Okay, so we will come back to Proverbs chapter 16 at the end of the sermon, but for now can
you please turn to Galatians, oh sorry, turn to our Philippians chapter 2 just for now.
Turn to Philippians chapter 2 and we'll get to that in a moment, but we are continuing
the series on the fruits of the Spirit. We're near the end now, and I'll just
quickly read to you in Galatians 5, 22, it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. We're up to meekness,
and after meekness there's temperance, and that's the end of it, okay. So we're very close to the end,
we're up to the second last fruit of the Spirit that's mentioned in Galatians 5, 22,
we're looking at the topic of meekness. Now you might be thinking, oh man, I wanted a red hot,
you know, sermon tonight, you know, Pastor Kevin's going to preach about meekness,
and you know sometimes we, you know, I've said it before, I think when we're looking at gentleness,
sometimes we look at these topics and we think, oh you know, that's not such an exciting topic,
but you know, the Lord, you know, in order for the Lord to make you a great person, okay,
he's going to be looking at the person that is displaying these characteristics, okay,
this is the fruit that God is trying to develop in your life, and you're going to be
a more well-rounded Christian, you're going to be more useful to God, you know, and meekness
is one of these things that God wants us to produce, meekness. Now I don't know,
you know, what you think about the term meekness, but I'm going to quickly read to you
from 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number 1, and we looked at this verse before,
I think when we're looking at gentleness, yeah, because it says here,
Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness, there's meekness, and gentleness,
now these are two fruits of the Spirit, meekness and gentleness of Christ,
who in presence am based among you, but being absent and bowed toward you.
So I want you to notice what Paul describes this fruit of the Spirit in his life,
this meekness and his gentleness that he had toward the Corinthian church,
he firstly says, these are qualities that are of Christ, you know,
if we knew Jesus Christ on this earth, we would have known him as meek and gentle,
and then he says, in order for him to be based, he says, who in presence am based among you,
you know what he's saying, he's saying he's able to lower himself to the other believers,
and he's able to do that because he's got the fruits of meekness and gentleness, okay,
to be lowly, to be based among you, you'll soon see that being lowly has a lot to do with being meek.
You know, three words that are very similar in the Bible,
and you may think they're all kind of similar, are the words meek, lowly and humble.
Now, there is a lot in common with those three words, okay,
but they are a little bit different from one another, okay,
we are looking at the fruits of meekness tonight, and why is meekness so important?
You know, you may think, again, this is a weak character to have,
you know, because people sometimes think of meek as weak, it's not the same thing,
okay, being meek is not being weak, in Matthew chapter 5 verse 5,
it says, blessed are the meek, so, do you want to be blessed by God?
Blessed are the meek, you need to be meek to be blessed by God,
then it says this, for they shall inherit the earth.
Wow, you know what, we're looking towards a time when Christ is going to come back
and establish his kingdom, and we're going to rule in the name of Christ,
we've seen that many times, and we're going to be kings and priests in his kingdom.
Well, you know what, if we want to inherit the earth,
we want to have great positions of authority and rule in the glory of Jesus Christ in the millennium,
hey, we want to do the best we can and have the highest positions serving Christ,
well, we need to start by being meek. Blessed are the meek, for they, the meek, shall inherit the earth.
So, you know, don't tell me this is a fruit that's, you know, not important.
You know, if God's saying, man, you're going to inherit the earth by being meek,
then this is one way we can ensure that we have high positions, you know,
where we are giving thanks and great servitude to God during his millennial reign.
Now, you're in Philippians chapter 2, and I'm going to basically,
first, actually, before we look at Philippians chapter 2,
I want to give you two dictionary definitions for the word meek.
When you think of the word meek, and I found two meanings,
and the first one that's in the dictionary is to be soft and gentle.
Now, I think meekness can carry that term, soft and gentle,
but we've already seen that gentleness was another fruit of the Spirit that was mentioned, okay?
So I don't believe meek, when we look at the topic of meekness in the Bible,
that, you know, the Lord uses gentleness to differentiate as a different fruit from meekness, okay?
So we've already covered gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit.
The second meaning for the word meek, as I kind of mentioned, are the words humble and lowly.
You'll find that in most of your dictionaries, to be humble and lowly.
Now, obviously, what I'm going to say to you, basically, in order for you to be lowly,
you have to be both humble and meek, okay?
Now, these two things, again, usually somebody that is meek, they're naturally going to be humble.
Usually the person that's humble, they're naturally going to be meek, okay?
These are very similar characteristics, but they are a little bit different, okay?
So when you're humble, you're someone that does not speak highly of yourself, right?
Humility is the opposite of pride. We think of pride as the opposite of someone that is humble.
You don't speak, you know, great, swelling words about yourself.
You're not out there promoting yourself, trying to make yourself look like some big shot, okay?
That would be humility. Meekness has more to do with how you look at others, okay?
Again, that idea of being lowly. I'm going to lower myself compared to others.
You know, I want to be a blessing to other people. I want to serve other people.
