SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the podcast of Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.
SPEAKER_00: Join us as we dive into this week's sermon that challenges our hearts and minds to grow closer to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that your heart is inspired and transformed by God's Word.
SPEAKER_02: And welcome this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Great to see all of you.
SPEAKER_02: How many of you?
SPEAKER_02: Hey, let me bring the house lights back up.
SPEAKER_02: How many of you do not have power at your house?
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Ooh, that's pretty significant.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: We're praying.
SPEAKER_02: We we spent time praying for all of you this morning.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to encourage you, particularly, do keep in prayer the poor and marginalized in our city who don't have power, whom this hits even harder.
SPEAKER_02: And we're aware that, or at least the reports I've heard, that power won't be restored for some until Thursday.
SPEAKER_02: So let's be mindful, just as you turned and loved on one another.
SPEAKER_02: That's a biblical practice.
SPEAKER_02: Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.
SPEAKER_02: So all throughout the city, let's be good neighbors.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: And be mindful that there are persons in our city that are hurting in a unique way in light of not having power.
SPEAKER_02: So God help us to do that.
SPEAKER_02: Inspire us, lead us, we pray.
SPEAKER_02: All right, invite you to open your Bibles, Matthew chapter 5.
SPEAKER_02: We're in a series on the Sermon on the Mount.
SPEAKER_02: We're journeying through the Beatitudes.
SPEAKER_02: We're on the third Beatitude today.
SPEAKER_02: And so I want to invite you to hear God's word.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know that I've been doing this, and I want you to know I'm not trying to practice spiritual calisthenics here, but it is our custom to stand as we read from the Gospels.
SPEAKER_02: And so I want to invite you to stand as you hear from the Gospels again.
SPEAKER_02: Hear the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: Seeing the crowds, he went upon the mountain, and when he sat down, the disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
SPEAKER_02: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_02: In Jesus' name, amen.
SPEAKER_02: Do you have a seat?
SPEAKER_02: And I want to validate some things as we start today.
SPEAKER_02: First of all, uh, we want to acknowledge that as we're going through the Beatitudes, that really they're grand reversals.
SPEAKER_02: And we we recognize that when you read the Beatitudes on the surface, up seems down, down seems up, and to the natural mind or to a carnal Christian, which Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3, that these are highly counterintuitive.
SPEAKER_02: And so I want to invite you as we open up today to hear this quote from Oswald Chambers.
SPEAKER_02: He writes these words, the Beatitudes sound sweet and pious and wonderfully simple, but they are in reality like spiritual torpedoes that burst and explode in the subconscious mind.
SPEAKER_02: And when the Holy Spirit brings them back to our conscious minds, we realize what startling statements they are.
SPEAKER_02: And so as we look today at verse 5, we are mindful that Jesus said these words, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And so when we look at this word meekness, I think it's important that we take a few minutes to talk about what this doesn't mean before we talk about what it means.
SPEAKER_02: First of all, it's important that we understand on the front end that meekness is not weakness.
SPEAKER_02: It's important that we understand on the front end that meekness does not mean that a follower of Jesus does not have a backbone.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, I would submit to you in a loving way that following Jesus should strengthen your backbone.
SPEAKER_02: It also doesn't mean that a person, a believer, is to become passive.
SPEAKER_02: Notice that it's vital that Jesus did not say, blessed are the passive.
SPEAKER_02: And so what we want to do for a moment, let's look first of all at this word in the Greek.
SPEAKER_02: The word meek literally comes from the Greek word pros, and it means power under control, exercising God's strength in nature under God's control or under the lordship of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I'm going to share a brief story with you that I think illustrates the principle of meekness.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to know it has not perfectly, and so I just want to acknowledge that on the front end.
SPEAKER_02: But years ago, I went fishing with a friend named Ken.
SPEAKER_02: And Ken and I had parked his vehicle on the side of a river, and we put on our waders and waded in.
SPEAKER_02: I was like 50 yards up from the car, and maybe he was about 70 yards up or so.
SPEAKER_02: And while we're in the river fishing, this group of, and this won't sound very pastoral, I'm not sure how to put it, but this group of guys, hoodlums, if you will, pulled up to his vehicle, all piled out of the car, and they had tire tools in their hands, all kinds of large pieces of iron, and they were ready to break into Ken's car.
