Humility and Meekness and Their Importance in Our Christian Lives

Happy Sabbath to everyone. It's been a while since Joy and I have been out this way. This is obviously a good reason to bring us out this way. We're happy to be here. It's good seeing all of you regulars again and have a chance to meet some new people as well. Well, brethren, when Jesus Christ was on the earth, he gave some surprising and maybe even shocking statements. His teachings were revolutionary, depending on what they had heard at that point.

They were revolutionary back then, and some of them are rather revolutionary and shocking right now. They are different teachings. One method of public speaking is to start out in the introduction and to give startling statements or unusual statements. And Jesus Christ did that when he gave the Sermon on the Mount. In the introduction, he started off with some surprising or shocking statements.

Let's turn to Matthew 5, and I'll start reading in verse 1. And we'll look at the way Jesus Christ started this particular sermon. It's Matthew 5, and starting in verse 1. It says, Now, picturing this situation, there were many people there, and Jesus Christ went up a mountain. I don't think he went to the top of the mountain, standing on the top, to speak, but rather maybe halfway up. So he's got a backdrop. It's kind of like a natural amphitheater, if you will, like the Hollywood Bowl or something like that, to be able to reflect for the acoustics, for the multitudes to be able to hear. And then he sat down. This was the custom of rabbis. When they taught, they sat down. When they read the scriptures, they stood up. But when they taught, they sat down. And that's what he did. He says, Poor in spirit doesn't really fly well today, and it likely didn't fly well at that time.

It didn't fly well in Herod the earth. So he's talking about people being blessed. And blessed in a behavior that is not normal, not our normal human way of reacting. And I want to stop reading at this point, because I want to talk about two of the attributes that Jesus Christ mentioned. The attributes of humility and meanness. Two important attributes for a Christian to have. They should be part of our mindset, part of our daily living. In fact, I was thinking, actually before I prepared this message about humility and meanness, that why are they not part of the fruit of the spirit? And to my way of thinking, they should have been part of the fruit of the spirit. I've got a New King James Version. I don't know what Bible is on your lap or what Bible you normally use to study. But in my Bible, meanness or humility are not mentioned as part of the fruit of the spirit. It turns out in looking around, in some Bibles they are. But in my Bible, they're not. I was wondering, why isn't this? I say other translations do list meanness and humility. The words are sometimes used as synonyms. And there is actually a little overlap in the meaning, but there are actually two distinct words with two distinct meanings. And I'll ask, do you know the difference between the meanings? I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but do you know the difference between meanness and humility?

Today I'm going to talk about humility and meanness, and again, the importance for our Christian lines. I'll start out with a series of definitions, and we'll do this just to lay the groundwork and then get through at least most of it. Matthew 5.3 says, poor in spirit. Now, that's obviously not an expression that we use today. We don't talk about someone being poor in spirit. But we do talk about someone being humble, someone having humility.

And this is actually what poor in spirit stands for, is humility. Humility can be an adjective or a verb. According to an online dictionary, which I think came from Google, but I'm not sure of the way it came up, definition is having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance. One's self-importance, having a low estimation. From Wikipedia, it has a different connotation where it says, in a religious context, this can mean recognition of self in relationship to God. You think about it, like back with the patriarch Job. Job went through most of the book of Job, talking about his situation. And then around about chapter 38, God talks to Job and starts questioning him, like, where were you?

What did you do? How big are you? And then by the time he gets to chapter 42, Job says, now I see. He saw himself in relationship to God. He saw that he was very, very, you want to say, insignificantly small. And God was great. And God was big. He says, now I see in relation to God. Likewise, and I'm not going to turn there, Isaiah 40 talks about God looking down at the nations. It's Isaiah 40-17, if you want to put it in your notes. God looking down on the nations and he said, nations before him are nothing. They're less than nothing. No less than a drop in the bucket.

They are nothing. Some synonyms for humility are a base, lower, or being modest. Antonyms are proud, overbearing, or arrogant. So there's the two opposites. Humility can also be a verb. Actually, it would be humble, it would be the verb. And this means to lower someone in dignity or importance. Synonyms would be humiliate, or degrade, or evase. And I found some interesting expressions with this, as far as making somebody humble, or humbling somebody. It says, to make someone eat humble pie. I've heard that one.

