I have entitled this message,
A Meek and a Quiet Spirit. A meek and a quiet spirit. Let me give my introduction.
Verse four, let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which
is not corruptible. even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price." Need anything else be said by
way of introduction? This meek and quiet spirit is
in God's sight. of great price. Now, before we
go in or go on, what is meant by a meek spirit? And what is meant by a quiet
spirit? When we think of meekness in
our day, we think of mousiness. We think of someone who won't
stand up for their rights, who will let other people run over
them. people who are not assertive. That's generally what we think
of, or at least what I think of, when I think of a meek person.
I think of a meek person as one who stands in the background
and will not stand up for themselves. But that is certainly not what
the Scripture means. And that is not what this meekness
is of which Peter speaks of. This is a grace of the Spirit. Remember, our Lord said, blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." This meekness
that Peter is speaking of is not found in a natural man. You'll never find this meekness
in an unbeliever. Notice it comes from the hidden
man of the heart. Now this is something every believer
possesses. The hidden man of the heart which
is not corruptible. Which is not subject to corruption. Which is not subject to sin. This is talking about the holy
nature that every believer possesses. It is not corruptible. You see, that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. It's not subject to corruption. Now, this word is used six times
in the New Testament, this thing of being incorruptible or uncorruption. First, in Romans 1, verse 23,
it's a word used to describe God. He is called the incorruptible
God. He is not subject to corruption. He's not subject to sin. He can't
sin. He can't lie. He's God. It's against his nature.
This word is used to describe the resurrected believer. This
corruptible must put on incorruption. the resurrected believer, he's
not subject to sin, he can never sin, he's perfectly conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. This word is also used
to describe the crown of the saints, the incorruptible crown
that every believer will wear. This word is used to describe
the inheritance of the saints, it's called the incorruptible
inheritance of the saints. In 2 Peter 1, verse 4, this word
is used to describe the scriptures, the word of God, the uncorruptible
word of God. And here the word is used to
describe a believer in their new nature. They have an incorruptible,
a holy nature that is not even subject to corruption. And it's
seen in this meek and quiet spirit. Now, understand, I always need
to say this, when we talk about a believer having a holy nature,
a believer does have a holy nature that does not sin. That's what
1 John 3 says. It does not sin. A believer also has an unholy
nature that all it does is sin. I mean, the two go together,
and if you think you don't sin, you prove that you don't have
a holy nature, because a holy nature recognizes the sinfulness
of the evil nature. They go together. That's why
wherever there's faith, there's also unbelief. I believe. Help
thou my unbelief. The new nature believes. The
old nature doesn't. But every believer has this incorruptible
nature, and Peter describes it as that meek and quiet spirit. So we see that this meekness
being spoken of is not anything natural. It's the gift. It's
the fruit of God the Holy Spirit. Now, This meekness is what Christ
possessed. When he described his heart,
he said, I am meek and lowly in heart. That's the description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I beseech you by the
meekness and the gentleness of Christ. Meekness is strength,
not weakness. Meekness is strength. And every believer possesses
this meekness. Blessed are the meek. It's their
attitude toward God. Now, let me tell you what meekness
is. Meekness is an attitude toward God. It's seen in the way we
deal with men. I'm going to talk about that
in a moment. But it's an attitude toward God. And here's what's
necessary for someone to have this meek spirit he's speaking
of. First, there's got to be the grace of
God giving them the new nature to have it. I realize that, but
meekness is also the product of what you believe. You see,
a meek person believes that God is absolutely sovereign, the
first cause behind everything. Everything. Everything. Providence is everything that
happens. A meek spirit believes that God
is the first cause behind everything. That's what believing the sovereignty
of God is. You just believe God's God. He's in control of everything. He has a will. He has the power
to make sure His will comes to pass. And He always does make
His will come to pass. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done. whatsoever he hath pleased."
That's our God. We believe He's sovereign, and
we believe He's good. And that whatever He does is
good, whether it feels good or not, it's good. It's the Lord.