So humility has more to do with how you look at yourself.
Meekness has more to do with how you look at other people.
But again, these things are so similar. You know, I truly believe someone that is meek will automatically be humble.
And the humble person will automatically be meek.
But both of these thoughts, both of these ideas has to do with being lowly.
You're lowering yourself. You know, you're not speaking highly of yourself.
You're lowering yourself and you're lifting up others and lowering yourself compared to other people.
You're in Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 3.
Look what it says here. In Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 3, it says,
It says,
So in order for you to be lowly, the Bible tells us we have to esteem each other better than ourselves, okay?
Now this is something we need to remind ourselves when we come to church.
And I promise you this. I always tell myself this on my way to church, always.
The people that are going to be at church tonight or at Sunday morning, they're better than me.
I'm going to esteem them better than myself, okay?
And when I come to preach, I'm not just trying to fuel time.
We better have church. We better have a sermon. I don't think that way.
You know, I think these are the children of God.
These right now, these people that I'm preaching to are the most important people in God's eyes.
And so I better make sure that I do a good job, that I'm feeding them the Word of God.
I'm not trying to cut corners. I'm not just trying to get through some sermon.
I want to make sure that you're full, that you're fed, and that God says,
Well done, you fed my children.
Because you guys are truly the most important people, you know, in God's eyes.
You know, right now in Fairfield East, gathered together, you are very important, okay?
That's how the Lord sees us. We're His children. We're His kings, His priests.
We're His ambassadors. We're His soldiers, okay?
And we need to remind ourselves when we come to church, you know, whoever it is,
it doesn't matter if it's someone that I don't necessarily get along with,
I'm going to view that person as someone more important than me.
This person is a child of God.
Or if we have a visitor that is unsaved, this person needs to know what they have to do to be saved,
and I'm going to lower myself.
I'm going to esteem that person, and I'm going to give them the gospel as though they can be saved as well.
They can have the same status as a child of God as other people in this church.
You know, it's going to help you in church to serve one another when you just lift each other up.
Point number one, I've got four practical tips of staying meek.
Point number one is when you come into church, think of everyone else as better than yourself.
Can you do that, brethren?
You know, we need to do that with the children.
You know, it's so important for our children to feel like they're important and valued in church.
You know, I try my best to say hello to the children.
You know, I try to greet them and maybe have a laugh with the kids,
because I want them to know they're important to this pastor.
They're important to this church.
You know, they're not just filling the seats.
They're not just the children of brother so-and-so and sister so-and-so.
Hey, they're the future.
They're the future generation.
They're going to be the ones that are running the church in the future, Lord willing.
Okay?
And if you don't make them feel important, if you don't make them feel valued,
they're going to be thinking, well, you know what?
My friends make me feel important.
You know, the world makes me feel valued.
Why, you know, as they grow up, they're going to be thinking, well, I wasn't important in church.
I can find that importance and that value somewhere else.
And so I don't care how small the child is.
You know, if they come into church, I'm going to esteem that person better than myself.
You know, that is part of being meek, okay?
It's by looking out at others and lifting them higher than you view yourself.
It's going to help you serve one another.
Can you please turn to Matthew chapter 20.
Matthew chapter 20, verse number 25.
Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 25.
I've moved the fridge here, by the way, if anyone's wondering.
It's over here for now.
I'm still trying to work out how the building's going to be arranged, still moving things around a little bit.
But anyway, Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 25.
Point number two, practical tip of staying meek.
Point number two is view your position of authority and leadership.
If you've got authority and leadership, okay, I have it in the church.
I have it in my home, okay?
If you are someone that is a leader or you have authority, view that position as a position of servitude.
Okay?
Look at that position as a position of servitude.
Rather than looking, how can people serve me because I'm the boss?
No, you should be looking, how can I serve others?
Okay?
That's going to keep you meek.
Matthew chapter 20, verse number 25.
But Jesus called them unto him and said,
You know that the princes, those are the people of authority, okay, of the Gentiles.
So when Bible refers to Gentiles like this, it's referring mainly to the non-believing world, right?
So the authorities in the unbelieving world exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
So that's not wrong, that's not evil, okay?
There's authority, you exercise authority.
That's okay, but look at verse number 26.
But whosoever would be great among you, let him be your minister.
Hey, you know what's another great title for the pastor?
The minister.
I like that title, the minister.
You know what?
Because I'm supposed to minister.
You know, it's not about the church ministering to the pastor, you know, but it's about the pastor.
That's my job.
My job is to, even though I've been given the authority in the house of God, but it's my job to minister to you, to serve you.
Okay?
When I prepare a sermon, it's to feed you, okay?
And so this is the person that is great in the eyes of the Lord.
If you have authority, if you have leadership, I don't care what position that is, it might be in your workplace.
Hey, view it as a position of servitude.
As children of God, we ought to be looking at our authority and leader position differently from the Gentiles,
differently from the world, who are seeking for others to serve them.
Let's keep going.
Verse number 27.
