text:
Find Savings with Sun River Terrace IL Foreclosure Homes for Sale
Sun River Terrace IL real estate foreclosure homes are an excellent source for cheap foreclosure real estate since Sun River Terrace IL foreclosed homes are sold for below market prices. Here you'll find the best resource for Sun River Terrace IL foreclosures available. Our foreclosure list will help you discover hundreds of foreclosure homes for sale in Sun River Terrace, IL. Investments in foreclosed homes in Sun River Terrace, IL pay off in the long term, so whether you're buying Sun River Terrace bank foreclosures for sale or foreclosed houses for sale from government lenders, your properties will continue to earn value. Buying discount Sun River Terrace foreclosure homes for sale also creates big profit margins for future Sun River Terrace foreclosure house sales. Learn all about Sun River Terrace real estate foreclosure investing and repossessed homes and search our home foreclosure listings today!


text:
Let's turn to Matthew chapter 5, tonight we're going back to our series on true happiness...true happiness, the only way to true happiness. Jesus laid it out in the first sermon recorded of Jesus in the New Testament, Matthew chapter 5, often called the Sermon on the Mount because He went up on the mountain, it says in verse 1, sat down and opened His mouth and began to teach.
As Jesus began to teach that day on the mountain, He gave a series of statements which are known as the Beatitudes. They pronounce blessing. They are familiar to all of us who know the Word of God and we're looking at them one at a time.
Tonight we are drawn to verse 5, the third of the Beatitudes."B"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Some translations say gentle, some say humble, meek is probably the best way to translate that. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
This statement by Jesus like the first two, Blessed are the poor in spirit and Blessed are those who mourn, was, to put it mildly, shocking to the Jewish audience that day on the hillside where He spoke, equally as shocking as the other Beatitudes because it like them called for a heart attitude completely foreign to their thinking. They had already heard Him say that a broken spirit and a mourning heart were necessary to enter Messiah's kingdom, rather than self-righteousness and spiritual pride. And then Jesus further jolts their thinking by saying, "Blessed are the meek." This is just absolutely foreign to everything those Jewish people would have understood that day.
Let me tell you why. A little over a half a century before Jesus was born, in the year 63 B.C., Pompeii had annexed Palestine for Rome...thus bringing to an end Jewish independence. You remember that independence was gained at great expense in the Maccabean revolution. But that independence which the Jews so greatly treasured, that freedom to be whoever they wanted to be as their own nation was lost when they fell into the power of Rome. From that time on Palestine belonged to the Romans. It was ruled partly through the Herodian kings who were subject to Caesar's authority and partly by Roman procurators, or governors. The combination of the Herodians and the Romans was distasteful to the Jews who didn't like the idea of anyone ruling over them, particularly pagan Gentiles.
At the same time, virtually all other lands with which the New Testament is concerned had also been made subject to Rome. The Roman Empire had reached its zenith in the time of Christ. The Great Roman Empire stretched all the way across Europe into Asia, as far east as Balbek, east of Beirut, east of Damascus. The Jews were then servants and slaves to the Romans in the truest sense.
That was a fact, by the way, they didn't like to acknowledge and in Romans...in John 8:33 they said to Jesus, "We are Abraham's offspring and have never yet been enslaved to anyone." Wishful thinking. In fact, at the very moment they said that they were the slaves of Rome.
So, the whole story of the life of Jesus, the background of it falls into a framework of a nation in bondage to Rome. A shadow of Caesar, frankly, is cast over all the pages of the New Testament. At the same time, the Jews had long been waiting for the kingdom of God to come. They were waiting for their Messiah, the Messiah was going to come, they believed, and He would establish the kingdom on earth, He would set up the promised kingdom of which the prophets had spoken. The Old Testament is very clear on this. There was to be a kingdom and they anticipated it greatly.
Their anticipation was heightened all the more as Roman oppression escalated. The tighter the Romans held control over them, the more they longed for the kingdom of God to come. And then the most wonderful thing, the most hopeful thing happened, John the Baptist came...John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets and announced that the King had come.
And then the King came, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what was His message? He said this, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." When Jesus first arrived there was tremendous excitement. You remember all of...all of Israel was going out to hear about the Messiah from John the Baptist. And when Jesus came, Jesus came saying, as Mark 1:15 puts it, "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand." And they thought surely this is it. This is the time of the Messiah and the Messiah is going to come and He's going to overthrow Rome and He's going to set up the independent Jewish state and He's going to bring us the glories of the kingdom that have been promised through all the centuries by the prophets.
There were some Jews often called Zealots who believed that the Messiah would do this politically, militarily. He would simply come in and sweep out the Roman power structure and replace it. He would come and bring a coup, it would be a revolution of sorts in which He would conquer militarily and establish His own political kingdom, by sheer might overpowering Rome. The Zealots were the militarists, they were the pragmatists.
Another very prominent New Testament group were the Pharisees who really do dominate the scene in the New Testament and they believed that the Messiah would come and overthrow whoever was controlling Israel. In this case it would have been the Romans, but He would do it not so much militarily as miraculously. They were more theologians than pragmatists. They were more interested in the fulfilling of the power of God on a miraculous level than simply on a military level. And they were waiting for Messiah to set up His kingdom by some incredible wave of miracles...some miraculous act by which He would decimate the Roman power.
But in any case, they were all waiting for some catastrophic intervention of God that would be triggered by the arrival of Messiah. Daniel had said that He would come in clouds and glory and He would establish His kingdom. Even the disciples got caught up in all of this. In Acts chapter 1 verse 6 they said, "Is this the time You're going to bring the kingdom?" That had been their anticipation all along. In fact, they had joined up with Jesus assuming that they would therefore participate at a high level in His kingdom. And then Jesus said things that just devastated even them when He said, "My kingdom is not of this world."
When Jesus came He came into all of this anticipation. The hope of a political or miraculous conquering of Rome, a restoration of the land back to the people of Israel, all the glories of the promised prophecies fulfilled and it was only a pipedream at that time, as Israel lay in the grip of the grim power of Rome and Caesar was not about to give them their independence. Yet this hope burned in the heart of the Jews and it burned so hotly that it created an environment for many false messiahs to rise and fall, to come and go. They were so anxious for a Messiah to come and lead them out of Roman bondage that there were a rash of false messiahs who were trying to cash in on the dream. Occasionally the Zealots also called Zechareii(?), having to do with the fact that they carried swords, would strike Rome again and again like terrorists. Since they didn't have bombs in those days, they would find an appropriate official and they would stab him in the darkness. All that did was bring Roman reprisals. It accomplished absolutely nothing. And finally in 70 A.D. the Romans had enough of all of this and they moved in 70 A.D. and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and slaughtered a million, one hundred thousand Jews.
From 132 to 135 in the next century, under Emperor Hadrian, for all intents and purposes they put the whole nation to death. In 70 A.D. it was Jerusalem. But sixty to seventy years later the rest of the nation was slaughtered. Some writers tell us that Hadrian destroyed at least 985 towns and villages in the land of Palestine.
