Progressive Baptist Church's Website
THE BEATITUDES: Part 3
Lesson 5
by Lillian Bell
The following outline was based (in part) on the book, Every Day Light - Daily Inspirations, by Selwyn Hughes and Thomas Kinkade. The outline was prepared and used by Lillian H. Bell, in teaching a mission lesson at the Progressive Baptist Church on September 23, 2007.
"Blessed Are The Meek, For They Will Inherit The Earth. (Matthew 5:5)
A. Definitions of "meek."
1. Amplified Bible
(a) Mild, patient, long-suffering
(b) Secure, confident, trusting
2. Dictionary
(a) Humble, compliant, submissive
(b) Timid, shy, hesitant, unassuming
3. Root
(a) Yielding
(b) Surrender
B. Meekness - a spiritual quality
1. Those who will inherit the earth
(a) Yielded, submissive, compliant
(b) Not the result of natural temperament
(c) Know Christ and abide in Him
2. A quality of every Christian is meekness
(a) Produced by the Spirit of God
(1) King David
(2) The apostle Paul
(b) Indwelt by Christ ... The Holy Spirit
(1) Not a matter of genes
(2) A matter of grace
C. What meekness is not
1. Not a natural quality, but a spiritual quality
(a) All Christians should possess it
2. Meekness is not indolence
(a) Not an easy going type of attitude
(b) Not flabbiness- those that take life as it comes
(c) Not passivity,-- desire to obtain peace at any price
(d) Not niceness all the time
(e) Not Weakness
D. Meekness, an attitude of heart and mind
1. Meekness accepts the will of God completely
2. Meekness expresses assuredness
E. Meekness serves
1. A true view
(a) Our attitudes view toward ourselves
(b) Our attitudes view toward others
2. Trust God to work out any situation in his own time and in his own way.
F. Examples
1. Mental health
(a) Anxiety
(b) Hostility
(c) Frustration
2. Demandingness and over concern
(a) Having one's rights
(b) Disregard for the rights of others
G. To inherit the earth
1. Meaning of, "For they shall inherit the earth"
2. A universe status
3. Anger and hostility vs meek and quiet
4. Christlike fashion of the universe
5. "All things were created by Him (Christ), and for Him
(a) Humanity is finding out how to live
(b) People are discovering that there are some things which the universe will not approve
(c) There are some things which the universe will approve
6. The meek know they cannot twist reality or make it approve of what cannot be approved
7. The universe always has the last word
8. The Christian who adopts the attitudes of his Master finds the universe backing him in everything he does
"For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth...all things were created by Him and for Him." (Colossians 1: 16)
