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"
The first driver said, "Sire, I can get within 3 cubits of the edge without going over."
The second said, "Sire, I can come as close as 1 cubit and still not fall over the edge."
The third said, "Sire, are your crazy? I am going to stay as far away from the edge of the cliff as I can.’
The ruler used the third man as a driver.
We should not try to be close to the world, but stay as far away as we can.
In the Old Testament Samson was an example of playing with fire & you’re going to get burned
a. Great physical strength – little spiritual or moral strength
1. Married a girl who wasn’t Jewish
2. Went in to a prostitute
3. Gave in to Delilah, telling her the source of his strength
b. Result of playing with sin was having his eyes gouged out &
becoming a slave, humiliation, loss of dignity & self-respect, his
eyesight, and ultimately his death
c. Sad words of Scripture – Judges 16:20: “…but he did not know that
the Lord had left him.”
2. Playing with sin puts on a slippery slope that will have consequences
C. Despise it & avoid it all cost
1. Avoid it like the plague – don’t allow it near us
2. Know that it is an absolute killer
a. don’t believe that? Ask Jesus, He became sin for us, & then He
died
III. Spiritually Hungry people are Observed by their Obedience
. Step further – if not careful we can allow our obedience to become a performance
Obedience is seeking God with your whole heart. Performance is having a quite time because you’ll feel guilty if you don’t.
Obedience is finding ways to let the Word of God dwell in you richly. Performance is quickly scanning a passage so you can check it off your Bible reading plan.
Obedience is inviting guests to your home for dinner. Performance is feeling anxiety about whether every detail of the meal will be perfect.
Obedience is following God’s prompting to start a small group. Performance is reluctance to let anyone else lead the group because they might not do it as well as you would.
Obedience is saying yes to whatever God asks of you. Performance is saying yes to whatever people ask of you.
Obedience is following the promptings of God’s Spirit. Performance is following a list of man-made requirements.
Obedience springs from fear of God. Performance springs from fear of failure.
Hungering and thirsting for righteousness can be seen in our obedience
A MAN NAMED BOB BECAME ENVIOUS OF HIS FRIENDS BECAUSE THEY HAD LARGER AND MORE LUXURIOUS HOMES THAN HE DID. SO HE LISTED HIS HOUSE WITH A REAL ESTATE FIRM, PLANNING TO SELL IT AND TO PURCHASE A MORE IMPRESSIVE HOME. SHORTLY AFTERWARD, AS HE WAS READING THE CLASSIFIED SECTION OF THE NEWSPAPER, HE SAW AN AD FOR A HOUSE THAT SEEMED JUST RIGHT. HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED THE REALTOR AND SAID, "A HOUSE DESCRIBED IN TODAY’S PAPER IS EXACTLY WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR. I WOULD LIKE TO GO THROUGH IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" THE AGENT ASKED HIM SEVERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT IT AND THEN REPLIED, "BUT BOB, THAT’S YOUR HOUSE.”
We don’t have to go out looking for superficial happiness
Because Jesus wants to give you real joy real Fulfillment today
