Let's hear the word of the Lord, Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 5. And seeing the multitudes, he went upon a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Father God, we would ask this morning, as we look into your holy scriptures, that, Father, you would remove from us all distractions, that, Father, our eyes would be focused upon the cross of Christ Jesus. Father, prepare our hearts that we might receive with meekness the engrafted word, that your word might bring forth fruit, that, Father, your servants might be clean, sharp instruments in your hands, prepared to do the work of the kingdom. Father, we ask that you bless this, the preaching of the word, that you would hide your servant behind the cross, that only your word would go forth. We ask these things in our Lord Jesus' precious name, amen. Like many things in the kingdom of God, our text this morning, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, is completely counterintuitive. Blessed are the meek. That doesn't seem to make any sense insofar as what the world teaches. This business about inheriting the earth. Everybody knows that the race is to the swift and the battle is to the strong. The world constantly tells us these things. Even though the world tells us that we must dominate, we must be aggressive, we must be self-empowered in order to conquer, Scripture tells us otherwise. Scripture tells us we are already more than conquerors through Him that loved us. So you see, it isn't about you and I. It's about him. It's about Christ Jesus. It's not about us. Jesus, our king and conqueror, describes himself as meek and lowly. In Matthew 11, verse 29, he says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. The first thing we need to do is establish what it means to be meek. Arthur W. Pink, I believe one of the greatest theologians of this last century, he says that although the word meekness is often used interchangeably with humility, there's no one term that is capable of fully expressing this virtue that we call meekness. It's linked in scripture with lowliness. We read earlier in Matthew 11, 29, I am meek and lowly in heart. We also see it linked with gentleness in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 1. The apostle Paul says, now I, Paul, myself, am pleading with you by the meekness. and gentleness of Christ. We keep seeing this word meek associated with Christ Jesus, not only him describing himself this way, but the Apostle Paul referring to the meekness of Christ. We also see in Titus 3.2 that we, as God's people, are admonished to be gentle, showing meekness to all men. Meekness is also linked in scripture to teachability. James chapter 1 verse 21 tells us to receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save our souls. And in Psalm 25 9, the psalmist tells us that the meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones defines meekness as a true view of oneself and the expression of that view in relation to others. He says that the man who is truly meek is one who is amazed that God and men think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do. As God's people, We can see meekness as a natural result of the working of the Holy Spirit in the first two Beatitudes. We've been, over the last couple of weeks, we've been looking at the first two Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Those two beatitudes, the poor and spirit, is the understanding that these are those who have a true sense of their own insufficiency and nothingness, what I like to call spiritual bankruptcy. I don't know how many of you have ever had that experience where you open your checkbook and you think you have enough money to pay for something and you go, uh-oh. It's that same thing on the spiritual level, the concept that I have nothing with which to pay as far as the spirit is concerned. Secondly, blessed are those who mourn. This is a description of those who have a realization of their lost condition, those who truly sorrow for sin, not for the results of sin, but for sin itself. Now those two previous workings of the Holy Spirit, being poor in spirit and mourning, mourning for sin, Those two previous workings of the Holy Spirit lead to a teachable, humble, receptive heart before God. I remember years ago when I worked up in Colorado, I got a horse. I thought I was a cowboy at the time. Had the hat, you know, so. And one of the things, one of the first things I needed to do in order to break this mare was to stop feeding her for a bit so that she would get hungry and become a little bit less prone to launch me skyward. And that hunger, that hunger, that weakness brought her to a point where she was teachable, brought her to a point where she was, to where we could work together. God sometimes takes away our grain, and he takes away our feed, and he brings us to a point where we are humble and teachable. We also notice that this third beatitude, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. This third beatitude has a relational aspect to it. Not only does it affect how we view our standing before God, but it also affects how we interact with our fellow man. Now, before we go any further, we need to note that there's a huge difference between natural meekness, or what the world calls weakness, and godly meekness. The second one, godly meekness, is a result of the working of the Holy Spirit. And folks, there is a huge difference. Natural meekness is a result of inability or weakness, whereas godly meekness is actually a result of power and of the ruling over of one's own spirit. Let me give you an example. Returning to Colorado, as I told you earlier, when I was younger I worked for various ranchers up in Southern Colorado. One time we were branding and this little girl who couldn't have been more than five years old came riding out to the corral on this huge stud horse and she's yanking on the reins And chewing on him as little five-year-old girls do now go this direction And it was so funny because that horse could have launched her clear to the moon and yet He meekly submitted to her authority He knew he'd be Alpo if he heard her so he he submitted to her authority. He willingly subjected himself This is what biblical meekness. This is what scriptural meekness is all about. It's not weakness It's submitting oneself. to authority over oneself. Natural meekness or weakness is often displayed in the form of timidity. The naturally meek individual avoids confrontation at all costs. We've all met folks that do anything to avoid confrontation. They're oftentimes led into sin by stronger personalities because they don't want to say no, they go along to get