Matthew 5:5 - Meekness

Matthew 5:5

Turn to Matthew 5, we are looking at a series of messages from the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, called the Beatitudes. The Attitudes that ought to be. Now the Lord is sharing a powerful message that really speaks directly against how the world says you should live. You know, the world thinks happiness is found in: money, muscle, and mentality. That we go out there and just take it, and that will bring you happiness. Let me tell you, you will never find happiness in these things. Happiness is not something you take; it is something you find.

Now how do we find happiness and satisfaction in our life? Well, we find it when we are meek. Now don’t misunderstand what meekness is, it is not weakness. Being meek is not being weak. Rather meekness is having strength under control. Now what does the Lord say about “meekness”? Well, lets read together in Matthew 5:5

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

We are seeing a progression in these beatitudes, and what is the progression that we find? First, when we realize that we are spiritually broke, that we have absolutely nothing, and when we mourn because it is the sin that we committed that caused the Lord to go to the cross, that with meekness (humbleness) we rely on him, Jesus, and he will take care of us.

Now again, don’t misunderstand meekness as weakness, a person can be a meek person and also be strong. The Lord Jesus was a man of meekness, but Jesus wasn’t weak. Our Lord is strong. We even sing about it in the song we learn as children:

Jesus loves me, this I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong

Listen, our Lord was so strong, that with just his very words, he caused a group of Roman soldiers to fall down, yet, he was so meek, he let them arrest him and crucify him. Meekness is not weakness, it is controlling strength, it is demonstrating humbleness and restraint.

Now, the Lord is sharing with this congregation, that we should be people of meekness. That we are not someone out there parading around, saying look at me. That instead, that we humble our attitudes and say, it’s because of Him.

It’s not our nature though to be a person of meekness. Our flesh says you be free, run wild, do what you want. And the Lord says, you need to be a person who is meek, that is under control, that is led by the Spirit.

Have you ever ridden a horse? You don’t go to a horse that has never been ridden and just hop on. What’s going to happen? Its going to go crazy and buck and rare up and throw you off its back. That horse hasn’t been broken. When a horse is broken, a rider will go and put that bit in the mouth of that horse, will put a saddle on the back, and he will control that horse, with the reigns that are connected to the bit in the horse’s mouth. Now is that horse any weaker than it was before it was broken? No. It still has the same strength, but now it is under control. And that is what the Lord is saying here in this verse, we need to be under control by the Spirit of God. Now how do we become a person that is meek? Well, let me share with you three things about meekness.

The Personality of the Meek

Now we all have personality, those characteristics that makes us up. It’s like the woman who lived next door to a preacher and was puzzled by his personality change. At home he was shy, quiet, and retiring, but in church he was a fiery orator, preaching to people in the name of God. It was as if he were two different people. One day she asked him about the dramatic transformation that came over him when he preached. “Ah,” he said, “That’s my altar ego.”

Well, the personality of a person that is meek doesn’t change, it is a person that has made up their mind in who they serve. It’s a person that no matter if they are in the church, or out of the church, they have a walk about them that defines them as a meek person. Now, I’m sure we’re wondering, what is the secret in being a meek person? Well, really, there is no secret at all. It’s a person that has submitted themselves to Christ and they reflect that in their walk.

So, what defines a person that is meek? What kind of personality does a meek person have?

1. They have Confidence in Christ.

· Note this verse, 2 Timothy 1:12 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

· Being a person that is meek, is not being a person that is unsure of themselves and what they believe.

· It’s not a person that is afraid to say that they believe in Christ. A meek person is a confident person because they know the truth and have the truth living in them.

· Now we meet people who all the time, whose confidence is not in Christ and in something else. And when we meet these people, often they are self-centered, materialistic, and arrogant. There is nothing meek about them. They have their confidence in themselves, in their money, or maybe in their jobs. But you let something happen to one of these things, and where is their confidence? It’s out the window. Their confidence turns to worry or to fear.

· This is not so for a person who has their confidence in Christ, they get up in the morning, and you know what, they don’t immediately go and check their bank account, they’re not a person who wakes up worrying over where they are living. No, a person who is confident in Christ, gets up and greets the day without fear and worry because they know Jesus is there taking care of them and there for them.

· Now you may be here and you have confidence issues, friend the issue is with you and Christ, you need to place your trust in him, and then you will find yourself a meek person.

· You know a person who had a lot on their plate? Moses, the bibles says in Numbers 12:3 “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)”

· Here was a man that had people coming to him with problems, complaining on his leadership, yelling at him because of their food and water situation. But what do we find Moses doing? Do we see him running away? Do we see him worrying and trying to make everyone happy? No. We see a man with meekness, go to the Lord about the issues because he had confidence in God.

· You want to be a meek person, place your confidence in Christ.

2. They show Constraint in Controversy

· Now a person that is meek, shows Confidence in Christ, but they also show Constraint in Controversy.

· A person that is meek, is not a person that is going out there yelling, fighting, and getting raging mad when someone does something they don’t like. Now let’s be honest, when we go and someone makes us mad, its hard for us to restrain ourselves. We want to go out there and fight back, tell them how they are wrong, continuing to raise our voices, and just give them our fury. But the Bible tells us to instead:

· Titus 3:2 “To speak no evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”

· You know if anyone had the right to be mad and fight back for injustice, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. He was arrested on false charges, mocked in a court of law, and nailed to the cross by cruel roman soldiers. But what do we see the Lord do; he just remains quiet. He doesn’t put up resistance, he could have stricken everyone of those men down, but instead he showed meekness.

