Matthew chapter five and verse
five. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ's so-called
Sermon on the Mount which we find here in Matthew chapter
five, six, and seven. We've been thinking about a few
verses from the commencement of that sermon. This sermon is
full. It's full of comforting, encouraging
promises. And perhaps there is none more
so than this one. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Here, our Lord is continuing
with this description of the blessed individuals that are
catered for, that are provided for, whose every need is supplied. who have been given every reason
to be encouraged and motivated to trust in their Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Here, we see that there are good
grounds for us to depend and rely upon the grace and the goodness
of our blessed Saviour. Our Lord has, in the opening
words of this sermon, made reference to those who are poor in spirit
and to those who mourn. And we have seen, as we have
considered these passages in the last couple of weeks, we
have seen that these two, those that are poor in spirit and those
who mourn, are indeed one and the same. They are the same people. Their blessedness is the same. The provision that has been made
for them is the same. That end to which they are designed
and purposed and will most certainly attain proves that they are blessed
of God. and that the Lord Jesus Christ
has supplied all their needs according to his riches. Poor
they are, poor, poor in spirit, poor in this world's estimations,
poor in their own estimations, but rich in grace because the
Lord Jesus Christ has provided all for them. They know themselves
to be a spiritually needy people. These characteristics, poor in
spirit and mourners in Zion, are spiritual characteristics. They are spiritually needy. They
grieve for their sin. They carry a sense of that dependency
upon Christ with them constantly. And every time they are caused
to look upon themselves or look upon their strengths or look
upon their abilities, it's another occasion for them to shake their
heads and say, I can't do anything. I can't give anything. I can't
accomplish anything. I need mercy. I need grace. I need divine help and comfort. And those who have reached that
experience, that spiritual experience, that experience which is spiritually
invoked, spiritually called forth, spiritually initiated in the
heart and life of an individual, those who have experienced something
of that sense, that sensibility, They know that these are spiritual
things that they hanker after. These are not natural sensibilities. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. These are not natural. The purpose that the Lord God
has shown us here is the purpose that He has initiated. He has shown us a need and He
provides and supplies that need. So for those who feel a sense
of their spiritual poverty, for those who mourn after their sin,
it reveals the existence of spiritual stirrings in our soul. It reveals the fact that the
God of all creation, the God of this world, God the Holy Spirit,
is at work in an individual's life. He it is. who brings that
sense of sin, that deep sense of sin. He it is that brings
conviction with him, that shows us our weakness, that reveals
to us our inability to deliver. And such people, such mourners,
such impoverished people, they have tried moral reformation. They've tried it. They have tried
good works. They have tried legal obedience. They've tried to live the life
that will raise them up out of this miry clay, put them on some
sort of foundation, some sort of solid ground, and they find
themselves to be incapable of doing so. This is they who are
poor in spirit. They are the mourners in Zion,
who know that they can do nothing, offer nothing, that they deserve
nothing, that they must wait upon the Lord, that they must
learn patience, that they must stand before Him with an empty
bowl, like a needy, hungry soul, and wait upon His kindnesses,
if ever they are to be filled. They must wait, and they must
wait with humility, not boldly, not with bravado, not declaring
their worth, not imagining that they have any rights, not standing
upon their own strength in any way, but humbly waiting upon
the Lord, meekly, waiting upon his good provision. And what
does the Lord say of such people? He says, blessed are the meek.
Blessed are the meek. The Lord speaks of such individuals
as he speaks of the poor in spirit, as he speaks about the mourners
in Zion, and he says, blessed are the meek. Blessed are those
who have come to an end of themselves. Blessed are those who know that
they have no other ground upon which to stand. than the mercy
of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are those
who will turn to the love of God as their only hope for peace
and for satisfaction and for help. Oh, what comfort and encouragement
this is to needy sinners. When our mouths are stopped,
When our mouths are stopped. When our running around is brought
to a grinding halt. When all our efforts and aspirations
have had their wings clipped. And we have fallen back down
to that place where we see, if the Lord will not help us, then
woe is me. Such is the humility of the meek. And this is a place of blessedness,
declares the Lord. Our best efforts, as those who
have been so taught, are all spent and amount to nothing. Our self-confidence has been
curtailed, and we know that there is no good thing in us. We have
been shaken to the very foundation of our being, and the Lord says,
in that place, in that state, you are blessed indeed. Happy
condition, broken soul. Happy condition, contrite sinner. Jesus smiles upon you. What a wonderful place to be,
to be blessed, to be happy in the Lord's estimation. It's a
lovely little passage in Psalm 149, verse 4. It says this, for
the Lord taketh pleasure in his people. He will beautify the
meek with salvation. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. Friends, do you see what this
says? Do you see the redundancy of all our works, of all our
law-keeping, of all our legal observance, of all our religious
practices, trying in some way to please God? It's barren. If you're looking for beauty,
it's the beauty of Christ's righteousness that you need. If you're looking
for standing before God, it has to be upon the merits of Christ
himself. The Lord taketh pleasure in his
people. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. We read, I think it was last
week only, Isaiah 53 in verse 10, that the The pleasure of
the Lord will prosper in his hand. Whose hand? In the hand
of Christ. In that hand that was pierced.
