Under His Control Series

BEATITUDES SERIES:

UNDER HIS CONTROL

MATTHEW 5:5

#Beatitudes

INTRODUCTION… Let’s Play a Game

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AZT1n9e3B6nDWmGJg0pVU7GVxcfLa3S1znhu9wPurlplSrkB3HuGFgo/

I’d like to start out this morning by playing a game. It is a puzzle game. I am going to show you a word puzzle on the screen and we are going to try and guess what it is. Hopefully they aren’t too hard. Hopefully it is a bit of fun. I will put them on the screen and they are also on the back of your sermon notes.

[show image 1] Answer: Laid Back

[show image 2] Answer: Tennis Shoes

[show image 3] Answer: Teeny Bopper

[show image 4] Answer: School is Out

[show image 5] Answer: Blank Look

[show image 6] Answer: One step forward, 2 steps back

Now that you are warmed up, I made a couple up for the purpose of this sermon to get us thinking about the passage. This may or may not go well! The passage that we are looking at this morning is Matthew 5:5. We are in the beatitudes at the beginning of what is called the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and we are looking at one each week.

READ MATTHEW 5:5 (NIV)

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Alright, here are the two I made up. There is one and then there is more of a refined one. Same idea on both.

[show image] Answer: Under Control

[show image] Answer: Under His (God’s) (Jesus’) (Holy Spirit’s) Control

READ MATTHEW 5:5 (NIV)

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

MEEKNESS

This morning we are talking about what ‘meekness’ is and what it has to do with the Kingdom of God. Poverty of Spirit and mourning our sin, which is what we have talked about the last two weeks, creates in us a change. That change is meekness.

Meekness is difficult to define in my opinion because most of us get it wrong when we try to define it. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is not being a doormat. Meekness is not giving up under pressure. Meekness is not being timid. Meekness does not mean never getting angry or standing up for yourself.

So what is meekness? Meekness is a super complicated word is what it is. Some English translations use the word ‘meek’ while others use words like ‘gentle and humble in heart’ for the word ‘meek’ because none of us really knows what it means. The reason why this is important is because in Matthew 11:29 Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (NIV). The word there is ‘meek.’ Jesus calls Himself meek so it should be a characteristic to which I should aspire. Jesus certainly wasn’t weak or a doormat or one who gave up under pressure, but He was meek. I would not describe Jesus as timid, but He was meek.

So what is meekness?

#1 Meekness is humbly operating under the will of God. [repeat with the congregation]

#2 Meekness is the person who has learned to submit to God in the midst of difficult people and difficult circumstances knowing that God will work everything out for the good.

#3 Meekness means we understand that we are under the authority of God and we give up our rights and submit to His will for our lives.

I think the best way to describe this strange word is “Meekness is humbly operating under the will of God.” [repeat with the congregation]

ILLUSTRATION… INSPIRED BY ‘LIVE LIKE A KING’ WARREN WIERSBE PG 64-65: MEDICINE

Meekness is like a patient wrestling with a fever. The patient can’t sleep. The patient wrestles and in pain and doesn’t feel good. Tossing and turning. Head is hot. The doctor offers the patient medicine. The patient accepts the medicine and the fever is soothed and the medication calms the fever so the person can sleep. The acceptance of the soothing medicine is meekness. The soothing medicine is meekness.

ILLUSTRATION… INSPIRED BY ‘LIVE LIKE A KING’ WARREN WIERSBE PG 64-65: WIND

Meekness is like a sailor on the open ocean. It was the sailor’s job to tie and re-tie some sails under the burning sun. The sun was scorching in its intensity and the sailor was hot and sweating and overall uncomfortable. After completing the job with the sails, the sailor stood up and a cool gentle breeze wafted over the deck and cooled the skin. The sailor just stood there and let the cool breeze come over them. Meekness is that experience of standing there and allowing the coolness to wash over.

ILLUSTRATION… INSPIRED BY ‘LIVE LIKE A KING’ WARREN WIERSBE PG 64-65: COLT

Meekness is like a horse owner who has a brand new horse. That brand new horse does not want a person on its back. Nope. There is bucking and kicking and people on the ground. The horse cannot function on the farm or even just for a ride if the horse is not broken. The broken horse is meek. There is power and purpose, but also power now under control for the broken horse. Meekness is being under control.