Blessed are The Meek
Matthew 5:5-7
Harry Stoliker
February 17, 2008 EBC
Listen
Would you say you are a meek person? Would you like to be called a
meek person? Would you say that you hunger and thirst for righteousness?
Is hunger for righteousness a good thing? How do you get it? Let's
dig into Mt. 5 and the Sermon on Kingdom Discipleship and
think about these spiritual qualities of true followers of Jesus Christ.
I. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth V.5
A. Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
What is meekness? It is not weakness, but supreme self-control through the
Spirit. A meek man doesn't throw his weight or authority around.
A meek man isn't arrogant, overly aggressive and oppressive toward others.
He knows he's spiritually bankrupt in himself, he has mourned deeply at his
own failures and weaknesses, so he isn't puffed up with his own importance.
He doesn't pridefully compare himself to others. A meek man has died to all
self-righteousness and this is seen in the way he deals with people
and how he relates to other men.
"A man named J. Upton Dickson was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing
a book on meekness entitled Cower Power. He also founded a group of
submissive people. It was called DOORMATS. That stands for
'Dependent Organization of Really Meek And Timid Souls-if there are no objections!'
Their motto was: 'the meek shall inherit the earth-if that's okay with everybody?
Their symbol was the yellow traffic light.
Mr. Dickson sounds like he'd be a lot of fun, doesn't he? What is disturbing
about all of this, though, is that many people assume that the ridiculous ideas
behind DOORMATS and Cower Power represent the quality
of meekness set forth in Matthew 5:5. Many, even in the church, think that
to be meek is to be weak. But the opposite is true. What the Bible is talking
about is a powerful virtue. The slogan 'strong enough to be gentle'
comes close to defining it.
True meekness is best seen in Christ. He was submissive, never resisting or
disputing the will of God. His absolute trust in the Father enabled
Him to show compassion, courage, and self-sacrifice even in the most hostile situation.
Now let's apply this to ourselves. What will it look like in us? If we are
meek, we will bear insults without lashing out in proud resentment or retaliation.
We'll thank God in every circumstance, while using every circumstance, good
or bad, as an occasion to submit to Him. Meekness would be weakness
if it meant yielding to sin. But because it stems from goodness and godliness,
it is a great strength."
B. We can see the opposite of meekness in Proverbs 21:24 "Scoffer"
is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride."Scoffers
are not meek.
C. Jesus was probably thinking about Psalms 37:11-15 "But the meek
shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him,
but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. The
wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright; their sword shall enter their
own heart, and their bows shall be broken."
D. Meek people are willing to suffer rather than inflict injury and get revenge
upon the offender. They have learned to trust God for protection. "Instead
of reacting with anger and resentment towards their oppressors, they
put their trust in the living God and wait for him to rescue them." (John
Legg) This takes profound humility of soul. To be meek is a wonderful work
of the Holy Spirit in your life!
J. I. Packer put it this way: "Moses was very meek, more than all men that
were on the face of the earth." (Num. 12:3). His meekness was shown
in his acceptance of what God ordained, including endless battles
with those recalcitrant and disappointing people whom he was trying to lead
from Egypt to Canaan, including, even, the enormous disappointment of himself
not getting into the Promised Land.
Moses was a man with a fierce temper-it was this which had betrayed him
during the time in the wilderness-but when God said, in effect, "Now look, Moses,
in order to teach the whole world how much loss sin can bring, I'm not going
to let you enter the land; the people will go in, but you won't,? Moses didn't curse
God in furious protest; quietly, if sadly, he accepted God's decision.
That's meekness. Meekness, for a child of God, means accepting uncomplainingly what
comes, knowing that it comes from the hand of God who orders all
things. What he sends, we accept in faith even if it hurts, knowing that
it's for our and others good."
E. Application Question: Would your friends and family say that you are a
meek person? Would they testify that you aren't the kind of
person who demands his rights, demands to be respected and honored,
the kind of person who can be expected to retaliate if something goes wrong?
Can you bear insults without getting even or wanting revenge?
Again, Lloyd-Jones is excellent: "To be truly meek means we no longer protect
ourselves, because we see there is nothing worth defending. So we
are not on the defensive; all that is gone. The man who is truly meek never
pities himself, he is never sorry for himself. He never talks to himself
and says, "You are having a hard time, how unkind these people are to not understand
you." He never thinks: "How wonderful I really am, if only other people gave
me a chance." Self-pity! What hours and years we waste in this!" Can
you see yourself in any of these comments?
How do the meek inherit the earth? In this age we inherit it by being content
with what we have. If you are a contented person, you are in fact a very rich person.
Paul said in
2 Corinthians 6:10 "…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making
many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything." Then we inherit
the new heavens and the new earth when our Lord comes back to reign!
The meek are blessed now because they find their sufficiency in Christ no
matter what happens and they are blessed for eternity with an endless
stream of blessing from their God!
We are looking at Kingdom Characteristics: poor in spirit, spiritual mourning,
meekness…all so beautifully lived out in our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew
11:28-29 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." He was gentle and
meek. He had all of heaven's power at his fingertips,
yet he did not defend himself, but submitted to the crucifixion as
the will of God the Father. He could have called down legions of powerful angels
to destroy the entire Roman Empire in a second if He desired. Rather he embraced
God's sovereign plan for his life, which was to die for the sins and salvation of
His people.
