Sessions 4 & 5 Notes Download

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 ESV)

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 NAU)

Some English Bibles translate the Greek word praus as “meek”, while fewer translate it as “gentle”.  In contemporary non-biblical literature, praus is described a horse that had been broken-in, becoming submissive and trainable, following the master’s lead and instruction. The spirit of resistance was replaced with a spirit of cooperation. The English dictionary definition for “meek” is quiet, gentle, easily imposed on, and submissive. “Gentle” is defined as having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character.

Humility and meekness are essential qualities for cultivating a relationship with God. Humility is recognition and acceptance that we are not sufficient of ourselves, but that our sufficiency is of God. Simply stated, “I can’t; He can; I’m going to let Him”. Meekness corresponds with humility in that it is receptivity toward God and the things of God without being argumentative and without stubborn resistance.

Moses is a great example of both humility and meekness. Numbers 12:3 – “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the people on the face of the earth”

Genesis 22:1-2   God was testing Abraham’s faith and obedience.

Genesis 22:3-18   Abraham was extraordinary with humility and meekness.

Hebrews 11:17-19   Humility and meekness are grounded in faith.

Matthew 11:28-30   Jesus is the ultimate example of walking with God, as he consistently listened to and obeyed God’s instructions, even to the point of suffering and dying on the cross. We connect with Jesus by accepting his lordship and emulating his behavior recorded in the Gospels.

Luke 4:14-30   The people in his hometown were not willing to receive from him.

Matthew 13:10-17   The multitudes’ motivation lacked sincere humility or meekness to worship God and accept the lordship of His Messiah. As a result, they were not worthy to receive the clear and empowering teaching that Jesus shared with his genuine disciples.

Isaiah 6:9-10; Mark 4:10-13; Luke 8:9-10; John 12:37-41; Acts 28:23-31; Romans 11:6-10; Jeremiah 5:21-25; Ezekiel 12:2ff

SIN HINDERS MEEKNESS – James 1:21(ESV)   Meekness follows humility and mourning. Mourning refers to the mindset of someone who is genuinely repentant and regretful of his or her sin. Sin must be dealt with because it blocks us from receiving with meekness God’s Word and direction.

TRADITIONALISM HINDERS MEEKNESS – Matthew 15:2-3   The Jews held firmly to their religious traditions, which hindered their acceptance of the gospel message. Traditionalism still causes many to be stubbornly resistant to God’s Word and to be fossilized in their limited knowledge.

CLOSEMINDNESS HINDERS MEEKNESS – Romans 11:33-36  When we consider the great magnitude of God’s knowledge, we see how foolish and prideful we are to limit ourselves to our minuscule understanding. How could anyone ever think his own knowledge is complete and refuse to learn more? Yet, this is a common deception to which many fall prey. Often, an honest, sincere desire to believe, think, and speak accurately about God moves to a presumptuous conviction that our beliefs contain the whole truth about God. This has the practical effect of confining God to our understanding.

All believe their views are the truth, which is why they hold them! Most of us would not claim that our beliefs limit God in any way. However, quite often the unintentional consequence is that our concept of God is limited to the rigid structure we have built in our own minds. The honest, sincere desire to be right slips into narrow-mindedness or closed-mindedness. We become deceived into not considering anything other than what we believe to be the truth. In doing so, we think we are taking a stand for God! From this posture of mind, it is a very small step to criticize, condemn, and fear all those who believe differently than we do. “Surely they must be wrong because they do not believe what I believe.” Too often, we perceive other sincere, committed Christians as a threat because their beliefs are different from ours. Therefore, we think we must avoid them. Our convoluted thinking moves to:  “How can we associate with someone standing outside the proper theological structure and thus outside God?” This mind set opposes meekness, closes God out, and causes division in the family of God.

FEAR OF BEING WRONG HINDERS MEEKNESS – Galatians 2:11-13 Regarding God, many people would rather stay ignorant in their wrong beliefs than concede they have been wrong. We get deceived into not thinking about it because of fear. Another common reason for a lack of meekness is comfort. Most denominations have an unchangeable, written statement of beliefs which is very comfortable for people. Again, people get nervous or feel threatened by the possibility of having been wrong about God. Once we decide what we believe, we are not willing to hear more, so we will not! Anything we do hear we conform to our preconceived definition of God or disregard altogether. Is God omniscient since He tried Abraham?

LAZINESS HINDERS MEEKNESS – 2 Timothy 2:15  To walk with God requires constant diligence and hard work. God encourages us to study His Word daily, and, when we do, we receive new information. This may be unsettling to some because work is required to determine if what is being encountered is true. When new information is taught, we are challenged to search the Scriptures to see if these things are so. Because of laziness, we opt to reject the possible new insight which results in a lack of meekness.

MISPLACED LOYALTY HINDERS MEEKNESS – Our loyalty to a man or an organization can result in a lack of meekness also. When a teacher does not correspond with Dr. So and So or Reverend So or So or my denominational belief, we are tempted to ignore and shun it. Our loyalty belongs to the Lord God Almighty and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:15   Meekness without spiritual wisdom is very dangerous because there are many false prophets and teachers. Some well-intentioned, zealous people constantly chase after some new insight and make themselves and others vulnerable to false doctrine. Neither sincerity nor feelings are a guarantee for truth.

Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 1 John 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1

Gentleness – 1 Corinthians 10:1; Galatians 5:22-25; 6:1; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Ephesians 4:1; 1 Timothy 6:10-11; 1 Peter 3:14-16

Matthew 5:5 is quoting Psalm 37:1-11.