Gentleness

the following message is made available by truth for life for more information visit us online at truthfortheworld.org we're going to read just a few verses from the end of James and Chapter three the third chapter of James our subject this evening is gentleness in the fruit of the Spirit and we read this with our focus there James chapter 3 and verse 13 who is wise and understanding among you by his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness or the gentleness of wisdom but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts do not boast and be false to the truth this is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly unspiritual demonic for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist there will be disorder and every vile practice but the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle open to reason full of mercy and good fruits impartial and sincere and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace amen father as we turn now to think about your word we pray that the things that we've sung concerning the great need we have for the holy spirit may be borne out in these moments so that while we hear the voice of a mere man that as we turn to the Bible that the Holy Spirit will so quicken us in our listening and in our speaking that we might receive your word as it is the very word of God for we pray in Christ's name Amen well we are getting to the end of our studies in the fruit of the Spirit we are here penultimately this evening with this matter of gentleness if you're unfamiliar with where you find this it's in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 23 there are only two elements of the fruit that are present in 23 the other seven are all there in 22 and so having dealt or been dealt with by faithfulness this morning now to gentleness writing on the fruit of the Spirit in 1839 a Dutch Reformed pastor by the name of Bethune observed quotes there may be no grace less prayed for or cultivated than gentleness there may be no grace less prayed for or cultivated than gentleness 177 years later here we are this evening and I think we would be forced to agree that his comment still stands I wonder how long it is since any of us actually knelt down and said Lord Jesus Christ produced in me the fruit of a gentle spirit it may be some time whether we as a church have actually gone to God and said Lord Jesus will you make amongst us such a spirit of gentleness that those who are most in need of your care may encounter it here one of the reasons that it is neglected is because it is under it is misunderstood it is as misunderstood as it is undervalued when people think of gentleness they often think that it means some kind of spinelessness or weakness and so particularly men who have been interested in muscles and being macho I do not find themselves immediately drawn to the idea of a gentle and a quiet spirit and indeed many females in contemporary society apparently are not very interested in it either the Greek word is protest that is the word that is most used it is translated meekness almost routinely in the authorized version and variously here in the ESV and the NIV and so on meekness or gentleness is essentially strength under control strength under control that Moses was a meek man that he was able to take on these characters and beat them down was an indication of his physical strength and prowess and yet he was referred to as meek if you had opened your Bible of Galatians 5 you would see that gentleness stands in direct contrast to the works of the flesh which Paul points out before he comes to the fruit works of the flesh which in cute which include enmity and strife rivalries dissensions and divisions and gentleness is particularly the counterpart of anger of anger it is not a temperament nor is it a personality it is with the rest of the fruit an outflow of the love of God the love which heads the list as we've seen each time and as I've studied it this week in preparation for tonight I've looked down two lines one I've realized that this gentleness involves a god word dimension in as much as it involves first of all submission to God submission to God in all of his word and in his works and then in its man word side a consideration of others Aristotle who was good at definitions defined meekness as the happy medium between excessive anger and excessive anger lessness a balance that we discover only perfectly in the Lord Jesus in fact in one sense in relationship to the totality of this orb of Christian godliness as well as in relationship to it in its individual aspects to think gentleness think Jesus think gentleness think Jesus James in the passage that we read James the brother of Jesus has urged his lead readers to conduct themselves in the meekness and gentleness of wisdom a wisdom which he goes on to say not only in is pure and peaceable and reasonable but it is also gentle now we have to acknowledge that this comes really out of left field when you think about the climate in which we're living we live in a culture where gentleness is arguably not a commonly admired quality that's why you see as we've said in making the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ attractive in a dark culture these characteristics are wonderful that's why Paul not only in Galatians but also in the rest of the epistles it's saying to his readers again and again make sure you're not wearing your old clothes make sure you have taken off the clothes that march are pre converted life and make sure that you're wearing the clothes that are provided by the grace of God and part of our clothing and we sang about it in the hymn that's why we chose it let lowliness or gentleness or humility become my inner clothing and so that which is then both inner and unidentifiable in an extensible way will eventually reveal itself especially to those who know it's best now as I said and have said on every occasion each of these studies could be a series of studies in their own I resist