Matthew 5:5

Our text for this morning will be Matthew chapter 5 and verse 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

! Just a couple of weeks ago, we began looking together at the Sermon on the Mount,

this most famous of Jesus' teaching.

And we have discussed so far the first four verses,

where we noted first in verses 1 and 2,

who it was that Jesus was teaching.

Matthew records,

For 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...

So we see that Jesus was teaching His disciples.

There's a larger crowd gathering around,

and certainly the teaching spills out and beyond.

And as we get through His Sermon and on into chapter 7,

there's great warning that's issued.

And so it seems maybe even the audience's attention of Jesus

shifts a little as it goes on.

But we know, at very least,

His primary core audience

are those who were already following Him and His ways.

He was speaking to those who were citizens of His kingdom.

Back in chapter 4, verse 17,

Matthew records the very beginning of Jesus' ministry,

where He writes,

from that time Jesus began to preach,

saying,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The Sermon on the Mount is a declaration of the kingdom of God

with Jesus as its king.

And because the king has come,

the kingdom has come.

And Jesus here is teaching

what those who are citizens of His kingdom will look like.

So He begins teaching them,

verse 3,

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

We are, apart from Christ,

spiritually bankrupt.

You have no good thing to offer God.

And if you are to be saved from the wrath to come,

you will have to throw yourself

upon the mercy of God

found in Jesus Christ.

It is those who see their spiritual poverty

who possess the kingdom of heaven.

And therefore,

Jesus declares them blessed.

In verse 4, Jesus says,

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted.

Having recognized our spiritual poverty

and the spiritual poverty of the world

in which we live,

citizens of the kingdom of God

will be mourners

over the brokenness that we see,

both ours and others.

And it is those who mourn over sin

who will be comforted.

And therefore,

Jesus calls them blessed.

Now, I have said to you,

this word,

blessed,

is a very difficult one

for us to understand in English.

The original Greek word

is so layered and textured.

And so,

we've been doing our best

kind of week to week

to give some feel

to what the word means.

I don't have anything astounding

to add to what I've said already,

but just let me remind you

that there's not a direct single word

for this Greek word,

makarios.

We try with blessed,

happy,

joyful,

we could say doing well,

thriving.

I've posited to you

my favorite,

flourishing from

Jonathan Pennington's book.

Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of heaven

enters into a world

that has been turned upside down

by sin.

And His teaching seeks

to turn it right side up.

It's about the kingdom coming.

This kingdom that lives in contradiction

to the kingdom of the world.

And because the teaching

has this intention to it,

the carnal mind

has a very difficult time

understanding it.

It seems backwards.

It is the humble,

sad,

meek,

merciful,

peacemaking,

persecuted pursuers

of righteousness

that are well

and will do well

forever.

These are the kinds

of citizens

that flourish.

We have before us this morning

the third of Jesus' declarations

of blessing.

blessing.

So join me in a careful consideration

of Matthew 5,

Matthew 5:5

verse 5.

Before I read it

for our benefit,

let me remind you,

beloved,

that this is God's

word to us.

It was written for His glory

and our good.

And we would all do well

to listen to it

in order to believe

its promises

and obey

its commands.

Matthew 5,

Matthew 5:5

verse 5.

Jesus said,

blessed are the meek

for they shall inherit

the earth.

So,

what does it mean

to be meek?

It's another one of those

words that can have

some difficulty

for us

trying to wrap

our minds

around exactly

what Jesus means here

by meekness.

and those who are meek

are blessed.

Let me start by saying

that meekness

is not a natural

inclination.

Those who belong

to the kingdom of God

gain a recognition

of their spiritual poverty,

a deep sadness

over their sin

and the sin of the world,

and meekness

by a work

of the Spirit of God

upon them.

The natural inclination

of man

is not toward

a small view of self,

but a large view of self.

The natural way

of a person

is to exalt themselves,

not humble themselves.

Left alone,

we are self-aggrandizing,

self-protecting,

self-justifying.

The largely Jewish audience

that Matthew wrote

this letter for

would have been

absolutely dumbfounded

by such teaching,

especially from a man

who claimed to be

the Messiah.

They were looking

to the Messiah

for deliverance

from their oppressor,

Rome.

