Meekness — Don McClure

The Beatitudes and the Joy of Knowing God

All right, hopefully you're already found your way to Matthew chapter 5. If you're not there turn to it. The attitudes are something I suggest to every Christian, I think it's wonderful to Memorize them and to study them and to meditate on them.

There are there the type of things to me that they never grow old. You'll always get new insights in them throughout your life. It's not one of those things that two and two is four and once you know it you've got it.

They're so deep to me. They're so profound. They're they're unsearchable in the sense of the extent that they Can reach into our heart and that the happiness that we even discover the first time through them It only continues to grow.

And a deeper joy that goes on all the way through our life. And of course as you recall that is what the beatitudes are all about. Oh how happy that's what the word blessed means this Inexpressible this profound deep joy the greatest joy in all the world.

That's what we're talking about here a joy that no one else could ever even begin to imagine. I don't care what they've achieved what they've got what they've acquired what position they have in the world that's been brought to them whether through fame or money or fortune or talent or Any acquisition any other relationship?

They've got God has saved the highest and the greatest joy for those that know him. That look at him as the greatest of all riches the greatest of all discoveries and when we are learning that ourselves and really being Coming to the realization as our lives go on and we find ourselves looking for happiness and other things in other places as Deceived as we so easily can be at times constantly having the Lord bring us back again and again though to this great joy and For the beatitudes are really is to me you go through them.

They're all when you put them together. You'll recall they equal happiness. That what is really occurring in the beatitudes from one end to the other is by the time somebody starts off and it says Oh happy of the poor in spirit and they who mourn and they who that are meek and then those that hunger and thirst after Righteousness and then the merciful and then the pure and hard and then the peacemaker as you're watching this What has actually occurred as we go through these you realize there's been a complete transference of life.

It's it's a complete transference of power of the throne. We're we're born sitting on the throne of our own heart and of our own life. But as we grow in the beatitudes this is the way that Jesus really becomes Lord of our life and through these wonderful processes revealed to us by Jesus here in this Sermon in the Mount and Here just to reflect for a moment.

Poverty of Spirit and Mourning Over Sin

He says oh how happy are the poor in spirit the Fundamental key there to somebody that is on the road to true happiness. It starts off in a sense first of all realizing that they have every reason not to be happy.

That they that everything that ought to have made them happy. That is the spiritual life the life with God the life with his love with his life with his power with with the life of Christ Within us filling us leading us guiding us that what has happened man was created to know all this but through sin We forfeited it all.

Every bit of it the wages of sin is death and man. There is he found himself utterly robbed. Poverty really is stricken spiritually his spiritual life was gone and And there we find ourselves With maybe regardless of what's going on within us physically or mentally or emotionally regardless of whatever else we can accomplish there until their spiritual life were poor and Jesus says just Discovering that just coming to the place, you know that you realize that's the real poverty many of us dream we I'm poor in in Talent or I'm poor in ability or I'm poor in relationships or I'm poor in money or I'm poor in this.

As long as we think that's where my poverty is, then we'll seek riches in those things but when I realized no the real poverty I have is in my own spirit and Then when we realize that it'll hit it'll start heading us into a right and wonderfully new direction.

That's gonna result in immense happiness. But then in the next step that's going to happen when somebody is poor in spirit. They're going to mourn. We looked at that last time and as you may recall right the word mourn there.

It means to lament. It means a person to bid. It means to bewail someone to grieve over them. I mean, it's more commonly used for the dead the word that Jesus used there. Oh, how happy are they that mourn is that there's somebody that is literally mourning over the death?

That it's too many. It also means to mourn over the death of a friend to weep and to be sorrowful. And Jesus saying there I'll tell you when somebody is poor in spirit and they begin to mourn over it.

They mourn as if someone has died at the death of a dear friend as a matter of fact the dearest friend we have ourself and You know, one of the things that we live in a day and age, you know, it's interesting what psychology I don't mean to bring that up again but I guess You have to unfortunately, but we live in a day and age where and I psychologists want to tell us.

Well, your problem is you don't love yourself enough and how can you love anybody else until you love yourself? Well, that sounds reasonable in a sense. But you got to realize as far as Jesus was concerned loving ourself has never ever been a problem.