It says, to make them eat crow. I've heard that one. And then it said, to settle someone's hash. I don't know how many here have heard that expression or not. I have not. Or if I had it in a long ago and I forgot it. So I guess, you know, if your hash has been settled, you've been humbled. Again, the word humble is not used right here in Matthew 5, but a word for humble in the New Testament is tapenoho.

And again, same definition, to make love, to bring love, to level, or to reduce. And that's based on a Greek lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible dictionary. So humility is having a low estimate of one's own importance, and especially in relationship to God. The next word in chapter, excuse me, verse 5 is meekness. Meekness. It's an adjective, and it's only an adjective. It means quiet, easily imposed upon, submissive.

Synonyms are submissive, yielding, obedient, and compliant. Antonims are bold, disobedient, or unyielding. And that's from Roshai's 21st century desirance. The word here in the Greek in Matthew 5 is praus. And again, it's the same definition, mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness. And then it has a longer definition, and this is the same source that I just cited, a lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible dictionary.

What I said, meek the source of God is that disposition of spirit. And this is kind of wordy, so I'll try and paraphrase a little and read it a little bit. The disposition of spirit, which we accept his dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In other words, we live our life, something bad happens to us, and we figure, well, ultimately, Romans 8, 20, and all is going to work out for good to those who love God.

It's God's will. In the Old Testament, the meek are those who will be relying on God, rather their own strength, to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness towards evil people and knowing God is permitting, knowing God is permitting the injuries they afflict.

In other words, God is allowing evil people to do something bad to us. So that's the way it's used in the Old Testament. It says he is using them to purify his elect, that they will deliver his elect in his time. In other words, God has a plan. He's got a plan globally. He's got a plan for the earth. He's got a plan for each one of us. He watches over us and he guides us. And he knows the number of hairs upon our head. He knows what we're going through. He knows our situation. And if he allows it, then we go forward.

According to the Expositor's Bible Commentary, it says the word meek suggests gentleness and self-control. And meek, again, is only an adjective. It's never a verb. A person can be humbled, but they can't be meeked. Meek is only an adjective.

The third word I'm going to take a quick look at, as far as the definition, is where it says blessed. Blessed. This is the Greek word translated from Macarios. Again, same source that I already cited. It can be translated blessed or happy. One who is favored by God and therefore happy. And this again is Expositor's Bible Commentary. So if we do these things, if we're humble and if we're meek, we will be happy. Again, before taking a look at the words humility and meekness, I just want to take a snapshot, if you will, of looking around at today's world. Turn to 2 Timothy, the third chapter. 2 Timothy, the third chapter. In the passage we've probably seen a fair amount of lately. 2 Timothy 3, and I'll read the first couple verses, talks about conditions in the last days or latter days. I'm sorry, 2 Timothy 3. I said first. 2 Timothy 3. It says, but know this, that in the last days, again, they thought they were in the last days at their time, and they were writing this. What are we in now? But knowing this, that in the last days, perilous times will come, dangerous times, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, anything but meek or humble. And then it says, proud. And I'll stop reading at that point. I won't go through the entirety of the list, as you probably have gone through this list fairly recently.

If not, again, you can read it later at your leisure if you're interested. But it talks about people being proud. This is going to be a problem at the time of the end, near the end. No humility, no meekness. They'll have pride, have self-righteousness. Humility and meekness are not the way of today's world. They're just not valued today. They're not valued characteristics. Again, people are going to be lovers of their own selves. In today's world, we have retaliation. We have getting even. Again, the opposite of being meek. One of the things that... I don't know how recent it is, but I'll say it's a recent thing as far as, you know, maybe a number of years, is road rage.

Road rage is becoming more and more and more common. Getting even while driving. According to AAA, their Foundation for Traffic Safety, they put out a report in July this year. It says, nearly 80% of drivers express significant anger, aggression, or road rage behind the wheel at least once this last year. Again, this is according to the study which I just mentioned. Just think about that. 80%. 80%. For those of you who are drivers, think what this thinks. If I didn't do it, and you didn't do it, then look around, and the next 8 drivers you see, chances are really good that they did it.