They wanted the Messiah

to come as a military conqueror,

mighty and vanquishing.

They loved texts

like Isaiah chapter 35,

Isaiah 35:3

verse 3 and 4,

which reads,

Strengthen the weak hands

and make firm

the feeble knees.

Say to those

who have anxious heart,

Be strong.

Fear not.

Behold,

your God will come

with vengeance,

with the recompense

of God.

He will come

and save you.

They loved texts

like this,

but did not want

to read them

in the greater context

of the Old Testament

prophecy.

For example,

that was Isaiah 35,

3 and 4.

Let me read to you

Isaiah 53,

3 and 4.

Speaking of Christ,

the Messiah,

He was despised

and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows

and acquainted with grief.

And as one from whom

men hide their faces,

He was despised,

and we esteemed Him not.

Surely,

He has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows,

yet we esteemed Him stricken,

smitten by God

and afflicted.

This was a strange teaching.

Meekness is not the way

of the world.

Meekness is certainly

a spirit-worked character quality.

It is also not a character quality

that we possess with perfection

on this side of heaven,

but it is a quality

in which we grow

as God graciously works

in us.

I pray this morning

that He will work in you

and in me

as we learn together

more about this meekness.

So,

let's take a look

at some examples

of meekness from the Scripture

to attempt to wrap our mind

about what is really

meant by the Word.

So I want to walk you through

some characters.

I'm going to invite you

to turn with me

to these passages.

You'll keep your head

more in the game

if you're looking as well

at the text

that I'm going to read to you.

And let's start with Abraham.

Called Abram

in the text I'll read to you

this morning.

His name had yet to be changed

in Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

So please join me there.

Genesis chapter 13

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

and verse 8.

So God has made a covenant

with Abram.

Part of which included

the giving to him

of land.

And you remember

that Abram's nephew Lot

tagged along with him.

The promise was not given to Lot.

The promise was given to Abram.

He is Lot's elder.

He is his uncle.

And he has a promise.

And some contention arose

amongst the herdsmen

because there wasn't enough land

where they were camped

to keep the herds fed.

Right?

So they're starting

to have conflict

over who gets to graze

animals where.

And then verse 8

and following

records for us.

Then Abram said to Lot,

Let there be no strife

between you and me

and between your herdsmen

and my herdsmen

for we are kinsmen.

Is not the whole land

before you?

Separate yourself from me.

If you take the left hand

then I will go to the right.

Or if you take the right hand

then I will go to the left.

Here we find Abram

had every right over the land.

Right?

The covenant promise

had been given to him.

He's Lot's elder.

And his uncle.

And he could have simply said,

Hey Lot, you go there

because I want this

choicest of property.

But rather,

we find Abram

as an expression of meekness

saying instead,

Let's not have conflict

amongst us.

Right?

You pick where you would like to go

and I'll go to the other place.

I'll take what's left over.

Turn over to Genesis chapter 45

Genesis 45 · chapter mention

and we read here

of the story of Joseph.

Remember Joseph,

the youngest of his brothers

received dreams

that he'd be great amongst them

and his brothers

did not like him for this

so they threw him in a well

and rather than killing him

pulled him out of a well

and sold him into slavery.

And he finds himself in Egypt

and through a number of astounding

and sad circumstances,

he finds himself ruling over

the provision of grain,

putting it away

and delving it back out.

And a famine grows up in the land

and his brothers come to Egypt

to bring grain back home.

And when Joseph reveals himself

to his brothers,

we read this in chapter 45

verses 1 and following.

Then Joseph could not control himself

before all those who stood by him.

He cried,

Make everyone go out for me.

So no one stayed with him

when Joseph made himself known

to his brothers.

And he wept aloud

so that the Egyptians heard it

and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

Now just picture,

this is the man of power.

This is the younger brother,

but he has been placed

in a position of power

and his brothers have come to him

as beggars.

And what does he do?

He sends out the Egyptians

and reveals himself to his brothers

and he weeps over this.

And Joseph said to his brothers,

verse 3,

I am Joseph.

Is my father still alive?

But his brothers could not answer him

for they were dismayed

at his presence.

So Joseph said to his brothers,

Come near to me, please.

And they came near and he said,

I am your brother, Joseph,

whom you sold into Egypt.

