JESUS said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” This promise is similar to the inspired declaration of Paul, “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” So, first, it is the meek man who inherits the earth, for he is the earth’s conqueror. In the Puritan times, there was an eminent and godly minister, named Mr. Deering, who has left some writings that are still valuable. While sitting at table one day, a graceless fellow insulted him by throwing a glass of beer in his face. The good man simply took his handkerchief, wiped his face, and went on eating his dinner. The man provoked him a second time by doing the same thing, and he even did it a third time with many oaths and blasphemy. Mr. Deering made no reply, but simply wiped his face; and on the third occasion, the man came, and fell at his feet, and said that the spectacle of his Christian meekness, and the look of tender, pitying love that Mr. Deering had cast upon him, had quite subdued him. So the good man was the conqueror of the bad one. No Alexander was ever greater than the man who could bear such insults like that. And holy Mr. Dodd, when he spoke to a man who was swearing in the street, received a blow in the mouth that knocked out two of his teeth. The holy man wiped the blood from his face, and said to his assailant, “You may knock out all my teeth if you will permit me just to speak to you so that your soul may be saved;” and the man, was won by this Christian forbearance. It is wonderful what rough natures will yield before gentle natures. After all, it is not the strong who conquer, but the weak. There has been a long enmity, as you know, between the wolves and the sheep; and the sheep have never taken to fighting, yet they have won the victory, and there are more sheep than wolves in the world today. In our own country, the wolves are all dead, but the sheep have multiplied by tens of thousands. Nothing is mightier than meekness, and it is the meek who inherit the earth in that sense.
They inherit the earth in another sense, namely, that they enjoy what they have. Enjoyment of life does not consist in the possession of riches. There are many rich men who are utterly miserable, and there are many poor men who are equally miserable. You may have misery, or you may have happiness, according to your state of heart in any condition of life. The meek man is thankful, happy and contented, and it is contentment that makes life enjoyable. It is so at our common meals. Here comes a man home to his dinner; he bows his head and says, “For what we are about to receive, the Lord make us truly thankful”; and then opens his eves and grumbles, “What! cold mutton again!” His spirit is very different from that of the good old Christian who, when he reached home, found two herrings and two or three potatoes on the table, and he pronounced over them this blessing, “Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast ransacked both earth and sea to find us this entertainment.” His dinner was not so good as the other man’s, but he was content with it, and that made it better. “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth,” but in the meek and quiet spirit which thanks God for whatever He pleases to give.
Again the meek-spirited man inherits the earth in this sense—if there is anybody who is good anywhere near him, he is sure to see him. I have known persons join the church, and after they have been a little while in it, they have said, “There is no love there.” Now, when a brother says, “There is no love there,” I know that he has been looking in the glass, and that his own reflection has suggested his remark. Such persons cry out about the deceptions and hypocrisies in the professing church, and they have some cause for doing so; only it is a pity that they cannot also see the good people, the true saints, who are there. The Lord still has a people who love and fear Him, a people who will be His in the day when He makes up His jewels; and it is a pity if we are not able to see what God so much admires. If we are meek, we shall the more readily see the excellences of other people. That is a very beautiful passage, in the second part of The Pilgrim’s Progress, which tells that, when Christiana and Mercy had both been bathed in the bath, and clothed in the fine linen, white and clean, “they began to esteem each other better than themselves.”
With a gentle temper, and a quiet spirit, and grace to keep you so, you will be inheriting the earth under any circumstances. If trouble should come, you will bow to it, as the willow bows to the wind, and so escapes the injury that falls un sturdier trees. If there should come little vexations, you will not allow yourself to be vexed by them; but will say, “With a little patience, they ‘gill all pass away.” I think I never admired Archbishop Leighton more than when I read a certain incident that is recorded in his life. He lived in a small house in Scotland, and had only a man-servant beside himself in the house. John, the man-servant, was very forgetful; and, one morning, when he got up before his master, he thought he would like to have a day’s fishing, so he went off, and locked his master in. He fished until late in the evening, forgot all about his master, and when he came back, what do you think the bishop said to him? He simply said, “John, if you go out for a day’s fishing another time, kindly leave me the key.” He had had a happy day of prayer and study all by himself. If it had been some of us, we should have been fuming and fretting, and getting up a nice lecture for John when he came back; and he richly deserved it; but I do not suppose it was worth while for the good man to put himself out about him. The incident is, I think, a good illustration of our text.
EXTRACTED FROM SPURGEON.