It is common to single men and women to have a list of qualities that they want to see who they want to be with. Some single men and women have their own checklists. Usually if you’re a christian woman, once the the top of the list would be I assume, I’m not saying that this is a good thing to do, but I assume if you have a checklist, if you’re a christian woman, that should be Godly, right, family man, or you can put there handsome, if you want. If you’re a single man, of course you would put at the top of the list also Godly member of the church, um family woman or pretty or beautiful, holy right. Of course when you find someone, you usually check on an item in that list.
Now in Matthew Chapter 5 in our series, you would say sub-series because we are in The Sermon on the Mount. Christ begins with a list of qualities of one who is in the kingdom of God. Or you could say that you can, if you, if you are a christian, you would look at the list and then you would um uh look at it and then see if you are in a way, truly yielding to the sanctification of of God, of the Holy Spirit. And you can okay, para siyang dating, para siyang checklist din, in a sense for evaluation of a christian man or a woman. So, it is a list, it is a list of qualities of attitudes, of characteristics. He begins by saying that one should be poor in spirit, Christ said, blessed are the poor in spirit meaning, a person must understand his or her own spiritual bankruptcy. That he or she is totally depraved. And that that is the only way that you would rightly mourn if you understand your spiritual bankruptcy, right. So parang magkakasunod din talaga ang list na ito. And then next to that list, next item, is “Meek.” Blessed are the meek. It is very important to understand this word. You can’t, you wouldn’t understand this word unless you have gone through the first two. I mean you need to understand your place as a sinner spiritually bankrupt and that you needed saving. And that in order for you to come to the saving knowledge of the Savior, you must rightly mourn because of your sin. So you see yung pagkakasunod-sunod. And thirdly, again, in the list it says, “Meek.” And I’d like to touch this especially this morning and study with you this beautiful attitude in the kingdom of God – MEEKNESS.
So turn with me to Matthew Chapter 5 and we will read again from verse 3 to verse 12. Matthew chapter 5 verses 3 to 12. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever.
The Gospel of Matthew, as you know presents Jesus Christ as the long-awaited King who has come. Dumating na ang Haring pinakahihintay. Now the King delivers His pronouncements and it is usual for Kings to deliver such messages, such edicts. In this case, we have now the King delivering His pronouncement, His sermon to the many crowds. He begins The Sermon on the Mount with what we call the Beatitudes. It serves, again, as a list of qualities for you, for everyone to look at, especially for christian men and women to see if your life conforms to the beautiful attitudes in the Kingdom of Christ. And again, when we say attitudes, when we say qualities, when we say characteristics, we’re not saying that these are attainable by a natural man. I’m not saying that. One cannot be poor in spirit. One cannot truly mourn, and one cannot truly be meek on their own apart from the work of God. We need to understand that the ones who are in this list, the ones who are in His kingdom are able to get to the kingdom not because of their own merits, but only by Christ’s merits. Not their own doing, but by the work of the King who’s giving this sermon. And so Christ told us, thirdly, yung pangatlo, that a kingdom citizen must be meek. And by meek, Jesus that did not mean passivity, passive. Jesus did not mean weakness, kahinaan. Rather this is a Biblical meekness, this is Christian meekness, this is true meekness, which means in its original language, GENTLE, gentleness. Meaning not quarrelsome, not easily angered. It also means humility not boastful, not proud, no self- control in one’s emotions, not retaliating when wronged. That’s also meek, humility. Meekness also means submissiveness, not always being critical, submissive. In fact the word meek or gentle is always associated with the word “lowly” L-O-W-L-Y lowly, lowliness. Ibig sabihin ng loneliness is how you see yourself as a sinner in relation to God. Again, it’s not weakness, but being strong, being able to control, strength that is under control, that is meekness. Humility, submissiveness, self-control, gentleness — that is “Meek.” That is what Christ was saying. And again, this is something that one cannot achieve because meekness is a grace, it is a miracle that comes from God. No one in his own can truly be meek toward others. No, hindi po. Milagro ang pagiging meek. Hindi ito kaya ng isang makasalanan na katulad mo at katulad ko. This is a gift, this is a grace coming from God. Again, a natural man cannot be meek as defined by the scriptures. In fact Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 to 23 tells us of what the fruit of the spirit is. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness meekness or gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law.