And now do not be distressed

or angry with yourselves

because you sold me here.

For God sent me before you

to preserve life.

And then we read later,

I think it's chapter 51,

if I'm remembering correctly.

We famously hear Joseph say,

What you meant for evil,

God meant for good.

And so here we see

that Joseph entrusts himself to God

and God's providence,

his good purpose in the situation.

And he doesn't seek retribution.

He doesn't seek to defend his right.

He has been wronged

as the younger brother,

but rather offers forgiveness

to his brothers.

It's another expression of meekness.

Okay.

Flip back to the New Testament.

Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Let's look a little at the life of Moses.

It's the writer of Hebrews.

Very brief summary of Moses' life

found in chapter 11.

You remember Moses has become

the adopted son of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh held the power of Egypt

as the new Pharaoh's adopted brother,

but chose rather

to stand up for his kinsmen

to kill an Egyptian

and fled off into the wilderness.

So in verse 24 and following,

By faith Moses,

when he was grown up,

refused to be called

the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

choosing rather

to be mistreated

with the people of God

than to enjoy

the fleeting pleasures of sin.

He considered,

I love this, right?

Moses considered,

so the writer of Hebrews

is telling us,

he considered

the reproach of Christ

greater wealth

than the treasures of Egypt,

for he was looking

to the reward.

So rather than receiving

what was due him,

which he could have laid claim to,

he instead chose

to go and be with God's people

and to be mistreated

as God's people

because he was looking

to something greater

and beyond.

Numbers chapter 12,

Numbers 12:3

verse 3 records for us

that Moses was very meek,

more than all people

who were on the face

of the earth.

Okay, back to the Old Testament.

1 Samuel chapter 18.

1 Samuel 18 · chapter mention

You don't need to be ashamed

for not being able

to find these books

quickly in your Bible,

but you'll do well

to learn how to find books

quickly in your Bible.

Become familiar

with this book.

Hopefully this helps you

in doing that.

1 Samuel chapter 18,

1 Samuel 18 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 20.

Now, David at this point

in 1 Samuel

has already been anointed

king over Israel.

Saul is still reigning,

king,

but Samuel has anointed

David king.

David has already

killed Goliath.

He's become the champion

of Israel as well.

The middle of,

I think it's chapter 16,

records for us

that the Spirit of God

left Saul

and the Spirit of God

rested on David.

So he's got God's Spirit

resting on him,

which was a more unique thing

in this day

than it is in ours.

So David already had

a significant place

and yet he found himself

serving under Saul

with a great deal

of meekness.

Saul didn't want him

in the temple any longer,

so he put him in charge

of a legion of men.

He had hoped that he would be killed

by the Philistines,

but David,

because of God's favor,

was triumphing

and triumphing greatly

over them.

So, Saul offered

his oldest daughter

to David.

David said,

Who am I

that I would become

the son-in-law of a king?

This is the beginning

of chapter 18.

Saul instead gives

his oldest daughter away

to somebody else.

So he had promised,

then he went back

on his promise

and gave his older daughter away.

And then verse 20 says,

Now Saul's daughter,

Michael,

loved David.

And they told Saul,

and the thing pleased him.

Saul thought,

Let me give her to him

that she may be a snare for him

and that the hand

of the Philistines

may be against him.

Therefore,

Saul said to David

a second time,

You shall now be

my son-in-law.

Right?

So it's being set up

as a trap.

Saul commanded his servants,

speak to David in private

and say,

Behold,

the king has delighted in you

and all his servants

love you.

Now then become

the king's son-in-law.

And Saul's servants

spoke these words

in the ears of David.

And David said,

Listen to what David says.

Remember where he is,

who he is at this point.

Does it seem to you

a little thing

to become the king's son-in-law?

Since I am a poor man

and have no reputation.

See what David thought of himself.

Right?

He had a reputation

by this point.

I have no reputation.

And the servants of Saul

told him,

Thus and so

did David speak.

Then Saul said,

I'm reading this to you

just for closure

on the story.

Thus shall you say to David,

The king desires

no bride price

except a hundred foreskins

of the Philistines

that he may be avenged

of the king's enemies.

Now Saul thought

to make David fall

by the hand

of the Philistines.

And if you read on,

he delivers twice,

twice as many

of the price

that Saul

demanded of him.

