Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Matthew 5:1-5:12
Introduction-
We will be looking at the forth Beatitude of Jesus sermon on the mount.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
We have looked at the poor in Spirit- those who are humble.
We have looked at those who mourn- inner grieve for others and for sin to be out of our lives.
Blessed are the Meek- those that have a heart for the things of God. Not being a punching bag or wimp
I believe that God put these in order because before you are able to even think about thirsting after God- I think the other three qualities have to be in place.
Be Humble
having a concern for sin in your life
have a heart for the things of God. Hate the things that God hates and love the things that God loves.
Most people when they hear this will think- there goes the preacher again telling us to put God first in our lives.
Some will say……. I need to do that. (Today you will make a change)
Some will say (to themselves)……….. I do not want to do that. ( No change will happen)
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled”
Let that settle in a minute.
Not many of us know what it is like to be hungry. We say “were starving” when we are just between meals.
During this time in Israel, the time of this writing , a workmen’s wage was one denario. No one would get fat or have any abundance on that kind of income.
3rd world countries know about being hungry, and thirsting for fresh water. The Western culture has such abundance, we have no understanding of shortage.
Most people in America live as rich people compared to those who go without. We may not eat steak everyday, but to people who do not know where their next meal is coming from, we have plenty.
They would be happy with two meals a day.
They would be happy to live in our homes- with or without heat and electricity.
These Israelites ate meat once a week at most, and ate sparingly the rest of the time.
They understood hungry.
They understood doing without.
Water was another issue. They did not just go to the faucet and pour themselves a cold glass of pure fresh, bacteria-free water.
Travelers would fight swirling sand and overwhelming heat in the hopes of finding water. Their throats so parched that they almost suffocated.
The hunger that Jesus is talking about is not waiting for mid-morning snacks.
The thirst could not be satisfied with a cup of coffee, or an iced tea.
It is someone who is starving for food, and the thirst of someone who will die unless they are given water to drink.
The righteousness that Jesus is talking about is Godly righteousness.
Righteousness by definition is acting in accord with divine or moral law.
The only way we can be righteous is through Jesus Christ. The righteous one
If we are seeking the righteous one- we will be filled.
Most people have a desire to do good. But it is vague and shallow. When the moment of decision comes, they are not prepared to make the effort and sacrifice needed.
Can you imagine this city if people desired goodness and God more than anything else?
Here is what I am saying this morning:
we can talk a good game, we can camouflage our lives.
But God is telling us that if we are hungering and thirsting for Him above all else- we will be filled and satisfied.
I have heard some say that I want peace in my life.
I want to be happy.
I want to be satisfied.
I am always searching and never finding what I am looking for.
Listen to me:
you will never find those things without Christ! Christ is peace!
Christ is happiness!
Christ sustains us and fills us.
He satisfies your needs because it is based on a relationship and not on emotions!
God provides blessings on a starved spirit- a spirit that is seeking Christ to fill them.
Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife, his children, his brothers, his sisters- yes even his own life- he cannot be my disciple”
People love to hate that verse- to say how mean and out of focus Jesus is about relationships with Him.
I want you to know what that verse means- it means compared to the love you should have for Jesus, your love for family does not compare. That in comparison it would be hatred.
Is Jesus saying that should hate your love ones? Of course not! He is saying that our love for Him must be much more.
There is a cost to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness- (do what is right by God’s standard) for they will be filled. (satisfied)
Aren’t you glad that Jesus doesn’t say I only bless those who have achieved this! This Godly goodness.
Because the only way you can do it is with the Holy Spirit active in your life, and you cannot do it by yourself. It says that He blesses those who are hungering and thirsting for it!
Blessings come to all- who in spite of failures and mistakes are clutching unto God.
H.G. Wells
“A man may be a bad musician and yet be passionately in love with music”
Did you get that?
God knows your heart. You may have made a lot of mistakes. Stay passionate and tender for the things of God.
David was never able to build the Temple of God. It was forbidden him by God. But as the revised standard version says in 1 king 8:18- God says to David- “you did well that I was in your heart”
Take courage in that!
If you are seeking God with all your heart, mind, soul, and body. You are on track!
Praise the Lord!
In God’s mercy, he judges not only accomplishments and achievements, but also our dreams. If at the end of the day we are still hungering and thirsting , God is pleased and will pour out his blessings.
Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God, my soul thirst for God, for the living God”
Jesus is the thirst-quencher.
Illustration
The young man poured out his hearts devotion on paper as he wrote to the girl of his dreams: darling, I would climb the highest mountain, swim the wildest stream, cross the burning desert, and die at the stake for you. P.S. I will see you Saturday – if it doesn’t rain.
That is some people when it comes to going to church. If it rains or there is any kind of bad weather
I love you Lord, but not that much”
Illustration-
One day the telephone rang in the preachers office of the Washington church, which president Franklin Roosevelt attended. An eager voice inquired, tell me , do you expect the president to be in church this Sunday? “That , the preacher explained patiently, “I cannot promise. But we expect God to be there, and we fancy that will be incentive enough for a reasonably large attendance.”
We have to be thirsting for the things of God!
When a person places their trust and faith in Jesus Christ, not self. His righteousness is put to their account.
Gal. 5:7
“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other”
. Two nature are at war in the believer. The strongest one will win. It will be determined by which is feed the most.
“For I know whom I have believed , and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12)
Closing:
Illustration-
My wife makes Spaghetti, one of my favorites. When I say that I am hungry, I don’t mean that I will eat it all- every bit . Even though, I do make a really big dent. The Greek words for hungering and thirsting for God is to take it all!
God is looking for those that want all that God has to offer. Not just picking at it. Those that would not be satisfied until they get it all.
People are content for partial righteousness!
I am not that bad
I’m better than I was
Not as bad as so and so
Partial goodness- person drinks, gambles, swears, loses their temper, but they would give their last penny to help someone.
Partial goodness is not enough- picking yourself up when you fall and not losing sight of God from it.
To be hungry for righteousness is to be hungry for god and thirsty to conform to His will for our lives.
God has a right to interrupt your life. He Can break in and make changes.
Empty of self and sin= full of God and righteous.
Stop trying to do it yourself- it is impossible.
Altar Call
