III. BEATITUDE: "BLESSED ARE THE MEEK"
REVIEW:
"Blessed" is not being happy as some define it. It means to be fully satisfied because of receiving Divine favor from God. Nothing this world has to offer can ever bring us satisfaction and contentment for the long haul.
Seven H's that sum up 'Poor in Spirit:" We faced a hopeless hereafter until we humbled ourselves to the level of the poorest homeless, realizing we were totally helpless in having heaven without the saving Grace of Jesus.
Five M's to sum up "They that Mourn:" If we mourn over our sin, He'll make us clean and then He can mold us into vessels of honor meet for the Master's use.
We must remember that the first deals with our getting saved - the rest deal with our character building after we get saved. The first is recognizing that we were a lost sinner, without hope, in need of a Savior to redeem us from our hopelessness. The second is realizing that when sin enters into the saved, it breaks our fellowship with the Savior and the only way to have it restored is to mourn over our sin and that the only way to be comforted is to clean up so we can come close.
This brings us to our third(3) Beatitude: "blessed are the Meek for They Shall Inherit the Earth."
A. Defining Meek -
1. Psalm 37:11 - "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."
2. Meek, in it's general sense, means humble, mild, lowly, gentle.
3. But then, we must understand it within it's context and how it is used in the Greek test:
a. W. E. Vine - "it consists not in a person's outward behavior only; nor yet in his relations to his fellow-men. The exercise of it are first and chiefly toward God. It is that temper of spirit in which he accepts His(God's)dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. It does not suggest weakness and it is only the humble heart that does not fight against God."
b. The opposite of Biblical meekness is arrogance, pride, self-sufficiency and superiority.
4. Meekness is not weakness - meekness is strength under control
a. In the Greek, it is a term used to describe a powerful stallion broken and able to be ridden.
b. II Cor. 2:12 - "when I am weak then I am strong."
c. Eph. 6:11 - "Put on the whole armor of God that Ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil."
d. it is not cowardice - but it is having courage and conviction. See Rev. 20:1-5
5. To be meek is to have a strong, but tender and humble life. We are to be strong, yet have a teachable spirit. The meek Christian is to have all the emotions and ability to take and conquer, but is also able to control himself. The meek Christian is a disciplined man/woman because they are God controlled and the meek Christian knows that He or She has needs and does not have all the answers.
to be continued......
