Happy is the God-controlled person

Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
 

St. Paul’s Cathedral was finished in 1710 after thirty-five years of construction. The architect waited attentively for Queen Anne’s reaction. He was elated when she said that the cathedral was “awful, amusing, and artificial.” If someone said this of an American structure in the twenty-first century, the architect would not be elated. However, the queen’s words in 1710 did not mean what they mean today. Awful meant “awe inspiring,” amusing meant “amazing,” and artificial meant “artistic.”

“He is as meek as a mouse,” we often say, because we do not like mice. The meaning of the word meek is much misunderstood today. Many think of a meek person as a weak, flabby, milquetoast, spineless creature who is unable to stand up for themselves or for anyone else. Many easygoing, lazy people are thought to be meek when they are really lazy. Many peace-at-any-price people, who would rather compromise their convictions than take a stand, are called “meek.” But none of these describe the meekness of which Christ Jesus spoke. Meekness is not weakness; rather it is the gentle spirit, the disciplined or controlled spirit. It is the meek person who can enjoy or receive the deepest satisfaction from God’s created order.

Meek is a word that denotes self-control, but also means genuine humility. There is a progression from the reference to the “poor in spirit” to the reference in the second beatitude on caring deeply, to this third beatitude on the “meek.” The pride of the Rabbis was in learning; of the Greeks, in intellect; and of the Romans, in power. But it is only the humble who can receive, who can learn or be taught, who can accept forgiveness, who can walk in grace, who can live in love. Augsburger, Myron S. ; Ogilvie, Lloyd J.: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 24 : Matthew. Nashville, Tennessee : Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982 (The Preacher's Commentary Series 24), S. 18

I. Happy is the God-controlled person. Aristotle spoke of meekness as the middle between

anger and indifference.

The Greek word for “meek” praus (prah-ooce') is the standard word used to describe a domesticated animal. The picture is that of a young colt broken to harness. It implies purpose in control; the colt is harnessed to something.

The Christian is really happy because our impulses, instincts, passion, thoughts, and actions have been brought under God’s control. As a God-controlled person we try to live a disciplined life of service.God controls everything in the committed Christian’s life. Our affections, conscience, will, temper, motives, conduct, and speech have been brought under God’s control because Christ Jesus holds the reins of our life. An animal is controlled when it is in the presence of its master. The same is the case with the committed Christian. We let God take the reins of our life each day because we realize that we live in God’s presence. 

A.W. Tozer once wrote, The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto." Today in the Word, September, 1989, p. 19.

Happy is the God-controlled person and happy is the teachable person

II. Happy is the teachable person.

The meek person can be told something; they do not do all the talking. They are ready to listen and learn. Someone has paraphrased the words of our text as “Blessed are they who can be told something, for they shall learn enough to get by in the world.” 

A sign hanging over the machines in a factory admonished the employees: “When the threads get tangled, send for the foreman.” 

But on one occasion a workman tried desperately to untangle the threads on his machine. When the foreman finally came, he asked, “Didn’t you read the sign?”

“Yes, but I was doing my best to take care of it myself.” “Doing the best you can,” said the foreman, “always means sending for the foreman.” 

The teachable person is humble. If one is really humble, they do not even know it. A humble person never asks for more than their due; they already feels overpaid. 

The story is told of a little watch that looked up at Big Ben and said, “I wish I was as high as Big Ben so that everyone could notice me too.” The owner of the watch suspended it on the face of the tall clock tower next to Big Ben, but no one could see it. Elevation became annihilation. Those who long to be elevated for their talents and to be noticed by others are only asking for annihilation. 

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11).

The teachable person is trusting. Instead of worrying about their provisions, they trust God for them. Life’s greatest question for them is “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). Job asserted, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. . . . Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 1:21; 13:15). What trust! What meekness!

Happy is the God-controlled person, happy is the teachable person, and happy is the person who has fellowship with God.

III. Happy is the person who has fellowship with God.

The promise of this beatitude is “They shall inherit the earth.” Certainly our Lord is not speaking of a physical inheritance at some future day. 

The Christian inherits the purpose for which God created the earth. God created Adam and Eve for fellowship with him. When you have been born again and let God control your life in Christ Jesus, you inherit fellowship with God. Until you have been born again, you are merely inhabiting the earth; when Christ Jesus takes the reins of your life, you inherit the earth! When you come to Christ Jesus for salvation, you take upon yourself the spirit of true meekness.

“Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:5 – 8

Conclusion: A girl bound with duct tape and in a trance was found in a Las Vegas hotel. She was unable to remember her past. Her purse contained a tiny notebook with only one page, on which was written a cryptic inscription. This led the police to a Los Angeles hospital, but no one at the hospital knew the girl. When they asked for her name, she said, “Eno Onmai.” Someone took the time to unscramble the name and found that, when turned backward, it said, “I am no one.” There is no better description of a person who has not let Christ Jesus take the reins of her or his life.