In the beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, are what is known as the Beatitudes. The word Beatitude is derived from the Latin word “beatus” which means blessed. And each of the Beatitudes you will notice begins with this word “blessed.” Unfortunately, I believe our definition of “blessed” has been corrupted by our hedonistic culture. I’ve heard many a Christian say when they received some sort of financial windfall that they had been blessed. In fact, in the church, in most cases when you hear someone refer to being blessed or receiving a blessing, it has to do with material or physical or financial things which are attributed as having their ultimate origin from God.
Now the scripture does say that every good gift comes down from above. So there is a sense in which material or physical or financial things are orchestrated by God and He should receive the glory for them. But I do not believe the Bible necessarily equates being blessed with finances or possession of material things. In fact, the Bible teaches such things are more likely to be a curse rather than a blessing. Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. So being rich hardly sounds like being blessed. I believe the reality of being blessed often produces quite the opposite of financial or material gain. In fact, the two previous Beatitudes we studied indicate that poverty and brokenness are characteristic of being blessed.
So what is Jesus talking about when He speaks of being blessed? I suggest that He is speaking in the context of becoming a child of God, part of the family of God. I believe that He is speaking of becoming a citizen of the eternal kingdom of heaven, and enjoying the benefits of living under the sovereignty of God. I think it could be related to the idea which we often think of as citizens of the United States of America. We think of ourselves as being blessed to live in the greatest nation on earth. Some of you may not agree with that statement, and I can sympathize to a degree that America is not what it used to be, nor is it all that it could be, but nevertheless, the fact that you choose to live here is some justification that it’s still the best option available, and we are in fact blessed to be citizens of this country, especially in comparison to many other parts of the world.
Now I’m not trying to be political, that’s not my point. My point is to illustrate that being blessed, as Jesus speaks of it, is a state of being a citizen of His kingdom, enjoying the benefits both immediate and future of His sovereignty and reign. It’s being granted the abundant life, everlasting life that comes from being born again spiritually into a new creation, given a life that will never die, a life that is promised an inheritance in heaven, and having the Spirit of God abiding in you. That presence of the Spirit of God in you now, and the promise of an eternity in the presence of God face to face, is the essence of what it means to be blessed. He is the fountain of life, and being blessed is to drink continually from that fountain. Blessed means to live in the benevolence of God both now and forever.
So in this first part of His sermon, Jesus is giving us the characteristics of those who will live in the blessedness of God. And we have already considered the first two. The first one was “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And we established in our previous study of that Beatitude that Jesus was talking about a spiritual kingdom in which God rules and reigns in the hearts of His people. And so the poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy. They come to the Lord with the attitude of a beggar, realizing that they have nothing with which to barter and no hope of entering heaven’s kingdom without God’s mercy and grace. As Titus 3:5 says, that it’s “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.”
The second characteristic is built upon the first, and it is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And again the idea Jesus was expressing was that once you recognize your spiritual bankruptcy, there needs to be a mourning over your sin and over your condition before God. That mourning is akin to repentance. Not being merely sorry for your sin, but understanding the depravity of your sin, and mourning over it to the point of being willing to die to it. And for those who by faith and repentance come to Christ that way, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That merciful act of Christ in salvation provides the immediate comfort of knowing that we are made right with God. But there is also a future comfort that is promised in salvation, and that is when we are comforted in the presence of God after He comes again to claim His bride which is the church. That’s when He will wipe away every tear, and the former things will be remembered no more. When the kingdom of Christ will be consummated, we will receive our ultimate, eternal comfort. Like the old hymn says, “it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.”
And that brings us to the next Beatitude, which we will focus on today. It’s found in vs 5, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Once again, we are reminded of the counter intuitiveness of these Beatitudes. To be meek is the exact opposite of what the world tells us is necessary for success. The world says “Believe in yourself.” “Love yourself.” “Stand up for your rights.”
And we are naturally inclined to be that way. It’s our nature to want to be be first, to take care of ourselves first. To think of ourselves first, as more important than others. That’s our natural tendency. And our natural disposition illustrates the spiritual nature of this characteristic. It’s an essential characteristic for all Christians. We might think that some people’s personality is better suited to meekness than others. But that is not the way we are to understand this Beatitude. All Christians are to have all of these characteristics. And none of them are natural. But even as the kingdom of heaven is spiritual, these are spiritual characteristics and so they require a spiritual re-birth, becoming a new creation, with new a new heart and new attitudes. In order to be able to be meek as the Lord indicates, it cannot come just on the basis of a reticent or shy personality, or being considered a nice person, or someone easy to get along with. It is a spiritual nature that must be born of the Spirit of God.