God's plan was not anything like they thought. Jesus disappointed the Zealots cause He wouldn't build a revolutionary force. He disappointed the Pharisees because they knew He had miraculous power, they saw it all the time. They saw Him raise the dead. They saw Him heal the sick. They saw Him give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and voices to the dumb. They saw Him create food out of His own hands. They knew He had miracle power but He would not use it to destroy Rome. He wouldn't do those cataclysmic miracles that they wanted Him to do. And, in fact, it irked them no end that He spent more time condemning the Jews than He did the Romans by far. In fact, in all the record of His preaching, He had very little, if anything, to say about the Romans and a whole lot to say about the Jews. They finally were so irked by Jesus that their irritation turned to bitterness, their bitterness turned to hatred and they cried to be rid of Him. He was a tremendous disappointment. Such a massive disappointment because they knew He had spiritual power, they knew He had miracle power and He wasn't using it to fulfill their agenda. That disappointment turned to hatred. And eventually because of it they executed Him. And once He was executed He became even more intolerable. Jewish nationalism could never tolerate a crucified Messiah. That's why Paul in Romans tells us the crucifying of Christ made Him to the Jews a stumbling block.
But they should have known the direction wasn't going to go the way they thought and they should have known it from the very beginning, right here in verse 5 everything really got launched. Their disappointment really started here when He said, "Blessed are the meek." That's not what they wanted to hear. What they wanted to hear was, "Blessed are the powerful." You want to be blessed, you want to inherit the kingdom, it takes power, it takes might, it takes pride. They really were very ignorant of the servant character of the Messiah. They were ignorant of the meaning of Isaiah 40 to 66. Jesus pointed specifically to Isaiah 61 when He preached, as recorded by Luke. And He gave them some pretty clear indications of the nature of His kingdom when He said things like this, opening the book of Isaiah, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are down trodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
He was going to come to the poor and He was going to come to the imprisoned and He was going to come to the down trodden. And He was going to preach the gospel. All of this indicated something of His humility rather than Him coming as a conquering hero. He continually refers to Himself as the humble servant. He says, "The Son of Man is not to...not come to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for many." And then here in the Beatitudes He says, "His kingdom belongs to people who are broken in spirit, who have no self-confidence, who don't believe in themselves at all. The kingdom belongs to people who are weeping and mourning and now He says to people who are meek." How in the world can the Roman government be overthrown? How in the world can the great kingdom be established by those who are broken and mourning and meek? Just absolutely the antithesis of everything they would have assumed.
Jesus says it isn't the self-sufficient, it isn't the self-righteous, it isn't the proud, it isn't the strong, it isn't the capable, it isn't the courageous, it isn't the confident, it isn't the satisfied, it isn't the angry, the powerful, the rebellious, who are going to bring the kingdom...who are going to come into the kingdom, it is rather the broken, the mourning, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers and the persecuted and the reviled and the slandered who make up His kingdom. They're the real kingdom citizens. Well this is an absolutely shocking message. And I believe it's right here that the hostility of the Jewish people toward Jesus is really inaugurated.
Now there's a flow here. Those who are poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy, recognize their impotence, recognize their inability to do anything to please God, recognize their unworthiness, their unfitness to enter the kingdom, who know they have no resources by which they can please God. They are utterly bankrupt spiritually. Because they are bankrupt they mourn. They grieve over their sin, over their spiritual bankruptcy, over their inability. And naturally people like that are meek. They don't assert themselves, just the opposite.
What does it mean to be meek? What are we really talking about when we talking...when we're talking about meekness?
If you look it up in a dictionary the dictionary might lead you astray. One dictionary that I looked up the word "meek" in said,"Deficient in spirit and courage." That's not what the Greek word used here means. When we talk about meekness what we're really talking about...and synonyms are given often for this...gentleness in the sense of humility. But the bottom line means someone who does not assert themselves, someone who is not consumed with his or her own agenda. Mild is another translation. Soft is another translation.
The person who is broken over his own condition, who mourns over his own sin is not about to assert himself. It shows rather a quiet, willing submission to God, standing in direct contrast to stubborn, willful, rebellious, self-centeredness of the natural man. Sometimes this same word, it's the word praus frompraos, sometimes the same word is used to describe a soothing medicine. Sometimes it's used to describe a gentle breeze, something that doesn't knock you over. Farmers used this word to describe a colt that had been broken and was tame and docile and gentle, whose strength and power could be channeled for good.
It is not weakness...don't get that, is the idea. It's not weakness. It is power under control. It is a person who has yielded up control to someone else. All the strength is there, all the power is there, it's just not self-asserted. Wherever you have a broken heart, wherever you have a sense of spiritual bankruptcy, wherever you have a mourning over one's sinfulness, you have submission. And submission to God is meekness.
I guess you could say it this way. It's the taming of the lion, not the killing of the lion. The lion is just as strong only the lion has yielded up his will to another. Same lion but under control...not impotent, not cowardly, controlled. This is the person who literally gives up his power, gives up his agenda, gives up his will, gives up his purposes, his goals, his dreams, his ambitions to come under divine control.
Medicine, under control in the right dosage, is of great benefit...out of control and the wrong dosage, it's deadly. Wind under control brings a gentle breeze...out of control brings a devastating and deadly hurricane. A horse under control can be harnessed and used to great purpose...out of control wreaks havoc.
It's this power under control that is essentially this wordpraus. One writer put it this way, "This is the fruit of the Spirit which is found upon the soil of spiritual poverty, contrition and mourning, a noble flower which grows out of the ashes of self-love upon the grave of pride. On the one hand a man sees his own utter ruin, his unworthiness and misery. On the other he contemplates the kindness and benignity of God in Christ Jesus. The internal characteristic is a disposition of heart which through the keen perception of its own misery and the abounding mercy of God has become so pliable, so flexible, so tractable, or movable, that no traces of its original ruggedness, of its wild and untamed independent nature remain." That's it. That's it.
The meek person has, in the language of Hebrews 10:34, learned to take joyfully the plundering of his own possessions knowing that he has a better possession, even an abiding one. He's willing to give up anything and everything in this world because he knows God has a better plan and a better world. This is, in a word, a person who has died to self, never mulls over injuries received, never mulls over shattered ambitions and dreams, bears no grudges. It's not a natural quality, by the way. It's a gift from God.
This verse, by the way, is really rooted in Psalm 37. Can I take you to Psalm 37 for a moment? There is more to say to you about this beatitude tonight than I can say, but there are some passages that will help to elucidate it. Psalm 37:3, "Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noon day. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret, it leads only to evil doing for evil doers will be cut off but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land," there is in verse 9 almost the identical statement, you wait for the Lord and you'll inherit the land. Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth. Meekness is waiting for the Lord. That's what it is.
