The Sermon on the Mount (6)

If we by grace learn how patient the Lord is with us and that He does not deal with us according to our iniquities, we should be humbled and also be meek in our attitude toward others. This does not mean that we may be tolerant toward that which God has forbidden in His holy law. We should be firm even when we may be despised by the world and by false religion. However, the saying is true, “Be a lion when it concerns the truth and God’s honor, but be a lamb when it concerns yourself.” It is a blessing if the Lord gives true humility and meekness by the working of the Holy Spirit.

A precious promise

There are still precious promises for those who are meek and humble. The Lord Jesus has given them the promise that they shall inherit the earth. We read in Psalm 37:11, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” This earth was the place that the Lord had given to mankind. It was in Paradise where man lived in perfect peace, for he had communion with God, and Adam and Eve were full of happiness in His service. By our own willful disobedience and rebellion and by listening to the liar, we lost all our possessions. God could justly have left us in our misery, but it pleased Him to visit fallen people and to speak to them of a wonderful promise. It would be the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head, give full restitution to the heavenly Judge, and open a way to be restored into communion with our Maker. The Lord works by His Spirit and awakens the sinner. He will give him also the longing to return to God and to be brought back into His favour. Those awakened sinners will become poor in spirit and will mourn, but they also will become meek. For them it will be a wonder that they still have a place on earth. They know they do not deserve this anymore. For them there is this promise: “They shall inherit the earth.”

Christ is the Repairer of the breaches, and by His sacrifice He restores to them the lost possessions. For Him there was no place on earth anymore when He was lifted up on the cross at Calvary. He was cast out and was hanging under a closed heaven. When He came on earth, there was no place for Him in the inn in Bethlehem. He had to flee to Egypt and was in exile, but on Golgotha there was no place for Him anymore on earth or in heaven. That is why poor sinners receive an inheritance. It is true, they often must experience that there is no abiding place of rest here on earth. They are hated and persecuted, as also in our days those who confess Christ’s name are put into prisons and camps, are tortured, and are murdered in many places on earth. We read in Hebrews 11:37&38, “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” However, in spite of all this they will inherit the earth.

What their inheritance is

Although these meek ones do not always have the greatest part of the earth, they have the best right to it. One of our church fathers says “inherit” denotes the saints’ title to the earth, which is theirs because they are members of Christ. All things are His possessions. He is the Prince of the kings of the earth. The gold and the silver are His and the cattle on a thousand hills. In Him the meek, His members, hold the right to the earth. We often hear human rights mentioned. However, although this is true in the sense that we may not take away the property of someone else and may not oppress the needy, who have a right to be protected, we should realize that in Adam’s fall we lost all our rights before God. What a wonder it becomes to those who learn by grace that the Lord still gives them a place on earth. It is a wonder to them that they have the right of a child to daily bread and that in Christ they are, though perhaps poor on earth, rich in Him.

The second reason why we can say that a true Christian inherits the earth is because he inherits the blessing of the earth. An ungodly person has the earth but not as a fruit of the favour of God. He has it as a dog has poisoned bread, and it does him more hurt than good. Perhaps we may envy those who have an abundance of riches, but let us realize that without God’s favour they actually have nothing. For the meek, however, it is so different. The curse is taken out of the earth for them. The poet says in Psalm 37:11, “The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” There is no peace for the wicked even if they have an abundance of cattle and riches, but what the meek possess they may enjoy in serenity and quietness. It has happened that a child of God, when eating a very simple meal or drinking something, tasted therein the love and care of the Lord so that it tasted better than the most delicious meal on the king’s table.

When we say that the meek shall inherit the earth, this does not mean that that is all they inherit. They shall also inherit heaven. The meek have the earth only for their house as travelers here below, but they have heaven for their mansion house. They will inherit salvation. No eye has seen, no ear has heard what the Lord has laid up for them that fear Him. No, the Lord does not give them a heaven on earth, for we read in Acts 14:22b, “And that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Poor Lazarus did not seem to have much. As a beggar he was lying at the rich man’s gate. However, in Christ he possessed everything, and he was content to wait for the good things to come. The rich man had those good things here on earth but not in God’s favour. What a difference there is between the meek, the true citizens of God’s kingdom, and those who do not fear Him.

A stranger on earth

Their journey here is a pilgrimage. This is not their fatherland. The poet says in Psalm 119:19, “I am a stranger in the earth: hide not Thy commandments from me.” A child of God has to be in this world, but he may not be of this world. When you travel through a strange country, you may see many beautiful things and visit interesting places, but the language spoken is not yours and neither are the customs. So it should be with a true citizen of God’s kingdom. Abram was one of them. He said in Genesis 23:4a, “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you.” David said in his prayer (1 Chronicles 29:15), “For we are strangers before Thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” It is to be feared that in our days many feel too much at home here, and it is sometimes hard to distinguish them from the world. Christ, who had no place on earth, went to heaven to prepare a place for those who become strangers on earth. There will be a new heaven and a new earth for them, and then those despised and persecuted pilgrims will experience what we read in Revelation 5:10, “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” The Lord will say to them (Matthew 25:34), “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The God of salvation will be their inheritance, and there will be blessed peace with Him.

(To be continued)

Rev. C. Vogelaar, Clifton, NJ

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