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.
I mean, the Lord Jesus Christ explains this many ways.
Okay?
If you want to be the chief, guess where you're going to start?
You've got to start serving.
Hey, and when you're the chief, you continue serving, serving whoever it is that is under you.
Verse number 28.
Even, this is the best part of it.
Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
Boy, was Jesus Christ meek?
Yeah.
He was able to esteem others higher and says, you know what?
I'm going to give up my life.
I'm going to be that sacrifice.
I'm going to take on the sins of the world.
And of course, Christ had to lower himself in order to do that.
Okay?
So if you find it challenging to lower yourself,
if you find it challenging to serve those that are under your authority,
then remind yourself of what Christ has done.
Now, Jesus Christ also says in Luke 14 and 11,
for whosoever exalts of himself shall be abased.
And hear that, humbly of himself shall be exalted.
Boy, I want to be promoted by God.
Now, I want God to be the one that gives me the promotions, that lifts me up.
But in order for that to happen, you have to lower yourself.
You have to become humble.
You have to become meek.
You have to view others better than yourselves.
All right?
Now, what am I talking about?
You know, husbands, you know, you are the head of your home.
Okay?
And as the head of your home, your job is not to go, well, how do I get served?
Now, it's great to be served as a husband.
Nothing wrong with that.
I love it when my wife cooks, you know, a hearty meal
and I get served by my wife or my kids do the chores
and they run around and do something great for me or something.
Hey, that's great to serve, you know, the ones in authority.
But at the same time, it's your job to serve as well.
You know, husbands, it's your job to serve your wife.
You know, mothers, it's your job to serve your children.
Employers, it's your job to serve your employees.
Pastors, it's your job to serve the local church.
Say, what are you talking about?
And if I was serving my kids, you know, parents are thinking,
I'm going to serve my kids.
You know, my kids will be like, let's fly to America and go to Disneyland or something.
Is that what you mean?
You know, just run around and let the kids decide what they're going to do.
No, that's not what I mean by servitude.
That's going to spoil your children.
That's going to destroy your children.
Okay?
You know, I don't work a full-time job outside of church anymore.
This is my full-time job.
But obviously when I had my full-time job, why would I go and work?
Why is it that you go and work hard and get your paycheck
and bring it home?
The reason for it is you're going to serve your family.
It's my job as the leader to make sure that my wife is served,
that my children are served, that they have what they need.
That's what service is.
And for mothers, I know some of you homeschool.
Hey, you know what?
When you're teaching your children, when you're giving them knowledge and wisdom,
you know what you're doing?
You're serving your children.
So it's not about what they want to do, and that's what I mean by serving them.
No.
You know what?
How do I profit these people that are under my authority?
How is it that I can be a help to this person under my authority?
If you're an employer and you have a poor-performing employee,
you say, how can I serve this employee?
How is it that I can help him, get him to the point where he needs to be,
where he's hitting his targets and being productive?
What tools can I give him?
Is it training?
Is it resources?
What does he need in order for him to be a productive employee?
And when you look at things like that,
what you're doing is you're serving those that are under your authority.
That's what I mean by serving those under your authority.
That's what I mean by serving your children.
Ultimately, your goal is to serve Christ, okay,
in the authority that you've been given.
Can you please turn to...
I should have got you to stay in Philippians.
Anyway, turn to Acts chapter 20 for me.
Turn to Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter 20.
You know, if you get a promotion at work or something like that,
the unbelieving world, I've seen it.
Honestly, they're so excited.
I've got people under me.
You know, I'm going to get served.
That's honestly how the unbelieving world thinks.
You as God's people.
You know, when you're taking a position of authority,
you ought to be saying, how can I serve those under me?
How can I improve these people?
How can I help these people that are under me?
How can I help these people that are under me, okay?
Now, you're in Acts chapter 20 in verse number 33.
I'll just read to you Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 4 first.
Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 4.
It says,
Look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others.
I'll read that again.
Look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others.
So, there's nothing wrong to look at your own things,
but that shouldn't be the only thing you're focused on.
What do I need?
How do I need to be served?
That's not how you should be looking and considering your life.
You should be saying, hey, what is it that others need?
How can I be a help to others?
You know, point number three that I have for you to stay meek
is that at every opportunity,
ask how can I be a blessing to this person or to others?
How can I be a blessing to others?
That should be your every opportunity.
How can I be a blessing to others?
You know, sometimes people confuse meekness with shyness.
Okay.
Now, believe it or not, I'm kind of like a naturally shy person.
Okay.
Some of my family know that.
Okay.
I get up to preach and sometimes I yell and whatever, carry on.
And people don't think I'm shy because you're doing that, right?
And that's how some people think.
Okay.
What's the difference with shyness and meekness though?
You know, the problem with being shy,
nothing wrong with being shy.
Okay.
But what happens is when you're shy,
you tend to be self-focused.
Okay.
Self-indulged.
You know.
And so someone might walk past in church and I'm too shy to say hello.
I'm a shy person.