1 Peter 2:21-24 "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered
for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered,
he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges
justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that
we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been
healed."
Now let's consider V.6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled."
A. The key idea here is "righteousness." What is righteousness?
In the OT it primarily signified God's deliverance or salvation. At other
times it pointed to God's victory or God's putting right what was
wrong or unjust. Isaiah 51:5 "My righteousness draws near, my salvation has
gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for
my arm they wait." Isaiah 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my
soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness."
B. Here in this sermon on the Mt., I believe righteousness refers
to right living, right conduct, and conformity to the will of God. Blessed
are those who are eager to live as God requires. Again, Jesus' entire life is
the prime example of this. He said in Jn. 4:34 "My food is to do the will
of the one who sent me." That is an echo of what he said in Mt. 4:4
"Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God."
C. The Bible talks basically about two kinds of righteousness: justifying
righteousness and sanctifying righteousness. Some have called them
imputed righteousness and infused righteousness. Another
set of descriptive terms could be legal righteousness and
personal righteousness. The legal, imputed, justifying righteousness
is a gift, that cannot be earned in any way. This is the righteousness of Jesus Christ
Himself that is given to the elect by God as a free gift.
It is the merit which Jesus earned through flawless, perfect obedience to God's
law, which no human has or ever will accomplish. Romans 5:17 "If, because
of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those
who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness (NOT
the "pay-check of righteousness!) reign in life through the one man Jesus
Christ." This righteousness has been affectionately called "alien righteousness"
during the Reformation of the 16th century, because it is a gift
that is OUTSIDE us and not inside us due to our actions. This is the righteousness
that God considers when he justifies a man.
D. Once we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ,
we are called to live in obedience to God's law and will revealed to us in
Scripture. Once we are justified in God's eyes by imputed righteousness,
the gift of Christ's righteousness credited to our account,
the Holy Spirit goes to work in our hearts giving us the will and power
to obey God's law.
Here is how Peter put it: "As obedient children, do not conform to
the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called
you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because
I AM holy." Sanctifying righteousness is the work of the Holy Spirit
in us enabling us to live an obedient, holy life, free from the evil desires
of our pre-Christian days.
E. Paul describes sanctifying righteousness, the work of the Holy Spirit
in true believers as a putting off and a putting on. Turn to Eph. 4:20-24
"You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and
were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught,
with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is
being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to be made new in the attitude
of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness."
F. What does it look like in your life to hunger and thirst after righteousness?
Lloyd-Jones helps us beautifully when he says: "The man who hungers after
righteousness has a longing and desire to be like the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Look at Him; look at His portrait in the gospels; look at Him when He
was here on earth in His incarnate state; look at Him in his positive obedience
to God's holy law; look at Him in His reaction to other people, His
kindness, His compassion, His sensitive nature; look at Him
in His reaction to His enemies and all that they did to Him. There is the
portrait, and you and I have been born again and have been fashioned anew after that
pattern and image."
G. Simply put, is that the constant longing of your heart? Do you hate sin?
Do you cry out to God to deeply change you when you keep sinning and grieving
the Holy Spirit? Do you want to learn to obey God in every private area of
your life? Now, if you quickly said: "Yes, that's what I want," I want to know how
badly you want it. Just how badly do you want to become like Jesus
Christ? We've all seen those movies where a man is deep sea diving
and his oxygen supply runs low or runs out. He struggles to get to the surface
with great passion and urgency. Nothing compares to the passion
he has for air. He doesn't get distracted on his way up by some peculiar
fish or coral formation. He doesn't care about anything but air!!!
H. How badly do you want your life to reflect the image of Christ?
Are you satisfied with that unsolved anger in your heart that keeps
hurting the people around you? Do you think that attitude of pride and self-centeredness
makes you look like Jesus Christ or look like the devil? Do you think
your spirit of resentment, grouchiness, and irritability makes people think
about the kindness and gentleness of Christ as reflected in you? Does your
bad habit of watching racy, dirty TV shows and movies actually help you develop
a heart like Christ had?
How badly do you want to be righteous before God's eyes? Bad enough to yield
your life to His control? Bad enough to cry out to Him, "O God, change
me, I desperately need you to change me!" The bottom line is
that if you are refusing to let go of any sin that you are playing with
or embracing or purposely ignoring, then you are not hungry and thirsty
for righteousness.
Hungry people do whatever it takes to get the food they crave!
I. Do you know how badly God wants you to be conformed to His Son's image?
Romans 8:29 "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed
to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."
He predestined you to be conformed to the image of His Son. That means
God is VERY concerned and VERY determined to form you through the
power of the Spirit to look like Jesus Christ in attitude and action.
J. Jesus knew God's eternal purposes when he preached the Sermon on the Mount.
He wanted His disciples to experience the fantastic blessings that are our
as we bring our lives into closer and closer connection with Christ. I exhort you
this week, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…." and every
heavenly blessing will be yours!
Let's pray,
H.