SPEAKER_02: Now, my adrenaline began to rise, not merely because they were about to break into his vehicle.
SPEAKER_02: My adrenaline began to rise because I knew that Ken kept a nine millimeter pistol in his backpack and he was wearing his backpack.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, God, don't let this escalate.
SPEAKER_02: That's just, I'm whispering this prayer in the middle of the river.
SPEAKER_02: Well, Ken, as you know, sound travels well on water.
SPEAKER_02: Ken strikes up a conversation with them.
SPEAKER_02: And they're getting they're all scoping out what's in the car, getting ready to break glass.
SPEAKER_02: And Ken just begins this dialogue with them.
SPEAKER_02: They start responding.
SPEAKER_02: And what I witness is Ken in his wisdom literally just talked them down.
SPEAKER_02: And they all got back in the car and left.
SPEAKER_02: And I stood in the river going, just wow.
SPEAKER_02: And so I say, Ken, uh, first of all, thank you for how you handled that.
SPEAKER_02: But thank you also for not pulling the nine millimeter out in this circumstance, to which he just very forthrightly said to me, said, Paul, I would never pull the nine millimeter out in that circumstance.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, they could take the wheels off the car, they could steal the car before I would pull a gun out.
SPEAKER_02: I only have this to protect my own life, the life of my family, your life, and the lives of others.
SPEAKER_02: If somebody's life was at stake, I might take that step.
SPEAKER_02: But otherwise, they could take the car off and drive it or drive it away.
SPEAKER_02: And so what that illustrates, not perfectly, but is a picture of power under control.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to this explanation or definition of proceed or meekness from Strong's exhaustive concordance.
SPEAKER_02: Little longer.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness conveys a hard attitude of inward gentleness that manifests, pardon me, this humble strength under God's control.
SPEAKER_02: It is not weakness, timidity, or lack of conviction.
SPEAKER_02: Rather, it is the gracious refusal to advance one's own cause by force, trusting the Lord to vindicate and exalt in his time.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness, therefore, unites lowliness of self-evaluation with resolute dependence on divine sovereignty.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you've been in attendance the last couple of weeks, you're aware that we've journeyed through the first two beatitudes.
SPEAKER_02: And in the first two beatitudes, Jesus is dealing specifically with how we relate to God.
SPEAKER_02: And he begins with Blessed are the poor in spirit, and then blessed are those who mourn.
SPEAKER_02: But as we get to this beatitude today, we recognize that the gears shift a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: This beatitude has a twofold implication.
SPEAKER_02: It has the implication of how we relate to God and then how we relate to people.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness works as an inward grace from Jesus that governs our outward behavior toward God and toward others.
SPEAKER_02: Now, let's acknowledge the following.
SPEAKER_02: If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, that should be consequential in your life.
SPEAKER_02: And a good way to measure how consequential it is for some of us, if you're if your mom is still living, and I realize that's not true for everybody, but if your mom is still living and you came to faith at some point in your life, if your mama can't tell the difference, you might not have come to faith.
SPEAKER_02: Your relationship with Jesus should be consequential.
SPEAKER_02: If you've met God in Christ and you think about the reality of who it is, there should be some type of cause and effect.
SPEAKER_02: And in light of that, the way the Beatitudes progress, we recognize that many scholars point out that really what's happening in the first three Beatitudes is an analogy of the essential steps of coming to know Jesus Christ, of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Think about it.
SPEAKER_02: Poor in spirit, that's where it starts.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus acknowledges that this is where we recognize our need.
SPEAKER_02: We recognize our sense of need of a savior.
SPEAKER_02: I need God.
SPEAKER_02: I need forgiveness of my sins.
SPEAKER_02: I need to come to the source and receive his forgiveness and his mercy and to be reconciled to a loving God and my creator.
SPEAKER_02: But Jesus also says that a part of these steps are not only recognizing the poverty of our spirit, but mourning, and we talked about this last week.
SPEAKER_02: Mourning, sorrow for sin that actually fuels repentance, sorrow for our spiritual anemia, our indifference to God, our indifference to his word, our indifference to coming alive spiritually.
SPEAKER_02: The Bible says in Ephesians 2 that you were dead in your trespasses and sins.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't say, as one scholar says, doesn't say you were in the doghouse.
