Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

This morning we will continue on in our study of Jesus Sermon on the Mount.

As we have discussed over the last couple weeks now, Jesus began this sermon with what is referred to as the Beatitudes.

These Beatitudes are attitudes that ought to be found in the born again believer.

They are character traits for Christian application.

As we have heard already in the first message, these aren’t traits that some possess and some don’t but rather they are traits that are to be found in every child of God.

They are character traits that are to be practiced but cannot be practiced unless you have been born again because they are traits that only the Holy Spirit of God can instill within us.

And we have seen that in the past two messages now, how that the first two have to do with the process of being born again.

The first beatitude we looked at was...Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

First, we must come broken before the throne of grace, empty and destitute of ourselves before we can be born again and blessed with an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Next, we looked at how the Bible says… Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

When we come broken in spirit and recognize we are spiritually bankrupt before God with no way of saving ourselves, it brings about a Godly sorrow that worketh repentance and we weep and mourn over our sinful state in the eyes of a Holy and righteous God.

But the tears of sorrow shall soon turn to tears of triumph when we come to God, broken and bankrupt, sorry for our sins because He sends the great comforter to live within us!

That special third person of the trinity that we so often overlook and take for granted, the Holy Spirit of God, the great comforter, comes and takes up residence inside of us when we see the sad, sinful state we are in and sorrow over our sins.

Blessed are those who mourn: for they shall be comforted!

And just as we have seen over the last two weeks how that these Be-Attitudes of the born again believer build upon one another, so also today, our next beatitude will do the same.

We come today to Beatitude #3 which is found in Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 5.

For context, as we have done with the other two, we will begin our reading in Matthew 5:1 and read down through Matthew 5:12.

If you have it would you say, Amen!

Introduction # 2

This morning we are going to do things a little different than we normally do.

Over the last couple weeks, we have mainly just stuck with the actual Beatitude and broke it down but this week as I was studying, there was a passage of scripture that I came across that I want us to look at in order to help us better understand what this Beatitude actually means.

And that reading is going to come from the Book of Numbers and Chapter number 12.

So, if you don’t mind, please turn with me there real quick and we are going to look at an example of A Man among Men — Mighty Moses Meek and Mild.

Numbers 12 starting in Verse 1 if you have it would you say, Amen.

The Meaning of Meekness — (Vs.

1-3)

A Man among Men — The story of Mighty Moses Meek and Mild.

We pick up here in the Book of Numbers with the children of Israel wondering in the wilderness.

They are tired of traveling already and they are grumbling against God and against Moses and when you go back into chapter 11 you will find that Moses is already fed up with trying to please a million refugees because it seemed all they ever wanted to do was complain!

And so God has been helping Moses by providing for him and the people and we come to Chapter 12 here and once again we see some more people complaining but this time it’s not just anyone in the camp but rather Moses own siblings that are giving him a hard time.

But as I was studying and I’m sure by now you’ve already eluded to it, the Bible says something about Moses here that stood out to me.

The Bible tells us that Miriam and Aaron were complaining about Moses because he had went and married an Ethiopian woman and they said unto themselves in essence… “Is God only using Moses to lead this great group of people?

Is He not using us also?”

Basically they were saying, “Are we not as much leaders of this people as Moses is? Are we not equally as important as he is?”

They were grumbling against Moses.

And then the Bible says something that I want us to hone in on this morning in Verse 3… “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”

The Bible tells us here that Moses was the most Meek man upon the whole face of the earth!

What does that mean though, to be meek?

Does it mean that Moses let people just run all over him?

Does it mean that Moses was a push over?

Does it mean that Moses was weak?

The first thing I want us to look at this morning when it comes to Beatitude # 3 is just what exactly it means to be meek because I believe many folks have the true meaning of meekness misunderstood!

A. What it’s not!

First off, I want us to understand what it’s not.

You see, a lot of folks think that when the Bible says you have to be Meek that it also means you have to be weak but that simply is not the case.

I heard of this sign one time that said, “If you think that meekness is weakness, try spending a week being meek”!