So when Jesus said blessed are the meek, He’s talking about someone in the state of grace, someone who has already been redeemed to become meek. At the same time when Jesus said blessed are the meek, He’s calling the redeemed, the ones who have been transferred, transmitted, transferred to the, into the state of grace, the ones who were redeemed by Christ to continue being meek. You’re already, you’re already meek as a christian. Continue being meek toward others just like our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
And so my message this morning brethren and friends is this
CHRISTIAN MEEKNESS IS A GRACE FROM GOD INTENDED TO BE EXPRESSED TOWARD OTHERS. Christian meekness is a grace from God. Not from our own merit. It is a grace from God and what is it for? Intended to be expressed toward others. The gentleness, humility, calmness, submissiveness, mildness, all of these things are what constitutes true meekness. And it’s something all believers must aim for, must strive for, and must be expressed toward others. But before we express meekness toward others, it is important that we are grounded biblically. We must know firstly, the meekness personified.
That is my first point — MEEKNESS PERSONIFIED. And to express meekness to others how do we cultivate it? My second point is MEEKNESS PICTURED.
Let us consider my first point MEEKNESS PERSONIFIED. So again, the King Jesus Christ has, He became flesh and He dwelt among men and He requires meekness to be a quality of a kingdom citizen. This means that He requires it. He requires gentleness, He requires humility; to not be boastful, boastful of about what you have. He require submissiveness to the word of God and not being critical about the word of God. He requires calmness, being confidently quiet. He requires self-control, having the ability of not retaliating when you are wronged, of not taking vengeance. Turning to the other cheek when someone slaps you on the other cheek. All of these things again, are what constitutes being meek and Christ requires it in His kingdom. And the reason why this is the calling of every christian, every follower of Christ, is because these are qualities of Christ. Christ is meek. He, Himself did not retaliate when He was wronged. Rather he endured.
He is submissive to the purposes of God – obedient to the point death
on the cross. He is humble He said Matthew chapter 21 verse 5 when he was entering. Matthew chapter 21 verse 5 it says behold your King is coming to you humble, or in other translations, meek and mounted on a donkey. He is gentle. Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to 29, see, if you read blessed art of the meek, the first thing that you will, that, that you should know, is not “okay, what should I do to be meek?” The first thing that you, that you should know is that, oh, the one saying this is the one meek. Sabi Niya, Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to 29 He said, come to me all who labor, labor and labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am meek, for I am gentle and lowly, humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Here’s the King, here’s My message here’s My sermon — blessed are the meek. The first thing that you should know, the king is meek. Hence, He’s calling His followers to be like Him. The Kingdom citizens are meek, because the King Himself is meek. Again, first and foremost, that’s what we need to understand — that Christ is submissive, humble, gentle and lowly. He is “meekness personified.” Friends, this is what gives all of us comfort. That God-man, Jesus Christ, the Judge of all is gentle. The Holy One is humble and He calls us to come to Him. This is what it means that Christ is meek. It simply means that sinners who recognise their spiritual brand bankruptcy, who mourns because of their sin can find their rest in the meekness personified Christ. And He commands you, He commands all of us to come to Him for rest. You see, the order of the Beatitudes: You must be poor in spirit, you must mourn for your sins. Remember the one, the King who has come, is Meek therefore you come to him and find rest. If this is a character of Christ that you heard just now, and you’ve not yet surrendered your life by having faith in Christ, let me ask you — do you recognise your sins friends? Recognise that God hates sin? That He is Holy. That He judges sinners. That He punishes sinners, that He punished the sinless Jesus Christ on the cross. And that’s how we know that God hates and judges sin. But if you recognise now that you’ve sinned against God, repent for the kingdom of God is here. He has come, the King has come and He has come to save sinners like you and me. And He wants you to come and have faith in Him. For if you come with a humbled heart, he is gentle and lowly. He forgives sinners. He is the perfect picture of meekness, of submissiveness, of humility, of gentleness. Isn’t His incarnation the perfect picture of meekness? Is it His humble obedience to the will of God in His perfect life? A perfect picture of His meekness? Isn’t His death on the cross a perfect picture of his humility? His meekness? Isn’t His call to sinners, call to sinners who are deserving of the wrath of God, who are deserving of condemnation, and He yet, He calls you to come to Him? Isn’t that a picture of meekness? Come to the gentle Christ. But if you don’t come to Christ, make no mistake friends, for the gentle Christ is the holy Christ. The meekness that you see, it is Incarnation is also a picture of Him, dealing also with sin. His death on the cross, which we say the perfect, is the perfect picture of meekness, is also the perfect picture of holiness and the wrath of God. Repent and come to faith in Christ. But if you are in Christ, remember, remember that sin continues to weary our souls. Are you heavy laden? Are you so worried? Burdened because of your sin? The same, the same call applies to us brethren.
