Blessed are the Meek

Well, good morning.

If I hadn't had a chance to meet you, my name is Russ, and we are excited to have you with us this morning as we continue our series called The Good Life, where we take this look at this radical new way of pursuing happiness that get Jesus gives us in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and specifically in this passage called The Beatitudes, or as I like to say, it's the heartitudes.

It really helps us measure our heart and it gives us a chance to look in the mirror and see really where we stand in this pursuit of happiness.

And we've identified that we can't really find happiness in the American dream or in the normal way of thinking.

And so we've got to go back to Jesus and go back to the Word and see what the Word says about happiness.

You know, I know that one of the fun things with kids when they go to school is uh they have these different times during the year where they have special days.

And one of those days I remember when we even had when I was in school way back, it was called opposite day.

And it's when you when you uh basically everything was opposite.

You know, you if you said something was up, it really meant down, and and so kids dress differently, they they have conversations that are different.

Everything is meant to be opposite.

And so the life of Jesus and this pursuit of happiness, it gives us a little bit of insight in how we pursue happiness.

This is opposite of what most of us would think, according to what the world says and according to what uh the American dream says.

And so our world describes what is great, and that greatness is defined by power and strength.

Our world yearns for success and the rat race to get ahead.

Our world values military might and strength.

Our world values self-confidence, our world values making much of self, always needing to defend your cause or your case.

Um, our world despises weakness, and our world despises and rejects submission.

And so these are are the values that come from the world that are the exact opposite of biblical truth, the exact opposite of what Jesus is trying to teach us in the Summer on the Mount, and it's what we need to understand today.

Jesus comes on the scene and he basically declares it's opposite day.

He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit.

We talked about that the first week.

Blessed are those who mourn.

We talked about that last week, and then this week, it's blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

This big idea that happy are the meek.

Now that's gotta be shocking.

The king of the universe, the creator of the of everything that we know, would say that the way to happiness is to choose meekness.

What does he mean?

What does Jesus mean when he says, um, uh blessed are the meek?

What does it mean to be meek?

What does it mean to inherit the earth?

And Nathan is about to help us dive into this verse in detail to help us understand what it means to be opposite of what the world says and help us understand what it means to be meek and what it means to inherit the earth.

So as we continue this morning walking through the Sermon on the Mount and looking at the Beatitudes, we've got to remember the context of which Jesus is speaking this message.

There's this huge crowd of people that have come out to see this novelty of this new guy that's kind of preaching and doing these incredible miracles.

And Jesus is really laying out a new way, a new way of life.

He's laying out a new kingdom that's radically different than the ways of this world.

We've talked about being poor in spirit, we've talked about those that mourn.

And today we're talking about those that are meek.

That the verse 5 of Matthew chapter 5 says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Now, Jesus is talking to the people that aren't the well-educated, they aren't the religious elite, they're the sick, they're the poor, they're the people that have suffered from demon possession.

I mean, these are people that don't really have a whole lot to offer, and they're hearing these words from Jesus saying, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Now, these words seem comforting to them to an extent, but they're also radically different than everything they've ever known.

Now, before we go any further, we need to understand what meekness is.

Meekness can mean a number of different things.

It could be translated gentle or mild or reserved, but meekness is often associated with weakness, but that's really not what meekness is all about.

Meekness is not weakness, but rather it's strength.

Meekness is having great strength, but it's strength under control.

That's what meekness is all about.

It's strength under control.

The best way we can use to describe that is thinking of like a wild stallion, a horse that's out in the wilderness, that's running around, has incredible power, incredible strength.

In fact, very few people would even try to bother the horse or try to wrangle the horse and bring him in.

But if somebody did and they brought them into the training arena and they're able to break the horse and to get the wild stallion to be tamed enough where they could be used for its purposes and for a bigger purpose and a bigger reason, then the horse still has the same amount of strength.

It's not that the horse has all of a sudden become weak because it's tame now, but rather it's still strong.

