July 2, 2025 • 23 mins
What if everything the world teaches about power, strength, and victory is completely backward? In this illuminating study of Matthew 5:5, we explore Jesus’s counterintuitive words: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Our culture prizes self-assertion, conquest, and control. The philosophy of the world could be summed up in the oft-quoted (though misattributed) line: “When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.” This mindset—take until nothing is left to take, conquer until there is no one left to conquer—is deeply ingrained in human nature. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus flips this value system on its head.
The original audience would have found His words shocking. The Jewish people had lived under centuries of oppression—first by Babylon, then Assyria, Greece, and Rome. They knew firsthand the brutality of a dog-eat-dog world. To hear “blessed are the meek” would have sounded nonsensical. Meekness wasn’t strength in their eyes; it seemed like surrender. Yet Jesus calls His followers to embrace a radically different posture.
So what does meekness actually mean? Contrary to modern assumptions, it is not weakness, passivity, or being a pushover. Biblical meekness—praus in Greek—is strength under God’s control, a quiet and gentle confidence born from deep trust in the Lord. It is not self-assertiveness or self-interest but a Spirit-led disposition that accepts God’s dealings as good, without disputing or resisting. Meekness requires removing ourselves from the throne of our lives and yielding to God’s kingship.
We see this illustrated in Moses, who was described as “very meek, more than all the people who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). When his leadership was challenged, Moses didn’t defend himself or fight for his position. Instead, he trusted God to act on his behalf and even interceded for his sister when she was struck with leprosy. Abraham showed similar meekness in allowing Lot to choose the best land first, and David displayed it when he turned to the Lord for strength instead of defending himself against his own men.
But the ultimate example of meekness is Jesus Himself. During His wilderness temptation, He refused shortcuts to glory and submitted fully to the Father’s plan. On Palm Sunday, riding humbly into Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus revealed both humility and authority. In Gethsemane, He prayed, “Not my will, but Yours be done,” willingly surrendering to the Father’s will even though it meant the agony of the cross. Meekness doesn’t mean weakness—it means incredible strength restrained in perfect trust.
This third Beatitude reveals a beautiful spiritual progression: first, we recognize our spiritual poverty (poor in spirit); then, we mourn over our sin and find comfort in Christ; now, as we submit to God’s sovereign will, we embrace meekness and receive the promise that we will inherit the earth.
Inheritance is key here. Unlike the world’s way—where you take, fight, and grab for power—this is something given, not earned. Inheriting the earth means receiving what belongs to Christ as co-heirs with Him. It points both to a present reality and a future hope. Even now, as citizens of God’s kingdom, we can rest in His provision. One day, in the “not yet,” we will fully receive our portion in the new heavens and new earth, where all things a
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Episode Transcript
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Johnathan Schutz (00:04):
Tonight I'm going to open our time with
something that I don't know ifI've ever seen done before.
We're going to open it with aquote from a 80s film.
So when Alexander sold thebreadth of his domain, he wept,
for there were no more worlds toconquer.
So that's a quote from HansGruber from the Christmas film
(00:28):
Die Hard.
This is not a I would recommendfiltering for any of those
films, but this quote that'smisattributed as being from
classical literature.
I mean, I guess, depending onyour opinion of the film as to
whether it's classicalliterature, it sums up perfectly
the world's system and theworld's mindset Take until there
(00:52):
is nothing left to take,conquer until there is nothing
left to conquer, and be strongin your own cause.
Tonight we're going to look athow Jesus takes this entire
concept and entirely turns it onits head.
So just to really quickly recapwhere we've been the last few
weeks Tyler kicked us offlooking at the Sermon on the
(01:14):
Mount as a whole, eben walked usthrough what being poor in
spirit means, which is beingfully dependent on God, and last
week Nick took us on a deepdive into what it really means
to mourn on the inward, on theinner man, as opposed to just on
the outside for the whole worldto see.
So tonight let's go ahead andread our verse for this evening,
(01:36):
and we're going to take arunning start.
So we're jumping in Matthew 5,3 through 5.
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 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 theyshall inherit the earth.
So, again as a reminder, theoriginal audience for the Sermon
on the Mount could be broken upinto three different groups.
(01:57):
There were the disciples, thosewho were already following
Jesus.
There's the crowds.
Those are the people who wantedto know more, they were curious
, and then those were hisenemies and those were those who
came to find fault with him,whether or not they left the
same way or not.
All of these people werepredominantly Jews.
(02:17):
They were a people who were sodesperate to cling on to their
own right standing with Godright Through holding on to
rabbinical law and holding on towho they right standing with
God right Through holding on torabbinical law and holding on to
who they were, and they were apeople who had been oppressed
under the boot of one groupafter another for generations
First the Babylonians, then theAssyrians, then the Greeks, then
(02:37):
the Romans.
So they knew from very, verystrong personal experience that
this is a dog-eat-dog world.
You look out for yourself, youdo everything right or you get
steamrolled.
So from that perspective,putting yourself in those shoes,
how would blessed are the meekhave struck you?
(02:59):
This is actual audienceparticipation.
How would it have struck you ifsomebody comes up and says
blessed are the meek.
And that is your nation'shistory?
Anyway, it's yeah, right, right.
That doesn't make any sense, itdoesn't compute.
So let's go ahead and jump inthen.
(03:22):
For what is meekness?
Because, again, it clearly is aword that Jesus used for a
reason.
It's not one that we really usemuch in the modern day, and
when we do, it generally meanssomething different than what it
actually means in scripture.
Meek, from a modern perspective, what does that mean to you?
(03:48):
What other synonyms immediatelyjump to your mind?