Down in verse 11, "The humble will inherit the land."
Go back to verse 4. "Trust in the Lord,"...verse 3, "Trust in the Lord. Verse 4, "Delight in the Lord. Verse 5, "Commit your way to the Lord." Verse 7, "Rest in the Lord. Do not fret." Verse 8,"Do not fret." Verse 9, "Wait for the Lord."
All of those are the attitudes of the meek. They just give up everything for the purposes of God. They trust in Him, they delight in Him, they commit their way to Him, they rest in Him, they do not fret, they wait for Him. That's what it means to be meek...to trust, delight, commit, rest, cease. The psalmist is saying be meek, don't trouble yourselves when the wicked prosper. Don't trouble yourselves when your own plans don't come to fruition. God's blessing belongs to those who yield up to Him and what else can someone do who has nothing to offer? I mean, if you are broken in spirit, if you realize your spiritual bankruptcy and spiritual poverty and if you are mourning over your condition...what have you to do but to yield? Just commit your way to the Lord. It's not talking about cowardice.
The Lord may call you to do something that's going to take tremendous courage. It's not talking about indolence. The Lord may call you to do something that's going to take tremendous energy and effort. It's not a lack of conviction. It's not a wishy-washiness. It's not some kind of benign human niceness. It really is faith in the truest sense that trusts God. And it says this, "In my self nothing is possible, therefore I yield to Him in whom everything is possible." It says, "For me there is no defense, but I will come to the defense of my God." It's not a passive acceptance of one's sinfulness. It's a realization that you can't do anything about your sinfulness, all you can do is yield to God. You say, "Lord, I have nothing to offer, I am broken, I am bankrupt, I mourn over my bankruptcy, I must therefore be humbled before You and anything that is to occur in my life of value and blessing that pleases You, You must do. And so, I trust in You, I commit to You, I delight in You, I wait for You."
That's exactly the way Jesus lived His life...exactly. He said,"I only do what the Father tells me. I have yielded My life to Him. I only do what the Holy Spirit works through Me." He set the example for us. He was no coward. He was not weak. But He was meek.
In fact, the apostle Paul calls us to meekness in 2 Corinthians 10:1 when he call us to the meekness and gentleness of Christ. He had His power under control and it was under control by God. It was under God's control. He yielded up the prerogatives to use His divine attributes. He gave up the right to independently use His attributes to God and therefore set the perfect example for us. Meekness does not mean I'm weak, it means I've yielded my power to the purposes of God. I yielded up to His control.
You don't think Jesus was weak. Twice He went into the temple and cleansed it. He blasted the hypocrites. He condemned the leaders of Israel. He fearlessly spoke judgment. He faced terrible, terrible hostility, mockery, persecution and even execution fearlessly. But His power was under the control of God.
That's a person who comes into the kingdom. If you want to be in God's kingdom you have to look at your own spiritual bankruptcy, you have to recognize you're in a hopeless condition. You mourn over that sin and literally cast yourself on God. That's what meekness means. You just throw yourself on Him who alone has the power to produce in you anything that pleases Him.
I want us to look at some examples of this. In the thirteenth chapter of Genesis, just a couple of them and then we'll make some practical applications and be finished.
In Genesis chapter 13 there is Abraham. Abraham, you'll remember, was living up in Ur of the Chaldees. Took his nephew with him, his nephew was Lot, and they had a family disagreement. They came down to the Negeb which is the southern desert near Israel, and in verse 7 there was a strife, a fight between the herdsmen of Abraham's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock.
Now Abraham had the right to the land. He was God's man and Lot was a hitchhiker. He was just thumbing a ride with Abraham. But Abraham handled it in quite a remarkable way. Verse 8, Abram he's still called, said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen for we're brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me, if to the left I'll go to the right, or if to the right then I'll go to the left." Folks, that's power under control. Abraham had power, Abraham had authority but he yielded it up. He would not use it for his own benefit. There's real humility there. He had the authority. Anybody would have said he had the right, after all he was the man that God called out of Ur. He chose not to use it for his own benefit but rather to allow the purpose of God to unfold. This is a remarkable element of character.
Then there was Joseph. Joseph had the power when he had become prime minister of Egypt to avenge himself against his brothers. You remember his brothers sold him into slavery and he was hauled off to Egypt. He was in prison there and eventually because he could tell dreams, because the Lord allowed him to be able to do that, he got out of prison and he rose to becoming the prime minister of Egypt. His brothers came down there looking for food when there was a famine in Israel and he had the power in his hand to avenge himself on his brothers, but he refused. And, in fact, just the opposite. He demonstrated love and compassion to his brothers. Again, power under control. He submitted himself to do what was right.
Then there was David. I think back so often about David, the remarkable situation where Saul was chasing David. And in 1 Samuel 24...this happened on several occasions...Saul was trying to chase David but David came upon Saul in a very indelicate position where he and his men were hiding. Now remember, Saul was the greatest enemy that David had on the face of the earth, the most formidable one because he was a king. And Saul was the one that David was going to replace. And we might have assumed that since he had a right to the throne, he would have been doing the bidding of God had he taken out his sword and run it right through the throat of Saul. With one stroke of the blade he could have killed Saul, taken his throne, it was rightfully his. And that's exactly what some of David's men urged him to do because Saul, after all, was trying to kill David. He should act while he could. David wouldn't do it. What he did do was take his sword and cut off a piece of Saul's robe. He had the power. He had the right. But it was under control.
I believe in all these cases these men were following the prompting of the Spirit of God in their life and they were yielded up to that. He would only act in behalf of God, not himself. Joseph would only act in behalf of God, not himself and so with Abraham.
In 2 Samuel 16 David's son Absalom forced his father to flee into the wilderness, started a revolution against his father, literally he ran him out of town. This is one of the terribly sad times in David's life of which there are many. But one of Saul's men, a man named Shimei cursed David. As David was fleeing he cursed him and threw stones at him. David was the king. Abishai who was David's nephew said to the king, this is in 2 Samuel 16 down around verse 9 or 10, Abishai says to the king, "Let me go over and take that guy's head off." David said, "Let him alone." David would not act in his own defense. Abraham wouldn't act in his own benefit. Joseph wouldn't seek vengeance. And David wouldn't act for his own exaltation, or even his own defense. He had a trusting subservient attitude of total submission to God's will and power. And I think at that time David knew he was really reaping some of the consequence of his failures in dealing with Absalom.
There was Moses. According to Numbers chapter 12 and verse 3 it says, "The man, Moses, was very meek." In fact, it says and this is remarkable, it says, "Moses was meek above all men who were on the face of the earth." He was the meekest man in the world.
You say, "I find that hard to believe." If you ask any Jew just in general who the greatest leader in Jewish history was, who will they tell you? Moses...Moses. The two greatest leaders in Jewish history are Moses and Charlton Heston. (laughter) Moses is the great leader and yet God said of him he was the meekest man who ever lived.
