The Mighty Meek | Part 1

Are you the one who shall inherit or the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the powerful lessons and insights of pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. Matthew 5 verse 5 says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed it's not the mighty men who are blessed. It's the mighty meek. Meekness is not weakness. Remember Jesus was meek, yet he was a strong man. To be meek means to be yielded, to have a compliant spirit. Meekness is strength under control. So if you have your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 5 as Adrian Rogers reveals three steps to developing meekness in this inspiring message, the mighty meek.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding. If you have your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 5 as Adrian Rogers reveals three steps to developing meekness in this inspiring message, the mighty meekness in this inspiring message, the mighty meek. Now, the Greeks had enough food, enough grain, everything that was on the island, enough water to sustain life, and not only did they have enough for themselves, but they had enough to export. And so the Greeks named that island, Meikarios, Blessed. Now, we're going to read some Beatitudes and these Beatitudes begin with that same word, Meikarios, Blessed. And that gives you some idea of what the word blessing means. It means more than happy.

Some translate this happy, but it means more than happy. It means having everything that you need. Having everything that you need spiritually.

That is being blessed. And so the Lord Jesus Christ gives us these beatitudes or attitudes that ought to be. They're not platitudes, they are attitudes and really they deal with Christian character. Christian character is what you are. Your reputation is what others think about you, but character is what God and your wife know about you. Now, this deals with character.

Not blessed are what men have, or not blessed what men do, but blessed are what men are. Because, friend, all of us are going to die and some sooner than we think. And when you die, you'll leave behind all that you have and all that you've done and you'll take with you all that you are, isn't that right?

See, it's character that is so important. And that's the reason it's more important that you seek blessedness than happiness. Most of the people in the world are doing what? Well, they're seeking happiness. They want to be happy. But do you know those who look for happiness the most find it the least?

That's a strange thing, but it's absolutely true. People who are on a search for happiness are generally the most unhappy people in the world. Happiness is not something you find by looking for it. Happiness is something you stumble over when you're seeking blessedness. Now, friend, you seek happiness and you'll never find it. But you get right with God and blessedness will find you.

It'll run you down. And this is what Jesus Christ is talking about here in these Beatitudes. He's talking about blessedness.

Listen to it. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain. And when he was set, his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed, macadrios, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.

And then we come to our text for today. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Now, you talk about an inheritance, friend, to inherit the earth. When I was a little boy, I used to listen to a program called The Search for Missing Heirs.

Did you ever listen to that? Somebody had died and left a lot of money, but nobody knew to whom it belonged. And so there was a search for the missing heirs. It might be, dear friend, that today you're that missing heir, the one who is to inherit the earth, and yet you don't even know it. So I hope today that you'll hear your name called blessed are the meek. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Well, what does that mean? What is this beatitude? We're gonna talk today on this subject, the mighty meek, the mighty meek. If there's one thing that this world would not say is blessed, it is meekness.

I mean, we don't think that meekness is a blessing at all. People of this world would say blessed are the mighty men. Blessed are the muscle men. Blessed are the mental men. Blessed are the money men. Blessed are any kind of men except the meek men, because we think of meekness as weakness. But the Bible says blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Well, what is meekness? Well, let me tell you what it is not before I tell you what it is. It is not weakness.

Put that down big and plain and straight. Meekness is not weakness. And if you think that meekness is weakness, you go a week trying to be meek and you'll find out that meekness is not weakness. You know what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11? Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Do you think of Jesus as weak? Jesus said, I am meek. Do you think Jesus was weak? If you think that Jesus was weak, then you read the Bible where he fasted 40 days and 40 nights alone in the wilderness with wild beasts.

I'd like to see one of you macho men do that. Do you think Jesus was weak? Get a picture of Jesus making a whip and driving the money changers out of the temple. Jesus who said, the foxes have holes and the birds have nests. The son of man hath not where to lay his head.

These pictures of Jesus that make him look like he just stepped out of a beauty parlor make me sick. Jesus was a man, a strong man. He said, I was meek.

I am meek and lowly of heart. Do you know who the Bible says in his day, the meekest man was? This is back in the Old Testament. It was Moses. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest of all the men on the earth. That's before Jesus Christ got here who was more than a man. Do you think Moses was a wimp? You study the life of Moses. I mean, he got in trouble sometimes because of his temper but one thing he was not was a weak man.

He was a general who led the children of Israel out of Egypt. He's no wimp. Meekness is not weakness. What is meekness? It's not cowardice. It is not a milk toast type of character. It is not weakness.

The word meek means yielded, yielded. It literally has the idea of strength under control. There was a man, J. Wallace Hamilton, who wrote an incredible book that I've had in my library for a long time. The title of the book is called Ride the Wild Horses.