So here again,

this expression

of meekness.

Why would the king

want to make me

his son-in-law?

David was very clearly

a mighty man

and had done mighty things

and had a great reputation.

Okay,

a couple of New Testament characters.

Stephen,

Acts chapter 7.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I hope that you don't mind this.

This seems better to me

than reading you

the definition

out of a theology book.

Stephen is

the first Christian martyr.

He's on trial

before the Sanhedrin.

He speaks boldly out.

They get furious with him

because of the indictment

of the speech

that he brings to them.

Verse 58,

we read in following,

Then they cast him

out of the city

and stoned him.

And the witnesses

laid down their garments

at the feet

of a young man

named Saul.

And as they were

stoning Stephen,

this is what I want you

to see from the text,

as they were stoning Stephen,

he called out,

Lord Jesus,

receive my spirit.

And falling to his knees,

he cried out

with a loud voice,

Would any of us,

like when you're thinking,

think about being stoned,

right,

for simply following Christ

and proclaiming his truth.

And as you're being stoned,

this is the affection you have

towards those stoning you.

He says,

Lord,

do not hold this sin

against them.

He seeks forgiveness,

much like our Lord did

on the cross

for those who were stoning him.

And when he had said this,

he fell asleep.

Paul is a great man

of meekness,

a man with a great deal

of Jewish pedigree,

certainly as an apostle,

arguably,

but I would suggest,

the smartest of the lot,

the most influential of the lot.

His ministry was further reaching

than any of the other apostles.

And yet we can see

and we pick up letter

after letter after letter

this great deal of humility

in the way that he writes.

He gives all glory and honor

to Christ for working in

and through him.

Just a quick example,

Philippians 3,

Philippians 3:3

verses 3 and 4.

He says,

For we are the circumcision

who worship by the Spirit of God

and glory in Christ Jesus

and put no confidence

in the flesh.

He says,

Though I myself have reason

for confidence in the flesh,

if anyone else thinks

he has reason for confidence

in the flesh,

I have more.

But he says,

I have none.

I have no confidence

in my flesh whatsoever.

And then we know

in Philippians 4,

13,

a verse not about football games.

He says,

I can do all things

through him

who strengthens me.

Right?

I can serve

the goodness of God

and the glory of Christ

to all peoples everywhere

because I'm strengthened

by him.

But of course,

we would not do well

if we didn't look to

our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ,

as the ultimate

and highest example

of what it means

to be meek.

Jesus said this of himself

that he was meek.

Matthew 11, 29,

he said,

Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me,

for I am gentle,

same Greek word,

for meek.

I am meek

and lowly in heart

and you will find rest

for your souls.

And then Paul,

in his letter

to the Philippians,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

sets Christ up

as our example

in this,

verses 5 through 8.

Have this mind

among yourself,

which is yours

in Christ Jesus,

who though he was

in the form of God,

did not count

equality with God

a thing

to be grasped,

but he emptied himself

by taking the form

of a servant,

being born

in the likeness

of men

and being found

in human form,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient

to the point of death,

even death

on a cross.

So God himself

incarnate,

is what Paul is saying.

God here

in human form,

creator

of the universe,

here

emptied himself

and became a servant

and served

to the point

of death

on a cross.

This is

meekness.

The meek

do not seek

their own good,

but the good

of others.

The meek

do not seek

retribution,

but trust

in the providence

and justice

of God.

The meek

do not seek

to defend

their rights,

knowing

what they truly

deserve.

The meek

do not think

too much

of themselves,

but make much

of God.

Now,

meekness,

and I hope

in all of those

references

and characters,

you got this.

Meekness should not

be equated

with weakness.

The two are not

the same.

Meekness often,

as I said earlier,

is translated

as gentleness.

Meekness

is strength

bridled

and steered

for the glory

of God.

It's strength

aimed

in the right

direction.

Meekness

is Jesus

welcoming

little children

to himself

in Matthew

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19.

And then

two chapters

later in 21,

making a whip

and driving

the extortioners

out of the temple.

And then

another two chapters

later in chapter 23,

indiving the scribes

and Pharisees

and declares woes

over them.

And then another

two chapters

later in chapter 25,

surrendering

to his accusers

in the garden

of Gethsemane.