Now what are we talking about here when we're talking about meekness? We associate him with fearlessness. We associate with him boldness and courage and power. We see him go marching in there to Pharaoh and laying it on the line and saying to Pharaoh, "You let my people go and if you don't let my people go, there are going to be some serious judgments fall." He was strong when he went, slew an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew, slaughtered him on the spot. He was confrontive. He was firm in his convictions. In Exodus 5, Moses who once had fled from Pharaoh in fear returned to stand before Pharaoh in boldness and say, "Let my people go."
And so we ask the question, how can this man be meek, he seems anything but meek? Well, his meekness shows up in places like Exodus 3 verse 9, "Now behold the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me...God says...furthermore I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore come now and I'll send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, `Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?'" That's his meekness. He had no confidence in whom? Himself...none...none, he knew he was absolutely inadequate. Exodus chapter 4 verse 20, "Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand." Verse 29, "Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people. The people believed when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction. Then they bowed low and worshiped." Moses charged right back in. He along with Aaron took the leadership.
Meekness is the absence of confidence in myself, not an abstinence...absence of confidence in my God. Do you understand the difference? It's when you get to the place where you know only He can do it. To attempt in any sense to represent God on your own is foolish if you're trusting in yourself.
Paul had the same attitude. Philippians 3:3, he says, "I can't trust the flesh." Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That's meekness...that's meekness. It is an absolute and total lack of confidence in oneself to accomplish anything eternal and total confidence in God to accomplish everything.
In 2 Chronicles there's a good contrast to this. Let me read it to you. It's about Uzziah the king. He was king for 52 years in Jerusalem, a long time."He went out and warred against the Philistines, broke down the wall of Gath," those are Philistine...that's a Philistine city, "and the wall of Jabneh, another one, and the wall of Ashdod," those are all Philistine cities along the coastline of Palestine. "He built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites." God helped him, it says. "The Ammonites also gave tribute to Uzziah and his fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong." I mean, the man literally dominated that part of the world. "Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, at the corner buttress and fortified them." I mean, his position after he had won the war was to position himself with the strong posture in the cold war so that his enemies wouldn't attack him because he was so fortified. He built towers in the wilderness and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock...that's to provide the resource for water for the livestock...both in the low land, in the plain. He had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields for he loved the soil."
I mean, this is a remarkable guy, great soldier, great agronomist, agriculturalist. "Uzziah had an army ready for battle. He was a builder. He was a military man. He encounter...he entered combat by divisions according to the number of their muster." In other words, he was very well organized, he had the whole thing laid out. "The total number of the heads of the households, of valiant warriors is 2600. Under his direction was an elite army of 307,500, a third of a million." No wonder nobody wanted to attack him. "They could wage war with great power to help the king against the enemy. Moreover Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and sling stones. And in Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. Hence his fame was spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong."
How did he get where he got? He was marvelously...what? Helped by whom?...by God. He was helped by God. But "when he became strong his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense."
You know what he did? He...he stepped out of his role as a king into the priestly role and violated the priestly standard. He thought, "Well, I'm such a great king, think of the priest I might make." And God hit him with leprosy and he died. And until his death he had to live in a separate house because of the contagion of his leprosy. Literally he was slain.
"He slept with his fathers. They buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said,`He is a leper.'"
That's the very opposite. A guy who wanted to take all the credit. Do it in his own strength. Do it in his own power. Listen, those other men all had a sense of their sinfulness, all had a sense of their impotence, all had a sense of their weakness, all had a sense of their inadequacy. They mourned over their sin. They mourned over their weakness. They had a healthy sense of sin and shame and infirmity that humbled them before God and caused them to seek only His causes and defend only His name and fight only His battles and use only His weapons. In fact, it caused them to do what the next beatitude says "To hunger and thirst after righteousness" because they knew they didn't have any. They knew they were nothing. And they found that the road to being something was the path to God.
What was the result? "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." First of all, they're blessed, that means happy, true joy, salvation joy, the joy of eternal life. The joy that belongs to all who are in the kingdom belongs to the meek.
You have to understand the Jewish leaders were proud, self-sufficient, self-righteous, believing that they could attain to the level of righteousness which would satisfy God. They were the opposite of this. They would not inherit the earth.
What does it mean to inherit the earth? Well, Israel had been promised the land all the way from Genesis 13 on. And they were in it there but they really weren't controlling it. They're in it again today, partially realizing the promise of God. But the real glory of the inheritance of that land is going to come in the kingdom promise to them. They were waiting for the King who would come and establish the glory of His kingdom. But the only way to participate in that kingdom was to be meek.
The word "inherit" is from a Greek verb which means to receive an allotted portion, kleronomeo, it means to receive that which is apportioned or allotted to you. And if you want an allotted place in the kingdom of the great King, the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll get one when you come into His kingdom broken, mourning and meek, realizing your sinfulness, your spiritual bankruptcy, grieving over it, depending on God for everything. There is going to be a literal earthly kingdom in the future, it's promised. We will be a part of that kingdom, all who love Him, both Jews and Gentiles. We'll be there as long as we believe in Jesus Christ, we'll be a part of that kingdom. In fact, when Jesus returns to set up His kingdom in Revelation, we return with Him, it says He comes out of heaven riding on a white horse and behind Him are all the saints robed in white riding white horses, we come back to enter that kingdom with Him. And there is beyond that the new heaven and the new earth, the eternal kingdom. But it belongs only to those who come this way.
Just summing this up and giving you some practical things to think about, meekness is commanded by God. Only the meek are saved, that's right, only those who do not trust in themselves. Psalm 149:4, "Only the meek are saved." Only the afflicted experience salvation. James 4 says God gives grace to the humble and rejects the proud. It is commanded by God to be meek.
It is not only commanded by God to be meek, it is necessary if you're going to receive God's Word. Do you remember what it says in James 1 verse 21? "Putting all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness in humility receive the Word which is able to save your souls." You have to be humble to receive the gospel. You can't be proud and self-righteous. Meekness glorifies God because it gives everything back to Him, it confesses utter and total inability so that whatever is accomplished for good and for God's glory is from Him. In fact, in 1 Peter 3:4 it says, "A meek and quiet spirit is precious in the sight of God...precious in the sight of God."
One last consideration. How do you know if you're meek? I think you can know. Simply we could start this way, do I recognize that I have no ability to save myself? That's where meekness begins. Do I recognize that apart from the grace of God, the power of God, I cannot be saved, I cannot enter the kingdom? Do I recognize that I can do nothing to be saved? Furthermore, do I recognize that as a Christian I can't accomplish anything in my life on my own fleshly strength? Do I recognize that? If I do, I'm meek. It doesn't mean you slither around and say, "Woe is me," or mumble, "I'm nothing, I'm nothing." It means you understand and recognize your inability to accomplish anything on the spiritual and divine level and you therefore submit to God for all of it.