Let Him do what seemeth Him good. Whatever He does is good. If
I walk out of here and get in a car wreck, and I'm crippled
for the rest of my life, the Lord's good. If I lose everything, the Lord's
good. Whatever He does is good because
He is good. I really believe that. I don't
have to understand why He's doing what He's doing. I know He's
good. And whatever He does is good. Now, a meek spirit views
everything God brings their way as good, and therefore without
resisting, without murmuring, and without complaining. It's
the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. That's meekness before God. I
tell you what, if what I believe regarding God's sovereignty doesn't
make me a meek person, if what I believe regarding God's goodness
doesn't make me a meek person, I don't really believe it. I
may say I do, but I don't really believe. Now, this meekness that
Peter's speaking of, that's in God's sight of great price, it's
always associated with humility. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he was meek and lowly in heart. The Lord Jesus Christ was humble.
The Lord Jesus Christ was lowly. And this is what I think of.
When I think of the Lord Jesus washing the disciples' feet,
We think, what an act of condescension that he would wash the disciples'
feet. Can you imagine him washing your
feet? You sitting down, him taking
your dirty, smelly feet and washing them? You may look at it as an
act of condescension on his part, but he doesn't. He doesn't. He's meek. He's lonely in heart. And this meekness is seen in
our meekness before men, knowing that the insults and the injustices
that are done toward us are permitted by God, controlled by God, and
used by God for our good and His glory. We believe He's the
first cause behind all things. Meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness
and self-interest. You know, meekness, it doesn't
get too up, it doesn't get too down because it's not taken up
with self. When you're taken up with self, that's when you
get way up here, you get way down there. But meekness is not
taken up with self. It's taken up with God, His will,
His word, His way. He is in control. And meekness
is a state of blessedness that we're called upon to show to
others. We're to show meekness to all
men, the scripture says. Show meekness to all men. Pursue,
follow after meekness. It's the evidence of divine election.
Paul said, put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, vows of mercy, meekness, humbleness of mind. You know,
it's the spirit of true preaching. If I preach in a brash and arrogant
manner, that doesn't come from the spirit of God. That comes
from me. He said, always be ready to give
to every man that asks you a reason for the hope that's in you with
meekness and with fear. That's our attitude in the preaching
of the gospel. It's the spirit that we're to
demonstrate toward our brethren. If any of you be overtaken in
a fault, let him which is spiritual restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness. Considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted, knowing that if you're put in that position,
that brother is, you fall just as bad as him, probably worse. It's how we're to deal with unbelievers.
Paul said to Timothy, the servant of the Lord must not strive,
but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness,
instructing those that oppose themselves. If peradventure,
God will grant them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
Now, meekness is in God's sight of great price. Can you see the
beauty of meekness, the beauty of true spiritual Meekness. Blessed are the meek. They shall
inherit the earth. Now, he also talks about a quiet
spirit. Where you have a meek spirit,
you have a quiet spirit. Now, that word quiet means tranquil
from within. Not causing disturbances to others. Peaceable. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4 for a moment. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Paul said in verse 11, study, give diligence, give effort,
to be quiet, to be tranquil, to be peaceable,
and to do your own business. You know what that means? Mind
your own business. You study, you give effort to
be quiet and to mind your own business, not causing disturbances
to others. mind your own business. That's the product of being meek. Somebody that's meek is going
to mind their own business. Now this quietness is the fruit
of meekness, really believing that God is the first cause of
all things, therefore I'm quiet. Whatever he does is right. And
we have so many examples of this in the scripture. The first thing
I think of is when Shemai is cursing David and saying, you're
a bloody man, David, you're a bloody man. And Joab says, you want
me to go take off his head? And David said, no. The Lord said, curse David. The Lord said it. Whatever anybody
says about you, remember this, the Lord caused him to say it. And anything anybody says about
me, It's easy for me to say this. I hope I can practice it when
it happens. I know I won't. But anything anybody says about
me, if the truth is told, it'll be worse than they presented
it in every area. The Lord said, curse David, what
about Eli? When Samuel says, God's going
to kill your two kids, Eli says, it's the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good. Job said, when the Lord took
everything from him, he said, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. A meek and a quiet spirit. Now, when Peter speaks of this
meek and quiet spirit, it's right in the middle of his direction
to husbands and wives. Would you turn back to 1 Peter
chapter 3? I want to look at these first
seven verses and look how that meek and quiet spirit is right
in the middle of this. He says in verse one, likewise,
you wives be in subjection to your own
husbands, that if any obey not the word, they may also without
the word be won by the conversation of their wives. Now, what is
interesting, when he's telling these wives to be in subject
to their husbands, these husbands he's speaking of are unbelievers.
