THE MIGHTY MEEK (Matthew 5:3-10; Psalm 37:1-11) INTRODUCTION In the 1700s Charles Wesley wrote a prayer for children

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1 THE MIGHTY MEEK (Matthew 5:3-10; Psalm 37:1-11) INTRODUCTION In the 1700s Charles Wesley wrote a prayer for children Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child; Pity my simplicity, Suffer me to come to Thee. Lamb of God, I look to Thee; Thou shalt my example be: Thou art gentle, meek and mild; Thou wast once a little child. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, is this your picture of Jesus? Many are not happy with this description because Jesus is not a weak, Casper Milquetoast type person. Casper Milquetoast is the type of person who speaks softly and gets hit by a big stick! Jesus is not like that. He is the powerful Son of God, who came to save His people from sin, Satan, and death; who did battle with Satan and the Pharisees. Right? But let s not be too hasty. Jesus referred to himself in Matthew 11:19 (in the KJV) as meek. Matthew 11:29 KJV Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. In this third beatitude we hear Jesus say, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5) Meekness seems to be something to prize. Meekness is something to strive for. Meekness is a virtue. Meekness is a blessing. Maybe we need to get a better handle on the term meek. What is meekness? As one commentator said (which is an understatement), The term meekness is hard to define. (Broadus) CONTROLLING OUR ANGER The Greek word for meekness (praus) has an interesting background. October 21, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 1

2 The Greek philosophers wrote quite a bit about this virtue. To Aristotle meekness was the mean between excessive anger and the inability to show anger at all. William Barclay brings out this tie between meekness and anger when he paraphrases this beatitude as, "Blessed is the man who is always angry at the right time, and never angry at the wrong time." That is part of the picture of being meek. It is important that we learn to control our anger. Will Rogers said, "People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. Someone else has said, "Speak when you're angry -- and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret." So meekness has to do with controlling our anger, but there is much more to meekness than controlling our anger. STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL Close to this meaning is another use of the term in the Greek culture of that day. They saw meekness as strength under control. In ancient Greece, war horses were trained to be meek strong and powerful yet under control and willing to submit. I like to think of a beautiful white stallion which is captured and tamed. That certainly a picture of "strength under control." This is another aspect of meekness -- strength under control, willing to submit to a master. GENTLENESS Gentleness is also a part of the meaning of meekness. The preferred way for the English translations of the New Testament for the Greek praus is gentle or gentleness. The NKJV, NIV, and ESV translate Matthew 11:29, as Jesus saying I am gentle and lowly in heart. The Greek scholar Trench sees a slight distinction in meekness and gentleness. He says, Meekness is more in the mind internally, gentleness is in the external behavior in relation to others. If we are meek in our mental assessment of ourselves, we will be gentle towards others. Meekness so far in our survey of uses has to do with controlling our anger, strength under control, and gentleness. SUBMITTING TO GOD IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS One more idea is needed to round out our understanding of what it means to be meek. This comes from the Old Testament. In this third beatitude it seems that Jesus is actually quoting from Psalm 37. Verse 11 reads, But the meek shall inherit the earth. October 21, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 2

3 In Psalm 37 we get clearer picture of the meek person in verses 3 8: Psalms 37:3-8 (NKJV) Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. (4) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. (5) Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. (6) He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. (7) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. (8) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret it only causes harm. So meekness is having our anger and frustrations under the control of God. We become meek through our trusting the Lord, delighting ourselves in Him, committing our way to Him, resting in Him, waiting for Him, not fretting over evil doers, and ceasing from anger. The meek are those who are tempered by God's control in their life as they face evil and evil men. This is what it means to be meek in the Old Testament. Meekness is having strength of character to face life situations under the control of God without outbursts of anger or undue passivity. Wow! I want to be meek, don t you? MOSES IS AN EXAMPLE OF MEEKNESS There is an outstanding example of meekness in the scriptures. The Bible tells us who the meekest man on earth was. It was Moses. In Numbers 12:3 (KJV) "Now the man Moses was meek, more than all men who were on the face of the earth." In Numbers 12 Moses is facing a test of his authority and of his being an instrument of God. This came from his own family members -- his sister Miriam and brother Aaron. They spoke against Moses. Why? Not because they didn t believe what Moses was teaching. but because Moses married an Ethiopian -- that is a black lady. Exodus 12:1 reads: "Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" Moses didn t live up to the family s expectation and they spoke out against him. What did Moses do? How did he handle himself? Moses did not defend himself nor allow any anger to cause him to do anything rashly, but he trusted in God. He committed his way to God. He rested in God. He allowed God to take October 21, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 3

