Matthew chapter 5 verse 5 and before we read that, I'll just read it once again, Galatians 5, 22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness
That's when we're up to meekness, temperance against such there is no law
So we're here tonight preaching on the fruit of the Spirit part 8
There are 9 fruits as you can see here, so we're toward the end now
We're up to fruit of the Spirit number 8 and once again guys, these are the fruits of the Spirit
These are fruits that the Holy Spirit wants to develop in your life
And the greatest way to know whether you're walking in the Spirit, whether you're someone that's filled with the Spirit
Is to see how well your life matches up to these qualities that we see here in Galatians 5, 22 and 23
Okay, and just like when we strive to be fruitful, you know, we want to go and win souls, what do we have to do?
We have to plow the ground a little bit, don't we? We have to plant the seeds, we need to water a little bit
You see, and the Holy Spirit is trying to develop this fruit in your life as well
And the Holy Spirit will have to dig in deep, the Holy Spirit will have to plant those seeds, water the garden as it were
He's going to have to work in you, the Lord might have to put you in positions, you know, some difficulties in your life
In order to bring this fruit, you know, into fruition, into your life, okay?
But the best way to know how well I'm doing spiritually is how well does your life line up to these fruits that God has shown us here in Galatians 5
But you guys are in Matthew 5, look at verse 5, Matthew 5 verse 5, Jesus speaking, this is from the Sermon on the Mount
He says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
Blessed are the meek is the title for the sermon tonight
And what a blessing to be a meek person from that verse there
What's the promise that Jesus Christ tells us? If we strive to be people that are meek, He says you'll inherit the earth
And of course we know about the millennial reign of Christ to come, the thousand year reign where we're going to rule and reign with Christ
But a great way for you to determine how, you know, what status you hold, you know, what authority you hold, what power you hold under Christ during that time
Is here determined about how meek you are, okay?
We know there are many things, you know, that contribute to our position with God
Things that contribute to our rewards in heaven, our mansions, you know, the greatness that we can have when we have Christ as our foundation
But just being meek, okay? Just trying to work toward being meek and living a life of meekness
Jesus says you're going to inherit the earth, you know, there's a great blessing to come, a great reward to come in the future
And so that's the title for the sermon tonight is Blessed are the meek
And again, this is probably one of those attributes, one of these qualities that, you know, is it really exciting?
Is this going to be an exciting sermon about meekness?
You know, I want a sermon about hatred, you know, I want a sermon about, you know, attack the false prophets, you know, attack the homosexuals, you know
There's a time for all of that, okay?
But you know what? It's easier, it's easier to hear a sermon attacking the false prophets
It's easier to hear a sermon attacking, you know, the homosexuals, the sodomites, the reprobates
It's easier to hear these things than it is for us to think, hold on, am I meek?
You know, do I have these qualities in my life?
Because when we go through these things, I'm sure there's going to be times you go, well, actually, you know what?
I'm lacking in this area and that's hard to admit, okay?
And in fact, you've got to be a meek person to admit I'm not great in some of these areas
I'm really lacking in some of these areas, I need to change my life
And the reason why it's easy to hear preaching against the false prophets is because it's easy to point fingers and say, yeah
You know, look how wicked those are
It's much harder when you have to do a self-examination, you know, and ask God, God, you got changes about me
You know, I'm hardened, I'm stuck in my ways
And I've noticed as I've gotten older, I had my birthday not long ago
But as I'm getting older, I'm getting stuck in my ways a lot more
You know, thank God, you know, I was able to get married at a young age and have children at a young age
Because then I was able to adapt to that, you know
But I find myself getting, you know, harder
I'm reading my Bible and I'm seeing, you know, these are areas I need to work on
And, you know, when I was younger, I could probably accept that a lot easier
But now it's sort of harder, right? It's harder as you get into life
And that's why it's challenging to do these self-examinations, but we must do it, you know
And if you say, you know, I'm, you know, these qualities, these fruits of the Spirit, I've got them
You know, I've reached the heights of all these qualities, you know
I'm living, you know, every day with these fruits, you know
I'm doing perfectly in these areas
And if that's you, I want to shake your hand because the only person I know that has done that is Jesus Christ
Okay, so if you're proud enough to say you've met these qualifications or these attributes
Well, that's not being meek, that's being prideful, okay, that's being proud
And in fact, being proud is the opposite of being meek, all right
So let's start off and where can we turn to? Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, please
2 Corinthians chapter 10
If you do, if you get a dictionary definition for the word meekness, you basically end up with two definitions, okay
You guys turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10
And the two definitions, the first one is to be soft and gentle, okay, to be soft and gentle
But I don't believe that's how meekness is covered in the Bible, okay
In fact, one of the fruits that we looked at previously was gentleness, okay, gentleness, okay
But the second definition for the word meek is to be humble or lowly, to be humble and lowly
And I think you'll notice when you read through your Bible and you notice when the Bible brings up the word meek or meekness
Quite often it's associated with being humble, by being low, okay
And one great verse to look at is the one I just asked you to turn to, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1
2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1, Paul says, Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ
Who in presence am base among you, but being absent and bold toward you
So when he says that I am base among you, he says, you know, when you talk about something that's base or basic
That's something that is low, he says, you know, I come before you as a low person
In fact, he just mentioned he comes in the meekness and gentleness of Christ, okay
So we see, you know, we've gone through the book of Corinthians, I keep saying that
But again we see how strong Paul was with his words, he was very bold in his letter
You know, he was criticizing them, he was rebuking them, but he did it out of meekness, okay
