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Walking With The Lord - Part 4

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• All right, let's open our Bibles today again to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. I am going to continue here on walking with the Lord, which will be the fourth part of—I don't always preach the same thing here that I preach in Waycross, but during this particular series I am. So I told Frank that they would get the benefit of hearing the same message twice. And anybody from Pennsylvania, New Jersey area, he said needed to hear it twice.

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• New Yorkers, they need to hear it three or four times. Oh Lord have mercy. We were told today about some family that sold out in South Carolina and moved back to Chicago, Illinois. I said, that's like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Are they still alive? Yeah, that's a fact. Ephesians chapter 4 if you would, "I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

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• I want to take just a few minutes and try to review. I've just pointed out walking with the Lord. In the first message I pointed out that we must walk before the Lord in order to walk with the Lord. We studied how Enoch walked with the Lord. And when God said to Abram, "Walk thou before me, and be thou perfect," it simply meant that we were to walk in His presence as we were in His face, or He was in our presence. You can't walk with Him unless you are simply walking before Him as well. And then I pointed out at least five implications of the word walk. In fact through the Bible the word walk actually is synonymous with a Christian life, and with a Christian journey, and with the conduct of our daily lives. So I pointed out how that a walk implies, first of all, communion and fellowship.

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• Secondly, it would imply agreement. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Thirdly, it would imply purpose. You're walking with a purpose.

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• Fourthly, of course, it would also imply progress. You're moving from one spot to the other spot, like going from faith to faith. And then, of course, fifthly, implies of course resolution as well. You are actually trying to work out problems and bring your life into greater conformity to the Word of God. And then we looked at Hebrews 11 verses 5 and 6 still in relationship to Enoch. The Bible says, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God." Then verse 6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

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• So walking by faith is absolutely fundamental, it is foundational, it is basic, and until we learn to do that we cannot do anything else. And I pointed out from Hebrews 11 and verse 6 how walking by faith has reference to God's person, to God's promises, and then to God's providence. And then last week I pointed out from Ephesians 4 verse 1 where the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we have been called. And I took you through the Bible and showed you ten places where the word vocation is translated as called. And the word vocation actually refers to our salvation. When He says that we are to walk worthy of the vocation where we have been called we are to walk worthy of our salvation because we have been called unto the fellowship of His dear Son the Lord Jesus Christ according to Romans chapter 1 and verse 6. So it does indeed refer to our salvation. Then I kind of compared Ephesians 4:1 with Colossians 1 and verse 10 where Paul prayed then that we might walk worthy unto all pleasing.

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• And so as long as we're walking worthy we're walking pleasing unto the Lord. And then we looked at how to walk worthily in verse 2 and the very first thing that we read he said "with all lowliness." I pointed out that lowliness is a compound word which means humility, or having a humble opinion of oneself, modesty, a deep sense of one's smallness, humility, and lowliness of mind. And so I've pointed out how lowliness is actually the opposite of pride and arrogance and haughtiness, as well as a spirit of domination, lordship, and manipulation.

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• So if we desire to maintain a lowly attitude according to Scripture as God commands us, we must be constantly considering what we were and are by nature. We must also consider the fact that we are depraved, desperately depraved by nature. And then we looked at Ephesians 2 verses 1-3 where the Apostle Paul told us what we were before God saved us. And then of course we looked at Isaiah 51 and verse 1 where he said, "Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you were hewn, and to the pit from which you are digged." So he says you better remember where you came from and what you were. So if you ask, how can we maintain a lowly attitude and

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• not a pride, arrogant, haughty one? We just have to constantly consider and remember what we were and who we are. And you will remember the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 15 said that he was the chief of sinners. And so if an individual has a very lowly attitude, he would probably be willing to fight the Apostle Paul for that position because we recognize the fact that we are sinners and only saved by the grace of God.

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• So today I want to continue actually with the second thing here on walking worthy. And by the way Lord willing next Sunday I want to tie all of this together for you and we'll get to the next point after next Sunday. But today "with all lowliness and meekness." So he tells us that if we are going to walk with the Lord we must not only walk in lowliness but we must walk in meekness as well. The interesting thing is when you and I hear the word meek or meekness we tend to think in reference to the terminology of the day and how that word is used. So usually when we think of meekness we automatically think of weakness.