· You know why the Lord was like that, because he knew it wasn’t the men he was up against, it wasn’t their strength that he was faced with. They were just responding because of their spiritual nature. Jesus showed meekness to them because his fight wasn’t with them, it was with something greater.

· Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

· If we want to be meek people, we need to realize our fight isn’t with people, it is with the Devil. It’s him that is attacking us. So, what do we need to do then when someone comes and does something that we don’t agree with?

· James 1:19 “Wherefore, my brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”

· We must constrain ourselves with the ways of Christ.

3. They have Conviction against Carnality.

· Now being a meek person, is not being weak person. It is not being a person that doesn’t have conviction. It’s not a person that says, sin is okay. It’s not a person that is afraid to call out the wrong. Being a meek person, is being a person that has conviction against carnality!

· Listen to what Paul told the Galatians; Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

· What Paul was saying brothers and sisters, is have conviction and go to that one that is in the wrong in a Christ-like spirit and tell them what they are doing wrong, that they might be free from that sin.

· Now here is the issue with many of us, we have been conditioned by the world to say “It’s none of my business, that I should just stay out of it.” But when we say that we are failing God, our fellowman, and ourselves.

· Being meek, doesn’t mean being afraid to take a stand. It is standing against and speaking against the wrong, in such a way that reflects Christ.

· I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. is a man during the last century, that demonstrated meekness, by standing up for what was wrong. He stood against sin, and so should we.

The Path to Meekness

Now we have seen the personality of the meek, now let us learn the path to meekness. I mean how do we become meek people? Well, it starts when we quit seeking the things of the world and start seeking Christ.

Zephaniah 2:3 “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

We have to seek the Lord, now we know the ways of the Lord are not on the broad road, its on the narrow path, a path that many don’t like to take. Why? Because it requires us laying some things down.

James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

· Friend, if you want to be a meek Christian, you have to start by laying down that sin. Laying down that thing that is keeping you from following the Lord like you should. That we don’t have those pet sins and keep giving in to those evil desires.

· The reason why there is not meek people living in the world today, is because we don’t want to give up those sinful enjoyments. We want to be wild and free. Not a tame person. But friend, until you get your heart tamed by Christ, you will never know the joy of being a Child of God.

· Now you might be saying, I’m struggling on turning away from sin. I want to be a meek person, but I can’t seem to make myself like that. Well friend, let me tell you, that on your own, you will never learn to be a person of meekness. You’ve got to be trained, and that training comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.

· Matthew 11:29 “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.

· Now I know many of you have grown up on a farm, and some of you even deal with cows. And it used to be, that farmers would take a couple of oxen and plow their fields. They would take trained bulls or cows, and they would yoke them together. Now over time, a young ox would need to be trained, and how they would learn is that the farmer would come and hook that ox up with an older more experienced ox. And that older ox would train that younger ox how to serve the farmer.

· Now when the ox serves the farmer like he is suppose too, the farmer rewards him and you know one of the best rewards is giving that ox some good food.

· Well, brothers and sisters, God is the farmer, and Jesus is like that ox, he’s training us in how to serve the Father, and when we serve the Father, he rewards us, with his spiritual food.

· Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

· Meekness is something we take in, when we follow the Lord in his ways.

· Now remember meekness is not weakness, instead it is having our strength under control. And that means we must yield ourselves to the Lord. That we give our strength to his service, that we yield ourselves to him.

· Romans 6:19 “I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”

· Now let me ask you, have you yielded yourself to the Lord, or are you out there bucking and kicking, acting the fool by giving in to iniquity? Listen, we need to yield ourselves to the Lord.

The Promise to the Meek

Now we might be saying, why is it so important to be meek? What’s in it for me? I will tell you, it’s because of the blessing the Lord promises those who are his.

· I heard of a man sitting on a curb crying. Somebody said, “Why are you crying?” He said, “Well, I just read in the newspaper where the richest man in the world, died.” He said, “Why are you crying? You’re not a relative of his.” He said, “That’s why I’m crying.”

· Matthew 11:29 “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.

· Listen, the Lord is going to reward those who are meek, He is going to give them rest, and what does the scripture say? They will inherit the earth.

· There is a lot of immodest, unyielding, disobedient people who are running this world today, they look at the meek and they see them as a pushover. That they are not anything they have to be concerned over. They think that this world is theirs. But its not.

· Psalm 37:11 “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

· There is going to come a day, when the Lord is going to come back with his army, with the saints, and with just a word, the Lord is going to defeat the forces of this world and he is going to give it to those who have placed their heart and soul in him. That have lived a life of meekness, and He is going to say, here is the earth, this is your inheritance.

· This is what I am giving to you. Solomon was asked by the Lord what the Lord could give Solomon as he was now the king of Israel. Solomon asked for wisdom, and the Lord gave it to him, and the Lord also gave him riches and fame, because he asked not with a selfish heart, but with a heart for the Lord.

· There are people out there right now trying to seize this world for themselves, you know what the Bible says about that? What should it profit a man if he should gain the world and lose his own soul? What we need to be seeking is not this world, but seeking meekness, seeking Christ, and when we ask for that, when we seek that, the Lord says to us, because you asked for meekness, I’m going to give you the world, I’m going to give you more than you ever thought possible.

· Do you want to be a meek person? Well, it starts by humbling yourself and coming to the altar and getting your life right with God. By quit resisting, but by learning from His Spirit. Would you come and pray to have His Spirit control your life today? Would you come with meekness and seek the Lord? You’ll never have your full inheritance, without meekness.