You can ask yourself this, do I respond humbly and obediently to the Word? That's a test of meekness. Another one is, am I angry when God is dishonored rather than when I am dishonored? Am I more concerned about God being disgraced than my own shame? Am I more concerned about God's purposes not being fulfilled than mine? Do I always seek to make peace? Do I always defer to someone else? Am I more concerned about others than myself? Do I receive criticism well and love those who give it? All of those are evidences of meekness. And if I see those in my life then God in His might grace and power has brought me to a place of meekness and He has blessed me by bringing me into His kingdom and make me...making me an inheritor of all that His Kingdom involves on this earth and in the glory to come.
A final thought. Meekness in a word is to be finished with myself for good. That's it. I'm nothing but a sinner with no rights and no power and I subject myself gladly to God's will that I might be made happy and that I might inherit all that He promises to those in His kingdom. It's the end of me.
Father, bring us to that point if we're not there. That's where You've called us to be. We have to look into our hearts and if we don't see that selflessness then no matter what we might think about a decision in the past or a prayer we prayed, if Your will is not our desire, if Your kingdom is not our passion, if Your glory does not motivate us, it may well be that we don't belong to You, we're not in Your kingdom. Or it might be that we have fallen into patterns of selfish disobedience and we've allowed pride into our lives. We may be facing chastening or experiencing it. Help us to be meek. Do whatever You need to do in our lives to crush our pride and self-will, to bring us to the end of ourself for good. Slay self, mortify the flesh in us. And may we be like Christ who said,"L"Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly." My, it is an incomprehensible condescension that we see in Christ, though He was equal with God thought it not something to be grasped but yielded it up, took upon Him the form of a servant, was made in likeness as a man and died the ignominious death on the cross. How far down He came. How meek He was, utterly yielding up all His power to Your control and He did it voluntarily, though He did not need to, to gain any end other than to fulfill Your will which was His greatest pleasure.
Father, we need to humble ourselves that we might be saved from sin and then to enter into the fullness of Your will that we might rejoice. May we learn Christ and may it be that we're characterized by the very meekness that characterized Him. O the joy of the person who is always angry at the right time and the right issue and never at the wrong time and the wrong issue, always angry over those things that dishonor You and not those things that disappoint him. How happy is that person who has every instinct and every impulse and every passion submitted to you, God controlled, who realizes his own ignorance, his own weakness and is therefore brought into Your kingdom and in humility becomes a king among men. What a great privilege.
We pray, Lord, tonight for those who may not know Christ, who have not entered the kingdom that they would come to this place of recognition of their spiritual bankruptcy, that they would grieve over their sin and in meekness and humility demonstrate a hunger and thirst for righteousness that only You can give. And, Lord, for Christians, help us to renew the commitment to be humble and meek, take pride out of our lives and self-will, our own purposes, and our own plans and our own petty desires and may we be consumed with that which brings You honor and glory and may we realize our weakness and infirmity and only in Your power can we accomplish anything. We yield to that. Use us mightily through Your power, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.
This article is also available and sold as a booklet.
This sermon series includes the following messages:
Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource.Publisher Information

subset: commoncrawl


text:
****We ship orders daily, local pickups are not offered. Orders ship exactly as placed, please review your order before submitting. Once submitted, changes and cancellations are not accepted.
To View Our Current Discount Promotion -- or -- To Enter Our 'SHOW US YOUR CRAFT' Contest....
Featured Product
Patchouli essential oil, light, iron free ■
Patchouli *light* essential oil obtains its lighter yellow-orange color (compared to *dark* patchouli) due to its stainless steel …shop now
Featured Product
Grapefruit, pink, essential oil ■
Has a fresh, sweet, sharp and citrusy aroma. It is antidepressant, antiseptic, diuretic and disinfectant, stimulant. Invaluable in …shop now
Camden-Grey Essential Oils, Inc. offers aromatherapy oils and ingredients for making soap and toiletries. We offer melt and pour soap bases, unscented lotion bases, fixed oils, essential oils, fragrance oils, absolutes, butters, waxes, lye (sodium hydroxide) and packaging materials.We offer Reward Points which provide savings on future orders. We also offer reduced S&H for small orders. Join our Forum to learn soap making, review posted recipes and exchange ideas with other members. We hope you enjoy visiting our site.
Join Our Forum
Learn how to make soap and toiletries, exchange ideas with other members, post your questions. This is your Forum, it is here for your benefit!Join


text:
Explore Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island truly is a world unto itself. With its Victorian-style setting, take in all the heritage and scenery while enjoying some exciting activities.
Come out and enjoy the festivities! Mackinac Island has events running all season long.
Bicycle Rentals
Renting a bike is a fun way to get around and a great way to see the island.
Historic Parks
Exploring the island's history is both entertaining and educational. Take in one of many live demonstrations at Fort Mackinac, or visit Mackinac Island State Park.
Taking a tour is a great way to see all the island has to offer. Walking and carriage tours available.
Indulge in a peaceful and relaxing setting while enjoying spa treatments. Licensed massage practitioners, estheticians and nail technicians will provide a stress-relieving experience perfect for any vacation.
Find unique items at a variety of shops on the island. Great shopping is all part of the fun.
Tee off a round of golf with the beautiful scenery of Mackinac Island as your backdrop.
Entertainment and Attractions
From comedy shows, to haunted theatre, butterfly gardens, and more, enjoy one-of-a-kind entertainment on the island.
Winter Activities
The island is still open in the winter. Although many accommodations and shops are closed, there's still lots to see and do.
Real Estate
Mackinac Island offers a great selection of unique and wonderful properties for those looking to make a purchase on the Island.


text:
Perhaps the reason the league hasn't issued a ruling on what kind of punishment Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall will receive for last week's tirade is because they're trying to determine how much fault is his.
According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the NFL is looking into the role of the official in the situation.
Hall blew up at head linesman Dana McKenzie, after an altercation with Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders last week. Hall said during a radio interview with 106.7 The Fan Tuesday that McKenzie "was equally at fault" and "dishing it out just as much as I'm dishing it out."
While officials don't have free rein to say what they please to players, Hall showed a lack of control, and will still be fined heavily even though he won't be suspended.


text:
Patrick Ruffini, a Republican consultant, recently diagnosed the ills that plague mobile giving:
it can be pretty frustrating watching these solutions get tripped up in the bureaucratic thicket of the FEC, or the closed ecosystem of the wireless carriers — with all the architectural limits they carry that the free Internet does not.
He argues that the point-of-sale constraint of Square, SMS payment limits, and FEC disclosure requirements are the major obstacles to mobile giving. Here's the problem: simplicity and ease of use are important, but the real limit Ruffini is bumping up against–by his own admission–is the lack of scalable infrastructure on the right. That lack forces Ruffini into awkward spaces, like calling for mobile operating systems to update their OS, or the creation of new apps to facilitate political giving. It's not that these are impossible, or not worth doing, but that their value is unknown relative to the costs they impose on developers and carriers.