the temptation and I want us to follow the line in the time that we have along a progression that goes like this I want us first of all and briefly to look at three pictures then take a lesson from Paul and then we'll close with a spiritual MRI all right so first of all three pictures the first of these is in Isaiah chapter 40 if you like to turn to it you'll be able to identify it and that will allow you to find it later again we're not going to delay and expound all of these but here's the picture Isaiah 40 and verse 11 speak of God a picture of God that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus he will tend his flock like a shepherd he will gather the Lambs in his arms he will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young in verse 10 God is described in all of his sovereign power here in verse 11 the sovereign is also shepherd he tends his flock he has a general care of those who are his own he does so as a shepherd those who have particular needs the lambs he gathers in his arm he carries them in his bosom and he gently leads those that have young it's so wonderful and a compelling picture of the might the Majesty the untrammeled strength authority and sovereignty of God stooping down into our little lifes and dealing with us in this way gentle two pages forward into chapter 42 and the opening verses the servant of the Lord this is the first of four servant songs by Isaiah fulfilled again in Jesus behold my servant whom I uphold he says here is I want to introduce him to you he's my chosen one and whom my soul delights I will put my spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to the nation's and I at the end of the day God will recreate the world as he intended for it to be all will be righted all the wrongs will be put to - right and when this servant steps forward Isaiah prophesies you will notice that he's not a bully he doesn't cry aloud he doesn't lift up his voice he is not ostentatious he is tender so much so that a bruised Reed he will not break in common parlance he wouldn't hurt a fly and a faintly burning wick he won't put it out he won't say well that thing's useless let's get rid of it or in human terms she doesn't amount to much we can discard with her or there'll be no tune out of her pipe again we can throw that one out - no and when you fast-forward and find its quoted in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 12 which you can do now or later at your leisure but in Matthew chapter 12 where it is quoted in verse 15 or so Jesus withdrew from there and many followed him and He healed them all and he ordered them not to make him known and says Matthew this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah here he is he doesn't quarrel or cry aloud nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets he deals gently with the hurting those who are spiritually weak those who are of little faith the third picture is still in the prophets and that's in Zechariah you'll be familiar with it won't you zechariah 9:9 again a prophecy that we find fulfilled in matthew in matthew 21 where we read again of the servant of the lord rejoice greatly o daughter of Zion shout aloud o daughter of Jerusalem behold your king is coming - righteous and having salvation is he humble and mounted on a donkey what an amazing thing that's is that the king of the universe the creator of it all the Lord of glory as he steps down into time as he makes himself known he does so with such amazing tenderness and gentleness that's why we sang and at him last week was there ever kinder Shepherd half so gentle 1/2 so 1/2 so gentle 1/2 so sweet as the savior who would have us come and gather round his feet it's interesting isn't that in his self designation he refers to himself as gentle come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest and take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am gentle you're not going to come to somebody if you're afraid if you think they're going to send you away if they'll throw out the smoking flags if they'll dump the bruised Reed no he's gentle gentle with his disciples when he looks at them and sees that they're really tired when they've come back and reported on their travels and the mark 6 Jesus says them come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest for a while such gentleness 3 pictures that in the Old Testament are in black and white and when you move into the New Testament there you find them in resplendent color those are the pictures now learning from Paul learning from Paul the apostolic pattern follows the pattern of the Lord Jesus and we often say that after the resurrection of Jesus in terms of an apologetic in terms of a testimony to the truthfulness of Christianity probably the most compelling testimony and argument in defense of Christian truthfulness is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus anybody who reads that story realizes there's a dramatic change that we have to explain as having taken place in this man a radical change in him because he had been such a tyrant he was Luke tells us there at the execution of Stephen he was such a fearful figure that when actually he professed to be a follower of Jesus the followers of Jesus than one of anything to do with him they were afraid that he would even show up at their assemblies because he had been breathing out threatenings and slaughter or what in the world happened to him what in the world happened to him well he was transformed by the power of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in his life was to produce the fruit of the Spirit in his life so much so and these are just random you can amplify them yourself so much so that for example when he writes to the Thessalonians he's able to say to them quotes we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of our own children what you mean mr. threatening mr. slaughter mr. murderer yes he asked the Corinthians when he writes to them and he is concerned from that they would be under