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• We think of a milksop, one that refuses to stand up for himself or his rights, one who refuses to stand up for anyone else, one who is easily run over and easily manipulated. Well obviously biblical meekness does not relate to such a twisted, unmanly, unbiblical, and ungodly description. Our Lord was meek. He claimed meekness as an attitude. We'll look at this a little bit later but in Matthew 11 and verse 29 he said this, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls." And then of course in Matthew 21 and verse 5 which was prophesied by Zechariah. In Matthew 21 verse 5 he says, "Tell you the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." So there was none so meek and holy as the Lord Jesus Christ. There were none so mild as the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• And yet the Bible tells us in John chapter 2 that our meek Lord took a scourge of small cords and drove the money changers from the Temple as He turned over their tables. Now I want you to stop and think about that. Our Lord took a scourge of small cords.

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• Now, a scourge would usually be a piece of wood that you hold in your hand. And small cords would just be pieces of leather coming out of it. Sometimes it would have something like a bead or something on the end that would make it sting a little bit more. But when you think about meekness, here's the question. Who's going to run from a 90-pound weakling even if he has a scourge of small cords in his hand?

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• And the answer is no one. You have to understand that our Lord was raised in a carpentry shop. You don't get weak by working in carpentry. So when our Lord took that scourge of small cords, He not only had some determination behind Him, He also had some muscle behind Him. So our Lord basically was indeed a man's man. So when we talk about meekness, we find out that our Lord was meek and claimed meekness as an attribute.

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• What in the world is the use of a Christian profession that leaves us without the taking on of the character of Christ? In other words, we are to be conformed to His image. We're to be made more and more like to Jesus Christ.

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• Now, if you would turn back just a few pages to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, you'll see how the Apostle Paul uses the meekness and the mildness of Christ as an encouragement. He says this in 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 1, "Now I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you." So he says, "I am beseeching you by the meekness and by the gentleness of Christ."

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• Now the point I really want to emphasize is this, do not equate meekness with weakness. Do not equate meekness with being a coward. Do not equate meekness with someone who refuses to stand for that which is right. Back in his day Moses was called the meekest man on the earth. In Numbers 12 and verse 3 the Bible says, "Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." So Moses in his day was the meekest man upon the earth. And yet it was Moses, the meekest man on earth, who killed an Egyptian while defending his brother. It was Moses, the meekest man on the earth, who faced Pharaoh and his magicians and his power elite of that day and stood them down. It was Moses, the meekest man on the earth, who pronounced all the plagues against Egypt and upon Pharaoh as well. It was Moses, the meekest man on the earth, who pronounced the death sentence upon Pharaoh as well. It was Moses, the meekest man on the earth, who knelt down and asked God to open up the earth, let a new thing happen, and let Dathan and Abiram and Korah go down alive into the pit.

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• It was Moses, the meekest man on earth, who put up with the irritated and rebellious Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. Moses may have been meek, but he was certainly not weak. And he was certainly not a pushover by any stretch of the imagination. So meekness then is not meanness. It is not weakness. It is not a surrender of our rights. It is not being a coward.

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• Well, if it's none of those, what is it? Well, in Ephesians 4 and verse 2, he says, "with all lowliness and meekness." The Greek word for meekness, praotēs, literally is translated as meekness, but it also means gentleness as well. So let me begin by telling you what meekness really is. Meekness is that disposition of the soul that makes men unwilling to unnecessarily provoke other people. Meekness is that disposition of soul which is not easily provoked when others rebuke us for our sins or our wrongs or our weaknesses or our inabilities. Meekness is that disposition which is opposed to being angrily resentful and what you and I would just simply call peevishness. So it is meekness then that keeps us from having an irritable disposition and attitude. It is meekness that keeps us from being angry when other individuals point out our sins and our weaknesses. And it is meekness that enables us to hold our tongues and to keep our words in our mouth when we are provoked.

