Introduction:

   A. The third Christian Character trait that we will study and meditate upon is meekness.

   B. The world today has a strange idea of what "meek" means. They always picture Jesus as looking like some long-haired, effeminate, namby-pamby wimp, with a woman’s eyes and no backbone. The Jesus of the Bible was exactly the opposite. As a young man He worked with wood as a carpenter, using only hand tools. That means He was probably quite strong and agile. Long hair was not the style for the Jews and He was the epitome of the Jew; and besides, it would have gotten in the way when He worked. In addition God tells us that even nature teaches that long hair is a shame to a man.  Would Christ do anything that was shameful?
   The Father said of Jesus that during His ministry He single-handedly cleaned out all of the irreverent and thieving merchants from the Temple, slept on the ground, and walked everywhere He went which would have tended to keep Him in good physical shape. He became angry (righteously so) and would not allow the religious crowd to bully Him into submission. At the end of His life He willingly suffered the most cruel of deaths, taking the sin of the world upon Himself, and bore the wrath of God poured out upon Himself so that mankind would have a way to have peace with God. If that sounds like some kind of effeminate wimp then I’m the Queen of Sheba!

    B. Christ, our example.

        1. He was God in the flesh.
  

             Jn 1:1 "... and the Word was God."
             Jn 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 

                   among us...”

  
        2. He was the omnipotent creator of the universe.

             Jn 1:3 “All things were made by him; and without him was not

                    any thing made that was made.”

        3. He was a King, and yet, meek and lowly.

             I Tim 6:15  "... the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings,
                  and Lord of lords;"   (Also Rev 17:14; 19:16)
             Mt 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.”

             Mt 21:5 “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh

                    unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal
                    of an ass.”
  

             Not in a plush coach as any other king would but on an ass, a lowly beast

          of burden.

        4. He single-handedly cleaned out the temple, probably twice. 
 
            Mk 11:15 “And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into 
                    the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and
                    bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the 

                     moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;”         

                    (Also read: Mk 11:15; Lk 19:45)
  

        5. And yet He was gentle and held tender little children on His lap.

              Mk 9:36 “And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them:
                    and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them...”

  
        6. That doesn’t sound like weakness to me.

            a. That sounds like omnipotent strength controlled enough to create all

                 physical reality, the universe we see and feel around us, and to set

                 whole worlds in exactly the right place to allow us to live on one of 

                 them. (+ or - 5% in the earth’s orbit and we’d all be dead).

            b. And also controlled enough to be devastatingly wielded against evil;
                 and yet gentle enough to hold a tender little child.

        7. I think we can safely settle on the definition of “meekness” as “great 

                 strength under great control.”

    C. The world thinks that might makes right.

        1. Jas 4:1 "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come

                      they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"

        2. Conquerors have always won and ruled by the strength of their arms and
            armies. Caesars and Kaisers, (the German appropriation of the term,) Khans
            and Kings, have always ruled because of their power; and, from Hitler to
            Hussein, if you stand against them- you die.
        3. The world thinks that might (wielded power) makes right.
             But that just is not true.

    D. The world thinks might makes right but God thinks exactly the opposite.

        1. Right makes right and might means nothing!

            a. There is no army that can force God because He wields the “dunamiV,” 

                  (dunamis,) the power that created the universe as well as those 

                  armies that exist within it!

            b. He even created the nuclear forces that power their mightiest weapons.
            c. And on the other end of the scale, organic rather than nuclear, He 

                 created the very hearts that pump the blood that is their very life. And 

                 if it were not for His sustaining hand, those hearts would cease beating 

                 and they would die. Where would be their mighty power be then!

            d. According to the book of the Revelation, one day He will smite entire 

                 nations with just a word. That sure doesn’t sound like weakness to me.

                 Rev 19:15 "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with
                       it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a

                       rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness

                       and wrath of Almighty God."

                Rev 19:21 "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him
                       that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his
                       mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."        

  F. Summary.
     The meek shall inherit the earth.

     The mighty worldly warriors shall not!

3. Did you meditate on this beatitude as you were instructed to do?
  (Click one answer.)    Yes    No    Was I supposed to meditate on it?