Now, that's not the way you'd necessarily apply statistics, but think about it. 80%. That's a lot of drivers. That's a lot of cars. This is today's world that we all know. It's selfish. Looking out for number one. Winning any way that you can. Whether in business, whether at work, whether at school, or wherever.

In sports. We've got the Olympics coming up, I believe, in another week or so. Supposedly the pinnacle of athletic achievement, fairness, and competition. And yet we read about the cheating that goes on at the Olympics. There's just a lack of humility and neatness in the world, as well as a lack of other things. Looking back again, taking a closer look at humility, we'll examine that word a little bit more.

Turn to Matthew 23, Matthew 23. We'll see a couple more surprising teachings of Jesus Christ. Where normally we would do one thing, but Christ says we should do the opposite. Matthew 23, and I'll start reading in verse 11. Matthew 23, in verse 11, it says, But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Again, that just goes contrary to human nature. The greatest today are the ones that are served. They're the ones that are sitting at the head table.

They're the ones that are being served in various ways. It says, He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. This is not the way things are going today. People like to be served and honored. And for that matter, just think about anybody, all of us, can be servants. All of us should be servants. Think about Ephesians 4, where Christ says that He puts members in the body, each having their own part, their own function, their own purpose to fulfill. That's Ephesians 4, 16, if you'd like to look that up later.

Christ said we should all be servants. And again, He's put us into a body to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, to be able to serve. Continuing in verse 12, it says, Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled.

And we'll read this expression a few times. There's a warning and there's a promise. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. And he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Now, the problem with this statement is the timing. When we see something, a person exalts himself and figures, well, they should be humbled now.

God doesn't always do that. But God always, if He doesn't always do that, He will humble a person always, but not necessarily on the timetable that we would like. There's an expression that I've heard a long time ago and I've kept with me. It says, Time wounds all heal. Time wounds all heal. Ultimately, those who exalt themselves will get their payment, so to speak. Let's look at another example, Luke 14th chapter. Luke 14th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 7. This is another example. It's a parable of Jesus Christ. And again, it's something that goes against human nature, goes against society, goes against the ways of this world.

Luke 14, starting in verse 7, it says, In other words, have humility. Take the lowest place. When you invite a euchom, he may say to you, friend, Go up higher. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who are at the table with you. Again, this statement, Forever exalts himself will be humbled. Those who push ahead, those who put themselves out there, will be humbled.

And he who humbles himself shall be exalted. So imagine we're going to come across that phrase several times. There's a warning and there's a promise that goes along with that. Another example is back in the book of Esther. I kind of like this as a humorous example. It certainly wasn't humorous to all the people there. This has to do with the example of Mordecai the Jew and Haman. Haman was one of the king's, I'll say, assistants.

I'm going to start in the book of Esther, which again, maybe most of you were there. It's right before the book of Psalms. We don't often turn to Esther. But just looking at chapter 5 and verse 9, it says, Haman went out that day, he went out probably of the court of the castle with a glad heart. And when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate and that he, Mordecai, did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. Mordecai was Haman's enemy. He hated him. He disliked him.

He really, again, he was his enemy, dropping down to verse 14. He's talking to his wife, and he says, His wife, Zarash, and all his friends said to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, really hang them high, so to speak. And in the morning suggested to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it, then go merrily with the king to the banquet, and then pleased Haman, so he had a gallows made. So Haman hated Mordecai. Then we come to chapter 6, which is really the incident that I was going to get to.

It says, That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. I guess he figured, Boy, this will put him to sleep. And it was found written that Mordecai had told, I think, Beghana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Asarius. Excuse me, Mordecai had told of these two doorkeepers that they were going to assassinate the king. Then the king said, What honor or dignity has been bestowed upon Mordecai for this?

What reward has he had? The king's servants who attended him said, Nothing has been done for him. So the king said, Who's in the court? So this is obviously the next day now. And Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to suggest to the king that Mordecai hang on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king's servant said to him, Haman is here standing in the court. And the king said, We'll let him come in.