Jesus said the problem is loving somebody else as you love yourself. Jesus looks at every human beings is believe me. You have no trouble loving yourself. The nearest dearest most precious person in the whole world is yourself.

I mean, who do you get up every day? Yourself. Who do you go in and spend all that time looking at in the mirror and all that money trying to make look nice to the rest of the world yourself. Who do we'd work at so hard to be so presentable and want everybody to love so much.

Ourself, that's what we want. We endure. We're we are Absolutely in love with ourselves. That's never been a problem for anybody. And the you know, that's why Jesus said if you could only love others as you love yourself.

But that's great tragedy though that most of us have is that the person that we love so much. The person that we're absolutely in love with none of the world seems to share that love. That's our problem they look at us and we do we think we're so wonderful, but nobody else agrees.

Heaven doesn't agree and most of the people the closer they get to us. They discover how unlovely we are and that's the great tragedy. That we love somebody so much that since it's so unlovely. But this is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about to a person there that's come to that reality and they realize that there's something been robbed from me the person I love so much has died and We sorrow it over it.

There's there's a we weep over over that death and when we do then is when Jesus said you're on the road to a great happiness a Tremendous joy, you're on the road to a full restoration of your lost identity.

There was sin sin when you don't love yourself and you can't find that the one that you love so much is an Entirely unlovely and is poor in spirit and you mourn over it. You're on the road to finding the tremendous and happiness and the great happiness but unfortunately a lot of times we try to find happiness or we try to find the solution to our problems and even as a Christian outside of really being poor in spirit and mourning over it.

Revival, Conversion, and Confusion About Spiritual Growth

I think one of the Tragedies somewhat of the the Jesus movement or the revival of the 60s and 70s that really swept much of the country. Affected a lot of places in the world. But it was something that it was an awesome movement those of you that were around and remember it you do masses of people were coming to Christ the fundamental theology of Conversion was pretty clear.

It was pretty commonly preached. You're a sinner. You need Christ. He died in the cross for you. Open your heart and receive him and he'll come in. He'll give you a new life and masses of people were responding to it.

There's just a tremendous hunger for God that the Spirit of God was giving but it's interesting though the message of Being saved was pretty clearly being preached in many ways and the response was tremendously Overwhelming in one sense but at the same time I Noticed as I look back on it that there's a lot of theologies or doctrines as to now how that new-born Christian grows.

How do they mature in Christ? And here's where there was a lot of opinions essentially on spiritual growth. There was a lot of movements and those of you around may remember things. Different theologies that promoted different things like the manifested sons of God.

Perhaps you remember them children of God and others that essentially there was a theology that taught of what we called the perfection of the Saints at the time and in the 60s and 70s when this was going on with the manifested sons of God it was there taken out of Romans 8 when the whole of creation waiteth and travaileth until now waiting for the Manifested sons of God for the children of God to come into their own.

But they took that theology and said there that God wants the church perfect a full manifestation of his children because after all Jesus is coming soon, but he can't come for a bride that isn't ready and so the theology was is we all got to get ready and We got to get pure and we've got to be holy and we've got to be perfect.

Because the perfection of the Saints Jesus after all he can't come for a dirty bride. You know, you're not coming here. The Holy God is not coming looking for a dirty woman, you know He wants a he wants a bride that's clean and pure and and with that sounded reasonable enough.

Therefore we got to get our lives together we've got to stop sinning and we've got to start getting proof, you know as perfect as we can and as soon as the church gets perfect Jesus can come and. And so a lot of people kind of bought into that.

Well, unfortunately though while this while they're instructing everybody on how to get pure and how to get clean and how to get holy it was Fundamentally required a tremendous amount of human effort of human sincerity of human consecration and human things there and unfortunately, there was a lot of poor theology and particularly with how do you deal with sin and If you view around you may recall that but it was something that sin was something there that Wouldn't you become a Christian?

The Christian’s Continuing Struggle With Sin

That's that's no small issue. I Never thought about being a sinner much until I became a Christian then I discovered I was a sinner after I became a Christian. Essentially, and then you got a fundamental problem.

You see I think when I actually became a Christian I thought well I'm gonna stop sinning now that I'm I'm saved. And be Christian and then it was quite a eye-opener when you realize you stopped you didn't stop you kept right on sinning.