You see friend, the only thing “Meekness” & “Weakness” have in common is that they rhyme!

I want you to think about something for a second…Did Jesus not call himself meek?

If you look in:

Matthew 11:28-30- [28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[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.

[30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Now how many of you think that Jesus was weak?

I mean…

The Lord Jesus was God manifest in flesh.

He possessed in Himself, even when He was living here on earth, the inherent power to create a galaxy.

As Man, He chose to put Himself at the complete disposal of His Father and the Holy Spirit.

He displayed extraordinary power.

He had the power to turn water into wine, to multiply loaves and fish, to still the storm, to cleanse the leper, to command the demon hoards, and raise the dead.

When Pilate threatened Him, He looked him in the face and said, "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11).

When the Sanhedrin sent its minions to arrest Him, all He had to say was, "I AM," and "they went backward, and fell to the ground" (John 18:5-6).

He did all of this to demonstrate the truth of His declaration: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

This commandment have I received of my Father" (John 10:17-18).

It is in this context, that we must understand the meekness of Jesus and what He meant when He said “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

It was the submissiveness of One who possessed unlimited power to all that happened to Him in accordance with "the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23).

John Phillips — Out of great strength, Jesus submitted patiently to the terrible mockings and injuries inflicted on Him at His trials and crucifixion.

Dear friend, it wasn’t “Weakness” that caused him to be nailed to the cross but rather his “Meekness” that allowed him to be nailed to the cross!

And that brings us to the actual meaning of “Meekness”!

B. What is Meekness?

So, if meekness is not weakness, what exactly does it mean?

The Greek word for Meekness is “Prautes” and means Gentleness, mildness, humility & submissiveness.

It was used by the Greeks to describe a horse that had been broken.

Meekness does not mean Weakness but rather power under control!

One day this fellow noticed his neighbor training his pulling team, and asked if he could watch.

He said, “Do you mind if I watch you break your horses?” – With a scowl on the man’s face, the neighbor replied, “You can watch, but I ain’t breaking ‘em, I am meeking‘em.”

Not quite sure on what the man meant, the fellow sat on the fence post as his neighbor went through the steps of teaching the horse who was the boss.

He taught them what the difference of the reigns pulling tight and the sound of the whip meant.

He taught them by the sound of his voice to stand still.

He taught them that when the work was done, there was a meal, cool water, and a brush down waiting for them.

When the late afternoon sun had started to signal that it was close to supper time, this fellow was waiting by the fence to talk to the man with a puzzled inquiring look on his face.

He said “Mister?

How come you said you were meekin’ your horses?”

The man smiled and said, “Boy, I guess you heard the song at Christmas time about ‘Jesus, Meek and Mild,’ ain’t ya?”

“Well,” the old man continued, “Meek don’t mean weak.”

“Ya see, if I break that horse’s spirit, he may be timid, shy, or not wanna do anything but eat oats and hay but a work horse is supposed to work!

Meek really means that they still got all that same power, all that same spirit, all that same strength, but all of that is controlled through the touch of the master.”

Tony Evans- A MEEK person bows low before God so that they can stand tall among men.

It is a willingness to bow.

The biggest players on a football team are the offensive linemen.

They are the biggest, they are the strongest, but they're also the ones who go the lowest when it's time to run a play.

The biggest and strongest get down and go the lowest because that's where they get their leverage to perform.

The bigger you are, the more meek you should be, because the bigger you are or the bigger you think you are, the more out of control you might tend to be.

Meekness is not being weak, bowing or spineless but rather it is a person who is strong, very strong, yet humble and tender.

It is a person with all the emotions and ability to take and conquer, but able to control themselves.

It is discipline — a man/woman/boy or girl who is disciplined because they are God-controlled.

The opposite of meekness is arrogance or pride.

In too many people there is an aire of sufficiency and superiority but a meek person knows that they have needs and do not have all the answers.

If we are going to be able to be used by God, we must be willing to set aside our thoughts, our desires, our wants and seek the will of God!