So Haman came in and the king asked him, What should be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? What should be done? You can just see Mordecai at this point, filling with high air. See, I'm not Mordecai Haman. And Haman thought in his heart, Who would the king delight to honor more than me?

You know, who could this possibly be? I'm the best guy around here. And Haman answered the king. And then I'll skip reading some over the next couple verses where he says, Take the man, put the king's robe on him, the robe that the king has worn. Put him on the king's horse. You know, horse the king has written. And one of the princes lead him around the public square, saying, This should be done to the man whom the king wants to honor. So that's what Mordecai said. And, of course, he's thinking, That's me on the horse. Dropping down to verse 10, it says, Then the king sayeth to Haman, Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew. And at that point Haman's jaw probably dropped, Who sits within the king's gate, leave nothing undone that you have spoken. So Haman did as he was told him. He took the robe and the horse and arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him, Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. And then afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning him with his head covered. This was his enemy who he wanted to kill. He had already built gallows. He wanted to ask the king for Mordecai's life. Instead he ended up honoring him.

So I said he went mourning and with his head covered. In verse 13 he talks about he complains to his wife, he complains to his friends. And this is just awful. This is the worst thing that could have happened to me. Well, and then dropping down to verse 14, it says, While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared. So here things had gone very bad for Haman. Verse 14, it was going to get a whole lot worse, as we all know. This ended up costing Haman his life. So the Bible gives warnings against not being humble, of being proud. There are warnings, and again, there are promises. Promises to those who are humble. The quotation from the Internet says, Be humble. You could be wrong. And again, obviously Haman was very wrong at this point. It's another way of saying, He who exalts himself shall be abased. And it was his turn, so to speak, to be abased.

Proverbs 16, 18, which I am not going to turn to, it's Proverbs 16, 18, said, Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Yet another way of saying, He who exalts himself will be abased. Turn to 2 Corinthians, the 10th chapter. 2 Corinthians, the 10th chapter. You'll see some instructions from the Apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 10, and I'll start reading in verse 12.

Again, along the same subject of how we should be conducting ourselves, how we should be living our lives in respect to humility. 2 Corinthians 10, and in verse 12, Paul says, For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. In other words, those who are putting themselves forward, when you can say, Well, I'm better than they are, Paul says, don't do that.

But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. So that's not a wise thing to do, to look around and compare yourself to somebody else, either good or bad. We need to compare ourselves to God, to Jesus Christ. That's where our comparison should be.

And then dropping down to verses 17 and 18, which I am going to read out of the New Living Translation, it says, As the Scriptures say, if you want to boast, boast only about the Lord, not yourself. When people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. The important thing is to get commendation or praises from God, not from others. My mom used to have a saying, and this would apply to Haman, as well as others who are proud, self-praise stinks. Self-praise stinks. It's like an old rotten dead fish. You use the King James, it stinks.

It's no good. But when God commends us, it means a lot. There's another quotation. This is from goodreads.com. It says, The biggest challenge after success is shutting up about it. Normally we tend to crow. You think about the rooster in the morning, you know, crows and brings up the sun, quote-unquote. He's crowed about it. The biggest challenge after success is shutting up about it.

Well, there are promises, good promises to those of us who are humble. Turn to James the fourth chapter, James the fourth chapter, and we'll read verses 6 and 7. James the fourth chapter, I'll start reading in verse 6. It says, But he gives more grace. Therefore, he said, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Again, a familiar scripture, a theme scripture, if you will. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

So we need to resist the urge to be proud. And it says, God gives grace to the humble. Do we ever think about what grace is? What grace is? Now, we used to have a definition a long time ago where he said, grace is unmerited, pardon. And it is. I'm not saying that it's not. But it's a whole lot more than that. I like to think of it as God's favor, or God's gift.

One definition, according to Easton's illustrated dictionary, is it is a gift. Grace is a really, really big word. I came across an illustration several years ago that I feel might help as far as grace is concerned. The illustration has to do with justice, mercy, and grace. Justice is when you get what you deserve.