That's the title of the book. And he points out that when God made us, when God created us, when God put us together, God put into our nature certain drives, certain instincts, certain ambitions, and they're not evil in themselves. But these drives, these instincts, these ambitions need to be yielded. And he pointed out what I want to point out, that the word meekness has the idea of a wild stallion being broken. As a matter of fact, in that day and sometimes still in this day, when a steed, an animal, especially a horse, has been domesticated, it has been trained so a rider can sit upon its back or so it can pull a plow. The proper term for that was that that horse, that animal, that oxen, whatever, had been meeked, M-E-E-K-E-D. It had been meeked. It had been broken. Now it yields to the rider.

Now it yields to the yoke. It is strength under control. That's what meekness is.

It is a compliant spirit. You see, these beatitudes come in order. First in step is this, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Now my dear friend, that shows our condition. We say, in myself, I am spiritually bankrupt. And then blessed are they that mourn. Because after our condition comes our contrition. You see, then we say, oh God, have mercy upon me. I see what I am, I weep over it.

I truly repent of it. And then after that condition and that contrition comes that control. Where I take myself now, Lord, and I place myself under your control, I am meek. Not weak, meek.

I have a new master. A horse that has been meeked still has the same strength, still has the same fire, still has the same drive, it still has the same instincts, but now there's a bridle, a bit of bridle in the saddle. Now J. Wallace Hamilton talked about different ways that you might deal with a wild horse. The first way is just to let him run wild. And that's what we have a generation that does today.

How do they deal with this? This is what we call just no restraint or self-assertion. Just let the horse run. Whatever is natural is beautiful and whatever is beautiful, it must be right. So you just do your thing.

That's self-assertion. Don't put any restraint upon yourself. If you want to get drunk, get drunk. If you want to fornicate, fornicate. If you want to fight, fight.

Just no self-restraint. The chief apostle of this philosophy in yesterday was a man named Nietzsche. He said this, and listen to this quote, get rid of your pious priests and their weak-livered gospel of mercy.

Purge out of your souls this disease, this devil of Christianity. Progress depends on the strong man and the strong people. Therefore, be strong, assert yourself, be a superman. And Nietzsche influenced the world far more than we may realize. As a matter of fact, a student of Nietzsche was Adolf Hitler. Hitler read that. Hitler said, that's what I'm going to have, a super race.

And the result was the gas ovens, the holocaust, the war that some of us went through, I did when I was a little boy. That's one way to deal with the wild horse. Just let him run. Assert yourself.

Do your thing. And the devil take the hindmost. Now there's just the opposite of that, and that's not self-release, but it's self-restraint. While there's some who want to let the horse just run wild, then there are others who want to cripple the horse.

They want to hobble the horse so he can't run at all. That's Buddhism. Do you know what Buddhism, have you ever seen a fat Buddha sitting there with that placid look upon his face? That's Buddha. That's a philosophy.

And the philosophy is simply this. The thing that causes you your difficulty is that you have certain desires, and you get frustrated because these desires are not met. So what you need to do is just simply negate these desires.

What you need to do is somehow dampen that spirit until you come to the place where you don't desire anything, so therefore you're never disappointed, so therefore, in their mind, you have come to a state called nirvana. That's not Bible Christianity. That's no more Bible Christianity than letting the horse run wild.

You don't let the horse run wild, and you don't cripple the horse. Some people think, oh, you know, if I could, I would be holy if I would just go to a monastery somewhere and wear a wooly robe and do a chant, and then I'd be holy. Well, friend, there's no holiness in a hole.

I want to tell you that. What is Jesus saying? Jesus is not saying, let the horse run wild. And Jesus is not saying, cripple the horse. What Jesus is saying is, blessed are the meat. Now, let me give you a verse for your margin. It's Romans chapter 6 and verse 19. Listen to it. For as ye have yielded your members, talking about your hands, your eyes, your feet, your tongue, as ye have yielded your members' servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto iniquity, that is, as ye used to be yielded to Satan, listen to it, even so now yield your members' servants to righteousness unto holiness.

That's it. You yield. That's what the word meek means.

Strength under control. The same members, the same eyes, the same ears, the same tongue, but now rather than using my tongue to blaspheme, I use my tongue to praise. I still have ambition. But now my ambition is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm still a fighter, but now I'm fighting the devil.

I'm fighting that crowd. It's the same strength. God does not hobble the horse. He energizes that, but he puts the bit on. He puts the bridle on.

He puts the saddle on. He says, blessed are those who have yielded. Have you ever yielded? Have you ever yielded?

That's the one thing we don't want to do, and that's the one thing that we need to do more than anything else. I may have told you about an experience I had driving down the road. I saw a drunk staggering along in disgrace. By the way, a drunk is not funny. Not to be laughed at.

He's to be wept over. I looked at him. I thought I recognized him. I did. I stopped the car. I said, son, get in.