Okay.
The problem with that though, you're thinking about yourself.
What's meekness?
Remember, it's how you view others.
It's how you view others.
Okay.
If you're naturally a shy person, what's going to get you to, you know,
to be more outgoing, okay, and to bless others and to serve others
is to say, hey, this person that I'm shy to speak to, you know,
they're more important than me feeling comfortable.
You know, me in my comfort zone, being quiet, not saying hello,
not saying anything, that person is more important to me
than how comfortable I feel.
It's very important to me that I'm going to make this person feel comfortable.
I'm going to make this person feel important.
So I'm going to, even though I'm shy,
even though I'm going to get outside of my comfort zone,
I'm going to go to that person and they're more important than me.
And so I care more about them being comfortable than me being comfortable.
That's meekness.
Okay.
That's meekness.
So it's not about just I'm shy, I'm not going to interact.
Hey, well, if that's you, you need to work on that
because that's not a good character to have.
You've got to get outside of your comfort zone.
You've got to view others as important.
Okay.
Because when you are shy and I'm too shy to speak to this person,
what you are saying is you are not important enough to me
for me to get out of my comfort zone.
It's more important for me to just be shy and quiet
than to make you feel important and to bless you, to serve you.
Okay.
So if you're naturally shy, you say, well, you know what,
I need to turn this into meekness.
I need to esteem others better than myself
and I need to get out of my comfort zone,
get out of my position and make sure others around me
feel like they're important to me.
Okay.
Now where did I get to turn to?
Acts chapter 20 and verse number 33.
These are the words of Paul.
He says,
I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel.
Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands,
so these are the hands of Paul, speaking out his own hands,
have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me.
Wow.
So the apostle Paul, high authority, highest authority as an apostle.
It's the highest office that was held by men.
The office of the apostle.
And he says, you know what, instead of me,
I never coveted people's wealth.
He never got into the ministry for wealth.
He never got into the ministry to see how much money he can make.
He says, you know what, I can be in the ministry
and I can make sure that I, with my own hands,
can provide for myself and also these others
and to them that were with me.
You know, Paul had other people on his missionary journeys.
He had other people that were helping him in his ministry
and you know what, we know that Paul, one of his jobs was a tent maker.
He made sure, well, you know what,
we don't have enough money coming in from the church.
We need to get out there and provide and make sure
that we have what we need to serve the churches before me.
Okay?
So you can see that Paul had a mindset.
I've got to look after these other people.
I'm going to minister unto these other people
even though he held the highest office in the New Testament for a man.
Okay?
Look at verse number 35.
I have showed you all things,
how that so laboring 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.
So why did Paul go out and work and provide for himself?
He wanted to set a good example.
You know, we need to be people that think about how do I give to others?
Rather than thinking how is it that I can receive,
you know, it's more blessed to give than to receive.
You know, this is something that children have to learn.
You know, because children naturally,
they look forward to the Christmas presents.
They look forward to the birthday presents.
You know, children naturally, you know, what is it that I can get?
You know, and as they grow, okay,
and maybe they make a bit of money, a bit of pocket money,
and then it's like, well, you know, your brother's birthday is coming up,
and so you've got to start training them.
Hey, you've got to think about others.
You know, you can use that pocket money on yourself
or, you know, your brother's birthday is coming up.
I feel sorry for my kids because there's so many birthdays.
But anyway, someone's birthday is coming up.
Are you going to think about others?
Are you going to think about your siblings?
And this is not a natural thing.
You've got to grow into that.
And, you know, as you get into adulthood,
and those of you that have served others,
those of you that have helped others,
maybe even like a big financial help or something like that,
you know that it feels good.
You know, like, man, I did that,
and brother so-and-so, sister so-and-so,
they've been blessed.
They've been encouraged.
They got out of this bad situation,
and it just feels great.
It feels like, you know what,
Lord, thank you for using me
to be a blessing to other people.
And you can truly start to learn
as you get into adulthood,
you know, this true saying that
it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Can you please turn to Colossians chapter 3?
Colossians chapter 3 for me.
Colossians chapter 3.
So, three points that I have so far,
the practical tips of staying meek.
Number one was when you come into church,
think of everyone as better than you.
Number two, view your positions of authority
or leadership as positions of servitude.
And number three, at every opportunity of interaction,
ask how can I be a blessing to this person?
Okay?
Now, point number four,
let's have a look at Colossians chapter 3
and verse number 17.
Now, if you have asked me,
Pastor, what is your life verse?
Like, what are the verses that you sort of live by?
Or you try to live by,
because I'm not perfect, right?
You know, what are the verses that you try to live by?
Well, these are the ones.
Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 17.
Colossians chapter 3, verse number 17 reads,
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Boy, what a challenge.
So whatever it is that we, whatever we say, the word,
or our deeds, whatever we do,
we should do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Now, we've done a lot of things today
before coming to church.
We've probably said a lot of things today
before coming to church.
Can you honestly say to me, brethren,
that everything I said and did
was in the name of Jesus Christ?