Fortunately, over here we've got that problem solved.
Want to collect donations in real time? Text or email your audience with a link to an ActBlue page. And, unlike asking people to download apps, collecting email/phone information at political events is pretty commonplace, as are email solicitations. Checking mail is a core functionality of almost any mobile data device, be it smartphone, iPad or laptop. Devices will proliferate, change and converge, but email will almost certainly remain. The ubiquitous nature of email means people don't have to leave their comfort zone to give, provided you offer them a simple way to do so. And, because we've already borne the costs and seen the results of our innovation, we're in a better position to negotiate the sort of partnerships that Ruffini outlines.
In short, ActBlue didn't need to build, "something that can create a reality distortion field" (Orwellian!) to produce $174+ million for Democrats. We took a means that already existed (email/websites) and made it easy for people to apply it to a new space (political fundraising), while building in the flexibility that would allow it to grow and improve with changing circumstances (not easy!). As a result, ActBlue is now both an invaluable source of funds and a giant proving ground for candidates and best fundraising practices.
Finally, an insidery point: Ruffini is a consultant who necessarily makes his living by selling his insights and strategies. ActBlue is something fundamentally different. Because we're a political nonprofit that makes our tools available for free to all Democrats, we're creating of economies of scale that don't exist on the right. When we innovate, thousands of Democratic campaigns, consultants and committees benefit, and they don't have to pay a cent. I imagine Ruffini's innovations carry a far higher pricetag–man's got to eat–which hinders their adoption.


text:
Repeating border section
Our stickers are designed for shop windows and retail displays and can be ordered in a choice of colours, sizes and materials.
All Purlfrost stickers are digitally printed using UV resistant ink to ensure that colours are long lasting. We also back print the coloured design with white ink for added opacity and to ensure that the colours are more vibrant. Our stickers are not double sided.
You can purchase most of our designs as large individual sticker (made to measure), in a selection of predetermined sizes (set sizes), or as a pack of individual stickers of varying sizes (multipack). All stickers are printed to order to your exact requirements, and are therefore not returnable, and not available off the shelf or for next day delivery.
Regarding materials, we have 2 films available:
You can also select the aspect of the sticker:
Applying our stickers is child's play. Please click here to watch our video tutorial.


text:
GRAHAM � Burlington-Graham Post 63 clawed its way back from an early four-run deficit and grabbed the lead halfway through its final regular-season game Friday night.
Then Post 63 gave back the lead with a multitude of errors and missed opportunities.
Burlington-Graham surrendered the last four runs to lose 8-5 against Randolph County Post 45 in an American Legion baseball game that decided the Area III Northern Division Northeast Conference champion.
�I think we just got � too comfortable with it. We got too comfortable and we started slacking,� said Post 63 catcher Ryan Hamilton.
The loss means Burlington-Graham (10-6 overall, 3-3 conference) will face High Point Post 87 in the first round of the playoffs. That best-of-5 series will start Tuesday with Post 63 likely having home-field advantage by way of beating High Point twice in the regular season.
Dylan Prevatte doubled in the game-tying run in the top of the seventh for visiting Post 45 (20-5, 4-2). In the next inning, Dylan Richardson scored the eventual winning run on an error by second baseman Ben Kelley, with Avery Jackson and Will Albertson adding back-to-back RBI doubles.
Post 45 scored the game�s first four runs, three of which came in the third inning. The big hit of that inning came from Jake Hall, who blasted a two-run double. He later scored on a throwing error by Hamilton.
�A team like them, you can�t give them those opportunities,� said Post 63 manager Johnny Slaughter. �And we missed some opportunities on several different occasions.�
Burlington-Graham countered with a two-run single by Adam Gunn in the third inning.
Then Post 63 tied the game in the fifth when Hamilton roped a bases-loaded double, which scored two. John Robertson drove in Ryan Hackett with a suicide squeeze bunt to give Post 63 a 5-4 lead.
�We wanted this win. It would have put us in a good spot for the playoffs,� Hamilton said.
Hamilton committed two of Post 63�s seven errors.
�Just mental mistakes. Too much throwing the ball around. It happens, you just have to learn from it,� said Hamilton, who later said he never made two errors in a game this past season for Southern Alamance.
Post 63 stranded 13 base runners. Brock Deatherage, Johnathan Lloyd and Hamilton hit doubles for Burlington-Graham.
The game started about 25 minutes late because of a passing rain shower.


text:
Hubble Interacting Galaxy IC 2545
IC 2545 is a beautiful, but deceptive object that appears to be a single S-shaped galaxy, but is actually a pair of merging galaxies. The two cores of the parent galaxies are still visible in the central region. Other telltale markers for the collision include two pronounced tidal arms of gas and stars flung out from the central region. The tidal arm curving upwards and clockwise in the image contains a number of blue star clusters. IC 2545 glows strongly in the infrared part of the spectrum - another sign that it is a pair of merging galaxies. It lies in the constellation of Antlia, the Air Pump, some 450 million light-years away from Earth.
This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)


text:
$ 10.00
Personalized Monogram Car Decal in your choice of colors. Our Custom monograms are great on vehicles, laptops, glass, golf carts and more. Width may vary due to letter selection. Instructions and applicator included.
Itty Bitty 2.5" x 6" - $10.00
Bitty 3.5" x 8.5" - $14.00
Petite 5.5" x 13.5" - $17.00
Glossy Colors have a shinny gloss finish. Great for metal, plastic, wood, and glass. Not recommended for interior walls.
*Each item is made to order. Average turnaround time is 3-5 business day. For current turnaround times please, click here.


text:
I get quoted periodically in the MSM but it still happens rarely enough that I get giddy when I am quoted myself in major publications.
A case in this article in the LA Times of last December's fighting in the National Assembly:
"Many fighting politicians really do believe that if they lose their battle, democracy itself will be in danger," said Andy Jackson, a political columnist for the Korea Times.Most South Korean lawmakers, he said, would rather fight than switch their votes: "The attitude is that if you're not fighting, you're not trying. So you pull off the gloves and you go at it."


text:
So realistic you might forget you are just watching TV. It is the best picture we have ever created, where details like individual blades of grass come to life with laser-sharp precision and the most natural color imaginable. Stunning images are produced using our most advanced X-Reality PRO technology and the ultra-thin TV design is achieved by incorporating Corning Gorilla Glass for the seamless look of edge-to-edge glass.
