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WEEKLY
Volume 4 Number 13
23 August 2009
A Meek Heart
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Aug 23, 09)
Text: Matt 5:5
With human sinful, selfish, and
arrogant nature, many desire and strive to be superior to others. They
do not want to lose anything but try to defeat others with their words,
arguments, threats, actions, measures and power. They despise the weak
or the poor or the inferior and look down on them, while they do not
want others to look down on them! Therefore, they always speak well of
themselves, hide their weaknesses, show off their strengths and power,
try to keep up with the Joneses or try to be superior, and they think
that it is wise. However, wisdom before God is humility and meekness,
“The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground”
(Ps 147:6) and the meek shall be blessed, “Blessed are the meek: for
they shall inherit the earth” (Matt 5:5). The fruit of the Holy
Spirit is “meekness,” and He is able to produce meekness in our
hearts. Then what does meekness or a meek heart mean?
Meekness
The Greek term for meekness is
praótēs,
which has 9 occurrences; and KJV translates as “meekness” nine times.
Praótēs means gentleness, humility, courtesy,
considerateness, meekness (BAGD), and meekness, mildness,
forbearance. Primarily it does not denote outward expression of feeling,
but an inward grace of the soul, calmness toward God in particular. It
is the acceptance of God’s dealings with us considering them as good in
that they enhance the closeness of our relationship with Him. However,
praótēs encompasses expressing wrath
toward the sin of man as demonstrated by the Lord Jesus who indeed was
called meek but expressed His anger toward those who were chiding Him
because He had done good on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:5). This meekness
does not blame God for the persecutions and evil doings of men
(Zodhiates).
Then if you and I have a meek heart,
we shall be humble, teachable and quietly submissive to God and His Word
no matter what may happen to us. With a meek heart, we shall be humble,
gentle, kind and considerate towards others, but still without
compromise or tolerance towards sins, wrong doctrines or worldliness.
Jesus’ Meekness
We can see our Lord Jesus’ meekness in
His quiet and humble submission to His Father’s will unto death without
any rebellion. Jesus neither murmured against God nor blamed God for
anything even though He lived a holy and righteous life and still
suffered the injustice, contempt, blaspheme, persecutions, and hatred
from His sinful and wicked creatures. Truly, “He was oppressed, and
he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
openeth not his mouth” (Isa 53:7; cf. Matt 26:47-54), and “Who
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was
reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but
committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter
2:22-23).
We can also see our Lord Jesus’
meekness in His modesty and humility. Even though He is the Son of God,
the glorious Creator, He was willing to humble Himself to be a man, who
was born into a poor family and was laid in a manger. Jesus did not
despise the poor or the weak, neither did He proudly showed His majesty
and power to suppress those who were against Him. Being the King of
kings, Jesus still humbly and meekly rode on an ass into Jerusalem,
“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” (Matt 21:5).
Jesus’ first coming was to die for sinners and to save the repentant,
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15).
However, His second coming will be with His all majesty, glory and
power, riding a white horse to judge the world, “And I saw heaven
opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war”
(Rev 19:11).
Our Lord Jesus also showed His
meekness, considerateness and kindness toward the needy, the weak, and
the helpless, “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man
hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and
smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto
victory (Matt 12:19-20; cf. Isa 42:2). He kindly calls the heavy
laden to Himself to find rest unto their souls, “Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light” (Matt 11:28-30). Many a time we have cried unto the Lord in
our need, weakness, and helplessness, and our Lord has not despised our
humble cry but helped us, strengthened us and carried us through our
troubles, difficulties and trials. Praise the Lord for His grace, love,
mercy and meekness!
Moses’ Meekness
Moses had a good testimony from God’s
Word, “the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon
the face of the earth” (Num 12:3). When God appeared to him in a
burning bush to send him to deliver His people from the bondage under
the Egyptians, Moses acknowledged his weakness and nothingness, saying,
“Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring
forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?... O my Lord, I am not
eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy
servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exod 3:11;
4:10). When the people of Israel murmured against him and chided with
him, Moses turned to the Lord and cried unto Him, “What shall I do
unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me” (Exod 17:2-4).
When Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, saying “Hath the LORD
indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?” (Num
12:2). Moses did not open his mouth to defend himself, but God did and
His anger was kindled against them, and Miriam became leprous, white as
snow. Then what did Moses do? He cried unto God to heal her, “Heal
her now, O God, I beseech thee” (Num 12:13). When Korah with 250
“princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown”
gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, Moses fell
upon his face, saying, “Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are
his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him,” and
the next day God defended Moses and, “the earth opened her mouth, and
swallowed them up, and their houses” and a fire from the Lord
consumed them (Num 16:1-40).