When we realize our spiritual poverty, when we mourn over our spiritual condition, then and only then can we have the meekness that Jesus speaks of. It comes out a humility of spirit. When we take measure of ourselves in light of the standard of God’s word, then we must be humbled in our response to that revelation. As Paul said of himself in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” Once you have established that in you is no good thing, then you can exhibit the meekness that Christ speaks of.
Paul was a great example of meekness. When criticized by the very churches which he worked tirelessly to build up, he showed meekness in his response. He replied with love rather than in anger or self defense. He considered himself as a bondslave of Christ and served the churches without charge, suffering persecution and hardships for his trouble.
And the Old Testament is replete with examples of other great men in the kingdom of God who at the same time were meek men. The greatest example of meekness was undoubtedly Moses. God called him the most meek man in all the earth. Moses showed great courage in standing against Pharaoh, but he did so not in his own strength or in his own standing, but by faith in the power and strength of God.
Abraham showed meekness in his life. It’s especially evident in the way he dealt with Lot his nephew, allowing him to take first choice in dividing the land which was before them. And in many other examples Abraham exhibited meekness. David was meek, especially after God had anointed him to be king, and promised to him the kingdom, and yet for years he had to run from Saul while Saul plotted to put him to death. And yet he did not take his own revenge, but he waited on the Lord and trusted in Him to take care of Saul.
Of course the greatest example is meekness or humility is the Lord Jesus Himself, according to Phil. 2:6-8 “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.” Jesus; although equal with God, humbled Himself to become man and a servant to men, obedient unto God, dependent upon the word of God and the will of God. He described Himself as being meek and humble in heart.
The question then is what exactly does Jesus mean when He says we need to be meek? First of all, remember that it is not a natural disposition of man. But at the same time, it’s to be the characteristic of all Christians. It must come from a new nature as we are born again of the Spirit of God. Meekness is not natural, it is learned behavior in the flesh, stemming from a new attitude of the spirit. It implies a teachable spirit, being taught by the Lord and led by the Spirit.
Probably the greatest misconception is that meekness is a display of weakness. Meekness is not weakness, though it is often perceived to be that by the world. It is strength under control. In the ancient Greek language, the main idea behind the word “meek” was strength under control, like a strong stallion that was trained to do the job instead of running wild.
Jesus was meek, and yet he was not weak. He cleansed the temple on two separate occasions, kicking over the money changer’s tables and chasing them out of the temple with a bullwhip. He had the power to calm a storm, to raise the dead, to do all kinds of powerful miracles, and yet He submitted Himself to be obedient to the Father’s will and be a servant to men. That’s meekness.
So in like manner, to be meek means to show a willingness to submit and live under God’s authority. It also shows a willingness to disregard one’s own “rights” and privileges. To be meek before God, is to submit to His will and conform to His Word. To be meek before men, is to be strong in the Lord – yet also humble, gentle, patient, and merciful with others.
Meekness is having the proper attitude towards myself, and it is an expression of that attitude in relation to others. Meekness is an absence of pride, of self aggrandizement, of putting myself first. John the Baptist, of whom Jesus said he was greatest in the kingdom of heaven, gave a prescription for meekness when he said concerning Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
In other words, in meekness, I magnify the Lord, and I minimize myself. I no longer live to serve myself, I serve the Lord and I serve others. I am a bond slave of Christ. That is what it means to be meek in the spiritual sense. And when we exhibit those characteristics of meekness, then Jesus says we will inherit the earth. Now especially in light of the fact that this is a spiritual kingdom, what does this inheritance refer to?
I’m afraid that many in the church today want to believe that this indicates that there will be a reward here on earth for good behavior, so to speak. We will be blessed financially, or materially, or physically if we exhibit meekness and humbleness. Somehow, if we act humbly, God will see to it that we will get rewarded here through some sort of windfall or be exalted in some way so that I am vindicated. I think that is actually taught in so many words in some evangelical circles today.