You earn it. Mercy is when you don't get what you deserve. And grace is when you get what you don't deserve. Now, to illustrate that, that might be a little bit to digest. Let's say that a lady is having a baby, and her husband is driving to a hospital, and he gets excited, and he tends to break the speed limit.

A policeman comes up behind him, you know, and pulls him over, and for justice, he would get a ticket. He would have earned that ticket. Justice is when you get what you deserve. He would have deserved the ticket. But then the policeman might realize the situation, say, Well, I won't give you a ticket. You know, I'll just give you a warning. That's mercy. He is not getting what he deserves. And then the policeman might think a little bit further and say, Follow me. I'll turn on my siren, and I'll lead you to the hospital, and we'll make a really good time.

That's grace. That's getting what he does not deserve. Doesn't deserve it at all. But that's what he's getting. That's what God says as far as humility is concerned. God gives grace to those who are humble. Not that we deserve it in any way, but God gives grace. It's interesting as well, there is a scripture back in Ephesians, the third chapter, where it says, God blesses us, and gives us grace, if you will, above what we can think to even ask for.

Now, you know, let that roll around in your mind a little bit. I don't know about you. I can think to ask for a lot of things. Here it says that God blesses us above what we can even think to ask for, and that's Ephesians 3, 20. I'd like to put that in your notes. It's a nice scripture to remember. We have a loving Father who blesses us. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, everything that we ask for, we're going to get blessed above measure.

Because God is a good parent. He's not going to spoil us. He's not going to give us something that's bad for us. But He does bless us. He gives us grace. And yet, none of us deserves any grace. We get what we... We get... Grace is when we get... Now, I lost it. We get what we don't deserve. That's what grace is. It's a big gift. Turn ahead to 1 Peter, the fifth chapter. Peter has some similar comments as far as grace is concerned.

1 Peter, the fifth chapter. And I'll start reading in verse 5. It says, like... Well, I hear a couple pages turning, so I'll wait a second or two. 1 Peter 5, 5 says, Likewise, you younger people, submit yourself to your elders. And again, that's a rather interesting situation. As we look around today, those who are older, so to speak, being put out to pasture, and the young ones, you know, that's where it's at.

It says, the young ones should submit to your elders. That's a different subject. It says, Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility.

To put it on like a shirt, or like a jacket, or like a dress. Be clothed with humility for and in... Here's the Scripture again. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. We've read that a couple times. It says, Therefore, humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. So God will exalt us, but according to His timetable, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. Again, we might be in a situation where things are bad. And when you think, you know, how am I going to get out of this? Well, again, it's casting all your care upon God.

God does care for us. He knows our situation. He knows what we're going through. We need to humble ourselves that God may exalt us in His due time. This is a way to happiness, as it says to Matthew 5. In Matthew 5, a happiness now, and a happiness in the future, in the Kingdom of God. Now let's take a look at the word for meek, or meekness. I'm going to review the definition. Hopefully this won't get too laborious. I will try to, again, intersperse without reading it directly. But it's rather interesting.

So anyway, we saw the definition of humility. I'm just going to back myself up a bit. Humility is seeing yourself in relationship to others, and especially in relationship to God. The fact that we're really not so big, or high, or mighty, as we tend to think we are. There's another scripture that says, you know, man at his best state is vanity. So we're really not all that much. If nations are as nothing before God, what is an individual?

And of course, I realize that as far as an individual, God knows each of us, and we are important to him. But as far as just significance is what I'm referring to here. Now looking at meekness, again, and to review the definition. Meekness towards God is that disposition of spirit, in which we accept his dealings with us as good. In other words, what happens to us is for our good, Romans 8.28. And we do it without disputing or resisting. Meekness is often confused with weakness, and that's indeed the case today. A meek person is considered weak. But as we will see, a meek person is actually a very strong person.

According to Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, they have a very nice, probably a page or more, commentary on meekness. I have copied several paragraphs here, not the entire article, but several paragraphs which will help us understand this. It says, Western culture does not hold meekness to be a virtue. Of course, I just said that. It's not held in high esteem today. It's not a good characteristic. Western culture does not hold meekness to be a virtue.