SPEAKER_02: It says you were dead, dead to spiritual things, dead to spiritual reality.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus says we mourn over this so that a grace of a godly sorrow works in our own hearts unto transformation, as the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians.
SPEAKER_02: And then we get to meekness.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness personifies submissiveness to the Lordship of Christ in faith.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness personifies how I relate to God and how I relate to others.
SPEAKER_02: So once again, in the Greek, the word meek is the word cross.
SPEAKER_02: And in classical Greek, when we look outside of the New Testament, how this word is used, you'll find that it's often used to describe a wild animal that's become tame.
SPEAKER_02: It's used to describe a horse that becomes broken and responsive to its master.
SPEAKER_02: Horse is still powerful, still full of strength, but now the horse is brought under control.
SPEAKER_02: And we recognize in these pictures of meekness that meekness requires humility.
SPEAKER_02: And in light of that, those who do not have a humble and meek spirit are not able to rightly relate to God, not able to rightly relate to God's word, much less understand it and receive it and begin to grow in it.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Pastor Paul, did you just make that up or did you say that because that's preacher talk or just, you know, what you're supposed to say?
SPEAKER_02: No, let's look at God's work together.
SPEAKER_02: And I pray that I never say things that you're just supposed to say.
SPEAKER_02: Matthew 18, 2 through 4, listen to what the Son of God said.
SPEAKER_02: Truly I say to you, unless you're converted and become like children, this is a this is a wake you up saying.
SPEAKER_02: You shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever then humbles himself as this child, as he is great, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_02: And we're all aware that the picture of a spirit of a child is a picture of humility, a picture of teachability, a picture in a family of yieldedness to a higher authority.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is wed together with this picture.
SPEAKER_02: And so a meek person's person stops fighting God, accepts his dealings and his revelation with grace in their lives, surrenders their personal pride, surrenders their anger, surrenders the demand to vindicate themselves.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is not only the opposite of pride, but it's the opposite of stubbornness.
SPEAKER_02: It's the opposite of fierceness.
SPEAKER_02: It's the opposite of vengefulness.
SPEAKER_02: It is the opposite of self-will toward God and ill will toward people.
SPEAKER_02: Look at this or here, this quote from Martin Lord Lloyd Jones.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is essentially a true view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others.
SPEAKER_02: It is therefore two things.
SPEAKER_02: It is my attitude toward myself, but it's also an expression of that in my relationship to others.
SPEAKER_02: In other words, meekness describes a person who is not overly impressed by one's own self-importance.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is manifested when you may be right about something, you may fully be in the right, but you don't have to go to your friend or the person who is even your enemy and say, I told you so.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness doesn't rub the nose of somebody else in it.
SPEAKER_02: I'll let you define it.
SPEAKER_02: So, in other words, you don't say, see there, I was right, you were wrong.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness changes how you treat others, replacing harsh words, bitterness, and the desire for revenge with patience and peace.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness functions not unlike what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3 9, where he wrote, Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.
SPEAKER_02: On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
SPEAKER_02: Hear this quote from D.A.
SPEAKER_02: Carson.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is a controlling desire to see the other's interest advanced as a head of one's own.
SPEAKER_02: In other words, Carson's not saying that we give up on our principles.
SPEAKER_02: He just saying that meekness esteems others better than ourselves.
SPEAKER_02: I'm mindful that Aristotle once commented on the word meekness, and he described it in this way, that meekness is a healthy middle ground between anger and indifference.
SPEAKER_02: In other words, he was teaching that it's not wrong to express anger.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, the Bible even tells us there's some things we should be angry about, and the scripture says, be angry, but don't sin.
SPEAKER_02: This gets into why meekness is not weakness.
SPEAKER_02: But on the other hand, meekness is not indifference, and meekness involves having, does involve having a backbone.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness does not mean that we're indifferent to problems and plights and things that indeed may need to be confronted.
SPEAKER_02: But meekness deeply believes in a heart at peace because the of the presence of the Prince of Peace.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is to be at rest when nobody praises you.
SPEAKER_02: Meekness is to be at rest when you're blamed or despised for doing the right thing.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus Christ is the perfect example of this.