Anybody Weak, okay.
Humble, okay, humble.
Gentle, okay.
Any others Kind, okay.
These are all good words.
Some are right in line, butsome are a little bit off from
the actual biblical definition.
When we think of the word meek,we often think of it as being a
weak person or a pushover.
(04:08):
If we do actually associatewith scripture, we associate it
with the Jesus that you probablysaw over your grandma's
fireplace.
This is a weak, pale, pasty,mamby-pamby guy with perfectly
straight hair, a perfectlytrimmed beard, a perfectly white
tunic that has never seenanything of the outside world
(04:31):
and a little white, fluffy lambin his arms.
Right.
That's what we think of if wethink the word meek and we're
associating with scripture.
But that's Jesus was gentle,yes, and we're going to see what
gentleness is and we're goingto see more about what meekness
means to Jesus.
But it's not weakness, it's notbeing a pushover.
That version of Jesus is notthe version of Jesus that we see
(04:52):
in Scripture.
So meekness is also translated.
This word that is used inMatthew is also translated as
humbleness, gentleness, and it'sthe Greek word praos, but it's
a different word.
That's, interestingly enough, adifferent word than is used for
gentleness in the fruits of thespirit.
(05:12):
So it is gentle, but it's notthe same word for gentle.
That word is praotes.
Praotes is the derivative word.
Praos is the root, praotes isthe derivative.
So whenever we're talking aboutwhat Mark talked about a few
weeks ago about the root and theshoot the root prautes is the
derivative.
So whenever we're talking aboutwhat Mark talked about a few
weeks ago about the root and theshoot, the root and the fruit
praus, the meekness of theBeatitudes is the root and the
(05:35):
gentleness of the fruit of thespirit is the fruit.
Real meekness is yieldedness.
It's strength under God'scontrol.
It is a quiet and gentleconfidence born of complete
faith and trust in the Lord.
I'd like to read for a momentfrom the outline of biblical
usage.
Meekness toward God is thatdisposition of spirit in which
(05:57):
we accept his dealings with usas good and therefore without
disputing or resisting.
Gentleness or meekness is theopposite of self-assertiveness
and self-interest.
It stems from trust in God'sgoodness and control over the
situation.
The gentle person is notoccupied with self at all.
This is a work of the HolySpirit, not of the human will.
So what we're talking abouthere is a humility that comes
(06:20):
from taking ourselves off of thethrone of our lives and placing
the one who should be on thethrone there.
It's recognizing that he is theking and not us A great example
of meekness.
In scripture we're going to lookback at the Old Testament for a
minute, we can find that in thelife of Moses, in Numbers 12,
(06:40):
when Miriam and Aaron spokeagainst Moses, particularly
questioning his right to leadthe people of Israel, they're
questioning the very core ofwhat he's doing.
We get an interesting statementabout Moses' reaction in verse
3.
So this is Numbers 12.3, andall this is ESV.
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the people who
(07:01):
were on the face of the earth.
Now this is a little bit funnywhenever you realize that it's
actually Moses who's writingthis.
But whenever we actually lookat his actual reaction, we
actually see that backed up.
It's not just a statement fromMoses.
He doesn't defend himself, hedoesn't argue his own cause.
(07:21):
He does nothing to secure hisown authority over the people of
Israel.
The Lord thunders forth onMoses' behalf and Moses' only
reaction recorded in scriptureto this whole incident is him
crying out for his sister whenshe struck with leprosy.
He let the Lord work on hisbehalf.
(07:43):
He learned the lesson at theRed Sea to stand and watch the
salvation of the Lord.
There are many other examplesthat are awesome in the Old
Testament of meekness that wecould touch on.
There's Abraham when dealingwith Lot and his herdsmen.
Knowing that God had givenblessings to Abraham himself, he
left it to Lot to choose whichdirection he should go, trusting
in the Lord to determine who'sgoing to prosper, what the
(08:06):
outcome of this situation wasgoing to be.
David when his men wanted toturn on him, after all their
possessions and families hadbeen taken, he turned to the
Lord for strength and didn'tdefend himself, but he looked to
the Lord for strength, to theone who could solve the
situation.
And there are many more that wecould dig into, but those are
just a couple.
But since it's really and trulyJesus's own definition of
(08:28):
meekness that really mattershere, this is Jesus talking.
He is our example.
I wanna jump into severalexamples from his life in the
temptation in the wilderness.
Each one of the temptationsfrom the enemy was a way to
shortcut God's master plan, tohave the nations bow down before
him, to show off his power, tosee himself made king without
going to the cross.
(08:48):
It's all shortcuts of the planand the purposes that God had
set forth, but Jesus maintainedhis eye on the goal and resisted
every one of those.
If we skip ahead to thetriumphal entry into Jerusalem,
matthew says in Matthew 21,.
Four through five.
This took place to fulfill whatwas spoken by the prophet saying
.
Say to the daughter of Zionbehold, your king is coming to
(09:14):
you, humble and mounted on adonkey, on a colt, the foal of a
beast of burden.
The word humble there is ourprowse from the Beatitudes.
Jesus was humbly enteringJerusalem on the foal of a
donkey.
In the garden of Gethsemane, inJesus' prayer, not my will, but
yours be done, we see Jesushumbling himself and entrusting
himself to the father's will,even though he could have called
down legions of angels torescue him.
In none of these situations wasJesus being weak, and not one
(09:41):
of them.
He was as much of a warrior asa manly man as we see in any
other time.
In the wilderness temptation,he's going toe to toe with the
prince of this age, usingscripture to combat every single
attack, not giving up an inch.