And I am quoting. It says, In contrast to the Near East and the Greco-Roman world, which placed a high premium on it. In other words, in the days when the New Testament was written, meekness had a high premium placed upon it in the Near East and the Greco-Roman world. Again, our culture perceives meekness as weakness. And of course, if you look at somebody who is meek, you may not be able to tell the difference. In fact, you probably can't tell the difference whether a person is weak or meek, because meekness is internal. It's what the person is thinking about.

Continuing on in the quote, it says, This dramatic shift in values from then to now, as far as the definition of meekness, is a problem for those who are translating the Bible. Most modern versions replace the noun meekness with gentleness or humility. In other words, they don't use the word meekness unless they really have to. They will use another word, like gentleness or humility, and it says, Largely as a result of pejorative overtones of weakness and effeminacy, now associated with meekness. For an example, turn to Galatians 5.22. Galatians 5.22, probably a little light will go off in your head, thinking, ah, we're going to talk about the works, excuse me, the fruit of the Spirit.

And that's what we are going to talk about, the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5.22, remember at the beginning I said that, you know, I would think in my own mind that humility and meekness are fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5.22, where it says, what the fruit of the Spirit is, and I'm not going to read all of them, but dropping down to verse 23, first word in the sentence in my Bible, which again is a new King James version, is gentleness.

Gentleness. But I have a little marginal note next to gentleness. And in the margin it says meekness. So the word is meekness, it is one of the fruits of the Spirit, but because of the way meekness is perceived today, it was translated gentleness, to have a positive connotation as opposed to a negative connotation. So this is an example of one of places where the translators switched from using meekness to another word.

As I said, I've looked in other translations and they translate this word, instead of gentleness, they'll translate it humility. But the word actually is meekness. Continuing on in the quote, there are two essential components for this quality to come into play in the Bible, again, meekness. A conflict in which an individual is unable to control or influence his circumstances. In other words, something is happening to me and I've got no control over it.

Typical human responses, the normal human responses in such circumstances include frustration, bitterness, or anger. But the one who was guided by God's Spirit accepts God's ability to direct events. For an example, let's say, you know, you go to work one day, your boss comes up to you and says, we don't need you here anymore.

You know, I was going to see the quote, one of the presidential candidates, which I really don't want to go there. You're fired. Let's say your boss says that to you. You've got no control over that. You know, you're in a situation. It's not a good situation, obviously, but you've got no control over that. It says, but the one guided by God's Spirit accepts God's ability to direct events. And we'll see what God's going to do, Romans 8, 28. Meekness is therefore an active and deliberate acceptance of undesirable circumstances that are wisely seen by the individual as only part of a larger picture.

In other words, if you look at the big picture of what God is doing, we've lost our job, but God is looking at our response. What do we do? How do we handle it? Do we get upset, bitter, angry, frustrated? Meekness is not a resignation to fate, a passive or reluctant submission to events. We do accept the events, but it's not just a passive recognition. Continuing on in the quote, it says, the patient and hopeful endurance of undesirable circumstances identifies the person as externally vulnerable, and we are vulnerable, but inwardly resilient and strong. Meekness does not identify the weak, but more precisely the strong. And again, a meek person, truly meek, is a strong person, who has been placed in a position of weakness where they persevere without giving up. And then it talks about an example. It says, the Greek word, this is for meekness, when applied to animals makes the meaning clear, for it means tame. In other words, such animals, it's tame when applied to wild animals. In other words, such animals have not lost their strength. They're still as strong as they were before, but they learn to control the destructive instincts that prevent them from living in harmony with others. So, a tame animal, still strong, still powerful, but with a different mindset. On Matthew 5, 5, where we read, you know, blessed are the meek, let's look in the Old Testament and see a place where that expression is quoted. Turn to Psalm 37 chapter, Psalm 37 chapter, and we'll find this whole chapter has a lot to do with meekness.

And I hope we all caught the distinction there between humility and meekness. Humility is seeing oneself in relationship, especially to God. Meekness is looking to God, knowing He's in control, and going forward and doing the things that we know we should be doing. Psalm 37, verse 11, is where Matthew 5, 5 is quoted, at least part of it.