Come to the gentle Christ and receive the rest. Receive comfort from our gentle Lord and Savior.
Let’s say there is a child who did something wrong. And his father finds a finds out. Now compare two scenarios with me. Firstly, the child learned that his father is so mad at him and so the child comes to his father so afraid, trembling. Alam ko na ang reaksyon ng tatay ko.
Bata pa ito huh. Secondly, the child learned that his father is ready to forgive him. And his father was gentle, so the child comes to the father humbled. There are two responses by the one who did something wrong. Either he’s so afraid because he’ll be hurt, or he’s humbled because despite of what he did, the father was ready to forgive. Well friends, brethren, it’s like that when it comes to Christ. We are coming to Him not as someone who will receive wrath from Him. Rather, we’re coming to Him as a gentle Christ.
So ang challenge ko sa lahat nang nandito, friends, brothers and sisters — come more boldly to the gentle Christ and find rest in Him Come more boldly to the gentle Christ and find rest in Him. Teka Pastor, di ba, naniniwala tayo dun sa tinatawag na doctrine of impassibility? Di ba walang passions supposedly si God? Di ba dapat wala Siyang emotions in a sense that whenever someone did something, God is not affected by anything outside of Himself because He is God. And if He is affected by anything, anyone by someone or anything outside of Himself, then that does not make him God. That’s true. God is without passions. He’s not affected by anyone. So hindi kunwari, nagkasala tayo dito, bigla na lang magiging malungkot ang Diyos ngayon. But that’s the beauty of Christ. The Impassible God became passible in Christ. And He showed us the gentle, the lowly side of God. We see that in Jesus Christ because he is hundred percent God, hundred percent man. So, come more boldly. And it doesn’t stop there. When He ascended, you should also still come more boldly to the gentle Christ. Hindi nagbago si Kristo! He’s still gentle as He intercedes to us now, seated on the right hand of the Father. He’s still gentle and lowly. Come to Him more boldly. When sins become weary, my brothers and sisters, come more boldly to Christ. He is meekness personified.
We see Jesus Christ’s indignation towards the Pharisees. But He is
gentle to those who humble themselves. We see His holy anger against those who are making the House of Prayer a den of robbers. Nakita natin yung anger, holy anger ni Christ. But He is gentle to those who mourn for their sins. That means you can come more boldly to God also in prayer. That our prayers are heard. That our prayers reach the most high God. Because we are reconciled by the gentle Christ. This means that you can come to God more boldly to worship. You, being here is coming more boldly to, to the gentle Christ. That in worship, you’re here to receive the word from the gentle King Himself. You are coming to the approachable King who strengthens you with blessings with His word and not curses. You’re not here to receive curses brethren.
Knowing this, you can indeed find rest In Christ.
