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[0:00] So let's return again to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. And while we will focus on verse 5, I'll read the fuller passage.

[0:13] Matthew chapter 5. Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

[0:24] 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.

[0:37] 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.

[0:51] 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.

[1:06] 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.

[1:21] Today we continue our study of the paradoxical nature of God's kingdom. And perhaps nothing better illustrates this paradox in these few verses in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

[1:36] We read here a series of blessings. Each of the Beatitudes begins with that word blessed or blessed, that is happy. Yet what follows each seems to be anything but a source of happiness.

[1:51] Quite the contrary, it would seem. Happy are the poor in spirit. Happy are those who mourn. Happy are the meek. Happy are the persecuted.

[2:03] Now keep in mind, these are not prescriptions for happiness exactly. It's not as though Jesus is suggesting, do this and you'll be happy.

[2:15] Do this and you'll be happy. Instead, they are descriptive of God's people who belong to His kingdom. Jesus is describing citizens of God's kingdom as paradoxical and upside down as these formulas for happiness appear to be.

[2:32] They are, in fact, evidences of God's grace. When God graciously brings people into His kingdom, they become partakers of the divine nature.

[2:47] That's what Peter says in 2 Peter 1.4. Partakers of the divine nature. And this fundamental change in our nature really turns conventional wisdom on its head.

[3:03] Suddenly, our source of happiness, our source of true joy is not what we once thought it was. Our source of happiness becomes Christ Himself.

[3:16] And as God conforms us into the image of Christ, we actually become happier, more content, more joyful. Jesus was poor in spirit.

[3:30] Jesus mourned. Jesus was meek. Jesus was persecuted. In sharing His nature and becoming increasingly like Him, we also share His eternal, unbreakable joy.

[3:48] He is the source of our happiness. The world, of course, is genuinely perplexed by something as seemingly backward as the wisdom of God within His kingdom.

[4:03] How can we possibly find happiness in mourning or in meekness or in persecution even? Now, Christ's original audience was equally perplexed, I'm sure.

[4:19] Most of the crowd believed the Messiah would come and when He did, He would elevate them. He would probably praise them for their goodness, for their faithfulness.

[4:30] He would praise them for their righteousness. He would lift up Israel and He would throw down the Gentiles for not praising Him, for not being good, for not being righteous.

[4:42] He would point His finger at the Jews and say, well done, my good and faithful servants. Now, hang on, because I'm about to conquer your enemies on your behalf.

[4:56] Get ready to take over the world. More or less, I think that's what they anticipated. But that's not exactly what happened. Instead, Jesus rises up in this monumental sermon and He says, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

[5:17] Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the gentle. How could the meek ever inherit the earth?

[5:29] You know what the audience is thinking? The audience is thinking, by definition, the meek really don't fight. They're not aggressive. How are they going to conquer the world?

[5:39] And they'll have to conquer it by force somehow because the Roman Empire is not about to give it up. The governing authorities, as they existed, aren't about to hand everything over.

[5:51] The meek don't inherit the earth. The strong inherit the earth. Isn't that just common sense? That's what they were thinking. And that's precisely what most people think today.

[6:05] The world does not find virtue in meekness. No, that's a liability. That can only stand in the way of getting what you really want.

[6:17] And if nothing else, meekness cannot possibly lead to happiness. You know, even those activists in our world that preach peace, you know, and they put coexist bumper stickers on the back of their cars and they believe imagined by John Lennon should be the national anthem.

[6:35] Even those people will resort to things such as violence and vandalism if they think it's going to advance their cause. They may advocate for meekness.

[6:48] They may preach meekness. But evidently, they believe in their heart of hearts that meekness can't really accomplish what they want. The Jews were hardly any different in that respect.

[7:02] Generally speaking, they, I guess, were known as a meek people, but, you know, they didn't often fight back against their Gentile oppressors and is largely in part because they believed the Messiah would eventually come and do it for them.

[7:17] Yet, that did not stop them from occasionally taking matters into their own hands during the Maccabean revolt. between the Old and New Testaments of our Bibles, they fought back against Greece.

[7:32] Even in Jesus' day, there were a group of zealots who were just begging for an opportunity to conquer the Romans, to overthrow their rule, and eventually, they tried, which led to the massacre of more than one million Jews around AD 70.

[7:49] underneath any meek facade, we find, at least among unbelievers, is there, there's this impulse to think that only the strong survive.

[8:06] Only the strong survive. If you want to win, if you want to conquer, if you want to inherit the earth, you must be strong. You must be aggressive. Now, is it any wonder why Jesus was a stumbling block to the Jews?

