Meekness, Part 3

We continue with our meditation on meekness. Recall that a meek person is a humble person and that a humble person is characterized by the absence of self-assertion or self-exaltation. Also remember that meekness is associated with submissiveness to authority. It is because of the nature of meekness that we have this commandment given to us:

James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

The meek are those who will humble themselves before the authority of the word of God even if it crosses them. They will deny themselves and their will in order to bow to the will of God. They are like King Josiah when he heard the word of the Lord. After hearing the words of the law pronouncing judgment against his kingdom, Josiah sent unto the prophetess Huldah to inquire of her regarding the words he had heard. Huldah sent this reply to Josiah:

2 Kings 22:18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

Although the word that Josiah heard was against his kingdom, he humbled himself before it. That is receiving the word with meekness.

The word of the gospel, with its comforting promises of mercy and forgiveness for poor sinners, is addressed to the meek.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings (the gospel) unto the meek;

The proud have too high an opinion of themselves. They would rather justify themselves or think that they can help themselves than humble themselves and admit that they are helpless sinners in need of God's mercy. It is to the meek, who admit that they are poor, helpless sinners, that the gospel is addressed.

Then we have this promise regarding the meek.

PSA 25:9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

The meek have a disposition that is open to God’s instruction. They are not so self-confident with regard to their judgment and their way. They recognize their need for guidance outside themselves and humbly submit to God’s direction. By contrast, the proud will resist and refuse God’s instruction as Israel did when they “dealt proudly.”

Nehemiah 9:16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage:

If you do not humble yourself before God, God will withhold from you His guidance and instruction leaving you to stumble about in your own foolishness until it destroys you.

Proverbs 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

You see, our proud self is our greatest enemy. It resists the authoritative word of God that tells us what is wrong with ourselves and points us to the way of blessedness and deliverance. The reformer Martin Luther wrote:

"I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, SELF."

This is a healthy fear for all of us to cultivate, especially considering how our self interferes with receiving God’s instruction.

Take these general principles and make specific application of them in your life. Ask yourself: "What direction from God is crossing my will? Does it pertain to how I relate to my spouse? How I dress? How I wear my hair? How I spend my time? How I manage my finances? How I deal with my superiors? How I react to my enemies? Am I resisting God's direction, or humbly bowing to it?" Rather than serving the dictates and decrees of your self, why not humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and follow his dictates and decrees? In this way you shall find direction, blessedness, and salvation. “Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Meekness, Part 2

I would like to direct your attention to the first five of The Beatitudes pronounced by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. A beatitude is a declaration of blessedness. One of these beatitudes deals with meekness, our subject in this series. Today I want to consider what meekness has in common with the other characteristics of those who are pronounced blessed by our Lord.

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

To be blessed is to be happy. The Greek word that is here rendered blessed is rendered happy in other places in the New Testament. With this in mind, we can say that our Lord is giving us in The Beatitudes the formula for happiness.

The first beatitude speaks of the poor in spirit. They are such as feel their need of God’s salvation and mercy. The following passage is an expression of one who is poor is spirit.

Psalms 86:1 Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.

The poor in spirit are contrite, broken by a sense of their sin, and they tremble at God’s word.

Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

The poor in spirit are not self-sufficient. Because of their sin, they know they are deficient before God and His word. They know they need resources outside of themselves and they seek these from God. They do not have the attitude expressed by the church at Laodicea, an attitude the Lord found nauseating.

Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing….

The second beatitude concerns those that mourn. They that mourn are such are feel sorrow, grief, and regret for their sins. Hear the lament of David as he struggled under the burden and guilt of his sin:

Psalms 38: 4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

A man in this condition is certainly not satisfied with himself. So then they that mourn are not self-satisfied.

This brings us to the third beatitude regarding the meek. In our last meditation, we saw that the meek are characterized by humility, gentleness, and submissiveness. They do not have a high opinion of themselves nor is their chief aim to exalt themselves. The meek are not self-willed.

The fourth beatitude respects those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Such souls do not see themselves as full of righteousness. They rather hunger and thirst after it. They are certainly not like that Pharisee, who stood praying with himself in the temple and saying:

Luke 18:11 …God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

In contrast, they are like the apostle Paul who expressed this longing:

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him (the Lord Jesus Christ), not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Paul hungered and thirsted for a righteousness that he did not have in and of himself. So then they that hunger and thirst after righteousness are not self-righteous.

Then the last beatitude we are considering treats of the merciful. They are those who show mercy to others. They show kindness and compassion to those who have no claim to receive kindness or who deserve severity. They are like the good Samaritan in the story told by our Lord (Luke 10:30-37). They will inconvenience themselves to help a neighbour in trouble. They are unlike the priest and the Levite, who passed by on the other side because they wouldn’t be bothered. Merciful people consider the needs of others rather than just the needs of themselves. So we can say of the merciful that they are not self-centered.