his directive in his discipline he says them what do you prefer this is 1st Corinthians 4 shall I come to you with a whip or in love and with a gentle spirit he knew what it was to be involved in the former situation but now his life has changed in the second letter to the Corinthians he says that he is entreating them by the meekness and the gentleness of Christ now when you read that and you will read it on your own I'm sure I wonder at least I wonder maybe you will wonder with me if it was not that he was just temperamentally so other than gentle you know I mean he obviously was able to do a pretty good job of hounding down these believers he wasn't a sort of milquetoast kind of character he was a well educated fellow he knew where he stood he had convictions about certain things and enough to make sure that he would drive these people underground if he could so I wonder if it is not simply this that his recurring emphasis and it is a recurring emphasis on gentleness that as he urges those who are under his care and those to whom he writes in relationship to this that it is a row finder tomb of the wonder of God's grace it is a reminder tomb of the fact that apart from the work of the Spirit of God he would know nothing about gentleness because he was the blasphemer the persecutor the insolent person who had been shown mercy so if you look in the epistles you will find that he says it again and again for example Philippians 4 remember he says rejoice in the Lord again I say rejoice what does he say next let your gentleness be known to everyone that's interested isn't it you'll rejoice in the Lord don't be anxious like your gentleness be known the Lord isn't here he writes to Titus as we've seen encouraging Titus to be a good pastor to the people in Crete and he says to him make sure that you remind them to be gentle he writes to Timothy in his pastoral role in 2 Timothy 2 and he says when the Lord's servant corrects his opponents he must do so with gentleness when he explains the nature of discipline within the church at the beginning of Galatians chapter 6 what does he say he says that you who are spiritual who exercise the role of discipline and the life of someone who has fallen by the way you should restore him in a spirit of gentleness so that the whole understanding of discipline exercised within a fellowship exercised on a one another basis is in recognition of the fact that the one to whom we ultimately go is the one who doesn't cry alone in the streets he's not a bully he's not Elston tatius he doesn't snuff us out he doesn't ditch us he gives us an opportunity again and again and again and again he responds to us with amazing gentleness therefore how then could I be the child of that King and operate in any other way it's not an option thirdly and finally a spiritual MRI I don't know much about MRIs and fight I've never had one I'm actually afraid of having one but that's a conversation for another evening I dunno because I'm told that it is an effective means of showing what's really going on inside it can reveal the absence of something that we were hoping to find there and it can reveal the presence of something that we don't want to see there I don't know about you but as I've gone down this list love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness and now gentleness there's been like a spiritual MRI showing up in my heart things that I hoped I wouldn't see and failing to show up things that I longed to see in 139th Psalm the psalmist begins by acknowledging that God knows all about him knows all of his activities knows all of his words and knows even all of his thoughts what is true of David is also true of us at the end of that son he then very bravely invites God to search him out at the level of his heart he says search me O God and know my heart try me and know my anxious thoughts put me down that tube do the MRI on me and see if there is anything in me that grieves you that makes you sad so let's take the test two parts in relationship to our submission to God in relationship to our consideration of others submission to God part one of the test do I have a teachable spirit a teachable spirit therefore put away all filthiness rights James rampant wickedness and Eve with gentleness the implanted word which is able to save your souls you're never going to benefit from the Bible he says if you come with a filthy mind if you come with an argumentative spirit you can sit for a thousand years and listen to the Bible taught and it will be as water on a duck's back it will be as rain on a tin roof that's why he says you see it is essential that the fruit of gentleness of humility of heart is revealed in the way in which we listen to the Word of God being taught also a repenting heart in submission to God gentleness sensitivity not only teachable to his word but repenting when confronted by the truth of his word none of us tonight is perfect all of us make mistakes we do bad things that we didn't want to do we fail to do good things that we should have done and we suffer if we fail to face up to these things if we try to simply ignore them or to hide them we will find at least this one that our fellowship with God is spoiled and to that our usefulness for God is diminished the loss of abiding fellowship with God and usefulness in the service of God may be traced to an unrepentant heart that's why Luther said repentance is a daily activity so sensitive to the teaching of the word of God repentant as the word of God comes to convict us and then thirdly that we would be marked by a trusting faith a trusting faith you see is very easy to talk about submission to God when everything is going well that's why I think today we've been singing about when we go in when the what was we were saying in this morning when the sun shining down on me was that this morning was that this evening this evening it shows you how quickly time passes doesn't it but so is one thing when the sun is shining down on me but the sun is not always