Hope Church LV Sermons
Be Happy :: Happy are the Gentle
5th chapter of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus looks out on the multitudes and He sees a people that's hurting, a people that are searching for something different in life. And in seeing that, the Bible records for us that He's moved. He senses compassion for the multitudes. Jesus begins to speak to them. In Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, we have recorded for us the words of Jesus Christ that have become known as the Great Sermon on the Mount. It's been recorded as the greatest sermon ever preached. And in that sermon, when Jesus began to speak to them, He began to describe a way of life that was radical. It was very different. And I'm afraid today that much of the church in North America, I speak to us because we know us a little bit better, but much of the church in North America has settled for something far less than this radically new way of life that Jesus has called us to. Today, we are more consumed with blending in when Jesus invites us to a way of life that stands out. When I say that it's a way of life that stands out, I don't mean it stands out in a way that we're weird, but I mean that it stands out in a way that we are unique. There should be something about the life of a follower of Jesus Christ in culture that screams the uniqueness of the person of Jesus. It's a radical way of life. When I say that it's a life that should stand out, I don't mean simply stand out by pointing out what's wrong with everybody else's life, but it should stand out in such a way that it demonstrates what's right about the life that Jesus has invited us into. It's a radical way of life. And when Jesus began to describe this, he began with a series of statements, statements that were so radical, so counter-cultural that we've decided as we begin a study through this sermon on the Mount, we want to take these first several statements and examine each of them individually. For the next year, year and a half as a church, we're going to be walking verse by verse through Matthew 5, 6, and 7, just exploring these marvelous truths that Jesus laid out. And it's our prayer that as a fellowship, we take these powerful truths of Scripture, and we hold them up as a mirror into our own lives, and we ask some very difficult questions about who we are and where we are on this journey of following Jesus. As you read these statements in the gospel of Matthew, you can't help but go man, that is a different way of life. That's radical. These opening statements have simply been entitled throughout history as the Beatitudes. You may be familiar with them. We gave you a definition a couple of weeks ago when we began of what a Beatitude is, and I want to put it back up on the screen. A Beatitude is a declaration of a radical way of life made possible in Christ. Now that is a very important part of the definition, right? Made possible in Christ. It doesn't take very long at all reading through the Beatitudes to come to the discovery that left to myself. That's not who I am, right? I mean, the way of life that is being described here is not the natural, normal way that human beings live. It's a different kind of life that is only made possible to the degree that Christ is manifesting His life in and through us. But their declarations of a radical way of life made possible in Christ, resulting in real, unshakable happiness. Every one of these statements, these Beatitudes begin with the word blessed, which literally at its root means to be happy. Not a happiness like the world knows, a happiness that is a real, sustaining joy. We've looked at a couple of the Beatitudes, so far we looked at the first one being poor in spirit. Then we began to look at last weekend, blessed are those who mourn. This weekend we come to the third of those Beatitudes. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Martin Lloyd Jones is one of my favorite writers. I want you to listen to what Martin Lloyd Jones says about this third Beatitude. Look at it on the screen. World conquest, possession of the whole universe given to the meek of all people. The world thinks in terms of strength and power, of ability, self-assurance and aggressiveness. That is the world's idea of conquest, and the more you organize and manifest your powers and ability, the more likely you are to succeed and get on. But here comes this astounding statement, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, and they alone. Once more than we are reminded at the very beginning that the Christian is all together different from the world. It is a difference in quality and essential difference. He is a new man, a new creation. He belongs to an entirely different kingdom, and not only is the world unlike him, it cannot possibly understand him. He is an enigma to the world, and if you and I are not in this primary sense problems and enigmas to the non-Christians around us, then this tells us a great deal about our profession of the Christian faith. What's tragic today is I think that much of what is called Christianity in our culture no longer stands out. There's no longer a uniqueness about the quality and the essence of what Christian living is. We have drifted so far from the life that Jesus has invited us into. So I want to read this passage. Don't you take your Bible, open to Matthew chapter five. We're going to begin in verse number one. We're going to read down through verse number five, the beatitude that we're looking at this morning. The Bible says, "When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and began to teach them saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" Verse four, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Verse five, "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." I want you to say that last one out loud with me. You ready to read it off the screen? One, two, three. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." I want to ask three questions this morning about this one verse, and we'll be finished. Here's the first one. What does it mean to be gentle? What does it mean to be gentle? I believe that our culture's idea of the word gentle, and what Jesus had in mind here are really very different. Those of you that know me very well that have heard me speak very much, you know that I love definitions, right? I love to look up definitions. One of my favorite websites is OneLookDictionary.com. I love to go to OneLookDictionary because you can type in any word, and it'll pull up that word in about 20 or 30, sometimes even 40 different dictionaries. Man, you can just dig into those dictionaries and find the meaning of words, and so I did that this week with the word gentle, so try to get an idea of how our culture perceives gentleness. I want to show you some of the words that dictionaries use to define the word gentle. Listen to these, calm, kind, mild, soft, docile, tender, easily handled. Now, if you hear that, you think what Jesus said is blessed are the wimpy, right? For they shall inherit the earth. That's the way we hear the word gentle in our culture. We hear the word gentle, and we think of somebody who's wimpy, and if that's not bad enough, often many New Testament translations translate this Greek word with the English word meek or meekness, and if we did not misunderstand gentleness bad enough, man, you throw the word meek in there and it just sounds super wimpy, right? So I looked up the word meek in an English dictionary. Here's what the word meek, here's how it's defined. Deficient in spirit or courage, and then it had this word, cowed. I had no idea what that meant. I got to be honest, other than what you get milk from, I don't think I've ever used the word cow in an English sentence. I didn't know that you could use it this way, cowed. I didn't know what that meant. I'm sure you probably used that sentence all of that word in the sentence all the time, but for me, I had to look that word up. Listen to the way they defined the word cow. Frightened into submission by intimidation. Blessed are those who are frightened into submission by intimidation, right? I mean, when you understand those definitions, you think that what Jesus is describing here is the person on the beets that everybody's kicking sand in their face, right? Blessed are the doormats. Listen to what J. Dwight Pentecost said about this word. He said, "The world equates meekness with an effeminate man, one who is mousy, a weakling, a pushover, yes, a coward. To say a man is meek is to treat him with contempt." Yet our Lord said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." It's evident that our Lord had an entirely different view of meekness than the world has. So when Jesus said, "Blessed are the gentle, what did he mean?" Well, the Greek word that we translate here, gentle, can be translated gentleness or meekness, but it refers to a gentleness of strength. It really is best defined as power or strength under control. Now, the Greeks didn't just, we don't just have the Bible written in Greek, right? There's a whole lot of other literature that was written down in this Greek period. In extra biblical literature, this word that's translated gentle is most commonly used to refer to one of three things. You know what they are? Number one, it refers to a cult that has been broken. Number two, this word is used to refer to a gentle breeze. Number three, it's used to refer to a soothing medicine. Now, think about those three images for a minute, a broken cult. Now, a wild cult can be very destructive, right? But once a cult is broken, now that cult still possesses all of its strength and power, but it is now strength and power that is under control. And a broken cult is now very useful to its owner, right? The broken cult doesn't have, it's not that it lost its strength, it's not that it lost its power, it just now has that strength and power submitted and under control. Think about the breeze. This word describes a gentle breeze. Now, a gentle breeze, a soft wind under control is cooling and calming and refreshing, right? But you take that same wind and you let it get out of control and you can ultimately have something as tragic as an earthquake, or I'm sorry, a hurricane, right? A hurricane is wind that has gotten out of control. Wind is powerful, but a gentle breeze is power under control. Think about a soothing medicine. That was another way that they would use this word, this Greek word gentle, to describe a soothing medicine. Medicine under control given in a proper dosage brings comfort and healing to the body, right? But out of control, it becomes what we call an overdose, right? And it can be poisonous and even deadly. This word gentle is not referring to something that is weak, it's not referring to a lack of strength, it is referring to strength under control. How does this apply to my life? Remember last weekend's Beatitude? Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. One of the things you need to notice about the Beatitudes is they're somewhat like a ladder. Every one of them kind of leads you and introduces you into the next Beatitude. Blessed are those who mourn. Remember what we said mourning was? I want to put that definition back up on the screen. Look at what we said mourning is. And if you weren't here last weekend, encourage you to go online so you can get caught up. But here's what we said, mourning is a brokenness before God that is born out of truth revealed through my fellowship with Him, right? Here's what we said about mourning. As you and I grow in intimacy with God, as we spend time with God, as we get to know God through His Word, God reveals to us who He is. God shows us His holiness and His character and how glorious He is. And God reveals to us that He desires to manifest His very life, His character, His holiness through our lives. And when we realize who He is and who we are, we realize how far we are from the person God desires us to be. And it produces us a brokenness in our heart, a brokenness before God over the sin in our lives. And brokenness leads us to repentance before God. And listen, what God is doing on the inside of my life in brokenness always spills out on the outside of my life, right? Listen, brokenness leads to gentleness. Let me show you how. Look at the definition I want to put on the screen of the word gentle, as it's used here in Scripture. Gentleness is the overflow of brokenness before God expressed in my attitudes and actions towards others. Gentleness is the overflow. You see, as God reveals His holiness to me, as God begins to deal with me on the inside, man, God begins to conform me to the image of Jesus. And I begin to be broken before God. And God leads me lovingly to repentance. And God begins to manifest His life in and through my life. The overflow of that walk of brokenness is the very character of Christ begins to be manifest in my life. And it affects the way I live towards the people around me. Brokenness always leads to gentleness. Listen, God's activity in breaking me and conforming me to the image of Jesus always manifests itself in my attitudes and actions towards others. Do you hear that? Brokenness always manifests itself in my attitudes and actions towards others. Listen, if it does not, then what I have is a pseudo-righteousness and not really the activity of God in my heart. If I'm saying, oh man, God's working in me. Man, God's doing some stuff on the inside. God's convicting me of sin. God's dealing with me, pastor. Boy, God's breaking me. And there's no outward expression of that in my attitudes and actions towards others. I am kidding myself about what God's really doing. Because when God works on the inside, listen, it spills out on the outside. And if I'm professing a faith, if I'm professing a walk with God where God is doing something in my life, and there is a disconnect in the effect that that has in my relationship with other people, then I am living under a delusion about God's activity in my life. Let me show it to in the Bible. Look at the book of James chapter 2. James chapter 2 verse 14, look at it on the screen if you don't have a Bible with you this morning. What use is it, my brethren? If someone says he has faith, but he has no works, can that faith save him? If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm, be filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. You know what he's saying there? If I'm professing a faith in Jesus, and there's no outward expression of that inward relationship in my life, then what I'm saying is not true. That faith is dead. You know what that means? That means that there's either no relationship with God. If somebody professes to be a Christian and there's no outward manifestation of the life of Christ in their life, that means there's either no relationship with God, or there's a problem in the area of fellowship with God, because where there is fellowship, remember what morning is? It's brokenness born out of fellowship with God. As a fellowship with God, God leads me into a spirit of brokenness before him and brokenness always spills out in my life and my attitudes and actions towards others. Let me give you a statement about Christian works. A lot of people misunderstand Christian works, and so they misunderstand the book of James, and they think this faith and works thing. How does that relate together? Well, look at this on the screen. Christian works are simply my relationship with Jesus spilling out of my life in my attitudes and actions towards others. That's works. It's not something that I'm supposed to go do for God. No, works is my relationship with Jesus spilling out of my life in my attitudes and actions towards others. And what the Bible is teaching us here is that as we are conformed to the image of Christ, as we're being broken on the inside, that spirit of mourning leads us to a spirit of gentleness as we begin to relate differently to the people around us. These first two beatitudes have primarily been beatitudes that affect our relationship with God, poor in spirit and brokenness, mourning. But what you see in beatitude number three is that when God begins to do something on the inside of us, the in purpose of that is always what God's desire is to do through us in the lives of other people. It's never just about us. And there's no greater description of this be attitude anywhere in the Bible I think than in Philippians chapter two. If you have your Bible, turn over to Philippians chapter two for just a moment. Philippians chapter two, this is a passage of scripture that we studied through together as a church family a little over a year ago. But in Philippians two and verse number three, listen to what Paul said, this is a beautiful description of what gentleness looks like with skin on it. All right? Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Can I, I believe that right there is radical. That is so opposite of what our culture teaches us about how you're supposed to live, right? Our culture says, man, you got to look out for number one. Our culture says, you got to get all you can, can all you get, sit on the lid and poison the rest, right? Our culture says, man, if you don't get what's yours, nobody's going to give it to you. You got to go after it all on your own, right? And yet we've been called as Christians to live a different way. Paul begins to describe the dual sides of this attitude here. First of all, Paul describes an attitude that says it's all about me, right? Paul is describing what brokenness looks like. First of all, let me say it this way, brokenness before God expresses itself in my life as an attitude of humility towards others. It's an attitude of humility towards others. That's what Paul says there in verse number three, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another is more important than yourselves. He begins by describing this all about me attitude and we all know that attitude, right? We're born with it. We come into this world with it. We're good at it. Now, as we get older, we get better at disguising. When we're little kids, we just lay it right out there, right? We don't care. I mean, I'll just take whatever's mind when we were little kids. We didn't worry about whether anybody else had anything to eat when we got in the buffet line. We just took what we wanted, right? Our best can fend for themselves. Now, as we get older, we get better at disguising than it's all about me attitude. We get to the point where we can sow disguise that it's all about me attitude. We can live with it and make you think we're saying is all about you, right? We get good at it. But that's the way we come into this world looking out for ourselves. And Paul describes it with a couple of words here. He says, first of all, the word selfishness. It's a word that originally meant to work for hire. It described a mercenary, somebody who does something for you, but only based on what they got out of it. It's interesting that this word is also the word that was used, this word selfishness, to describe a politician who was canvassing a community to get votes. Some things never change, huh? But this word describes somebody that says, hey, it's all about me. I'll do something for you. I'll scratch your back, but only so you'll scratch mine. Then he uses the word empty concede. It means a highly exaggerated view of self. If you want a good picture of that in our culture, just tune in your television this week to American Idol, right? A highly exaggerated view of self. Paul here is describing who we are in our own skin. What the Bible is teaching us is that through a relationship with Jesus, as we are broken before God, he begins to convict me of the sin of selfishness and empty concede. And as I respond to this conviction and repentance before God, he begins to produce in me a spirit of humility that says, it's not just about me. It's about God and what God desires to do through me in the lives of other people. Put verse three back up on the screen. Look what he said. He said, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than your self. Can I be honest with you? Left to ourselves? That's not us. But that is Christ in us. I am convinced the more I grow in my understanding of who Jesus is, that the defining characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ on earth was humility. And as you and I experience brokenness before God, it spills out of our lives and our attitude towards others. And the first expression of that is an attitude of humility that says, I value others as God sees them. And I'm going to honor them ahead of me. A second expression of brokenness that looks like gentleness is that brokenness before God expresses itself as a passion to serve the needs of others. It's not just an attitude of humility that honors others and their values. God sees them. But I begin to live my life looking for ways to serve the needs of others. Do you hear what Paul said in verse four? Paul said in verse number four, that we are to not look out for our own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Now this takes it a step further. Paul is not simply saying that you and I should honor others and value them and humble ourselves before them. But Paul goes on to say we should take it a step further than just our attitude towards people, but it should affect our actions. We should live our lives on the lookout