Now let’s make an overall observation about these five beatitudes that we have considered. Our Lord pronounces blessed those who are not self-sufficient, who are not self-satisfied, who are not self-willed, who are not self-righteous, and who are not self-centered. All these beatitudes deal with some form of self-abasement. So we may conclude that the pathway to blessedness is the pathway of self-abasement. The self must be dethroned if we would find true happiness. How contrary all this is to the philosophy of the world which would have us seek our happiness in self-fulfillment rather than self-denial! That this is so is because men by nature are proud and self-serving, rather than meek and lowly. Insist that men deny themselves and you will make enemies. With this in mind I conclude with the following excellent quote from Bishop Fulton J. Sheen:

The day Our Lord taught the Beatitudes He signed His own death warrant. The sound of nails and hammers digging through human flesh were the echoes thrown back from the mountainside where He told men how to be happy or blessed. Everybody wants to be happy; but His ways were the very opposite of the ways of the world.

Well said, Bishop Sheen! God willing, we shall have more to say about meekness in coming meditations.

Meekness, Part 1

During the week I receive a meditation online entitled Larry Lilly’s Letter. This is published by a pastor, whom I have had the privilege of meeting at a conference in Indiana. Recently, Pastor Lilly has been writing a series on the self and the battle we all have with it. Then I have been reviewing the message that our brother Greg Ohly recently brought. In this message, Greg quoted someone who said that “meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest, that the meek person is not occupied with self.” This has all set me to thinking about meekness as it relates to the self.

Now let’s begin by noticing the definition of meekness and others words related to it.

Meekness - Gentleness of spirit; humility.

Humility – The quality of being humble or having a lowly opinion of oneself; the opposite of pride or haughtiness.

Humble – Having a low estimate of one’s importance, worthiness, or merits; marked by the absence of self-assertion or self- exaltation; lowly.

Observe that a meek person is a humble person and that a humble person is characterized by the absence of self-assertion or self-exaltation. This lines up with Greg’s comments about meekness. If we would be truly meek, the self must be dethroned!

We can further understand meekness by noticing those things that are associated with it in Scripture. Meekness is associated with lowliness.

Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

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.

Lowliness is defined as meekness and humility. In the following verse those who are lowly are contrasted with those who are proud.

Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

We all know that proud people are very stuck on themselves. In contrast, the meek have a low estimate of themselves. Hence, they are also called the lowly. Meekness is also associated with gentleness.

2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ….

Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

A meek person will not be so prone to speak evil of others and to quarrel with others. A proud person, who is stuck on himself and his opinions, will not bear being crossed. Hence, a proud person will be quick to speak evil of those who cross him and he will pick fights with them. And then meekness is associated with submissiveness to authority. Peter teaches that the woman who is adorned with a meek spirit will be in subjection to her own husband.

1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands…
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

The woman, who is so into herself and what she wants, is not likely to submit to the authority of her husband. It does not matter that God commands this of her. She is so stuck on herself and doing what she wants, that she will not be controlled by another, not even God. To such I would say that resisting any God-ordained authority, when it is exercised in a godly way, is resistance to God Himself. And such resistance will be met with damnation.

Romans 13:1 ¶Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Observe again in the light of all that has been said thus far, that if you are truly meek, the self must be dethroned! This is the core of meekness. Now let me give you an excellent summation that I gleaned from the book An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount by Authur W. Pink:

Meekness is the opposite of self-will toward God, and of ill-will toward men.

That sums up the dictionary definition and the supporting verses that I have given thus far. Now let this sentence from Mr. Pink sit with you and do some soul-searching in the light of it. God willing, I shall have more to write about this later.

He Is Able

A song crossed my mind today as I tried to comfort a soul with the reminder of God’s ability to deliver. In fact, I am singing it in my mind as I compose this meditation. When our children were all home and we had family devotionals, we used to sing this song. The chorus goes like this:

“He is able to deliver thee, He is able to deliver thee;
Though by sin oppressed, Go to Him for rest,
Our God is able to deliver thee.”

This then brought to mind the question our Lord Jesus posited to two blind men, who cried out to Him to have mercy upon them. It is a searching question that we do well to put to ourselves, whenever we approach God with a need.

Matthew 9:28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

“Believe ye that I am able to do this?” That is the question. Our Lord did not ask them if they believed He would do it. He rather asked them if they believed He could do it. The blind men responded by affirming their faith in the Lord’s ability. To this affirmation of faith our Lord responded.

Matthew 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Faith in His ability to deliver these blind men moved our Lord to actually deliver them. Just believing that God is able to perform has far reaching consequences for good. Whatever darkness, distress, despair, debt, disease, or other d-word you may be experiencing, when you bring it to your Lord, do you believe He is able to deliver you? Even if the Lord does not deliver you in the way you might desire of Him, do you still believe He is able to deliver you?

Consider the example of our father Abraham.

Romans 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Observe that a strong faith is fully persuaded that God is able to perform what He promises, even though the circumstances seem impossible, as they did to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham did not consider his own weakness. He rather focused on what God was able to do. We would all be better off if we focused more on what God is able to do and less on our own weakness.

