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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five, I'll just 
pick up reading in verse one. And seeing the multitudes, he 
went up on a mountain. And when he was seated with his 
disciples, when he was seated, his 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. 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 filled. Blessed 
are the merciful. for they shall obtain 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 they revile 
and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely 
for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad 
For great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets 
who were before you. You are the salt of the earth, 
but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It 
is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled 
underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. 
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they 
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who 
are in the house. Let your light so shine before 
men that they may see your good works and glorify your father 
in heaven. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
God and our Father, we thank you for the written word and 
we praise you for the Lord Jesus Christ and for his life, his 
death, his resurrection. And we thank you, Lord God, that 
our salvation, our acceptance with you is connected solely 
to him. We pray, Father, that your spirit 
would guide us and instruct us now from the scripture. We pray 
that you would forgive us for all of our sins and anything 
that would cast a darkening influence upon us. We do want to take every 
thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. We do want to 
learn the scriptures. We want to be doers of the word 
of God. And we know that apart from Christ, 
we can do nothing. So please provide to us the spirit 
of the living God to dwell in us richly. We pray for those 
who do not know you as Lord and Savior. We pray that through 
the Word preached and through the ministry and power of the 
Holy Spirit, today would be the day of salvation. Today would 
be the exercise of the sovereign will of God, not the free will 
of men that men so often boast of, but the sovereign power of 
God displayed through the preached Word and the Spirit of God. We 
pray that you would draw sinners forth, cause them to see the 
glory and majesty of Christ, cause them to believe the truth, 
that God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we 
might become the righteousness of God in him. And our father, 
I pray now for your blessing upon the Garrity family. We just 
commit to you, Sean, and his wife and his family. We pray 
specifically for young Megan. God, we do pray physically she 
would recover. We pray that spiritually she 
would be drawn unto you and that, Father, you would indeed receive 
glory in the midst of this tragedy. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord, amen. Well, remember that we're considering 
the Beatitudes, those pronouncements of our Lord Jesus or those descriptions 
of our Lord Jesus of what a kingdom citizen looks like. Remember, 
the primary audience here is the disciples, those who have 
been saved by grace through faith in Christ. Jesus is not giving 
a list of imperatives. Go out and be poor in spirit. Go out and mourn, go out and 
be meek, and in so doing you will receive the forgiveness 
of sins. No, he is dealing with those who have been saved by 
grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This is a description 
of what kingdom citizens look like. Again, not to the degree 
that we ought to manifest these characteristics, but that is 
what's going on here. We need to understand that. Just 
by way of reminder, Martin Lloyd-Jones highlights the fact that these 
Beatitudes presuppose the grace of God. He says that all Christians 
are to be like this. All Christians are meant to manifest 
all of these characteristics. None of these characteristics 
refers to what we might call a natural tendency. Jesus isn't 
pronouncing a beatitude or a blessing simply on those who, by nature, 
are of a timid spirit or, by nature, cry over the smallest 
things. No, these are kingdom citizens. 
They are those saved by grace, and by God's grace they are to 
manifest these things by the power of His Spirit. Lloyd-Jones 
says, each one of them is wholly a disposition which is produced 
by grace alone and the operation of the Holy Spirit upon us. We need to remember that. We're 
not coming here this morning saying, go out and do this and 
you will be saved. No, this is primarily addressed 
to those who are saved. This is the way we ought to look. This is true of us to a certain 
degree. We ought to manifest these characteristics. We ought to let our light so 
shine before men that they may see our good works and give glory 
to our father in heaven. We broke down these eight Beatitudes 
into two major sections. The first four are the attitudes 
that are consistent with God's holy kingdom. The last four are 
those actions which are consistent with God's holy kingdom. And this morning we find ourselves 
in the third one, meekness. Blessed are the meek, for they 
shall inherit the earth. Remember, the word blessed means 
happy or fortunate or blissful. It is not a superficial feeling 
based on circumstance, something that comes or goes based on what's 
true around us. Rather, it is a supernatural 
experience of contentedness based on the presence of God's in one's 
life. That's how we can be truly blessed 
in every situation, in every circumstance, in every reality 
that we face. The good times, it's easy to 
be blessed. It is the bad times as well that 
we need to reckon with and realize that we remain blessed because 
of God's goodness, God's grace to us in this present life. There is an already asked fact 
and a not yet. There is the already possession 
of this current blessedness, but we have not yet entered into 
the fullness. When Jesus returns, or when we 
die, we enter into that blessed fullness that God has promised 
to all of his children. So that's what Jesus means when 
he says, Blessed are the meek. Well, who are the meek? What 
does it mean to be meek? Am I meek? I have to confess 
my sin before I come and preach. I don't always display or manifest 
these characteristics. When you start to get into it 
and start to investigate a particular word that is used, or you see 