He got in. I said, can I take you home? He said, yes, pastor. I drove up to the house with that drunken boy and brought him in the house. His dad and his mother were there, and they were embarrassed. The pastor would bring their drunken son home.

Took him in and got him to bed. I started to leave. The dad stopped me. He said, pastor, can I talk to you?

I said, yes. He said, pastor, he said, I'm embarrassed that you brought my son home drunk. But he said, he's not the only drunk in the family.

Said, I'm a drunk too. And he said, I don't know what to say to this boy. Yeah, I'd be such a hypocrite to tell him not to drink because he said, I'm a drunkard. I said, why don't you quit drinking?

He said, pastor, you probably won't believe what I'm about to tell you. But he said, I really hate liquor. But he said, I can't stop. He said, I hate it, but he said, I can't stop. He said, I just don't have what it takes.

I can't stop. My heart broke for him. I said, Fred, have you ever driven a team of horses? He was an old fellow. He said, I sure have. I said, Fred, if you were driving a team of horses, wild horses, and they were getting away from you, and you were afraid for your life, and you couldn't make them stop, and you couldn't rein them in, and I said, sitting next to you there in the wagon with someone that you knew could control them, what would you do? Well, he said, pastor, that's easy. I said, I'd just turn the reins over to him. And I said, Fred, that's the only thing I know for you to do. It's just simply to say, Lord Jesus, I can't.

I can't. And quit trying, and start trusting, and just simply turn the reins over to him, because my dear friend, those horses are wild horses, and there's only one who can tame them. He does not want to let them run wild. He does not want to cripple them. But what it is is strength under control.

That's the meaning of it. That's the meaning of meekness. Now, I want you to look with me not only about the definition of meekness, but how do you have meekness? I mean, how do you develop meekness? You know, Jesus said, blessed are the meek.

Well, where do you get it? Now, remember, there's a sequence. First of all, you see yourself as poor in spirit, absolutely bankrupt. Secondly, you are brokenhearted over it. Now, dear friend, if you've never been broken, you're never going to be meek.

A meekt horse is a horse that has been broken. We sit in our church's heady, high-minded, unbent, unbroken, somehow getting the idea that we've done God a wild favor because we've come here. But we walk out never ever seeing our bankrupt condition, never ever mourning over our sin, and therefore we never ever yield our lives to Jesus Christ. But if you're ready to yield your life to Jesus Christ, let me give you three steps now to develop this meekness. First of all, you must be submitted to the Son of God. Submitted to the Son of God. Put these verses in your margin. Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30, listen to them. Jesus Christ is saying to you, today come unto me, are you listening?

Jesus Christ, not Adrian Rogers, Jesus Christ is saying to you today, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now listen to it. Take my yoke upon you.

Now what is that? An oxen that has the yoke is meekt. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek. Do you see it?

Do you see it? I am meek and lowly of heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Now here's the picture of two oxen and they're pulling together.

The yoke is on one and the yoke is on the other and these two oxens side by side are pulling. Jesus Christ is saying I want you to take my yoke upon you. It is no longer only you, but it is you and Jesus. Whenever the yoke is on two oxen, one oxen is the lead oxen and in this case it's Jesus.

Jesus says therefore you follow me. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy. Now when it means my yoke is easy, it means it fits right.

It fits right. Friend, Christianity is not something that you have to do, it's something you get to do. I mean God loves you so incredibly. He says my yoke is easy. I hear people say, oh, it's hard to be a Christian, it's hard to be a Christian, it's hard to be a Christian.

My friend, that's a lie. The Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard. Jesus said my yoke is easy. My yoke is easy. My yoke is easy. It doesn't mean you won't pull. It doesn't mean there's no work to do. There's plenty of work to do. I'm going to say my yoke is lazy. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.

Isn't that amazing? Jesus, the picture of meekness offers to teach us what he knows and to show us true strength by his example. Now we'll hear part two of the mighty meek coming up tomorrow. But maybe you have questions about who Jesus is, about what he means to your life, about how to receive his forgiveness and mercy and grace on your life. Go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio.

You'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you have about your faith. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title, The Mighty Meek. This message is also part of the insightful Sermon on the Mount series, The Keys to the Kingdom. If you'd like the complete collection, all eight powerful messages, call that number 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thanks for joining us for our study in God's Word today. Are you in search of happiness and contentment? As Adrian Rogers said, happiness is not something you find by looking for it. Happiness is something you stumble over when you're seeking blessedness. Seek blessedness today.

Yield your strength to the Holy Spirit. And don't forget to join us tomorrow for the powerful conclusion of The Mighty Meek right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener reached out to us on Facebook and wrote this, Adrian Rogers' messages are so right for this unsettled time all over the world. Thank God for Pastor Rogers.

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