SPEAKER_02: We all know Jesus lived a perfect life.
SPEAKER_02: But though at any time Jesus could have called legions of angels to his side, and he refused to either call upon natural call, natural forces or supernatural forces and use his own power for his own welfare.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus demonstrated meekness when he said things like this for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me.
SPEAKER_02: And we can learn a lot from that, loved ones.
SPEAKER_02: A truly meek man or woman no longer has to seek his or her own will, but the will of God.
SPEAKER_02: James put it this way in James 121.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.
SPEAKER_02: Now I want to invite you to think about something with me for just a moment.
SPEAKER_02: Here it is.
SPEAKER_02: Every single person in this room, young or old, no matter what your age, even for a child, you have some degree of power.
SPEAKER_02: All of us do.
SPEAKER_02: You may not think of yourself in that way, but it's true of you.
SPEAKER_02: You have power.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, you have a lot of power.
SPEAKER_02: You have what we call relational power.
SPEAKER_02: What you say to others affects them.
SPEAKER_02: You can tell people yes or no to their ideas, their propositions, or their input.
SPEAKER_02: You can build up or you can tear down with what you say to other people.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, Jesus said, out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks, and then James tethered that to the reality that you are so powerful that what you say out of the fullness of your heart, and he uses a metaphor, is so powerful metaphorically, it can set a forest aflame.
SPEAKER_02: You're powerful, much more powerful than you often consider.
SPEAKER_02: You not only have relational power, but you many of you have positional power.
SPEAKER_02: You're a boss, you're a husband, you're a wife, you're a friend, you're a cousin, you're in a colleague, you're in a golf force, you've invested in these relationships for years, you're in a bridge club with people that you're enjoying doing life with.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the question for all of us: Is your power under the control of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Is your influence under the control of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Is your tongue under the control of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Are the responsibilities that you're stewarding under the control of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Let me ask you a second question.
SPEAKER_02: Have you ever experienced a person who has power, but it's power out of control?
SPEAKER_02: I think all of us have at one time or another.
SPEAKER_02: Someone who is stewarding their power or their influence, but it's power off the rails.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it was a coach, maybe it was a teacher, maybe it was a boss, maybe it was riding to church this morning.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the question How do you feel when you're on the receiving end of somebody who is using power out of control?
SPEAKER_02: A coach that intimidates rather than instructs, or a boss that manipulates rather than just simply speaking truthfully with you.
SPEAKER_02: Loved ones, a meek believer humbly listens and selflessly looks out for the good of others, avoiding a quick temper or a harsh tongue.
SPEAKER_02: A meek believer doesn't return insult for insult.
SPEAKER_02: And meekness is a great gift because the meek Christ follower endures present reality and earthly trials with a steady, peaceful hope that's focused on Jesus, and also in light of what Jesus says in this passage, is also focused on the world to come, knowing that everything is going to be made right, and Jesus declares there will be justice, and Jesus says, Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And so, in light of this, this is why John Wesley, our spiritual father as Methodist Christians, could pray prayers like he prayed in the Wesleyan Covenant prayer.
SPEAKER_02: We're going to put it on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: I want to invite you to say it with me, but I want to acknowledge something.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not asking you to pray it with me right now.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just asking you to read it with me.
SPEAKER_02: And the reason I'm not asking you to pray it is because it has depth.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to encourage you to pray it, but I understand that you can't just mechanically pray something that has a depth like this prayer does.
SPEAKER_02: I encourage you to pray it, but let's say it together.
SPEAKER_02: And then after you've processed it, then I do encourage you to pray it.
SPEAKER_02: But would you say it with me?
SPEAKER_02: Wesley said this: I'm no longer my own, but yours.
SPEAKER_02: Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will, put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praise for you or criticize for you.
SPEAKER_02: Let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing.
SPEAKER_02: I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
SPEAKER_02: And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, I am yours, so be it.
SPEAKER_02: And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it also be made in heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Now, loved ones, John Wesley knew that praying a prayer like that was the place where his heart would be at rest in the Lord, at peace in God.
SPEAKER_02: And he learned to pray prayers like that because he acknowledged that the pathway to peace is not being in control, but in trusting in God who is in control.
SPEAKER_02: A number of years ago I shared a story with you that I'm going to retell only a much shorter version.