He did it out of humility, you know, and he was there to serve the brethren
And that's gonna be the key to serving your brethren, is if you can lower yourself
If you can become meek, you can become that servant, you can humble yourself
That's the key to being a blessing to your brethren
Alright, now what I want to do is I just want to give you some practical tips of staying meek or being meek
Okay, because it's not natural, it's very hard to be a meek person, okay
And once again, if you come up to me and say, I'm just the meekest person I know
That's pride, alright, be careful, okay, because pride is such a silent sin
And it's so hard to see it in your life and we all have it, okay
And so I want to help you, I want to give you, how many pointers have I got here
I've got four pointers to staying meek, okay
How to set your mind to be a meek person
And turn to Philippians chapter 2, please, Philippians chapter 2 verse 3
But we'll start on this one because we're in church tonight, okay
And point number 1, practical tips of staying meek is when you come into church
Think that everybody else is better than you, okay
When you've come into church, maybe you haven't even done that yet, okay
But right now, in church, I want you to look around to see who else is here in the building
And just set it in your heart, set it in your mind, everyone else here is better than me, okay
Everyone else deserves to be served by me, okay
Now look at Philippians chapter 2 verse 3, Philippians chapter 2 verse 3
The Bible says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind
Let each esteem other better than themselves, okay
I don't care if you are the greatest Christian in this church
In fact, if you are the greatest, you've got to be a servant
Okay, in fact, if you are the greatest, you've got to be a humble person
I just want you, as soon as you come to church, before you walk into the doors, into every future service
Is just say, you know what, every brother and sister in the church, they're better than me, okay
They're better than me, the children that are believers, they believe in Christ, they're better than me
Do you think that's hard to do? I think so
I think so, it's easy to just say it in your mind, everyone's better
Everyone's better, but then to come and actually practice that, you know
And actually, you know, and say, you know what, what my brother and sister have to say is important
And I'm going to give them ear, I'm not going to talk over them, I'm going to listen to what they have to say
Because they're better than me, they've got important things to say
And I'm going to lend my ear, I'm going to spend time with my brother and sisters in the Lord, okay
Or, hey, how can I serve my brother or sister, you know
I see that there's a need there, you know, am I able to help out in some way, some shape
Look, if you can't figure it out, what you can do for everybody is just pray for that brother
Brother, sister, is there anything I can be praying for for you today?
Is there anything that you need me to be praying for this week?
And some of those ideas will come to you during the Wednesday night services because we have our prayer meeting
Hey, but that's the greatest way for you to serve, for you to, because prayer is not easy
You know, prayer is laboring in the spirit, and if you can labor in the spirit for your brethren
Hey, that's showing great service, that's showing great humility to your brethren
You know, when I come to church and I have my sermons, you know, and this is what makes me sometimes afraid to get behind the pulpit
It's because I keep thinking you guys are the best people in the world, you are sons of God
How crazy is that? You've got the Holy Spirit indwelling in you, you know, you're the children of God
You know, God wants to see you succeed, God wants to see you grow, God wants to see you mature in Christ
And part of that maturity is coming to church and hearing the preaching
What a fearful thing for a preacher to think about, hey, what I'm bringing to the table here
The service that I'm doing to the brethren is, you know, it's part of their spiritual growth
You know, but I do it out of service, and I'm thinking these are the greatest people on the Sunshine Coast
And I better try to give them the best sermon I can do, you know, the best sermon I can prepare
The greatest sermon that I can preach, that's my mindset when I come to preach
You know, is that I need to preach the best sermon not because I'm the greatest preacher, but because you are the greatest people
Okay, and so let's have that mindset, okay, when we come to church everyone is great
Even the children, you know, I'm going to go and say hello to the children, I'm going to make sure before I leave
I say bye to the children, okay, because I know they're the next generation, you know
And this church will only survive if our children, you know, walk in our footsteps
And they achieve great tasks, they do great works, they continue this church
We're going to be gone one day, it's our children that are going to be left, you know, keeping things going
So let's make sure we esteem other better than ourselves
The second thing that I want to bring up to your attention, so the point one was
When you come to church, think of everyone as better than you
The second one is go to Matthew chapter 20 please
And it's funny because I just preached on this yesterday at the church in Sydney
But Matthew chapter 20 verse 25
The second point is view your positions of authority and leadership as positions of servitude
And of course, you know, I hold the office of a bishop here in this church, I already mentioned
That I see it as a position that I come to serve the brethren, okay
But you know, we all have different positions, especially if you're a parent
You know, we all, you know, have different positions of authority or power, you know
Husbands, you're the head of your house, you know, you're the head of your wife and your children and mothers
You know, you're an authority over your children, okay
And you might have positions of authority in your workplace, things like that
But hey, view your positions of authority and leadership as positions of servitude
Now look at Matthew chapter 20 verse 25
These of course are the words of Jesus
All right, so let's stop it there in verse 25, okay
Jesus speaks of the Gentiles
When he says Gentiles in this sense, what he means are the heathen nations
Okay, those that are non-believers, those that do not believe on Christ
He speaks about how they have authority, how they have power
It says, look, those that, the princes, those that are in high positions
They exercise dominion over the subjects, okay
They're like lords over their subjects
And that's how the world operates
You know, someone's in a position of authority in the world
And they think that everybody should be serving them
You know, everyone should be, you know, beckoning at their every call
That's how the heathen nations think, okay
But then Jesus just flips it on its head when he comes to his kingdom
When he says here in verse 26
I mean, that's hard, right?