He was enduring and destroyingevery lie with scripture.
With it is written During histriumphal entry into Jerusalem
(10:02):
on Palm Sunday, jesus was moreof a king than anyone there
living had ever seen.
Not only was Jesus fulfillingthe prophecy in Zechariah in
riding out a donkey, he wasclaiming himself to be king in
the line of David, echoing firstkings when Solomon rode into
Jerusalem on David's mule.
It's a sign of humilitycombined with authority.
Here, jesus is not being thetype or the shadow riding in on
(10:25):
an animal of mixed origin.
He's riding in on a pure animal, on the donkey, claiming
himself to be the king of kings,lord of lords, and to be in the
line of David.
To anybody who had eyes to seeand ears to hear, this wasn't a
weak act.
He was coming into Jerusalem asking to conquer death In the
garden.
(10:46):
He was getting ready to stormthe gates of hell and deliver a
death blow to death itself.
In this meekness there he's notrolling over but was willingly,
actively, agonizingly, to thepoint of shedding drops of blood
, submitting himself, his willand his life to his father it
says in Philippians 2a and beingfound in human form, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient tothe point of death, even death
(11:09):
on a cross, and moving evenfurther forward.
We see that when he went to thecross, he did not open his
mouth in his own defense, butendured the full penalty for sin
as a sheep before the shearerwinning our salvation the full
penalty for sin as a sheepbefore the shearer winning our
salvation.
In every single one of theseexamples, the one who's calling
us to live a life of meekness isnot showing us a life of case
or a seraph, flippancy orinaction, or being an unmanly
(11:33):
weakling.
I know, for guys I'm using theword manly a lot because for
guys, whenever we hear this, itgrates at who we are.
We go.
I need to be strong, I need toprotect, I need to provide, but
this is not a call to be weak.
It's not a call to not stand.
It is a call to stand whenthere is no other, when it seems
that there's nothing behind you, except if you know who is
(11:54):
behind you, you can stand inmeekness.
Something to note here as wellis that a key element of Jesus'
work on the cross was hismeekness itself.
I just read Philippians 2.8,but let's look at the
surrounding verses.
We're going to look atPhilippians 2, verse 5 through
11.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus
(12:17):
who, though he was in the formof God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied himself by taking
the form of a servant, beingborn in the likeness of men and
being found in human form hefound himself.
He humbled himself by becomingobedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore, god has highlyexalted him and bestowed on him
(12:38):
a name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow in heaven.
Jesus is eternally God, but wesee something special here.
He is glorified by the Fatherin a special way because of how
(13:01):
he humbled himself in doing this.
He purchased us through thatact as a people and inheritance
for himself.
He made himself through thatknown as savior and has been
exalted for all to see as kingof kings and Lord of lords, and
he reigns forever.
Meekness is not the normal humancondition, but it comes from
rightfully understanding who weare, who Christ is and who we
are in Christ, comes fromrightfully understanding who we
(13:22):
are, who Christ is and who weare in Christ.
Meekness allows us to be humbleand gentle, even as we stand
strongly, as we've already said,and moving into the second half
of the passage, it opens thedoor to inheriting the earth.
So let's take a step back, aswe have this little transition
point to looking at theblessings found, and I wanna
look at the progression of theBeatitudes in this point.
(13:42):
As we look and as we continueand I hope everybody will be
continuing to come back weekafter week there's a progression
that we see where one Beatitudebuilds upon another, builds
upon another.
So first week we're poor inspirit.
We recognize our inability andthis is the entry point into the
kingdom of heaven those whomourn.
We recognize our sin and how wehave to have the Savior.
(14:03):
And then through that, throughthat humility, we're comforted
by the work of Christ.
And now those who are meek,those who are no longer seeking
their own earthly wants, desiresor needs, but are submitted to
the sovereign kingly will oftheir father, and then we
inherit with the Son.
So the first thing to noteabout this blessing for they
will inherit the earth.
This is inheriting, this is nottaking.
(14:29):
Looking back at that quote atthe beginning, with the Hans
Gruber quote that looks at theworld system we take, we take,
we take because it's all up tous.
Inheritance comes from having alineage where there is somebody
who has the thing and it isgiven to you because you're a
child.
That's not the way the worldworks.
Inheriting is based onrecognizing our father.
(14:51):
The king has placed all thingsunder Christ's feet.
So, even if we did want to takeit, it is not ours to take for
ourselves.
It belongs to Christ.
If we are not sons of the king,if we're not in right standing
with him, we cannot inherit.
The inheritance that comes tothe meek, does not come to just
anybody who has a false sense ofhumility.
(15:12):
It comes to those who actuallyhave set Christ on the throne of
their lives.
This promise is a perfectexample of the already and not
yet of the kingdom and, morespecifically, of the Beatitudes.
As we look at each of thesethings, there's an already.
The kingdom of heaven is athand.
The kingdom of heaven is here.
The declaration that Jesus cameto make is that the kingdom of
(15:34):
heaven is here.
God is with us.
But there's also a not yet,where all things are brought
into full consummation.
This is a great example of that.
It's very much mirroringanother already and not yet
statement.
That's later in the Sermon onthe Mount in Matthew 6, 33.
But seek first the kingdom ofGod and his righteousness, and
(15:56):
all these things will be addedto you.
We are called to renounce ourown thrones and to seek the
heavenly kingdom, and as we dothat, all that we need will be
provided for us by our caringfather.
This isn't a prosperity gospelyou get everything that you want
whenever you just believe.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
We're talking about a lovingfather giving what is needed to
(16:17):
his children.