how the concepts are illustrated in other portions of Scripture, 
it's a very humbling experience. This morning, I think it is good 
for us to spend some time on this idea of meekness. We've 
recently encountered the same word used in Galatians chapter 
five. There, the Apostle gives us the 
fruits of the Spirit, and there our English translation, at least 
the New King James Version, translates it as gentleness in Galatians 
5.23. The word typically describes 
someone in whom strength and gentleness go together. strength 
and gentleness. We hear, blessed are the meek, 
and we immediately think, blessed are the weak, blessed are the 
doormats, blessed are those who are walked all over in this particular 
world. In a few moments, we'll look 
at least three illustrations of men who were genuinely biblically 
meek men But they were not doormats, they didn't get walked all over, 
they showed strength, they showed power, they showed authority, 
they showed the wherewithal to deal with the wickedness in their 
generation. So the meek man is not the weak 
man. Another definition says that 
the humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself in a patient 
submissiveness to offense. See, it's easier to be meek when 
everything's going our way, isn't it? It's easy to have this power 
and this control and this gentle disposition when everybody's 
treating us well, right? Isn't it? I mean, admit it. Isn't it easier to be a Christian 
when everything is going our way? Isn't it? It's when things begin to run 
roughshod over our lives. It's when there's some cross-brain 
putting that goes on. Meekness has gone out the door 
and we're going to assert ourselves for Jesus. We need to be careful. We need to be meek. This definition 
says, the humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself in a patient 
submissiveness to offense, free from malice and desire for revenge. MacArthur reminds us that the 
attitude should not be misunderstood. It does not mean weakness, quoting 
MacArthur's commentary. He says the word was used in 
much extra biblical literature. That means literature outside 
of the Bible, things that were written in the same language, 
but not necessarily in the scripture. He says the word that is used 
here, we translate me, the word was used in much extra biblical 
literature to refer to the breaking of an animal, to the breaking 
of an animal. You got this big wild horse. You just put him in your backyard 
in all of his wildness, in all of his ferocity, in all of his 
zeal and power? No, you need to break him. You 
need to bring him under submission. This is what MacArthur says the 
word means. It means power under control. Self-control by the power of 
the Holy Spirit is essential to the meaning of this word. 
The Proverbs speak to self-control says he was slow to anger is 
better than the mighty beautiful description. He was slow to anger 
is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than 
he who takes a city. Proverbs sixteen and verse thirty 
two Proverbs twenty five twenty eight says whoever has no rule 
over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls. We 
simply didn't want to live in a city without walls in that 
context. You simply did not want to live 
in a city that wasn't protected, that didn't have a wall, that 
didn't have gates, that didn't have a defense mechanism. Listen 
to this. Meekness means power under control. A part and parcel of the very 
meaning of blessed are the meek, which all of us, to one degree 
or another, confess to be by grace through faith in Christ. 
means to have self-control. The proverb says that whoever 
has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without 
walls. That is a bad position to be 
in. That is a bad state to be in. It is contrary to what Jesus 
describes here as blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
the earth. I just want to quote a couple 
of men who help illustrate this. Not Chamblin says such persons 
again, describing the meat. The such persons are lowly and 
humble and heart. They're able to endure great 
wrong without responding in kind, and they are able to serve others, 
including wrongdoers with gentleness, quietness and mercy. Blessed 
are the meat. You see, any fool can be the 
opposite. Any of us, by nature, are power 
without control. Any of us can respond in kind 
to the hateful words of somebody. It takes God's grace to live 
in a world marked with sin and depravity and wickedness and 
to conduct ourselves like Christ in that world. Thomas Watson, 
that Puritan divine, he said, How amiable is a saint in God's 
eye when adorned with this jewel? A meek spirit brings credit to 
religion and silences malice. It is the varnish that puts luster 
upon holiness and sets off the gospel with a better gloss. He certainly has a way with words, 
doesn't he? Now, I got one more quote, and 
it's a long quote. If you don't get it, email me. I'll send it to you. Martin Lloyd-Jones 
volumes on the Sermon on the Mount. He spends considerable 
time in the Beatitudes. And what he says here is penetrating. 
What he says here, I think, cuts right to the heart of the matter, 
of blessed are the meek. He says, after having spent several 
chapters, I didn't quote the whole thing, could have just 
brought the book up here, read his sermon. and prayed and said amen, 
and you would have been thoroughly edified, thoroughly challenged, 
and probably thoroughly reproved to continue to seek grace and 
mercy in the beloved Savior. But after describing what it 
isn't, what meekness is not, he then spends considerable time 
describing what meekness is. And then with this hammer drop, 
he says, then let me go further. The man who is meek is not even 
sensitive about himself. He is not always watching himself 
and his own interests. He is not always on the defensive. We all know about this, do we 
not? Is it not one of the greatest curses in life as a result of 
the fall? This sensitivity about self. We spend the whole of our lives 
watching ourselves. But when a man becomes meek, 
he has finished with all that. He no longer worries about himself 
and what other people may say to be truly make means we are 
no longer. We no longer protect ourselves 
because we see there is nothing worth defending. So we're not 
on the defensive. All that is gone. The man who 
is truly meek never pities himself. He is never sorry for himself. 