It's like, well, hold on, God
I took a position of authority because I wanted others to minister to me
I didn't take that position of authority so I can minister to others
Because, you know, that's how the heathen think, that's how the non-believers think
But we are not to think that way, alright
Verse 27
And look, Jesus doesn't ask us anything that he doesn't do, okay
He will never ask you anything unless he's done it first
In verse 28
But to minister and to give his life a ransom for many
Jesus, look, he came to be a minister
He came to be a servant
And even beyond that, he came to give his life
To lay down his life for us, okay
And to ransom our lives
And so what I really want you guys to be thinking about
Please take the idea of leadership and authority that the world has taught you
Just renew your mind, get rid of that idea, okay
If you want to follow Christ
Christ has given us positions of authority and leadership, okay
Positions of power
And you need to see those positions as positions of ministry
Ministry to those that you have the power over, okay
That's, again, why my, often, you know, a pastor or a bishop
It's called the ministry, it's called the ministry for a reason
Not because I'm being ministered, you know
Come and serve me, brethren, but because I'm trying to be the one to minister to you, you know
And fathers, fathers, you're to minister to your wife
You're to minister to your children
Mothers, you're there to minister to your children, okay
You're there to serve them
You say, but what, do I, am I supposed to then, am I at the beckon of the call of my kids?
You know, my kids say, Dad, I want to go to the, you know, to the park today
Is that what you're saying? I've got to go and take them everywhere, do whatever they want
No, okay
You have the authority, you have the power
You're the one that makes, you know, calls the shots, okay
But when you do it, you do it with them in mind
You do it to serve them, okay
You know, when I come and prepare a sermon, you know, I'm not coming to you with a Kentucky Fried Chicken sermon
I'm not coming to you with a fast food
Well, I did give you guys Kentucky Fried Chicken at the soul winning mega marathon, sorry about that
But when it comes to preaching God's word and feeding the soul, feeding the spirit, the word of God
You know, I'm not coming to you with McDonald's
I'm not coming to you with nuggets, all right
I'm trying to put together a meal, some meat, some potatoes, some veggies, things that don't taste very good
I don't like my veggies, but Christina shoves them down my throat, you know
That's what I'm trying to do, sometimes I have to bring sermons that you might not like, but you've got to take it
Okay, you've got to swallow it, it's going to be good for you
I'm serving you, I'm not preaching what you want me to preach
I'm preaching what's going to be good for you, okay
And that's how we ought to be as parents to our children
We're serving our children because our decisions as parents is to do the best we can for our family
Even if our children, our wives don't want us to do that, but you know it's best for the family
You're serving the family by making sure you're delivering the best leadership you can, okay
Making the best decisions you can as a husband and mothers as well with your children
You know, don't be a mother that thinks you can only make your kids happy by, you know, doing the things they want
No, you do the things that's best for your children, that's you serving your children
Anyway, let's move on to our next point, move on to our next point
The next point I have, go to Philippians, we were in Philippians before, but Philippians chapter 2 again
Philippians chapter 2, actually both these references are probably worth for us to turn to
But go to Philippians chapter 2 verse 4, so just again the two points we've looked at so far
When you come into church, think of everyone as better than you
Number 2, view your positions of authority and leadership as positions of servitude
And number 3, at every opportunity of interaction, ask how can I be a blessing to this person
Whatever interaction you have, in church, at work, in life, just going about life
Ask yourself the question, how can I be a blessing to this person, okay
Now look at Philippians chapter 2 verse 4, Philippians chapter 2 verse 4, the Bible says
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, okay
This is what's going to help you be a humble person, okay, is when you put the needs of others before your own needs
And in fact this is what's going to just give you joy in life, okay, because when you're self-centered
And you're always focused on your problems, especially the problems that you have no control over
It's going to bring you down, but many times you know your brethren, your friends, your family are going through difficulties
And maybe you can give that helping hand, maybe you can be a blessing to that person
That's the opportunity that you should be looking for, okay
These aren't opportunities of you and authority, but these are opportunities of you just as an everyday person in your everyday life
How can I be a blessing to this person, you know, and there's many ways you can do things
You know, how can I bless this church, how can I bless my family, how can I bless my friends, how can I bless my co-workers when I'm around them
You know many times, you know, I don't like saying things, but a lot of times when I was in work
I looked not just at my job, but I look at the jobs of others, and as I became more familiar with how my job interacted
Or my work interacted with the work of others, many times I could see how I could make their life easier, okay
Like I could take on something they're doing, and I can do it faster than they are, and that's going to free them up to achieve their goals