On one hand there was one thing in part of my heart. I knew I loved God. I knew Christ was alive. I knew he died for me. I knew he'd risen. I knew he was real. I knew my sins were forgiven. There was that reality God's Holy Spirit had borne witness with my spirit that I was a child of God I was an heir of God.

I knew that I knew it not because man convinced me of it. God convinced me of it and yet right next to all this new life this new hunger for God this desire to walk with Jesus Christ right next to it.

There's this old nature that had always been there. I just never thought about it before. This sin nature that had always been there. It's still right there. And if anything now it was more real than ever not less real.

It was more real a Lot of things that I all would do and didn't care one way or another about and I'm a Christian and I'm thinking about it. I'm getting convicted by it. They didn't like it. You know, I used to be able to go down the road.

Somebody bother me you could yell at him. You could give him all sorts of gestures and you could cuss at him and feel all the better for it. You know and things and now I'm a Christian and now I'm going down the road doing the same thing still yelling and cussing and giving Gestures only now I feel bad about it.

You know, it's already been I'm thinking. It used to be fun. You know now it's it's it's not not coming off right anymore. All of a sudden there's somebody in the car saying what just stop doing that, you know, you must have said it.

Well, how are you supposed to get anywhere? If you don't get there this way, this is how you get places in the world. I don't have a donkey like you. I you know, I this is how we do it now and You know or something somehow another and how we could be, you know you play sports and of course you get all fired up and you get angry and you yell at each other and you Cuss or whatever else you do.

That's how you play sports. It's what it's all about. You're aggressive and you're nasty and you know and you tell a guy just before he's about to go out for a pass what you think Of his mother or something or whatever it is.

And then you become a Christian and then you try to think up different things to say about his mother that are a little nicer. But you mean the same thing. But now you feel bad about it and you wonder what in the world is going on here.

And you know, you'd walk around campus before I was a Christian. See a pretty girl. Think wow, it's a pretty girl or something like that. But the. And you walk around Christian. Yeah, you know after campus they're all around campus after you're a Christian and Wow, they're still pretty, you know or something in the you know, and only now I feel bad that they're pretty.

You know or whatever else it is and you're trying to struggle. What do I do with this? I think I don't know how to solve this thing. I Solved it a little bit. I actually transferred out to Cal Poly in Pomona.

We went to school there. It's an agricultural school if you don't know about that and it was a little little less problem there because the homecoming Queen was also state champion for bull riding and calf roping but the But Temptation was a little better when the homecoming Queen she came in over the hills at five o 'clock at night you let's see, which one is she but the But anyway.

But no matter what I did it just seemed like now I did the same things. I said the same internal things only now there's a battle going on. Now there's a struggle over the whole thing go to a fraternity party.

I used to think they were fun. And I'd go to a party and now they're no fun. I Tried to make them fun. It worked real hard at making them fun. Get around start chatting or didn't. I know we'll tell a joke or you'd tell the best joke.

Maybe a little crude maybe real crude. They'd laugh. I'd laugh. But inside me there's somebody says isn't funny. It is too funny. You know, no, it isn't funny. Come on, God, you've got to lighten up get a sense of humor.

You know here's something or you because you just you're going through a battle and you don't know how to solve it. You don't know what in the world to do with all of this stuff. And you find there's not not too long.

You'd have to be a Christian very long until you come to realize that a carnal Christian is about the most miserable person on the planet. Yeah, oftentimes far happier before you're a Christian than when you become one.

Because you still go on you still have this nature that you live fine with so you thought before you were saved. But now all of a sudden I mean doesn't work any longer. But tragically even at the time when I was a Christian, I would go to people I'd ask them.

Other Christians older Christians or something getting, you know, I'd get involved in ministry and I get involved in sharing. I love sharing. I love sharing the Lord. I love leading people to Christ. But still no matter what I did is as much as I could do all of this stuff.

I still had this nature. They can still you know. Read the Bible and love the Bible and talk to people about the Lord and share, you know on campus. But the same time while all of this is going on there's this inner life that is just sitting there almost taunting you almost mocking you as a human being as a Christian and You're there dealing with all this can internal kind of condemning crud or something there that goes on.