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• Now, I know that there is a time to speak out. I understand that. But everyone in this room would confess and acknowledge there are many times in anger you said things that you wish you had never said. And that's what meekness does. The Bible says in Proverbs 13 verse 10, "Only by pride cometh contention." Only by pride cometh contention. So if Steve then rebukes me or if Steve points out something to me in some area where I'm weak, in some area where I need to strengthen myself, it's only pride that would say something like, "Ha, ha, better check yourself buddy." No, I would say, "Thank you. I will work on that area. I needed that." That's meekness. John Gill said it like this.

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• He said, "In the exercise of humility, which shows itself in believers in entertaining and expressing, listen now, the meanest or the lowest thoughts of ourselves and the best thoughts of others, and not envying the gifts and graces of others, but rejoicing at them, and at every increase in them, and in a willingness to receive instruction from the meanest of the lowest saints, in submission to the will of God, etc." And he goes on and on. So, he is simply saying this, meekness is an attribute, it's a characteristic that is to be found in every child of God. Let me show you.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus and then to the book of Colossians. We'll go to Titus chapter 3 and then to Colossians chapter 3. So 1st and 2nd Timothy and then Titus. Look in Titus chapter 3 and let's read verses 1 and 2. The Apostle Paul is telling Titus, who is a preacher, to put the people in remembrance of certain things. He says, "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready for every good work."

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• Now watch verse 2, "To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." Showing all meekness unto all men. So God then is commanding us to be meek everyone. But particularly if we are going to exercise meekness it should always be toward the saints of God as well. If we owe meekness to all men we owe it especially to the saints of God.

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• If you will look back in Colossians chapter 3 notice verses 12 and 13 and I will deal with one of these concepts in the next two or three messages. Notice if you would in Colossians 3 and verse 12 He says it like this, "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, even if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." But notice he says, "Put on therefore as the elect of God." And he tells us what we are to put on. And one of those things happens to be meekness.

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• Now may I point out the fact that no one, no one is naturally meek by nature. I mean it's just not in us. By nature, we're proud and we're arrogant. By nature, if Pat strikes me, my first impulse is to strike back. If Steve cusses me, my first impulse as a natural man would be to cuss him back. It's to avenge ourselves. Meekness is the opposite of all of that. Now, not in us by nature. Turn back to Galatians chapter 5, just a few pages back, Galatians, Ephesians, Galatians chapter 5. Look at verses 22 and 23 and you will see where meekness comes from.

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• It is indeed a fruit of the Spirit. It is not something that is produced in us by nature. In Galatians 5 and verse 22 he says this, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." But notice if you would the fruit of the Spirit and then in verse 23 is meekness.

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• Now the interesting thing is this, biblical meekness will allow us to rejoice over the blessings and the gifts of God in the lives of other people. Not all of us have the same gifts. Not all of us have the same intellect. Not all of us have the same abilities. I used to get angry, not really and truly, but I used to point out about Melvin Stringer. I'd say, "Melvin, you make me so angry."

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• Because if his car needed work, he'd do it. If he needed to build a house, he'd build a house. If he needed to do plumbing, he could do plumbing. If he wanted to do electrical wiring, he could do it. He could do anything he wanted to do. And I would say, "But I can't do any of those things." And I have had several friends during my lifetime that just whatever needed to be done, they could do it.

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• And you look at people like that and you think, my goodness, I mean look at the preachers for instance that not only can preach and teach but they have beautiful voices and a full head of hair to boot. I mean you know look at that. I'm just simply saying you can look at the gifts and the abilities that God has given other people and rejoice in that and say, "Well, I'm thankful that God at least gave him that gift. I'm thankful that God gave him that ability," because we have to understand that God is absolutely sovereign when He dispenses our gifts. We don't necessarily get to choose our gifts. It's just very simple. God is free to give one gift to one man and a different gift to another man and God is absolutely free to withhold any or all of His gifts if He so chooses. That's why the Bible says in

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• James 1 and verse 17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 11, talking about gifts, "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit," the Holy Spirit is God, listen, "dividing severally to every man as he wills." So who determines what gifts we get? It's just that simple. I don't guess I ever asked for the gift of preaching and teaching, for that's what I ended up with. I'm just simply pointing out the fact God can give and God cannot give. It's just like I have known men with earned PhDs.