It is a promise, again, for nowand for the not yet.
Again, there's a not yet.
As followers of Christ, we arestrangers in the land where we
live.
We are dual citizens, both hereon earth and of the heavenly
kingdom, awaiting the dayeagerly when the earth is made
(16:37):
new.
I want to look at Hebrews 11, 13through 16.
I want to look at Hebrews 11,13 through 16.
These all died in faith, nothaving received the things
promised, but having seen themand greeted them from afar, and
having acknowledged that theywere strangers and exiles on the
earth.
For people who speak thus makeit clear that they are seeking a
homeland.
If they had been thinking ofthat land from which they had
(16:57):
gone out, they would have hadopportunity to return, but as it
is, they desire a bettercountry that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore, god is not ashamedto be called their God, for he
has prepared for them a city.
I don't know about you, butwhenever I hear songs that sing
about all things being made new.
I'm specifically thinking aboutthe music from Rich Mullins
(17:19):
back in the eighties.
I get teary because there's asense of homesickness that I get
in my heart.
There's a longing for home,there's a longing for all this
to be made new, and a lot ofthis is.
It's a longing to see Jesusface to face.
It's a longing for him directly, but it's also to see him
receive all that he was promised.
(17:41):
The consummation of all things,all things being made right,
sees a new heavens and a newearth where all the good things
that God has made but have beencorrupted are made new.
It sees Christ receiving hisbride, a people from every tribe
, nation, people and tongue.
It sees us receiving ourportion, our reward, jesus
himself.
We fully receive ourinheritance as sons in that day,
(18:05):
and that is what we are lookingforward to in the not yet.
Romans 8, 16 through 17 saysthe spirit himself bears witness
, with our spirit, that we arechildren of God, and if children
, then heirs, heirs of God andfellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him inorder that we may also be
glorified with him.
So just to recap how all thisworks right Knowing we are
(18:28):
citizens of a kingdom, knowingthat the earth is the Lord and
the fullness thereof.
We can stand as confident sons,knowing that we don't have to
stick up for our own rights.
Yes, we'll be stirred up for azeal out of a zeal for the
things that make the Lord'sheartache.
Yes, we will be stirred up forthose that he's given to us that
make the Lord's heartache.
Yes, we will be stirred up forthose that he's given to us, but
(18:49):
whenever it comes to ourselves,we don't have to stand up for
our own rights.
Meekness does not breedinaction, but it breeds the
right action.
We then, from that place,operate in confident assurance
of who is behind us.
There's a greater strength thanthe world can ever know inside
of us, and it does not matter ifthe odds are against us or not.
(19:09):
We humbly occupy this brokenworld until he comes.
So, with that knowledge, wedon't conquer the earth in the
same way that earthly kingdomsdo.
We are more than conquerors.
Through him who loved us, andwe are looking for the kind of
inheritance that the world islooking for.
When we, as co-heirs withChrist, inherit the earth, we're
being a part of what Christ haspromised, receiving that people
(19:29):
that was his that was promisedto him people from every tribe,
nation and tongue.
I want to close by specificallylooking at the hope we have in
that not yet.
Meekness means letting go of ourown control of our own
destinies.
It means letting go of ourpride, not seeking self-interest
, of our own control of our owndestinies.
It means letting go of ourpride, not seeking self-interest
, not engaging the way the worlddoes.
This is entirely counter tonature.
(19:51):
It's terrifying.
I don't know if anybody herehas ever scuba dove before.
I got an opportunity to do abeginner scuba diving class but
you put that regulator in yourmouth and you know you've got
the tank and you're breathing,fine, right.
And then you go under the waterand every fiber of your being
screams that if I do that, I'mgonna die.
(20:12):
This is completely counter tonature and this is what meekness
is in the Christian walk.
It only works if we serve asovereign, truly reigning God,
if someone has already done thework for us that we could not do
to purchase the work for us,that we could not do to purchase
the inheritance for us.
Revelations 5.5.
And one of the elders said tome weep no more.
(20:33):
Behold the lion of the tribe ofJudah, the root of David has
conquered so that he can openthe scroll and its seven seals
when the ultimate victory hasbeen won, the ultimate victory
over sin, the death, hell, thegrave has been won in Christ,
but we are still in hostileterritory.
We may not be conquerors in theearthly sense, but there's a
form of conquering that we arestill called to.
(20:55):
I want to read Revelation 12,10 through 11.
And I heard a loud voice inheaven saying now the salvation
and power and the kingdom of ourGod and the authority of this
Christ have come, for theaccuser of our brothers has been
thrown down, who accuses themday and night before our God,
and they have conquered him bythe blood of the lamb and the
word of their testimony, forthey love not their lives unto
(21:17):
the death.
That's how we conquer.
We don't fight against fleshand blood, but we meekly,
strongly, humbly and, ascounterintuitively as it sounds,
gently stand against the powersof this world.
And we win by resting andstanding in the finished work of
Christ.
But eventually, eventually, wewill inherit the earth.
(21:40):
Eventually, all that has beenpromised to Christ will be his.
And he who was seated on thethrone said behold, I am making
all things new.
And he said write this down,for these words are trustworthy
and true.
And he said to me it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty.
I will give from the spring ofwater of life, without payment,
(22:01):
to the one who conquers, like wetalked about in that last verse
, to the one who conquers.
Who conquers, like we talkedabout in that last verse, to the
one who conquers.
The one who conquers will havethis heritage and I will be his
God and he will be my son.
That's Revelation 21,.
Five through seven.