along, as it were. In the book Pilgrim's Progress, this character defect was illustrated in the individual known as pliable. Such persons oftentimes compromise their principles for the sake of temporary peace, but the sad thing is they never seem to catch on to the fact that the ground that they gave up is almost impossible to win back, because they give up that which is right in order to gain peace, and the peace is only temporary. Godly meekness, on the other hand, is commendable in all things because it's a work of the Holy Spirit. Those who were once impetuous and self-willed now learn to curb their tempers. Now they bring their passions under control, and they willingly make concessions to others for the sake of the kingdom. Yet they'll not ever yield a principle of righteousness in order to compromise with evil. I like what Charles Spurgeon said. He said dead fish go downstream very easily. We go with the flow if we're not spiritually alive. But being spiritually alive, being meek, doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you are willingly giving up your rights and order for your brother or sister, for their good, for the kingdom of heaven's good. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 through 3, he says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called, with all lowliness and and meekness with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So we begin to see this picture, once again, meekness is not weakness, spiritual meekness is not weakness, but rather it is a reigning in of one's own lusts, bringing them under subjection, and saying, no, I'm going to restrain myself for the sake of my brother, for the sake of my sister, for the sake of the kingdom of God. Another aspect of godly meekness is that it's compatible with great strength and authority. In Numbers chapter 12, verse 3, we see that the man Moses was very meek, and yet we see him standing up to Pharaoh. The man who theoretically held his life in his hands, Pharaoh could have had Moses taken out and killed simply at a word. And yet Moses stood up against Pharaoh. He led Israel through the wilderness. So we see that meekness is not necessarily separate from being able to lead. In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ is described by Zechariah as the coming king, meek and sitting on a donkey. Anyone who has read the Word of God knows that Christ did nothing. out of weakness or out of helplessness. He had infinite power at his command and yet he subjected himself in order that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Christ is the very picture of meekness for us. What are the fruits of meekness? The fruits of meekness towards God, first we see that our natural enmity, our natural rebellious spirit is subdued. The working of the Holy Spirit gives us a desire to mortify our rebellious nature. That's a good sign for us as believers when we see that we are learning to reign in our natural rebellion. Secondly, God's chastening is born with quietness and with patience. We see this in Aaron when his two sons offered strange fire and died before the Lord in Leviticus chapter 10, verse 3. Scripture tells us that Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke, saying, by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. And before all the people, I must be glorified. Scripture tells us that Aaron held his peace. In Psalm 39, 9, David says to the Lord, I was mute and did not open my mouth because it was you who did it. We see this exhibited in its fullness in Christ Jesus in John 18, 11, where he says, shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? Jesus willingly submitted himself to the Father's will. In the military, we called it being mission-minded. Jesus looked at the cup which was being offered to him, and he said, in order to accomplish the mission, nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will. There is true meekness. Secondly, the fruits of meekness towards man. The child of God is enabled to patiently bear injuries and offenses from others. In Titus chapter 3 verse 2, Paul says that the believer is to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing humility to all men. Another aspect of meekness is that the believer is enabled to readily receive instruction from others. He has a teachable spirit. Along with this, the meek person thinks more highly of others than himself. As Paul says, preferring one another in love. As we indicated earlier, this is not a natural state. This is the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Matthew Henry says that a meek person, because he has rule over his own spirit, would rather forgive 20 injuries than to revenge one. Because the meek person knows who he is, and he's okay with that. Perhaps one of the greatest blessings of meekness is that the individual who possesses it is comfortable with himself, with his friends, and with his God. As one old Puritan put it, the meek person can live comfortably and die comfortably. Because he doesn't have to spend his life going, these people don't know who I am. Don't they realize I'm a person of importance? Instead, the meek person says, you know what? I'm a part of God's plan. I'm an instrument in my Redeemer's hands. Although meekness is the work of the Holy Spirit in man, we're urged in Scripture to follow after meekness in 1 Timothy 6.11. Titus 3.2 tells us to show meekness to all men and to put on meekness in Colossians 3.12. So how do we cultivate and nurture that which is a work of the Holy Spirit in ourselves. Well, first and foremost, we must ask the Father to conform us to the image of his dear Son. not to be conformed to the world, but Lord conform me to the image of your dear son." Christ Jesus was the very picture of meekness. Secondly, strive to gain a greater knowledge of God. As we come to understand who God is and who we are, The natural result will be an increase in meekness, because we as human beings tend to magnify ourselves, and we as human beings tend to try to make God in our image. The more we learn about who God is, and the more we learn about who we are, instead of the two coming together, the two grow apart. And we realize, Lord, I am nothing. How is it that you would look down from heaven and care for me? That is the result of an understanding of who God is and who we are is meekness. We begin to think little of ourselves and much of Christ when we're meek. And that's a good thing, folks. Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth. He not only pronounced the meek blessed, but he said they shall inherit the earth. Now scholars differ on the finer points of what it means to inherit the earth, but there seems to be an agreement on the fact that there are literal, spiritual, and eschatological aspects to it. In other words, there's a literal interpretation. We inherit this earth, the earth. There's also a spiritual interpretation. There's a state of contentment that the meek enter into. And thirdly, there's an eschatological interpretation, a receiving of the kingdom at the end of days, eschatology being a study of the end times, as it were. First, we look at the literal. According to 1 Corinthians 3, verses 21 through 23, the earth is actually ours. God's Word tells us, therefore, let no one boast in man, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's. So Paul sort of brings it from the beginning all the way to the end and wraps it up at the beginning again, all things are yours. When Adam fell, he forfeited the right to God's creation for himself and his posterity. He brought the curse down. Christ regained that right for his elect. As children of the kingdom, though our emphasis isn't on physical possessions, that's not what we're about. The spiritual interpretation of inheriting the earth falls more into the category of a state of being rather than a state of receiving. Having been delivered from greed and selfish ambition, the meek and humble man is satisfied with what God has given him. What a neat thought. Godliness with contentment is great gain. I think I read that somewhere. Psalm 37.11 tells us, but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. A few verses later, we read the little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. This contentment of mind is one of the greatest benefits of meekness. We heard in our Sunday school hour how man searches for meaning in his life, how man searches for, what is it that God would have me to do? Folks, nine times out of 10, they're searching for contentment. They're searching, they want to be at peace. And here we see that secret of peace is when we're under the Father's authority, when we see who He is and we see who we are. This contentment of mind, as I said, is one of the greatest benefits of meekness. Paul describes it as having nothing, yet possessing all things. The third aspect of inheriting the earth is that of being in the consummation or the end of the age. This is that eschatological view. of inheriting the earth. In 1 Corinthians 6, verses 2 and 3, we see that God's elect will judge the world. Being joint heirs with Christ, which we read in Romans 8, verses 16 and 17, we receive some level of authority in the kingdom. I still don't fully understand that, and that's okay. There's a lot of things that we don't understand yet. As the old Puritans used to say, a person who has been in heaven five minutes knows more than all the divines together. We receive some level of authority in the kingdom. How that flesh is out, we will someday find out. But in Matthew 25, 34, we read, then the king will say to those on his right hand, come you blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And in Luke 12, 32, we see that this kingdom is given to us freely. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Now, it would be neat if I could end on a high note, but I'm not going to. I would be remiss if I didn't close with a word of caution. All these promises, which I spoke of this morning, are for God's people. They are not for the world. I don't care how meek and mild-mannered someone is, if they're not in Christ, these promises do not apply to them. They pertain to those who have trusted in Christ as their Savior, to those who've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. In a few minutes, we're going to be celebrating the Lord's Supper, and I'll be cautioning everyone. If you are not in Christ, if you have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb, if you are not born again, I beg of you, don't partake of the Lord's Supper. This is for God's people, it's a celebration It's a celebration of what Christ has done for us. It's a time of saying, thank you, Father. It's a time of celebrating the life that was purchased for us by the washing away of our sins. If you have not come to Jesus, if you've not been born again, these promises mean nothing. You can be meek, you can be mild-mannered, you can be admired by your neighbors and friends, but if you're not in Christ, it avails you nothing. It's one of the things I love about the story of Noah's Ark in the Old Testament. At the end of the day, when the floodwaters rose, Outside of the ARC were all kinds of folks. There was handsome folks. There was strong folks. There were rich folks. There were poor folks. There were various political parties. But OK, we will leave it there. There were various political parties out there, but the only thing that really mattered, the only thing that mattered when the rain came down and the floodwaters rose, the only thing that mattered was are you in the ark or are you outside of the ark? Nothing else mattered. The wrath of God is coming one of these days. Whether it's the end of the world or the end of your world or my world doesn't really matter. There comes a day, scripture tells us, it's for man once to die and after that the judgment. It will only matter are you in the ark or are you outside of the ark? Are you in Christ or are you outside of Christ? To those who were outside of Christ this morning, I beg you, do not delay. Flee to Christ while he's yet to be found. Folks, if you don't take anything else home with you, if you just woke up now, take this home with you. Flee to Christ while he's yet to be found. Don't delay. Don't say, well, tomorrow I'll think about it. Because folks, we do not know when the rain will come down and when the floodwaters will rise. You may be saying, but pastor, I don't know if God will accept me. I talked to a young man here a short while back. He said, pastor, I've sinned so much. I don't know if God would ever receive me back. Come and see me after the service. We'll pray together. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. It doesn't say it cleanses us from some sin. It cleanses us from all sin. Impenitence will keep you out of the kingdom of God. Flee to Christ. It's never too late to begin doing that which is right. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank you and we praise you for this opportunity to look into your word. Father, we thank you that you have shown us that it is not our strength, it is not our cunning, it is not our cleverness, but rather the meek that shall inherit the earth. Father, help us to meekly come to the foot of the cross to seek your forgiveness through the shed blood of Christ Jesus. Father, be with us this day we pray, amen.