[8:26] He was so meek, in fact, that He was crucified like the worst of criminals. Worse yet, He was crucified on a Roman Gentile cross.

[8:41] What kind of Messiah is this? What did they shout at His crucifixion? He saved others. He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel. Let Him come down from that cross. And we will believe in Him.

[8:54] He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now. And if He desires Him, for He said, I am the Son of God. You see, they're perplexed.

[9:04] They can't grasp. Son of God, the Messiah, hanging on a Roman cross? I don't think so. What kind of true Jewish Messiah would let Himself be crucified, let alone by Gentiles?

[9:20] In other words, what kind of Messiah could be so meek? It defies conventional wisdom. Of course, the unbelieving Jews, they rejected Jesus long before His death.

[9:34] Their rejection began in places like this, the Sermon on the Mount. What kind of strange, upside-down teachings are these? Great causes are fought by the proud, not the humble.

[9:50] You can't win while you're mourning. You can't conquer a world power like Rome if you're meek. That's what they're thinking.

[10:00] None of this makes sense to the unregenerate world. Why is that? Well, let me ask it another way. How can a believer look at the Beatitudes and see wisdom in them, truth in them, while an unbeliever looks at them and says, this is utter foolishness?

[10:19] The Beatitudes, these are blatant contradictions. Well, I think Hebrews 11.3 contains at least part of the answer. It says, by faith, we understand.

[10:34] By faith, we understand. It's not the other way around. We don't understand and then have faith or believe. By faith, we understand.

[10:45] Our understanding doesn't lead to faith. Our faith leads to understanding. In other words, we don't examine the teachings of Christ, instinctively see the truth and wisdom in them, and then say, Lord, I believe.

[11:02] Now, we trust Christ is who He says He is, and He has done what Scripture says He's done, and by believing, we come to understand the wisdom of God in these things that are taught to us.

[11:16] When we come to Christ by faith, He opens up our understanding. The mysteries are unraveled for us. The apparent contradictions are settled in our minds. We come to experience firsthand the paradoxical joys of humility and mourning and meekness and even suffering for Christ's sake.

[11:41] As I said, the Beatitudes are not prescriptive. Jesus is not saying if you want to be happy, well, you need to humble yourself. If you want to be happy, you need to be persecuted. Go out and find somebody to persecute you.

[11:55] No, He's describing the reality that is experienced by citizens of His kingdom. People who trust in Him alone for salvation. People who walk by faith, not by sight, and not by human reasoning.

[12:13] Now, you'll likely remember what Paul told the Corinthians about his preaching when he was among them. In 1 Corinthians 2, he said, And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.

[12:30] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling in my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

[12:58] He continues, Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away, but we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

[13:20] Notice that contrast. Paul did preach wisdom, but it's not what most people in this world would classify as wisdom. Most people would classify God's wisdom as foolishness, utter foolishness.

[13:36] A few verses earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul says, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. To some, the entire Bible is folly.

[13:50] The gospel is folly. Everything we believe is folly. But to those who do believe, it is powerful. It is wise. It is salvation. As Peter said to Jesus, you have the words of eternal life.

[14:05] Where else would we go? In short, we understand because we believe, not the other way around.

[14:17] Again, Matthew 5, 5 says, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meek is a word that means gentle or mild or soft.

[14:31] Think of a soft breeze. Jesus described himself as gentle and lowly in heart. The prophet Zechariah said of him, behold, your king is coming to you righteous and having salvation as he humble and mounted on a donkey.

[14:51] Christ had a disposition of lowliness, of humility, of gentleness. He was, in a word, meek. He was meek. Now, this beatitude is a little different than verse 3, which says, blessed are the poor in spirit.

[15:10] Humility and meekness are not quite the same. Poor in spirit has a negative connotation. Meekness has actually a more positive connotation. This is better understood, I think, if you see the progression in the beatitudes.

[15:25] Verse 3 kind of flows into verse 4, results in verse 4. Being poor in spirit results in mourning. Verse 5 results in verse 6. Being meek results in hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

[15:38] There's a sense of humility in all of this because there's a sense in which none of this can be true about us unless we are first humble. Humble humility is kind of woven throughout all of these beatitudes, but meekness, I think, carries humility just a bit further.

[15:56] I've heard it said that meekness is power under control. It's restrained power. Now that was certainly true of Christ. During His first advent, He came to save, right?

[16:11] Came to show mercy. Though, He had the power and He certainly had the right to judge the world. But He came instead to save the world.

[16:22] His meekness was really on display through His restraint. Through His restraint. He didn't arrive on the scene and cast everyone into hell as we all deserve, of course. Instead, all day long, He so meekly held out His hand to a contrary and disobedient people.