Don't you think that thought's going to change
how you live your life?
Man, everything I say and do has to honor Jesus.
Okay, it has to honor Jesus.
Giving thanks to God and the Father by him,
giving God thanks with everything
that you're able to accomplish.
Now look at verse, drop down to verse number 22,
because it's verse number 22
that I would call my life verses, or verse, right?
This is what I try to live by.
Verse number 22,
Servants, obeying all things your masters
according to the flesh,
not with eye service as men please us,
but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
Verse number 23,
And whatsoever ye do,
do it heartily as to the Lord,
and not unto men.
Boy, you know, whatever you do in life, brethren,
do it as unto the Lord.
I've preached on this already,
I can't remember what sermon I preached.
But I think it needs to be repeated.
All right?
You may not like your job.
You might think it's this boring, mundane role
that I have.
You may not like your boss.
Okay?
But you know what?
You've got to work
as though you're working for the Lord Jesus.
It's not just church.
You know people say,
I need to get into full-time ministry,
and they think about church.
Listen, you can make whatever you're in,
whatever position you're in,
that ought to be your full-time ministry
to the Lord Jesus.
Whatever you do,
you do it as unto the Lord
and not unto men.
Not as men please us,
but unto the Lord.
You know, for those of you
that went out working today,
how'd you perform?
I hope you performed well.
You know, I hope in your heart
you said, you know what?
I'm going to work
as though Jesus asked me
to do this job.
You know, whatever authority
that the Lord has put over me,
I'm going to view this as Jesus.
You know, if Jesus Christ
walked into this church tonight,
walk through the doors
and asked you to do something,
would you do it?
What if it said, hey, you know,
brother, I won't name any names,
but you know,
what if Jesus Christ comes in, right?
And says, look,
I need you to clean the toilet.
Would you clean the toilet?
Amen, I hope so.
And how well would you clean it?
You know, would you just
give it a quick wipe down?
Or would you just make sure
that there's like,
literally every stain
is removed off that?
And of course, you know,
if Christ came and asked us
to do something,
not only would we do it,
I believe your heart's
in the right place,
not only would you do it,
but you would do the best job
you can possibly do.
You know, you may not do
a perfect job,
but you would do the best
with what you have, okay?
I truly believe that, okay?
If Christ came and asked you
to do that.
And so that's how
we ought to live though.
I know I'm kind of giving it
like an imaginary situation,
what if Jesus came in?
But that's how we're meant
to live our lives.
Whatever it is that we do,
okay?
I get up to preach,
I have to be doing it
and truly,
because this is the house of God,
I mean, Jesus Christ
has literally asked me
to preach his word
so you know,
I've got to do the best I can.
But you know,
a lot of you guys
aren't going to be pastors,
a lot of you guys
aren't going to get
behind the pulpit and preach.
That doesn't mean
that you've missed out
on this opportunity
to serve Christ,
you serve him on the job, okay?
Regardless of what position
it is, okay?
You serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number 24,
Colossians chapter 3,
verse number 24.
Knowing that of the Lord,
you shall receive
the reward of the inheritance,
for ye serve the Lord Christ.
You serve the Lord Christ.
It's not saying
pastors serve the Lord Christ.
It's not saying missionaries
serve the Lord Christ.
It's saying you,
for ye, that's ye all, plural,
serve the Lord Christ,
regardless of what position
you're in.
So I keep saying this
because I truly,
I truly believe
the Lord wants to promote
many of us
in our workplaces,
in our jobs.
I truly believe the Lord,
and I'm not trying,
I'm not this prosperity preacher here.
I'm not saying the Lord's
going to go, you know,
give you this huge,
you know,
millions of dollars
in mansions and stuff like that.
But I truly believe
the Lord wants to give you
great positions,
you know,
stable jobs
and high paying jobs
where you can provide
and not have to worry
about those things
so you can give your time
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But many times
you're just holding yourself back.
You know,
you're just being lazy.
I'll just do the minimum.
You know,
I don't really want
to do that.
You know,
you're just doing
the least you can
and you're not thinking
that you're serving Christ.
You know what?
You serve Christ?
What does it say there?
Knowing that of the Lord
you shall receive
the reward of the inheritance
for ye serve the Lord Christ.
That's the best part
of working a job
and giving your best
is knowing I'm not just
going to walk away
with a paycheck,
but Christ is going
to reward me as well.
Whatever that might
look like in your life.
Might be a blessing
on this life.
Might be greater rewards
in heaven.
Jesus, brethren,
the Lord Jesus Christ
wants to reward you.
If you're slack on the job,
you do the bare minimum,
you cheat,
you do less hours
than you say you've done,
things like that,
how is the Lord
going to reward you?
How is the Lord
going to bless you
if you take that kind
of attitude as a servant?
You know,
whoever it is
that you serve,
make sure that
when they ask you
to do something
you remind yourself
it's like the Lord Jesus Christ
has just asked me
to do that.
