Title: A Great Church Desires The Righteousness Of God
Bible Book: Matthew 5 : 6
Author: Sammy Burgess
Subject: Righteousness; Desires; Church
Objective:
Introduction
It goes without saying, if you just simply open your eyes and look around, you will notice that most people you meet are unhappy. This is sad to say, especially in the type of world of technology and opportunities that are before us. Most people are disappointed, confused; discouraged; most people are desperately searching for ‘happiness’. They are searching for something or someone to make them happy. Yet, the more they search, the less ‘happiness’ they find.
Some are going to fortunetellers. Several million dollars are spent each year on “fortune tellers”; books on “astrology” to get the wrong answers to their questions. Many cannot live with the wrong answers to their questions and some 20,000 people decide that the cure for their unhappiness is to take their own life. Others tried to drown their sorrows in liquor, but they found out that their problems could swim.
Most people I know are in the pursuit of happiness. The only problem is they have never truly attained what they would call ‘true happiness’. They are looking for something that Jesus says can be theirs if they would simply take it.
There are 3 things that are found in every person in this building right now.
(1) Every person has a Past that is filled with sin.
(2) Every person has a Present that is filled with sorrow.
(3) Every person has a Future that is filled with speculation.
You can say that people are in need of true happiness. The problem that you will find with those around you is that they are looking for the right thing; they are just looking for the right thing in the wrong places.
There are those who actually think that PEOPLE will make them happy. Now, it is good to have “real friends”; but a real friend is hard to find. I know of good people who think that the more friends they have, the more secure they feel. What you need to understand is that “friends” do not come in ‘quantity” they come in “quality.” Happiness cannot be found in people because people will eventually let you down.
This is the reason why so many men and women jump from one relationship to another, and then another. They truly believe that if they can just find the right person to live with; if they can just find the right person to take care of them, then they will have true happiness.
God intended on each one of us to follow His Will by finding the right person. Even when you find the right person to spend the rest of your life with, that still does not give you full satisfaction and true happiness in life. There is more to life than that.
There are those who actually think that PROSPERITY will make them happy. It is good to have the things you want and desire. It would be wonderful to know that you would never have to worry about your financial status again. But even then, being blessed with all the material things you need doesn’t necessarily give you the assurance of real happiness.
There are those who are finding out that if you were prosperous, [and this is what you are relying on to give you happiness] - you might be a little more comfortable in your misery, but that is not going to make you a happy person.
You and I know this to be true because the Lord tells us that through the words of the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 6:9,10- "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and unto many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
There are those who actually think that PLEASURES will make them happy. Though people might do many things for entertainment and try to make them self feel happy, those were not the things that made them happy. Listen carefully, just about anything you do for entertainment, though it will bring some temporary relief from the suffering of the pain you might be enduring, pleasure in and of it self will not make you truly happy.
We know this to be true because we know what the Bible says. We are told in the Old Testament about the experience of King Solomon who sought to find happiness in pleasure. He gave himself to all kinds of wild parties. If you had gone by the palace of Solomon on any given night, you would have seen people streaming in and out. You would have heard loud music. The wine and liquor would be flowing. Yet, Solomon, by his own testimony said, "I looked on all the works which my hands had wrought and on the labor that I had labored to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit."
I want to make something very clear. The Lord will not condemn you for having prosperity; for having people in your life; and for having pleasure. God has given us these things for us to enjoy. But the Lord hasn’t given you these things in order to give you “real happiness.”
Happiness is not necessarily having; happiness is not necessarily possessing; happiness is not necessarily a feeling - - HAPPINESS IS BEING!
We have been thinking about “The Greatness Of The Local Church.” There are some of you that desire for this Church to be great in the eyes of God. You want God’s best for this Church. But in order to have a Great Church, there must be the making of Great Christians. I believe that there are Christians in this building who are unhappy for some reason. It could be that the reason you are not experiencing ‘real happiness’ is because you have lost your joy in the Salvation God has given to you.
We are going to discover that real happiness can be found, but it can only be obtained through the Lord and by what He has told us to do.
What the Lord Jesus has done for us here in Matthew 5 is give us some basic principles (some spiritual blueprints) for real happiness. Each time that our Lord says, “Blessed” He is actually saying; “Exceedingly happy is the person that follows these principles in their lives. This is the way to real happiness.”
We are going to focus on just one verse; 5:6 - “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” There are 3 blessed truths that Jesus gives to us in this one verse about having a desire for God’s Righteousness.