When we entrust ourselves to ourfather, when we meekly, humbly,
refuse to place ourselves onthe throne, when we stand firm
in the blood of the lamb, weoperate as sons and we will
(22:23):
inherit with these son.
I would like to pray for us aswe close and then want to let
you guys get to the discussionquestions and really look at how
does this affect your own life?
Operating out of meeknessrequires spiritual muscles that
aren't naturally in us.
It's not the natural way wewant to actually operate if
we're in our flesh, and I'd liketo encourage you to really dig
(22:43):
in with each other and look atthe practical ways that this can
be played out.
Dear Heavenly Father, we justthank you for this evening Again
.
We thank you for your people,we thank you for your word and,
father, we thank you that youare on the throne, that we don't
have to watch out for our ownself-interest, we don't have to
be looking out for number oneLord.
We can entrust that entirelyinto your trustworthy, sovereign
(23:07):
kingly hands, because you haveovercome and you have conquered.
I ask that you'd help us tolook at our own lives and our
own hearts and see where we'veplaced ourselves on the throne,
and I ask that you would help usto remove ourselves from it,
that we would not look out forour own self-interest, but we
would look to glorify you ineverything and, father, in every
interaction and in every thingthat we do and say.
(23:27):
I ask the Trinity CommunityChurch would be defined as a
church made up of meek believerswho stand strongly in you.
So, father, I just thank youAgain, I thank you for these
people here and I just pray yourblessings upon them in Jesus'
name.
Tonight I'm going to open our time with
something that I don't know ifI've ever seen done before.
We're going to open it with aquote from a 80s film.
So when Alexander sold thebreadth of his domain, he wept,
for there were no more worlds toconquer.
So that's a quote from HansGruber from the Christmas film
(00:28):
Die Hard.
This is not a I would recommendfiltering for any of those
films, but this quote that'smisattributed as being from
classical literature.
I mean, I guess, depending onyour opinion of the film as to
whether it's classicalliterature, it sums up perfectly
the world's system and theworld's mindset Take until there
(00:52):
is nothing left to take,conquer until there is nothing
left to conquer, and be strongin your own cause.
Tonight we're going to look athow Jesus takes this entire
concept and entirely turns it onits head.
So just to really quickly recapwhere we've been the last few
weeks Tyler kicked us offlooking at the Sermon on the
(01:14):
Mount as a whole, eben walked usthrough what being poor in
spirit means, which is beingfully dependent on God, and last
week Nick took us on a deepdive into what it really means
to mourn on the inward, on theinner man, as opposed to just on
the outside for the whole worldto see.
So tonight let's go ahead andread our verse for this evening,
(01:36):
and we're going to take arunning start.
So we're jumping in Matthew 5,3 through 5.
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 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 theyshall inherit the earth.
So, again as a reminder, theoriginal audience for the Sermon
on the Mount could be broken upinto three different groups.
(01:57):
There were the disciples, thosewho were already following
Jesus.
There's the crowds.
Those are the people who wantedto know more, they were curious
, and then those were hisenemies and those were those who
came to find fault with him,whether or not they left the
same way or not.
All of these people werepredominantly Jews.
(02:17):
They were a people who were sodesperate to cling on to their
own right standing with Godright Through holding on to
rabbinical law and holding on towho they right standing with
God right Through holding on torabbinical law and holding on to
who they were, and they were apeople who had been oppressed
under the boot of one groupafter another for generations
First the Babylonians, then theAssyrians, then the Greeks, then
(02:37):
the Romans.
So they knew from very, verystrong personal experience that
this is a dog-eat-dog world.
You look out for yourself, youdo everything right or you get
steamrolled.
So from that perspective,putting yourself in those shoes,
how would blessed are the meekhave struck you?
(02:59):
This is actual audienceparticipation.
How would it have struck you ifsomebody comes up and says
blessed are the meek.
And that is your nation'shistory?
Anyway, it's yeah, right, right.
That doesn't make any sense, itdoesn't compute.
So let's go ahead and jump inthen.
(03:22):
For what is meekness?
Because, again, it clearly is aword that Jesus used for a
reason.
It's not one that we really usemuch in the modern day, and
when we do, it generally meanssomething different than what it
actually means in scripture.
Meek, from a modern perspective, what does that mean to you?
(03:48):
What other synonyms immediatelyjump to your mind?
Anybody Weak, okay.
Humble, okay, humble.
Gentle, okay.
Any others Kind, okay.
These are all good words.
Some are right in line, butsome are a little bit off from
the actual biblical definition.
When we think of the word meek,we often think of it as being a
weak person or a pushover.
(04:08):
If we do actually associatewith scripture, we associate it
with the Jesus that you probablysaw over your grandma's
fireplace.
This is a weak, pale, pasty,mamby-pamby guy with perfectly
straight hair, a perfectlytrimmed beard, a perfectly white
tunic that has never seenanything of the outside world
(04:31):
and a little white, fluffy lambin his arms.
Right.
That's what we think of if wethink the word meek and we're
associating with scripture.
But that's Jesus was gentle,yes, and we're going to see what
gentleness is and we're goingto see more about what meekness
means to Jesus.
But it's not weakness, it's notbeing a pushover.
That version of Jesus is notthe version of Jesus that we see
(04:52):
in Scripture.
So meekness is also translated.
This word that is used inMatthew is also translated as
humbleness, gentleness, and it'sthe Greek word praos, but it's
a different word.
That's, interestingly enough, adifferent word than is used for
gentleness in the fruits of thespirit.
(05:12):
So it is gentle, but it's notthe same word for gentle.
That word is praotes.
Praotes is the derivative word.
Praos is the root, praotes isthe derivative.