SPEAKER_02: But it's where I learn the distinction between being a faithful steward and being set free from a controlling spirit.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying that I haven't had to re-surrender that at times.
SPEAKER_02: The Apostle Paul says, I die daily.
SPEAKER_02: And so I think we're in good company when we're all choosing God's purposes daily over our preferences.
SPEAKER_02: But he began with our oldest son Luke.
SPEAKER_02: When Luke was about two years old, he began to develop seizures, severe seizures.
SPEAKER_02: And I would hold that little boy in my arms, and his heart rate would escalate at a level where I was scared that it was gonna come out of his chest, and his body, his little body, would just contort in my arms, and he would lose consciousness.
SPEAKER_02: And when you're holding your little boy and you can't help him, and you've been to every doctor and child neurologist that you know that potentially can help, and things aren't getting better, they're getting worse.
SPEAKER_02: What begins to happen in the heart, or what began to happen in the heart of this father, even though I was born again, even though I'm pastoring a church, even though I'm standing in a pulpit regularly teaching God's word, I'm slowly, incrementally getting more and more angry with God.
SPEAKER_01: And what's happening over time is when you're in control, when you're you have controlling tendencies, what begins to happen, church, is you've all you've got.
SPEAKER_01: You're all you've got.
SPEAKER_02: And what began happening in my spirit, even though I would stand and teach God's word regularly, what began happening in my spirit as I grew angrier and angrier, that I experienced fewer and fewer renewing winds of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Scripture says that God's able to make all grace abound towards you.
SPEAKER_02: When I look back, I recognize that there were fewer and fewer expressions of renewing grace that were happening in my own heart and life.
SPEAKER_01: And as I grew angry with God, my spirit began to shrivel until one day when I hit bottom.
SPEAKER_01: And I hit bottom because we just had done everything that we knew to do.
SPEAKER_02: And I was alone in our den, and I hit my knees, and I began to say, God, you've got to do something here, and I began to complain and whine just like I had been, and I didn't hear an audible voice, but these words dropped in my heart.
SPEAKER_01: Paul, he was mine before he was yours, and he will be mine long after he is yours.
SPEAKER_01: Surrender him to me.
SPEAKER_01: Luke to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Just surrendered.
SPEAKER_01: And I cannot intellectually and rationally deny what happened.
SPEAKER_01: God gave me peace.
SPEAKER_01: He just filled flooded my heart with his peace.
SPEAKER_01: And Missy will tell you that things got worse after that.
SPEAKER_01: It didn't get better, it got worse.
SPEAKER_02: Many of you know this.
SPEAKER_02: There is a divine envelope when you let go of control, there's a divine envelope in Christ that you can feel pain and grief and the comfort of the Lord at the same time.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what I discovered in my early 30s.
SPEAKER_02: And since that time, I'm like, God, if this is possible, and just like you, living in a fallen world, we too have navigated loss and pain and seasons in our life where things are tough.
SPEAKER_02: But what I know in light of what we're reading in the text, what John Wesley's describing in this giving up control prayer, is that there is this reality of the peace of God that passes understanding that the Apostle Paul wrote about when he was in a divine envelope, locked up in a prison cell.
SPEAKER_02: Hear this quote from A.W.
SPEAKER_02: Tozer The meek man will attain a place of soul rest.
SPEAKER_02: Let me stop right there and remind you of what the definition of our soul is.
SPEAKER_02: Your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions.
SPEAKER_02: Oftentimes it's our in our will that we fight with God.
SPEAKER_02: And what God is inviting us into, stop fighting.
SPEAKER_02: Trust me.
SPEAKER_02: So let me finish the quote: The meek man will attain a place of soul rest.
SPEAKER_02: As he walks on in meekness, he will be happy to let God defend him.
SPEAKER_02: The old struggle to defend himself is over.
SPEAKER_02: He has found the peace which meekness brings.
SPEAKER_02: And loved ones, this passage not only is a passage that describes how to get free and embrace a meek spirit for the glory of God, this passage also comes with an incredible promise that we need to be careful not to overlook as God's people, because Jesus declares in the second half that the meek they will inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And that's something we need to pay attention to.
SPEAKER_02: Only the meek will inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And what that tells us is that meekness is necessary for salvation in terms of how this is progressing.