Ones who have not been won by the word. He says, to them, you
be subject to them, that if any be not won by the word, they
may without the word be won as they behold the way you subject
yourselves to them. You be in subjection to them.
You submit yourselves to them. You do what they want, as long
as it's not disobedience to God. We ought to obey God rather than
men. You know that. If your husband said don't worship,
you ought to worship anyway. If he said don't come to church,
you ought to come to church anyway. You shouldn't disobey God in
that sense. But live to please your husband. Be subject to your husband. Obey them, Paul said, as you
would the Lord. Now, the only way you can do
this is if you want to. Your husband can't make you do
it. Nobody can make you do it. The only way you can do this
is if from your heart you want to in obedience to the Lord. You see, submission is a choice.
If it's forced, it's not what Peter is speaking of. And notice
what Peter says. He says, likewise you wives,
you be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey
not the word, they may also, without the word, be won by the
conversation of their wives." Now, let me make a couple of
comments about that. I've heard people say, I'd rather
see a sermon than hear one. Not me. I'd rather hear one.
Nobody is converted by seeing the good conduct of somebody
else. You've got to hear the gospel.
You've got to. But that being said, Peter's
saying it could be that through your chaste conversation toward
your husband, through your submitting to him in the fear of God, doing
it for Christ's sake, doing it because it's the right thing
to do, he may be so impressed with your conduct that he starts
listening to what you're saying, because he sees what it does
for you. Now, understand this. How we live before men is of
great importance. How you conduct yourself where
you work is of great importance. How you are in your home with
your spouse is of great importance. He talks about somebody being
one without the word. The Lord uses things like this. How we live before men is very
important. Now look at verse 2. He says,
while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear,
brought on by the fear of God. Now, they don't submit themselves
because they fear their husbands, but because they fear God and
they want to obey God. That's their reason for wanting
to submit themselves to their husbands. Verse 3, who's adorning? Let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel,
but let it be the hidden man of the heart. Now, some have
used this verse of scripture and a couple of others to say
that, well, you've seen the Mennonites and the Amish and those different
religions where the women wear big hats and clothes that make
them unattractive. I don't know how else to say
it. And you think, man, why do they do that? Well, they do it
because they think this is what the Bible is saying to do here.
Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. If that is to
be used, to show that you should never fix up your hair, and you
should never wear jewelry, and you should never put on clothes.
Take it literally. It says that the woman is not to put on apparel.
If you're going to take it like that, don't wear clothes at all.