Pro-grade detail for discerning eyes: X-Reality PRO
Full-array local dimming for our best color/contrast
Experience precise motion clarity w/ Motionflow XR 960
Frameless design with Corning?s Gorilla Glass
3D in Full HD 1080p for phenomenal 3D picture quality
Movies, music & apps w/ Sony Entertainment Network
Stream HD entertainment wirelessly with built-in Wi-Fi
PC and tablet content3 on your TV w/ Intelligent Connect
Media Remote app to control your TV with a smartphone
Make life-sized video calls with Skype
Connect to the TV via Wi-Fi without using a router
Everything looks better
This is picture quality so lifelike it's like looking through a window. Each scene in everything you watch-HD movies, sports, even YouTube clips and home movies?is presented with unprecedented detail, and astonishing color as Sony's exclusive X-Reality PRO picture engine draws on its database of real patterns, shapes and textures to display our most lifelike picture ever.
Peak Performance
Experience Sony?s best picture quality and extraordinary contrast with full-array local dimming technology. This innovative technology consists of an array of LED lights that adjust the bright and dark levels in each area of the screen for more precise control of the picture.
Our clearest picture ever
When you watch a kickoff at the stadium, the ball doesn?t blur from left to right. Recreating natural motion with reduced judder and less blur, Motionflow XR 960 helps you see each end-over-end rotation by taking motion clarity beyond refresh rates, which are only measured in Hz, to quadruple the motion effect so you see everything as if you were there.
Tough, yet beautiful
Only Sony has it. Corning's exclusive Gorilla Glass lets you enjoy an incredibly durable, remarkably lightweight, frameless design with a seamless, sophisticated look. Paired with the OptiContrast panel, Gorilla Glass helps boost contrast and brightness while minimizing unwanted light reflections.
In-your-face action
Brace yourself for pure 3D excitement that feels like you're standing on the 50-yard line. Through advanced Active 3D technology, immerse yourself in Full HD 1080p clarity and phenomenal 3D picture quality. Just slide on the comfortable 3D active glasses and enter a whole new dimension.
Go way beyond cable
Welcome to the endless entertainment of the Sony Entertainment Network, where thousands of movies, TV shows, online videos, games and music are always at your fingertips. By connecting to the Internet you can access Full HD 1080p entertainment, 3D content and made-for-TV apps like Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, Facebook and more.
Goodbye wires, hello built-in Wi-Fi
Maximize your entertainment while reducing cable clutter. Wirelessly stream beautiful, HD entertainment straight from the internet or your home network using built-in Wi-Fi connectivity.
All devices, together as one
Don't all of your personal photos and videos deserve the big screen? Experience your content on a grand scale simply by connecting your compatible smartphone, computer or Xperia Tablet S via your existing Wi-Fi network. Then you can easily "throw" your videos, photos and music files to your HDTV.
Control your TV with your phone
Now there's one less remote control on the coffee table. Just download the free Media Remote app and turn your iPhone, Android phone or Xperia Tablet S into a versatile remote control with a full QWERTY keyboard4. It makes changing channels and typing searches ultra fast and convenient.
Life-sized video calls
It's like they're in the room with you. Skype video calls bring your family and friends closer than ever as they appear as large as life on your big screen?for free.1 Just connect the easy-to-use Skype camera (sold separately) for a face-to-face look at the caller on the beauty of your Sony HDTV.
Wi-Fi without a router
Sometimes your friends want to share their personal photos and videos on your beautiful HDTV. With Sony's Wi-Fi Direct Mode, your friends can throw personal content to your TV without connecting to your home network. Wi-Fi Direct completely bypasses the Wi-Fi access point/router, so it?s easy to set up.
A sense for songs
What?s that song in the TV show, movie or commercial you?re watching? Press 'TrackID' on your remote and get the song name and artist instantly. You can also start the TrackID service by shaking a smartphone that?s running the Media Remote app. Very convenient.
Save power
Enjoy reduced power consumption of up to 30% while maintaining beautiful image quality. First, the TV recognizes the type of program you?re watching. Then it optimizes the viewing settings, automatically reducing power consumption while enhancing color and detail on the screen and conserving energy used by the backlight.
Onboard manual
You will never lose your TV manual again. The iManual is available through the menu system on the TV ? always there if you need it.
Find it fast
Searching for shows and music on your TV is so simple. Just press 'GUIDE' on your remote and see what's on and what's coming up with a handy image to go with it. You also get an episode synopsis, cast and crew details and suggestions to related shows, on-demand movies and Blu-ray Disc titles.
Finding music is also a cinch. Music Search with the TrackID button cleverly recognizes the melody of the music playing on your TV. Want to go further? Search to find more songs by the same artist and other related web content. Share your discovery with the world via Twitter.
3D Features
3D: Active
3D Super-resolution: Yes
3D Sync Transmitter Integrated: Yes
4x High Speed 3D Panel: Yes
Full HD 3D: Yes
Simulated 3D: Yes
Audio Power Output: 10W+10W+10W
Speaker Configuration: 2.1 Full Range(30x150mm)x2,Woofer(60mm)x1
Speaker Position: Rear Facing
Audio Features
5.1 Channel Audio Out: Yes
5.1ch Through Out (Handycam): Yes
Advanced Auto Volume: Yes
Alternate Audio (Digital): Yes
Audio Out: Fixed/Variable
Clear Phase Speaker: Yes
Dolby: Dolby Digital Dolby Didital Plus Dolby Pulse
Headphone/Speaker Link: Yes
Invisible Speaker: Yes
S-Master: Yes
Sony Original Surround: S-Force Front Surround 3D
Sound Booster: Yes(Not appeared for UI)
Sound Enhancer: Yes
Sound Mode: Dynamic
Sound Mode: Standard
Sound Mode: Clear Voice
Sound Mode: Custom
Stereo System: MTS(AUTO SAP)
Surround Effect: Cinema
Surround Effect: Sports
Surround Effect: Music
Surround Effect: Game
Broadcast Features
TV Guide On-Screen: Yes(Rovi)
Convenience Features
Auto Shut-off: Yes
BRAVIA Sync: Yes
Channel Block (with password): Analog & Digital
Channel Jump: Yes
Channel Surf: Yes
Edit Channel Labels: Yes
Favorites: Yes
Info Banner: Yes
Input Skip: Automatic
Label Inputs: Yes
Multiple Language Display: English/Spanish /French
On-Screen Clock: Yes
On-Screen Display for External Input: Yes
On-Screen Operating Instructions: Yes
On/Off Timer: Yes
Panorama: Yes
Parental Control: Yes
Picture Adjustments Lock: Yes
Picture Frame Mode: Yes
Scene Select: Photo
Scene Select: Music
Scene Select: Cinema
Scene Select: Game
Scene Select: Graphics
Scene Select: Sports
Scene Select: Animation
Show/Hide Channels: Yes
Skin Naturalizer: Video/Photo
Sleep Timer: Yes
Twin Picture: PAP(Variable)
USB Play: Yes (USB viewer supports FAT16, FAT32 and exFAT file systems.)