SPEAKER_02: We recognize that the scripture is declaring that only the meek belong to the king who can rule in a future regenerated, recreated kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're going to inherit something, which is what's being declared in the passage, then that implies that someone is going to give you something, something, somebody's gonna hand, going to hand something sacred over to you.
SPEAKER_02: So what we need to do for just a moment is we need to explore this.
SPEAKER_02: And I promise you, it's not a whole nother sermon, but let's let's not overlook this together, loved ones.
SPEAKER_02: First of all, in Hebrews 1, 2, the scripture describes that God has appointed Jesus Christ to be the heir, the heir of all things.
SPEAKER_02: When you look at the heavens and the earth and you read 1 and 2 Peter, you recognize that the scripture teaches that the created order, a day will come when things are going to be melted away and God will recreate the heavens and he'll redeem the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And we're going to live on a recreated or redeemed earth forever and ever.
SPEAKER_02: He shall, you hear Handel's Messiah, he shall reign forever and ever.
SPEAKER_02: That's because Handel did his theological homework to write those words.
SPEAKER_02: Ephesians 1:1 tells us that in him, in Jesus, if your life is in the person of Jesus, you have also obtained an inheritance.
SPEAKER_02: Wow, too good to be true, too true to ignore.
SPEAKER_02: And so he also writes, Paul, in Romans 8.17, and if we are his children, so let me pause right there.
SPEAKER_02: Let me remind you, church family, as I've taught years ago, and as Dr.
SPEAKER_02: David Watson, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, stood in this pulpit and taught about a year ago, everybody's not a child of God.
SPEAKER_02: Lots of people talk like that.
SPEAKER_02: They go, oh, got to care for all the children of God.
SPEAKER_02: Let me remind you, all people are sacred of sacred worth because all people have been created in the image of God and people are valuable.
SPEAKER_02: That's where the book of Genesis begins.
SPEAKER_02: But the Bible describes the children of God as persons who have received Jesus Christ into their lives.
SPEAKER_02: That's why Romans 8.17 is worded this way.
SPEAKER_02: And if we are his children, then there is a result that comes from that.
SPEAKER_02: Then we're heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: So when Jesus says that the meek will inherit the earth, what he's describing for you, believer, is that you have an inheritance that's coming for you that you're going to share with the Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: It is an inheritance that begins now, as you know the peace of God, the presence of God, the revelation of God in your circumstances that comes as a result of meekness before Christ, but it's also an inheritance of ultimate peace and ultimate satisfaction in the presence of Jesus and the life to come on a recreated earth for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_02: So let's ask this question and we'll wrap up.
SPEAKER_02: Here it is.
SPEAKER_02: How do we grow in meekness?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, because there's not a magic wand.
SPEAKER_02: How do we grow in this?
SPEAKER_02: If this is something Jesus is teaching us as followers, then how do we grow in this?
SPEAKER_02: Three things.
SPEAKER_02: Again, it's not another sermon, just three things.
SPEAKER_02: Here we go.
SPEAKER_02: As if we're conscious of time or something.
SPEAKER_02: First, the most important thing is to become poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_02: That's what Jesus said.
SPEAKER_02: Those are his words, to become poor in spirit, to recognize our spiritual bankruptcy apart from relationship with God, to admit the poverty of our soul, as we taught two weeks ago, and to then, as Jesus said, mourn over our sin.
SPEAKER_02: Blessed are those who mourn.
SPEAKER_02: And as we mourn the reality that we've been separated from God in light of our sin, as we have the gift of what Paul described as the grace of a godly sorrow that transforms our heart, we trust in God's mercy.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, the Bible says 365 times that God is merciful.
SPEAKER_02: We trust in His love and His mercy through faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, the cleansing of our hearts, and our reconciliation with God.
SPEAKER_02: That's where we start.
SPEAKER_02: We become poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_02: We mourn over our sin.
SPEAKER_02: Secondly, here's how we grow in meekness.
SPEAKER_02: We learn from Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We learn from Jesus, but there's a certain way we learn from Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to the way Jesus taught us to learn.
SPEAKER_02: Here it is, Matthew 11, 28 through 30.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.
SPEAKER_02: Can I give you a more modern translation?