He never talks to himself and says, you are having a hard time. How unkind these people are not 
to understand you. He never thinks how wonderful 
I really am. If only other people gave me 
a chance. Self pity. What hours and years 
we waste in this. But the man who has become meek 
has finished with all that. To be meek, in other words, means 
that you have finished with yourself altogether, and you come to see 
you have no rights or deserts at all. You come to realize that 
nobody can harm you. John Bunyan puts it perfectly. 
He that is down, fear no fall. When a man truly sees himself, 
he knows nobody can say anything about him that is too bad. You need not worry about what 
men say or do. You know you deserve it all and 
more. Once again, therefore, I would define meekness like 
this. The man who is truly meek is the one who is amazed that 
God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat 
him as well as they do. That, it seems to me, is its 
essential quality. We could probably all just get 
on our faces right now and say, God have mercy upon me. If you've 
been in the Christian life for any amount of time, you'll know 
the greatest enemy that you face is probably not the devil. It's 
probably not even the world. I'm not minimizing their impact. 
I'm not minimizing their influence. I'm not minimizing their aggression 
towards God's people. But that one sin that you continually 
have to strive against is the wicked mother of all sins, pride 
herself. Pride is the fountain from which 
self-pity flows. It's interesting, just this week, 
Johnny Farese sent out an email, it was a little video clip. The 
guy was talking about being defensive, when we're very defensive and 
we're fighting for our rights, and we're fighting for our position, 
and we're fighting for our prestige. He says, this is an evidence 
of selfishness. It is pride, it is self-pity. Lloyd-Jones says, the meat man, 
he's done with all that. He's done with asserting himself. 
He's done with being right all the time. He's done with always 
promoting himself. No, blessed are the meat. Jesus 
says that they shall inherit the earth. I think that's why 
the nature of the promise is the way it is. The world tells 
us, blessed are the strong. They shall inherit the earth. 
Blessed are the assertive. Blessed are the accomplished. 
Blessed are the ones that have their act together. Blessed are 
the ones who demand that they be taken seriously. The world 
says, if you're like that, you will get the world. Jesus says, 
not so in the kingdom of God. You want to be great? Become 
least. You want to become first? Be 
last. The ethics of God's kingdom are 
topsy-turvy. They run against the grain. They humble us. They lay us low. I love how he quotes Bunyan there. 
He that is down need fear no fall. He that is down need fear 
no fall. You got nowhere else to go. You're 
already down there. You say, well, that's good as 
far as it goes. Lloyd-Jones is a wonderful preacher. But does 
the Bible evidence such a disposition? Romans chapter 12. While the 
specific word that Jesus uses It is not in Romans 12, or at 
least in this section, the concept is everywhere. The idea is present. The ethic is being enjoined upon 
God's people. Romans chapter 12, verse 14, 
bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice 
with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the 
same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high 
things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your 
own opinion that exemplifies or illustrates for us this idea 
of power under control. You're not a doormat. You're 
not laying on the couch, watching the world go by, so that you 
can effectively meet it and all of its wickedness. No, you're 
in the world. You're among the people. You're 
with the people of God. You're in the church of Christ. 
This is the ethic you are to imbibe. Be of the same mind toward 
one another. Do not set your mind on high 
things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your 
own opinion. And then over in Philippians 
chapter 2, a passage that I hope is very familiar to you. I hope 
that when I call that out, you say, oh, we're going back to 
Philippians chapter 2 again. I hope that's what you're saying 
in a happy way, not in a sad way, but in a happy way. Philippians 
chapter 2, again the word praous is the word that is used. Blessed 
are the meek, or the gentle, in Galatians 5. That word is 
absent, but I think you'll see the concept is exemplified, it 
is illustrated, it is demonstrated in Paul's words to the church 
in Philippi. Philippians 2, verse 1, therefore 
if there is any consolation in Christ. Now, what Paul is doing 
here is not saying, if perhaps you have some consolation in 
Christ. The grammar suggests that we could translate it, since 
there is consolation in Christ. Since you have been liberated 
from your sins, since you've been freed from the tyranny of 
the devil, since you've been bought out of the slave market 
of sin, since you have come to know Christ as Lord and Savior, 
since these things are true, since there is consolation in 
Christ, since there is comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit, 
affection and mercy. You see what Paul is doing? It's 
appealing to what God has done in them in terms of the gospel, 
in terms of the cross. He is appealing to the grace 
of God at work in them. These things wholly transpose 
grace, our nature, our native ability. Paul says, since God 
has been at work in you, since you have become recipients of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ, since these things are present in you, 
now here's how you are to live. He says in verse two, fulfill 
my joy by being like minded. Having the same love, being of 
one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish 
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem. Now 
notice what he says here. Others better than himself. It's not hyperbole, it's not 
literary effect, it's not just a polish that Paul puts on there 
to try to make people feel guilty. This is Christian ethics. This 
is what it's about. This is where the rubber meets 
the road. These are the ones that Jesus says, blessed are 
the meat, for they shall inherit the earth. Do you esteem others 
better than yourself? Do you esteem others as more 
than you? Jesus did this. Jesus in John 
14 says, I am going to the father. The father is greater than I. Jesus is equal in deity, he's 
equal in power, he's equal in glory, but in the economy of 
redemption, he willingly submits himself to the Father and he 