And many times I did that, you know, and many times I did that, or I found a way where I could take a bit of their work
And I could exchange a bit of my work to someone else, and by doing that it just made things a lot more efficient
I could be a blessing to the company, I could be a blessing to other people, and sometimes, you know, you've got to find those opportunities
And many times you're going to have to make that little bit of effort to do it, but it's always turned out the best
You know, it's always turned out where people would look at those things and go, wow, that's awesome, you know
And then I get positions of, you know, get promotions and stuff like that, right
Because people could see that my mind was outside just my own world
I was looking at the needs of others, I was looking at the needs of the business, alright
Try to find out how you can be a blessing to others, go to Acts chapter 20 please, Acts chapter 20 verse 33
Acts chapter 20 verse 33, actually Acts 20, 35 first
Because you guys are very familiar with this passage here, Acts chapter 20 verse 35
And then we'll read verse 33, but verse 35 for now, Acts 20, 35
Paul says, I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak
And to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive
That's a very common phrase, a lot of people are aware of that phrase in the Bible
It is more blessed to give than to receive, and Paul says these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
Did you know there's no way in the Bible that actually records Jesus saying that?
Now these are words that Jesus told Paul at some other time, you know
And Paul there records it for us here in the Bible
And so we often talk about, hey, it's much more blessed or it's better to give than to receive
You know, and looking for opportunities to give gifts to people, to be a blessing to people
The Bible says you're going to be blessed by doing that
It's better that you do that than you just receive
Now it's a blessing to receive, I'm not saying it's wrong to receive
But the greater blessing is to those that give, alright
Now what's the context of this? Of course we can take that principle and apply it to many things
But let's keep it within the context there, Acts chapter 20 verse 33
Paul says here, I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel
So Paul's not for the money, he's not serving the Lord for the money
Verse 34, yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me
Of course Paul was not a married man, he did not have a wife and children
You know, he only had to worry about supporting himself
But then he also had other people with him
And he says with his own hands, that these hands have ministered, he's ministered
He's an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ
He's got great authority amongst the churches that he's planted
And he says hey with my hands, my working hands I've ministered to my needs
And then it says and to them that were with me
So this is where we get the idea that it's more blessed to give than to receive
And then he says I have showed you all things, how that's so labouring you ought to support the weak
So Paul's saying hey I was supporting the weak
And we know that Paul on the side was a tent maker
That's how he made a living, he wasn't needing the offerings or money from the churches to go about doing his work
He was supporting himself, he was supporting his fellow workers
So one way for you to be a blessing, one way for you to be humble
Is to support the work of the church
Today we have the local church
And you know I don't often talk about money
But giving of your labour of your hands, giving your income is important to the work of this church
Making sure that you come and you bring your offering, your tithes and your offerings to the church
That's you taking a position of humility
And being a blessing to, not to me, it's not for me, a blessing to the body of Christ
That we have the work that needs to be done here to be a servant to others
It's more blessed to give than to receive
So the third point that I have here about remaining humble or remaining meek
Is that at every opportunity of interaction ask how can I be a blessing to this person
How can I be a blessing
And the fourth one that I have for you guys, please turn to Colossians chapter 3
And this is the one, this is how I live my life
If you ever wonder, do you have a verse that you live by, it's over here in Colossians chapter 3
This is what's really got me through life
This is what's really helped me mature in the Lord
This is what's helped me to be a godly father
This is what's gotten me to be a hard worker
All these areas of my life, it's found here in Colossians chapter 3
Colossians 3 17, the Bible says
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Give him thanks to God and the Father by him
The Bible says here, whatever you do, whatever word, whatever you speak
The things that you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus
Ask yourself these questions
I don't know, think about today, the things you've done today
Were you doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Maybe you'd be disappointed by some of the things you've done today
Knowing full well, man, Jesus wouldn't even approve of what I just did today
This is an area we need to work at
Turn to verse 22, and this is actually the key that I live by
Colossians chapter 3 verse 22
It says
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh
Not with eye service as men pleases, but in singleness of heart, fearing God
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartedly as to the Lord and not unto men
Do it heartedly as to the Lord, whatever task you have in life
Do it as though the Lord Jesus Christ has asked you to do it
If the Lord Jesus Christ walked in right now and said, brother so and so, sister so and so
Can you please go and sort out this issue?