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• couldn't teach their way out of a wet paper bag. I've known preachers who claim to be called of God and could not preach and could not teach. I've known singers that claim to have a gift of singing and they couldn't sing either. So I'm just simply saying God tells us that we are to soberly assess ourselves. But the truth is every man has a gift. If you look in your Bibles to 1 Peter, go right over in 1 Peter chapter 4 and look at verse 10. Look what the Bible says, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 10, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Now notice if you would please he said "as every man hath received the gift," so every Christian has a gift. We don't all have the same gifts that is for sure. But he says whatever gift you have you minister the same gift that God gave you one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. So obviously, whatever gifts we have, God gave them to us so that we can minister to each other.

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• Because only as we minister to each other are we ministering to Him. Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to two passages. I want you to turn to Galatians chapter 6 and to Job chapter 16. Galatians chapter 6 and just hold that and then go back in your Bibles to Job chapter 16. Everyone knows the story of Job. In fact James says you've heard of the patience of Job and that is true but you know even Job got a little irritated at some of his friends because his friends were saying things that certainly did not apply to Job. Now I want you to think about this. There are a number of things that those three men said to Job that were absolutely true. But the problem was what they said did not apply to Job. Job was totally and completely innocent and they assumed that he had sinned and that's why God was judging him. And he says, "No, that's not the case." Now, look what Job said.

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• And let me point this out. Listen carefully before I tell you. I'll read the scripture here. It's only as we have meekness in our lives that we're able to help falling and fallen brethren. One of the reasons there's hardly any restoration of fallen brethren is because there is no real genuine meekness.

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• Now I understand and I know that often times a lot of individuals who quote unquote fall from the faith were never in the faith to begin with. They were never saved. John said it in 1 John 2 and verse 19, "They went out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not of us; for had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us." The proof that a person is ever really genuinely saved is that he continues. But there have been real genuine Christians who have fallen and who have sinned and done things they should have never ever done. Biblical meekness will keep us from having a high and mighty attitude and saying, "Look at him." It'll keep us from having that attitude, "I told you so." And it'll keep us from having the attitude, "If I'd been in your place, I'd have never done that." Really? I'm going to show you. I want you to look what Job said to his friends. You see folks, it's easy for you and I to condemn our brethren when we have not really walked in their shoes. I have a dear friend

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• who for years had made this statement. She says, "Christians are about the only group I've ever known that attack their own wounded." Kind of like a bunch of chickens. One chicken gets down and what do the others do? Rush to peck him to death and just attack him. Well, that's the truth. Well, that's the way it is unhappily. Look in Job chapter 16. Look what Job said to his three friends. "Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are you all." He said, "You're not telling me nothing that I don't already know. And you're just miserable. You're not helping me. You're hurting me." Watch, "Shall vain words have an end?" Would you just shut up? "What emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?"

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• Why are you even speaking? You don't even know what you're talking about. Watch in verse 4 he says, "I also could speak as you do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you." So if we traded places, obviously if I'm hurting, you're not. Oh, you can sit there very piously and say all kind of things about me. But if we traded places I could do the same thing against you. But that's not resolving anything. Now Job said, "No, that's not the answer." Look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1. In fact, let's read through verse 5. Galatians 6 verses 1 through 5 he says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault," that is, he sinned, he's fallen, "you which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

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• "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work. Then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden." Now, I want you to watch this. If we have biblical meekness, first of all, it will enable us not to become an unnecessary burden upon others. That's what he meant in verse 5, "For every man shall bear his own burden." In other words, as much as humanly possible, we carry our own load. If we have problems, the very first thing we do is we go to our Heavenly Father.

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• Notice, if you would please, Galatians chapter 6. He also says in verse 2, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." So, if we're able to carry our own load, we may be able to help someone else carry their load as well.

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• Now, I want you to note verse 1, meekness, meekness will enable us not to become haughty or take a haughty attitude, speak proudly and indicate that we would have never committed the sin for which we're seeking to help our fallen brethren. He said, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Now let me tell you. If Steve falls into a certain sin, I can't sit here and say, "Man, if I'd been there I wouldn't have done that." How do I know what I would have done? I haven't maybe been tempted like he's been tempted. If I take that kind of attitude I'm never ever going to be able to help him. What does the Bible say? "Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." In other words I'm flesh and blood just like he's flesh and blood.