[16:42] That's how Isaiah put it. Paul says, put on then as God's chosen ones compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

[16:55] He goes on to say, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Be just as compassionate. Be just as kind and humble and meek as Christ was.

[17:09] Possess His heart. Display His heart. Obviously then, meekness is not the same thing as weakness. That was true for humility and it's true for meekness.

[17:22] I mentioned a soft breeze. You know, the wind has power to destroy anything man can build. But when the wind is restrained and some of its power is withheld, it gives us a nice, refreshing, cool breeze on a hot day.

[17:40] It has the power to destroy, but when that power is restrained, we get a soft, refreshing, that is, meek breeze.

[17:55] Meekness is the opposite of the Maccabean revolt. It's the opposite of violence and vengeance. The meek person, for example, he isn't devastated when, let's say, his property is taken from him.

[18:13] Why? He knows he'll inherit the earth. The property that awaits him is far greater than anything he has now. And more than that, what awaits him is permanent.

[18:28] It's eternal. It can never be taken from him. So the property he has now, really is not that important, all things considered. He holds on to it loosely.

[18:42] The meek person has died to self. He doesn't worry about loss or insult or abuse as others would. He's poor in spirit.

[18:55] He's mourned over his sins. He's meek, knowing he has really nothing to commend himself for. speaking about this very verse in Matthew 5, Martin Lloyd-Jones said, the man who is meek is not even sensitive about himself.

[19:14] He's not always watching himself in his own interests. He's not always on the defensive. To be truly meek means we no longer protect ourselves because we see there is nothing worth defending.

[19:27] 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.

[19:37] How unkind these people are not to understand you. Now, to be clear, meekness is not cowardice. And it's certainly not a lack of conviction.

[19:51] And it's not simply being a nice person. That's not what it means. To be meek is to possess and to display the very nature of Christ.

[20:05] We're partakers in his nature, right? As believers. Jesus defended the glory of God, did he not? He defended the truth.

[20:17] He stood up for what was right. But, he also gave himself in sacrifice to others. He drove the merchants and the money changers out of the temple twice.

[20:31] But he never lifted a single finger to defend himself. 1 Peter 2, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

[20:42] When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. But he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

[20:54] That's important. I said meekness is power restrained. Perhaps a better way to put it would be that meekness is power surrendered to God's control.

[21:09] It's power surrendered to God's control. It's restraining our power just as Christ did when, as Peter said, he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

[21:20] Who is that? God the Father. Now there are countless illustrations of this throughout the Bible. For example, consider Abraham.

[21:31] You may remember how Abraham and his men got into a dispute with Lot's men. They were essentially fighting over the land. They had grown too big and they were having trouble sharing.

[21:44] Which, by the way, that land was promised to Abraham. It was promised to Abraham. And let's not forget that Abraham was Lot's elder as well.

[21:56] So Abraham had every right to take and use whatever land he wanted, but he didn't. For the sake of peace, not to mention his testimony before the Canaanites and others living in the land, Abraham gave up his rights and let Lot choose the land he wanted.

[22:18] Joseph is another great example. Joseph became second in command over all of Egypt. Now after what his brothers did to him, I don't think anyone would have found fault with him had he refused them food and maybe forced them into slavery or thrown them into prison.

[22:38] but he didn't. Why not? Listen to what he told them in Genesis 50 verse 19 through 21.

[22:50] Do not fear for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

[23:04] So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. And I love what the text says next. It says, thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph wasn't being nice merely to be nice.

[23:22] Not at all. He maintained his conviction that what they did was sinful. You meant evil. There's no question about that. You meant evil.

[23:33] But his niceness has this legitimate theological foundation. He knew the providence of God had led him into slavery and led him into prison.

[23:45] Yes, his brothers intended evil, but God meant it for good. What a perspective. And that is why Joseph was able to restrain his power to take vengeance on his brothers.

[23:59] He entrusted himself to God's judgment. God will deal with their sin. He didn't have to worry about that. He knew God meant for him to be exactly where he was.

[24:16] That's meekness. What about David? King Saul tried to take his life. And when he finally had an opportunity to take Saul's life, he refused.

[24:30] He said, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord. The Lord's anointed to put out my hand against him seeing he is the Lord's anointed.

[24:45] Or how about a counter example? King Uzziah once did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But after several military victories, he became quite conceited.

[24:58] we're told when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

[25:12] But Azariah the priest went in after him with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, it is not for you Uzziah to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who were consecrated to burn incense, go out of the sanctuary for you have done wrong and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.

[25:35] Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of incense.