Can you go and clean the toilet?
Let's say Jesus walked in and asked you that question
Can you just go back there and clean the toilet?
Which of you, if it's Jesus, would say, Lord, I refuse to do it?
Or, get up and do it, but like, a really bad job at it, a sloppy job
You know what, if the Lord Jesus Christ was asking you to do it, wouldn't you do it heartedly?
Wouldn't you do it with all your heart and say, hey, this is the man who took on my sin
Took it to the cross, has delivered me, has given me eternal life, okay?
This is the man who's sacrificed for me and for the entire world
And the loved ones that are saved that I know I'm going to meet in heaven
It's because of this man, Jesus Christ
Wouldn't you just do everything that you can heartedly for him that he asked you to do?
Well, the Bible says here, whatever we do in life, we ought to do it as though Jesus Christ is the one that's commanded us to do that
Okay, and do it heartedly, do it with all your heart, do it with all your strength, do the best job you can in your life
Do the best you can
You know, sometimes you might not be able to do things as well as you wish, doesn't matter
Do it as best as you can, as though you're doing it for the Lord Jesus Christ
And then verse 24, knowing that of the Lord, you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ
As a promise, okay, that is going to reward you for the service you do for him, okay?
And this is the best way I've lived my life is because many times there are things that I've been asked to do by those in authority in my life
And I don't really want to do it
And then I just remind myself, I'm just Jesus, it's like, obviously if it's a sinful thing, you don't do it
Okay, of course that's not going to please the Lord
But something that you just, you know, someone's asked you to do it and you just don't think it's the best thing
You don't think it's going to work, but hey, someone's in authority is asking you to do it
I'm just like Jesus, I'm doing it as though you've asked me to do it, right?
I'm doing it because I'm just going to put my head down and just in my mind, you're asking me to do it, I'm going to do it heartedly
And that's been the best way to live my life
Because I know even if I don't like doing it, there's a reward to come by Jesus Christ
You know, even if this employer I don't like and that employee doesn't like me, doesn't matter
I'm going to get rewarded for doing this job that Christ has asked me to do
That's going to keep you humble, that's what's going to keep you in check with the authorities in your life
Okay, instead of rebelling against authority, you know, that's going to keep you humble
Is when you just think, you know what, Jesus is the one asking me to do this, I'm just going to go do it, okay?
And of course, you don't have to turn there, but 1 Corinthians 10.31
And you say, to what point, you know, do I serve other people and those that are in my authority
Well, 1 Corinthians 10.31 says, whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God
Say, what things do I do for the glory of God? What do I do for the name of Jesus Christ?
Everything, even when you're eating and drinking, alright?
Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God
Because God's the one that's giving you life, God's the one that's giving you the blessings to eat and drink
Hey, do it unto his glory, okay? That's going to keep you humble
Just remembering that Christ is above all, watching you, just put your head down, do the work that Christ has asked you to do
So just as a reminder, those 4 points that will keep you humble, keep you unique
Number 1, when you come into church, think of everyone as better than you
Number 2, view your positions of authority and leadership as positions of servitude
Number 3, at every opportunity of interaction, ask how I can be a blessing to this person
And number 4, whatever task you have to do, see it as though Jesus has asked you to do it, alright?
Now, if you guys can turn to Psalm 147 please
Psalm 140, actually go to Numbers 12, Numbers 12, Numbers 12, Numbers 12
Because the reason we don't like being meek, the reason we don't like being humble
Is because we think of it as a position of weakness, okay?
A lot of people think of it as a position of weakness, okay?
If I humble myself before other people, then people will take advantage of me
People will take advantage of my meek disposition, okay?
And I can understand that, so you put up the barriers, you become defensive, you become prideful, all those things
But I love this promise that we have in the Bible, because yes, when you are humble, when you are meek
You are opening up a little bit, aren't you?
You are opening up to people taking advantage of you, so I understand it, alright?
Now before we read Numbers 12, I'll just read to you from Psalm 147 verse 6
Psalm 147 verse 6, it says here, the Lord lifteth up the meek
He casteth the wicked down to the ground, okay?
So if you've been meek, you've been taken advantage by someone that's wicked
Well the Bible promises us that the Lord will lift you up
Isn't that the best thing you could ask for? For the Lord to lift you up
And He will destroy, He will cast the wicked down to the ground, He'll do it, okay?
So we shouldn't be afraid of being meek, okay?
Yes, we could open ourselves up to being hurt, but if we are hurt, the Lord will step in and take care of it, okay?
It'd be awesome, you know?
You'll be asking, you'll be begging, hey wicked people come and hurt me
Because I want to be lifted up by the Lord, I want to be exalted by the Lord, alright?
And that's how people in the Bible have great attitudes when they've been persecuted for the name of Christ
Is they know the Lord's going to step in, the Lord will balance the books, the Lord will settle it, alright?