But I don’t think that is true to Christ’s teaching. I think that when Jesus speaks in this way, He is referring to an idea expressed in the scriptures elsewhere. And I think He is particularly referring to Psalm 37. There is a tremendous amount of doctrine in Psalm 37 which we don’t have time to go into detail about today. But I want to point out something that I hope will shed some light on this promise of inheriting the earth. If you will notice in Psalm 37 there are five direct promises to “inherit the land.” The inheritance of land is something that was endemic to the Messianic promise for Israel. It was tied to the Promised Land and the distribution of territory to the 12 tribes. And so symbolically, the idea of inheriting land, or inheriting the earth represented the fullness of the promise made to Abraham and the establishment of God’s chosen people on the earth, and the blessings that He would give to them, not the least of which was the seed of Abraham from whom One would come through whom the nations of the earth would be blessed. So to inherit the land is metaphorically a statement that signifies the fulfillment of the covenant of God towards His people.
Now I want to look at these five statements briefly and show that they all express a common theme. And I believe that theme is the idea of waiting patiently, trusting in the Lord, resting in the Lord, and then there will be in the future the inheritance of the land. Listen to the first one,
Psalm 37:9 “For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.” That speaks of a period of waiting for the Lord, before the fulfillment of the promise. Meekness involves waiting for the Lord’s timing, waiting for the Lord’s justice, waiting for the Lord to make things right, while remaining meek and humble.
The second reference is found in vs.10, “Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” Notice how the psalmist always contrasts the outcome of the wicked against the outcome of the righteous. Yet in a little while speaks of waiting, of a future event.
And then in vs18, it says that their inheritance will be forever. So we see that this inheritance of land that is spoken of is not a temporal inheritance, but an eternal one. The third reference is in vs22, “For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off.” There is one outcome for the blessed, and another dire outcome for those who are cursed by God.
Then in vs.27 is another reference to the eternal fulfillment of this promise. “Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever.” In vs 28 there is another reference that the godly ones are preserved forever. And that’s reinforced again in the fourth reference to inheriting the land, in vs 29, “The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever.” It’s an eternal inheritance.
The last one emphasizes once again the need to wait on the Lord. Vs 34 “Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.”
I would submit to you that these verses indicate that the promise which the Lord is giving about inheriting the earth is not a temporal, temporary blessing of riches or health or possessions here on earth as a reward for righteousness, but an eternal inheritance when at the coming of Christ the heaven and earth will be burned up, and the Lord will bring about a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. That is the land of our inheritance. We may be called upon to endure hardship now, we may see the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, but wait on the Lord, trust in the Lord, and in a little while, God will declare that the time is fulfilled, and the hour has come, and Jesus Christ will return in the clouds in a visible, physical fashion, and all the earth will mourn, and the earth and it’s works will be burned up. But after that time, when God remakes the heavens and earth in righteousness, then we will be seated on thrones with Christ, and rule and reign with Him forever. Peter speaks of that present and future aspect in 1Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
And Peter spoke of the future aspect of our exaltation in 2Peter 3:10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” This land where righteousness dwells is the land which the meek shall inherit.
So then, meekness, or humbleness, is both necessary for new birth as it is for our life in Christ. It is an essential characteristic of one who belongs to the kingdom of heaven. Salvation requires the humility to recognize you need a Savior and to call upon Him for deliverance. And then a life of righteousness requires meekness to submit to the Lord’s leading. And the character of meekness is essential if you are to keep the royal law, that you love your neighbor as yourself.
James says in chapter 4 vs 6, “'GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’ Submit therefore to God.” For those who humble themselves before God, there is the promise of blessing and that you will inherit the earth when the kingdom of heaven is consummated at the end of the age. James continues in vs10 “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Listen, I don’t doubt but that there is someone here today who perhaps as a result of this message and the conviction of the Holy Spirit through His word, recognizes the poverty of his spirit, and is mourning over his sin, and has come to the point of being willing to humble themselves and ask God for forgiveness and the new life and the inheritance that we have been talking about. I would urge such a person not to put it off, but to call upon the name of the Lord today, while He may be found. The Lord is patient towards you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Humble yourselves and call upon the Lord today, and receive the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” You have heard the call of God today. Call on Him now and be saved.
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