You may have seen the news item in a local newspaper not too long ago detailing that former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammed Ali is now traveling about to promote a new cologne that bears his name. "It's the greatest," he said "I predict that I'll sell more cologne than anyone else in the world. Even Calvin Klein will back up." I simply do not believe that Muhammed Ali has changed too much from the person he was when he was the heavyweight boxing champ of the world. He still has that assertive, self-confident, attitude which endeared him to his fans. It would be almost impossible to become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world and at the same time manifest the characteristics of the the first three beatitudes.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle (meek) for they shall inherit the earth."

The Greek word~ (prah­ooce') means humble, gentle, meek. In the King James Bible, "praus" is translated as "meek", and indeed, we have strong tradition to overcome in adopting any different word to apply to the third beatitude. That is why I titled my message, "Blessed are the

MEEK," instead of "Blessed are the Gentle." The Greek word can be translated "meek" or "gentle". The Amplified New Testament puts verse five of Mattew 5 this way: "Blessed -- happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous (that is, in that state in which the born­again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, the patient, the long-suffering} for they shall inherit the earth!"

As we have looked at these beatitudes thus far, we can see that the Christian man is totally

would never consider "meekness" a virtue, although possibly "gentleness might be regarded as a nice way of thinking about someone. We refer to some very hard and calloused men of the world as "gentlemen," but this is a euphemistic way of speaking -an inoffensive and salving manner of address to men who may be · anything but gentle! We do the same thing with the opposite sex when we address them as ladies when they may be very unladylike, both in their speech and way of life.

WHAT DOES CHRIST MEAN BY MEEK?

For some people, the idea of meekness or gentleness is equated with cowardice. But we can quickly dismiss that meaning because we know Abraham, Moses, David , Stephen and Paul and Christ Himself were meek and yet they were brave and courageous. Christ said of Himself that he was meek and lowly in heart, yet He was the LORD OF HOSTS and the one who faced death fearlessly and courageously.

unlike the man of the world. I believe Christ means by this This sermon of Christ's depicts word, frrst of all, a happy or blessed person as submissiveness. His will was almost the exact opposite of submissive to the Father's will. what the world would consider He always desired to do, and did the successful, assertive, setf- do, what His Father willed. 'This confident man. The contrast is is the opposite of the spirit of our so striking that we might even modem world that says, "do your say that our Lord's description own thing," or, ''I'd rather do it of the happy man is in direct my way!" The meek man is not opposition to the world's Ereoccupied with self, with what description. The world will my will' is, 'my image' is, but never consider a person happy has a higher dedication to what and blessed who hits spiritual God wills. That is why we know bottom so as to feel "poor in that this characteristic is spiritual spirit" and gets to the place and identifies the born-again where he mourns about his sins, man. It is not a natural, self-regrets his sin and passes induced, or self-produced judgment upon himself to the characteristic. It is spiritually extent that he mourns about his brought about by the Holy Spirit offenses against God and his indwelling a person and for that fellow man. And, certainly he reason, what Christ is teaching

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here is not something that you or I can try to pe apart from supernatural enabling. This is why Christ says a person is BLESSED who has this spiritual quality in his nature. Can you ima~ine Muhammed Ali, in and of himself, suddenly changing the way he has been all his life and becoming like the man we see in these beatitudes? In arid' of himself, he cannot become what he is not God alone can change him. The leopard cannot change . his spots, nor can the Ethiopian change his skin. God must give a person a new heart to love him and submit to His will before he can manifest any of these beatitude characteristics.

The second sense in which we can understand this spirtual quality is that a person is humble. He is lowly in heart. He now has an evaluation of himself that is true to God's Word. The man who has become poor in spirit is also able to see himslf as a sinner who has in himself nothing good at all. Paul had been the proud Pharisee, but when God enabled him to see himself as a God­resisting, Christ-hating, covetous and self-serving man who· was (before his conversion) willing to ·· see a saint of God - Stephen -stoned to death with no pity at all, he was humbled! He referred to himself as the chief of sinners.

Thirdly, I believe we can think of meekness as that patient waitin~ on the Lord in all sorts of circumstances. The proud man is by nature an impatient man: That Adamic nature that we were all · oorh with does notlike to be kept waiting. We are born with a "hurry-up" attitude. In order to teach them patience, God lets his people go through Ion~ delays. A meek and quiet spint is able to wait on the Lord.

Forthly, I believe the meek man is also an obedient man. This trait goes along with being

submissive. I want to obey God's will because I know His will is always best for me. And, W,s obedience m.anifests itself in a persOn's life by causing him or her to have a willingness to be a law-abiding person.