It says, but the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. So the meek are going to inherit the earth. As I mentioned, we'll read around, we'll go back to verse 1 of this chapter, this Psalm. And we'll see the whole Psalm is talking about meekness. It says, do not fret because of evil doers. No, do not fret. This is positive. This is action. Nor be envious, the workers of iniquity. And again, for they shall soon be cut down like grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord. And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust Him. These are all action verbs of a meek person. Someone who is meek, these are all action verbs. Verse 7, Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of Him who prospers in His way. Because the man who brings wickets game to pass. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. Do not fret. For evil doers shall be cut off. But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while the wickled shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for His place, but it shall be no more. Again, verse 11, But the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. This talks about the reaction of a meek person. One who does not take matters in his own hands or do the wrong thing, get upset, angry, or bitter, but who continues walking the Christian walk. Turn ahead to James the third chapter. Look at verses 13 to 17.

We'll see some instructions from the Apostle James.

The Apostles have a lot to say about this subject, about humility and meekness. James 3, and I'll start reading in verse 13. It says, Who is wise and understanding among you?

Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. There are two words that you often, I don't know if you ever see them in the same sentence, other than right here. Meekness and wisdom. Those who are wise tend to be erudite, puffed up. Look what I know. Look how wise I am. It talks about the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy, self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthy, sensual and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield. And again, you have to be strong to do these things. These aren't things that a weak person does. Willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. There is one other way where it talks about meekness of wisdom. And then going on explaining what worldly wisdom is, and by contrast, what godly wisdom is. Turn back to Romans the 12th chapter.

Romans the 12th chapter, we'll see some writings of the Apostle Paul. Regarding meekness. Romans 12, and I'll start reading in verse 14. We'll continue to get more of the essence of what it means to be meek. Verse 14, Romans 12, it says, Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse. Again, this is just contrary to human nature. Bless those who persecute you and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind towards one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.

Do not be wise in your own opinion. In other words, don't compare yourself to others. Repay no one evil for evil. In other words, don't take any vengeance. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible as much as depends upon you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, again, do not avenge yourselves. Give place the wrath for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. Again, God is aware of our situations. We don't need to take manners in our own hands, and we shouldn't take manners into our own hands.

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink. Of course, Paul is quoting from the Old Testament at this point. For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. A person who is meek does not get angry or bitter. We need to assess a situation. Again, understand that God is in control, and to patiently wait for his deliverance. This takes wisdom, God's spirit, character. And sometimes, while we shouldn't take inappropriate action, sometimes there is a time to take appropriate action, to do things on our part. We shouldn't just sit around and pray, depending on the situation, and wait for God to answer the prayer.

I think of the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Nijbar. He says, I'm sure we've all heard this, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Again, sometimes there are things that we need to do. An example, just considering on, let's say that, you know, we just got fired. As an example, I mentioned a few minutes ago. What do we do at that point?

We go home and pray for another job? Yes, we should. But then what do we do? Do we just sit there and wait for a job to come along and knock on our door? It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. God expects us to do what we can for ourselves. And of course, He will open doors for us.

He will bless us. But it's not just necessarily going to come and plop it right into our lap, saying, you know, here it is. It doesn't work that way. Another example, this may or may not be the best example, I'm going to use myself. That's what I say. It's not the best example. And me watching the evening news, I don't know about you, but I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about me. When I watch the evening news, and especially lately, but not necessarily just lately, I'm not talking about the politics, the conventions, and whatever else, because this has been going on a long time, I tend to get excited.

And I tend to really strongly dislike it. I don't like seeing this. It seems like it's more editorials than it is really news, or facts, or figures. It's commentary, it's opinion, of telling you, telling the audience what they want us to think. They're right, obviously, and they want us to recognize their right, and to follow whatever they're saying. And there are misrepresentations in the news. They have an agenda. They selectively show certain things, and they selectively don't show other things. Or they don't give facts that would go against what they are saying.

I think in the example, and this goes back many, many years, and probably happens today, but I don't know that it's happening today, but I know back in... Well, I hate to say this, a long time ago, in the 1960s. There were riots, and you'd turn on your nightly news, and you'd see the police charging.

