SERIES: STOP DOING AND START GROWING
TITLE: MEEKNESS – SUBMITTING TO GOD
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:22-23
INTRO:
· Love (Agape – God’s love in us)…joy (In Jesus, despite circumstances)…peace (inner, outer, eternal)…longsuffering (patience) …Gentleness (kindness)…Goodness (doing good for others)…Faith (faithfulness)…
· Today, we come to Meekness, which has been defined as:
o Matthew Poole – Forbearance of passion, rash anger, and hastiness of spirit.
o Matthew Henry – Governing our passions and resentments, so as not to be easily provoked, and, when we are so, to be soon pacified.
· We could easily summarize meekness as having our power under control.
o Power=authority, emotions, passions, etc.
· In regards to studying meekness this week, I read this: "If all God's attributes were offered at auction, the last one to be sold would be meekness.”[1]
· Meekness is not an attribute that this society promotes. So, who do we look to? Jesus is our example.
o Matthew 11:29 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.
o The meekness of Jesus in seen in His willingness to empty Himself to the will of His Heavenly Father.
o He had the power to stop his trial, crucifixion, etc. But His meekness is heard in the words of His prayer in the Garden, “Not my will, but thine be done.”
· This is the pattern that we should follow.
o Exercising our power, or our God-given free-will, and yielding ourselves to God.
· We will study two ways to develop meekness in our lives as we yield to the Holy Spirit today:
I. WE DEVELOP MEEKNESS BY SUBMITTING TO GOD’S WILL
a. Meekness is not mildness and it is not weakness. Meekness means that you will do God’s will, that you are willing to yield your will to the will of God.[2]
b. Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
c. What does it mean to submit to God’s will?
d. One way to define “submission to God’s will” is the presenting of yourself to Him as a LIVING sacrifice.
e. A sacrifice was totally consumed on the altar.
i. We are to be totally consumed by Jesus Christ.
f. But notice the difference from this sacrifice and the OT sacrifices:
i. #1 - We are presenting ourselves – not forced…tied down, etc.
ii. #2 - Living sacrifice – we can get off at any time…daily choice to live for God.
g. All this speaks to the choice we have in giving everything we have over to God.
h. And because we are not giving ourselves freely over to God, we are more CONFORMED by the world than TRANSFORMED by the Word.
i. Meekness, in essence, is the choice to take our power, our might, our ability, and give it over completely to God.
j. Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
II. WE DEVELOP MEEKNESS BY SUBMITTING TO GOD’S WORD
a. James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
i. Def of Superfluity – abundance
ii. Speaks of excess of sin and an overflow of the filth of the world.
iii. The word ‘overflow’ does not mean that some wickedness is all right and the Christian should only be concerned about excess in wickedness. James’s point is that we are to get rid of remaining sin. [3]
iv. And we do this by submitting ourselves to the Word of God.
v. James says that we do this by receiving it.
vi. EX: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
1. This appears to be the oldest English proverb that is still in regular use today. It was recorded as early as 1175 in Old English Homilies.
2. Simply means that people will only do what they have a mind to do.[4]
b. God could have, in all of His sovereign power, forced you and me to worship Him and to receive His Word.
i. But He has created all of us and given to us free-will, so that we may CHOOSE to worship Him and receive His Word.
c. It is a choice that each of us have today – submit to the Word of God. How do we do this?
i. Recognize that God is the author: 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
ii. Recognize that God know best what is for us: Romans 8:28–29 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
iii. Recognize that God will teach us – Psalm 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.
CLOSE:
It is through reading and meditating on God’s Word that we learn what God’s will is for our life.
If we are not reading and meditating on our Bible, then we cannot expect to be living in the will of God.
[1] http://www.thebiblewayonline.com/Active/Life%20of%20Christ-Meek.html
[2] McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 46: Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Galatians) (electronic ed.). Thru the Bible commentary (105). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[3] Ellsworth, R. (2009). Opening up James (57–58). Leominster: Day One Publications.
[4] http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/you-can-lead-a-horse-to-water.html
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