says that my Father is greater. When Paul tells us what's going 
to happen at the second coming of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15, 
after Jesus offers up the kingdom to the Father, the Son submits 
to the Father so that God is all in all. You see, this is 
true of Christ. Let nothing be done through selfish 
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others 
better than himself. I recently was reminded of a 
particular job in the United States Air Force. Those of you 
who have been here for some time have heard this group referred 
to. One of the young recruits that's 
going in at the time of Micah is actually signed up for pararescue. Pararescue. This is like the 
special forces or the elite guys in the US Air Force. Their job 
is to be trained medically. They're to be paramedics. All 
the training that goes into that. But they're to be the hardcore 
survivalist guys that can swim for, you know, however long, 
that can, you know, do however many push-ups. If a pilot goes 
down behind enemy lines, it's the PJs, or the pararescue, that 
are sent in to find the pilot, to render aid to him, and to 
bring him out from behind enemy lines. I mean, this is a hardcore 
job. There's a young guy going for that. And as we were talking, 
Micah's recruiter mentioned the motto. Again, this is a motto 
that I remember from when I was in the service. The motto of 
pararescue is that others may live. Now, little do they know, and 
I'm sure it wasn't calculated this way, that describes the 
life and ministry of Jesus, doesn't it? That others may live. The Son of Man did not come to 
be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. You see, the Christian life is 
to be one with that motto, that others may live, that others 
may prosper. that others may be held in high 
regard. This is what Paul is telling 
us. Let nothing be done through selfish 
ambition or conceit, but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem others 
better than himself. Let each of you look out not 
only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 
Presuppose you will look out for your own interests. Paul 
appeals to that with reference to husbands loving their wives. 
A man clothes himself, a man feeds himself. Those are assumptions 
to be sure. Paul's not saying be a monk, 
be an ascetic, go shave your head and sit on a pole so that 
others may prosper. No, that's not what he means. 
But he does, however, call us to be others minded, to think 
about other people, to put other people first. to esteem them 
better than ourselves. And then who are his examples 
in the remainder of Philippians chapter two. You see, we often 
stop with Jesus in verses five to eleven and well, we should 
and could. I mean, Jesus exemplifies this 
better than anyone. But you see, when Paul talks 
about Timothy and Epaphroditus, he's not only giving an agenda 
of their travels. I think he is showing the Philippians. 
that they themselves display the very characteristics that 
Paul is calling upon them to display. You see, we could come 
away from verses 5 to 11 and say, well, that's Jesus. Thank 
the Lord for blood redemption. If I'm not Jesus, I needed Jesus 
to die for me and rise again so that I might have my acceptance 
with God. And then we stop. I mean, let's just rehearse what 
it says about Jesus. Verse 5, let this mind be in 
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form 
of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. This means 
that though he is God himself, he didn't exploit those privileges. 
He didn't carry himself on this earth like, I am God, get down 
and worship me. No. The foxes had their holes 
and the birds of the air had their nests, but the Son of Man 
had nowhere to lay his head. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. We see him going into various 
places, various enterprises. He doesn't say, God's here, you 
all need to just bow down. No, who being in the very form 
of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. He didn't 
exploit his prerogatives. He didn't even use those prerogatives. Verse 7 says, but he made himself 
of no reputation. A better translation than, he 
emptied himself. The idea of emptied himself has 
been taken by heretics to teach that Jesus got rid of his deity 
while he was a man. That's not the case. Jesus always 
is God. He doesn't stop being God. For 
those 33 years, he didn't put deity on the shelf and then revisit 
it at the Ascension. No, he always was God. The text is right. He made himself 
of no reputation. Very God of very God made himself 
of no reputation. So let that season the interpretation 
or the response to what we find in chapter two, verses one to 
four. What do you mean, esteem others is better than myself? 
Don't you know it's me? Do you know what they did to 
me? God Most High made Himself of 
no reputation. He came in amongst His creatures, 
and instead of being praised, worshipped, celebrated, and glorified, 
He was spat upon, He was slapped, and He was raised up on a cross 
to suffer the shame of death. Be careful about struggling with 
verses 1 to 4. Be very careful. What do you 
mean I'm going to put this person first? He made himself of no 
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the 
likeness of man. Do you know Psalm 113 tells us 
that it's a humbling act for God to look upon the creation? It's a humbling act for God to 
look upon the creation. What about when God takes on 
the likeness of man? What about when God comes or 
is found in appearance as a man? He humbled himself and became 
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 
You see, Jesus esteemed others better than himself. Jesus' motto 
was that others may live. Jesus was serious about this 
rescue mission, and Jesus has called his followers, the meek 
ones, to esteem others as better than themselves. He calls us 
to not just look out for our own interests, but to be scoping 
out the concerns and interests of others, to seek how we may 
encourage them, how we may love them. Brethren, I believe this 
text finds us all out. We're guilty. We don't live this 
way. We're not what the Lord has called 
us. We're not living that description in the Beatitudes. Notice in 
verse 19, I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you 
shortly. But I also may be encouraged 
when I know your state. I have no one like minded. Isn't 
that what he's called the Philippians to manifest a like mindedness 
with one another? So, lest they say, well, that's 
the example of Jesus. I can never measure up. Well, 
Timothy manifests this. Timothy's like-minded with me. 