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• We all have the same temptations. We all have the same problems. We all have the same flesh. We all have the same lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And what God is saying is if we are going to help each other and restore each other it has to be in the spirit of meekness, understanding it's only by the grace of God that we have not fallen ourselves. Okay, now let me show you something else. I want you to turn to

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• 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2. This not only applies to preachers it also applies to teachers and also applies to parents who are trying to instruct and teach their children and or grandchildren. Look what he says, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 24, "And the servant of the Lord must not strive," that is he's not fighting, doesn't have a fighting attitude in this instance. "The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." Now, notice if you would in verse 25, so we are to have meekness, and "in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves." Well how do men oppose themselves? And the answer is by holding to error and refusing the truth.

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• Many in pride think that they know when in reality they do not know. It's kind of like that verse in Galatians 6 and verse 3 when the Word of God said, "For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." Likewise, when a man thinks he knows something when he doesn't really know it, he's just deceiving himself. I could pretend to be an electronics expert. Frank knows better. I could pretend to be an expert in computer sciences. Again, Frank knows better. I can pretend to be all of those things, but I would just simply be deceiving myself. I could pretend that I was an excellent singer. I'm still deceiving myself. I am not. That's why the Bible tells us that every man is to consider and to deal with himself soberly in assessing the gifts that God has given him.

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• According to the Apostle Paul, meekness then will allow us not to become angry when people do not immediately receive the truth. Listen, I have preached to people all my life. Some it has taken a long time for God to open their eyes. Some eyes are open right away. One of my favorite illustrations is about an older brother who's been dead many years now. He was in our church, and I had John Reisinger come, and he spent a week on the biblical doctrine of election. When he got through, old brother Coulter came up to me just all excited.

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• He said, "Pastor, this is absolutely wonderful. This is absolutely great." He said, "My question is, why haven't you been preaching this?" I looked at him and I said, "My question is, where have you been for the last 15 years?" You know? God just turned the lights on for him at that particular time. So we can't get angry. We cannot get upset. We can't denounce them and reproach them as heretics and hold them up to scorn just simply because they do not know. The grand difficulty in all of this is they're ignorant of the truth. How many of you embraced truth the very first time you ever heard it? First of all, you don't even remember the first time you ever heard it. Secondly, most of us never embraced it the very first time we ever heard it. I remember when I got Pink's book "The Sovereignty of God" and I read through that book and I had a pen in my hand and I read through that book the first time I put "no, no" and exclamation points and, well, the book was so compelling when I got through I turned around

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• read it a second time. And this time I'd mark out the "no" and I'd put a question mark, you know, "Well, let me consider that." Then when I read it the second time I was so convicted I turned around read it a third time then I marked out everything and my position was, "Why did I ever argue? It's nothing with Scripture to begin with." But it took me three times before I ever saw it. So this is what he's saying, "in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves."

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• So if they're ignorant of the truth, we teach them. If they get angry, we are not to get angry. If they oppose the truth, we just calmly and continually keep stating it to them. If they are slow to learn, we don't become impatient, we just continue to teach them. If they get angry and refuse the truth, we may pity them, but we certainly do not denounce them. And may I point this out, don't care what position you hold, if I were to come to you and make fun of your position and denounce it and mock it and hold you up to scorn and ridicule you, all it's going to do is drive you more tightly and deeper in the very position that you're holding. Whether it's accurate or not or whether it's true or not, it's immaterial. That's just human nature because human nature says, "I'll show you. You're not gonna teach me and you're not gonna make me move." So he says, "in meekness instructing those." So lowliness and meekness, listen carefully, lowliness and meekness are absolutely essential to being taught and being led. A strong-minded man who is proud

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• and arrogant and hardy cannot be taught and led. And the reason he cannot be taught and led is because he already thinks he knows it all. You've heard me say this before, most young people when they go to college do not go to learn, they go there to correct the teachers and show them how much they know. And unhappily, a lot of Christians are in church like that. But a man who thinks he knows it all, he refuses to listen.