All of Jesus'

strength

is aimed

at defending

and magnifying

the fame

of his father.

He yields

his strength

to the will

of God.

So let's look

at some further

instruction

to gain

a little better

understanding

of this teaching

in Matthew

5.

A couple more

texts for you.

We're going to stay

in the New Testament

now, I think.

Yep, we're going to stay

in the New Testament.

Matthew chapter 26,

Matthew 26:50

verse 50

and following.

we find Jesus

in the garden

of Gethsemane,

having been

betrayed

by Judas

and his

captors

are coming

to take him

and run him

through this

series of trials

and finally

in his

crucifixion.

we ought

not to forget

who this

Jesus is,

right?

Able

to command

legions

of angels.

He'll say this

in our text

in verse 53.

Verse 50,

Jesus said

to him,

this is the

leader of the guard,

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

him,

this is Peter,

we know from

Luke's account,

stretched out

his hand

and drew

his sword

and struck

the servant

of the high

priest

and cut

off his

ear.

Malthus,

I think,

is that guy's

name,

and Jesus

healed his

ear

in John's

account.

Then Jesus

said to him,

to Peter,

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?

And the

point that

he's making

to Peter

here is that

there is a

task at hand.

God has

willed that

something would

happen,

and I could

stop it from

happening,

but I submit

my strength

to the will

of the father

for the sake

of his name.

we are

not to

be militant

for our

own

sake

if we

are found

meek.

Now I want

to be really

clear at this

point,

and I cannot

develop this

idea in its

entirety,

so my

apology to

you on

this,

but I

am not a

pacifist,

and you

shouldn't be

either.

I believe

in just war

theory,

Google that,

you can

check out

what that

means,

but we

must think

very carefully

about when

it is

proper

to take

a life,

and when

it is

proper

to lay

down

our

lives

for the

sake

of

others.

Paul

instructs

the Ephesians

in chapter

4,

verses 1

and 2,

and the

word here

translated

gentleness

is the

same as

in our

text this

morning

for meek.

Paul

writes,

I

therefore,

a prisoner

for the

Lord,

urge you

to walk

in a

manner

worthy

of the

calling

to which

you have

been

called

with all

humility

and gentleness

with patience

bearing with

one another

in love.

We are to

lay aside

our

preferences

and our

sensitivities

for the

sake

of love.

We are

to be

willing

to not

stand

our

ground

and demand

what's

ours

in every

circumstance

for the

sake

of

love.

And again,

Colossians 3.12,

Paul writes,

put on then

as God's

chosen ones,

holy and

beloved,

compassionate

hearts,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

and patience.

Paul writes

to Titus

in chapter 3

verses 1

and 2,

instructions

for how

he should

instruct

the church

in good

works.

The word

here

translated

gentle

is a

different

word

than

in our

text

this

morning,

but I

believe

Paul

is

getting

at

the

whole

idea

of

meekness

in the

following

verses.

So this

is Titus 3

Titus 3:1

verses 1

and 2.

Remind

them

to be

submissive

to be

submissive

to rulers

and

authorities,

to be

obedient,

to be

ready

for every

good work,

to speak

evil of

no one,

to avoid

quarreling,

to be

gentle,

and to

show

perfect

courtesy

toward all

people.

Beloved,

is this

something that

characterizes

the American

church

today?

I'm

afraid

it's

not,

at least

not in

what we

see

published

for our

consumption.

It seems

so often

that the

church

is

loudly

railing

against

anything

and

everything

that might

come

its way.

Listen to

what the

apostle Peter

says,

1 Peter 3

1 Peter 3:18

verse 18.

Here we're

going to see

the word

gentleness

again,

very same

as the

Greek word

for meek

in our

text today.

He says,

in your

hearts,

honor Christ

the Lord

as holy.

Christ the

Lord as

holy.

Always

being prepared

to make

a defense

to anyone

asks you

for a

reason,

for the

hope that

is in

you.

So be

ready to

give an

answer to

those that

would ask,

what is

this hope

that you

have?

Then Peter

says,

yet do it

with

gentleness

and

respect.

It is

generally

true

that the

minority

of any

particular

kind

feels the

need

to be

the

loudest.

We can

witness this

so often

in our

day.