I mean, if you want to take it exactly like that. So that verse
is not to be used to promote this kind of thinking. It's just
not. You know, well, I always go too
far on stuff like that. So, you know, I'll shut up about
it. But what Paul is talking or what
Peter is talking about, He's talking about let your beauty
be your character. Let your beauty be your inner
man. And you know, that's what's really
beautiful. You can know somebody that perhaps
when you first meet them, they don't seem so beautiful. But
when you get to know them and you see that inner beauty and
that character, they become beautiful to you. He says, make sure your
adorning, what makes you beautiful, is not outward things, but inward
things, your character, the hidden man of the heart, which is not
corruptible, even a meek and a quiet spirit. What an adorning
that is, this hidden man of the heart. Verse 5, or verse 4, that
it be the hidden man of the heart in which is not corruptible,
Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the
sight of God of great price." Now that, that, you don't find
that very many times in Scripture, do you? What's in God's sight
of great price, what's truly valuable to Him. You know, that
which is highly esteemed among men is what? It's an abomination
to God. But this is something that in
the very sight of God is of great price, this meek spirit that
believes God is the first cause behind everything, that God is
always good, whatever he does is good, whatever he brings my
way is good. And it creates this tranquility,
this peace from within that causes us to not be trouble to others. Now, verse 5, he says, for after
this manner in the old time, The holy women also, who trusted
in God, adorned themselves, being in subjections to their own husbands,
even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters
you are, as long as you do well with no amazement, afraid with
any amazement. Now here he's using Sarah as
an example. of this meek and quiet spirit. And I've been thinking about
Sarah, all the different things that are mentioned of her. And Sarah
was a very special woman. A very special woman. She's actually
mentioned in the Hall of Faith as a man or as a woman of faith,
and she's described as a holy woman, and that would describe
every believer and somebody who trusts in God that describes
every believer. Now, this is Sarah. The Scriptures
give us some insight into her. By faith, she received strength
to conceive seed. She judged him faithful, that
promised. That was her faith. She judged
him faithful, that promised. And she had unbelief along with
it, because you remember when the Lord said the things He said
to her, she laughed, didn't she? She laughed. And the Lord said,
why are you laughing? And then she lied to the Lord
and said, I wasn't laughing, she was too. So we see that she, like
us, Every believer, she had a holy nature, a new nature, and she
also had her sinful nature. But Sarah was a very beautiful
woman, outwardly. So much so that when she was
fairly old, in her seventies, I don't know how things worked
back then, but Abraham was afraid because she was so beautiful
that Abimelech would take her and he put her in his harem.
And so this happened twice in Abraham with our E. He actually
let a heathen king take his wife and put her in a harem. And that's
how beautiful this woman must have been. And another thing
that I like to think about, Sarah, she must have been a very forgiving
woman. I try to put myself in Abraham's
place. If I put Lynn in a harem once,
twice, She would have to be very forgiving. She was a very forgiving
woman. And she was not a weak woman. As a matter of fact, you read,
she was able to persuade Abraham to do about anything she asked
him to. And he was still that way. It's still that way. I mean, women pretty much get
their way. I mean, that's the way, you know, we think of men
being in control, and I think, well, you know, we like to say
we are, but, you know, women seem to be able to get their
way. They get what, you know what I'm saying, what I'm saying,
man. She would persuade Abraham, and he'd do what she told him
to do, and she nailed Abraham, too. It's not like she let him
get by with wrong actions. When she talked him into going
in to Hagar, and it was wrong, and Abraham was wrong in doing
it. She said to Abraham after it was all done, after when Ishmael
mocked her son and she wanted to get rid of Ishmael and Hagar,
she said, my wrong be upon thee. This is your fault this happened.
You knew it was wrong. You shouldn't have done it. You
shouldn't have listened to me. I mean, she nailed him for doing
what was wrong, and she knew what he was doing was wrong.
So you see in Sarah, she was not some kind of milquetoast. I mean, she was a good wife. to Abraham. And yet she is called
one who had this meek and this quiet spirit. Now, it's not what
the world considers meekness, but it's a true meek and quiet
spirit. And it was seen in that she called
Abraham Lord. Abraham was her Lord. And she said this in her heart.
Turn to Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18. Verse 11. This is after the Lord
told that she would have a child. Verse 11. Now Abraham and Sarah
were old and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with
Sarah after the manner of women. She'd already gone through menopause.
Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed
old, shall I have pleasure? My Lord being old also. She called Abraham her Lord in
her heart. That's how she viewed Abraham,
because she knew that was God's order. That was God's design. And she viewed Abraham in her
heart as Lord to her, that she was to submit to. Now, look what
he says in verse 6. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham,
calling him Lord, whose daughters you are, as long as you do well,
and are not afraid with any amazement. You do well and you're not overcome
by fear and unbelief, the opposite of a meek and quiet spirit. You
give evidence of being a daughter of Abraham, as long as you do
well and are not afraid with any amazement. We can't leave
verse 7 because this is just as important. Look what it says
in verse 7. Likewise, you husbands, dwell with them according to
knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel,
and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your
prayers be not hindered. Husbands, Make your wives want to submit
to you because of how you treat them. Make it easy for them by dwelling
with them according to knowledge. Now, what does it mean to dwell
with your wife according to knowledge? Knowledge in the scripture, more
than anything else, means love. When he says, depart from me,
I never knew you, he meant I never loved you. I never knew you to
be mine. When we read of the foreknowledge
of God, it's his forelove. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. That doesn't simply mean he knew
who they were, but he loved them. Knowledge is love. It's not just
correct information. Dwell with them according to
love, giving honor to them. preciousness to them, value to
them as the weaker vessel. The woman is the weaker vessel. That's just what the scripture
teaches. Now, I know that feminists would argue against that, but
it's still so. This is God's protocol. A man
isn't any better than a woman. A man isn't any more intelligent
than a woman and all those things. This is just God's order. And
the woman is the weaker vessel, and the man is to give honor
to her, to make her feel cherished, loved, and protected as the weaker
vessel. And if I'm doing that, if I'm
treating Lynn that way, she's going to want to submit to me. It's going to be easy for her
to do. Now, that's so important, giving
honor to them as unto the weaker vessel, and I love this, thinking
about this, being heirs together of the grace of life. Heirs together. What a privilege,
and some of you are not married to a believer, and you, thank
God you're saved. Thank God you know the truth.
What a blessing that is. There are some people who never
get the privilege of being married to a believer. And there are
others who get the privilege of being married to a believer
and heirs together of the grace of life. What a blessing it is.
Now, I remember when Luke and Tracy got married, I listened
to Brother Mahan's marriage. I remember he gave this analogy
that I thought was such a blessing. He talked about Eve being brought
out of the side of Adam. He said she wasn't brought out
of his back, but from his side so they could walk together. From under his heart to love
and cherish her. Under his arm to protect her
and provide for her. That's beautiful. Heirs together. of the grace of life. Now, what
a thing to be an heir to the grace of life. Let's don't miss
that. The grace of life. Life before
God is a gift of God's grace. Life before God. What is life
before God? Well, if I've got life before
God, that means God's holy law lifts upon me and says, he lives.
There's no reason for him to die. If I have life before God,
that means I have the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is
my life before God. My life is His life, and I love
thinking about this. This is what gives me confidence.
My life is the life of Jesus Christ. That's my personal life.
If you want to know the truth about me, I used to say this
all the time, you know, if we put our lives on a screen, everybody
would run out of here. Well, if they put your old life
on the screen, they would, but that's not the real me. The real me The
real me is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth about
me is found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Everything he
did, I did. And what a blessing to be heirs
together of this grace, this gift, the unmerited favor of
God. That's what grace is. It's God's
favor toward you. It's Him doing something for
you. Grace isn't an offer. Grace is God giving you life. And what a blessing to be heirs
together of the grace of life. Men and women alike, may God
give us grace to demonstrate this meek and quiet spirit. It's in God's sight of great
price. It's the grace of the Holy Spirit
in you. It's the new life in you. It's
really believing that God is sovereign. That means you believe
He's the first cause behind everything. Everything is providential. Even
the stuff that you don't like, that you wish it wasn't that
way, He's in control of it all. There are many of you sitting
here thinking, I wish this would happen, or I wish the Lord would
save this person, or I wish the Lord would put me in this position.
I realize we think stuff like that, but we really believe that
when it's all said and done, God has placed us where He's
placed us. He's the first cause behind everything.
Whatever he does is good, because he is good. And whatever he does
is right. And we rejoice in that. So we
take what he brings us without resisting, really believing it's
best. And we're tranquil, quiet from
within, really believing that we are saved by grace. And therefore, we're at peace. We're at peace. And you know,
anything you say about me, Please don't say anything about me,
just say good stuff. Let me say that first. I'd rather you say
good stuff than bad stuff. Don't talk bad about me. You
got reason to, but try to avoid it. Next time you talk bad about
me, think, well, that's really making him sad. But anything you say, I can't resist it. It's true.
It's worse than you said it. But thank God salvation is in
Christ. Don't you want to demonstrate
this meek and this quiet spirit? Now, if you're a believer, you
have it. You have it. May it come out. Let's pray.