his Spirit begins 309 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:46,360 to produce the character of his Son in us. A Christ-like gentleness in us. And friends, 310 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:55,140 I am not there. It's a work of God's Spirit in the lives of God's people. We need to be 311 00:31:55,140 --> 00:32:00,440 saved from our sin, yes, but we also need to be saved from ourselves, from our own selfish 312 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:09,120 orientation, our own narrow-minded, myopic view that looks out for just ourselves. Divine 313 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:14,760 rescue. Lord, rescue us from our sin, rescue us from ourselves, and thanks be to God, he 314 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:23,320 did just that when he sent his Son. He, Jesus, the meek one, he invites weary sinners to 315 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:30,920 come to him. Matthew 11, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden. You're tired, 316 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:36,360 you're burdened, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me. I am gentle 317 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:44,220 and lowly in heart. You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden 318 00:32:44,220 --> 00:32:49,240 is light. I told you that the Jews stumbled over Christ. They were looking for this military 319 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:54,080 leader, but they should have known he would come as a gentle, suffering servant. Isaiah 320 00:32:54,080 --> 00:33:00,880 42, listen to the words of Isaiah talking about our Lord. Behold my servant whom I uphold, 321 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:07,160 my elect one whom my soul delights. I put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice 322 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:11,960 to the Gentiles. Verse 2, he will not cry out, he will not raise his voice, he will 323 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:18,680 not cause his voice to be heard in the street. Verse 3, a bruised reed. He doesn't break 324 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:26,640 a smoking flax, he will not quench. He will bring justice, bring forth justice for truth. 325 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:32,080 He will not fail nor be discouraged until he has established justice in the earth and 326 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,160 the coastlands shall wait for his law. Look at verse 3 though, a bruised reed he will 327 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:44,000 not break. Friends, in the eyes of the world, a bruised reed has no value. There's no power 328 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:49,720 in it, there's no stability in a broken reed. The world says cut him down, it's weak, cut 329 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:57,880 the bruised reeds down. It's how our world operates isn't it? It's a dog eat dog world. 330 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:04,760 A bruised reed here is a symbol for bruised people. Those who are bruised emotionally, 331 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:13,000 physically, most of all spiritually, they've been bruised, they've been wounded. They're 332 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:22,440 the ones for whom Christ came. Weak, very weak, feeble people, whom the world will discard, 333 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:30,160 whom the world will despise. God takes in and he makes them his own family. This is 334 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:36,480 our God friends. He takes the bruised, the weak, the despised, the outcasts of the world 335 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:42,040 and adopts them and makes them his sons and daughters and gives them a glorious inheritance 336 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:50,000 with his divine son. Could anything be richer? Could anything be more grand than that? He 337 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,040 wants the bruised reeds. He says you come to me for healing, I'm not going to cut you 338 00:34:54,040 --> 00:35:02,760 down. He understands bruised reeds, you know why? Because he too was bruised. He was bruised 339 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:11,040 for our iniquities. He was crushed on behalf of those who had been crushed by sin. Our 340 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:22,160 Lord, he came to heal the broken hearted. Blessed, God's favor, glorious favor, divine 341 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:29,480 favor rests upon you when you've come to realize that it's a work of the Spirit of God. I don't 342 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:34,200 know who wrote this, I quoted it but I can't attribute it to anyone. You may be pressed 343 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:39,560 down with the troubles of this world. You may be struggling with doubt and fear. You 344 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:46,640 may be feeble and disheartened and ready to break. But know this, Jesus cares. He will 345 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:52,740 have pity for the broken hearted, compassion for the humble, affection for the penitent 346 00:35:52,740 --> 00:35:59,880 and healing for the afflicted. Come to him in faith, humbly trusting his strength and 347 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:07,320 you will find that he, our Lord, the divine son, the risen one, the crucified one, he 348 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:14,680 is gracious to all. This is the promise of the gospel. It is glorious. May the Lord be 349 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:22,640 pleased to open eyes this morning to this truth. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your 350 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:37,640 word.