Spiritual Appetite
Matthew 5:6
2-8-04
Intro
Last week we found in Psalm 1 a picture of true happiness. We found it as we saw the contrast between two metaphors. A life without God was illustrated by chaff, which the wind blows away. A life rooted in God was portrayed as a tree planted by the water.
Today our text also addresses this issue of finding true happiness. In the Beatitudes Jesus is telling us what kind of person is going to ultimately enjoy the blessing of a rich, fulfilling life. In our text (Matthew 5:6) Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” NIV
What do those words tell us about life? What can we learn about true fulfillment and happiness from this Beatitude?
I. The Pursuit Jesus is recommending is a pursuit of “righteousness”.
It is interesting that Jesus does not say, “Blessed are those who diligently pursue happiness...” That’s the common human quest. Happiness is what people want. Happiness is what they are trying to find. Even our constitution guarantees that quest, “the pursuit of happiness.”
But when we launch a direct pursuit of happiness it becomes an illusive dream.
Like a soap bubbles floating in the air it is always slightly out of reach. And just as we think we have grasped it, it bursts in our hands and disappears.
Jesus is telling us what will bring happiness. But happiness is not what he is telling us to pursue. He is telling us to pursue righteousness. And when we do that happiness is comes as product of that pursuit.[1] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! Is righteousness your pursuit? That goal will bring true happiness.
The goal is to be something or someone that is right—right with God, right with other people, right in the principles we lives by.
Have you learned that, as a finite being you cannot pursue everything at the same time? We have to choose what we will pursue in life. And when we choose one thing there is ultimately not enough time for something else.
The most common reason for not pursuing something is simply this: “I would like to, I want to, but I just don’t have enough time.” The up and coming executive at the corporate office says, “I would like to have a good marriage, I would like to spend quality time with my kids—but after a 12 or 13 hour day at the office I’m too tired. I’ve got to get some rest. I just don’t have time.”
The Christian who feels guilty about his prayer life says, “I know I ought to pray more and I want to get into the word more, but I just don’t have time to do it.”
Time is the big issue. Or is it? The real issue is not time but priorities. All of us have the same amount of time, 24 hours a day. Each and every one of us only have enough time to do what? We only have time to do the priorities. For every here some things are not going to get done and some things are going to get done. This is where our accountability lies: We decide our own priorities! We decide what will get done and what won’t get done.
If we decide righteousness is priority it will dramatically affect our schedules.[2]
The fact you are here this morning indicates that you have placed some priority on the pursuit of righteousness. The evidence of our pursuit of righteousness is found in the way we invest our time. If I am pursuing righteousness I will pray, I will find time for God; I will gaze upon the beauty of His holiness and be changed from glory to glory[3].
Worship will characterize my life. I will want to know His will through His word.
It will be my meditation day and night. “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.[4]” A life in pursuit of righteousness is a life lived in the word.
The pursuit Jesus calls up to in our text is a pursuit of righteousness.
II. The Passion with which we are to seek righteousness is illustrated by “hunger and thirst”.
Jesus does not use one metaphor to make his point, but two. And he picks the two most basic, most powerful drives we can experience: the desire for food when one is starving to death and the quest for water when one is dying of thirst. In other words, the passion Jesus is talking about is by no means incidental to what we are doing.
A person that is really, really hungry does not think food would be nice to have—it is a must. Everything else becomes incidental. The point of focus is the food. It becomes his number one priority.[5]
In this video clip from “The Other Side of Heaven”[6] a young missionary makes a decision. He decides that learning the language of this island in Tanga is no longer an option. It becomes his priority and he pursues it with a passion. Watch how he comes to that conclusion and how that decision affects his behavior.
Video Clip
What was the first step toward this young man’s decision to lean this language? He had an experience that caused him to realize the importance of that. Without the ability to communicate to these people in their language his greater goal of proselyting these people could never be realized. I am not contending for his doctrine because in the rest of the movie we learn that his doctrine was wrong[7]. But I do suggest that before anybody pursues anything with a passion, the importance of that objective must be recognized. This man’s failure drove him into a pursuit. It did not cause him to give up and quit.
He refused to stay where he was in his language ability. He pursued passionately what he felt that he needed the most.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how important is righteousness to you? How important is it to have a wholesome relationship with God? How important is it to have a conscience clear of offense? How important is it to be the right kind of person?
May our response to those questions place a right relationship with God as a 10 and the scale of importance. “What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world (meets every other goal); yet loses his own soul?”[8] I know in my brain that righteousness is the ticket to real happiness.
There is an inseparable connection between godliness and real happiness. To be truly happy one must be truly righteous. We know that only God can give us that. He gives it to us as a gift from the cross of Christ. The moment a person commits himself to trust and obey Christ that person stands legally right with God. But the pursuit doesn’t end there. It’s not just a pursuit of a legal standing alone. It’s not just trying to find an escape from eternal judgment. It is a passionate desire to be god-like in our character, to be conformed to the image of Christ, to express a righteous nature in the practical day-to-day activities of life.