Unless they're asking
and you say,
what extent do I take this?
You know, thinking about
everything I do,
do it unto the Lord.
Well, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 verse 31,
I'll just read it to you.
It says,
whether therefore ye eat
or drink
or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory
of God.
So even when you eat
and you're not thinking
or drinking, right?
You're not even thinking
this is for the Lord.
Just do it
as to the Lord.
Do it to the glory of God.
Even on small things, brethren,
like eating and drinking.
This will transform your life.
This will change your life.
Okay?
When you just say to yourself,
Jesus has asked me
to do whatever it is
that he's asked me to do
and I'm going to do
the best I can.
I'm not going to do it
like a men pleaser.
I'm going to do it
unto the Lord.
I'm going to make sure
that whatever I say,
whatever I do,
it glorifies the Lord.
Let's go into
transform your life.
I promise you that.
Can you please turn to
Numbers chapter 12?
Numbers chapter 12.
It's not easy
lowering yourself.
It's not an easy view
in others as
esteem them higher
than yourself.
It's not easy
because you look at others
and you know they've got
their faults and their problems.
Why should I esteem myself
lower than that person?
And I think sometimes
as Christians we
we're concerned
about being meek
because the thought is
well people will
take advantage of me
if I have a meek disposition.
Like you know
I've got to show myself strong.
You know I've got to set up
boundaries and walls
and I've got to make sure
that people realise
they just can't step
all over me
and push me around
and backstab me
and but part of being meek
that opens me up
to be attacked.
You know that
opens me up
to be stepped on.
You know is that
really what God
Well while you're turning
to Numbers 12
I want to read to you
from Psalm 147
in verse number 6.
Psalm 147 verse number 6.
It says
The Lord lifteth
up the meek.
And then it says this
He casteth the wicked
down to the ground.
So what is it again?
The Lord lifteth
up the meek.
You know what
if you're concerned about
well if I'm meek
someone's going to take
advantage of me.
You know what
Let them step on you
a little bit
because you know what
the Lord's going to
lift you up
and the Lord's going to
take the wicked
and cast him to the ground.
That's what's going to happen.
These are the promises
of God.
That's what he means.
You don't have to worry
how do I
Pastor I can't be meek
because you know
I know this person
is going to do me wrong.
Just let them do you wrong.
You want to be promoted
by God?
You want to be lifted
by God?
Well that means
you've got to let
some people do you wrong.
You've got to take the view
I'm going to be meek
I get blessed
and you know
there's a potential
that I might be stepped on
but if I get stepped on
I know the Lord's
going to take care of that
and the Lord will lift me up.
Look at Numbers chapter 12
and verse number 1.
Numbers chapter 12
and verse number 1.
This follows after the Exodus.
You know Moses leading
the Israelites out of Egypt.
In Numbers chapter 12
verse number 1
and Miriam and Aaron
so that's the sister
and brother of Moses
spake against Moses
because of the Ethiopian woman
whom he had married
for he had married
an Ethiopian woman.
So his brothers weren't happy
that he had taken
this Ethiopian woman
as his wife.
I guess they thought
you should be taking
one of the Israelites.
You know.
This you know
some people think you know
the Jews they never mixed.
They never intermingled right.
They kept themselves pure
to these days.
Yeah Moses the one
that led them out of Egypt
is already married
to an African right
married to an Ethiopian.
But hey they had
a problem with that.
Verse number 2
and they said
have the Lord indeed
spoken only by Moses?
Have he not spoken
also by us?
And the Lord heard it.
Now the man Moses
look at this
was very meek
above all the men
which were upon
the face of the earth.
Wow.
I mean when we think
of Moses we think
of a great leader.
We think of a man
that was greatly used by God.
He took on Pharaoh.
He took on the
mights of the world.
Right.
And the Lord says
well he was very meek.
So what does he teach us?
We wouldn't be great
for the Lord.
Don't we have to be
very meek?
So meek was he
that he was the most meek person
on the face of the earth.
Of all his contemporaries
that he lived on the earth
the Lord looked and said
you know what
who's the most meek person?
It's Moses.
He's the one that I'm going to use
to lead the Israelites
out of Egypt.
He's the one I'm going to use
to do great works for God.
So meekness is so important.
Look at verse number four.
And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses
and unto Aaron and unto Miriam
Come out ye three
unto the tabernacle
of the congregation
and they three came out.
And the Lord came down
in a pillar of the cloud
and stood in the door
of the tabernacle
and called Aaron and Miriam
and they both came forth.
So the Lord
you know knowing that
Aaron and Miriam
were against Moses
at this point in time
you know were speaking against him
the Lord called both of these
both of his siblings to come
and to speak to them.
I want you to notice
what he says about Moses.
Verse number six.
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 the Lord's saying
look if amongst your nation
there's a prophet
if I'm going to pull out a prophet
I'm going to speak to him in visions.
Okay so that's understandable
we know many times
the prophets in the Bible
receive their vision from the Lord.
Okay.