It's just its strength has been brought under control.

That's what meekness is.

Meekness is our strength being brought under control.

And it's not just our physical strength, it's also our emotions.

It's our whole body.

It's us not flying off at the handle, but it's us having strength under control.

And so when Jesus is speaking this to the original audience, he's actually quoting a verse from Psalm 37.

And the original audience, they would have had some biblical education, they would have known parts of the Old Testament, and their minds probably would have gone back to Psalm 37 as they thought about what Jesus was saying.

In Psalm 37, verse 11, it says, But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Psalms 37:11

They would have thought about the whole context of that psalm, which says in Psalm 37, verse 1, it says, Do not fret because of those who are evil, or be envious of those who do wrong.

Psalms 37:1

For like the grass, they will soon wither, like the green plant, they will soon die away.

Trust in the Lord to do good.

Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your ways to the Lord, trust in him, and he will do this.

He will make your righteousness reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath.

Do not fret, it leads only to evil.

For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

A little while, and the wicked will be no more.

Though you look for them, they will not be found.

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Now this is an incredible reminder for the people that are hearing this message, because this certainly doesn't seem to prove true in the world that they're living in.

They're under Roman oppression.

Early on in the Bible, in the Old Testament, whereas there's this promise that is given to Abraham that he would choose a people, the Jewish nation, and that they would have a promised land that they would dwell in.

But for generations now, they've been an oppressed people.

There was the Romans who are currently oppressing them.

There's the Greeks before them, the Persians before them, the Babylonians before them.

And so all they've really ever known is oppression.

They've really been enslaved in the land that ultimately belongs to them.

And it seems an awful lot like the pagan people, these wicked people that have wicked plans are prospering.

And you would think that if the wickedness is prospering, and if these wicked governments and leaders are prospering, you would think that the response would not be meekness, but it would rather be strength.

It would be about coming up against those that are a power, fight the power, fight back from those that are oppressing them.

But that's not what Jesus is saying at all.

Jesus is giving them a promise.

He's giving them a promise to say that the wicked will be destroyed, the wickedness will end.

Just look at in Psalm 37.

Again, he says in verse 2, the evil will wither.

The evil in verse 9 will be destroyed.

In verse 10, the wicked will be no more.

In verse 22, those he curses will be destroyed.

In verse 28, the wicked will perish.

In verse 34, the wicked will be destroyed.

In verse 37, sinners will be destroyed.

No future for the wicked.

This is what God is promising, that there's ultimately going to be a judgment that occurs and the wicked will be destroyed.

But his response to that is that we should be people that are meek.

And the meek that is described in Psalm 37 is those that trust in God even when the wicked prosper, that even when the wickedness seems to be prevailing, even when the wicked governments and the people that are oppressing them seem to be successful, we trust in God.

We don't trust in a government, we don't trust in a political party, we don't trust in a political candidate.

We trust in God and Him alone.

We trust in God for our security, our peace, our prosperity, and our success.

It's not found in the things of this world, but it's found ultimately in and through God alone.

We commit our ways to the Lord.

We rest in the Lord.

We delight in the Lord.

These are all symbols.

These are all actions of what it looks like to be meek.

It's our strength.

It's the things that we have and we possess, but it's strength under control.

It's strength that has been submitted to the purpose and the plans of God.

All through this Psalm we see the promise that the meek will inherit the land and the wicked will be destroyed.

Jesus gives a similar parable in Matthew chapter 13, where he gives this parable in the story of the farmer that goes out and plants wheat.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And then the enemy comes at night, and the enemy plants weeds among the wheat.

And the farmer's helpers want to go out and they want to pull up the weeds as they start to sprout out of the ground.

But the farmer knows that if they pull up the weeds, they're going to also pull up the wheat as well.

And so the farmer says, No, let the wheat and let the weeds grow together.

And then at harvest time we'll separate the weeds and we'll separate the wheat.

And the ones that are the weeds, the chaff, will be thrown, will be destroyed, and the wheat will be producing the harvest.

And that's so true in what God promises ultimately all throughout Scripture, that the wickedness will be brought to judgment.

The wickedness will come to an end, and the meek, those that put their trust in the Lord, those that rely completely and fully upon him, that don't try to exercise their strength, but instead rest and are secure in the Lord.

Those are the ones that will inherit the land.

Now again, this goes in the face of everything that we've been taught.

This goes in the face of everything that we have ever known.

Because what we've been taught, what we've what we've learned from a very early age, it's about strength.

Strength are the ones that get ahead.

When we exercise our strength, when we fight for our rights, when we try to succeed in this world, those are the people that get ahead.

Not the meek, not the people that are quiet, not the people that submit their rights and yield their rights to others.

But God's way is radically different.

Back in biblical times, you had the Pharisees, and the Pharisees thought that they could overcome the oppression by their religious observance.

And so they buried themselves in Scripture and tried to fulfill all the commands and all the different religious commandments and observances that were commanded and listed out in Scripture.

Then you had the tax collectors and the Sadducees, and they were all about making these political compromises and allegiances in order to deal with the Roman occupation.

And then you had the zealots, and the zealots were men and women that were trying to overthrow the Roman government.

They were trying to use their power in order to overcome the wicked government that they were under.

But Jesus is coming and he's saying, no, it's not about any of those things.

It's not about compromising your values, it's not about forming an allegiance with the wicked government.

It's not about being a zealot and trying to overthrow the political establishment, but rather it's about becoming weak.

It's becoming meek.

It's becoming a person that is gentle and lowly.

It's a person that has great strength, but chooses not to exercise it.

And these are the people that will receive the inheritance.

Now, this is the beautiful thing because the inheritance is given.

The inheritance is given.

It's not earned, it's not bought, and it's not conquered.

An inheritance is a free gift that is given to you.

It's not anything that you've earned, bought, or anything that you've conquered in and of yourself, but it is something that is given to you.

And so for the original audience, they were thinking of the land, the physical land that they were wanting so desperately to possess.

But for us as modern readers of the Bible, we're not talking about an actual physical land, but we're talking about what awaits us in eternity.

We're talking about heaven, we're talking about the promise of eternal life, we're talking about our salvation, which has been freely given to us.

It's nothing that we've bought, it's nothing we've earned, it's nothing that we've conquered in order to attain, but rather it's a gift that has been freely given to you and to me if we put our faith and our trust in Jesus.

And Jesus is saying that we should be meek and the meek will inherit the earth.

It's not about anything we do, but it's instead trusting in Him and in Him alone.

It really comes down to our identity.

The only way that we can truly be meek is when we understand who we are in Christ and ultimately what our inheritance is that awaits us.

When we understand what awaits us and that the meek are the ones that inherit the earth, then it allows us to yield our rights.

It allows us to be people that have great strength, but have strength that's under control.

Where we don't feel like we have to fight for our rights and fight for our freedoms, because that's not where ultimately our happiness is found.

It's ultimately found in us submitting to the Lord, resting in him, and stop striving for our inheritance, but rather trust in him for his provision.

How blessed life is.

When we don't have to strive to get ahead, when we don't have to fight for our rights in this world, but we live securely knowing that when we are meek, we will inherit the earth.

So after hearing Nathan, I think we can agree that meekness is personified in the person of Jesus.

And I think we could say that about poor.

Blessed are the poor.

Poor is personified in the person of Jesus.

Um blessed are those who mourn.

Jesus taught us to mourn.

He taught us to have a heart for uh mourning after the things that God mourns.

And so we also see that meekness is personified in the person of Jesus.

He had all of this power.

He is the creator of the universe.

He is God in the flesh, but he chooses to surrender and he chooses to sacrifice and he chooses God's way instead of selfish gain.

And we we don't see this anywhere more clearly explained, probably than this passage from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi.

Um he says in verse 5, Philippians 2, and your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider a quality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

And rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

See, Jesus, he didn't fight when he was betrayed.

Jesus was the perfect example of meekness.

He wasn't looking at the way of the world.

He was choosing a radically different path that was an example for you and me.

And so rather than military might, rather than political power, rather than sending an army out to fight a battle, Jesus surrenders himself.

He allows his blood to be spilled and his body to be broken.

And in doing so, he inherits all things and he shares his inheritance with you and me.

If we put our faith in what he did at the cross and what he did in walking out of that empty tomb, Jesus gives us a radical new way of looking at life and living life.

And so he promises that the wicked will be restored, destroyed, and that he will restore everything back to the way that God intended in the very beginning.

And all of that is available to you and to me if we choose to put our faith in Jesus and what he did in his death and his resurrection.

So he provides us this supernatural invitation to happiness, divine grace, happiness that comes from a supernatural encounter.

And it's here's the thing.

No, all we do is accept what Jesus provides.

So he offers us an invitation to receive through faith this new happiness, this new radical way of life.

And so you can say, how do I do that, Russ?

And it's really just simply calling out to Jesus.

It's inviting him through prayer to save you and you repenting of your sin and accepting what he has provided.

And so that word repent means to turn.

It means that we are not going to seek life or happiness through our own power, our own way, our own ability, but we're going to repent and we're going to turn and we're going to find happiness and eternal life through Jesus and Jesus alone.

So I want to encourage you, if you've never put your faith in Jesus, that you can do that right now.

It's something as simple as this.

You admit that you need Jesus, just pray with me right now.

Father, I need you.

I need this salvation, I need this radical new way of life.

And I believe that you provided that through Jesus.

His life and his death and his resurrection.

And I put my faith in that cross and that empty tomb.

And those are real events that changes the reality of eternity.

And so I ask you to save me, and I put my faith in you.

And I confess Jesus as my Lord, my Savior.

The Bible says if you pray that prayer, and it's honest and open, that He will save you.

And I want to encourage you, if you've responded, if you prayed that prayer this morning, please text us.

Let us know.

You can text, start to follow to 9700.

And that way we can follow up with you and encourage you.

We've had several people that have been watching us online who've actually responded to Christ over this past year.

And they've even come to our church and joined us physically in worship.

So I want to encourage you.

Now I want to take a second and I want to talk to the men in the room.

And I hope you don't step out of the room right now.

I hope you listen.

Jesus is speaking to meekness.

And meekness, as Nathan describes it, really means power under control.

And most of us men really struggle with this because we're supposed to be strong and we're supposed to be mighty and we're supposed to be protectors and providers for our family.

But even as men, we're to choose meekness.

And we're to choose the fact that we recognize that we're not all-powerful, but God is all-powerful.

And I believe that there's going to be a movement, a revival, an awakening that takes place following this past year or two that we've experienced.

I believe it's going to happen.

And I believe it's going to start in the church, and I believe it's going to start with men like you and me who repent and are willing to be meek and we're willing to join together with the church and other men in a brotherhood seeking to figure out this thing called life and how to be godly men, how to love our wives, and how to be the kind of fathers that God has called us to be.

And so we as a church are wanting to lead the way.

And February 25th, we're having an event at both of our campuses called What's at Stake, because there's a lot, there's a lot at stake.

And then we're going to eat some steak.

But we're going to rally men to understand and live out this verse, Blessed are the meek.

And we're going to turn our and put our hope in Christ.

And through that, I'm praying that God will birth something.

Something that we can that maybe history would refer to as an awakening or revival.

And it could start right here.

And our little church and our little community community could be a part of history.

So I want to encourage you, men.

You're going to have a website, it's church at the grove.com forward slash men, and you'll find a place where you can register for that steak dinner.

And I'm excited about what God's going to do as we move forward in the meekness of Christ.