Blessed Are the Gentle_ Beatitudes (3)
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 5737 |
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July 28, 2019 |
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Senior Pastor Rev. Jaerock Lee
"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth."Matt. 5:5
The gentleness that God recognizes is not just being soft in character. It refers to having a broad heart that can accept many people. Now, what do we have to do in order to cultivate the gentleness acknowledged by God?
1. 3rd True Blessing: The Gentle
1) Virtuous Generosity to Accept Many People
He who is gentle can accept those who are very different from themselves; such a person wouldn't pass judgment with his evil in any matter. He understands others from their viewpoint. He serves them with humbleness and a heart soft as cotton.
Even for those who do evil, he wouldn't forsake them; he'd bear with them and help them until they change so that they could do better. His tone of speech wouldn't be loud but soft and gentle. He wouldn't say many meaningless things but only the words of truth that are necessary.
Also, even for those who hate and curse him, he wouldn't have hard feelings against them or get offended. When he receives advice or rebuke, he accepts them and improves himself. He wouldn't have any trouble with anyone but understands their shortcomings and accepts them so he can gain the heart of the many.
2) Cultivate Heart-field to make it Good Soil
In Matthew 13 Jesus likened the heart of men into 4 kinds of fields.
The roadside is hardened soil, so seeds can't sprout there. Those who have this heart can't have faith at all even if they hear God's word. They are stubborn and have closed minds, so they can't meet God. Even if they go to church, they are just churchgoers. The word doesn't take root in them, and thus their faith doesn't grow.
On the rocky field the seeds can sprout but can't grow well due to the rocks. Those who have this heart do not have assurance of faith even if they hear God's word. So, they fall in temptations. They're better than roadside, but their heart is not yet cultivated with the truth, so they can't put the word into practice.
The seeds can grow to some extent on the thorny field but can't bear the fruit due to the thorns. Those who have this heart have worries of the world and their own ideas and plans, so they can't experience God's power.
Seeds can grow well and bear abundant fruit in the good soil. Those who have this heart obey God's word and can harvest abundant fruit in all matters.
People have mixture of the aforementioned 4 types of fields in their heart. They might have a mixture or roadside with rocky field or good soil and rocky field. Therefore, the important thing is not what kind of heart they have right now but how diligently they are plowing their heart-field. Anyone can have a good soil if they cast away sins and evil.
3) Cast away Evil Praying with Faith
In order to plow the heart-field, above all, one must worship in spirit and truth so that they can understand the word of God. One should rejoice even in hardships, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all things while trying to cast away evil from the heart.
He has to ask for God's power through fervent prayers while trying to practice the Word. Then, he can receive God's grace and power and the help of the Holy Spirit to cast away sins. Even if we have good soil, if we don't sow the seeds nor take care of them, we won't have any harvest. Likewise, it is important to pray with faith until the end.
Faith is the substance of things not seen (Heb. 11:1), and thus, we can get a good harvest if we pray with faith in God continually. We might feel we've cast away evil at a certain point and then we find more evil in our heart later. However, if we don't give up until the end, we'll be able to cultivate a holy and gentle heart eventually.
2. Fleshly Gentleness and Spiritual Gentleness
He who is gentle in fleshly sense is generally quiet and mild in behavior, so he wouldn't want to hear any loud voices or conflicts. However, he might be indecisive even when he sees untruthful things or just keeps quiet seeing uncomfortable things.
He might keep on suffering inside and then explode when it goes beyond his limits. He wouldn't have the fervor to fulfill his duty completely, so he can't bear good fruit. Therefore, such a person can't be recognized by God as a gentle person.
On the contrary, he who has cultivated a spiritually gentle heart by casting away untruths can bear much fruit in revival and evangelism. Also, he can bear the spiritual fruits such as the fruit of light (Eph. 5:9), spiritual love (1 Cor. 13), and the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Because he is a man of spirit, he receives answers to his prayers very quickly.
Above all, he can be confident and strong within the truth. He teaches the truth strictly. When there are souls that commit grave sins before God, he can rebuke them with love to let them turn from their ways (Matt. 12:34, 23:13-35; Luke 11:42-44; John 2:14-16).
The gentleness in 1 Cor. 13 is the most basic gentleness needed to cultivate spiritual love, whereas the gentleness as in the nine fruits of the Spirit is to be gentle in all kinds of matters. Gentleness in the Beatitudes is to bring down blessings by bearing the fruit of gentleness and making it effective in his life. This is the highest level of gentleness.
3. Blessing for Those Who Are Spiritually Gentle
Matt. 5:5 says, "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." This means, as a righteous person, they'd inherit land in the kingdom of heaven and dwell there forever (Psa. 37:29).
What is the reason God gives land in heaven to those who are gentle? Psalm 37:11 says, "But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity." As said, those who are gentle have virtuous generosity and can accept many people.
Those who have spiritual gentleness can forgive other people's faults, understand them, and accept them. Thus, many people can find peace and rest in them. As one gains the heart of many people, it is through spiritual authority. As he receives great authority in heaven, he also gets land.
We can get social power through money or fame, but spiritual power in heaven can be gained by humbling ourselves and serving others (Matt. 18:3-4, 20:26-28).
When one has accepted many people in heart with spiritual gentleness, God gives him big piece of land where authority can be enjoyed forever.
Dear brothers and sisters, God is always looking for the gentle. It is to let them accept numerous souls to lead them to the truth, and to give them the inheritance of earth in heaven. May you quickly cultivate holiness of heart and become gentle so that you can inherit earth in the kingdom of heaven, I pray this in the name of the Lord.
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