When everybody else is seeking their own, Timothy, my young 
faithful disciple, is seeking to promote Paul. He says, for 
I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your 
state for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ 
Jesus. But, you know, his proven character 
that as a son with his father, he served with me in the gospel. 
Therefore, I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how 
it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that 
I myself shall also come shortly. So it's not just Paul's itinerary 
here. You see what he's doing. Timothy exemplifies verses one 
to four. Everybody else is seeking their own, not Timothy. Timothy's 
concerned for Paul. Timothy wants to make sure everything's 
good with Paul. Timothy's not focused and rooted on himself. 
Timothy, in the course of the day, can actually bring things 
into his mind that are not Timothy-related. Try that someday. See how often 
everything that you do and think affects and is about you. I'm not here to hurt anybody. 
I'm here to sympathize and yet encourage us that we need to 
take heed to this disposition that is ours by nature. God has 
implanted a meekness there. By his grace and spirit, we need 
to develop it. We need to be cultivated. Notice 
in verse 25, Yet I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, 
my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, but your messenger 
and the one who ministered to my need. Epaphroditus was in 
the church at Philippi, just so you get the lay of the land 
here. Epaphroditus was one of the members, or perhaps one of 
the leaders, in the church in Philippi. The church in Philippi 
had heard that the apostle was in the poking. The apostle was 
in jail. The apostle had been imprisoned. Now, the state, the Roman state, 
did not provide prisoners with three square meals and television. They did not provide them with 
all the amenities of life that we currently enjoy in the unimprisoned 
state. So that if a prisoner was to 
have aid, if a prisoner was to get tangible service, it would 
come from family and friends. So you see, the church in Philippi, 
which didn't have a lot, Paul commends them for that very reason. They didn't have a lot to begin 
with. Paul uses this to try and stir up the consciences of the 
Corinthians. He says the churches in Macedonia, Philippi specifically, 
they didn't have much, but out of the abundance of their joy, 
they sent what they did have. So you see, Epaphroditus was 
sent by the church to Rome to visit Paul and to take him tangible 
goods. That's his job. Later on in Philippians 
4, Paul says this is a sweet-smelling sacrifice in the nose of God. 
You saw a papyriditis walking down the street carrying this 
load of food and clothing and whatnot for the apostle, you 
probably wouldn't have associated that with a sweet-smelling sacrifice 
to God. If a papyriditis would have erected 
a pulpit in one of the cities and started preaching, you'd 
say, well, that's pleasing to God. just as pleasing to carry 
food to a prisoner who is suffering for the cause of Christ. God 
receives that as a sweet-smelling aroma. Paul uses the language 
liturgy. It is religious in nature what 
this man did in serving the needs of Paul. I considered it necessary, 
he says, to send you to you a paphrodite as my brother, fellow worker, 
fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to 
my need, since he was longing for you all and was distressed 
because you heard that he was sick. Now, without developing this 
too much, why was he distressed? Because he was sick? No. Because he knew the Philippians 
had heard that he was sick. Even in sickness, his brother 
is others minded. Even in sickness, he's esteeming 
a church better than himself. Even in sickness, he is looking 
out for the interests of the Philippians. Paul says, for indeed 
he was sick, almost unto death. But God had mercy on him, and 
not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon 
sorrow. Therefore, I sent him the more 
eagerly that when you see him again, you may rejoice and I 
may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the 
Lord with all gladness and hold such men in esteem, because for 
the work of Christ, he came close to death, not regarding his life 
to supply what was lacking in your service toward me. He exemplifies 
Philippians chapter 2, 1 to 4. So, you see, though the word 
is absent, the concept is present. Blessed are the meek, Jesus says, 
they shall inherit the earth. Philippians 2 illustrates it. Jesus Christ, Timothy, Epaphroditus 
show us that, in fact, it can be carried out. We can't stop 
being so selfish. We can't stop being so marked 
by self-pity. We can't stop being so or stop 
being so defensive. We can't. Jesus, Timothy, Epaphroditus, 
they all tell us the very same thing. Who are some other illustrations 
in the Bible? Moses. This sometimes gives people 
a bit of a problem. Numbers 12, 3. Now, the man Moses 
was very humble. more than all men who were on 
the face of the earth." We read that and we say, well, that wasn't 
very humble. If you were writing your autobiography, 
would you put that in there? I'm the most humble guy I know, 
even more so than any man on the face of the earth. Our view 
of mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch does not denounce or negate the 
reality of Certainly at the end of Deuteronomy, the record of 
Moses' death, he didn't write that from the grave. That ought 
not to be a stumbling block. In a particular instance where 
Moses' leadership was being challenged, the author, the editor rather, 
wanted to highlight the true character of this man Moses. 
