The Blessing Of A Hungry Heart Series

The purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to inform God’s disciples of the qualities they are to possess and display to a watching world.

So far we’ve come to see that a blessed Christian is someone who is:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

• Blessed are those who know they live under God’s grace all the time, and can offer nothing to buy His favour.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

• Blessed are those who saw that things are out of line with God’s will, and are moved by the things that move the heart of God.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

• Blessed are those who are humble and submissive to God.

• They are able to rest upon God’s sovereignty rule, and let God have His way.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Notice there is a progression.

• We need to first be poor in spirit - understanding our need of God – only then can we reach this 4th Beatitude.

• No man ever becomes hungry and thirsty after righteousness until he is convinced of his spiritual poverty.

• The poor in spirit, will mourn because we are far from God’s will, and humble themselves before God, and seek for righteousness.

• Then they will learn to extend that grace and be merciful to others.

• And gained purity in heart, be peacemakers and eventually even to endure persecution for Christ’s sake.

“Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

• The fact that Jesus uses these two words – hunger and thirst – shows that man has a need, an emptiness longing to be filled.

• To be filled not by anything else but by the pursuit of God & His righteousness.

• "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man that only God can fill." - Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

• If Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you” – then it can only mean this, that God alone can fully satisfies us.

• There is a need and there is a fulfilment. And God is our only true fulfilment in life.

• Without God, there will always be emptiness in our life. We can’t find fulfilment apart from Him.

The only gratifying thing in life is to seek God and His righteousness.

• To be free from sin and right with God; to be all that God has meant us to be.

• The one who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.

• Apparently, no other pursuits can guarantee your true satisfaction.

It’s amazing what Jesus says about man’s hunger and thirst.

• In John 6:35 Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

• In John 4:13-14 Jesus told the Samaritan woman by the well: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The spiritual urge is not our first urge, but we need to have it.

A man will never hunger and thirst after righteousness until he has ceased to hunger and thirst after perishable things.

• By nature we hunger and thirst after the things of this world – be it things or positions.

• As long as these things gratify the heart, we cannot serve the Lord. We cannot serve two gods.

• As long as we cherish the idols of our silver and gold, they will have control of our heart.

• As long as we still pursue the things of this world, we will never experience true hunger and thirst after righteousness.

• And therefore will never be filled. Only those who crave for righteousness - the things of God - will be filled.

• To be fulfilled and happy, we need to move away from things.

In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon said he filled his life with pleasures and enjoyments of all kinds, undertook great projects, amassed possessions and power.

• Yet life is meaningless. Everything is meaningless, until you learn to FEAR GOD and keep His commandments.

• For this is the whole duty of man. (Eccl 12:13)

The reason why the things we have did not make us happy is because they CANNOT make us happy.

• A large bank wants to get people to borrow money from them, and advertises with this question: “What do you need to make you happy?”