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• His mind is made up beforehand. God is not going to teach someone like that. God is not going to lead someone like that. The Bible says in Psalm 25 and verse 9, "The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way." You know what a meek man is? A meek man is the man who will come up and says, "I was told to go to the Hilton Hotel.

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• I have no idea where it is. Can you help me? Can you give me directions? Will you show me?" Now Steve can show me where a post office is. That's a private joke. But you understand what I'm saying. A meek man is willing to say, "I don't know." And I told Alice the last time we were going somewhere, we couldn't find it. I said, "I'll stop. You just run in and ask him which way the business is where we're going or where the road is." And she would go in and ask. But I had to admit, I did not know where we were going. So, the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 10 and verse 23, listen to this, here is why a meek man can be led. Here is why a meek man can be taught. He believes the truth of Jeremiah 10:23 when Jeremiah said, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Man doesn't know which way he is going.

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• There are issues right now that I'm dealing with that I'm asking the Lord for wisdom and direction. I don't know what to do. I know the principles of Scripture and I know that He will lead me. I know that He will guide me, but I have to ask. I don't know. It may surprise you to learn that it's the meek whom our Lord saves and blesses. Let me show you.

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• Look in your Bibles to Psalm 76. Psalm 76 verse 9. We'll look at several passages, but Psalm 76 and verse 9. Notice if you would Psalm 76 verse 9. The Bible says, "When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth." Notice all the meek of the earth. Turn right over to Psalm 147 and look at verse 6. Psalm 147 and verse 6, "The Lord lifteth up the meek."

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• "He casteth the wicked down to the ground." So the wicked is in opposition to the meek. What would the wicked be? Proud, arrogant, haughty, high-minded. The Lord lifteth up the meek. Look in Psalm 149 and verse 4. Bible says, "For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation." He will beautify the meek with salvation. Wow! Do you remember that passage in Luke chapter 18, you don't have to turn there, but our Lord tells us about the Pharisee and the publican. The two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. And the Pharisee stood, the Bible says, and prayed thus with himself, "O Lord, I thank Thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

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• I fast twice in a week, I give tithes of all that I possess." And he continued to brag upon himself. And then the old publican would not even so much as lift his eyes toward heaven but smote himself on the breast and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner." And our Lord said, "Verily that man went down to his house justified rather than the other one." That's meekness. That's meekness. That's understanding and recognizing who you are and what you are.

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• Now, David said it like this in Psalm 51 and verse 17. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise."

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11. Before I give you some applications, I want to try to give you an illustration that you can remember that will demonstrate biblical meekness to you. I want you to see this Matthew 11 and I want us to begin reading at verse 28 and we'll read through verse 30. Everyone knows this passage. Matthew 11 verse 28, our Lord says, "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Watch this command. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls." And then he makes this statement, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Now, after he commands you to take his yoke in verse 29, he then explains that it's an easy yoke.

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• I don't know if you've ever considered a yoke or not, but a yoke is for discipline and training. Servants are said to be under the yoke in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 1, and subjects are said to be under the yoke in 1 Kings 12 and verse 10. But when he says "take my yoke upon you" here's the picture of how an ox is trained to plow and to pull. Usually what they would do is they would take a young inexperienced ox and they would yoke him up. It was a double yoke. They would yoke him up with an older experienced ox. The interesting thing is this, when I just said that a yoke is for discipline and training. Most of you in here have seen General Forrest, a 3,000 pound bull I've got. Have you ever wondered the strength that's just in his neck? I told you about his father, General Beauregard, who just took his head and was rubbing his head on a thousand-pound harrow and just flipped it over like it was absolutely nothing.

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• Now, Forrest is generous and gracious and kind in that sense of the word. He allows me to pet him and love him, but I've never put a yoke on him. Never tried. I don't think I want to either. Not at this stage in life. But can you imagine what he could pull if you had a yoke on him? He could pull a car out of the bog. He could pull a tractor. He could pull logs. In fact, they use oxen to pull logs, to pull wagons, to do whatever. That yoke is for discipline and training.

