How To Be Happy Part 3
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Introduction:
My name is Adam, I’m the pastor here at Abide church.
I’m also a professor in here at CBC. I teach Accounting and Economics courses.
If you’re new, I want to thank you for visiting us and tell you that we’re really glad you’re here.
Continuing 1 year sermon series on “The Sermon On The Mountain”
Jesus came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The Sermon on the mountain is Jesus’ introduction to the “Kingdom”
Jesus opens this sermon with 9 “Blessed are” statements.
Dr. Jonathan Pennington, a professor at Souther Baptist Theological Seminary, and an expert in New Testament Studies, specifically Matthew and specifically the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed = Makarios
Dr. Pennington describes Makarios as more than just “happy” or “fortunate” but as “holistically flourishing”
The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary ʾAšrê and Makarios in the Hebrew Bible and Septuagint
Jesus begins his public ministry by painting a picture of what the state of true God-centered human flourishing looks like. He is making an appeal and casting an inspiring vision, even as the Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah do, for what true well-being looks like in God’s coming kingdom.
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Today we look at the 3rd “blessed are” statement:
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the meek:
- The meaning
- The location
- The achieving
- The result
The meaning of “Blessed are the meek”
The meaning of “Blessed are the meek”
To understand how the meek are blessed, we need to understand the word “meek”
When I googled the definition of the word:
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Meek = quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.
On the face of it, this sounds bad.
So do the other “blessed are” statements we’ve looked at so far:
poor, sad, next week “hungry”
3 cultural reasons this sounds bad
3 cultural reasons this sounds bad
1. Our culture celebrates crazy
1. Our culture celebrates crazy
2. Our culture exults dominance
2. Our culture exults dominance
3. Our culture hates submission
3. Our culture hates submission
Meekness is not virtuous inherently, but the question is the source of the meekness.
Just like mourning is not virtuous inherently, but mourning over sin results in blessedness.
Scribes and Pharisees
Scribes and Pharisees
Also remember that pretty much everything Jesus taught in his sermon went directly against the attitudes of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were constantly challenging Jesus
testing Jesus
accusing Jesus
The attitude of the Pharisees was opposite of meek
They were loud, harsh, judgmental, and quick to put others down to lift themselves up
Spiderman
Jesus is the supreme picture of meekness
Jesus is the supreme picture of meekness
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.
Gentle = meek, same word
Jesus entire life demonstrates meekness, but some of Jesus’ most radical demonstrations of meekness are in the week prior to his crucifixion.
While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
I want you to note here that the gentleness, the meekness of Jesus is NOT because of a lack of power or authority.
Nor is it an act of cowering
The gentleness is an act of care for others and an act of submission to God the Father.
When Jesus goes before the Jewish leaders and Pilate:
During this entire time,
Jesus is mocked
Jesus is beaten
Jesus is unjustly tried
Jesus is falsely accused
And he takes it all upon himself
He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
Again, notice that it’s not a lack of ability, power, or authority.
His meekness is demonstrated in his loving sacrifice and his submission to God the Father
Let’s look at one more radical picture of meekness demonstrated by Jesus:
And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
Yes, he could save himself, he could come down off the cross, he could have torn those people to shreds!
But no, how does Jesus respond:
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
Jesus demonstrates meekness for us beautifully.
And Jesus said,
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are the meek
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When Jesus asks us to be meek, to be gentle, he is not asking us to be week; he is asking us to trust his strength.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
Meekness is a turning over of your right to fight and trusting God to fight for you.
To be meek means you have nothing to prove.
To be meek means to have peace no matter what your situation
Meekness comes from knowing you place in relation to God and knowing deep in your bones that God is in control.
The meek are gentle because they don’t have to fight for position; the meek receive their position confidently from God.
To be meek is to avoid the brawl, because you already stand in confidence on the winning side.
The location of “Blessed are the meek”
The location of “Blessed are the meek”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom belongs to those who recognize their condition before God.
Our spiritual condition is poor, beggar poor, destitute
It’s first on the list because if we don’t come to God openhanded acknowledging that we have nothing to offer, we have no place with Him.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
This leads us naturally into a state of mourning over our sin.
As we realize our condition before God is poor, we mourn.
BUT GOD, comes to our help. And he comforts us. He was broken so we could be made whole.
And then we get to verse 5.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Now we have a meekness. A gentleness. A confidence not in ourselves but God.
Do you see how the first 2 statements lead us naturally into the 3rd?
The achieving of “Blessed are the meek”
The achieving of “Blessed are the meek”
How do we get this?
We need to first become poor in spirit and mourn over our sin.
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We need to relinquish control of our life. We need to resist the urge to fight and trust God to fight for us.
We need to look at the life of Jesus as our hero and stop believing the cultural narratives that are shoved in our face day in and day out.
The result of “Blessed are the meek”
The result of “Blessed are the meek”
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
This idea of inheriting the earth goes back to the garden of eden.
When God made made he charged man to take dominion over the earth and subdue it. That is to rule over the earth.
The whole thing is broken now because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God.
And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Our call as Christians is to be the greatest servants the world has ever seen.
We are called to love each and love the world like Jesus loved us.
We are called to serve each other and serve the world like Jesus served us.
When we follow Jesus, we experience true blessedness, true happiness, true flourishing.
Believe Jesus.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.