SPEAKER_02: Come to me, all who were stressed out.
SPEAKER_02: Come to me, all who were carrying anxiety.
SPEAKER_02: Come to me, all who carry worry.
SPEAKER_02: Come to me, all who were carrying weights.
SPEAKER_02: That's pretty much all of us.
SPEAKER_02: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.
SPEAKER_02: Notice what the promise is.
SPEAKER_02: I, when you come to me, I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_02: Rest, meekness, gift to the soul.
SPEAKER_02: Take my yoke upon you, learn from me.
SPEAKER_02: Now get that.
SPEAKER_02: It's not just it's come to him, but it's also learn from him.
SPEAKER_02: I'll talk about the yoke in a couple of hours, but right now we're just learning.
SPEAKER_02: Learn from me, for I am gentle, which is meek and lowly in heart, you'll find rest for your mind, your will, and your emotions.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is not only the answer for eternity, Jesus is the answer for our deepest needs, loved ones.
SPEAKER_02: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
SPEAKER_02: So you come to Jesus first, based on his words here, by giving him your burdens.
SPEAKER_02: Give him your burdens, and then yield to him.
SPEAKER_02: Wave the white flag, yield to him, and take his yoke upon your life.
SPEAKER_02: Now, when an ox, oxen was placed in a yoke, an oxen is a very powerful animal.
SPEAKER_02: But yet when it's two oxen are placed in yokes, now it's power under control.
SPEAKER_02: But let me give you just a quick physics lesson that when two oxen are yoked together, let's say the oxen alone could move 5,000 pounds.
SPEAKER_02: You would in just common sense, you say, okay, well, two oxen would move 10,000 pounds, but two oxens yoked together, the way the physics works is two oxens can move 15 to 20,000 pounds when they're yoked together.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus is saying, the Son of God, I want to yoke all my life with yours, so that we come together and work side by side and do life as one.
SPEAKER_02: And as you yield to me and you're yoked with me, you're going to also learn from me, and you're going to learn meekness, and you're going to learn so much more, and you're going to gradually become more like me and grow in meekness and so much more.
SPEAKER_02: And then, thirdly, not only do we need to learn from Jesus, but we need the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And when you ask, how do I have the power of the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_02: You come to Jesus through the gospel, through the cross, what Christ has done through the cross.
SPEAKER_02: And the Bible gives us lots of instruction on this, but I'm going to narrow it down to two things.
SPEAKER_02: Remember in Ephesians how Paul talked about the parallel between alcohol or drinking wine and getting inebriated versus the spirit in Ephesians 5.
SPEAKER_02: And he uses this analogy just like a person would drink too much alcohol and become inebriated.
SPEAKER_02: Paul says, basically, drink of the spirit, become inebriated.
SPEAKER_02: And so here's a question: become inebriated with the spirit.
SPEAKER_02: I need to finish that sentence, lest someone quote me.
SPEAKER_02: Pastor said, get inebriated.
SPEAKER_02: But there's a pathway to inebriation in the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus said it.
SPEAKER_02: Luke 11, 13.
SPEAKER_02: He said, If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more would the fat will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
SPEAKER_02: The way to be filled with the Holy Spirit is come to Jesus through the gospel and ask the Lord, Lord, I hunger, I thirst, fill me with your Holy Spirit and pray it and keep praying it.
SPEAKER_02: Pray it daily.
SPEAKER_02: Drink regularly for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02: And so, Father, I we pray for a special grace over all of our lives, individually and corporately, to recognize the poverty of our own spirit, how much we need you, and what you've done at the cross through your death, burial, resurrection for our sins.
SPEAKER_02: And so help us to see the poverty of our own spirit and help us to mourn appropriately that our sin against you and sin that we've committed that have hurt others.
SPEAKER_02: Help us with your grace, the grace of a godly sorrow.
SPEAKER_02: But in it, Lord, we pray that you cultivate meekness in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: So that we're developed and we grow into your image at greater levels for your glory.
SPEAKER_02: This we pray.
SPEAKER_02: In the name and power of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the podcast for Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that today's message has inspired and encouraged you in your walk with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: To stay connected with our church community, visit us online at ChristchurchMethodist.org.
SPEAKER_00: We hope to see you this upcoming Sunday for worship as we seek to glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples.