Do You Want Joy, Real Joy?

D. Here is #4, “Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they will

be filled.” Now most of you have heard the expression, “words have meanings,” & the meaning of any word is conditioned by the background of the person who speaks it.

You see, very few of us today know what it is to be really hungry or thirsty. In the ancient world it was very different. In a land of sand & dust & burning sun, the working man & the day laborer were never far from the border-line of real hunger & actual starvation, & water was often a scarce & precious commodity.

So this beatitude is talking about someone who is starving for food, & one who will die unless he has something to drink.

In effect, Jesus is asking, “Just how much do you want righteousness – to be right with God – to know Him as your Lord & Savior? Do you want it as much as a starving man wants food & as much as a man dying of thirst wants water?”

You know, that reminds me of the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18:21 crying out to the people of Israel, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” It was time for them to decide!

There are many people today who do not know what it is like to be blessed because they have never really “hungered & thirsted” after the things of God.

SUM. So there are the first 4 Beatitudes. They all deal with inward things. Inside I begin to realize that I’m poor in spirit. Inside I mourn my sins. Inside I turn my life over to Jesus. And inside I hunger & thirst after righteousness.

Now if all that is happening inside of me, changing my attitudes - then my actions will surely be changing too.

II. EXTERNAL - OUR ACTIONS

And now, as we look at the last 4 Beatitudes, we see that they deal with our actions.

A. Here’s #5: Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

This principle of mercy or forgiveness runs all through the N.T.

Jesus finished the story of the unforgiving debtor with this warning: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35).

And James wrote, “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful” (James 2:13).

Later in this same Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus answers the disciples’ request to teach them to pray, He teaches them to include this petition, “Forgive us our debts (our sins), as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sin against us).” (Matthew 6:12)

Then Jesus adds, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”(Matthew 6:14-15).

You see, the Bible consistently teaches that only the merciful will receive mercy. And because, through Jesus, we’ve received mercy from God, we’ve got to be merciful to others.

B. Here’s #6: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Now this is a Beatitude which demands that every one of us should stop, & think, & examine ourselves.