The Meek and Their Prospects
By Rufus A. Underwood
The Rewards of a Teachable Spirit—The Man Who Walked with God and Did Not Die—Sin to Meet Its Doom This is the third of Elder Underwood’s articles on the fundamentals of the gospel as taught by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. Each article is complete in itself, and may profitably be read and will be clearly understood whether you have seen the previous ones or not. Editor. IN previous issues of this paper, we have considered briefly the first two necessary steps in Christian conversion, as set forth in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. The second step is a godly sorrow for sin, which works repentance, a repentance that brings forgiveness of sin and the imputing of Christ’s righteousness to all who surrender their lives to God and pledge loyalty to the government of heaven. These two primary steps introduce the follower of Christ into the kingdom-school of Christian growth. To be born is well. But the child who ceases to grow after birth, soon must die. The real test of discipleship, or the fellowship of “walking with God,” follows the new birth in its natural order of advancement. We will notice the third step in the process of growth. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5:5. In the last days, the people of God are admonished by the prophet Zephaniah in these words to seek meekness: “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zeph. 2:1-3. We must look to the inspired definition to learn the meaning of meekness, in order to appreciate our Lord’s instruction. In Ps. 18:35 we find this statement: “Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.” (Margin, “Meekness hath multiplied me.”) Again we read, in Ps. 25:9, “The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way.” These scriptures show that meekness is the quality of being teachable, and that greatness in its true sense belongs only to those who are willing to be taught. This grace is the essential qualification to admit any person into the school of Christ; for without a teachable mind, and a desire to be led into all truth, no person can long remain under the tutorship of Jesus Christ. This most-to-be-coveted of all graces is offered to all, but at the cost of the surrender of our own will, and placing our own hand in the hand of God, to be led as He wills. The Greatest of Adornments
The apostle Peter presents the grace of a teachable spirit as the greatest adornment that we can deck the human soul with, in these words: “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the277heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 1 Peter 3:3, 4. The secret of Moses’ power as a leader of Israel is found in his ambition to be taught by God. It is written of him, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Num. 12:3. Moses prayed, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” Ex. 33:15. This man, the meekest of earth, was honored by God above all other men, by being permitted to speak face to face with God. Deut. 34:10. He also was raised from the dead, and is set forth as a type of all those who are blessed by having a part in the first general resurrection of the dead. See Deut. 34:5, 6; Jude 9; Luke 9:29-31; Rev. 20:6. Enoch is a Bible character set forth as an example of humility and meekness. Because of his willingness to be taught, he is presented as a type, not of those who have fallen asleep in Christ, but of those who are translated at the second coming of Christ, without seeing death. Of him it is said: “And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him.” Gen. 5:23, 24. Very little is recorded of Enoch’s life. However, there is enough brought to view to give us the secret of his success, and why the Lord translated him without seeing death. He “walked with God” for three hundred years. The prophet asks this question: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Enoch had early learned the great truth which lies at the foundation of meekness; namely, that “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” The Lord had invited Enoch to walk with Him in sweet counsel. Christ said to His disciples, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” John 16:12. The Lord in substance said to Enoch: “If you will be teachable, and follow on to know My ways, I will give you precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, in correcting your ways, until you reach the perfect standard of My law, and then I will take you to Myself in glory.” Enoch’s answer to the Lord was, “I will walk in the light as You may reveal it to me.” See 1 John 1:7. He had learned what all Christians must learn, that “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4:18. While the Lord led Enoch on, sometimes amid trials and persecution, he ever accepted his daily experience as meted out to him by a loving God, who held him by the hand, to comfort, cheer, and sustain in the darkness as well as in the light. All these years, Enoch walked by faith, as the Lord pointed out the perfect way. After a life of three hundred years of labor, correction, and many tests, God could say of him: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Heb. 11:5. Reader, remember that the teachable will He guide in judgment, the meek will He teach His way. “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching.” John 7:17, A. R. V. They shall inherit the earth. See Revelation 21. In this promise, Christ has given the pledge that vice and hate shall not continue forever. The malaria of sin, that has robbed life of its sweetness, cannot always continue. Injustice, fraud, oppression, war, and the grave, cannot always mock man’s hopes. The whisperings of conscience are the premonitions of a great assize, when every wrong shall be righted, innocence vindicated, and virtue and righteousness exalted. “As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Num. 14:21. Then “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Reader, make this inheritance yours, by accepting the conditions upon which Christ offers it to you.