So whenever we're talking aboutwhat Mark talked about a few
weeks ago about the root and theshoot the root prautes is the
derivative.
So whenever we're talking aboutwhat Mark talked about a few
weeks ago about the root and theshoot, the root and the fruit
praus, the meekness of theBeatitudes is the root and the
(05:35):
gentleness of the fruit of thespirit is the fruit.
Real meekness is yieldedness.
It's strength under God'scontrol.
It is a quiet and gentleconfidence born of complete
faith and trust in the Lord.
I'd like to read for a momentfrom the outline of biblical
usage.
Meekness toward God is thatdisposition of spirit in which
(05:57):
we accept his dealings with usas good and therefore without
disputing or resisting.
Gentleness or meekness is theopposite of self-assertiveness
and self-interest.
It stems from trust in God'sgoodness and control over the
situation.
The gentle person is notoccupied with self at all.
This is a work of the HolySpirit, not of the human will.
So what we're talking abouthere is a humility that comes
(06:20):
from taking ourselves off of thethrone of our lives and placing
the one who should be on thethrone there.
It's recognizing that he is theking and not us A great example
of meekness.
In scripture we're going to lookback at the Old Testament for a
minute, we can find that in thelife of Moses, in Numbers 12,
(06:40):
when Miriam and Aaron spokeagainst Moses, particularly
questioning his right to leadthe people of Israel, they're
questioning the very core ofwhat he's doing.
We get an interesting statementabout Moses' reaction in verse
3.
So this is Numbers 12.3, andall this is ESV.
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the people who
(07:01):
were on the face of the earth.
Now this is a little bit funnywhenever you realize that it's
actually Moses who's writingthis.
But whenever we actually lookat his actual reaction, we
actually see that backed up.
It's not just a statement fromMoses.
He doesn't defend himself, hedoesn't argue his own cause.
(07:21):
He does nothing to secure hisown authority over the people of
Israel.
The Lord thunders forth onMoses' behalf and Moses' only
reaction recorded in scriptureto this whole incident is him
crying out for his sister whenshe struck with leprosy.
He let the Lord work on hisbehalf.
(07:43):
He learned the lesson at theRed Sea to stand and watch the
salvation of the Lord.
There are many other examplesthat are awesome in the Old
Testament of meekness that wecould touch on.
There's Abraham when dealingwith Lot and his herdsmen.
Knowing that God had givenblessings to Abraham himself, he
left it to Lot to choose whichdirection he should go, trusting
in the Lord to determine who'sgoing to prosper, what the
(08:06):
outcome of this situation wasgoing to be.
David when his men wanted toturn on him, after all their
possessions and families hadbeen taken, he turned to the
Lord for strength and didn'tdefend himself, but he looked to
the Lord for strength, to theone who could solve the
situation.
And there are many more that wecould dig into, but those are
just a couple.
But since it's really and trulyJesus's own definition of
(08:28):
meekness that really mattershere, this is Jesus talking.
He is our example.
I wanna jump into severalexamples from his life in the
temptation in the wilderness.
Each one of the temptationsfrom the enemy was a way to
shortcut God's master plan, tohave the nations bow down before
him, to show off his power, tosee himself made king without
going to the cross.
(08:48):
It's all shortcuts of the planand the purposes that God had
set forth, but Jesus maintainedhis eye on the goal and resisted
every one of those.
If we skip ahead to thetriumphal entry into Jerusalem,
matthew says in Matthew 21,.
Four through five.
This took place to fulfill whatwas spoken by the prophet saying
.
Say to the daughter of Zionbehold, your king is coming to
(09:14):
you, humble and mounted on adonkey, on a colt, the foal of a
beast of burden.
The word humble there is ourprowse from the Beatitudes.
Jesus was humbly enteringJerusalem on the foal of a
donkey.
In the garden of Gethsemane, inJesus' prayer, not my will, but
yours be done, we see Jesushumbling himself and entrusting
himself to the father's will,even though he could have called
down legions of angels torescue him.
In none of these situations wasJesus being weak, and not one
(09:41):
of them.
He was as much of a warrior asa manly man as we see in any
other time.
In the wilderness temptation,he's going toe to toe with the
prince of this age, usingscripture to combat every single
attack, not giving up an inch.
He was enduring and destroyingevery lie with scripture.
With it is written During histriumphal entry into Jerusalem
(10:02):
on Palm Sunday, jesus was moreof a king than anyone there
living had ever seen.
Not only was Jesus fulfillingthe prophecy in Zechariah in
riding out a donkey, he wasclaiming himself to be king in
the line of David, echoing firstkings when Solomon rode into
Jerusalem on David's mule.
It's a sign of humilitycombined with authority.
Here, jesus is not being thetype or the shadow riding in on
(10:25):
an animal of mixed origin.
He's riding in on a pure animal, on the donkey, claiming
himself to be the king of kings,lord of lords, and to be in the
line of David.
To anybody who had eyes to seeand ears to hear, this wasn't a
weak act.
He was coming into Jerusalem asking to conquer death In the
garden.
(10:46):
He was getting ready to stormthe gates of hell and deliver a
death blow to death itself.
In this meekness there he's notrolling over but was willingly,
actively, agonizingly, to thepoint of shedding drops of blood
, submitting himself, his willand his life to his father it
says in Philippians 2a and beingfound in human form, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient tothe point of death, even death
(11:09):
on a cross, and moving evenfurther forward.
We see that when he went to thecross, he did not open his
mouth in his own defense, butendured the full penalty for sin
as a sheep before the shearerwinning our salvation the full
penalty for sin as a sheepbefore the shearer winning our
salvation.