They're

hoping

that their

volume

will have

them

heard.

But we

are instructed

to be

meek

and

respectful.

As

faithful

Christians

are

continually

pushed

to the

margins

of our

society,

a great

temptation

will rise

within us

and I

believe has

risen within

us and

has been

poorly

dealt

with.

This

temptation

to get

obnoxious,

to complain

about what

picture is on

a Starbucks

cup.

Who cares?

Who cares?

Is this the

thing we want

to be known

for?

May it

not be.

This would

not be

meek.

This would

not be

taking our

mighty dollar

to vote for

how we'd

have such

and such

dealt

with.

Hebrews

10,

34.

I'll give

you a final

example.

meekness

in the

scripture.

This runs

beloved,

counterintuitive.

It runs

against the

grain of

the world.

This to

the world's

thinking,

what I'm

going to

read to

you,

Hebrews

Hebrews 10:34

10,

verse 34,

is upside

down.

But what I'm

saying to

you is that

the world's

actually upside

down.

This is

right side

up.

This is

what people

who are

citizens of

God's

kingdom

look like.

This is

how they

behave.

in the

midst of

oppression.

The

writer of

Hebrews

says,

for you

had

compassion

on those

in prison.

So those

who were

thrown into

prison had

no care.

It's not

like the

prison systems

of our

day.

They had

no care

unless

someone

came to

them,

identified

with them,

and provided

for them.

Meals,

water,

medical,

care.

The job

of the

jailer

was just

to keep

them in.

That was

it.

So these

early

Christians

were identifying

themselves as

Christians as

they went to

go care for

those who

were in

prison because

they were

Christians.

And look

what happens,

this strange

thing.

And you

joyfully

accepted the

plundering of

your property.

So they're

being labeled

as, maybe

they're

traveling to

the prison.

People are

coming in,

destroying

their homes,

taking their

property.

But they

joyfully

accepted it.

Why?

How did

they do

this?

Since you

knew that

you yourselves

had a better

possession

and an

abiding

one.

Which brings

us to a

final question

which I'll

answer in

brief.

Why are

the meek

declared

blessed?

Jesus

declares

his proclamation

over them,

blessed are

the meek.

Why?

Because

they

shall

inherit

the earth.

Jesus

is making

an

eschatological

statement,

primarily.

Maybe there's

some temporary

bleed through,

but he's

making

primarily

an

eschatological,

an end

times

statement.

He is

saying

that one

day all

things will

be made

right,

and the

righteous

will have

their

proper

inheritance.

Those of

us who

walk in

this world

as children

of God

will not

receive what

we believe

we ought

to receive.

But we

are looking

to a

greater

possession,

a greater

treasure,

and an

abiding

one,

one that

will last

forever

beyond

this

world.

Jesus

here in

Matthew

5.5

is

quoting

directly

from

Psalm

Psalms 37:11

37

verse

11.

Before I

read

verse 11

to you,

though,

I want

to read

verse

10.

Those

of us

who are

in

Christ,

we're

looking

to

this

day.

If

there's

anyone

here

who

is

not

in

Christ,

maybe

you're

even

asking

yourself

this

question

as

we've

just

skipped

a

rock

off

the

surface

of

what

it

means

to be

!

meek,

you'd

say,

this

doesn't

characterize

my

life

at

all.

I

am

self

aggrandizing,

I

am

self

seeking,

I

do

want

to

stand

up

for

what's

mine.

You

may

find

that

you're

not

a

citizen

of

God's

kingdom.

And

what

you're

awaiting

is

a

final

and

full

and

eternal

destruction.

Psalm

37

10

says

this,

in

just

a

little

while

the

wicked

will

be

no

more.

Though

you

look

carefully

at

his

he

will

not

be

there.

But

verse

11,

Jesus

hears

quoting,

but

the

meek

shall

inherit

the

land

and

delight

themselves

in

abundant

peace.

What a

glorious

promise

this is

to us.

I

pray,

beloved,

that we

would find

ourselves

those

in

the

kingdom

who

Jesus

would

declare

of us

blessed

because

he

finds

us

meek.

Bridling

strength

aiming

it

at

the

glory

of

God.

Blessed

are

the

meek

for

they

shall

inherit

the

earth.

Please

join me

in

prayer.

Amen.