Remember that? Its host, David Horowitz, encouraged
taking aggressive action in order to demand one's
rights. It seems to me that the spirit of the
Fight Back program was something of a reflection
of the spirit of man and of this humanistic age.
Of course, there are times when it is entirely
appropriate to insist upon one's rights. But
that spirit is not the kind that should mark
a Christian who is conducting himself as God's
royalty. Human royalty may, in fact, be characterized
by a certain arrogance or a pompous attitude.
But never, never should heavenly royalty be characterized
that way. To walk worthy of our high calling
in Christ Jesus, we are to be known for certain
qualities. He tells us here, I therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in
a manner worthy of the calling with which you
have been called, with all humility and gentleness.
We are in the first place to be known for our
humility. Not thinking of ourselves as worthless,
but regarding ourselves as unworthy. Not thinking
less than we should of ourselves, but then not
thinking more than we ought. Not failing to have
a proper self -esteem, but considering others
as more important. and failing to properly assert
ourselves by denying the aggressive, self -serving
ways of the natural man. That's humility. Humility
is a slippery thing, for just when you think
you've attained it, you've lost it. The smaller
we are, the more room God has to work. It seems
to me that's why that particular... quality heads
this list in Ephesians 4. But there are other
qualities here, other qualities which also must
mark the character of those who are God's chosen
called children. These qualities being present
will preserve the unity of the fellowship, and
that, by the way, is the context of this whole
first paragraph. But in addition to preserving
unity, these qualities will prove to be an acceptable
lifestyle to God. Now let's move ahead in our
text and look today at this matter of gentleness.
Gentleness is sometimes misunderstood. We notice
here that it's paired in a yoke with humility.
Sometimes in Scripture these two are in fact
associated, as here, Colossians 3 .12. There's
another list of qualities which we are to bring
into our lives, and there also humility is paired
with gentleness. The reason for that is probably
that only the humble can be gentle. Gentleness
flows from humility. wrote, it is only the humble
heart which is also the meek, and that word is
synonymous with gentle, and which as such, he
continues, does not fight against God and more
or less struggle and contend with him. This meekness
or gentleness, however, being first of all a
meekness before God, is also such in the face
of men, even of evil men. out of a sense that
these, with the insults and injuries which they
may inflict, are permitted and employed by God
for the chastening and purifying of his elect.
Humility and gentleness go together. This word
is also translated, as does Trench in some translations
of the Bible, meekness. It means power that is
under control. It is a dynamic that comes from
energy that is harnessed and channeled in the
right direction. A horse is a powerful animal
and a beautiful animal. It is fun just to watch
horses run wild. But it is not until that horse
is brought under control. placed into a harness
and attached to some equipment, that that energy
is brought into usefulness. And so it is with
this idea of gentleness. It is a dynamic energy
that is harnessed and then channeled in the right
direction. It is the fruit, not of weakness,
but of spiritual power. The linguistic key to
the Greek New Testament says this about this
word, the humble and gentle attitude which expresses
itself in a patient submissiveness to offense,
free from malice and desire for revenge. I repeat,
gentleness is not weakness. Rather, it is the
full strength of human personality which is in
submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Vine's
Dictionary of New Testament Words says, It is
that temper of spirit in which we accept God's
dealings with us as good, and therefore without
disputing and resisting. It is in submission
to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Synonymous words
might include consideration. Gentleness is kindness.
It is thoughtfulness, graciousness. Gentleness
is not rudeness. It is not harshness. A gentle
spirit is a soothing disposition. Undoubtedly,
the greatest example in all of human history
of gentleness. He is the person of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said of himself in
Matthew 11, 29, I am gentle and humble of mind.
Our Savior possessed all power. It was his. All
authority resided in our Lord, and yet it was
never out of control. So never think of gentleness
as weakness. Our Savior was gentle as well as
humble. His majestic power as God was completely
under control. And yet, it might be good to point
out that there were times when Jesus was angry.
That's not a contradiction to gentleness, by
the way. That person who cannot be angry is an
emotional cripple. A person who hears that our
legislature is considering what it is this week,
that I talked about earlier, and is not angry
about that, does not become indignant because
of it, is somehow missing something in his personality.
