Meek & Lowly
I. We have to be cautious that
we not see Jesus in an they unbalanced way
A.
Although Jesus was the same yesterday, today,
and forever he was not one way all the time or one dimensional; he had/has many
layers, many dimensions-Heb13:8
B.
Jesus just like the Father was very good and
at the same time very severe-Rom11:22
(Col1:15(AMP)-[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible
representation of the invisible])
1.
The goodness of Jesus and the severity of
Jesus
a.
John8, Mark11:15-The
woman caught in adultery saw his mercy/grace/goodness and yet he went to the
temple and turned over tables and threw people out
b.
Matt8:10,14:31-Jesus
marveled at his faith and he saw Jesus’ goodness and yet He rebuked Peter and
said, “O ye of little faith, why did you doubt”
c.
Matthew11:1-11-John
attacked Jesus and Jesus exalted him and yet he rebuked whole cities (Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernum)
d.
John 3:17, Matthew17:17-Jesus
wasn’t sent to condemn the world, but correction is not condemnation and he called
his disciples faithless
e.
John4:16,Luke8:54-The
woman at the well had five husbands, lied to Jesus about it and was living with
a man and Jesus was very soft with her and yet he went into Jairus’ house and threw
everybody out of the house
2.
Jesus was not some one dimensional religious
robot and neither should we be
a.
John 12:1-7-Jesus gave alms to the poor and
cared for the poor, yet with this expensive perfume he wasn’t thinking about
the poor
b.
Luke 10:4-Jesus preached love and kindness
and yet when he sent his disciples out he told them not to salute people on
their way
C.
When you see Jesus as one dimensional then
you become that way and you are unbalanced and he was not
1.
God reveals Himself to people in certain ways
and then they get the idea that He was one dimensional and that way all the
time (EX: Fire and brimstone people vs. Acceptance)
2.
God is balanced that means He has just the
right amount of everything-Ps119:137,75
II. 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
III. Jesus said I am meek (Meek
does not mean timid, shy, bashful, or weak)
A.
Meek
means mild of temper
1. The attitude of one who is friendly, warm, & kind-Mk10:17-Look Of love, Jn20:11-Mary
a.
Gentle-Not hard, harsh, sharp, and bitter
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.
The opposite of one who is 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 temperament;
they know how to control 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)
1) Rather than fly into rage and throw a temper tantrum, the meek able to
remain silent and keep your emotions and temper under control
b.
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
a.
He’s not weak he’s controlled
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
IV. 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 with lifting yourself up and
over estimating yourself, your abilities; you believe something about yourself
that is not true; you’re deceived
b.
Prov 6:17-AMP-A proud look [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
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
a.
A person who is “trying to be humble” is just
deflecting credit in front of people that when they are alone they really think
they deserve
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
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
C.
Learn the unforced rhythms of 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
V. 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
A.
He’s calling out to people who are trying to
work stuff up in their own effort and doing that will make you tired b/c you’re
trying to carry God’s responsibility and you can’t
1. This is the resting side of life; I see and I do---I hear and I say
2. 29-You’re trying to work stuff up, but I’m not so learn of me and watch
how I do it
B.
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
1. Does this look like a man who’s working something up in his own
effort-Jn11,Lk8,Mt14
2. You can see Jesus after each miracle thinking; that was easy
3. 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