In that hand that was bruised. In that hand that bled. The pleasure of the Lord. Don't think about that as that
which pleases God. Think about it rather as those
who please God. The pleasure of the Lord, those
that His pleasure is placed upon, they prosper in the hand of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it is God's good pleasure
to beautify them with salvation. I want to take three headings
from this fifth verse of Matthew chapter 5. I want to take three
words. It's a little verse. Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And my three
headings are these. Meek, inherit, and earth. I'm going to look at those three
words briefly this evening. I could speak for a week upon
each of those words. And I don't think I would have
scratched the surface of what they have to say to us of the
Lord's purpose for us. But here we see that we have
a spiritual characteristic being described to us. Those of you
who heard our thoughts last week about they that mourn, we spoke
a little bit about what it is to mourn in this world. And it
will be the portion of all of us before the end of our days,
if I'm not mistaken, to have occasion and cause for mourning. But we then, I trust, agreed
together that the mourning, rather, in this verse was a spiritual
characteristic. We've touched upon that already
this evening. And here is another spiritual
characteristic. This speaks of God's free grace
to us and it speaks of a marvellous prospect which we have before
us. Meekness is a spiritual characteristic
and none but those who are spiritually quickened know true meekness
before God. All the others are proud and
haughty in the presence of God, demanding of Him, expecting of
Him, trying to negotiate and reason with Him upon the merits
of their own goodnesses, but not the meek. We see in the inheritance
that we have that there is free grace given. We see in the promise
of God that we'll inherit the earth, that there is a marvelous
prospect in store for us. And I tell you, I would not wish
to be anywhere else this evening. than to be here with you considering
these three words, because these three words are the essence of
our comfort and encouragement and blessedness all the days
of our life. Let me think about meekness first
of all. My emphasis perhaps will be a
little bit more on this, just the way the balance worked out
in my thoughts. But let me say this first of
all. This meekness, this spiritual
meekness that we have referred to in this verse is a characteristic
that we discover in the Lord Jesus himself. The Lord was meek. Indeed, the Apostle Paul says,
he's writing to the Corinthians and he says, I beseech you by
the meekness and gentleness of Christ. You ever thought about
that before? The apostle Paul had authority
as an apostle, but he didn't lay that authority on men's shoulders. He didn't make demands of them.
He beseeched by the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10 verse one. And often we see this meekness
in the Savior's dealings with men. It is a quality that we
should endeavour to emulate. There are too many examples,
I think, for us to even begin to seek to show how frequently
the Lord was meek and gentle in his dealings with people around
him. He had a soft word to speak. He had a sensitive awareness
of the needs of the people that came to him. He had a gentle
demeanour in his attitudes and in his approaches. And the Lord
showed us a beautiful example of meekness and gentleness in
his own character and his own way of speaking and dealing with
people. Sometimes we hear a phrase called
muscular Christianity. Have you ever heard that phrase
before? Muscular Christianity. And the idea being, it's especially
used to speak to men. The idea is that there is a strength. to live as a Christian. There's
a needed strength to live as a Christian in this world because
of the opposition that comes against an individual in the
Christian life. And so men are encouraged to
consider the claims of Christianity, not as being weak and effeminate
or childish in any way, but as muscular and strong and with
a sense of boldness. Well, I don't see that in the
Lord. I don't see that in the way in
which he acted, in the way in which he spoke. Truly, He was
strong and he was bold, but he was meek and he was gentle. The Lord said, let's just read,
let's just read together. Look at Luke chapter nine, Luke
chapter nine. This is a lovely example of where
Some of the Lord's disciples thought that there was space
or place for muscular Christianity. Look at verse 51, Luke chapter
9. And it came to pass, when the
time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem. This is the Lord. and sent messengers
before his face and they went and entered into a village of
the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they did not receive
him because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And
when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord,
wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and
consume them, even as Elias did? That's muscular Christianity. And he turned and rebuked them
and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the
Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."
That's just lovely, isn't it? They went to another village.
That was how the Lord dealt with it. He dealt with it meekly.
He didn't confront them. He didn't contend with them.
He didn't demand of them that they should give him his rights
or that they should open their doors. Do they not know who I
am? James and John would have done it differently. And the
Lord just went to another village. That's his meekness, that's his
gentleness. What sort of spirit are you?
He says to James and John. And I ask you, of what sort of
spirit are you? This is opposite to the world.