In every single one of theseexamples, the one who's calling
us to live a life of meekness isnot showing us a life of case
or a seraph, flippancy orinaction, or being an unmanly
(11:33):
weakling.
I know, for guys I'm using theword manly a lot because for
guys, whenever we hear this, itgrates at who we are.
We go.
I need to be strong, I need toprotect, I need to provide, but
this is not a call to be weak.
It's not a call to not stand.
It is a call to stand whenthere is no other, when it seems
that there's nothing behind you, except if you know who is
(11:54):
behind you, you can stand inmeekness.
Something to note here as wellis that a key element of Jesus'
work on the cross was hismeekness itself.
I just read Philippians 2.8,but let's look at the
surrounding verses.
We're going to look atPhilippians 2, verse 5 through
11.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus
(12:17):
who, though he was in the formof God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied himself by taking
the form of a servant, beingborn in the likeness of men and
being found in human form hefound himself.
He humbled himself by becomingobedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore, god has highlyexalted him and bestowed on him
(12:38):
a name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow in heaven.
Jesus is eternally God, but wesee something special here.
He is glorified by the Fatherin a special way because of how
(13:01):
he humbled himself in doing this.
He purchased us through thatact as a people and inheritance
for himself.
He made himself through thatknown as savior and has been
exalted for all to see as kingof kings and Lord of lords, and
he reigns forever.
Meekness is not the normal humancondition, but it comes from
rightfully understanding who weare, who Christ is and who we
are in Christ, comes fromrightfully understanding who we
(13:22):
are, who Christ is and who weare in Christ.
Meekness allows us to be humbleand gentle, even as we stand
strongly, as we've already said,and moving into the second half
of the passage, it opens thedoor to inheriting the earth.
So let's take a step back, aswe have this little transition
point to looking at theblessings found, and I wanna
look at the progression of theBeatitudes in this point.
(13:42):
As we look and as we continueand I hope everybody will be
continuing to come back weekafter week there's a progression
that we see where one Beatitudebuilds upon another, builds
upon another.
So first week we're poor inspirit.
We recognize our inability andthis is the entry point into the
kingdom of heaven those whomourn.
We recognize our sin and how wehave to have the Savior.
(14:03):
And then through that, throughthat humility, we're comforted
by the work of Christ.
And now those who are meek,those who are no longer seeking
their own earthly wants, desiresor needs, but are submitted to
the sovereign kingly will oftheir father, and then we
inherit with the Son.
So the first thing to noteabout this blessing for they
will inherit the earth.
This is inheriting, this is nottaking.
(14:29):
Looking back at that quote atthe beginning, with the Hans
Gruber quote that looks at theworld system we take, we take,
we take because it's all up tous.
Inheritance comes from having alineage where there is somebody
who has the thing and it isgiven to you because you're a
child.
That's not the way the worldworks.
Inheriting is based onrecognizing our father.
(14:51):
The king has placed all thingsunder Christ's feet.
So, even if we did want to takeit, it is not ours to take for
ourselves.
It belongs to Christ.
If we are not sons of the king,if we're not in right standing
with him, we cannot inherit.
The inheritance that comes tothe meek, does not come to just
anybody who has a false sense ofhumility.
(15:12):
It comes to those who actuallyhave set Christ on the throne of
their lives.
This promise is a perfectexample of the already and not
yet of the kingdom and, morespecifically, of the Beatitudes.
As we look at each of thesethings, there's an already.
The kingdom of heaven is athand.
The kingdom of heaven is here.
The declaration that Jesus cameto make is that the kingdom of
(15:34):
heaven is here.
God is with us.
But there's also a not yet,where all things are brought
into full consummation.
This is a great example of that.
It's very much mirroringanother already and not yet
statement.
That's later in the Sermon onthe Mount in Matthew 6, 33.
But seek first the kingdom ofGod and his righteousness, and
(15:56):
all these things will be addedto you.
We are called to renounce ourown thrones and to seek the
heavenly kingdom, and as we dothat, all that we need will be
provided for us by our caringfather.
This isn't a prosperity gospelyou get everything that you want
whenever you just believe.
That's not what we're talkingabout.
We're talking about a lovingfather giving what is needed to
(16:17):
his children.
It is a promise, again, for nowand for the not yet.
Again, there's a not yet.
As followers of Christ, we arestrangers in the land where we
live.
We are dual citizens, both hereon earth and of the heavenly
kingdom, awaiting the dayeagerly when the earth is made
(16:37):
new.
I want to look at Hebrews 11, 13through 16.
I want to look at Hebrews 11,13 through 16.
These all died in faith, nothaving received the things
promised, but having seen themand greeted them from afar, and
having acknowledged that theywere strangers and exiles on the
earth.
For people who speak thus makeit clear that they are seeking a
homeland.
If they had been thinking ofthat land from which they had
(16:57):
gone out, they would have hadopportunity to return, but as it
is, they desire a bettercountry that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore, god is not ashamedto be called their God, for he
has prepared for them a city.
I don't know about you, butwhenever I hear songs that sing
about all things being made new.
I'm specifically thinking aboutthe music from Rich Mullins
(17:19):
back in the eighties.
I get teary because there's asense of homesickness that I get
in my heart.
There's a longing for home,there's a longing for all this
to be made new, and a lot ofthis is.
It's a longing to see Jesusface to face.
It's a longing for him directly, but it's also to see him
receive all that he was promised.
(17:41):
The consummation of all things,all things being made right,
sees a new heavens and a newearth where all the good things
that God has made but have beencorrupted are made new.