I. The Desire For Righteousness
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.” In order to understand what the real meaning of hungering and thirsting is we must first notice the 2 sides of it.
What it is not!
Notice what Jesus did not say. Jesus did not say to Hunger and Thirst for the Physical. He is not talking about being physically hungry for meat that you eat; He is not talking about being physically thirsty for water or other things that you drink. Now, you have to admit that you are not happy when you are physically hungry and physically thirst (unless you are fasting; and even this is not a particularly happy situation).
Jesus did not say to Hunger and Thirst for the Material. There are some people that have appetites for material things that cannot be satisfied; because it matters not how much they get, they want more. It is amazing that there are people who can never be satisfied with what they have. They hunger and thirst for more.
Lucifer hungered for power - this is the reason he fell from heaven.
Nebuchednezzar hungered for praise - but God put him out in the field and let him chew like a cow.
The Rich Fool hungered for possessions - and went to hell.
The Prodigal Son hungered for pleasure - and he lost his fellowship
When we read of these people, they came to the end of it all. They found that “vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Soap bubble of soap bubbles. It is beautiful; but when you grab for it - it disappears.”
What it is!
Look at “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness” Many do not understand what this means. Do you know why so many people are miserable? Many times they try to fit into a mold and [say] the right things, and [do] the right things. And instead of being ‘real’, they just try to ACT LIKE everyone else and they become a hypocrite. This causes them to become miserable on the inside. This affects them on the inside. (They have no joy) - (they have no happiness) - (they have no zeal) - (they have no realness in their Christian life). They are just not happy.
Why are people unhappy? (1)- This is what they are seeking. No one will be happy if they try to be. You just can’t think yourself happy. Happiness is serving the Lord. Happiness is the by-product of knowing and living a vibrant Christian life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Happiness is what you have when you seek the Lord with all your heart. “Happy are they that seek righteousness”
People are breaking their necks trying to get what the Lord Jesus has already promised to give them. (Now, I am not talking about a ‘holy high’. There are people who live from Revival to Revival; from special Sunday to special Sunday; from special event to special event. There are Christians who live from blessing to blessing.)
Someone has said: ‘It should be said of you that you are happy for no earthly reason.’ When Jesus said “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness” He was talking about a person desiring and longing for God’s Righteousness. (How does a person obtain God’s Righteousness?)
A. Righteousness Begins At Salvation
Jesus Christ and “Righteousness” are inseparable. A person can only experience “righteousness” through being saved being born-again. You see, Jesus is called “The Lord Of Righteousness.” Jeremiah 33:16.
Having the Righteousness of God means that we can have a “right standing” with God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “He had made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
There is nothing you can do outside of the Lord Jesus to obtain “righteousness”. There are people who will work their way into hell, but will never work their way into Heaven. People are trying to do the “right” things in order to get into a right standing with God. But the Word of God tells us that “all our righteousness are as filthy rags.” Only Jesus can make you righteous. Only Jesus can give you real happiness. Only Jesus can fill your life with peace, joy, and fulfillment. ONLY JESUS CHRIST CAN SATISFY YOUR SOUL!
Listen carefully. Any person can be saved when the Holy Spirit convicts them and draws their attention to Jesus. When the Holy Spirit puts that desire in a man/woman - - NO ONE WILL STAY LOST WHO HONESTLY DESIRES TO BE SAVED! The Holy Spirit will not force a person to be saved.
B. Righteousness Continues Through Sanctification
Once a person is saved, there will a desire, a longing, a hunger, and a thirst for righteousness. A desire for God’s Righteousness will be a normal craving in their life.
If the Salvation experience you had didn’t change your life and your desires, you need to change what you call ‘your salvation.’ “If any man be in Christ, he/she is a new creature; old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new.” A person who has truly been born again will be changed; their life will be different.
Now, if you have been saved, a hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness should be a continual event. You see, when you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you got all of Jesus you need; because all of His Strength, all of His Grace; all of His Mercy; all of His Glory; all of His Life lives inside you.
Now, just because you have all of Jesus living within you doesn’t mean that this is all there is to being saved and living the Christian life. Living the Christian life is a moment by moment, day by day way of living. There will be something on the inside of every Christian that will crave God’s Righteousness. If that desire is not fulfilled, then there will always be something missing in your life.