That's the best mindset to have
But you guys are in Numbers 12, let's look at this about a very meek person, okay?
Here in Numbers chapter 12 verse 1
And this is after Moses, you know, once again delivers Israel out of Egypt
And it says here in Numbers chapter 12 verse 1
And Miriam and Aaron, so this is the sister and the brother of Moses
Spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married
For he had married an Ethiopian woman
So Miriam and Aaron aren't happy that he's married this Ethiopian woman, okay?
Verse 2
And they said, have the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses?
Have he not spoken also by us?
And the Lord heard it
I love that, I love that, right?
When people are speaking bad against you, the Lord hears it
The Lord hears it, okay, the Lord heard it
Verse number 3
Now the man Moses was very meek, there it is, it's very meek
Above all the men which were upon the face of the earth, okay?
So the Holy Spirit, we don't have Moses coming out and saying, man I'm such a meek person
You know, he leaves it to the Holy Ghost to record forever in the Bible
That Moses was a meek man above everyone else in the earth, okay?
That's what made him a powerful leader, okay?
Was that he was the meekest above all of his contemporaries
And then verse number 4
And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses and unto Aaron and unto Miriam
Come out ye, free unto the tabernacle of the congregation
And they three came out
I love that, you know, the Lord's come out and they come out, right?
Verse 5
And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud
And stood in the door of the tabernacle and caught Aaron and Miriam
And they both came forth
Would you be afraid if you were Aaron and Miriam right now?
I mean, I would, I would be so afraid right now
Verse number 6
And he said, hear now my words, if there be a prophet among you
I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision
And will speak unto him in a dream
So he says, look, if there's a prophet, I'm going to speak to them in a vision, in a dream, okay?
That's fine, it's all good
And then he says, verse number 7
My servant Moses is not so
It's not saying that he's not a prophet, okay?
But what God is saying here is that he's a great prophet, okay?
He's greater than an average prophet
He says, my servant Moses is not so
Who is faithful in all mine house
So he's about to say, I'm not going to speak to him in visions and dreams
Look at this, in verse number 8
With him I will speak mouth to mouth
Even apparently and not in dark speeches
And the similitude of the Lord shall he behold
Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
You know, he says, look, yeah, the average prophet, I'll speak to them in dreams and visions
But not Moses, I'll speak to him face to face
I'll come and just make it plain to him
That's how much God lifted up Moses
You know, how much he loved Moses
And then verse number 9
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he departed
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle and behold
Miriam became leprous, white as snow
And Aaron looked upon Miriam and behold she was leprous
So the Lord just smites her with leprosy, you know
For attacking Moses, you know, the meekest above all
And Aaron said unto Moses
Alas, my Lord, I beseech thee
Lay not the sin upon us
Wherein we have done foolishly
And wherein we have sinned
Okay, so I love that story
Because we see that Moses, a meek man
He's been criticized by his brother and sister
He's probably not even defending himself
You know, he's probably just that meek
He's just like, he's just taking it on board
He's just absorbing it
And the Lord steps in
The Lord steps in and lifts up Moses
You know, talks about how he's a great prophet
Greater than the prophets
And I'm going to talk to him face to face
And then he punishes Miriam
You know, with the leprosy
Okay, so listen
Being meek is allowing God to step in and defend you
Being meek is allowing God to step in and exalt you
Okay, this is a great quality to have
Who wouldn't want the Lord to exalt them?
You know, if you want that, you need to be someone that is meek
Alright, please turn to Luke chapter
I didn't take down the reference
Sorry guys, let me just
I do want you to turn here
Luke 18, I believe it is
Sorry, just bear with me
Luke 18
Oh yeah, Luke 18 verse 10
Luke 18 verse 10
This is a very common parable
A very common story that Jesus Christ gives
Luke chapter 18 verse 10
Because once again, in order for us to talk about
When we talk about meekness and humility
We need to talk about what the opposite is
And that's being prideful, someone that's very proud
And sometimes as we've been going through the fruits of the Spirit
You know, like love
You know, what's the opposite of love?
Hate
Sometimes the opposites are not sinful
Because there is a time to hate
As long as it's a righteous hatred
As long as you're hating the things that God hates
Sometimes the opposites are fine
It just needs to be done in the right place
We had joy, we had joy as one of them
And what's the opposite of joy? Sorrow
Sometimes we do need to sorrow
Sometimes we do need to be people
That are saddened by the wickedness of this world
There's a time for sorrow as well in our lives
You know, that's fine
So some of these opposites are not sinful
But when it comes to the opposite of meekness
Which is pride, it's always sinful in the Bible
It's always sinful, it's always wrong
And this is the story of the Pharisee and the publican
They go up to pray in the temple
And if you remember the story, let's look at verse number 10 please
Verse number 10
Two men went up into the temple to pray
The one a Pharisee and the other a publican
The Pharisee stood and prayed thusly himself
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are
Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican
I fast twice in the week
I give tithes of all that I possess
And before I keep reading
I just want you to notice what this man is saying
Let's take him at face value
Let's say everything this man is saying is true
In fact, I believe what he's saying is true
I do believe here
He says here, God, I thank thee
You know, he's been thankful to the Lord
Is that a bad thing or a good thing?