Another problem is if you have pride in your hearts and that’s the only reason why you wouldn’t come to Jesus. Why would I even approach Christ? That would mean putting death my, my, putting to death my sin. That’s what it means. I don’t want to put to death my sin. Well, Christ is your only hope. And your only hope wants you to come to Him always. And your only hope is ready to forgive us of our sins.
Sabi nga ni Thomas Goodwin in his beautiful work entitled, The Heart of Christ, he said and I quote: “We are apt to think that He, being so holy, is therefore of a severe and sour disposition against sinners, and not able to bear them. No, says He. ‘I am meek,’ Gentleness is My nature and temper there is. Comfort concerning such infirmities in that your very sins move him to pity more than to anger.” and quote. That is the truth that Christ is gentle to those who humble themselves. Is your heart full of pride? are you in sin now and you don’t know if you’ll be forgiven? All the more that you need to come to Christ in faith. When you struggle with sin, He wants you to come, receive comfort from the most gentle of all.. and that is Jesus Christ.
But see, again, when we look at the Beatitudes, we see the character of Christ specifically being meek. But at the same time it is also a calling for us to be meek. That is my second and last point MEEKNESS PICTURED.
Jesus Christ said blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus Christ was giving a psalm. It is in Psalm chapter 37 verses 10 to 11 and it says In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. And so context.. the wicked were living a life of licentiousness the thinking that they’re living “the life.” And the Israelites who have faith in God during that time might think that it is unfair! That the wicked seems to enjoy the land of Canaan. But there will be a time, God says in this Psalm, there will be a time of vindication. A time when the enemies of God will be no more and the faithful ones, the meek ones shall inherit the land of Canaan. And so we see here in Matthew Chapter 5, Christ uses this passage to teach His disciples that those who are meek, the humble, will not, will not just have a portion of earth, but will inherit the entire earth. We’re not just talking about physical earth here, brethren. This means we have everything in Christ. When Christ returns, there will be the new heaven and the new earth. This is not just earth, physical earth now. Oh we will have all, everything, this is what it means. We are the ones who will remain when Christ returns. We will be with Him in the new heaven and the new earth. The wicked will be no more. Paul also said in First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 21 so let no one boast in man for all things are yours. All are yours. Paul was literally saying be meek and not boastful. Yes, you have everything in Christ already. You don’t have to boast about your inheritance because it’s not you, it’s not you who has accomplished the inheritance. It is Christ’s doing, so if you’re gonna boast, boast in what Christ has done. That is meekness. In fact, if you are in Christ, you’re already rich, not materially but spiritually. Oh soon, yes, materially when Christ returns. But now spiritually rich. Second Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 tells us for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor so that you by His poverty might become rich. Now that is the perfect picture of meekness! He has glory and yet for our sake, He humbled Himself, He denied Himself of all the heavenly glories so that you and I can be spiritually rich in Christ. That’s what it means when Christ says blessed be, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. They are the humbled ones although they have everything in Christ already, oh blessed are the meek because they’re not boasting about the inheritance as if they, it’s, it’s them who, who accomplish and attained all these things. But it is Christ. True meekness is living a life humbled before God as sinners in need of grace with nothing to bring of their own and yet knowing we have everything in Jesus Christ. So meekness is pictured by the person of Christ. His meekness isn’t just an indication that He is approachable. It is also something pursuable. It should be imitated. Remember it is intended to be expressed toward others. And so my last challenge for everyone is to SEEK TO IMITATE THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST AS WE ANTICIPATE THE GREAT INHERITANCE WE HAVE IN HIM.