Let the following verse give you some idea of the extent to which your God is able to deliver you.

Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Our God is able to do all that we ask or even think. We cannot think of anything beyond God’s ability to perform. He can not only do all that we ask or think, He is able to do above all or beyond everything that we ask or think. He can not only do above all that we ask or think, He is able to do abundantly or exceedingly above all that we ask or think. But He can not only do abundantly above all that we ask or think, He is able to do exceeding or extremely abundantly above all that we ask or think. In other words, God’s ability extends extremely beyond the extremes of anything that we can verbalize or imagine.

Or try this one on for size.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

That uttermost reaches your most desperate and far-reaching needs for deliverance. No matter how big the problem or weak your ability to deal with it, God is able deliver you. Your problem will never be beyond God’s ability.

So the next time you are in trouble and someone tries to encourage you by pointing you to God’s ability to deliver, do not respond with a sigh, “Yea, yea, I know…….” That sigh is an expression of doubt. Instead, confidently affirm as did these two blind men, “Yea, Lord.” You have not even begun to tap into His ability to save you.

Remember that the Lord responded to the faith of these blind men by saying, “According to your faith be it unto you.” Christ was honoured by their faith in His ability. God deals with us according to our faith. We will miss much in the way of blessing if our faith in God’s ability is weak. If our faith in God’s ability is weak, that indicates that we think God is weak. This kind of unbelief grieves the Spirit of God. Remember the words of the song and recite them with a full persuasion of their truth: “He is able to deliver thee.” Affirm your faith in His ability and then watch Him perform on your behalf!

Waging War

While the word war refers primarily to armed conflict between nations or between opposing parties within a nation, it can also be applied to any active contention between living beings. Like it or not, we all have to wage war with others from time to time. This can take on the form of nations declaring war upon each other, or a person physically fighting off an attacker, or persons contending with one another in a court of law or in the court of the church, or two opponents engaging in a verbal debate, or parents having to resist a rebellious teenager. As Christians, it is our duty to avoid conflict as much as possible as the following verse clearly shows.

Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Dr. Robin Wright once said that we should not go looking for battles. He said that God will bring to us the battles that He wants us to fight. I quite agree with Dr. Wright. Our general disposition should be toward seeking peace rather than conflict. However, as the above verse allows, there are times when it is not possible to live peaceably with other men. At such times, there will be conflict. In the face of this possibility, it pays to know how to wisely wage war.

War is never something any of us should rush into. Consider these two passages given by the wisest man that ever lived with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 20:18 Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

Proverbs 25:8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

If you are considering waging war, it is always wise to seek out good advice before doing so. To hastily jump into a conflict without counsel can leave you defeated in the end. The great military strategist Sun Tzu taught that it takes more than courage to win a war. A reckless general may be courageous, but lacking wisdom, he will be a calamity. Battles are lost for want of counsel.

Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall.

Now it is always possible that one could be suddenly attacked by a thug, which would require him to quickly resort to self-defense. But by practicing forethought and caution, one can often avoid the places and people where those kinds of attacks are more likely to occur.

Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Seeking counsel is especially important when the desire to wage war is motivated by anger or revenge since passion tends to interfere with good judgment. Observe that one should make war with good advice. Your information will never be any better than your source of information. Talk to people of experience and sober judgment, who have both witnessed battles and fought some themselves. And don’t just talk to the people you expect will agree with you. Get an opposing viewpoint. In fact, you will find it safer to get several viewpoints. “In the multitude of counsellers there is safety” (Proverbs 24:6). Weigh all the information and then decide on a course of action.

Before entering into any conflict, always ask yourself what you intend to accomplish. What is your objective? In a publication entitled War: Moral or Immoral, Colonel R. B. Thieme, Jr. wrote: “No great military organization has ever succeeded without a thorough knowledge of its objective.” Is your objective to rescue a kidnapped family member as when Abraham waged war to rescue his nephew Lot (Genesis 14:12-14)? Or is it getting your fair share of property? Or is it stopping a behaviour that is destroying the company, or the church, or the family? Or is your objective merely to take revenge? If so, you are intruding into God’s domain.

Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Always be sure your objectives do not clash with God’s express will for you life.

Also, before you enter into a conflict, ask yourself if this is really your battle to fight. Sometimes in our zeal to right wrongs, we take on what is properly another person’s battle. I may see wrong in another pastor’s church, but righting that wrong is not my responsibility. God did not commit to me the oversight of every church. Our U.S. military today is stretched too thinly because we have bought into the idea that it is our calling as a nation to right the wrongs of other nations. Solomon said it so well in this proverb:

Proverbs 26:17 He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

And when you contemplate whether to wage war or not, always count the cost and ask yourself if it is worth that cost. Our Lord taught the wisdom of this principle.

Luke 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

Now there may always be that battle worth fighting whether you win or lose. Many a Christian has lost his job, his friends, his family, and even his life because he stood his ground on principle and would not surrender. Of course, in the larger picture, such loss is only temporary. In the end, the Christian will emerge the victor.

Matthew 16:25 …whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.