[25:50] He lived as a leper the rest of his life, excluded from the house of the Lord. He was cut off completely. Why? He refused to be meek.

[26:04] That was it. He refused to be meek. Yes, he refused to obey the commandments of God but he refused to obey because he refused to be meek. His spirit and his disposition were all wrong.

[26:18] All wrong. And what about Paul in the New Testament? One more example. clearly, you read through his writings, he refused to place any confidence in himself.

[26:33] Instead, whatever he found himself capable of doing, whatever he was able to achieve, he claims he was only able to do it through Christ. Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

[26:50] That's meekness. meekness. Now, what's so great about meekness? Do God's people, citizens of his kingdom, do we gain anything from being meek?

[27:09] Based on the examples I've provided, it doesn't seem like there are too many rewards for being meek. What do we get out of this? Then again, Jesus says, blessed are the meek.

[27:25] Happy are the meek. Joyful are the meek. Glad are the meek. So like all of the other beatitudes, if nothing else, Christ promises happiness to those who are meek.

[27:37] But he goes even further, he says, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The world is yours one day. That's quite a promise.

[27:51] Let's think back for a moment. Two weeks ago, I mentioned a story from Acts 17 where the Jews accused Paul, Silas, and the other Christians there of turning the world upside down.

[28:03] That was the big charge. They have turned the world upside down. And if you remember, I said they weren't really turning the world upside down, were they? In fact, through them, God was turning the world right side up again, making it what it ought to be.

[28:21] Well, in the creation story in Genesis, we learn that God created man and gave him dominion over the earth. Gave him dominion over the earth. He was tasked with ruling over it, with caring for it, and that is still our responsibility, right?

[28:37] We still have that responsibility. But ever since the fall, that responsibility has come with tremendous difficulties. things. In Genesis 3, God told Adam, cursed is the ground because of you.

[28:53] In pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.

[29:09] So because of our sin, we essentially lost control of the earth. earth. The promise here then is that God intends to reclaim it.

[29:21] He intends to restore it to his people, specifically the meek. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now perhaps it goes without saying, but Jesus implies this earth that we know now is not quite the earth that we will know then.

[29:42] whatever dominion we have over the earth in the present isn't what Jesus is talking about. Otherwise, he would be suggesting that we inherit something that we already have, and that wouldn't make a lot of sense.

[29:59] Evidently, he's talking about something that's yet to come. He's talking about a new earth where we will finally have dominion over it like we did in the beginning.

[30:12] Inherit here refers to receiving an inheritance, right? It means something that belongs to you because it's been allotted to you. If, for instance, your father owns some land and he promises to give it to you in his will, that land is your inheritance.

[30:27] It belongs to you, though you haven't come into possession of it just yet. Well, the new earth is the inheritance of the meek. This earth to come is the inheritance of the meek.

[30:44] Now, until then, I know it seems as though the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer. Isn't that our experience?

[30:56] Hasn't that been the experience of the church throughout history? In many places, at many times, believers look around and they can't help but notice that unbelievers often possess the most power and they possess the most wealth and influence.

[31:14] And inevitably, we think to ourselves, why do the wicked prosper? Shouldn't it be the other way around? And to answer that question, yes, it should be the other way around and it will be the other way around eventually.

[31:28] I'll never forget what I heard one preacher say when I was young. He said, this life is as close to heaven as the unrighteous will ever get.

[31:40] And this life is as close to hell as the righteous will ever get. Through David, God promised, this is Psalm 37, in just a little while, the wicked will be no more.

[31:57] 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. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

[32:19] That's Psalm 37. Now notice that line, the meek shall inherit the land. Jesus isn't directly quoting Psalm 37 necessarily, but he seems to have it in mind.

[32:32] The Jews in Acts 17 were wrong. Christians were not turning the world upside down. Sin turned the world upside down, and it's God, through the redemption of his people, that's turning the world right side up again.

[32:48] But, it will be a little while before it's completely back to what it's supposed to be. It's not there yet. We just see the glimpses of it through God's people, really.

[33:04] In the meantime, we have to trust the Lord. We have to have faith. We have to believe his promises that he will make everything right. We have to trust him for the judgment of the wicked one day.

[33:18] We have to trust that he will deliver on his promises to his people. Paul tells the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 3, 21, so let no one boast in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

[33:49] Later, in the same letter, he writes, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Perhaps it seems that this world belongs to the unbelievers, but ultimately, the last will be first, and the first will be last.

[34:09] Things will be flipped back around. Psalm 149 says, God will execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron to execute on them the judgment written.