Moses wasn't an arrogant man. Moses didn't wield his scepter 
with raw power and strength. Moses wasn't jockeying for position. In fact, if you go back to the 
burning bush, what was Moses' response? Here am I, Lord, send 
Aaron. That's what typified or characterized 
Moses. It wasn't even what we find in 
the prophet Isaiah. Here am I, Lord, send me. Moses 
says, I can't talk, Lord. I don't know how to bring it. I don't know how to lead people. 
I don't know how to stand before a God-hating pharaoh and tell 
him, let my people go. God says, I've made the ear, 
I've made the mouth, I'm going to strengthen you and enable 
you to do that. Oh, and you can take Aaron, your brother, to 
help you out. God is so good. Notice this. Moses was very humble. Same word translated in the Greek 
Old Testament. More than all men who are on 
the face of the earth. This did not detract from his 
leadership. This did not keep him from throwing 
down if he had to. This did not restrain him or 
hinder him from carrying out his role as God's man for God's 
time to do God's will. It is not weakness. It is not 
passivity. It is not the one who always 
keeps his mouth shut that is necessarily the meek man. The Lord Jesus, when he invites 
sinners unto himself in Matthew 11, Characterizes himself this 
way. He says, come to me, all you 
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take 
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly 
in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is 
easy and my burden is light. You see, he describes himself 
using that language that he's meek, that he's lowly. We get 
over to Matthew 23. What's he doing? Woe to you, 
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. You brood of vipers. That means 
a bag of snakes. You say, well, that doesn't sound 
very meek. It's power under control. Right? So our idea of meekness can't 
be generated from our own hearts or from our own dispositions 
or from our own minds. The Bible clearly declares what 
it is. John chapter 2. What does Jesus 
do when he comes to the temple and he sees it being prostituted 
when he sees people selling animals for sacrifice. You see the picture here. You see the picture right. You're 
supposed to be a good Jew at home who takes an animal out 
of his flock the best animal out of his flock. in order to 
go to the temple so that you can slit its throat and give 
it up to God. What happened? People probably fell out of bed 
and, you know, did this with their eyes, and they were on 
their way to the temple, and the kid said, Dad, where's the 
sacrifice? Oh, it went up there. It's like 
selling tacos on the street. Get this animal, get this bird, 
get this whatever, and bring it in and sacrifice it to the 
Lord. Where's the sacrifice there? Sacrifice must cost something, 
right? I hear a lot about that in giving. 
Oh, we're not under the tithe laws. It's still a sacrifice. 
And I would argue about the tithe law. Sacrifice hurts. Anybody who's ever given faithfully 
to the church, it's hurt them. But it's a good thing, they do 
it cheerfully, they do it happily, but there is some parting with 
something. That widow that gave her two 
mites, Jesus says she gave of her abundance. The Virgin says, 
we hide behind that widow's two mites. And all manner of irreligion 
has been done. She gave two mites, I'll give 
two mites too. The point is the Jews were supposed to bring their 
sacrifice. It was supposed to cost them 
something. They weren't supposed to pick it up at the door. Jesus 
saw this and what does he do? He drives the animals out. He 
has the bird, the ones with the birds, take the cages and go. 
Notice that Jesus didn't open the cages and send the birds 
away. Even in that there's grace and 
mercy. They got to keep their birds. Certainly, your ox wasn't 
going to run out of Jerusalem without you catching him. He 
could drive those animals out with the understanding that their 
owners would still be able to recoup their costs. With the 
birds, he didn't open their cage and say, fly away, bad on you. 
I mean, even in that, just a corollary, if you will. But he drives those 
beasts out. He drives the money changers 
out. Why? Because zeal for your house has 
consumed me. It's not inconsistent with meekness. 
It's not inconsistent with power under control. It's not inconsistent 
with what we have looked at in Philippians 2 and in Romans 12 
and in other places in our Bible. And then there's the apostle 
Paul who exemplifies meekness. You probably think, you know, 
Paul was a preacher. Paul was an apostle. Paul did 
all manner of courageous things for the Lord. Paul says, in verse 
19 of Acts 20, this is how he identifies his ministry, serving 
the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which 
happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back 
nothing that was helpful, but I proclaimed it to you and taught 
you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and 
also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Verse thirty one, after the giving 
a warning of the wolves rising up from among them, he says, 
therefore, watch verse thirty one. And remember that for three 
years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears 
to last twenty three. You say, well, he's just a pushover. He's a big cry baby. That's his 
ministry. Just cries. No. Acts 23, then Paul, verse 1, 
looking earnestly at the council, said, Men and brethren, I have 
lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And 
the high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike 
him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will 
strike you, you whitewashed wall, for you sit to judge me according 
to the law, and you can command me to be struck contrary to the 
law. And those who stood by said, 
do you revile God's high priest? Then Paul said, I did not know, 
brethren, that he was the high priest, for it is written, you 
shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. A couple of interpretations 
here, some suggest that Paul, his eyesight was bad, so he really 
didn't know it was the high priest. I don't think so. I think Paul is using sanctified 
sarcasm. I didn't know you were the high 
priest because the high priest doesn't act that way. You command 
me to be struck contrary to the law? and exalt yourself as the 
high priest? This man who could weep concerning 
the enemies of Jesus Christ got in the face of an ungodly high 
priest and said, God will strike you, you whitewashed tomb. You see, weakness isn't weakness. 
