Worship Call 684 The Meek
The sermon on the mount • Sermon • Submitted
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Robert, strapped for cash?
2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Living by faith financially can be a wonderful thing. Back in Yeshua's (Jesus') day, people didn't have savings and money market accounts, mutual funds, and IRA's. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that those things are bad to have. What I'm saying is that those of us who live without them have an opportunity -- an opportunity to see God provide in miraculous ways!
One month when we first came to Israel, we had reached the end of our finances on a consecutive number of unexpected crises. Now we had to pay our rent and our bank account was almost totally depleted and we were getting a little nervous. "Lord!" we cried. "We came here to Israel to be a light and to do your work, what's going on?! We need a miracle!"
I kid you not. The next day, our phone rang. Someone who didn't know a thing about our ministry called to let us know that while he had been traveling in Europe he met a woman who found out he was coming to the Land soon and gave him an envelope to give us as soon as he could. Wouldn't you know it, that money was the exact figure we needed and it came just in time to pay our rent.
It wasn't long before we realized that living by faith would become a way of life for us. After a few miracles like this one, we stopped getting nervous. We knew that God would always come through.
John Guest said that "It is remarkable to think that God has given us a partnership with him in directing the course of human events. It is extraordinary to realize that our prayer can change events and circumstances in the world around us. But what is just as remarkable is that when we pray, we change. More often than not we become the answer to our own prayers as we open up ourselves to God in prayer.
Robert, if you're struggling today, struggle no longer! God is faithful! Let's ask the Lord to help us begin to see our needs as opportunities to see His miracle-working power!
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Baltimore, Maryland
Worship Call 0684 The sermon on the mount
Thursday July 7,2022
Blessed are the Meek
He was the most powerful man who walked the face of the earth. He had the power to heal the sick, cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear. His bodily strength causes a stampede of men and animals out of the temple. He sustained the most horrific beatings and still was able to carry a heavy cross for a distance until he was able no more to carry it. He walked on water, and caused a raging storm to stop with just a word. With a command, a man is brought back to life and walks out of the tomb.
While he was a helpless babe in the manger dependent on his mother’s care and earthly Father’s protection, he was holding the universe together.
All the power of the universe and beyond is harnessed in one who takes on the personality of a harmless lamb.
Isaiah 53:1–7 (NASB95) — 1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
It is this one who says to us
Matthew 11:29 (NASB95) — 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
He is our Lord Jesus Christ, who demonstrates what it is to be meek, a quality of Character which will be found in those who will one day inherit the earth.
Turn with me to Matthew 5 verse 5 where today we learn about what it is to be meek.
Matthew 5:5 (NASB95) — 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
25.119 μακάριος, α, ον: pertaining to being happy, with the implication of enjoying favorable circumstances—‘happy.’
A present reality of a person who maintains a divine perspective of life in the light of eternity.
It is one who sees the world and life through the prism of the promises of God and the coming kingdom.
88.60 πραΰς, πραεῖα, πραΰ: pertaining to being gentle and mild—‘mild, gentle, meek.’[1]
Those who are meek (v. 5) are truly humble and gentle and have a proper appreciation of their position. (Praeis, the Gr. word rendered “meek,” is translated “gentle” in its three other usages in the NT: 11:29; 21:5; 1 Peter 3:4.) [2]
The word may have negative or positive light. Meekness would not be considered so much an admirable quality of a man, do you agree.
In fact, seeing the meekness of today’s man in our culture can be deemed as downright disgraceful.
However, it is our Jesus Christ that lifts up meekness as a virtue before the Lord and man when that gentleness harnesses the power and the position that is within the man.
As it has been said before that Meekness does not constitute weakness but power under restraint.
IN my military Career, I often studied my leaders and even the leaders who were my peers and those who were up and coming.
There were vociferous types as I was one. I had voice that could carry and did not mind using it to move a company and a battalion of marines.
But those whom I was most impressed with were the quiet leaders. They did not come off a boisterous, pomp or arrogant, but none the less they would walk into the room and their command presence would be felt. And with but word they could get the command moving where it would take much more energy for another to do.
The Leader had power and authority but under restraint and exercised under great humility.
Take Jesus, as we should, as an example and let us put out of minds the fail weak persons that artists have dreamed up about his appearance.
Jesus was no weenie, as indicated earlier in this lesson. He had all the power of God harnessed within his human Body. Jesus gave up nothing as far as His divine attributes to become man.
Philippians 2:5–8 (NASB95) — 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
87.70 κενόωb: to completely remove or eliminate elements of high status or rank by eliminating all privileges or prerogatives associated with such status or rank—‘to empty oneself, to divest oneself of position.’ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν ‘he emptied himself’ Php 2:7.[3]
The Doctrine of Kenosis as it relates to our Lord Jesus Christ, is that while Jesus is immutable God, he did not change at all to take on the form of man but freely restricted the use of those attributes to function entirely as a man.
And though a man, Jesus from time to time without going outside the boundaries of God’s will, demonstrated the fact that he was God when he would give his disciples just a glimpse of who he truly was, such as calming the raging storm with but a word.
Oh, if indeed those that beat Jesus mocked him and nailed him to the cross could have understood the thin line that they themselves were treading upon between life and death. It is unimaginable who Jesus could have done at that moment to that one who drew back with the whip to strike the back of Jesus. Or to the one who mockingly said, “prophesied who hit you.” Or those with the hammer and nails that pounded the nails into his hands and feet. Even then Jesus as God was actively holding the universe together by the word of his power.
Would anyone call Jesus a weakling for allowing himself to be crucified?
Maybe even Matthew along with the other disciples did in their brokenness after the death of Jesus on the cross and prior to them seeing Him after his resurrection. And then after might it have been that Matthew and the others understood the meekness as defined by the Life of their and our Savior.
2 Peter 3:18 (NASB95) — 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
This is why we are to grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be students of the person of the Lord because it is he whom we follow and the character whom we are to immolate.
And like the character traits in which we have already studied and those which will follow these are not things that we determine to be. This is the character by which we grow into as Peter says
You see the Beatitudes are not commands which we are to follow, but traits of the Christ whom we are to become imagers of.
When it comes to the meek commentators have brought up the Warhorse. A powerful animal and one who is conditions to stand steady in the heat of battle.
It quietly grazes in the meadow with little pomp and circumstance. it can be left unnoticed as it is left alone. And with a bridal in its mouth, it is guided this way and that by the slight pressure on the reigns by its master.
Did the horse lose its power to become submissive under its master’s will? Could that horse turn its power against his master in rebellion?
Such meekness can be construed as weakness or cowardice. But it takes great power to restrain the power that one has to bow to the authority that holds the reigns in our lives.
It is the followers of Christ who has the health, the power, the assets, the position to go on the offensive and to attack mightily. But a greater strength is exhibited when under the dictates of the master to suppress that power and to humbly purse the master’s will.
This is what it is to be meek.
[1]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 748). United Bible Societies.
[2]Barbieri, L. A., Jr. (1985). Matthew. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 29). Victor Books.
[3]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 739). United Bible Societies.