Thinking it's just gonna finally one day get tired and drop off and it doesn't. And you wonder well, what do you do with it? I? Remember one time I got up enough courage to talk to some older Christians.

I thought that more mature that I could tell him this is the battle that's going on within me with my heart of my thoughts my anger my lust or my frustrations or my hostilities. And as I finally kind of poured all this out I had told you told this to somebody and they looked at me and they said, you know, we need to pray for you.

And they I'll never forget. They told me you're under the pile. That's what they told me I was under the pile and they need to pray for me. Somehow or another that didn't do it, you know, whatever it was and in this time, you know, you got to get the victory.

But I'll never forget quote-unquote. I was under the pile and. And I found myself there wondering what in the world that was. You know sort of a thing there to be under the pile and then I found out as time went on it was kind of a catch-all Christian phrase at the time that Basically, they should have said hey live with it.

I got the same problem. I don't do it and don't know what to do about it either. So I'll pray for you and. But nothing will probably happen because that's not for me either but the but then I just learned to be quiet and work on the wonderful Christian of Activity and art of hypocrisy.

Well, you just kind of covered up and as if it didn't there and if you aren't struggling with it, it's not real I got pretty good at it. I suppose I think we all Learned that I Remember one time literally telling this fella.

You know that what do you mean under the pile? I get out from under it for time. But then it finds me again. And I'm back under this pile and I said I got this sneaky suspicion. I am the pile, you know sort of a thing there and and I don't know what in the world to do about it and.

Rejecting Quick Fixes for Sin

But. But but there's all these different ways that people deal with things under in the 70s. One of the things that happened with the perfection of the Saints when they told everybody to go get perfect and they weren't doing it.

It didn't wasn't working the next thing that kind of happened back then is it kind of got followed up with the whole the big doctrine of Christians being demon-possessed. Well, it's the reason you got this trouble with your anger is you got the demon of anger.

And so all the angry people, you know that you just got to get the demon of anger cast out or if you know. You had the demon of lust. You just got to get the demon of lust capped out or the demon of nicotine.

There is the you know, then demon of alcohol demon of drugs. One time with I heard of the chocolate demon, you know, I'm serious. My wife wanted that one cast in her actually Dark chocolate, but the Specifically but but sometimes I mean with all these just simple ways that here you got a problem.

You just cast it out. You know sort of a thing and but need meantime just coming to the realization that these are sin and they're wrong. Few years back. I remember when we were going through a move. Happen to come out and some guys that were helping us move there from a moving company.

One of my sons is talking to him and evidently the fella just a gal had just walked by and he'd made some real clear Remarks about what he thought of this girl and my son was telling him. He says by the way, that's lust and that's wrong.

And he says what do you mean? That's wrong. And so my son came to me said dad Where's it say in the Bible that if a man looks at a woman with lust after and I told him sermon about where it Was and he went in and got his Bible and came out and next day I know he and this fella they got the Bible open and he's reading it to him.

He said if a man looks at a woman with lust after in his heart, you know. He's committed adultery and this fella's reading and he's going. Oh, no. No that can't be there. And he's he was the most unhappy guy you'd ever heard.

He's reading over and over. That's no and he looked there and he says but this is one of my favorite pastimes. He says I love lusting. He's there. He's just quite honest. He obviously wasn't, you know.

Fully grown Christian where you'd learn to say. Oh, no, I don't do that. But the I don't have any problem but the. But the answer for it isn't casting it out. The answer isn't hiding it the answer isn't waiting for it to go away.

The answer is mourning over it. The answer is the same answer that Jesus had over sin. He mourned over it. He wept over it. He died and When something happens within me, I don't believe we're ever free of these things until something grieves us so much that we find ourself Wanting to die and then when we realize that the issue isn't that you did having you know.

We physically needed to die. And one time years ago, and I don't recommend this I've never done it again, but I did it one day. The woman called and wanted and she said she was going to commit suicide.

And I said, oh and she's there was kind of a last-ditch effort and Considering it and that's where they're at and they were gonna do it, but made one last call see if there's any hope and So as she went on and Talked about her life.

I said, you know something. It's not often I do this, but I agree with you and I said I recommend suicide in this case. But I said I have a couple questions to ask you before you rush off and do it and she said what is that?