[34:25] Eventually, God will flip this world on its head. He will turn it right side up again, and on that day, the meek shall inherit the earth. God will display his wisdom and his glory by bringing low the highest and the mightiest of men, and he will raise up the meek.

[34:45] And then a soft breeze will be all that remains. Now, something that's been on my mind as I've thought about the Beatitudes has been the reason why Jesus deems these characteristics so necessary for citizens of God's kingdom.

[35:09] meek. For example, why do we need to be meek? What's the significance of meekness? Well, I'll provide it for possible reasons.

[35:22] First of all, meekness is required for salvation itself. Only the meek will inherit the earth because only the meek will be saved. Psalm 149 verse 4 says, For the Lord takes pleasure in his people.

[35:38] He adorns the humble, the lowly, the meek with salvation. That word humble could be translated into meek or lowly. When the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the kingdom, what did he tell them?

[35:53] Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

[36:07] It's been said that the door into God's kingdom is very low. So if you're too tall, or if your head's too big, you'll never get in.

[36:20] Paul said, consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth.

[36:31] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

[36:42] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

[36:54] How can anyone be saved? Unless he becomes so low and so meek that he acknowledges he depends entirely upon God for salvation.

[37:05] He has nothing to bring himself. Second, God demands meekness, which should be more than enough for us, right?

[37:22] He commands us to be meek. Seek the Lord, he says. All you humble of the land who do his just commands, seek righteousness, seek humility. James writes, James 1.21, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

[37:44] Notice that meekness is not only explicitly commanded, but we're also told we won't really obey the other commandments. We won't receive the word without meekness.

[37:54] Receive with meekness the implanted word. Third, we can't be effective witnesses for Christ without meekness.

[38:09] Listen to what Peter says in 1 Peter 3.15. In your hearts, honor Christ the Lord is holy, always prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

[38:24] Yet, do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

[38:36] Our theology may be accurate, but that isn't enough. Peter says we need the right disposition. We need the right attitude.

[38:47] We need the right behavior. We need the right spirit as we interact with people outside of the church. We need meekness. We need gentleness. Why?

[38:59] It adds weight to our testimony, for one. It adds weight to our defense of the faith. If someone will slander us, and they will, it won't be because we behaved poorly.

[39:13] It won't be because we mistreated someone. It won't be because we acted like a hypocrite. They will still have an issue with our theology, but you know what that means?

[39:24] That means they have an issue with God, not with us. Last but not least, meekness is the only way to glorify God.

[39:37] It's the only way to glorify God. Meekness seeks God's glory, by definition. It seeks God's glory. Pride, on the other hand, seeks our glory. Conceit, self-absorption, but meekness seeks God's glory.

[39:53] It also encourages us, it helps us to have peace with one another, other believers, those within the kingdom of God, which when we have peace in the body, that goes hand in hand with glorifying God.

[40:10] Here's what Paul says in Romans 15. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may be one voice, that you may together with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:30] Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. When we are collectively seeking God's glory, not our own, but collectively seeking God's glory, our voices kind of come together in this unity as we glorify God, which can't be done.

[40:50] We can't have any of that without meekness among us. Granted, it isn't easy to be meek. The world, again, says meekness is a liability.

[41:01] It's a weakness. And we may struggle with the upside down nature of God's kingdom. It often feels as though the world is right. What do we gain by being meek?

[41:13] This is not helping my cause. This is not helping my situation, it feels. Well, first, we gain substantial, everlasting happiness and contentment that can never be taken from us.

[41:27] It's deeper, it's more profound than anything the world has to offer. Blessed or happy are the meek. The world's version of happiness will fade. It will come to an end.

[41:39] It's shallow. It can't last. Bear that in mind. Second, we gain the earth. We gain the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

[41:52] The unbeliever's pride and apparent strength that he seems to have now will not help him conquer the world. Not ultimately.

[42:03] In fact, it will be his downfall. The meek will inherit the earth. And it's that promise that helps us endure our meekness. Because meekness, again, isn't easy.

[42:16] Not always. I'll close with a passage from John Piper. He was preaching on this very text in Matthew 5, and I just happened to come across his sermon yesterday.

[42:29] Here's what he says. The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is a very beautiful and a very painful thing.

[42:44] It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help. And that help is available, thank God. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet on the mount this morning, that is, if you trust him and commit your way to him and wait patiently for him, God has already begun to help you and will help you more.

[43:10] And the primary way that he will help you is to assure your heart that you are a fellow heir of Jesus Christ and that the world and everything in it is yours.

[43:22] He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not freely give us all things from him? All things. No good thing will be withheld from those who walk uprightly.

[43:37]  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Praise God for that. We're dismissed.