It's power under control. I think these brothers who we've 
looked at this morning in terms of definition have helped. Chamberlain, 
Watson, Lloyd-Jones, excellent definitions. I hope that the 
conscience is carried with our look at Romans 12 briefly and 
at our look at Philippians chapter 2. Jesus says, Blessed are the 
meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The backdrop to this 
is Psalm 37. The backdrop is Psalm 37, specifically 
verse 11. The meek shall inherit the earth 
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. See, Jesus sitting there, Jesus 
instructing, Jesus describing kingdom citizens is so filled 
with the Old Testament that it just flows from His mouth. He'll 
go on further in the Sermon on the Mount to expound its spiritual 
meaning, to expound and show the fact that it goes to the 
nooks and crannies of the heart, that it's not simply satisfied 
with our external conduct. God isn't satisfied that you 
just don't go out and run people over with your car. You need 
to resist the temptation to hurt or hate your brother in your 
heart. Well, in summary or in conclusion, 
first of all, Happy Father's Day. Happy Father's Day. Monday morning, I saw that a 
friend of mine had posted on a computer thing I can't wait 
to address fathers on Sunday. I thought, oh, Father's Day on 
Sunday. But we're in the Servant on the Mount. We're in the Beatitudes. Father, there is no greater gift 
that you can give your wives or give your children than meekness. Let them see Christ. Let them 
see a life marked by esteeming others as better than themselves. Let them see a life of one who 
looks to the interests of others. There's no more appropriate Father's 
Day message than blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
the earth. Tonight, God willing, we'll look 
at something a little more specific, directing our attention to fathers, 
perhaps in their duties. But right now this ought to be 
a description of every man in here. This ought to be typical. This ought to be characteristic. 
It ought not to be the exception to the rule that dad put us first. It ought to be the rule. The 
exceptions ought to be the sins that we confess, that we forsake, 
and that we seek their mercy and forgiveness from. You see, 
Jesus says, blessed are present tense. right now, happening continuously. Blessed are the meek. Not just 
men, women too, but specifically for Father's Day we need to think 
in terms of this whole idea. If this grace is presupposed 
as a kingdom characteristic by our Lord, is it being displayed 
in our lives on a daily basis? I thought about that this morning. 
Would people say you're meek? Probably not. You need to repent. God have mercy. Ask yourself 
that. Would people say you're meek? 
Again, not weak, not doormat, not lie down, but somebody like 
Moses, somebody like Jesus, somebody like Paul, somebody like Timothy, 
somebody like Epaphroditus, somebody described on the pages of Scripture. 
I'd argue that man Phineas was a meek man. That man who drove 
that javelin right through that Israelite and the Midianite woman. 
What are you going to say? Oh, that wasn't meekness. No, 
his life was characterized as a meek approach to the living 
God. That's what moved him to take action. Zeal for God's house 
consumed him too. And how does God speak of him? 
He says he was zealous for my zeal. Therefore, I will bless 
him. In terms of cultivating, or in 
terms of displaying this, there's a few things that I think particularly 
illustrate what meekness looks like. First, our basic disposition. Our basic disposition. I mean, 
Jesus pronouncing woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, is in 
one chapter. You notice Jesus didn't walk 
on the street with a big sign that says, God hates you. God 
despises you. God is going to destroy you. 
Jesus probably couldn't have been a member at Westboro Baptist 
Church. Our basic disposition is one 
of meekness. Again, power under what? Control. Self-control. Two, our patient forbearance, 
especially when wronged. Our patient forbearance, especially 
when wronged. Again, it's easy to forbear when 
everything's going our way. Do you think that somebody who 
lives on the island of Tahiti knows that snow is cold? Oh, they know it, right? They've 
never felt snow. unless they have a snow-making 
machine in Tahiti. Just grant me some of this illustration 
here. People that live in places where there is no snow, catechetically 
know snow is cold. But people who live in North 
Dakota, or on the Coquihalla, as I understand, as recently 
as two weeks ago, know experientially that snow is cold. Meekness can be understood in 
terms of its basic definition, but it's not really known until 
you're wronged, until you're hurt, until somebody's seeking 
to really get you. That's when meekness rises to 
the top and has become experiential. We need to move from the catechetical, 
which is important, to the experiential. We need to move from the doctrine 
to the application. Our resignation to wait on the 
Lord. It's interesting, a cursory reading. 