Why is the Lord saying this?
Because he's going to compare
Moses to the other prophets.
Look what he says about Moses.
It says in verse number
verse number seven
My servant Moses
is not so.
Who is faithful in all mine house?
So look he says
look to the prophets
I'm going to speak to them in visions
but to Moses
no
that's not how I'm going to speak to him.
Look at verse number eight.
He says with him
Moses
will I 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
and the anger of the Lord
was kindled against them
and he departed.
So the Lord says you know what
Moses is so important to me
I would normally speak to prophets in visions
but to Moses
as the one who's the most meek
on the earth
I'm going to speak to him mouth to mouth.
He's going to see
we saw that
when he came down from Mount Sinai
his face shone
he said seeing the glory of the Lord.
You know the Lord had a very personal
close walk with Moses.
Why?
Because he was the most meek
on the earth.
You want to have a good fellowship
with the Lord
a good walk with the Lord?
You've got to find that meekness in you.
Okay.
Look at verse number 10
And the cloud departed
from off the tabernacle
and behold
Miriam became leprous
white as snow
and Aaron looked upon Miriam
behold she was leprous
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.
So Moses meek.
Okay.
And again yeah meek
if you're meek
you're going to set yourself up
to be a target.
People are going to try
to take advantage of you.
People are going to try
to walk over you.
Hey Moses' siblings
took advantage of that.
They tried to criticise him
about the woman he had married.
Hey but what did God do?
He lifted up Moses.
He lifted up Moses
and he cast down the wicked
to the ground.
He took care of that situation.
Okay.
So don't be afraid
of being meek.
Don't be afraid
of esteeming others higher.
Don't be afraid
of serving other people.
Okay.
And if they do you wrong
and they don't say thank you
they don't you know
appreciate what you've done
just let the Lord
balance those books
just let the Lord
sort it out.
Okay.
I'd you know what
I'd rather be taken advantage of
knowing that God will lift me up.
That's how I feel.
I mean what could be better
than the Lord lifting you up?
Well then you've got to be meek.
Okay you've got to be meek
and allow yourself
to be sometimes taken advantage of.
Now again when we look at these
this idea of meek or humility
you know we saw that
the opposite of that is pride.
You know the proud hearts.
And you know the sin of pride
is one of the worst sins
I can think of you know
because we all have it
and I have it
we all have it.
The worst thing about pride
is others can see the pride in you
and you at the same time
think you're not proud.
Like you know what
like other sins that you've done
it's like obvious
like everyone knows you've done
that sin or whatever right
you can't really hide it.
But pride you know
people look at you
by your behavior and your words
they know you're very proud.
But you know I'm humble
you know that's just how
that's how it is
it's sort of this silent sin
it's very hard to detect
very hard to detect
within yourself.
But if you can please
turn to Luke chapter 18
Luke chapter 18
we'll go to a very famous
story there
the story of the
the Pharisee and the publican
that were praying to the Lord
Luke 18 verse number 10
Now if you know the story well
the publican was very humble
okay in his approach to the Lord
and the Pharisee was full of pride
but look at verse number 10
it says
Now look
the things that he says
about himself
they're not wrong
right
I mean
I think any of us
I would like to be that person
I would like to be a person
that is not unjust
I don't want to be an adulterer
you know
I don't want to be an extortioner
I want to be someone that
fasts on a regular basis
I want to make sure
I give my tithe
of what I possess
these aren't bad characteristics
right
and so
it's not like these things
are wrong to attain
or aim for in your life
okay
but what is he doing
he's lifting himself up
he's speaking highly of himself
right
he's full of pride
he's not humble
he's not lowly
meek
he's bragging
that's what the sin is
he's bragging about
all the great things
that he has done
look at verse number 13
so the publican says
you know what
I'm not even going to talk
about my good works
I'm a sinner
God be merciful to me
I've done wrong
I've broken your laws
I've broken your commands
verse number 14
you know
no one likes
self-promoters
you know
even when I get up to preach
and I have to give like
a story illustration
I think about something in my life
I'm like
it's going to help the sermon
but I don't want people to think
that I'm trying to promote myself
like
you know
I don't want people to think
that I'm just boasting on myself
but it's probably
you know
it's something that comes to mind
as you prepare
and you think about something
something that's real
and practical
and uh
but you know
no one likes people
that are self-promoters
now
to their face
it may seem like
people like self-promoters
but really they don't
like internally
they don't like that
okay
and uh
sometimes we see this out
you know
out in the world
self-promoters
I mean
you know
that's how a lot of people
get positions of authority
in that they step
on other people
and lift themselves up
and promote themselves
but you know
I've also seen this in church
I've seen self-promoters
I've seen people
that just talk up
their good works
in church
to make them seem like
there's something more
than they are
you know
where
and again
it's not that they've done
wrong things
they've done great things
they've served the Lord
they've served the church
you know
they've been
uh
for 10 years
20 years
you know
that maybe they've sung
in the choir
for 15 years
you know
maybe they've done this
or done that for the church
and you know
I've met people like this
that yeah
it's great that you've done this