USB Play (Contents): MPEG1/MPEG2PS/MPEG2TS/AVCHD/MP4Part10/MP4Part2/WMV/MP3/WMA/LPCM/WAV/JPEG/MPO
Design Features
Illuminated Sony Logo: Yes
Monolithic Design: Yes
Stand Design: Loop
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Display Resolution: Full HD
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: over 1 million
Screen Size (cm): 138.8cm
Screen Size (measured diagonally): 55"(54.6")
Viewing Angle (Right/Left): 178(89/89)
Viewing Angle (Up/Down): 178(89/89)
Display Features
Backlight Type: Intelligent Peak LED
Dimming Type: Local Dimming
Display Device: LCD
OptiContrast Panel: Yes
Energy Saving & Efficiency
Backlight Off Mode: Yes
Dynamic Backlight Control: Yes
Energy Star compliant: Meets Energy Star version 5.3
Power Consumption (On Mode) for Energy Star: 89.4W
Power Consumption (Standby Mode) for Energy Star: 0.131
General Features
Audio Return Channel: Yes
Closed Captions (CC): Closed Caption
Demo Mode: Yes
Finish (Surface Color): BLACK
HDMI InstaPort: Yes
Hotel Mode Menu: Yes
Start Up Sony Logo Display: Yes
Inputs and Outputs
AC Power Input: 1 (Rear)
Analog Audio Input(s) (Total): 3 (2 Rear/1 Side)
Analog Audio Input(s) for HDMI: 1 (Side Hybrid w/PC)
Audio Out: 1 (Side/Hybrid w/HP)
Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Input(s): 1 (Rear Hybrid w/Composite)
Composite Video Input(s): 2 (1Rear/1Rear Hybrid w/Component)
Digital Audio Output(s): 1 (Bottom)
Ethernet Connection(s): 1 (Bottom)
HDMI Connection(s) (Total): 4 (2 Side/2 Bottom)
HDMI PC Input: Yes
Headphone Output(s): 1 (Side/Hybrid w/Audio Out)
PC In (D-Sub) + Audio In (Stereo Mini): 1 (D-Sub : Side, Audio IN : Side Hybrid w/HDMI)
PC Input Format Support: 640x480@60Hz
PC Input Format Support: 800x600@60Hz
PC Input Format Support: 1280x768@60Hz-R
PC Input Format Support: 1280x768@60Hz
PC Input Format Support: 1360x768@60Hz
PC Input Format Support: 1024x768@60Hz
PC Input Format Support: 1280x1024@60Hz
PC Input Format Support: 1920x1080@60Hz
RF Connection Input(s): 1 (Bottom)
Service Port: Yes
USB 2.0: 2 (Side)
Measurements (Approx.)
Package Carton (W x H x D): 1693 x 880 x 175 mm/ 66 3/4 x 34 3/4 x 7 inches
TV only (W x H x D): 1280x773x49(47) mm/50 1/2x30 1/2x1 15/16(1 7/8) inch
TV with Stand (W x H x D): 1280x829x369 mm/50 1/2x32 3/4x14 5/8 inch
Network Features
Apps: Yes
BIVL (System): Yes
DLNA Content: MPEG1/MPEG2PS/MPEG2TS/AVCHD/MP4Part10/MP4Part2/WMV/MP3/WMA/LPCM/JPEG
Google TV Sync: Yes
Internet_Browser: Yes(Opera)
Media Remote: Yes
Music Search: Yes
Photo MAP: Yes
Seamless Streaming: Yes
Skype: Ready
Sony Entertainment Network: Yes
TrackID: Yes
Video Search: Yes
What's New: Yes
Wi-Fi Certified: Yes
Wi-Fi Direct: Yes
Wireless LAN: Integrated
X2 Widget (System): Yes
Yahoo! Widgets: Yes
Power Consumption (in Download Acquisition Mode): 0.02kWh / Day
Power Consumption (in Operation) max.: 190W
Power Consumption (in Standby): 120V : 0.20W / 240V : 0.35W
Power Requirements (frequency): 60Hz for UL cUL 50/60Hz for other
Power Requirements (voltage): AC120V for UL cUL AC110-240V for other
Recycled & Recyclable Materials
Packaging Materials: Recycled Carton (more than 40%)
Regulation and Standards Compliance
VESA Hole Pitch: 300x300 mm /11 7/8x11 7/8 inch
VESA Hole Spacing Compatible: Yes
Sensing Features
LightSensor Technology: Yes
Service and Warranty Information
Limited Warranty Term: 18 months
TV System
Channel Coverage (Analog): VHF: 2-13/UHF: 14-69/CATV: 1-135
Channel Coverage (Digital Cable): CATV: 1-135
Channel Coverage (Digital Terrestrial): VHF: 2-13/UHF: 14-69
Color System: NTSC
Number of Tuners (Terrestrial/Cable): 1(Digital/Analog)
TV System (Digital Cable): Clear QAM
TV System (Digital Terrestrial): ATSC
Video Signal: 1080/24p (HDMI only)
Video Signal: 720/60p
Video Signal: 1080/30p (HDMI only)
Video Signal: 720/30p (HDMI only)
Video Signal: 720/24p (HDMI only)
Video Signal: 1080/60i
Video Signal: 1080/60p (HDMI / Component)
Video Signal: 480/60i
Video Signal: 480/60p
Video Features
24p True Cinema Technology: Yes
3D Comb Filter: Yes
4:3 Default: Yes
Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE): Yes
Auto Wide: Yes
Blinking Type: Line Blinking
CineMotion Reverse 3:2 Pulldown Technology: Yes
Clear Mode: Yes
Deep Color: Yes
Face Area Detection: Yes
Impulse Mode: Yes
Intelligent MPEG Noise Reduction: Yes
Live Color Technology: Yes
Motionflow Technology: Motionflow XR 960
PhotoTV HD: Yes
Picture Mode: Vivid
Picture Mode: Game-Standard
Picture Mode: Game-Original
Picture Mode: Graphics
Picture Mode: Sports
Picture Mode: Animation
Picture Mode: Standard
Picture Mode: Custom
Picture Mode: Photo-Vivid
Picture Mode: Photo-Standard
Picture Mode: Photo-Original
Picture Mode: Photo-Custom
Picture Mode: Cinema 1
Picture Mode: Cinema 2
Portable Game Mode: Fine Full
Portable Game Mode: Fine Normal
Portable Game Mode: PortableGame 1
Portable Game Mode: PortableGame 2
Scene Optimized Energy Saving: Yes
Super-resolution for Game Mode: Yes
Video Area Detection: Yes
Video Processing: X-Reality PRO
Wide Mode: Full
Wide Mode: Normal
Wide Mode: Wide Zoom
Wide Mode: Zoom
Wide Mode: Caption
Wide Mode: Normal/Full1/Full2 for PC
Weights (Approx.)
Gross (Package Carton): 38.0 kg / 83.8lb.
TV only: 26.7kg / 58.9lb.
TV with Stand: 29.6Kg / 65.2lb.
Receive Our Latest Deals
Connect With Buydig