The world talks about its rights, it makes its demands. The Lord's
people are gentle and meek. The Lord says in Matthew 11,
29, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and
lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls. If
we would learn Jesus, if we would learn about the Lord Jesus Christ,
if we would take his yoke and learn of him, then what will
we learn? We will learn that he is meek
and lowly in heart. These are spiritual characteristics. These are characteristics that
men don't manufacture, but are spiritually granted to us. When I was a little boy, I learned
a prayer which I used to say at night before I went to bed,
before I went to sleep. I didn't know at the time, but
it was a hymn of Charles Wesley. Listen to this. Gentle Jesus,
meek and mild, look upon a little child. Pity my simplicity. Suffer me to come to thee. Lamb of God, I look to thee. Thou shalt my example be. Thou art gentle, meek and mild. Thou was once a little child. Thane I would be as thou art. Give me thine obedient heart. Thou art pitiful. and kind, let
me have thy loving mind. Loving Jesus, gentle lamb, in
thy gracious hands I am. Make me saviour what thou art,
live thyself within my heart. I think that's a beautiful prayer
for a child to utter. Am I too big to do it now? A characteristic of the Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is that it is meek and gentle. Meekness is a fruit of the Holy
Spirit. In Galatians 5, 22 and 23, we
read, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance against
such there is no law. This is a blessedness, a blessed
comfort of the Lord's little ones. This grace that he gives
is not contrived or manufactured or it's not that we have to labour
to be tolerant with one another, because that's what's expected
of us. It's not that we need to struggle
to be patient or to be at peace with one another, but because
the Holy Spirit has inspired us to these spiritual characteristics
as part of the love that we have one for another in the family,
in the flock of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you, you can
teach yourself quietism. You can teach yourself to lift
your thoughts and your actions to a higher plane. This is what men and women have
struggled with for centuries. And they enclose themselves in
convents, and they live in monasteries, or they go up into mountains,
or they wear special clothes, and they wear tight belts, and
they go through processes, processes. to teach themselves to look inward
and to find themselves better people in a better place and
better able to deal with the problems and the difficulties
of the world around about them. You can teach yourself that. But this isn't that kind of meekness
and gentleness. This meekness of the Lord's people
isn't a self-denial, but it's a gracious humility of one who
forgives because he's been forgiven. One who loves because he knows
what it is to experience love, the love of God, the love of
the Lord Jesus Christ. One who is patient with others
because he knows his own heart and he knows how readily he runs
to the very sins, the very failures, the very faults that he sees
in his brothers and his sisters. One who knows himself to be the
chief of sinners and therefore thinks better of another than
he thinks of his own heart. That's what it is to be meek. That's what it is to be gentle.
That's what it is to possess this spiritual characteristic. And listen to this, I can do
no better. And what I'm gonna do for the
next few moments is just read you some verses from Holy Scripture. I can do no better than to give
you the apostles' own applications of this spiritual characteristic
in the life of a believer. Listen to this. Paul says to
the Colossians, chapter 3, verse 12, To the Galatians, chapter
6, verse 1, with all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love." 1 Timothy
6, 11. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things, these things of the world, this materialism,
these things which so encroach in, this filthy looker, flee
these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness. to Timothy 2, 25, in meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. This isn't muscular Christianity,
this is humility and gentleness and meekness in our dealings
one with another. which shows the presence of a
spiritual work in our lives, the fruit of the Spirit being
evidenced there by our walk and conversation. Speak evil of no
man, Titus 3, 2. Be no brawlers, but gentle, seeking,
showing all meekness unto all men. James says in chapter 1
verse 21, Therefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity
of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which
is able to save your souls. And again in chapter 3 verse
13 he says, Who is a wise man and endured with knowledge among
you? Let him show out of a good conversation
his works with meekness of wisdom. The meekness the Son of God here
pronounces as blessed in Matthew chapter 5 verse 5 is the meekness
that is worked by God the Holy Spirit in his people. And by
this gracious influence God the Spirit teaches us what it is
to carry Christ's yoke and to learn of him, to be meek and
to be gentle of heart and spirit. It is wholly from the Lord Jesus
and it is the regenerated members of his body of whom he says,
the Lord will beautify the meek with salvation. This meekness
then is of divine creation and it is a meekness of soul which
is of great price and privilege. 1 Peter 3 verse 4 says, Let it
be the hidden man of the heart. That's a lovely phrase, the hidden
man of the heart. That spiritual new birth that
has taken place, that new man. 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. Why is it great price? Because
it was gotten with precious blood, and it was granted to us and
gifted to us out of grace by the Lord himself. When I told
you I had an uneven split in my three headings, Meek inherit
the earth. That's the meek part of our thoughts
completed. Now we'll think about inherit
and we'll think about earth, but don't worry, I'm watching
the clock. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. They'll inherit it. They're not
going to win it. They're not going to work for
it. They're not going to earn it by their labors. They shall
not attain to it by all their efforts. They'll inherit it. And that's a beautiful little
phrase, to inherit. Inheritance is not yours for
what you are or who you are. but it has to do with who your
dad is. That's your inheritance. And
so it is for the Lord's people. So it is for his children. One
of the names that the Lord Jesus Christ has is our father. He is the father. Zion 9 tells us that. He is our
Father, the Lord Jesus is our Father. Not Father God, God the
Father, but He is fatherly to us in the way He deals with us.
