http://www.unlockingthebible.org/blessed-are-the-meek/ Pastor Colin Smith preached this message at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church, in Arlington Heights, IL. http://theorchardefc.org/ To download the series or order these sermons on CD, see the link at the top of the description. #6/18 -- Beauty for Ashes: How Christ Brings Joy from Your Pain Matthew 5:5; 11:25-30 October 13th / 14th 2012 by Pastor Colin S. Smith "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5 What is Christ calling us to here? What is meekness? What does it look like? I wonder what comes to your mind when you hear the word meekness? Is a meek person someone who is soft spoken, or maybe a person who has a limp handshake, or perhaps a person who is easily pushed over and does not seem to have much of a spine? I think of a hymn for children written by Charles Wesley: "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild..." When you put meek and mild together it gives the impression of being weak, limp, lacking strength. A mild curry is not very strong, and probably not worth having. For guys who like to watch football, this doesn't seem like the kind of thing we'd want to go after. But we have seen that these Beatitudes are fountains of blessing. Jesus is telling us that there are some things we should go after and get as much of them in our lives as we possibly can. One of them is meekness. Meekness: Taming the Wild Stallion When I began to seriously study this Beatitude, I asked the question: What do I think Jesus is referring to here? What is this meekness that I am to go after and get as much of it into my life as I possibly can? I want us to do a reset on the meaning of the word meek today, and to see that it is only possible thought the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew Henry wrote: "A Discourse on Meekness and Quietness of Spirit," in which he points out that in Latin, a meek man was called mansuetus. There are two words here: manu which means "hand," and assuetus which means "used to." Meekness means being "used to the hand," which Henry says alludes to the taming of creatures wild by nature. The Bible compares our fallen human nature to the impulse of wild animals. God says that His own people are like a wild donkey and a restless camel (Jeremiah 2:23-24). Not a very flattering description. Matthew Henry draws this conclusion: Man's corrupt nature has made him like a wild donkey... but the grace of meekness, when that gets dominion in the soul, alters the temper of it, brings it to hand, and submits it to management. [1] Meekness is the means by which God tames the sinful soul by taming the temper, subduing the assertive self, calming the passions, managing the impulses of the heart, and bringing order out of chaos in the soul. You go to work and one of the partners in the company you serve is self- opinionated and overbearing. He is always throwing his weight around. He is short tempered with the staff and demanding, always insisting on his own way. The man is not happy. You can see that. There is turmoil and frustration going on inside of him. You can see it at the water cooler, where it spills out onto the people around him. If this man learns meekness, it will change his temper, bring it to hand. Think about a horse that has not yet been broken: It bucks and it kicks, and when someone goes near to it, it resists the bit and the bridle. It's not used to the hand. But when it gets used to the hand, the horse has a dignity and poise. The animal is at peace, and it is altogether different. By nature we're all like the unbroken horse. We resist God's hand. We kick against Him. As long as we are fighting God, we cannot experience peace within ourselves. As long as we're at war in ourselves, the turmoil will spill over onto other people in our family and in our workplace. Karen and I were in Iowa last weekend. One morning we were coming down a small, very crowded elevator in our hotel. The elevator stopped and the man who was waiting to get on saw that there was no room for him. He began to curse and swear as the doors closed. Now maybe he was late for a plane, maybe everything had gone wrong that morning, but the turmoil was obvious. Who knows what burdens he was carrying, but it was beginning to spill out. Without meekness we slide into an internal conflict of soul that manifests itself in anger, frustration, bitterness, resentment and turmoil. Meekness tames the temper, subdues the self, calms the passions and brings order out of chaos in the soul. Meekness calms, soothes and subdues. ...read full manuscript at link above on the sermon with the Definition of Meekness.