There are appropriate times when anger is the
right response. And then it also must be expressed
in an appropriate way. Anger is not necessarily
the opposite of gentleness. In fact, I see gentleness
and anger as complementary. Anger is a human
emotion. It may be righteously felt and expressed,
or sinfully so as well. We ought to become indignant
at injustice, at oppression, and sin. And if
we don't, something's wrong. Our world was indignant
about these things. J. Adams, in his edited New
Testament entitled The Christian Counselor's
New Testament, says this, Anger is not sinful
in itself. It is an emotion designed to mobilize
force to tear something apart. Anger is sinful
when it grows out of pride, hurt feelings, etc.
Anger is sinful when it's expressed in sinful
ways. Two sinful expressions are Blowing up and
clamming up. Blowing up, ventilation, is energy
wasted and used to tear up others. That's sin.
Clamming up or internalization is energy wasted
and used to tear up ourselves on the inside.
He continues, there is a scripturally acceptable
expression of anger. Anger released under control
and aimed at tearing up the problem while building
up persons. Those are good words. If you want
a helpful book on anger, there is one in our
bookstore that's available. There are eight copies
that are left. And I didn't mention the first
service. I forgot to. So they may still be there.
But it's called Anger, Yours, Mine. what to do
about it. I encourage you to buy it. Gentleness
is not in contradiction to indignation. Our Savior
was a perfect example of this balance. Gentleness
is one quality that should characterize our relationships.
How then is it to be expressed? The New Testament
gives us some ways in which gentleness may be
appropriately evidenced in the life. I'd like
you to look at these with me. In the first place,
the Bible teaches us that gentleness should be
exercised in matters of discipline. Turn with
me to Galatians, just back a couple of pages
from where we are, to the sixth chapter in the
first verse. He says, Brethren, if any man is
caught in a trespass, You who are spiritual,
restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness,
each one looking to yourself, lest you too be
tempted. Now the apostle is dealing here with
all of us in this matter of discipline. You see,
church discipline is not just for the pastor
and the elders of the church. Biblically, church
discipline is the responsibility of each one
of us. We are to look out for each other. Now
he says if we see one who is overtaken, who is
caught in a trespass, one who has been ensnared
in sin, what are we to do? We are not to gossip
about that person. We are not to make... accusations
about that person, but it says that we are to
go to that person and to seek to restore, to
bring healing, to free that person from being
caught and to pull them back so they may be put
back together. That is the responsibility of
each of us. But notice it tells us that we who
are spiritual are to do that. Now someone says,
oh, well, you know, I'm not a spiritual person.
Shame on you. What a terrible admission ever
to make to say I am not a spiritual person. That's
an awful confession. You say, well, what is a
spiritual person? Well, I'm glad you asked. Because,
you see, a spiritual person in the first place
is not a perfect person. A spiritual person is
not a sinless person. In fact, a spiritual person
may not even be a mature Christian. A brand new
baby in Christ can be a spiritual person. A spiritual
person is one who is simply walking, that is
living, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit and
not himself, according to chapter 5 where it's
defined for us. That is a spiritual person. It's
one who has confessed his sins as fully as he
knows them to be, has claimed God's forgiveness
faithfully, freely extended to us in Christ,
and who then says, Lord, you dominate me. You,
by your Holy Spirit, control my life, energize
me. That person, from that point on, is a spiritual
person until he chooses to sin, and then the
Holy Spirit obviously isn't in control anymore,
and he has to confess and yield afresh to the
Holy Spirit, and the spiritual walk continues.
It is a terrible thing to say, I am not a spiritual
Christian, because every one of us can and should
be spiritual, because we are walking with God,
dealing with our sins when they erupt in their
ugliness. And then allowing the Holy Spirit to
go on and control us from that point on. Now
he says, we who are spiritual, who are dealing
with our sins, who are not caught at the present
time, because all of us have at times been caught.
We have been overtaken and we've needed someone
to come to us. This morning there are some of
us who are sitting here who are caught in sin.
