“The Combination of Gentleness and Strength” Matthew 5:5

Episode 67

Title: “The Combination of Gentleness and Strength”
Text: Matthew 5:5; Psalm 37 
Key Verse: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

Introduction:
What does it mean to be meek? The word meek is define as “mild, moderate, humble, or submissive quality.” (Webster) The Hebrew word, “anav” means “a state of being humble, lowly, or oppressed.” The Greek word, “praus” means “gentle or mild; kind, humble and patient; even under provocation.”  To be meek, means to be “mild of temper; soft, gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielded; given to forbearance under injuries (AV 1611). 

Meekness is truly a trait of a Godly person and evidence of one who is filled with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22,23 says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

What are some other scriptures on meekness?

- “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” – Proverbs 16:19

- “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.” – 1 Peter 3:4

- “For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” – Isaiah 66:2

- “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” – Psalm 37:11

We see that Jesus is quoting Psalm 37:11 in Matthew 5:5. 

“The Meek shall inherit the earth.”  Let’s look at the context of Psalm 37 to help better understand this teaching.

Outline: Psalm 37

This Psalm deals with the adversity of Righteous people and prosperity of the Wicked. It was written by David in his last days on earth during the events of 2 Kings chapter 2, right before Solomon takes the throne. This Psalm clearly teaches us how we are to behave amongst the wicked, that we use the power we have been given to serve others, and that Divine Justice is inevitable. 
Note four things about Psalm 37…

I. The Righteous and his Conduct (Psalm 37:1-11)
David was very troubled over the wicked and their prosperity. If the spiritual warfare that takes place inside the Believer is not enough, the prosperity of the wicked can be very depleting and devastating to us if we are not careful. David is encouraged to know that not only the wicked will one day be judged, but also that “The Meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” The first thing we learn in Psalm 37 is how we are to conduct ourselves despite the wickedness that surround us. David gives us several commands that we should all heed to:
- Don’t worry or be envious of the wicked. 
The Child of God, the one who’s new nature is to be gentle, kind, slow to anger, and humble will one day inherit the earth and live in peace.
- Trust and Delight in the Lord. 
One of the best ways to be intimate with anyone, is to trust them. With intimacy, trust is key. The more we trust in God, the closer we are to Him, and the more we can rest and delight in His Word. When the wicked distract us, trust in God and be thankful for His Mercy and Grace. Remember what Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 6:11, that “such were some of you.”
- Commit your ways unto to the Lord. 
The word commit means to devote yourself, pledge, and to carry out. As we discovered in our last lesson, that Joy is not the opposite of suffering, but that life with Christ is that we can find joy in suffering. As citizens of the Kingdom, we can experience the benefits of God’s Kingdom here and now. Not only is there Joy in the life of one who lives in Christ, but there is also Peace. Devoting our life to God and His commands, results in a life of peace. The peace that Paul says in Philippians 4:7, “Passes all understanding”. 
- Rest in the Lord and wait patiently on Him. 
The word patience is one that many in the Church shy away from. You may have heard someone say something like, “Don’t pray for God to teach you patience–you won’t like what he’ll put you through to learn it!” Not only does this make God look like an awful Master, but it also undermines the fruit of the spirit we mentioned earlier from Galatians. (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance). All 9 of these are evidences that the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit of God. A Christian who finds rest in God, and can wait patiently, is a Christian who has truly yielded their heart to God and forsaken their flesh. 
- Don’t give in to anger.
Another evidence of a life with God is to be longsuffering. This means to not lose our temper and not be easily provoked. There is a fine line of compromising with wickedness and tolerating it while still maintaining a good witness. There is a reason that Paul told Timothy to “Fight the good Fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). This means the believer is to persevere despite the wickedness that surrounds them and ultimately lay hold on eternal life.  
David ends this section with how the meek will one day inherit the earth. Before we explore this more, let’s look at the remainder of the chapter which goes hand in hand with our study.

II. The Wicked and their Consequence (Psalm 37: 12-20)
Verse 12-20 show that God not only see’s the present of who is wicked and who is righteous, but He also see’s the future. For the wicked, evil will come back to them like a boomerang and they will be judged. Of course, it is not God’s will that any should perish, but all that should come to repentance. This is the only hope for a wicked world. To repent and trust in Christ. As mentioned in our previous lessons, the Beatitudes are not just things we do, but they are our identity in Christ. Because of Christ, we are new creatures. Our old nature, the wicked man, only wants to please itself. Our new nature, is a pure and clean heart that has been declared Righteous by the Blood of Jesus Christ. How can such a filthy sinner naturally become gentle, kind, humble and patient… even when they are provoked and suffer persecution? How can a person so wicked, who may respond in anger or selfishness, eventually feel great remorse and conviction over their actions and want to repent? It is all because of Christ. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17. Wickedness has a price, a price which Jesus paid on the cross for us. He became sin for us and became the propitiation for our sins, which means His sacrifice on the cross appeased the wrath of God. The wicked man who rejects the Grace of God and refuses to put their Faith in Christ as Savior will suffer God’s wrath for all eternity.
 
