True and False Theories Contrasted
11
were the recipients of His great blessings. Humility and meekness
characterized His life. And it was because of His lowly walk and
unassuming manners, which were in such marked contrast to their
own, that the Pharisees would not accept Him.
Meekness a Fruit of the Spirit
The most precious fruit of sanctification is the grace of meekness.
When this grace presides in the soul, the disposition is molded by its
influence. There is a continual waiting upon God and a submission
of the will to His. The understanding grasps every divine truth, and
[15]
the will bows to every divine precept, without doubting or murmuring.
True meekness softens and subdues the heart and gives the mind a
fitness for the engrafted word. It brings the thoughts into obedience
to Jesus Christ. It opens the heart to the word of God, as Lydia’s was
opened. It places us with Mary, as learners at the feet of Jesus. “The
meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way”
(
Psalm 25:9
).
The language of the meek is never that of boasting. Like the child
Samuel, they pray, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth” (
1 Samuel
3:9
). When Joshua was placed in the highest position of honor, as
commander of Israel, he bade defiance to all the enemies of God. His
heart was filled with noble thoughts of his great mission. Yet upon the
intimation of a message from Heaven he placed himself in the position
of a little child to be directed. “What saith my Lord unto his servant?”
(
Joshua 5:14
), was his response. The first words of Paul after Christ
was revealed to him were, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (
Acts
9:6
).
Meekness in the school of Christ is one of the marked fruits of
the Spirit. It is a grace wrought by the Holy Spirit as a sanctifier,
and enables its possessor at all times to control a rash and impetuous
temper. When the grace of meekness is cherished by those who are
naturally sour or hasty in disposition, they will forth the most earnest
efforts to subdue their unhappy temper. Every day they will gain self-
control, until that which is unlovely and unlike Jesus is conquered.
They become assimilated to the Divine Pattern, until they can obey the
[16]
inspired injunction, “Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”
(
James 1:19
).