Hopefully, you're still there in Psalm 37. How does the psalmist 
display weakness? In various and sundry ways, but 
one of those ways is a resignation to wait on the Lord. Psalm 37, 
verse three, trust in the Lord and do good. Well, in the land 
and feed on his faithfulness. Verse five, commit your way to 
the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall 
bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness 
as the light and your justice as the noon day. Verse seven, 
rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret, because 
of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings 
wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger and forsake 
wrath. Do not fret, it only causes harm. Resignation to wait on 
the Lord. I think we all say that. Again, catechetically, we know 
that we're supposed to wait on the Lord. Experientially, we 
need to wait on the Lord. You feel me here? You hear me 
here? Notice as well, verses nine to 
eleven, evil doers shall be cut off or for evil doers shall be 
cut off. But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit 
the earth for yet a little while in the wicked shall be no more. 
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be 
no more. But the meat shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves 
in the abundance of peace. Verses twenty three and twenty 
four. It says, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, 
and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not 
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I'll wait on the Lord and keep 
his way, and he shall exalt you to inherit the land. When the 
wicked are cut off, you shall see it. So, first, our basic 
disposition. Second, our patient forbearance, 
especially when wrong. Third, our resignation to wait 
on the Lord. Fourth, our opposition to taking revenge. Again, this 
punctuates the entire psalm. Don't go buy guns and shoot your 
enemies. Don't go weed the land of all 
of its inhabitants. Don't go dispossess your neighbor's 
house because he gave you an unkind look or he accidentally 
pulled out one of your shrubs. No. Don't avenge yourself. Don't go after people. Don't seek to bring them down 
where you are. Seek to promote them. Seek to 
esteem them as better than yourself. Fifthly, a meek man, a meek woman, 
a meek boy, a meek girl has an opposition to speaking ill of 
others. There's no possible way, my brothers 
and sisters, that we esteem others as better than ourselves while 
we gossip, while we speak ill, while we bring them down. There 
is no possibility in such a manner to manifest an attitude of meekness. And then, sixthly, our willingness 
to forgive others. Remember, early on in our Christian 
life, Rebecca and I attended a Bible study. One of the ladies 
there professed faith in Jesus Christ, and she said someone 
had done something to her that she would never forgive. I remember 
us leaving, going, what? Can you do that? Can you be a 
Christian and not forgive? Can you actually say that you 
have been cleansed in the blood of Jesus and hold on to something 
that you're not willing to forgive? I think back now, she possibly 
needed some pastoring, needed to find out what the wrong was 
and perhaps how it could be dealt with. But just for the sake of 
the illustration here, how does Paul describe our attitude toward 
one another in Ephesians and Colossians? Forgive one another 
if you feel like it, if the person's groveled, if the person has subjected 
themselves at your feet. Now, forgive one another even 
as, he says, God in Christ forgave you. There ought not to be any 
of us that hold in our hearts somebody else's sin without a 
willingness to forgive them. Blessed are the meek, Jesus says, 
for they shall inherit the kingdom, or they shall inherit, rather, 
the earth. And then finally, for those who are not meek, for 
those who have no desire for meekness, those who say, I don't 
want to be powerful under control. I want to be raw energy. I want 
to be what this world says I ought to be. I want to assert myself. 
I want to look out for number one. May I implore you to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. May I call upon you by the grace 
of God to lay down your weapons of resistance against him and 
submit to the Lord of glory. You see, an attitude like that 
that demands first place, an attitude like that that demands 
to assert oneself, an attitude like that that will climb over 
the backs of others is an attitude characteristic of this world. 
It is not characteristic of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. One 
way of entry into the kingdom. It's not by going out and being 
meek. It's by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, God's 
grace precedes our meekness. Justification and acceptance 
with God precedes sanctification in the life that we live in this 
world. If you are not meek, the answer isn't go out and tell 
others how great they are. The answer is to believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for your 
word. We thank you, Father, for its clarity. We thank you for 
its penetrating nature. God even in preaching it, it 
is a humbling thing, and I confess my own sin in this area. And 
I pray that you would just help each one of us to internalize 
these things, help each one of us to survey the scriptures that 
we've looked at this morning, and perhaps take our concordances 
and look at this subject further. God, I pray that you would grant 
us the grace to display this characteristic in this church, 
in our homes, and in this society. Forgive us that we have fallen 
short. Forgive us, Lord God, that oftentimes we esteem ourselves 
better than everyone else, that we look out only for our own 
interests. Grant us the grace, God, to take these things to 
heart, to repent and forsake sin and to pursue those things 
which are pleasing in your sight. For any and all here, God, that 
do not know you, I pray that they would not be confused about 
the way of salvation. I pray that they would know that 
Christ came into this world to die to live, to die, and to rise 
again. And all those who look to him 
in faith will have everlasting life. We ask that you would go 
with us now. We pray for fathers in this local 
church that you would grant us grace to truly exemplify such 
things in our homes. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen.