Introduction:
The world says that people who got money no matter how they got it are blessed. The world says that people who have risen to the top in sports, politics, or business no matter how many people they had to step on to get there are blessed. The world says that people who name everybody recognized or whose face is well known no matter what they had to sacrifice to get to that place are blessed.
And God looks at us and says wait a minute that is not how you get blessed. You got it all wrong; you get blessed by meekness. In the Bible, the word meekness and gentleness are pretty much interchangeable, and they describe a person who has power, but that power is under the control of God.
And as I thought about it, power under the control of God is basically surrendering your will and your actions to God. And we all should be able to do that because, in Galatians Chapter 5, Paul list the fruit of the spirit, and one of those fruits is gentleness, the same Greek word that is used in our passage to describe meekness.
So, if meekness is a fruit of the spirit and Jesus tells us that we are blessed to show meekness in our lives, we should be able to look in the Bible from Old Testament to New Testament and see example after example of people the Bible says are meek people. It makes sense, right.
So that is what I did, and here is what I discovered. In all the pages of the Bible, only three people are described as meek- Moses Jesus and Paul. If you want the Bible references, Moses is described as meek in Numbers 12:3, Jesus in Matthew 11:29 and 21:5, and Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:1. That’s it.
So what are the challenges that prevent more people from being described as meek? That is where we want to go today with our study. So please stand as we read from Matthew 5:2-11
Scripture
Matthew 5:2-11 (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.
Point #1
THE CHALLENGE TO BEING A PERSON WHO IS MEEK IS THAT OUR OLD LIVES, OUR OLD ACTIONS, KEEPING CALLING OUR NAME, AND WE GIVE THOUGHT TO WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE IF WE COULD GO BACK THERE.
James 1:21 (NKJV)
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
The first half of the verse that talks about laying side aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness that speaks of our former life before we knew Christ. And that verse implies that there are times in our Christian life, we say boy it would be nice if we could do that or we could go back there again.
I told you the Bible only mentioned three meek people. The interesting thing about these three people is they never looked back. Not once will you find in the Scripture that Moses looked back and longed for the times he was in the Pharaoh’s house again. Compare that to the Israelites that he lead who wanted to go back and be slaves in Egypt.
Nowhere in the Gospel do I see Jesus saying: “I wish I never came here, and I want to go back home. I am tired of having nowhere to lay my head; I want to go back home and sit on the throne next to my Father. ” Instead, He was always looking ahead to what His Father had sent Him here to do.
And then there is the Apostle Paul; he is blunt as he can be; Paul tells us plainly how he feels about looking back in Phil. 4:13 when he says to us that he forgets what lies behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead.
This point slapped me in my face. I know God has sent me here to minister to this church. But there are times that I long to forget about what God wants and go back home to Louisiana. And what I am actually saying to myself; I want to take myself from under God’s control and put myself in control. That’s not meekness.
And I have the feeling that you do the same thing. There may be some aspect of your former life before you meet Christ that you tell yourself I wish I could do that again. For example, if God freed you from anger, there may be some situations you wish you could lose your Christianity and tell them precisely what you would have said in your former days. If God freed you from an addiction, and you say to yourself just one more of whatever you are addicted to, that is not meekness. Meekness is keeping God in control.
Let me tell you it is hard always to allow God to have control and never take control back from Him. But that is what meekness is.
Point #2
THE CHALLENGE TO BEING A PERSON WHO IS MEEK IS THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE A TEACHABLE SPIRIT. WE SHOULD NEVER GET TO THE PLACE THAT WE THINK WE KNOW IT ALL.
James 1:21 (NKJV)
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Now we are dealing with the second half of the verse, and that talks about a person who has a teachable spirit. We all know people who think they know everything that the Bible teaches, and they are not open to hear, study, or find out if they are correct or not. They have made up their mind what they believe and right or wrong they are sticking with it. No, they are not going to open their Bible to recheck their belief against the Word of God.
That is so contrary to what the Bible says we are. It describes us as disciples, one who sits under a Master. In the case of the apostles, the Master was Jesus Christ, Himself. In our case, the Master is the Holy Spirit of God, which the Bible says will guide us into all truth. When we shut off our searching for the truth because we think we know it all, it can be said that person is not meek. He or she is no longer under the control of the Holy Spirit; instead, they have taken control back.
I want to go back to the three people the Bible says had meekness. Another thing about them is that they had a teachable spirit.
Moses had a teachable spirit. In Exodus 4:12, the Bible tells us God says …I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say." Moses didn’t say I had some exceptional learning in the house of Pharaoh; I got this God. Instead, he was teachable.
Jesus, even while He was teaching His disciples, He would go off to the mountain to pray and to get instructions from His Father. The time Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane was a teachable moment. Jesus was asking if this cup could pass, and we know that the Father told Him that it couldn’t. Jesus had a teachable Spirit.
The light blinded Paul at his conversion, and Paul remained that way until Ananias came to him so that he may receive his sight back. But the interesting thing is that the Lord told Ananias that I will teach Paul many things that he will have to suffer for my Name's sake. And Paul endured each lesson, which he describes in 2 Corthinians 11 because he had a teachable spirit.
Do you have a teachable spirit? Only you can answer if you have a teachable spirit.
Point #3
THE CHALLENGE TO BEING A PERSON WHO IS MEEK IS HOW WELL DO YOU RESPOND WHEN SOMEONE COMES ALONG SIDE OF YOU TO GIVE YOU SOME GUIDANCE THAT YOU DID NOT ASK FOR.
Galatians 6:1 (NKJV)
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
We all have those areas of our life that I call blind spots where we are doing something we don’t see as wrong, but others see that as not Christ-like. And if someone would call into question what you are doing, how fast would you rush to your own defense. How quickly do you counterattack? You are a fine one to be telling me about this; look at your life, and you begin attacking something about that person.
What we should do is thank the person for sharing that and then compare that action and see if he is right in light of Scripture.
The Apostle Paul had a situation like this. John Mark had deserted Paul and Barnabas after a missionary trip. Barnabas confronted Paul as John Mark wanted to come back, and Paul wasn’t having any of it. It was a source of contention between Barnabas and Paul, and so they split and went in different directions. But later on, we discover that Paul must have accepted the correction of Barnabas because Paul refers to John Mark as a fellow co-worker in Colossians 4:10.
The natural tendency is to respond to correction is to become defensive and to fight back. Paul, after he cooled downed, came up with the right answer-Barnabas was right to restore him. And that is what Paul did- restore John Mark to serve alongside Paul.
How well have you accepted guidance from others? How you respond tells a lot about whether or not you have meekness.