III. The Righteous and their Claim (Psalm 37:21-31)
God’s law should determine not only the conduct of how we live, but impact our overall view of the world and our eternity. We must remind ourselves that because of Christ, we wil one day inherit the earth.
“The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.” – Psalm 37:29; 
“But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” – Psalm 37:11
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5
Right now, it is easy to get discouraged because it is obvious that the meek are not inheriting the earth in this time period. “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”( Ephesians 2:2-4) But when Christ comes back and will one day reign, the meek will inherit the earth. This is our claim, our inheritance. We are heirs with God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We are God’s adopted children, and what is now Christ’s, will also be ours. Our claim is to one day inherit the earth and live in peace.

IV. The Contrast between the Righteous and the Wicked (Psalm 37:32-40)
It is often that the wicked may seem to succeed and the righteous may be in trouble. But we must understand that this is not permanent. Not only is their contrast with the behavior between the Wicked and the Righteous, there is also contrast with our natures, and our eternities. Remember, the Wicked (the natural man) have not yet come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Their nature is to sin and live in disobedience to God, under the influence of Satan. The heart of the believer has been changed. We are declared Righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Conclusion:

So, we conclude by asking ourselves, how do we become meek? 

Jesus was meek and lowly and we know that He will inherit all things. We also know that we are joint-heirs with Him, and we will one day inherit the earth also. 
To become meek, we must understand that we cannot do it with our own effort. A very important scripture that must be used with the beatitudes is Luke 9:23,  “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Only by denying ourselves, yielding to the spirit of God, and allowing Christ to live through us, can we be meek.

“The Beatitudes present goals which the child of God wants to realize in his own life, but he can’t do it on his own.” – J. Vernon McGee
So, what are some things we can do?

1. Understand the true source of meekness. 

We have driven this point home, but something we must truly understand is that if we could attain meekness on our own, it would produce pride.
Every believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God (But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” – Romans 8:9) but not every believer is filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus said to take up our cross… daily. Paul said that he himself died to the flesh…daily. Denying our flesh and yielding to God is a daily thing that we must do. This is something we must ask in Faith. One of the evidences of being filled with the Holy Spirit is meekness.

2. Understand the true definition of meekness. 

Meekness is not weakness. To be meek, means to be Humble, gentle, and submissive to the Lord. None of those things have anything to do with feebleness. To be meek, does not mean to lack strength, but it means to have strength under control. Don’t confuse a person who is easily offended and very timid as meek. 

3. Understand what meekness looks like.

“To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.” – Titus 3:2
How can we cultivate meekness into every day life? We understand what it means and where it comes from. Here are some examples of what meekness looks like in every day life…
- Be Gentle (“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1)
- Be Humble (“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” – Philippians 2:3-9)
- Be Kind (“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” – Ephesians 4:32)
- Be patient. Jesus was constantly being interrupted. During His solitude, His teaching, His Sabbath, His travels, etc. Jesus saw interruptions as opportunities. Jesus was also provoked, tempted, falsely accused. The list goes on and on and on. One of the first excuses we give for reactive sinful behavior is that we were interrupted, or provoked, or tempted, etc. We must understand that meekness is strength under control. During those times of being interrupted, provoked, and falsely accused, can also be times where we can be the best witness for Christ. Remember, just about anyone can be kind on a Sunday morning during fellowship time. But what about when we get a flat tire, are bullied, or suffer trials. 
- Be sober and vigilant.  There are many practices we can put into place, but this one needs to be at the top of the list. Remember what Paul told the believers at Corinth about Satan, that we are not “ignorant of his devices.”  We must be watchful and alert because our sinful nature is to be the opposite of meek. Remember what Paul said, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus..”. To live in constant obedience of Christ, means we must be watchful and recognize the attacks of the enemy. Jesus wasn’t taken aback by the Pharisees. He wasn’t shocked when Satan tempted Him in the desert. He was well equipped and prepared after spending time with the Father.