And our greatest need is for someone here to
love us enough to do what this verse tells them
to do. To come to us and wrap their arms around
us and help to restore us. And when they come
to us, by the way, we must not reject them, be
angry with them. Even if at first it burns a
little bit, it stings when they say what they
do. Let's be thankful they love us enough to
come. And we who are going and obeying the word
of God in this matter, he tells us here we're
to not only be spiritual, but he says that we're
to do this with a spirit of gentleness. We're
not to be harsh. We're not to go out to grab
them by the tie and say, now look, fella. No,
that's not the way we restore people. We don't
like to be talked to that way. And as we deal
with people, we must be gentle with them. Paul
pled with the Corinthians. He says, look, do
you want me to come to you with a rod of correction?
You know what that is. Or may I come with gentleness
and humility. He did not want to come with a
spanking stick. By the way, boys and girls, young
people, young men and women, Your parents don't
enjoy coming to you with a spanking stick. I
know there are times you think that their greatest
delight is beating you. And I put that in quotes.
Your parents do not enjoy spanking you. They
seek to obey the word of God and discipline you,
bring you up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. They would much rather come to you
with gentleness. And they can if you'll let them.
Because a lot of it depends upon your attitude
and the way you're willing to receive their instruction,
their chastisement, their discipline. If you'll
be receptive to that, then it helps them a great
deal to be able to avoid that rod, which must
at some times nonetheless be used. When we deal
with people in matters of discipline, it's to
be with gentleness. Secondly, We are to exercise
discipline in matters of difference. Turn over
to 2 Timothy 2. Here, through the Apostle Paul,
we are instructed this way. Verse 24, 2 Timothy
2. And the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome.
But be kind to all, able to teach, patient when
wronged, with gentleness, correcting those who
are in opposition, that perhaps God may grant
them repentance, leading to the knowledge of
the truth, and they may come to their senses
and escape from the snare of the devil, having
been held captive by him to do his will. Now,
these are words written really to all of us,
and especially the leaders. You know what he
tells us here? He tells us that we can't expect
opposition. You write it down that if you're
not being opposed in what you're doing to serve
the Lord, something's wrong with you. Opposition
is just natural. It's going to be there. Now,
the important thing is how we handle it, and
that's what he addresses. And among other things,
he says that we are to with gentleness seek to
correct those who are wrong. Now he tells us
that God may grant them repentance so that they
can see what the truth really is. He tells us
at the present time that they're out of their
senses. They're intoxicated and need to sober
up is the idea. And they're not necessarily intoxicated
on booze. You can be intoxicated on false ideas
and thinking. He tells us, furthermore, that
they're held captive by Satan to do what he wants.
Now, rather than getting unrighteously angry,
we are to gently seek to restore them. In fact,
we may get angry with those who are opposed.
But that anger should not be expressed in either
ventilation or internalization. That's only a
waste, a waste of energy. But rather, under control,
we are to seek to correct the problem and at
the same time build up the person. Gentleness
is to be used in matters of difference. There
are differences here. There's not a congregation
in the world where there are not differences.
You have a congregation of two people and you've
got differences. Here's how to handle them with
gentleness. Now a third proper exercise of gentleness
is in the matter of discipleship. Turn over with
me please to James chapter 1 and verse 19. This
you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone
be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to
anger. The life verse of every parent. Right?
The one that should be written over the mirror.
So that whenever you look at yourself, you have
to see what those words say. They're hard words
to put into practice in my life. He tells us
why. Because the anger of man does not achieve
the righteousness of God. You know when we are
angry people. When we have anger that is churning
down inside of us. And sometimes we don't even
know when that is. Often it's expressed by depression.
Depression is often anger that's internalized.
When there is anger that is churning down inside
of us, it never accomplishes the righteousness
of God in our lives. We have to deal with that
anger in a right way. Sometimes we need help
to do that, professional help. There's nothing
wrong with that. Anger does not accomplish the
righteousness of God in our lives or in the lives
of others. Do you know an angry person begets
angry people? Then he goes on to say, therefore
putting aside all filthiness and all the remains
of wickedness, in humility, and here's our same
word, gentleness. In gentleness, receive the
word implanted which is able to save your souls.
He draws a picture here of our hearts, and he
says our hearts are like a garden. They can go
to weeds. If you have a garden, maybe that's
the way yours looks right now, if you haven't
planted it yet. Weeds are very natural to soil,
just as they're natural to the human heart. He
tells us that we have to first of all get the
weeds out of the garden. He says get rid of the
filthiness, all of it. Get rid of all the remains
of wickedness. Tear out all of that excess growth.
