20Something 10-26-05 (Scot Pankey)
The dictionary defines Beatitude as extreme blessedness or happiness. When Jesus speaks of the Beatitudes he names situations that seem more likely to produce unhappiness than happiness. He talks about those who mourn, who are persecuted, who are poor in spirit, etc.
Here are the Beatitudes:
Matthew 5
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The past couple of weeks have hit on what it means to be poor in spirit and to mourn. The third beatitude is our focus for this week.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
We live in a society where there seems to be less gentleness and kindness and more aggressiveness and rudeness. Sometimes it comes as a pleasant surprise to others when we treat them with gentleness. But it is this virtue of meekness that God treasures, for it reveals that we are truly children.
According to Bill Farmer's newspaper column, J. Upton Dickson was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing a book entitled Cower Power. He also founded a group of submissive people. It was called DOORMATS. That stands for "Dependent Organization of Really Meek And Timid Souls -- if there are no objections." Their motto was: "The meek shall inherit the earth -- if that's okay with everybody." Their symbol was the yellow traffic light.
That is the opinion many people have of meekness.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS TO BE MEEK?
A MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT MEEKNESS.
Many equate Meekness with weakness. Many associate meekness with an attitude of allowing everyone to run over you because you are afraid of them. This is not meekness. In fact, some of the strongest men and women who have ever lived have been meek. Look at a list of some people that the Bible says were meek and see the misleading notion of such thought.
Moses was a great leader. He stood up to the most powerful leader in the world, Pharaoh Ramses. He led God’s people through the wilderness to the border of the promised land. Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”
Then there was Jesus. He could stand up to the winds and the waves. He also chased the moneychangers out of the temple twice with a whip made out of chords. Matthew 11:29 - “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Meekness means a calm temper, someone who is not easily provoked. It does not mean weakness. The greatest leaders among God's true people were meek i.e. strong, but not swaggering: Meekness is a self-control quality that Christians are instructed to learn and develop, not just for the interim, but for the powers and responsibilities that await them. Thus meekness is curbing the "natural" desires to rebel, fight, have our own way, push ourselves forward, etc. We submit to the Lord in obedience to God’s will.
Why do people need to be meek and humble?
Share a time in your life when you had to have self-control.
"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all people, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (2 Timothy 2:24-26 KJV)
What problems are caused by pride, ego, and lack of self control?
Matthew 16:24 - 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
This is an excellent definition of "meekness," without using the word. To be meek is to deny self.
The selfish person says "I want this, I want that...." True meekness says, "So what! So what! What does God want?" Is this really best according to God's way? God's ways are so much better than ours that we will submit.
Why is so hard to “deny self”?
One who is truly meek and humble does not seek to belittle or neglect the good qualities of others so that they can receive glory and honor and recognition above others. Romans 12:3 - Don't think more highly of self than you ought to think, but think soberly.
Do you have people in your life that do this to you? How do you handle it?
Some people want to please self first and everybody else comes somewhere down the line.
Other people will do first what other people want of them. The rule followed by the truly meek and humble person is: God first, others second, self last.
How can our lives live up to God's standard of meekness and humility?
THE MEEK “SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.”
Those who are meek (faithful Christians) have an inheritance here in this life. They are truly satisfied. They are content. The wicked, in their rush to possess, usually miss or overlook the best of this world, or else, having seen it, they refuse to pay the price to gain it, or having gained it, they are miserable. Philippians 4:11 - “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
The meek will also inherit that new heaven and earth - Heaven.
Romans 8:17 - “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
CONCLUSION : A.W. Tozer once wrote, The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto."
Final thoughts.
Pray and dismiss.
Here are the Beatitudes:
Matthew 5
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The past couple of weeks have hit on what it means to be poor in spirit and to mourn. The third beatitude is our focus for this week.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
We live in a society where there seems to be less gentleness and kindness and more aggressiveness and rudeness. Sometimes it comes as a pleasant surprise to others when we treat them with gentleness. But it is this virtue of meekness that God treasures, for it reveals that we are truly children.
According to Bill Farmer's newspaper column, J. Upton Dickson was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing a book entitled Cower Power. He also founded a group of submissive people. It was called DOORMATS. That stands for "Dependent Organization of Really Meek And Timid Souls -- if there are no objections." Their motto was: "The meek shall inherit the earth -- if that's okay with everybody." Their symbol was the yellow traffic light.
That is the opinion many people have of meekness.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS TO BE MEEK?
A MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT MEEKNESS.
Many equate Meekness with weakness. Many associate meekness with an attitude of allowing everyone to run over you because you are afraid of them. This is not meekness. In fact, some of the strongest men and women who have ever lived have been meek. Look at a list of some people that the Bible says were meek and see the misleading notion of such thought.
Moses was a great leader. He stood up to the most powerful leader in the world, Pharaoh Ramses. He led God’s people through the wilderness to the border of the promised land. Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”
Then there was Jesus. He could stand up to the winds and the waves. He also chased the moneychangers out of the temple twice with a whip made out of chords. Matthew 11:29 - “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Meekness means a calm temper, someone who is not easily provoked. It does not mean weakness. The greatest leaders among God's true people were meek i.e. strong, but not swaggering: Meekness is a self-control quality that Christians are instructed to learn and develop, not just for the interim, but for the powers and responsibilities that await them. Thus meekness is curbing the "natural" desires to rebel, fight, have our own way, push ourselves forward, etc. We submit to the Lord in obedience to God’s will.
Why do people need to be meek and humble?
Share a time in your life when you had to have self-control.
"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all people, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (2 Timothy 2:24-26 KJV)
What problems are caused by pride, ego, and lack of self control?
Matthew 16:24 - 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
This is an excellent definition of "meekness," without using the word. To be meek is to deny self.
The selfish person says "I want this, I want that...." True meekness says, "So what! So what! What does God want?" Is this really best according to God's way? God's ways are so much better than ours that we will submit.
Why is so hard to “deny self”?
One who is truly meek and humble does not seek to belittle or neglect the good qualities of others so that they can receive glory and honor and recognition above others. Romans 12:3 - Don't think more highly of self than you ought to think, but think soberly.
Do you have people in your life that do this to you? How do you handle it?
Some people want to please self first and everybody else comes somewhere down the line.
Other people will do first what other people want of them. The rule followed by the truly meek and humble person is: God first, others second, self last.
How can our lives live up to God's standard of meekness and humility?
THE MEEK “SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.”
Those who are meek (faithful Christians) have an inheritance here in this life. They are truly satisfied. They are content. The wicked, in their rush to possess, usually miss or overlook the best of this world, or else, having seen it, they refuse to pay the price to gain it, or having gained it, they are miserable. Philippians 4:11 - “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
The meek will also inherit that new heaven and earth - Heaven.
Romans 8:17 - “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
CONCLUSION : A.W. Tozer once wrote, The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto."
Final thoughts.
Pray and dismiss.
posted by Jen Austin at 3:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home