That’s what Paul said in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 to 2 I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all meekness with all humility and gentleness he said with patience bearing one another in love. Seek to imitate the meekness of Christ. And when we look at the meekness of Christ, firstly here’s what we need to to look at, to see..His meekness toward God’s will. His meekness goes toward God’s purpose, towards God, God’s word. He responded in obedience to the law. In fact perfectly, He obeyed. And so as christians, we must seek to imitate that meekness toward God’s purposes. This means we must be responsive to the word of God not just hearers of the word. But in fact, doers! How many times have we heard God preach to us every Lord’s Day, how Christ preaches to us His gospel and He challenges us to heed His call? How many times have we become just hearers every Lord’s Day? But doers, like Christ. This means we must receive the word of God with gentle and humbled hearts knowing that His word is what our souls need. Ilang beses na tayong nandito tayo pero very critical tayo sa salita ng Diyos? Ayaw nating tanggapin! Pero si Kristo..hindi lang Niya tinanggap..sinunod pa Niya PERFECTLY. So, imitate such meekness. And so that is the first one. If you, if you want to imitate Christ, and we should, we must look at His meekness toward God’s purpose, God’s word. Secondly Christ is meek toward others.
And so as christians, we must seek to imitate that meekness toward other people as well. We must be like Christ to others. He dined with sinners. He’s compassionate towards sinners, toward children who needs the gospel. He was humble, gentle, lowly. All these, as we imitate Christ, knowing our great inheritance is in Him. It is obedience with hope of greater communion with God. As we imitate Christ at the back of our heads, ang iniisip natin, oh, we have everything in Christ. And so motivated ng joy ang ating obedience sa Kaniya. With hopes of a greater incomparable life without sin. Yes, nangyayari sa akin lahat ng ito na nangyayari but I’ll be faithful, I will be meek, responsive to the word of God, and even to others. But I know that sin will be no more when Christ returns. But because Christ inherited everything, I inherited it with Him as well, because He is my Lord and my Savior, the Head of the church. Now the problem is when it comes to meekness, and when it comes to expressing it toward others, is that we can definitely fake it. We can definitely fake our humility. We can definitely fake our gentleness. And that is a problem. But is that the meekness that we are, is that the meekness that we’re trying to show now? We try to act gentle, act humble and yet so, kumbaga sinning in our hearts, and in our minds. There’s hatred in our hearts and in our minds and yet outwardly, you’re showing that you are “Christ-like.” Are we living a double life like that? When you meet someone you act very humble and yet your mind has been sinning? This is why the challenge for us is not go and be meek, just be meek. No, imitate the meekness of Christ because Christ did not have any inward sin. He did not have any sinful inward thoughts. He did not have any inward sinful motives. You imitate that! Not counterfeit meekness.
Sabi nga ni Thomas Watson, “meekness shows us the badge of a true saint.” If there’s a quality that you would immediately know, oh this is a brother in Christ, his meekness. Yun ang pinaka-quality ni Christ na kitang-kita sa isang kristiyano kapag siya ay naging faithful and obedient sa salita ng Diyos. So the true blessing of every meek believer of course is Christ. We have the great privilege to always come to Him knowing that He is gentle and lowly in heart. If you see these Beatitudes, that’s the first thing that, that must come to your minds. That I’m looking at the qualities of Christ. But at the same time, He’s not just meek personified. He is also the source of meekness. He is also the pattern, the model of meekness. So brothers and sisters, always come more boldly to the gentle, forgiving Jesus Christ and seek always to imitate Him May the word of God enrich our knowledge of Him and may it stir us to live in light of these truths. Let us pray.
Great God and gracious Father, thank You Lord for Your meekness. For who You are. Thank you Lord that we can see all Your qualities in Christ in His life, death, resurrection and even now, even in His intercession. Lord, thank You that You are a forgiving God. Thank you Lord that You are gentle and lowly. Thank You that we can always come to Your Son that the mercy seat is open still whenever our souls are wearied. Whenever we are struggling with remaining sins. Lord thank You for this for this great assurance that we have and Lord may You enable us to always imitate Your Son that we will always look to Him as our source and pattern of meekness. May we not sin against You by having a counterfeit meekness, humility. May we always look to Him, may You humble our hearts, may we always receive Your word. May we always, may we always be loving to one another. May our first application of being meek may, may be seen always O Lord in the church and in the home. And may the people who, who see such meekness will be pointed to the source who is Christ. Again, we thank you in Christ’s name, amen.