Basically, they were students, and charging the students, and treating them very harshly and roughly. What you didn't see is before the police charged, the students were throwing bricks and rocks and whatever else into the crowd of policemen. You didn't see that. Again, they decide what you see and what you don't see. And if you look at that, you think, well, look how bad those policemen are. Again, this may or may not be happening today. I don't want to get into politics. I don't want to get into a lot of these things. But it bothers me.

I get excited. I get angry, watching the news. It's just, I don't like it. Now, in a sense, just back to the example, there's nothing I can do about that. Events are happening. The news people are the news people. They're paying millions of dollars to do what they do. Me getting upset doesn't bother them one wit. They're going to do what they do. I have no control.

God sees the situation. I have not no control. So, what do I do? Well, one thing, and some of you have probably already thought about this, I can turn it off. But I don't think that's the answer. I don't think that's the answer, turning it off. We're told to watch. We need to understand what's going on around us. So while I could turn it off, I do need to watch it.

But I also need to deal with this in a better way. And I recognize it, which is the first part of any kind of dealing with the situation. Recognizing what your situation is, and then deal with it. I need to have more meekness as far as this is concerned. God is allowing all this to happen. It's happening not behind his back or in secret or anything.

He knows about it. And when the time comes, He'll take care of it. And so I shouldn't get all stewed up about this, or as it's at earth, I shouldn't get my hash in an uproar, or whatever that was. But again, I need to deal with this in a better way, and I realize this. Turn to 1 Peter, the third chapter. 1 Peter, the third chapter. This is it. Has this contains the verse? I'll start reading in verse 13. It's familiar to us, and will sound familiar, but we're going to take a look at the context that it's in.

1 Peter, the third chapter, starting in verse 13, where it says, And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? In other words, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. And again, that's something that goes contrary to human nature. Do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense or give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

So we should be able to respond, and we should be ready to respond, in a proper attitude, with meekness, in a right way. Not being harsh, not being argumentative, not being boisterous in a wrong way, but in meekness and in fear, having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

For it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good, than to suffer for doing evil. So again, in familiar Scripture, excuse me, but in a different context, or looking at the context that it's in, we need to answer in meekness and in fear. Turn back to Colossians, the book of Colossians, the third chapter, verse 12.

Colossians 3 and verse 12. We see the words humility and meekness in the same sentence, where the Apostle Paul is giving instructions. Of course, he does this regarding these two words, as well as other words, several places in his writings. In Colossians 3 and verse 12, he says, therefore, as the elect of God. So think about yourself as elect, as holy and beloved. These are things to put on. Tender mercies, kindness, humility and meekness, plus other items. These are things that we as Christians need to put on. We need to exhibit. We need to have.

We need more humility and more meekness. We need to conduct ourselves accordingly. As, again, God is our Father and He knows us. He knows our situation. He knows what situations we are in. Turn back a few pages to Philippians, the second chapter. Philippians, the second chapter. We'll read about the example of Jesus Christ. As we begin to wind down here, Philippians, the second chapter, I'll start reading in verse 3. It says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or deceit. In other words, put on humility and lowliness of mind, being humble. Let each esteem others better than himself.

Again, humanly, that's a very hard thing to do. But with God, it not only is possible, it should be done. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others. And let this mind be in you, which was, and I'll say is, also in Christ Jesus. We need to have Christ's mind. And what kind of a mind was this?

This was a humble mind. This was a neat mind. Who, being in the form of God, not only in the form of God, He was God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and becoming a human being. And coming in the likeness of men, so He was God, He's coming in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself.

He was very humble. We need to emulate that great example. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father.

We need to emulate our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. We need to be more like Him, putting on, as Apostle Paul said, humility, putting on meekness. There are promises made to those who are humble and meek, and we've read several of them today. There are promises made. God watches over those who are humble and meek. They are vindicated, and they are rewarded. He watches over those who are humble and meek, and He blesses them. Again, these are two keys to happiness. Matthew 5 says, Happy are those who are humble and meek, for they shall be rewarded.