This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, The Mighty Meek.
What does it really mean to be blessed?
When Jesus Christ preached the Beatitudes in His Sermon on the Mount, He was painting a picture of what it is like to be spiritually blessed—to have everything you need, spiritually.
Think of the Beatitudes as “attitudes that ought to be.” They deal with Christian character. Your reputation is what others think about you, but character is what God and your spouse know about you. The Beatitudes deal not with what blessed men have, but with who blessed men are.
If you seek happiness, you will never find it. But if are right with God, blessedness will find you. Let’s tune our focus on one Beatitude in particular:
And seeing the multitudes, He [Jesus] went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying…”Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:1-2,5 Word in brackets added).
Talk about an inheritance!
The people of this world would say that blessed are the muscle men, the intellectual men, the money men. Blessed are any kind of men except the meek men. Why is this? Because we think of meekness as weakness. Yet the Bible says blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
First thing to understand:
Modern use of the word “meek” has corrupted it, and given it a wrong connotation of timidity and mousiness. But this is not its meaning in Scripture at all.
Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 11:29). The KJV translates “gentle” as meek.
Do you think of Jesus as weak? Read the Bible. See where He fasted forty days and forty nights alone in the wilderness with wild beasts. Get a picture of Jesus making a whip and driving the moneychangers out of the temple. Jesus was a man, and a strong one. Yet He said, “I am meek and lowly of heart.”
After Jesus, the Bible gives other examples of men it calls meek—for example, Moses. “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). In the KJV, “humble” is rendered as meek. Study the life of Moses. Sometimes he got in trouble for his temper, but one thing he was not was a weak man.
Meekness clearly is not weakness, nor milquetoast timidity, nor cowardice. So what is meant by this word?
Meekness means yielded. It is strength under control.
When God made us, He put into our nature certain drives, instincts, and ambitions. They are not evil in themselves. But those drives need to be yielded.
Think of meekness as a wild horse being broken. As a matter of fact, when that powerful animal has been domesticated, trained so a rider can sit upon its back or so that it can pull a plow, the proper term is that the horse has been meeked. Now it yields to the rider, or to the yoke. It has the same strength, but now it is under control.
A Christian is not weak; he is meek. He has a new master.
I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness (Romans 6:19).
Now, rather than using your tongue to blaspheme, you praise. You are still a fighter, but now you are fighting the devil and his crowd. God does not hobble the horse; He energizes it. And He says, blessed are those who have yielded.
How do you become a meek person? There is a sequence. “Blessed are the meek” is the third Beatitude—the answer is in the first two.
“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” (Matthew 5:3-5).
First of all you see that you are absolutely bankrupt, spiritually. Second, you are brokenhearted over it.
If you have never been broken, you are never going to be meek. You must be submitted to the Son of God. 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” (Matthew 11:28-30).
When He says “my yoke is easy,” that means it fits right. It does not you won't have to pull, that there is no work to do—there is plenty. His yoke is not lazy.
Jesus is the way to blessedness, and meekness is the way to inherit the Earth.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls (James 1:21).
Remember, meekness is submission to a higher power. Let the Word of God be your bridle and your bit. And you will not learn God’s Word—however much you study it—until you receive it with meekness, ready to be taught.
The Greek word used in James 1:21 for “receive” is dechomai. It means “to welcome with humility.” Not to take, but to welcome. Have you ever welcomed the Word—or just paraded it past the judgment bar of your mind, to decide whether you think it is right or interesting?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
The KJV translates “gentleness” as meekness. Therefore, one of the fruits the Holy Spirit will produce in you is meekness.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
That is a daily decision: to walk in the Spirit instead of the flesh.
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5; emphasis added). That's the dynamic of it. Now, what does that mean?
First, it means you will never have your full inheritance without meekness. A man who cannot control himself or be controlled by the Spirit of God is never satisfied.
But what does it mean to inherit the Earth? It speaks of now, and it speaks of hereafter—eternal life.
How do we inherit the Earth right now?
Therefore 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 things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
Do you believe that? It is in the Word of God. Maybe you believe in your head, but it has never gotten to your heart.
Here is the key thing: we are…
…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things (2 Corinthians 6:10).
It does not matter what you have: if you do not have blessedness, you cannot enjoy anything, because blessedness does not come in things. And it does not matter what you don’t have: if you have blessedness, you have everything. What can the devil do to a person like this?
Matthew 5:1-5; Matthew 11:28-30; Numbers 12:3; Romans 6:19; James 1:21; Galatians 5:16,22-23; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; 2 Corinthians 6:10
For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalm 37:9-11).
In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD (Zephaniah 3:11-12).
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do (Colossians 3:12-13).