And this inheritance is our inheritance as it is His inheritance. We
are heirs and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
say to you that this little verse, blessed are the meek for they
shall inherit the earth, it punctures It punctures immediately every
legalistic tendency that man has in his own soul. It punctures it because first,
the meek are already past any imagination that they are contributing
to their own blessedness with God. To be meek means that you've
already come through that process and you're out the other side
and you've learned that it must all be of grace. But secondly,
inheritance is a gift. People talk about degrees of
reward in heaven. You understand what that means?
It's a big thing. I tell you, the religious world
out there believes wholeheartedly in degrees of reward in heaven.
Now, that might be my phrase tonight here, because I'm explaining
to you why it's wrong. But when you speak to religious
people, they all believe that there are going to be various
levels in heaven depending on their good works. that they're
going to have brighter crowns or more crowns or a multitude
of crowns depending on how they have worked and served and been
faithful and committed to the Lord in their lives. Now you
might think that that's crazy talk but I tell you that's what
they believe. If your goodness If your obedience,
if your commitment and dedication contributes in any way to God's
estimation of you, then you haven't learned the gospel. You haven't
begun to experience the meaning of grace. There are no ands and
ifs and buts in this matter. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
said, the meek shall inherit the earth. That's it. That's it. It's not the meek shall inherit
the earth if they do this. It's not the meek shall inherit
the earth but they're going to have to be. It's not the meek
shall inherit the earth and this is how they will inherit it and
this is how they will enjoy it. These things are spoken with
such simplicity and clarity that no one should misunderstand it. Paul says to the Romans, chapter
11, verse 29, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God does not graciously bless
and then impose added conditions. He does not promise the earth
and then withdraw it in the small print. Poor in spirit mourners the meek
We have the gospel given to us in all of its richness, in all
of its privileges. It is ours. We have the kingdom
of heaven delivered to us. No condition, no strings attached. We have the blessings of the
church. They are ours. We have the spiritual
comfort of God's grace. We have the whole earth. delivered to us. It's our inheritance. The meek shall inherit the earth
in its entirety. It's ours. If God has given us Christ, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all things? That brings
us to the final point. The meek shall inherit the earth. Now I'm not going to busy myself
tonight trying to establish whether that means this earth, or the
new earth, or heaven, or the new heaven, or what, because
I don't know. But I'll tell you this, the earth is the Lord's. and the fullness thereof. And if he says that it's mine,
I'll take him at his word. The earth is the Lord and the
fullness thereof, and I will inherit the earth. In Daniel
chapter four, verse 32, we talked about it the other day. The Most
High ruleth in the kingdom of men. and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. Blessed are the meek, they will
inherit the earth. 1 Corinthians 2, 9 says, I hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. The new heaven and the new earth
will be ours. Where Christ is will be ours. Everything good will be ours. Everything that's perfect and
holy and pure will be ours. How can we conceive of such a
thing? How can we begin to imagine all
that the Lord has in store for us? Supposing I gave you a job
and said to you, for next week I'd like you to come with a way
of describing what God has prepared for us. You know, I think if you just
said everything, you wouldn't be far wrong. And that's what
the Lord Jesus is saying. He's saying the earth, the earth,
the whole world, the earth, everything, everything is yours. Everything
is yours. The meek shall inherit the earth. Those who have been touched by
God's spirit, they will be given every grace and they will be
possessors of every blessing. Turn with me to Psalm 37. Psalm 37, we read a little earlier
from this passage. And I just want to touch upon
a couple of verses and then we're done. Look at verse nine. Our God is a discriminating,
distinguishing God. evildoers shall be cut off, but
those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the
wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider
his place, and it shall not be, but the meek shall inherit the
earth. and shall delight themselves
in the abundance of peace. That's our lot, brothers and
sisters. That's what the Lord has for
us. We shall be delighted with everything that he has to give
us. We are blessed indeed. The Apostle
Peter writes, 1 Peter 3, verse 15, Sanctify the Lord in your hearts. Give him his place. Set him in
that place of worship and honor and adoration. Give him the thanks
that is due to him. This is the Lord. Sanctify the
Lord in your hearts. And be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that
is in you. with meekness and fear. Amen.