4 control of the situation and of his heart. This is meekness! Meekness is trusting in God in difficult situations and not allowing our natural reactions to take over, whether its anger, rage, or retaliation. MEEKNESS IN RELATION TO THE OTHER BEATITUDES How do we learn meekness? Let s look at meekness in its relation to the first two beatitudes. Matthew 5:3-4 NKJV "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (4) Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Jesus then said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." To be meek is one of the results of practicing the first two beatitudes. To be meek takes a person who is poor in spirit. A person who recognizes that he doesn t have what it takes within himself; that only in the Lord is he spiritually rich, strong, and the person God wants him to be. To be meek then takes a person who mourns over their personal sins, failures, and shortcomings before God and trusts in Him. When these two virtues are present in our lives, then we can have a true assessment of ourselves. We can be the person who trusts in God in face of adversity, opposition and any difficulty and allow Him to control us. MEEKNESS IN RELATION TO THE SPIRIT How do we learn meekness? Paul tells us that Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23 NKJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. The last two words in this list of the fruit of the Spirit have the root word for meekness, praus. The KJV translates them as meekness and temperance. Other translations use gentleness and Self-control. Meekness is gentleness under self-control. The point from this passage is that meekness doesn't come naturally. Our natural tendencies according to verse 20 are fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, and factions. Meekness is not a natural character-trait. It comes from the work of God's Spirit in our lives. To learn meekness is to learn to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. October 21, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 4

5 MEEKNESS IN RELATION TO CHRIST How do we learn meekness?- We are to be like Christ. As Jesus is meek, so are we to be meek. 2 Corinthians 10:1 NKJV (1) Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. Colossians 3:12 NKJV Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; Meekness is to be like Jesus. THE INHERITANCE OF THE MEEK Finally let s consider the inheritance of the meek. Jesus said that they will inherit the earth. The meek will inherit the earth. This is not a promise that the children of God will own vast stretches of land or oil wells, or blocks of downtown Manhattan, or orchards in southern California. It is a promise that is much greater and more permanent than these. The Biblical background of inheriting the earth has something to do with the promise to Abraham. In the book of Genesis God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. Much of the OT is about the nation of Israel conquering, possessing, and then losing their inheritance of the land. The Promised Land in the OT is a type of the inheritance all the heirs of Abraham will receive. In Romans 4:13 it says that Abraham will inherit the whole world, not just the ancient land of Palestine. (Rom 4:13 NKJV) For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. What is the inheritance of the meek? It is the earth, but not just the old physical earth. It is the inheritance of the new heaven and new earth. What an inheritance! October 21, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 5

6 Jesus promised, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." CONCLUSION Do you want to inherit the earth? Then you must seek to be meek. Do you want to be like Jesus? Then you must seek to be meek. Do you have a problem with your anger? What is it that makes you angry? Do you keep your anger under control? The key to meekness is to concentrate on trusting God, delighting in Him, committing your way to Him, resting in Him, and not fretting over evil and evil doers. The key to meekness is to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. If you do these things, then you will learn meekness. Maybe we should pray Charles Wesley s children s prayer. Another version of it is: Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child Make me gentle as Thou art, Come and live within my heart. Take my childish hand in Thine, Guide these little feet of mine. So shall all my happy days, Sing their pleasant song of praise And the world shall always see Christ, the Holy Child, in me. (Charles Wesley) Amen? Amen! October 21, 2018 Corntassel CP Church Page 6