Beattitude 4 Series

Beatitude Series # 4

Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ

Matt 5:6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled

Original date May 1, 1999

Revised May 19, 2001

Lisa and Brad got married. Lisa decided to be a nice little wife and made and packed Brad’s lunch for him to take to work.

The first day Brad opened his lunchbox and found one tiny little sandwich. Not really more than a mouthful, sad to say, and he was hungry the rest of the day. That evening when he got home, he told Lisa that it hadn’t been enough.

Next day, Brad opened his lunchbox to find *two* sandwiches, but STILL they were tiny things and he heard his stomach growling for the rest of the afternoon. Once again, that evening he asked Lisa to please put more in.

Brad found *three* sandwiches the following day, but he’s a hungry boy and once again was not satisfied. Another talk with our Lisa was needed.

This time, though, she got annoyed about it. She’d been trying very hard to please Brad and he just wasn’t being very appreciative of her efforts. So she took a whole loaf of bread, sliced it in half, and make a great big sandwich out of it.

When Brad opened his lunchbox the next day, he rolled his eyes and sighed, "Oh no. Back to one sandwich!"

IN THE ANTARCTIC SUMMER OF 1908-9, SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON AND THREE COMPANIONS ATTEMPTED TO TRAVEL TO THE SOUTH POLE FROM THEIR WINTER QUARTERS. THEY SET OFF WITH FOUR PONIES TO HELP CARRY THE LOAD. WEEKS LATER, THEIR PONIES DEAD, RATIONS ALL BUT EXHAUSTED, THEY TURNED BACK TOWARD THEIR BASE, THEIR GOAL NOT ACCOMPLISHED. ALTOGETHER, THEY TREKKED 127 DAYS. ON THE RETURN JOURNEY, AS SHACKLETON RECORDS IN THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC, THE TIME WAS SPENT TALKING ABOUT FOOD -- ELABORATE FEASTS, GOURMET DELIGHTS, SUMPTUOUS MENUS. AS THEY STAGGERED ALONG, SUFFERING FROM DYSENTERY, NOT KNOWING WHETHER THEY WOULD SURVIVE, EVERY WAKING HOUR WAS OCCUPIED WITH THOUGHTS OF EATING.

Please stand as we read together Matthew 5:6

Pray

I recently went to the doctor and He told me I need to lose a little weight.

I said how much.

40 pounds

So I told him he was losing a little hair

What kind of diet are you on

Junk food ads weight and does not truly satisfy your hunger

Hunger is satisfied with healthy food

The sugar filled bar of chocolate may last an hour, but then what?

Spiritual hunger is much the same way

Ralph Barton, one of the top cartoonists in years gone by, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his own life: "I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great

countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four

hours of the day."

A. St. Augustine – Our hearts are restless until they find they rest in You,

O Lord

B. True, permanent, fulfillment & satisfaction isn’t found things

1. Drugs, alcohol, sex, bigger houses, faster cars, more money in the

bank, or rank on the collar

C. It is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ

Woman at the well – John 4

Married 5 five times & now was living with a man

Jesus said he would give her living water that will become a spring within her

welling up to eternal life

What will you feed your spirit? Worldly principals. Desires, and possessions

Or the truth of Jesus which will not make you hungry again in an hour but will last a lifetime.

Attitude determines behavior while character determines our conduct. Then there ought to be some Character traits of spiritual hungry people

I. Spiritually Hungry people Hunger for Holiness rather than Happiness

We need to understand God’s goal for us is Holiness over Happiness

The purpose of our Holiness is that we be conformed to the image of His son

II. Spiritually Hungry people are Sick of Sin

(IL) Little Johnny’s father caught him in telling a lie. Dad said, “Don’t you know

the difference between right & wrong?” Johnny told him that he did. His

dad said, “But you always choose the wrong!” Johnny said, “I know, dad.

And here you thought it was all guesswork.”

A. Laugh about it

1. Consider the number of jokes we hear about things like drunkenness,

sexual immorality, etc.

2. Johnny above – dad said it was wrong, Johnny said it was guesswork,

God says it’s sin

B. Play around with it

1. Sometimes we want to see how close we can get to the line without

crossing over

There once was a king that was looking for a new chariot driver. He interviewed three drivers, and asked each of them, "How close can you come to the edge of the cliff at a full gallop and not fall over the edge?" (the cliff had a 500 ft drop-off"