Lastly, I believe by meekness, Christ also meant be modest A meek .person is nota pretentious

. or shoWy person. This person · does not blow his oWn hom or proclaim how great he is. Newsweek Magazine had an article in its September 28, 1989 issue entitled "The Gospel . . According to Donald Trump." In case you are from Mars and do not recognize the name, Donald Trump is the New York billionaire who built Trump Towers; was instrumental m developing the now defunct United States Football League and who said that if he decided to run for president, "I'd win.!" Donald Trtrmp is a symbol of out ·present-day world. Newsweek . writers Bill Powell and Peter McKillop describe him as a symbol of an era. "He is the man with the Midas fist For better or worse, in·the 1980's it is okay to be fiercely ambitious, staggeringly rich and utterly at ease in bragging about it He is the latest of a breed unique to the decade: the businessmail who · becomes larger than life, like a star athlete or popular actor . . Trump has made it into that rarefied group as fast as anyone, and he revels in his high celebrity status as few have before him. "There is no one my age ( 4l) who has accomplished more," he boasts openly." ·

Modesty is shunned by this . boastful billionaire. He is being quite honest This is the way many people feel, but who would not be quite so bold as to brag as he does. The meek man would not brag, no matter what his achievements. In fact, the meek man would attribute it all to

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God's blessing and take no credit for his accomplishments, And,­thls would not be a put-on pose · ~. for the world The meek, gentle, ·'' humble and lowly man that Christ is speaking of in Matthew 5:5 is . the way he is by the Grace of God, God has produced those . characteristics in that man as the :· indwelling Holy Spirit conforms'·. him into a more Christ-like image.

CONVERSION RESULTS IN THE CHRISTIAN · ' MAN. . . . .

The marles of the spiritual man are seen only in the Christian. · . You do not fmd these qualities in · any other person - evert though · ' he may be a religious person. We· read of Moses that he was the ·· most humple (meekest) man on the face of the earth. (N urn. · . · 12:3). I notice in the New American Standard Bible that the word that is translated as "meek" : in the King James Version is '. : · always translated as 'humble, ·. . . gentle or afflicted.' We are urged ~ to seek after these marks; we are to see them as very desirable. The

· prophet Zephaniah speaks of the·. day oftheLord.as a day of ' wrath, a day of ttouble and . distress, a day of darkness and · gloominess, a day of clouds and: thick darkness, aday of the · ·· trumpet and alarm against the · · · fenced cities and against all high towers. He says, " ... And I will . bring distress · upon men, that · . they shall walk like blind men; .. because they have sinned agains~ the Lord; neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to delivd·'. them in the day of the Lord's ·

. wrath." Zephaniah says that before that day comeS men should " ... seek ye the Lord, all · ye meek of the earth, which have wrought IIis judgment; seek · righteousness, seek meekne&S: it· may be ye shall be hid in the day · of the Lord's anger." (Zeph. 1:15• 18;2:3) '

The Lord Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30). This is how we are converted. We must come to him and acknowledge our great need of him as a Saviour from sin. It is after you have come to him that you will begin to show forth the spiritual marks of the blessed souls in the beatitudes.

The meek shall inherit the earth. This comes about because the Christian is the most contented man of all. Paul says that even if we have nothing, we yet possess all things. We are the Lord's people. Therefore, we have all the things we shall ever need, jn this world or in the world to come. The saints are going to be involved in the world to come as co-inheritors with Christ of all that God has made and reigns over. Paul says in I Corinthians 3; '' ... for all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."

So, the Christian has it AIL. He has it all because he has Jesus Christ as his Saviour and his Lord. We are so identified with Him that we begin to be like Him. We lose our love for the world and we begin to love Jesus Christ and grow into His likeness. We have that gentleness and humility, that submission and obedience to the Father that He has. Oh, to be like Him!! To begin to see these characteristics and marlcs in myself, and you in yourself, is to be supremely happy and supremely blessed.-

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon th children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6).

Since there is only one God and one teni.tory, no one else can claim jurisdiction apart from · For that reason, the LORD God, in the frrst commandment, places a general ban on all the false gods born in the vain imagination of fallen man. In the second commandment, a specific ban is placed on the actual manufacture of idols for worship and service. By implication, this also prohibits setting forth for worship and service the gods of ideology, philosphy, and false theology born in the minds of men who have not begun with God in their thinking but with themselves and their situations. Idolatry is eviden when man suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18) and follows the dictates of his

own word as opposed to the word of God.

GOD TRANSFERRED?

There is a significant application of the second conunandment in Exodus 20:22-23 immediately after the conclusion of the Decalogue: "And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Y e have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold." Here, the . proscription is a revelation of the futility of representing the unseen and transcendent God in any man­made form. Despite the emphasis given to this law, the Israelites violated it in the well known incident of the golden calf recounted in Exodus 32 when the sound of the voice of God speaking the Decalogue from heaven was still fresh in their memory.

Being created in the image of God, man worshipped the Creator submissively, willingly, and without question before the Fall. Since the Fall, man, in inescapable creaturehood, has continued to render worship; but apart from regeneration, it IS directed towards that which man believes can be ultimately comprehended, contained, and controlled by his own mind. The demand of the Israelites in

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