May I please the Lord to be with
us this evening as we continue our meditation in the fifth chapter
of Matthew. And this evening we'll speak
on the fifth verse. The fifth verse reads, blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. So far we've gone through those
two verses where the Lord said, blessed are the poor in spirit,
And then, blessed are they that mourn. And now we come to this
one, blessed are they, blessed are the meek. And I suppose it
continues the same kind of theme that naturally we would be surprised
that such people are blessed. It is true and as we follow through
the Word of God we will find that it is really a mark of God's
grace and God's favour to be found meek in our walk and in
our conversation. We have many examples in the
Word of God to encourage us. This word meek really means to
be mild or to be humble. And that is not something which
normally you and I possess by our nature. But what a blessing
it is when the Lord gives us that right, meek and humble spirit,
the mild spirit, to walk in that way which is in accordance with
the Word of God. And we have, of course, some
wonderful examples. And the most blessed example,
I'm sure, is the one of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he explains
that of himself. Again, in all humbleness, in
the 11th of Matthew, 29th verse, the Lord says, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you
shall find rest unto your souls. So we have a great and glorious
example of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we follow his life, we
realize how He was reviled, and he reviled not again. He just
walked that wonderful, humble life on this earth. And then
going back to the Old Testament, and we have the description of
Moses. And Moses, now the man Moses,
was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the
earth. And surely Moses had plenty of reasons not to be meek when
he was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness
with their continual complaints. And it's interesting to note
that when Moses was spoken to by the people and they complained
and moaned, there were those occasions when he came and he
fell down before God. Yes, he didn't kind of retaliate. He did speak sometimes and tell
them what they should have done and how they should have acted.
But generally we see how he sets a wonderful example. And this
is recorded for our encouragement to know that great as he was,
he was a meek man. Well, the truth is that throughout
the scriptures we have so many instances of the description
of being meek. And how important it is, I think
today, for all of us, for the whole Church of God to realise
the need there is to follow carefully the Word of God. The Psalms we
read of, Isaiah we read of, and Zephaniah we read of, and then
the New Testament, of course, Paul and Peter, they all refer
to this blessed situation of being meek. And it's something
I'm sure that we should all seek after, to have a meek, to have
a mild, and to have a humble spirit. We read together that
37th Psalm. The 37th Psalm really is that
which these words follow on from. Because in the 37th Psalm we
read, but the meek shall inherit the earth. and shall delight
themselves in the abundance of peace." You see, this is that
which is spoken to of the meek. Not those who are angry or rowdy
or wanting to vaunt themselves. No, the very opposite. And here
we have this gracious statement, as David under the Holy Spirit
wrote these words, but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall
delight themselves in the abundance of peace. You can imagine, can't
you? If there's no meekness, then
there's no peace, is there? But what a blessing when there
is meekness, then you see there is peace. And David speaks here
of the abundance of peace. What a blessing that is. And
then there are many references actually in the Psalms, but just
a couple of references I've noted down in the 149th Psalm. For
the Lord taketh pleasure in his people. He will beautify the
meek with salvation. What a wonderful word that is,
isn't it? To think that he will beautify
the meek. Now, we're not meek ourselves.
But it's wonderful if God gives us that grace so that we are
meek. Then to think of such a statement
as this, that he will beautify the meek with salvation. Well, there's surely no greater
blessing, is there, than that. And then, just moving on to Isaiah. Isaiah was indeed a prophet of
the Lord and he spoke some wonderful words in his prophecy. And he
tells us this in the 29th of Isaiah, the meek also shall increase
their joy in the Lord. Now I'm sure that's something
we all desire to do, to joy in the Lord. And here we have this
statement, the meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Again, picking up the first statement,
the Lord made blessed are the poor. And so we have these very
encouraging statements in the Word of God to direct us in our
little life on this earth, the desire that we might be found
in this way. And then Zephaniah, we don't
often think perhaps of finding little gems in these places,
but there are, and it's wonderful to think there are. And Zephaniah
tells us in the second chapter in the third verse, he says,
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth." Well, that's an
interesting point, isn't it? We are encouraged to seek the
Lord, aren't we? But perhaps to really seek the
Lord, we need to have a right spirit. We don't want to have
a proud spirit, to think that we're somebody the Lord will
look upon. Often we're proud in our hearts,
and yet here we have this statement. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek
of the earth. Well, isn't it a blessing to
be found a true seeker, having been blessed with that right
and true meekness? And then we come to the words
of the Apostle Paul. And of course, the Apostle, he
knew his own heart, didn't he? And he knew what he'd been. He'd
been a very proud man, proud of what he was doing. so different
from being a meek person. He went about, as we read in
the Acts of the Apostles, doing those things contrary to the
will of God. And yet you see God came and
blessed him on that Damascus road. And there was a complete
change. And instead of following his
own way, he fell down in that meek spirit and said, Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do? It's good, you know, to be blessed
like that, with a willing spirit and a meek spirit to come down
before our God and say, what will they have me to do? Well, the apostle, therefore,
was indeed versed in the need for that. And when he wrote to
the Corinthians, and the Corinthians needed much instruction and teaching,
he says, what will you? Shall I come unto you with a
rod or in love? and in the spirit of meekness. He knew what would really do
them good and here he speaks in this way, in love and in the
spirit of meekness. Well that wasn't going to bring
great Pride to him say what I did all
these things and and I and I came and I corrected you here and
corrected you there So you did but it was in love and it was
in meekness if you read through The the Word of God and then
in the same chapter we read but the fruit of the Spirit is In
Ephesians, Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. I'm sure we're familiar
with those. And then the Apostle says meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.