shining down on as it was this morning that we sang when the trials come and difficulties come and so on a trusting heart because you see gentleness is not mainly developed in tranquility gentleness is developed in trials and difficulty so the very things that I don't want to have in my life are the very things that in my life will make me the fool or person that God wants me to be I don't want to be sick I don't want to be disappointed I don't want my heart to be broken I don't want any of these things but God is sovereign in his dealings he knows what he's doing and he is expressly committed to conforming his children to the image of his only beloved son to make us in short order like Jesus in gentleness as in everything else that's why I always quote the thing and I never go and look for it and so every time I say the same thing I can never remember who it was I think it is JM Barrie the author that the Berkeley quotes in one of his commentaries where somebody asked JM Barrie where his mother got her lovely tender gentle eyes her lovely sympathetic gentle countenance and JM Barrie said she got that when my other brother died in infancy that it was that which soul martyr general booth of the Salvation Army had cataract surgery which went badly which was tough because he had already lost one eye so he was blind in one eye and the cataract surgery failed it fell to his son to tell the general the results of the surgery his son's name was Bramwell given the task of telling his dad booths first response was to say does this mean I shall never see your face again then after a moment he added calmly very calmly God must know best and then after a pause Bramwell I have done what I could for God and his people with my eyes now I shall do what I can for God and the people without my eyes MRI listening to God's Word with a repentant heart a teachable spirit and a trusting faith part two of the test in consideration of others and I'm just going to frame this in the questions that I wrote down for myself if you find them painful I'm absolutely thrilled I don't see I don't see why I should have to find them as uncomfortable as I have found them so here we are this is the MRI here's the test you're sliding down the tube we're talking about a gentleness in relationship to God who is there and out there but what about in relationship to one another what about a gentle spirit in consideration of the needs and concerns of others here here are the questions some of them are put in the plural just to make myself feel a little better the first one are we considerate generous and fair in our dealings with others or are we rigid exacting and demanding am I prepared to be gentle and sensitive to the pressures and insecurities that are the portion of my friends and my families and my colleagues do I show consideration to the mail carrier the checkout clerk the bank teller and everyone else do we tell ourselves we are standing on principle when in fact we are merely insisting on our own opinions are we becoming increasingly compassionate genial reasonable and kind or disturbingly crusty rigid unyielding and inflexible jerry bridges whom i quoted this morning recalls a friend who used to sign off his letters in this way keep tough and tender and bridges observes tough on ourselves and tender with others the absence of a gentle spirit reverses it and does so with relative ease isn't it wonderful that this is the fruit of the spirit that this is not a lecture this evening this is an opening up of the Bible this is not me saying now look your life is like a Christmas tree an artificial Christmas tree and here's another thing for you to go out and try and stick on it in the hope that you will be a much better person to live with and so on know we started come Holy Spirit dwell here among us we need your power your saving grace shows yourself do something you're the only one that can make us like this you we can make a church like this you can you want to you will and in our own personal life's the same way are you impatient I'm impatient I'm just impatient generally I I want inste grow whatever that is I see it every so often it is manufactured here in Ohio for those of you who are there were agricultural folks is in Caledonia Ohio I looked it up to see I thought I'd invested they invented the name but insta grow now I want all to grow now tonight tomorrow tomorrow I'll be so joyful so peaceful so gentle nobody will be able to stand me I'll be so radiant and amazing people will be coming over and taking their vacation just to be near me make me like this now will you but that just shows how impatient I actually am and part of the fruit is patience trusting God asking him fill me with the Holy Spirit make me fruitful by your power at work in us do it for us as individuals do it for us as a church please we ask you we ask you Father we do ask you we come to you this night in the awareness of your amazing tender love towards us in Jesus confess to you how easy it is for us to champion the wrong side of this equation to bolster a spirit of animosity or of pride or whatever it might be under the disguise of our concern for orthodoxy or whatever it might be Lord we're not going to give up on any of that we know your word is clear this is not about fudging doctrinal issues this is about the forming of Christian character in a heart in a life and a family in a marriage in a home in a church so we earnestly pray that you will make your word come alive in us and that we might be the better for it for we humbly pray in Jesus name Amen this message was brought to you from truth for life where the learning is for living to learn more about truth for life with Alistair beg visit us online at truth for

Channel: Alistair Begg

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Keywords: Alistair Begg, Character of God, Christian Living, Fruit of the Spirit, Meekness, Sanctification

Id: 3uwSM6wWwZw

Length: 32min 51sec (1971 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 30 2016