Remove it so that the word of God can be implanted
down to the soil of your heart. Now he tells
us that as it's planted, it needs to be planted
with some fertilizer. You see what it is? It's
gentleness. He says as you open up your heart,
all the weeds being pulled out, as you open up
your heart to the Word of God, as hopefully you
do when you come to church on Sunday, or when
you sit down in that Bible study at home, or
in the small group that you meet with, or as
you personally open God's Word. As you have the
Word of God planted down in your heart, he says,
fertilize it, receive it, appropriate it with
gentleness. And he says if we do this, we'll
get a nice crop. He says it's able to save your
souls. That's a pretty good produce. He's not
talking about salvation from hell. He's addressing
believers here who've already been saved in that
sense. He's talking about being saved from the
misery, the woe, the destruction of a life that's
overrun by weeds. A Christian life overrun by
weeds of filthiness and wickedness. Want to save
yourself from a life of misery? You want to save
yourself from going in the same direction you're
going now and experiencing destruction and everything
falling apart? Here's how to do it. Get rid of
the weeds. Then begin implanting the word of
God in your heart with gentleness. Wherever the
discipleship is coming from, let it be received
with gentleness so that that seed can be carefully
planted there and not disturbed. So then the
Spirit of God can cause it to germinate and bring
forth this produce to get your life straightened
out. That's what James says. Now there's a third
way in which gentleness is to be exercised, and
that's in the matter of defense. Turn with me
to 1 Peter. Chapter 3 and verse 15. We briefly
looked at this last week. Let's come back at
it. It says, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts, always being ready to make a defense
to everyone who asks you to give an account for
the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness
and reverence and keep a good conscience. He
tells us here that we can expect to be questioned.
There will be times that all of us will face
the inquisitor. And someone will say, why do
you believe this and that? Now he says, always
be ready to give a defense. He doesn't mean defensively.
He doesn't mean to get in a fight about it. You
can win an argument and lose a soul. But he says,
always be ready to give a reasoned explanation,
a rationale for why you believe what you confess
to anyone who asks you about it. But notice that
in our defense, we're to keep in mind gentleness.
He says, do this with gentleness and reverence.
Reverence toward God. and reverence toward that
person. You know, one of the basic rules of being
a good witness for Christ is just to respect
people. Once more, you don't go up to people
and take them by the nap of the neck and shake
them and try to get them to see their sin and
need to trust Christ. Respect that person. Be
considerate and courteous of that person, he
says, with reverence and with gentleness. Give
your answer. to that one who seeks a reason for
the hope, that living hope that you have in Jesus
Christ. You see, gentleness is very practical.
It should be a part of our everyday life. Gentleness
is a grace of spirit that needs to be enjoyed
by every child of God. In 1 Timothy 6 .11, Paul
says to that young man, There are some things
to flee, Timothy. You get away from them. And
there are other things that you must pursue with
every ounce of strength and energy that you have
as a person. And among those things that he lists
is gentleness. Pursue gentleness, he says. The
book of Titus is so practical. Look at Titus
chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2. He writes to Titus
to... Remind all of us to be subject to rulers,
to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for
every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious.
Here's our word, gentle, showing every consideration
for all men. Whether they're saved or lost, we
are to be a considerate kind of people, gentle
people. I'll tell you what, this gentleness presents
a powerful testimony in our world today. But
in addition to that, it preserves the unity of
the body, a body which is diverse. Just look
at us this morning. Almost any way you can think
of, we are a diverse people. But he says that
gentleness, when it marks our character, will
preserve unity in the church. Now the Holy Spirit
produces it. You and I are not expected by God
to conjure up gentleness. Galatians 5 .23 says
that it's one aspect of the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. And so it is as we yield to the Holy
Spirit, as we were talking earlier, as we are
spiritual people, not carnal, gentleness will
be expressed in our lives. It will come. Now,
Satan and the world, frankly, have sold us a
lie. That lie is that gentleness is not desirable.