And this is the fruit of the Spirit. This is the fruit of
God's work in our soul. how important it is that we're
found to be seekers after this path. I'm sure we do indeed desire
to have that fruit of love and joy and peace, but it goes on,
you see, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,
against such there is no law. Well, the apostle knew the Gracious
leading in the spirit to direct him in these things and he also
tells us If further on in Galatians, he says brethren if a man be
overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual Restore such a
one in the spirit of meekness Considering thyself Lester also
be tempted again, it's a good word, isn't it to always look
at ourselves and to consider ourselves and to recognise how
the Lord has perhaps had mercy upon us and directed us and therefore
to deal with others in this way. Restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness. And it's directed to those who
are spiritual. Not directed to those who are
not spiritual, they wouldn't understand. But bless God if
we are able to come in this right way. and therefore acknowledge
the truth of God's Word. And he addresses us, of course,
as brethren. He's speaking in love and directing
us in that right way. And then when he wrote the Ephesians,
he said, therefore, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, well,
we know what Paul had to endure, didn't he? The prisoner of the
Lord, for the Lord's sake, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called. And then he tells us how that's
to be. With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. All these are wonderful
words, aren't they, to the Church of God. And you know, if we were
all able to walk within the confines of these words, well, what a
blessing it would be. What a blessing to the Church
of God throughout the world if such a favour was granted. We love the unity of the Spirit
and the bond of peace, but it comes through this walking with
all lowliness. You see, we all need to think
ourselves, as Paul did, less than the least of all saints.
Lowliness. Yes, it's a grace of God to be
low, low in our own estimation, taking the lowest place. As I've
said sometimes, there's never problems when we're all little
people, when we all estimate and esteem others better than
ourselves. And then when the apostle wrote
to Timothy, You know, Timothy was one that he nurtured, and
Timothy was sent forth to preach the everlasting gospel, and the
Apostle speaks to him. And he tells him what the servant
of the Lord should be. And he says, and the servant
of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt
to teach, patient in meekness, Instructing those that oppose
themselves if God perventure will give them repentance To
the acknowledging of the truth. Well, that was a good word, wasn't
it to the Apostle? It's a good word to us all today,
isn't it to follow such an example to be gentle unto all men All
men apt to teach Patient and patient we sometimes get patience
in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves And there
are those of course who do oppose themselves And this is how they
are to be instructed if God perventure will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth and then As he moves on to Titus,
again, good words that were addressed to Titus, and Paul the other
evening spoke of some of the words that the Apostles spoke
to Titus, through Titus, to Titus, and we have it through Titus
tonight, to speak even of no man. To be no brawlers, but gentle,
showing all meekness unto all men." Well, again the Apostle
homes in on these important considerations and follows this word, blessed. You see, that's the truth, blessed. And that really means to be blessed
much. It's not just a mere word, it's
to be blessed much. To be blessed much. the meek. Well, blessed are the meek. And then just finally the Apostle
Peter, when he writes his first epistle. In the third chapter
we read, while they behold your chaste conversation, coupled
with fear, whose adorning, let it not be, that outward adoring
of plaiting the hair, or wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel,
but Let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is
not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
is in the sight of God of great price." What he is meaning here
is how valuable it is to be blessed with this grace, this grace of
having this ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. Well, what
a blessing it is the Lord gives us that grace to walk in that
way. And then we read, for they shall
inherit the earth. Now, this word earth that can
actually be translated also, land. So we can think of it in
this way, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the land. And as we think of that, of course,
what does it direct us to? Well, we've sung something of
it in our second hymn, and surely that is the land of glory. surely that is heaven at last
to be with our great and glorious Saviour who indeed has spoken
all these words through the apostles and through the prophets and
so to think that through the grace of God those who are meek
shall be blessed with this inheritance of glory. Again, remember inheritance
is something we've never worked for, we've never merited, it's
something which is left to us, something which is given to us.
And to think therefore that this is the blessing that the Lord
spoke on this wonderful occasion He went up into the mountain
and sat down and spoke to the disciples in the multitude. Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. It's a sure
and certain promise that there will be that inheriting the earth. Well, maybe look forward to such
a great and wonderful day. And as I've said, it refers to
that which we read in the 37th of Psalm, the 11th verse, about
this wonderful blessing of inheriting the earth. Well, may the Lord
bless these words and encourage us. It may be a good example
to us all to be found following this way. As we've already said,
blessed are the poor, blessed are they that mourn, and blessed
are the meek. Amen.