Kingdom Living (part 5)
Kingdom Living
Meekness and attitude that must be!
Matthew 5:2-12 (NKJV)
2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth!
Matt. 5:5 (Amplified)
Blessed (happy, joyous, spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!
Meekness—mild, submissive & moderate; a well trained horse is meek, or gentle. (Strength under control)
Meekness is not the lack of strength, or courage or power, but that strength, courage and power under control.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Gentleness & self-control are attributes of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Anger, road rage, and out of control emotions and actions are so common in our society that we automatically think that things like gentleness & meekness are words of weakness. But meekness can only be displayed when there is tremendous strength.
Anger is such an issue in our society that businesses, counselors, judges & etc. require people to take “anger management” classes. They have to go to classes to learn how to practice meekness.
2 Timothy 3:1-4 (NKJV)
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
We need more people of meekness, and we need to learn how to walk in self-control, which can only come by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
2 Peter 1:2-9 (NKJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
2 Peter 1:2-9 (NLT)
2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
Romans 5:1-5 (NLT)
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
James 1:2-4 (NLT)
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Meekness will only come through trust, which produces patience, and submission. Trust, patience, and submission only come from test and trials.
We can never learn to trust, until to trust is all we have.
We can never learn patience, until we are put in a position to have to wait!
We can never learn submission, until we have been put in our place.
True submission is when I know how to do it, and I can do it, but I’ll set back and let someone else do it even if they do it wrong!
Meekness will always teach us to live without a self-centered attitude.
Meekness produces a very deep trust in God. Not a lazy lethargic, whatever attitude but a deep trust attitude.
Jesus says that there is a reward for meekness
The Reward of Meekness is to Inherit The Earth not the world but the Earth!
Psalm 24:1 (NLT)
1 A psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
1. Inheritance is a gift
a Anyone can receive an inheritance
b Anyone can receive anything for an inheritance
Psalms 37:11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
1. The Jew looked to inherit the land of Israel
2. The Christian looks forward not to just a land, but to a fully reformed and restored earth! Rev 20-22
2. Inheritance is also a legacy of what has gone on before us
a. The inheritance of the believer is based on the past actions of the one giving the inheritance
b. Our inheritance is based on the predicted and fulfilled death of Christ for us on the cross
c. Our inheritance is based on our Saviors death for us while we were yet sinners
3. Inheritance is the opportunity to carry forward with us what has been accomplished before us