That gentleness will result in your being taken
advantage of, so therefore you had better fight
back. And you know, some of us have bought that
lie. Like the manager who boasts, I don't have
ulcers, I give them. Or the husband who, if is
questioned by his wife, or has a disagreement
with his wife, attacks her, even physically abuses
her. I want you to know that I believe everything
the Bible says regarding the authority of the
husband in the home. along with the mutual submissiveness,
by the way, of husband and wife, mutual submissiveness.
But nowhere is there one word in all the scriptures
regarding a wife having the right to touch his
wife to abuse her. Not one word. In fact, that's
sin. That's a lack of gentleness. And it's true
of wives toward husbands, too. That sometimes
happens. And it's true of parents toward children.
There's not a place for harsh physical abuse.
Now, if in fact that exists in your relationship
to somebody, you need to find some help with
that. Because not only is that a sin, but there
are times when we are predisposed to that because
of experiences that we ourselves have had. The
greatest tragedy would be for that to go on and
continue and not to be dealt with. It is not
a shame for you to seek help from someone if
you have that problem in your life, in your home.
It's the shame if you don't do something about
it. That's the shame. The roommate who gets fed
up with the living habits of the other. You know,
sometimes a room becomes actually a habitat.
You ever experience that? I was 25 when I got
married. I had time to have a lot of roommates,
college years and afterward. And I'll tell you,
sometimes roommates are tough to get along with.
They're just nasty. They're sorry people, as
much as I am. It's possible, I'm talking to some
career people here today, it's possible that
you may want to even take some severe action
against that roommate of yours. Hey, be gentle.
Be gentle. Oh, I'll tell you anyway. I remember
the one roommate that we had when I was in college
and we, because of certain problems that we were
confronted with, took him down to the shower
and gently showered him. But what you do, do
it with gentleness. That's the point. And again,
I'm trying to dig myself out here. You may even
be angry about some aspect of a relationship
with another person, but don't allow that anger
to be sinfully expressed and handled. It may
be righteous anger, but deal with it in an appropriate
way, not an abusive, wasteful way. Rather than
attacking and destroying that other person, get
to the problem and build up the person. That's
what Jay Adams was trying to tell us. To lack
gentleness, folks, to lack gentleness in our
lives is a symptom of worldliness. Now some of
us would rather... have a list of things that
we could say, well, this is worldly if you do
these things. I want to tell you something. If
you have that idea of worldliness, you're missing
a whole lot that the devil wants you to miss.
Because a lack of gentleness is worldliness.
Because our world is not gentle. It's militaristic.
It's oppressive. It's greedy. It's pushy. Our
whole world is based upon the idea, fight back.
Gentleness is not the only quality that should
mark us as God's children, but it is one quality.
Is it a characteristic of your dealings with
others most of the time? With your family? With
your co -workers? If not, will you today ask
God to make you a gentle person? Will you today
allow the Spirit of God to do a fresh work in
your heart so that this fruit might be born,
this fruit of the Spirit? It is with this very
same tenderness and gentleness that the Savior
calls us to a place of faith and obedience. He
calls His wayward child this morning, maybe you.
And with the tenderness of the father who waited
for his prodigal to come home, he waits for you
to come. That father that Jesus told about saw
his son coming and he ran down the road to meet
him. And when he saw him, he didn't say, I told
you so. I warned you you would waste your substance
if you went out that way. That was true. But
rather he just reached out and embraced that
son of his and welcomed him home. I want you
to know that's the same gentleness with which
the Savior waits for you this morning, prodigal
son of his. And it's the same gentleness with
which he seeks that lost person. Like the shepherd
who went out looking for the one lost sheep.
I don't know what the thicket is that you may
be caught in this morning. I don't know the predicament.
that your sin has worked you into. I don't know
the mess you're in, but I know this, there is
a gentle shepherd who came to seek and to save
that which is lost. And if you're lost today,
he's looking for you, and he wants to save you.
Will you let him? Let's bow together. Our Heavenly
Father, may the Holy Spirit work into our lives
the practical applications of this message that
all of us have to respond to in some way. And
if there are those who need particular prayer
help this morning, I pray that humility and courage
will be seen in their lives as they're willing
to step out from where they are and come to the
front in response to that gentle voice that they
hear inside right now telling them to come. In
Jesus' name, amen. Our closing hymn is 301.