Although we should be very happy to hear that we are in the kingdom of the heavens today, in the very next verse the Lord Jesus told us to mourn. Verse 4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It does not seem logical to say that those who mourn are blessed and happy. However, if we pray for a certain period of time, with a spirit filled with the King and the kingdom, we shall begin to mourn over the negative situation of today. The entire situation of the world is negative in relation to God’s economy. Satan, sin, self, darkness, and worldliness predominate among all people on earth. God’s glory is insulted, Christ is rejected, the Holy Spirit is frustrated, the church is desolated, self is corrupted, and the whole world is evil. Hence, God wants us to mourn over such a situation. Because the kingdom is in us, we are subdued, controlled, and ruled by the indwelling King. If, while we are under this rule, we look at the environment and the situation of today’s world, we shall sigh and mourn.
This mourning, however, is a blessing, for the Lord said that those who mourn “shall be comforted.” If we mourn according to God and His economy, we shall be comforted by being rewarded with the kingdom of the heavens. We shall see God’s heavenly ruling over all the negative situation. Many times I have had the experience of mourning and being comforted. Do not be disappointed. We must mourn, yet we are filled with hope. The King is coming, the enemy will be defeated, and the earth will be regained by Christ. Sooner or later, we shall be comforted. Is it not a comfort to see so many in the Lord’s recovery seeking the Lord and His kingdom? What a comfort this is to me! If you have never experienced mourning in your spirit, then you cannot realize how sweet and comforting it is to see so many who care only for the Lord’s kingdom. For this reason, we love all the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery. All the churches with all the seeking saints are a real comfort to every mourning spirit.
The sequence in these verses is very significant. Firstly we are poor in spirit to receive the King with the kingdom and to contain Him. Then we mourn over the pitiful situation and are comforted. Following this, we have a word about the meek. Verse 5 says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Some translators have said that the Greek word rendered “earth” should be “land.” But whether we translate this as earth or land, it refers to the coming subdued world. Today the earth is a worldly kingdom under the rule of Satan. But the day is coming when the Lord, the King, will regain this world. Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.” The world spoken of in Revelation 11:15 is the earth in verse 5.
In Matthew 5:5 the Lord says that the meek will inherit the earth. Those who are poor in spirit in verse 3 and who mourn in verse 4 are now the meek in verse 5. Many Christians do not understand what it means to be meek. It does not mean simply to be gentle, humble, and submissive. To be meek means not to resist the world’s opposition, but to suffer it willingly. To be meek means not to fight or to resist. If we are meek, willing to suffer the world’s opposition in this age, we shall inherit the earth in the coming age, as revealed in Hebrews 2:5-8 and Luke 19:17, 19.
Today, those who fight are those who gain the land. If you do not fight, you will not receive any territory. This is the reason there are so many wars. Nations wage war with one another to gain more territory for themselves. The human way is to obtain the land by fighting for it, but the way of the kingdom of the heavens is to gain it by being meek. There is no need to fight, but there is the need to be meek. Some of the young people have been shouting slogans about taking the earth. The way to take the earth is not by slogans, shouting, or fighting. The way is through meekness. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Are you a fighting one or a meek one? If you would inherit the earth, you must be meek. When the Lord Jesus comes back, He will regain the earth. However, when He was arrested, tried, and crucified at Golgotha, He was meek. As He was nailed to the cross, He did not resist. In every way He was meek, meek to the very end. Eventually, the earth will be gained not by the fighting ones, but by the meek ones. Several weeks ago an opposer told one of our brothers, “We are going to stop you!” Time will tell who will be stopped. The fighting ones will be stopped, but the meek ones will not be stopped. Rather, they will inherit the earth. Satan is always fighting, but the Lord Jesus never fights. Instead, He is meek. In this we see that the economy of God is opposite to the economy of man. If you want to gain the earth, you should be meek. If you have not received any territory, this may indicate that you are not yet meek enough. Young people, you must be meek on the campuses. I realize that this is a heavenly language. But the Lord Jesus did not say, “Blessed are those who fight, for they shall gain the earth. The fighters shall take the earth!” Do not say, “Let’s take the earth by fighting for it.” No, you must say instead, “Let’s take the earth by being meek.” You may think that meekness is related to material things. However, if you consider the matter carefully, you will see that meekness is not related to outward material things. Rather, it is related to something inward, to what we are in our very being.