Desperate now she's more desperate than ever. She's but the. But I said is your heart beating? Okay. Yeah blood flowing. Yeah body works. Yeah, so nothing really wrong with your body. No, it's just the person that lives inside then.

Yes, I guess so. Well, then there's no reason to kill the body. You just got to find out who is it in there that's doing all this stuff and kill them. And you see this is precisely the battle. This is precisely the issue.

I was just hoping I could get through the conversation enough before she pulled the trigger and fortunately I did on that time. But the but the thing is is that when we realize oftentimes I want to die I just want to die.

Well, that is so often our Spiritually when we realize that's what's got to happen there's got to come a place to where there is is a true death when we find there within our heart and Sometimes on but until we mourn over it until we grieve.

Many people they live with their lust until finally some embarrassing thing happens. They get caught with pornography or they get caught in some affair something happens where finally it breaks the heart.

Finally they find God has got to die. It's destroying everything that's precious to me or it's their anger that they just lose it and a family finally says we can't take you. Any longer or they lose relationship after relationship or job after job or one?

Aspect of their nature whatever the addiction may be whatever the problem and but when finally We mourn and we grieve. Over it is the day that then the Lord's is now we're ready. You know the thing that so often we have the greatest trouble learning in the Christian life is that victory in the Christian life?

It isn't by effort. It isn't my promise. This is my trying isn't by crying. It's by dying. It's by being able to spiritually put our head on the chopping block and say God this area of my life. It's got to die.

It's got to be over. I can't stand it. I know you can't stand it. You've been speaking to me about it for years. I've hidden it for years covered it for years denied it for years. But now it's embarrassing me as a human being before you.

Doesn't have to go to full exposure doesn't have to go to where ruins and necessarily anything else in our life. It's just got to come to the place where it ruins us. Where we cry out within us and when finally that day happens then the next one where we're in tonight.

Meekness as the Fruit of Death to Self

About to close but the but it's but this is these these are like falling to me, you know off. You know ladder or something and you just go down one step and the rest you'll just keep going. But there when he says oh how happy of the meek.

What the essentially is happening here that a person there who is poor in spirit and they mourn over it. It has this wonderful way of where it produces within them a meekness. It produces within them a gentleness a brokenness there it happens within them there it is something to wear.

Within their heart or within their life now, they stand before God knowing they deserve nothing but condemnation. They stand before God in their guilt. They stand before God in their hopelessness and standing before God that way instead of now with their list of demands or God you owe Me or God.

I want this or God. I want really anything. Now they're looking there and they cry out for mercy and say God, please don't give me what I've got coming and please don't give me what ought to be mine and.

Then when the Lord comes and he loves them and he forgives them and they understand his atonement. They understand his mercy. They become somebody there that becomes this tremendously meek person. They become somebody there that within their heart or within their life.

They can't believe how good God is to them. They can't believe how merciful he is how kind he is how loving he is how accepting he is. Nobody else would ever accept me knowing what I know and what you know.

And yet you knowing it you still love me knowing these struggles knowing this nature. Of course, he knows it. He knows it so well deeply. But the wonderful thing is that when we find ourselves there, you know in in meekness before God gentleness and Jesus said a happy man is a meek man whether it be all that's happening is that meekness is just simply being before man.

What? I am before God now. I Realized before God, you know, I haven't got what I deserve. And then if anybody else will still love me and be my friend. Anybody else will share their heart of their life with me.

I'm as amazed as as I am before God. I'm amazed at God's goodness. And meekness is a fruit of being poor in spirit. It's a response to mourning over it and then you realize you aren't dead. You aren't killed.

You aren't done. God has only been Letting the part that ought to die cutting out the spiritual cancer. That's all he's been ever wanting to do never destroy our life. He's been wanting to to give us life.

But when we realize there God forgive me and God cleanse me and God help me. It's interesting the Bible tells us about Moses that he was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.

Moses of all people look at this fella. And when the Bible he tells me that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth I would almost personally think he'd be just the opposite. I Think if ever there would be a proud man, it'd be Moses.

I Think if ever there was a guy that you'd come along to that in you know. In one interview and they had a big head did probably you'd think it'd be Moses after all the man literally ruled the course of nature for 40 years.