Just as hunger is a natural desire of our physical bodies, a passion for righteousness is a natural expression of our new nature in Christ[9]. When I have been born again and become a partaker of the divine nature, something in me is repulsed by evil and desires holiness, purity, and righteousness. A passion for righteousness is powerful evidence that a person has indeed been born of the Spirit. A healthy spiritual appetite is proof that the life that is in us is thriving. What does a diminished appetite indicate? It can indicate that we are not spiritually healthy.
How does a person nurture a healthy spiritual appetite?
1. We’ve already mentioned recognizing the value of righteousness.
Valuing it enough to make it priority. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His (what?) righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”[10]
I was never able to tithe until that became the first check I wrote. Until it was the financial priority there was never enough left over to tithe. If seeking godliness is something we do after we do everything else, it won’t happen.
2. I must reject those things that would kill my appetite for God.
Spiritual junk food can include legitimate entertainment and other activities. It’s legitimate for a kid to eat a little candy. But if the healthy food is not his main source of nourishment—if he eats too much candy—he will not be hungry for healthy food.
In 1 Cor. 10 Paul was giving instruction concerning issues of conscience. In verse 23 he writes, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” NKJV
I refuse some things simply because they do not enhance my pursuit of God.
They reduce my appetite for God and His kingdom.
We know from Gal 5:16-17 that to be spiritually healthy there are desires that must not be indulged. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 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, so that you do not do what you want.” NIV
Starve what you want to die and feed what you want to grow.[11]
3. I must intentionally feed my desire for more of God. Ps 34:8 “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Have you had a tasted of God’s goodness? Has He forgiven you of your sins? Have you experienced His love and mercy? Even a taste of that will whet our appetite for more.
But still a decision of the heart is involved. Peter wrote, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:2-3 NIV
Worship stirs our desire toward God. Spend some time counting your blessings and giving thanks to the Lord and you will come away wanting more of God. Spend some time in the word—feasting on truth—hearing the heart of God toward you—and you will want more. Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, Peter says, desire the sincere milk of the word and let it nurture your spiritual growth.
We can choose to nurture our hunger for righteousness or we can feed our love for the world and the things of the world. But both desires will not flourish in the same soul.
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” NIV
Jesus promises something to those who will go after righteousness with a passion.
III. The Prize at the end of the pursuit is satisfaction and fulfillment, “for they shall be filled.”
Notice the certainty of Jesus promise—“for they shall be filled”. The filling Jesus is talking about brings real happiness. To be filled with God—to be transformed and made righteous—to be filled with His Spirit is the key to everything else. It is a filling that brings satisfaction and godly contentment.
Think about the tranquility of Psalm 23. “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” NIV
Paths of righteousness lead to green pastures and still waters. When we are on the right path and pursuing the right thing, the end result looks like what is described in Psalm 23.
But is Psalm 23 a true picture of what we are experiencing. Let me share with you a modern version of Psalm 23 that is a more accurate picture of many lives in America. This is “Psalm 23 Revisited”.
The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.
It makes me lie down only when exhausted.
It leads me into great depression, it hounds my soul.
It leads me in circles of frenzy for activity sake.
Even though I run frantically from task to task,
I’ll never get it all done.
For "my ideal" is with me;
Deadlines and the need for approval, they drive me.
They demand performance from me beyond the limits of my schedule.
Surely fatigue and time pressure shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever."[12]
If that version reflects the life you are living perhaps God has something better for you. When we see the contrast of that version of Psalm 23 with the biblical version it is easy to see that some of our pursuits may not be benefiting us as much as we had hoped they would.
What are you pursing in life? Is the result of that pursuit quietness, rest, and fulfillment or turmoil and exhaustion? There is a pursuit that brings fulfillment and satisfaction to our lives. It is not a direct pursuit of happiness but first a pursuit of righteousness—right relationship with God. Perhaps God is stirring your heart this morning to take a step in that direction.
Altar Call
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985) p. 75
[2] Ibid, p. 91
[3] 2 Corinthians 3:18
[4] Psalm 119:11
[5] Psalm 27:4 “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” NIV
[6] Showed scene where he erroneously used the word for “outhouse” then went to a small island to focus on learning the language.
[7] The movie produced by Walt Disney is based upon a true story about a young Mormon missionary.
[8] Mark 8:36
[9] Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia Volume 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978) p. 478.
[10] Matthew 6:33 KJV
[11] I have heard T.D. Jakes make this statement in one of his books.
[12] Milt Johnson, Sermon entitled “When Depression Blankets You Like a Cloud” preached October 2001 at Chantilly Bible Church in Chantilly, VA. His source: Henry Miltonberger, “Contact” (Vol 52, No. 2, p. 7)
