Beatitude Series # 3
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
Matt 5:4 Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matt 5:5
Original date April 25, 1999
Revised May 12, 2001
Divorced parents Judge asked the Girl who she wanted to live with Mom Beats me Dad beats me
The Detroit Lions "They don’t beat anybody
Miami Dolphins, Mike Colin, Steve Jordan Wanted Mike to go on a recruiting trip
Mike what are we looking for?
I . The guy that gets knocked downs and gets back up
2. The guy that gets knocked down at gets up and gets knocked down again and stays down
3. The Guy that Get’s knocked down and gets up and gets knocked down and gets up every time.
"We want him" No
We want the Gut that’s knocking everybody down
From the time that we are small we are conditioned that if you want something you have to take it. Aggressiveness and competion begin to rule in our lives.
Let’s stand together and Read Matt 5:5, Pray
I can see the scene Jesus is on the mountain and He says Blessed are the Meek
And People are turning to each other saying; “Did He say Meek?”
Once again we are at a principal that is the opposite of everything that makes sense to us.
As people we are obsessed with getting Land, Owning our own home is part of the American dream.
Movie Far and away, peoples coming from all over the world to own a piece of soil.
And when we own land, our humanity takes over and we want to own a bigger piece of land. If you don’t think that’s true just try playing Monopoly.
I don’t know about you but when I play monopoly, I don’t just play to win. My goal is to control the whole board. As we look back over history we can see numerous wars, Now please don’t misunderstand me, I believe that some wars are fought over principals, But I also realize that most wars are fought over land. Now even with principals involved that are worth fighting for the war is still about land, The idea of owning a piece of earth is involved at some point of the equation.
E,g Fighting Nazi’s they wanted to own the earth. utopian society W.W.11
Sadam Hussein Invaded Kuwait, our goal was to drive him out Revolutionary war "independence" Land involved
So the idea of owning a piece of land appeals to us as people, and the way that you get that land is to use force. To take it. To use your power
The principals. Be assertive Use power
Aggressiveness Take it
They are they people who live by the philosophy "Nice Guys finish last"
"In order to get what I want I have to be stronger than the opposition’
Wanting to have a Christian nation is a goal of the followers of Christ That’s what the Holy Roman Empire aspired to be. That’s one of the reasons the crusades were fought or for the Spanish inquisition.
And in our hopes for this utopian society Christians begin to buy the philosophy of those outside of Christ. The thing that separates us as Christians is not that we don’t hope for a united Christian Nation, as Augustine envisioned. One of the things that separates us is this: That our inheritance, our Christian Nation, our Holy City, the city of God. Our hope is in Heaven. We need to understand that our City of God is not temporary, nor can it be found in this life. When Jesus says that the meek will inherit the earth, He is talking directly about our hope in Heaven. "What John describes when he says in the book of revelation that he saw a new heaven and a new earth" Who was the new earth for? It is for the Christian
As we discussed before the principals that Jesus Gives are the opposite from every earthly thought and instinct that we posses.
Our earthly instinct says use power and force, it doesn’t matter if you are arrogant, and if you want the land you just take the land.
Jesus says if you want a hope in heaven, A holy City you have to be meek
As people we are looking for our 15 minutes and our section of fame. We want to be somebody important. But God says, “you are somebody” your aspirations of greatness, wealth, and power are wasted if you think you are impressing me.
"Which leads us to the question: What is meekness
Is it being timid or passive? Getting fish instead of Chicken?
Dependent Organization of Really Meek and Timid Souls
Their Motto was “ The Meek shall inherit the earth if that’s O.K. with everybody else”
Jesus is siting the example of Meekness however we know Jesus not to be timid or passive
Jesus cleanses the temple
The best definition for meekness is Strength under God’s control
What is meekness?
Character traits of Meekness
All offshoots of being poor in Spirit
Offshoots over mourning over sin
1. A meek person is a Humble person
Hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.
Humility before God
Churchill story
2 A meek person is a Surrendered person Allowing God to lead, Yielding to God’s will, Allowing God to mold you. When the self is obscured in a desire to please God and our will becomes dissolved in the will of God.
It is a quiet contentment in Christ. A meek person is satisfied with God’s provisionin their life.
3. Gentleness Toward the possible salvation of others Compassion for the Lost
Woman took her husband to the doctor Amenia; he would survive but she hav to treat him She wanted to break the news to him “your going to die"
It is a life of trusting in God to commit your life to him to wait on Him
Meekness in the Christians Life does
1. Draws our attention to God (Focus) Not unnecessary things
Sermon class outline, Exegesis, background study your title is off you gets a D
"The periscopes of Jesus in relationship to the eschatology of Apostle Paul" rewrite it and I will reconsider your Grade
I don’t know what to do
Suppose there is a bus driving by the church on Sunday morning and they saw the title of your message. The title of your sermon needs to be compelling enough to make them get off the bus to listen to the sermon.
"There’s a bomb on your bus"
Draws others attention to God through us It allows us to have compassion
It is a step of being poor in Spirit
It helps us to mourn over the sins
If you need to put your focus on God.
