WELCOME TO 160th Ave CHURCH OF CHRIST WE ARE GLAD YOU’RE HERE Scripture reading: Matt. 11:28-30

Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-12 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. A number of the beatitudes that don’t quite translate into todays day and age as far as understanding the language really well. While they are simple single phrased blessings a few of them need clarification. Such as the poor in spirit. We don’t talk like that today. Unless used in reference to the beatitude you typically aren’t going to hear that phrase used even in spiritual contexts. Or blessed are those who mourn. When we talk about that we understand that we are talking about someone whose a cry baby- we are talking about someone who is distraught over their sin. That’s what we mean. But an initial glance can really catch you off guard at first. Same thing goes for meekness. Not a term we use every day. And so it is helpful to look at alternative definitions. Blessed are the meek (ESV, Meekness is crucial to being a kingdom citizen!!! Blessed are the meek!

Matt. 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (NKJV, ESV, NET, NIV) "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” (NASB) “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” (NLT) “not that meekness is weakness but power controlled” Those definitions do help with providing a helpful understanding of what we are talking about, but perhaps our best understanding comes from seeing it in action. So for this morning I’d like to take some time looking at the meekest man on the earth, and consider some stories that demonstrate well the Kingdom citizen quality.

The Meekest Man on the Earth Of course when I talk about the meekest man on the earth, the man I’m referring to is Moses. And I want to take a quick moment just to consider How cool Is that. Seriously, how cool is that? It is one thing for a friend to call another friend the nicest guy on the planet, etc. But to hear that expressed by God is something completely different. God does that from time to time. At the time Job lived, the statement was made regarding him “there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” incredible!!! And here in Numb. 12:3 it is said of Moses- “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth” That this is how he is described by God. Can you imagine God saying that we were the most anything on earth. Would God ever say something like that about us? They are the most kind of all the earth. This person is the most hospitable of all the earth.

The Meekness of Moses Numbers 12 Miriam and Aaron usurp the leadership of Moses Numbers 14:1-19 Result of the bad report Not the first time this happened (Exod. 32:9- 14) Moses, having authority, doesn’t defend himself. Allows God to respond for him. The Lord defends the priority of Moses. “I speak to him face to face” Moses intercedes for Miriam. Can you imagine. Moses has been approached by God at the burning bush. He’s gone down to Egypt, approached Pharaoh, Instead of defending himself and seeking vengeance he tries to restore and becomes an intermediary for the one who has wronged him. Appoint another leader- can you imagine the kind of slap in the face this is. This isn’t just a couple of rival family members this is the whole people that are grumbling and betraying God and Moses. (let’s be Can you imagine the incredible honor this would be to have your own nation. This is the promise that Moses had. He would therefore be in line with Moses. He has the opportunity not of a lifetime but one of the greatest offers in history!!! So of course Moses say, thanks it’s about time, I would love that, finally my hard work has paid off. I’m so sick of these people What can I do to help you get rid of these disgusting blaspheming infidels, smite these awful traitors. How easy it would have been to say, thank you Lord sounds great. Do it!!! I’m so sick of these people, It’s about time. Moses- intercession: is not on behalf of himself. It is on behalf of God. He could have said something like, Lord please don’t do this, after all I’ve worked and all I’ve done for these people. It would just feel like such a waste to let it all go now, can you just do me this one favor after all I’ve done for you. Haven’t I been a good servant. The whole time his focus is not on self- his focus is on serving others and doing what Not the only time it happens.--- what impresses me soo much about Moses’ meekness is not only the extreme to which he displays it but also the consistency. This happens time and time again, by his family by the whole congregation over and over and he never breaks. He maintains the humility!!!

Moses: The Meekest Man on Earth Allows God to act rather than act on our own. Romans 12:18-20 Doesn’t seek personal advantage or vengeance. More concerned about others than his own promotion. “The first shall be last and the last first” (Matt. 20:16) “the greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 23:11) Prays for those who have offended him “love your enemies pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44) Leaves self out of the picture. Concerns himself with God and Others. Qualities of Christ “call 12 legions of angels” (Matt. 26:53) “Forgive them they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34) Moses shows us to the extreme that when we are wronged we can still think about others we can still have a heart that thinks of them and God first and allows God to take action not us. No matter what situation I am in I don’t ever think I will have a multitude of literally millions of people ready to kill me after I had led them for over a year. And thinks of self last or really not at all. Doesn’t take it personally. A true love for the Lost Shows us that even when we are wronged I would add that Moses is consistent. He doesn’t just do this one time. Does it consistently and constantly Christ is literally suffering and being put to death and in this moment his concern is for others. Praying that they be forgiven and not held accountable for their cruel actions. Christ is our first and foremost example but sometimes we can look at him and forget and think it not possible that he was a man just like us with our own struggles. We can forget that and just think well of course he was that way he was god in the flesh. These other examples then are soo helpful in allowing us to be shown again that this is possible and that the average man someone who was just like you and me could do that.

Turning Cons into Pros: Insecure to humble Prideful (in self) to confident (in Christ) Critical to analytical Angry to passionate Sometimes I wonder if Moses’ insecurity at the start of his call stemmed from a temperament that later led him to being meek and humble. It is amazing to me how people have a variety of different personalities and temperaments that all have pros and cons to them. They all have different tendencies that can be used for good or used to sin. It is so important that we use such qualities and traits for God and for good. Perhaps before we became a Christian we acted a certain way. We can use the core strengths to change those sinful qualities Using traits for good.

WELCOME TO 160th Ave CHURCH OF CHRIST WE ARE GLAD YOU’RE HERE