It sees Christ receiving hisbride, a people from every tribe
, nation, people and tongue.
It sees us receiving ourportion, our reward, jesus
himself.
We fully receive ourinheritance as sons in that day,
(18:05):
and that is what we are lookingforward to in the not yet.
Romans 8, 16 through 17 saysthe spirit himself bears witness
, with our spirit, that we arechildren of God, and if children
, then heirs, heirs of God andfellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him inorder that we may also be
glorified with him.
So just to recap how all thisworks right Knowing we are
(18:28):
citizens of a kingdom, knowingthat the earth is the Lord and
the fullness thereof.
We can stand as confident sons,knowing that we don't have to
stick up for our own rights.
Yes, we'll be stirred up for azeal out of a zeal for the
things that make the Lord'sheartache.
Yes, we will be stirred up forthose that he's given to us that
make the Lord's heartache.
Yes, we will be stirred up forthose that he's given to us, but
(18:49):
whenever it comes to ourselves,we don't have to stand up for
our own rights.
Meekness does not breedinaction, but it breeds the
right action.
We then, from that place,operate in confident assurance
of who is behind us.
There's a greater strength thanthe world can ever know inside
of us, and it does not matter ifthe odds are against us or not.
(19:09):
We humbly occupy this brokenworld until he comes.
So, with that knowledge, wedon't conquer the earth in the
same way that earthly kingdomsdo.
We are more than conquerors.
Through him who loved us, andwe are looking for the kind of
inheritance that the world islooking for.
When we, as co-heirs withChrist, inherit the earth, we're
being a part of what Christ haspromised, receiving that people
(19:29):
that was his that was promisedto him people from every tribe,
nation and tongue.
I want to close by specificallylooking at the hope we have in
that not yet.
Meekness means letting go of ourown control of our own
destinies.
It means letting go of ourpride, not seeking self-interest
, of our own control of our owndestinies.
It means letting go of ourpride, not seeking self-interest
, not engaging the way the worlddoes.
This is entirely counter tonature.
(19:51):
It's terrifying.
I don't know if anybody herehas ever scuba dove before.
I got an opportunity to do abeginner scuba diving class but
you put that regulator in yourmouth and you know you've got
the tank and you're breathing,fine, right.
And then you go under the waterand every fiber of your being
screams that if I do that, I'mgonna die.
(20:12):
This is completely counter tonature and this is what meekness
is in the Christian walk.
It only works if we serve asovereign, truly reigning God,
if someone has already done thework for us that we could not do
to purchase the work for us,that we could not do to purchase
the inheritance for us.
Revelations 5.5.
And one of the elders said tome weep no more.
(20:33):
Behold the lion of the tribe ofJudah, the root of David has
conquered so that he can openthe scroll and its seven seals
when the ultimate victory hasbeen won, the ultimate victory
over sin, the death, hell, thegrave has been won in Christ,
but we are still in hostileterritory.
We may not be conquerors in theearthly sense, but there's a
form of conquering that we arestill called to.
(20:55):
I want to read Revelation 12,10 through 11.
And I heard a loud voice inheaven saying now the salvation
and power and the kingdom of ourGod and the authority of this
Christ have come, for theaccuser of our brothers has been
thrown down, who accuses themday and night before our God,
and they have conquered him bythe blood of the lamb and the
word of their testimony, forthey love not their lives unto
(21:17):
the death.
That's how we conquer.
We don't fight against fleshand blood, but we meekly,
strongly, humbly and, ascounterintuitively as it sounds,
gently stand against the powersof this world.
And we win by resting andstanding in the finished work of
Christ.
But eventually, eventually, wewill inherit the earth.
(21:40):
Eventually, all that has beenpromised to Christ will be his.
And he who was seated on thethrone said behold, I am making
all things new.
And he said write this down,for these words are trustworthy
and true.
And he said to me it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty.
I will give from the spring ofwater of life, without payment,
(22:01):
to the one who conquers, like wetalked about in that last verse
, to the one who conquers.
Who conquers, like we talkedabout in that last verse, to the
one who conquers.
The one who conquers will havethis heritage and I will be his
God and he will be my son.
That's Revelation 21,.
Five through seven.
When we entrust ourselves to ourfather, when we meekly, humbly,
refuse to place ourselves onthe throne, when we stand firm
in the blood of the lamb, weoperate as sons and we will
(22:23):
inherit with these son.
I would like to pray for us aswe close and then want to let
you guys get to the discussionquestions and really look at how
does this affect your own life?
Operating out of meeknessrequires spiritual muscles that
aren't naturally in us.
It's not the natural way wewant to actually operate if
we're in our flesh, and I'd liketo encourage you to really dig
(22:43):
in with each other and look atthe practical ways that this can
be played out.
Dear Heavenly Father, we justthank you for this evening Again
.
We thank you for your people,we thank you for your word and,
father, we thank you that youare on the throne, that we don't
have to watch out for our ownself-interest, we don't have to
be looking out for number oneLord.
We can entrust that entirelyinto your trustworthy, sovereign
(23:07):
kingly hands, because you haveovercome and you have conquered.
I ask that you'd help us tolook at our own lives and our
own hearts and see where we'veplaced ourselves on the throne,
and I ask that you would help usto remove ourselves from it,
that we would not look out forour own self-interest, but we
would look to glorify you ineverything and, father, in every
interaction and in every thingthat we do and say.
(23:27):
I ask the Trinity CommunityChurch would be defined as a
church made up of meek believerswho stand strongly in you.
So, father, I just thank youAgain, I thank you for these
people here and I just pray yourblessings upon them in Jesus'
name.
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