is what Paul says. That's what that phrase don't look out for your own. It's a word that describes somebody that was on a tower and they were watching for someone to approach. And so we're to live our lives with a spirit of humility always on the lookout for someone who has a need for someone who has something in their life where I can step in and make a difference in their life where I can meet a need in someone else's life. Listen, this is radical. This is not the way our culture is wired. Our culture is not wired to humble ourselves before other people and put them in front of us and to live my life on the lookout for others and to make a difference in people's lives. But that's exactly the life Jesus calls us to. So then let me ask a second question. What is the promise concerning those who are gentle? What's the promise? Well look what he said, blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth. Now if we're going to be real honest after understanding what gentleness is, human logic says you ought to read it this way pitiful are the gentle because they'll be taken advantage of, right? That's what our flesh says. Man, if I live this way, everybody's just going to take advantage of me. If I live this way, I'm just going to be the doormat. I'm going to get walked all over. But listen what Jesus said, blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit. The earth. There are two realities when I'm walking in gentleness with Christ. Number one is happiness now. Jesus said blessed are the gentle. The word blessed I've told you before describes inner joy that is the fulfillment of every longing of the human heart. Now I want you to notice this. The world says the only way to be happy is to live for you. The only way to be happy is to do what makes you feel good. The only way to be happy. I've even had people say oh pastor, listen I know what the Bible says but I just want to know God wants me to be happy. And so we think happiness is found by doing what pleases me. And yet Jesus says happiness is not found in living for myself. Jesus says happiness is found. Real joy is found in living for others. I want to test that truth. How many of you have ever served either locally in a mission? You've been to a rescue mission, a homeless shelter, or you've been overseas on a mission trip to another country and you've served on a mission trip. If you've done that, let me see your hand. Just hold up for just a second. All right, you can put them down. So a lot of you have done that. I've taken dozens of teams over the last 20 years to serve in missions locally or overseas and other cultures around the world. And you know what I always hear people say every time? Man, I got way more out of that than those people ever got out of it. You know what we feel when we go and serve others? Joy, right? I mean, some of the greatest moments of joy, and here's what's interesting about it, especially those trips overseas, when you go to those cultures, those third world places, and you you begin to work in some of those impoverished nations. Man, we leave all the things at home that they tell us is what makes you happy, right? All the things that we've worked so hard to have in our lives that we're supposed to bring as happiness and joy and fulfillment, we leave all of that behind. We get on an airplane and we get over there and the food's unusual and it's strange and it's got eyes and the places that we're supposed to sleep at night are hard and it's uncomfortable and the time zones are all mixed up and my body wants to sleep when I was supposed to be awake and was to be awake when I was supposed to sleep. And yet in the middle of all that it's some of the most joyful experiences of our lives. How is that possible? Let me tell you how it's possible. Blessed are the gentle. When Christ begins to manifest His life in and through me in such a way that I demonstrate the humility of Christ and I live with a passion to serve the needs of others, I can't explain it nor quantify it, but the Holy Spirit of God brings a joy on the inside that circumstances cannot change. Blessed are the gentle. Listen, you can continue to believe the lie of this culture and pursue the things that they tell you will bring you happiness and wind up at the end of the day unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Or you can be broken before God and allow Him to begin to manifest His life through you and begin to walk in real, unshakeable happiness. Joy, happiness now, but then it says there's an inheritance later. Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth. The word inherit is a word that means to receive an allotted portion. And here's what He's saying, one day those who walk and broken this before God will receive what's been promised to them. Now I'm not saying that it will ever add up in this life completely, but this life is only a minute fraction of eternity. See another lie of this culture of this world system is this life is all there is. When we've been in heaven for 10,000 years, we'll have a little better perspective on the blip on the radar that this life really is. And although it may not completely ever add up in this life, as I live for the needs of others, what Jesus says is, one day in the kingdom of God, I will receive that which has been promised to me. So here's the final question. What's the greatest