This guy opened up River got water out of rocks. You know manna from heaven pillar of fire by night a cloud by day over them. Destroyed enemies raised up as you know as his rod and armies fell. Literally and whatever this man did and whatever he seemingly wanted to do.

Stood before God received the Ten Commandments came down. He opened the earth people got sucked into the thing. I mean this guy is something for 40 years. You know, but the thing is is the Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth.

It's quite astounding, isn't it? How would that happen? Well, when you go back and you trace his life you realize Moses, of course, somebody once said about Moses. He spent the first 40 years of his life becoming somebody.

Spend the next 40 years of his life becoming nobody and then the last 40 years of his life. God was everybody through him. I Suppose if Moses actually had done what he did at 40. He would have been the most proud man without question Moses there exceedingly fair educating all the wisdom and the knowledge of the Egyptians mighty and word indeed son of the daughter of Pharaoh if he had 40 years old.

When it came into his heart that God wanted he used him to set the children of Israel free if he'd gone out and opened the river. You know it, you know. And they'd all walk through and Moses would have done anything at all and you'd you interview him on the other side of the river.

And say Moses that was something if there's CNN and all of them there over there on the other side. Whoa. How did you do that? Well, I Don't know. I am exceedingly fair. Being educated all the wisdom and knowledge Egyptians probably played into it.

Being mighty and word indeed has never held me back much either. Being son of the daughter of Pharaoh and in line to become Pharaoh. I was always poised for greatness. Who knows which one of my attributes was really responsible?

You know, I mean he would I imagine at that point but then God took him in there. He spent 40 years. Finally, he finds himself not before men and before himself and his own image of himself and his pride or his arrogance.

But God broke all that stuff out of it. He mourned and he grieved he's before God an empty broken man at 80 years old. God says now let's go do it and Moses said I can't and they won't listen to me. I'm not eloquent.

I you know, I they won't believe me and now all of it was God. Everything was gone. He was nothing but there as he stood before God and the life of God and the power of God and God's mercy and God's grace and he Took him and he sent him out there and he sent him before He goes before Pharaoh throws the rod down it became a serpent brings the plagues upon the you know the earth Opens the river.

I imagine at 80 years old if you'd asked Moses, how did you do that? He'd have probably looked at you and I said, you know, I have the slightest idea. I'm the faintest idea. I was scared like everybody else.

I had to stick in my hand. God said stretch it out. So I stretch it out and whoa it open. I couldn't believe it either. Was that something or what? I didn't do it. I just it wasn't like I went there. You know or something.

He just I he just told me what to do. And I just learned to do what I was told. I just do what i'm told just under orders. I love him and he's forgiven me and he's made me his own. He's called me to himself.

I can't believe that now he even wants to use my life and I just give it to him. Pour in spirit and mourned over it and he still accepted me anyway in spite of me not because of me now I go out. And I stretch it out.

I don't know how to open and then when that's something. If you ever figure out how I did it, let me know try it again. You know who knows what he but he would a meekest man on the face of the earth. You see somebody there that has been before god like this.

It'll always produce meekness. Always. Man who's truly before god the great fruit of it. I remember years ago. First time I've only met him a couple times but first time I had the opportunity to meet billy graham.

I was a relatively new christian and he actually was speaking in pasadena something to a group of pastors. And I my brother got me a ticket in to be able to go hear him. It was the audience was just filled with leaders and pastors.

And I went in to hear him. He led me to christ and his crusade. And so I just wanted to hear him so bad. So I got in I heard him and then after it's all over. We're walking down the street my brother and I and next thing, you know, charles fuller is walking there.

And so we start talking to charles fuller and As we're talking, you know, yeah, he asked me a little about me and I told him well I got saved to billy graham's crusade. He says well, would you like to meet him?

I said yeah, he says well, come on i'm having lunch with him so he takes us down a room we come in and here's you know, this Good size room maybe 50 by 50 but over on the other side. There's just a couple table set and for lunch and and over there.

There's billy and a bunch of you know, spiritual giants. You know all standing around. Talking and and we walk in there and as soon as we got in there somebody needed charles fuller for something. He says i'll be right back and he left us.

And we're standing there over here and about 40 feet over there. They're talking and then every couple minutes though billy would look over we were staring at him then we'd look away like i'm not looking.