It's a good thing, right, to be thankful
He says that I am not as other men are
He says extortioners, so he says, look, I'm not an extortioner
Hey, that's a good thing, alright
Unjust, so it's like I try to be a just man, that's good
He's not an adulterer
You know, even as this publican
He points to that publican
You know, because the publicans were known to cheat their fellow man
He says, look, I'm not a cheater
I don't try to take things that doesn't belong to me
You know, I try to live a rightful way
And then he says, I fast twice in a week
In a week, that's great
He's fasting, he's a man of prayer and fasting
Hey, this guy sounds really good
I give tithes of all that I possess
He's tithing, hey man, this guy is awesome
I mean, I'm just taking it at face value
Okay, I mean, I would like to be able to say about myself
That I can do all these things
You know, so, my point is
That what he's speaking about are positive things
Okay, it's not that the way that he lives his life is evil
Or weak or anything like that
He's trying his best to live a righteous life
Okay, but what was the problem?
What was his problem?
Let's keep going
Verse number 13
Verse 13
And the publican standing afar off
Would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven
But smote upon his breast saying
God be merciful to me a sinner
I tell you this man went down to his house justified
Rather than the other
For everyone that exulteth himself
Shall be abased
And he that humbleth himself
Shall be exalted
So what was the problem with the Pharisee?
Was it the works he was doing that was the problem?
The works were fine
His problem, his sin
Was that he was exulting himself
He was filled with pride
Okay, about the great works
You know, that he's achieved in his life
You know
And my point that I want to bring here guys
Is that no one likes self promoters
Okay
And I've used this example before
But I remember in my employment
In my workplace
My manager would say to me
Kevin, you need to toot your own horn
Okay
Meaning that whatever I achieve
The good things that I do in the workplace
He says you've got to make noise about it
You've got to blow a trumpet as it were
And announce the great works that you're doing
Hey, that's how the world works
Honestly, that's how the world works
That's how people
You know, climb the corporate ladder
That's how people get into positions of promotions
They're promoting themselves
And everyone thinks well I guess this person's so great
Give him a position of authority
That's how people get around in the world
But of course that's not how we should live our lives
Proverbs chapter 27 verse 2 says
Let another man praise thee
And not thine own mouth
A stranger and not thine own lips
Okay
And that's the problem with this Pharisee
He was doing great works
But he couldn't help but blow a trumpet
You know, and just pray
I guess he's praying out loud
Because it says even as this publican
Right
Just letting everybody know about the great works that he's done
I've seen many Christians like this in my life
Many Christians
In the churches that I've been at
You know
Without, look
It's one thing
Look, look
If I come up to
If I go up to someone and say
How long have you been serving in this ministry?
You know, let's say I go up to a Sunday school teacher
How long have you been serving in Sunday school?
I've been serving for 20 years
That's fine
Because you're asking the question
You're curious, right?
But what if you're having a conversation about
Something else
And that person that comes up to you
Just wants you to know
I've been serving in the Sunday school for 20 years
I've been singing in the church choir
Since I was a teenager
And I've been doing these things
For the Lord
No one likes a self promoter
Okay
And they're no different to the Pharisee
No different to the Pharisee that we see in the story
Okay
Don't be a self promoter
Please
No one likes you
When you do it
Okay
When you do your good works
Do it secretly
You know, as little people that need to know about it know
Okay
You don't need to go and sound your horn
You don't need to blow your trumpet
Why?
Because you know the Lord is watching you
Okay
And when you feel like
I don't know
I'm trying to serve my brethren
I'm trying to serve the church
But I just don't seem to be getting anything out of it
Well just remember
You're laying up treasures in heaven
You may not see the reward on this earth
You may not see the blessing of that on this earth
But you'll definitely see it in heaven
Okay
Keep that in mind
Keep eternity in mind
The Lord will balance the books
For the service that you do
He is the one that will promote you
He is the one that will exalt you
You know
If you've gone around and you've helped your brothers and sisters in the Lord
You know
You've done something
You've done them a favour
You've helped them in a difficult situation
Don't go around the whole church and tell everyone about it
Okay
I mean
Because what's happening?
You're seeking the praise of men
Okay
And that's your reward
That's what you're going to be left with
Whoever says to you
Yeah great job for all the great work you've done
There's your reward right there
Great job
It's gone in two seconds
Okay
When you could have just stayed quiet
You could have kept it a secret
And you could have got to heaven with that extra gold brick on your mansion
Or whatever it is right
Whatever the rewards are in heaven
Which one would you prefer?
The two second great job
Or the reward in heaven which
You know
Moth cannot corrupt
You know
Where thieves cannot break in and steal
Okay
Have
Be careful please
I'm glad you want to serve one another
You know
But be careful
Don't go around and promote
And just talk about how much you've been serving the brethren
How much you've been serving the church
That's just
No one likes you when you do that
Okay
I mean someone might say
Well good work
But in their mind they're thinking
Man this person can really talk themselves up
Right
So please be careful
Because I've seen this happening
I don't want to be a church that does this
Okay
I've seen other churches
Where people are just going around and bragging about how much they serve the Lord
How much they serve the church
Be careful
And if you look at verse number 9 actually
Luke 18 verse 9
People that are self promoters
People that brag about what they've done for other people in the church
And how good of a life they've lived
People that brag about it
What's really in their hearts?
Well they're in Luke 18 verse 9
Just before Jesus tells that parable, tells that story
In Luke 18 verse 9 he says here
And he spake this parable unto certain
Which trusted in themselves that they were righteous
And despised others
People that go around bragging
About how much service they do
How good they are
How much work they've done
Jesus tells me here
Alright
That they despise other people
That's why they're like that
Okay because they want to exalt themselves
They want to lift themselves up
They want to be seen as someone above their fellow man
Okay and they despise others
When really your mindset should be no
Everyone is better than me
Okay and it's going to change the way you conduct yourself in your church
Alright
So if you guys can go to Luke
Oh sorry look Proverbs chapter 16 now
Proverbs chapter 16 we started with Proverbs 16
So we're just into our conclusion now Proverbs 16
You know why do we want this fruit of meekness in our life
Why do we want to be humble, lowly people
Why
Proverbs 16 there's a few verses here that I want to look at
Proverbs 16 verse 18 look at verse 18
Proverbs chapter 16 verse 18
The Bible says
Pride goeth before destruction
And an haughty spirit before a fall
Do you want to destroy your life
Do you want to be someone that is destroyed
I'm not talking about the lake of fire here
Though it's true that those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ
Are full of pride and will be destroyed in the lake of fire
That's true
Okay but I'm just talking about our daily walk
Our Christian life
We can have lives of destruction
We can destroy our church
We can destroy our families
We can destroy the joy that we have in our life
And just destroy our reputation
By being someone full of pride
See pride goeth before destruction
And if you're struggling with the fruit of meekness
You better ask the Lord to help you
You better ask the Lord to really develop this fruit in your life
To help you walk in the spirit
To walk in the fullness of the spirit
Because otherwise you continue down your prideful ways
You're going to be destroyed
There's going to be certain destructions in your life
Or at least four at the end of that verse
It says an haughty spirit same idea
A lifted up spirit a prideful spirit before a fall
People that fall and fall dramatically
It's often because there was pride at work there
That's one good reason why you want to have the fruit of meekness
Now drop down to verse 19
What's the second reason why you want to be a humble and meek person
Is because people that are humble
Will not want to be associated with you when you're full of pride
You're not going to make friends with good people
You're not going to make friends with humble good Christian people
When you're lifted up with pride
Because in verse 19 it says
Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud
You see people that are lowly
People that are humble
People that get spoiled
As it were they have victories in life
And they have great rewards
And they don't want to divide their victories
Their spoil with prideful people
People that are good genuine humble people
They want to hang around others that are humble like them
Again verse 19
Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly
What are the lowly? Again other people that are humble
Humble good Christian people
Want to be naturally around other humble people
No one likes the guy that's full of pride
No one likes him
They think the prideful person thinks everyone loves me
You know I talk myself up
Everyone's...
Maybe to your face
But in their hearts they're thinking man this person
Can you get out of my life?
I want to be around people that are just normal humble lowly people
That are seeking to serve other people
Rather than to lift themselves up
But the one that I really want you to think about is verse number 5
Because it says here in verse number 5
Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination
An abomination to the Lord
Though hand joining hand
He shall not be unpunished
So look
There are a lot of things in the Bible that are abominations to the Lord
You can be an abomination to the Lord
How? By being a prideful person
By not being someone that's meek and lonely
And it says here at the end
He shall not go unpunished
You will be punished
That's why it says pride goeth before destruction
So this is a fruit guys we need in our lives
We need to be people that are humble
We need to be people that are meek
You need to force yourself
Force yourself to be humble
You've got to do it
Before you walk into church
Whoever's in this building today
They're better than me
Force yourself to do it
Just say they're better than me
I'm going to enjoy their company
I'm going to enjoy the things I have to say
It's important
This person is important to the Lord
They're important to me
I'm nothing
That person will probably come with the same attitude
Hopefully someone else comes with the same attitude
You've come with the attitude
Hey everyone's better than me
Hey that person is better than me
And they're going to lift you up
They're going to show interest in you
They're going to want to be your friend
They're going to want to serve you
It goes hand in hand
If you're someone that thinks you can only get attention by being prideful
You're an abomination to the Lord
And your fellow brethren aren't going to want to be your friends
They're not going to want to hang around you
Because you're full of pride
Let's leave it there, let's pray