it's great that you've served
but then after you serve
you better shut up
because then you go
oh promote
look what I've done
I've done this
I've done that
I've done this
boy
that's your reward
the praise of men
is your reward
you know
I mean
the last thing you want to do
your reward was on the earth
you know
everyone that pat you on the back
for the you know
well done
good job
you know
that's your reward
and you don't get nothing in heaven
you know
this can happen to Christians as well
you know
nobody likes
self-promoters
and I don't know if anyone here
is that way
but if you feel
if you think
yeah you know
that's kind of me
I kind of talk myself up
I say
I talk about all
the past accomplishments
and all the great things
that I've done
well
you need to
lower yourself a little bit
okay
and you just haven't realized that
you need to take it down
okay
now you're still there in Luke 18
I want to
the main thing that I want you to focus on
was what about
we're about to read in verse number nine
we're just going back up
why did Jesus Christ tell this story though
about the Pharisee and the publican
okay
well look at verse number nine
it's a
the Bible tells us why he did this
Luke 18 verse 9
and he spake this parable
unto certain
which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous
look at this
and despised others
the proud
the person that's full of pride
the person that exalts himself
that elevates himself above others
it's not just that they think well of themselves
they actually despise
other people around them
okay
that's why no one likes the proud
like no one likes the person that speaks highly of themselves
because you know
they don't just do that
they speak down to you
you know
they despise others
this is
you need to overcome pride brethren
it's
I have it
you have it
we all have it
we all struggle with pride
you know when someone tells you something
and you know
it may be the truth
and you don't like it
you get worked up
and emotional about it
that's pride
okay
your boss tells you to do something at work
I don't want to do that
that's pride
remember
your boss asks you
yes
Jesus
in your head
Jesus
yes
I'll do that
I'll do the best I can
okay
you got to take down the pride
okay
pride
and again it's that secret sin
is actually the despising of other people
okay
which is obviously
the opposite of meekness
meekness is about
viewing others and elevating them higher
than yourself
so can you please now go to Proverbs 16
we're going to end on Proverbs 16
which where
we had the reading from
Proverbs 16
so we'll just end here
in the Book of Wisdom
but Proverbs 16 verse 18
it's so important that we get lowly
that we get meek
that we become humble
it's so important that we develop
this fruit in our lives brethren
because look at verse 18
Proverbs 16 verse 18
it says pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a fall
haughty also means pride
some of that lifts themselves up
okay
you need to overcome pride
it's going to lead you to destruction
it comes before destruction
okay
when you realize there's pride in your life
you need to say to yourself
I need to fix this now
because I'm not
I don't know how many steps away I am
from destruction
from destroying myself
okay
and haughty spirit before a fall
I don't know how far I am from this great fall
I better work on this fruit of meekness
Lord please give me this fruit
you gave it to Moses had it
you know
you made him a great man
you promoted Moses
as the leader of the whole nation
by being meek
okay
look at verse number 19
better it is to be of an humble spirit
now with the lowly
so lowly means again
those that are low themselves
the meek the humble
then to divide the spoil
with the proud
what is he saying
he says the lowly people
humble people meek people
like good people
they wouldn't be around other humble people
that's what he's saying
they don't want to divide the spoil with the proud
they don't want to spend time with the proud
they don't want to spend you know
be in fellowship with the proud
remember that when you're full of pride
remember that when you talk yourself up
and you elevate yourself
other people don't like it
again maybe in your face
they'll say oh good job
it may look like they like you
but really they don't
okay
humble people
want to be with other lowly people
okay
fellowship with other lowly people
make friends with other lowly people
now please go to verse number 5
in the same chapter
Proverbs 16 will end on this one
Proverbs 16 verse number 5
everyone that is proud in heart
is an abomination to the Lord
though hand join in hand
he shall not be unpunished
so I wanted to end on this one
because that word abomination
is a very strong word
you know the Lord has a lot of things
that he hates
that he calls abominable
you know abomination
okay
I mean this is like the lowest
of the low you can possibly go
in the eyes of God
well you know what
pride is an abomination to the Lord
so this means we need to work
God
ask God
God please develop meekness in me
Lord this pride that I have in me
just take it away Lord
it's in my flesh
help me to overcome this pride
okay
we all have it again
you know
it's always there
but Lord you need to help me
have a meek disposition about me
you know when someone asks
something that is difficult
I want to take the meek approach
not the proud approach
you know when my boss asks me
to do something at work
Lord help me to be meek
when my pastor asks me to do something
Lord help me to be meek
children when my parents ask me
to clean up my room
help me to be meek
help me to be lowly
help me to do it as unto the Lord
so brethren
the fruit of meekness
it'll make you great
the fruit of meekness
it'll cause the Lord to elevate you
to lift you
to lift you up
to give you
you know positions
and leadership
and authority
above what you truly thought
okay
but it starts with the fruit of meekness
let's pray