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• And so what they would do is they would take this young inexperienced ox. They would yoke him up with this older, experienced ox. But the young ox, the yoke is very loose around his neck and shoulders. And it's very tight around the older, experienced ox. And all the young ox does, really and truly, is walk beside the older, experienced ox. And it looks as if that young ox is pulling and plowing, but he's not. All the burden is on the heavy, older ox. He's doing all the work. Okay? How can our Lord say, "For my yoke is easy"? Because He's already done all the work. He's already earned salvation. He's already earned a perfect righteousness. What He calls us to do is to yoke up with Him for discipline and training.

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• Our part is to submit, to be trained, and to be disciplined. We're to be His servants. We're to be His subjects. Let me put it to you like this, that meekness is nothing less than disciplined strength under the direction and the authority of Jesus Christ. We're to move at His command. Our lives are to be controlled by Him. Our attitudes are to be controlled by Him. In Him we live and move and have our being. He is to be our all in all. So if I become angry, it should be a righteous anger, not unrighteous anger, at His command and according to His Word. If I'm submissive, it should be a biblical submissiveness according to His Word and His direction. If I'm to defend, it should be at His direction and under His authority. In other words, if I'm yoked up with Him, I am under His control. I bear and wear His yoke. I'm under His command, I'm under His control. So the Apostle Paul says when we walk worthy of our calling, we're not only walking in lowliness, we're walking in meekness.

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• It means that we're broken to yoke and we plow at His pleasure. Those of you who have horses, you ride them at your pleasure. We saw two horses pulling a wagon coming in. Those horses pulled that wagon at the pleasure of the owner. The owners are in control. And that is exactly what the Word of God is teaching us about biblical meekness. We are indeed to be under the control of Jesus Christ.

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• Let me make some applications very quickly. The first one is this. Meekness and lowliness are perfectly tempered in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our life. He is our model. He is our example. We have to bear His yoke and plow the path that He plowed. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2 and verse 23, talking about Christ, "Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." So there is the meekness of Jesus Christ. He was not vindictive. He was not hateful. He was not unkind.

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• He just did what pleased the Father. Secondly, according to the Bible lowliness and meekness bring joy into one's life. The Bible says in Psalm 22 and verse 26, "The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: your heart shall live forever." Then in Isaiah 29 and verse 19, "The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord." So it's only biblical meekness then that gives us joy and satisfaction. Thirdly, let me point this out, that biblical meekness is an attribute that is not only produced by the Holy Spirit, but it is an attribute that we are commanded to seek.

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• That is, we are to develop this in our lives. In Zephaniah 2, verse 3, the Bible says, "Seek ye the Lord, all you meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness." So God commands us to seek it. We are to bring our lives into conformity to His Word. Pointed out in 1 Peter chapter 5 when the Bible is talking about a beautiful wife, God says, "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel." It's not all the ornaments. No, no, no. No, he goes on to say this in verse 3, "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price." So it's not how beautiful the clothes, it's not how decked out you are in jewelry, it's not how beautiful your hair is, it's whether or not there's a meek and quiet spirit.

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• That is a great price in the sight of God. And then fourthly, let me just reemphasize that meekness is disciplined strength under Christ. Meekness is not weakness. It is not being a coward. It is not refusing to stand. Meekness means that you have been yoked up to Jesus Christ. You bear His yoke. You wear His yoke. You move at His command. He has absolute authority and control over your life. So Paul says, if we're going to walk worthy, if we're going to walk pleasing unto the Lord, the way to walk worthy of our calling is to walk in lowliness and in meekness. And then next week we're going to see, he tells us that we're to walk also in long-suffering and in forbearance. And then I'm going to tie these next verses together and show you how verses 4, 5, 6, and 7 all work together to illustrate what he said in verses 2 and 3. Meekness is disciplined strength under God. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we again thank you for your infinite grace and mercy.

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• And we do ask of thee, Father, for biblical meekness in our lives. We pray that you would enable us to bear the yoke of Jesus Christ, move under His authority and under His command to do that which pleases Him and glorifies Him, for He is God of gods and King of kings and Lord of lords. And we give thee all the praise and the honor and the glory. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

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• you

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:30:37Z