Blessed Are the Meek
Our Lord Jesus preached His sermon on
the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt
5:3-5). The meek are those who are humble, gentle, teachable and
receptive to God’s truth, God’s love, and God’s salvation. The Bible
says, “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach
his way” (Ps 25:9), and “receive with meekness the engrafted
word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Many people
realise that they are sinners and mourn, but they are not meek enough,
humble enough, and receptive enough to receive God’s salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ. They try to save themselves and establish their own
merits and righteousness by doing good works or observing some religious
rituals. Many others are not meek enough to believe and receive God’s
Word with faith, reverence, and submission. They even dare to question
and criticize God’s Word! It is a sinful arrogance for sinners to
question the holy God, or for sinful creatures to question their Creator
and His Word! Doing this, they miss the blessing from the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the very God, but is “meek and lowly in heart”
(Matt 11:28), humbled Himself to be a man, even a servant, and obeyed
His Father unto death to die for His sinful creatures! Therefore, God
has “highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name” (Phil 2:6-11).
It is not enough to realise our
spiritual poverty and mourn over it, as we cannot be saved by it. You
and I must be humble, meek and teachable to receive God’s grace and
salvation for our souls. Then it is a blessing for us to know our
spiritual poverty and helplessness, to mourn and to be sorry for our
sins and shortcoming, and then to humbly repent and receive Jesus Christ
as our Lord and Saviour as well as receive God’s Word as the foundation
of our faith and salvation. The reward of the meek is to inherit the
earth or land, which refers to all the promises of God, including His
salvation in Christ and the Millennium kingdom of Christ on earth when
He comes back again to be the King of kings. Let us receive God’s
salvation in Christ today so that we may enjoy His Kingdom of peace when
Jesus Christ comes back in the future. Surely, “The LORD lifteth up
the meek” (Ps 147:6) and “he will beautify the meek with
salvation” (Ps 149:4).
A Meek Heart
A meek heart is the fruit of the Holy
Spirit (Gal 5:23). We are commanded to put on and to follow “meekness”
together with love, mercy, kindness, humbleness, faith, patience,
godliness, righteousness, and longsuffering (Col 3:12; 1 Tim 6:11),
adorning ourselves with “a quiet and meek spirit, which is in the
sight of God of great price” (1 Peter 3:4), and which is wise before
God (James 3:13). Then what is the fruit of a meek heart before God?
- The meek acknowledge their weakness
and nothingness, and then humbly seek God for His will, way, strength,
guidance, and blessing, “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth,
which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it
may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger” (Zeph 2:3)
and “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach
his way” (Ps 25:9). We are not meek if we fail to seek God first.
- The meek receive God’s Word with
faith, reverence and submission, “receive with meekness” God’s
Word (James 1:21). We are not meek if we doubt or arrogantly criticise
God’s Word.
- The meek acknowledge God’s
sovereignty and receive everything from the Lord with thanks, “shall
we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”
(Job 2:10), and “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20), knowing
that God is able to make all things work together for good to those who
love Him (Rom 8:28). We are not meek if we murmur against God or blame
God for any evil.
- The meek deal with others with
meekness, “shewing all meekness unto all men” (Titus 3:2), and
“with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one
another in love” (Eph 4:2), and “the servant of the Lord must not
strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Tim 2:24-25)
and “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter
3:15). Acknowledging the sinful, corrupt, and rebellious nature of human
beings, the meek will not trust in themselves or human arguments to
bring others to God’s Truth, but trust in the Lord and God’s Word alone,
pray for them, and patiently explain the truth to them. We are not meek
if we are aggressive, trusting in ourselves or human arguments.
- The meek control their tongues,
neither quickly get angry, nor raise their voice nor use strong words to
hurt others, “let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to
wrath” (James 1:19; cf. Prov 14:29), and “A soft answer turneth
away wrath” (Prov 15:1), following our Lord Jesus Christ’s example,
“He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice
in the streets” (Matt 12:19). We are not meek if we quickly get
angry and use our words to attack others.
- The meek are humble, neither
envying, nor striving, nor boasting nor showing off, “not be desirous
of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal
5:26). We are not meek if we are proud and boastful.
Conclusion
Dear friends, a quiet and meek heart
is wise and of great price before God. God shall teach, guide, bless,
exalt and help the meek and beautify them with His salvation. May God
help you and me look unto our Lord Jesus Christ and follow Him, who is
humble and meek, submissive to His Father’s will and Word, and gentle
and kind to the weak, the helpless and the needy. May the Lord fill our
hearts with His love and meekness so that we may submissively accept
everything from Him and show His love and meekness to others. Amen.
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