Meekness... not Weakness

MEEKNESS..NOT WEAKNESS
TEXT: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).

Again the whip lashed. The meek shall inherit the earth? What nonsense! These Pharisees knew that they had taken possession of the earth, but they also knew that they had not received it through meekness. The only humility which they knew was that which served as a cloak for their grasping thievery.
Now, the Lord is announcing the righteous principle. Later, He will strip the mask from these alleged holy men and leave them no basis for their hollow pretence. He will say to them, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation" (Matthew 23:14). But in the Sermon on the Mount, the Kingdom offer is being made. He is announcing that in the Kingdom when He shall reign upon the earth, possession will be vested in those who are meek.
We are not to think of this word in any unfavorable sense. Meekness is not fawning servility. It is that quality in a man which proves him to be patient under injuries, not vain or haughty or resentful; forbearing, kind. In truth, it is the gift of God and is a part of the new life that is given to us at the new birth when we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal Savior. All that an unsaved man may ever know of meekness is the humility, like that of Dickens’ interesting character, Uriah Heep, whose sniveling mockery lasted as long as there was a shred to his mask. Any meekness that the world can know will differ from this only in degree, but it will always be of this kind, for true meekness is the fruit of the indwelling life of the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:22).
Dr. Barnhouse’s exhortation must be heeded by the Church today. We should neither be arrogant and haughty nor fawning and servile under pressure. Stand firm in truth and love, seeking to win our persecutors to Christ. We should all let God’s grace work within us this necessary fruit of he Spirit.

Source: He Came Unto His Own ,Donald Barnhouse

Further Reading: Matt. 11:25-30

Image previewMeekness... not Weakness

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5)

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Why Are You Crying? -- Part One

Why Are You Crying?
John 20:1-18
Theme: Rejoice!
This week’s lessons teach us that there is both a time to weep and a time to laugh.
 
Lesson

I’d like you to think today of a question the Lord Jesus Christ asked Mary Magdalene in the garden on that first Easter morning. He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" It is not that Jesus was against tears or that he "hated to see a woman cry," as we sometimes say. Earlier he had cried himself, and on the way to his crucifixion he told the weeping women who followed him to cry for themselves and their children.

You Are Who You Eat With

We find an unexpected tension in the middle of Luke’s record of the Acts of the Apostles. The early disciples were trying to figure out how their Old Testament theology finds fulfillment in Jesus while practically attempting to disciple thousands of new converts. These were exciting times, full of complexity and conversions.

We find an unexpected tension in the middle of Luke’s record of the Acts of the Apostles. The early disciples were trying to figure out how their Old Testament theology finds fulfillment in Jesus while practically attempting to disciple thousands of new converts. These were exciting times, full of complexity and conversions.

The Challenge to Be Humble

These words must have cut like a whip across the minds of the unregenerate listeners. If there is anything that a man cannot know by himself, it is that he must take a place of humility before God. There is a natural repulsion against the idea of being poor in spirit. Man is rich in pride and he wants to shield himself from any thought of poverty of resources, whether of strength, of morals, or of intellect. This is the direct statement of the Lord Jesus that there must be a miraculous change in the lives of men if they are to participate with Him in His Kingdom glory. How can a man see himself properly in the sight of God? It is only when we have understood the great truths of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin that we are forced to flee from ourselves, pleading that we have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We then ask God to effect within us the miracle of grace which He now promises to perform on the basis of the death of Jesus Christ, the Substitute who died in our place.

Image previewThe Challenge to Be Humble

"The multitudes followed Jesus Christ; and as He sat on the brow of a hill with the crowd about Him, eagerly awaiting His message,  He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.'" (Matthew 5:2-3)

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Triumph and Tears -- Part Five

Triumph and Tears
Luke 19:41-44
Theme: Grief.
This week’s lessons encourage us to follow Christ’s example in weeping for the lost.
 
Lesson

Some years ago at the first of the World Congresses on Evangelism held in Berlin, Germany, I heard an associate evangelist for the Billy Graham team tell a story. His name was Fernando Vangioni. He had been conducting an evangelistic campaign in a large city in South America, and after the close of one of the meetings, he had gone to the back of the church to talk to people. A woman approached him there with a story.

Triumph and Tears -- Part Four

Triumph and Tears
Luke 19:41-44
Theme: Grief.
This week’s lessons encourage us to follow Christ’s example in weeping for the lost.
 
Lesson

There in Jerusalem was God himself in human form walking among men and women and demonstrating who he was by his acts, by his teaching, by his works, by his miracles. These people just would not have him. They rejected him and they did so willingly. Jesus said to them, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:42). Jesus’ use of the word "now" implies that it was not hidden from their eyes previously. It had previously been evident. But now he was going to be killed, he was going to be taken away, and now it would be hidden. But it was not hidden during the days of his flesh. Yet they rejected it.

Caution and Counterfeits

We must realize that the Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew, and that He came unto His own as the Jewish Messiah. Why, then, did His own not receive Him?

Image previewCaution and Counterfeits

"Art you the Christ? Art you Elijah? Art you that prophet?"  (John 1:21)

We must realize that the Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew, and that He came unto His own as the Jewish Messiah.  Why, then, did His own not receive Him?

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Triumph and Tears -- Part Three

Triumph and Tears
Luke 19:41-44
Theme: Grief.
This week’s lessons encourage us to follow Christ’s example in weeping for the lost.
 
Lesson

We might think that we cannot come to Jesus without the proper degree of repentance. But he is not asking for any special degree of repentance. He is merely asking you to come. You might delay because you cannot guarantee that you will be a great Christian in the years ahead. Jesus is not asking you to promise that. He will give you the strength to be what he wants you to be. All he is asking you to do is come. Isn’t there something in this picture of the weeping Christ sufficient to melt your own heart, bring you to tears, and draw you to him?

The Great Differences

When the leaders of Israel came to John and asked him if he were the Messiah, "he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ" (John 1:20). All he would claim to be was a voice, crying in the wilderness. There is a great difference between the voice and the Word: Christ was the eternal Word, come to perform the work of redemption. But since God’s plan includes not merely the offer of the Gospel to all the race but also the specific fulfilling in detail of all His promises to the Jews, it was necessary that the forerunner announce the Lord as the Messiah of Israel, and that Christ should come, first of all, unto His own.

Image previewThe Great Differences

"After that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel" (Mark 1:14-15).

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Princeton Regional Conference on Reformed Theology

Join us at Princeton Regional Conference on Reformed Theology 2013 as we examine the relationship of our ongoing sanctification to four aspects of the Christian life: faith, prayer, the Word of God, and service in the Church. How do each of these individually and of them collectively factor into the New Testament doctrine of sanctification?

Syndicate content