obstacle to gentleness in my life? I'm going to give you the answer, but I'm going to tell you up front it stings a little bit. You know what the greatest obstacle is? It's me. You see, you and I are not wired to live these things out of our own strength. Remember the definition of the attitude declaration of a radical way of life made possible in Christ. You see, gentleness is not me. And if you'll be honest, it's not you either. But it is Christ in me. Remember when Paul wrote in the book of Galatians about the fruit of the spirit? As we begin to die to self and allow Christ to manifest His life, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control. You know what that is? It's a non-dimensional configuration of the person and life of Jesus Christ. And as you and I begin to experience brokenness before God, brokenness leads us to repentance over the sins of selfishness and empty conceit in our lives. And then Christ begins to manifest His glorious character in and through us and His glorious character expresses itself in an attitude of humility toward others and a passion to serve the needs of others. This isn't a little one-time thing that I deal with and move on. No, that's why Paul said in the book of 2 Corinthians, "I die daily." Remember in the book of Romans when Paul said, "I urge you brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice." You know the problem with a living sacrifice? It can crawl off the altar. We have a tendency to do that. And so daily, I have to lay myself back there and say, "God, I will live today for me. Lord, unless you manifest your life through me, God, I live today within it's all about me attitude. Lord, it's not who I want to be. Lord, I know it's not who you are. So I got today at my place of work, today at my school, today in my neighborhood. Lord, would you manifest through me an attitude of humility towards others that regards them as more important than myself? And God, would you manifest through me a passion to serve the needs of the people around me? Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Let's pray. Lord, I pray this morning that you would take your word and do a work of transformation in our lives. Lord, we confess before you corporately, and I confess before you personally, the inadequacy of my own heart, the wickedness of my own flesh. But Lord, I thank you that in me is the person of the Holy Spirit of God who desires to manifest through my life the very character of Jesus Christ. And one of those attributes is gentleness, a spirit of humility, a passion to serve others. Jesus even said of himself, I didn't come to be served, but to serve. Lord, shape us this morning. As you sit quietly there before the Lord, I want to ask you a few questions. And I want you to think about these in your heart, and I want you to meditate on what God's saying into your life. I want you to listen very carefully in your heart to the voice of the Holy Spirit of God as he begins to place his finger on some areas in your own life. It's going to be different for everyone of us. First of all, this morning, do you regard others as more important than yourself? You know why we get so offended when somebody breaks in front of us in line at Walmart or somebody cuts us off in traffic or somebody else gets the promotion? No one would get so offended because we think it's all about us. Sometimes I think God allows those things into our lives just to remind us. It's not all about us. Do you regard others as more important than yourself? Number two, are you seeking to serve the needs of others? I want you to think specifically over the last seven days of your life. How has the Lord served somebody else through you this week? Or have you let an entire week of your life go by and had an it's all about me attitude? Are you living on the lookout? Are you pursuing fellowship with God on a daily basis? Listen, brokenness is born out of fellowship. We'll never have the outward expression of that unless we're living in fellowship with God. Are you meeting with God? Not just on the weekend at church, but I'm talking about daily. Have you carved some time into your schedule to read God's Word and ask God to speak into your life? Are there areas of sin in your life that you're not taking seriously? Just a moment we're going to stand and we're going to sing a song of worship and I want you to know some that's what that's what this time is. It's a time to respond to God and worship as we sing. We have some pastors that are here at the front. We have some prayer volunteers along the back and at the side. If you need to know Christ today, if you want to give your life to Jesus or if you have something that you'd like for somebody to pray specifically with you about, you can go to any one of these pastors or prayer volunteers and say to them, I need you to pray for me. I need you to talk with me and they'll be happy to do that. They'll just put their arms on you and they'll pray for you right there. If you've got a burden, a need, a situation, whatever it is for the rest of us, I want you to either stand and sing or I want you to stand and pray or I want you to if you need to stay in your seat there and just do business with God as God leads you. Lord, have your way as we now honor you in worship. May we respond to the word of God in our lives. It's in Jesus' name we pray.