Meek, Humble, Easy
I.
Matthew 11:27-The two
things that Jesus wanted you to know about himself was that he was meek and
lowly/humble in spirit
A. We can look at him
through the scriptures and see certain characteristics about Him, but these two
characteristics came directly from his mouth
B. We’ve been commanded by
Him to learn these two things about Him
II.
Jesus said I am meek
(Meek does not mean timid, shy, bashful, or weak)
A. Meek
means mild of temper (Gentle-Not hard, harsh, sharp, and bitter)
1.
The
attitude of one who is friendly, warm, & kind-Mk10:17-Look
Of love, Jn20:11-Mary
2.
The
attitude of one who is forbearing, patient, and slow to anger
a.
The
Lord described himself this way-Exodus
34:6-The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God,
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
b.
When
you see Jesus angry you know he didn’t get there quickly
c.
Not
angry, temperamental, given to outbursts of anger
d.
When
you see Jesus or the Father in their severity they are not acting that way b/c
of their emotions, but rather it has become necessary to help mankind
3.
Not easily provoked or irritated
4.
Not peevish-Grumpy, irritable, crabby, cranky, apt to complain-Isaiah
9:6-Prince of Peace
a.
A
meek person doesn’t project the countenance of one who is peeved, offended,
upset, angry or reactive to unfavorable situations
B. Meek means self-controlled
1.
Meek
people are skilled at controlling themselves and their emotions-Luke22:44
a.
Meek
people have opportunities to react in anger or to get upset but they choose to
be controlled, forgiving, gentle-(Matt14-When John was
beheaded, Jesus had an opportunity to react in anger, but he forgave instead)
b.
Rather
than fly into rage and throw a temper tantrum, the meek able to remain silent
and keep your emotions and temper under control
c.
Although
a unfavorable situation may normally produce a rash or angry outburst, a meek
person is controlled by kindness, gentleness, mildness, or even friendliness-(Matt11-John attacked Jesus, but Jesus was gentle with
John)
2.
A
meek person is one who remains in control of himself in times of
pressure-Matthew 26:53-Jesus had 12 legions of angels at the ready during his
crucifixion
a.
A
meek person is controlled even in difficult circumstances
3.
You
can’t be weak and be meek; you have to be strong to be meek
C. Meek means submitted or submissive to God’s
will
1.
Meekness
pictures a person who has learned to submit his will to a higher authority
2.
A
meek person may have his own opinion, but has learned submission and knows how
to bring his will under control-John 8:28
3.
Meekness
is the opposite of SELF-assertiveness (Jesus didn’t assert Himself, he asserted
the Father)-John 5:19,30, 8:26,38
D. Meek
means yielding to God without
disputing or resisting
1.
The
meek man yields to the spirit’s leading in spite of his own feelings, thoughts
or opinions
E. Benefits of being meek
1.
Psalm
22:26-The meek will be sastisfied (fulfilled, having
one’s desire fulfilled)
2.
Psalm
25:9-The meek God will guide, the meek God will teach
3.
Psalm
37:11-The meek inherit the earth, the meek delight themselves in an abundance
of peace
4.
Psalm
76:9-The meek get saved and delievered
5.
Psalm
147:6-The Lord lifts up the meek
6.
Psalm
149:4-The Lord beautifies the meek with prosperity
7.
Matthew
5:5-The meek are blessed
III.
Jesus said he was humble
in spirit (Lowly means to be
humble; Meek also means humble)
A. Humility has to do with
truth and reality (2 Corinthians 12:6)
1.
People
who in pride are in deception because they have an untrue estimation of
themselves (Obadiah 3-The pride of your heart has deceived you)
a.
Pride
has to do over estimating yourself, your abilities; you believe something about
yourself that is not true; you’re deceived-(Pr6:17-AMP-the
spirit that makes one overestimate himself)
2.
Humility
centers on reality; Four “in-me” realities; not trying to be humble, just
reality
a.
In
yourself you are nothing-Galatians 6:3; In Him you are something-1Jn4:17
b.
In
yourself you know nothing-1 Cor 8:2; In Him you know
all things-1 John 2:20
c.
In
yourself you have nothing-1 Cori 4:7; In Him you have all things that -2 Peter
1:4
d.
In
yourself you can do nothing-John 15:5; In Him you can do all things-Phili 4:13
3.
Jesus
said I can of my own self do nothing; that’s not him trying to be humble,
that’s simply reality and it manifests as humility
B. Humility requires God in
all that does, it sees the need for him in all that it does because it has a
revelation of reality and it’s this: I can do nothing of myself-Jn5:19,30,8:28
1.
Jesus
walked in humility because he had a revelation of reality and he knew that he
could do nothing of himself and he was totally dependent on God
2.
Pride
doesn’t recognize it’s need for God; Pride believes it is self-sufficient
a.
Pride
acts without getting direction of what to do first, Pride prays, confesses,
declares etc. without seeking God for direction first because pride hasn’t got
the revelation “I can do nothing of myself.”
3.
Humility is when we rely on God and not
on our own abilities
a.
Humility
keeps you looking inside because it knows “I can do nothing of myself” and
therefore it is forced to look inside
b.
Not
only had Jesus learned to yield to the Spirit, he knew how dependent He was
upon Him
4.
How
humble you are is not determined by how humble you say you are, but it’s
determined by how dependent you are on God and how much you look to Him
a.
Humility
is measured in how much are you looking to Him
C. The benefit of humility is greater grace
1.
To
be used more to do more you need greater grace, more grace
a.
Moses
was the meekest man of his generation and he was the most used man of his
generation-Numbers 12:3
b.
1
Peter 5:5-The proud get resisted, but the humble get the grace
c.
Your
grace/your anointing can’t be any greater than your humility
1)
Your
grace/your anointing will be capped by your humility
2)
The
cap on your grace/anointing is your humility
2.
The
more you recognize your dependence on God, the more you’ll look to him and the
more you look to Him the greater grace you’ll have on your life
IV.
**Meekness and humility
are the two ingredients that will produce an ease on your life**
A. Jesus told us that there is an ease and a
lightness in being hooked to him
1.
Even
in the most difficult times of his life on Earth, there was an ease with Him-Jn8
2.
In
many churches it’s gospel to say, “it’s hard to live for Jesus.”
B. Jesus is calling people
who are tired and for whom life has become hard
1.
Life
gets hard and you get tired when you start doing stuff God didn’t say
2.
Trying
to work stuff up in your own effort will make you tired and heavy laden
a.
29-You’re
trying to work stuff up, but I’m not so learn of me and watch how I do it
3.
You
never see Jesus trying to work anything up in his own effort-Jn11,Mark4
a.
He’s
never trying to work anything up or do anything in himself of his own power; he
is just seeing and doing and hearing and saying
b.
You
can see Jesus after each miracle thinking; that was easy
4.
If
life has become hard learn these two things, meekness and humility and they
will add an ease to your life
C. ***Humility looks to Him
and meekness yields to him; Humility is I have to see and hear first or I can
do nothing, meekness is doing it and these characteristics added and ease to
his life; Jesus lived an unforced life***
1.
Jesus
simply heard and spoke and saw and did and then the Father would work through
and great things would happen; these are the unforced rhythms of grace
2.
When
stuff is hard and you’re tired and laboring, there’s a lack of grace
3.
There’s
enough grace to make even the hardest stuff easy
4.
When
you begin to live a life where you so dependent on God that you look to Him
before you do are say anything and then do what He says, you will tap His grace
in such a way that you’ll experience a supernatural ease, in the midst of the
hardest situations