Let me explain it to you this way. My wife is literally the best cook in the world. She cooks a great “sweet potato casserole” some cook burnt offerings. She makes a big dish of it. I get my fill of that casserole and then some. I have eaten so much of her casserole that I was afraid to sit down because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get up. *The best thing about her casserole is that it doesn’t matter how full I get; it doesn’t matter stuffed I feel, I know that eventually I am going to be hungry again, and I will be able to eat more casserole.
Now, I believe the same is true concerning God’s Righteousness. If you have truly tasted God’s Righteousness, you will not be satisfied with just being saved. You were filled with all of Heaven the moment you received the Lord Jesus Christ, but the joy of being saved is that you can experience the Lord on a daily basis. And if you have truly been saved, there will be a hungering, and a thirsting for God’s Righteousness. You will always have something missing in your life if you have lost your appetite for God’s Righteousness.
God wants His Church, His Children to be CONSUMED with His Righteousness!
God wants His Church, His Children to be CONTROLLED by His Righteousness!
We need to make note of something here. I want you to listen to what the Lord was actually saying in this one verse.
In the Greek language, verbs such as hunger and thirst are normally followed by the word “of”. A Greek would say; ‘I hunger for “OF” food’ … ‘I thirst for “OF” water’. He would never say; (‘I hunger for food’); (‘I thirst for water’). If a Greek said this that meant that he hungered for all the food there was in the world; and thirst for all the water in the world. So for a Greek to say; ‘I hunger for “OF” food’ … ‘I thirst for “OF” water’ simply meant that he wanted enough food and water for his present situation. That is the reason the word “of” was put there.
Now, the word “of” is normal Greek language. It is found throughout all the New Testament (except) in one place. Here in (Matt.5:6) the word “of” is not found. If a Greek was quoting this verse, he would say it this way; ‘I hunger for righteousness … I thirst for righteousness’.
For a Greek writer to write this, he would be expressing that he doesn’t want just a little righteousness just to get by for the moment; he wanted, he longed, he hungered for all the Righteousness of God that there is; he thirst for all the Righteousness of God that there is. He didn’t just want enough righteousness to get him on a holy high, he wanted all of God and all of God’s righteousness he could get.
BLESSED; HAPPY IS THE PERSON WHO WANTS ALL OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS HE CAN GET AND HE CAN HOLD!
Why are people unhappy? Some people are unhappy because they are seeking it instead of living it! Some people are unhappy because (2)- There is sin in their life.
Suppose that I had an infection in my body. I go to the doctor and he gives me a shot to kill the pain; but he doesn’t examine me to see what the real problem is. All the shot is going to do is put me in another world. What the doctor has done is just deaden the symptoms he has not dealt with the disease … Before long, I will have to go back to the doctor and get another shot … and then go back and get another).
This is the reason why so many Christians act the way they do. They come to Church, expecting us to give them a shot of good teaching; good singing; good preaching; they want us to help them feel better. They want us to give them a special feel good shot of a couple of special meetings and special services a year. What happens during this time is they begin to feel better, but nothing has changed in their spiritual life. All they want to do is deaden the symptom instead of dealing with the disease.
The antidote for sin-sickness is the Righteousness of God. The antidote for any spiritual sickness is the Righteousness of God. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness”
If a person is going to be truly happy, then they must do it God’s way. God doesn’t desire for His Children to be casual, mundane, passionless, and careless. God doesn’t desire for this Church to grow into a big-crowd, little commitment mentality that characterizes so much of our evangelical Christianity today. God wants His people to desire His Righteousness. God wants His Church to be passionate about His Righteousness.
Righteousness means to be right with God! *To Hunger and Thirst for God’s Righteousness means to hunger and thirst to be right with God! True Happiness is simply being Right with God!
When a person is spiritually HUNGRY - it signifies a need for nourishment. Being spiritually hungry is a desire, fed by a painful lack that God’s Will be done in their life.
When a person is spiritually THIRSTY - it speaks of a yearning, a passionate desire for spiritual greatness! A HUNGER AND THIRST FOR GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL PRODUCE HAPPINESS!
Happiness is a state of well being involving a inward joy!
II. The Display Of Righteousness
Now, the Sermon on the Mount is the text for the Beatitudes. What Jesus did was He gave the Beatitudes first, and then He put the meat on the bones. Jesus gives the Marks of real hunger and thirst for God’s Righteousness. Jesus explains how you can know if you are really hungry and thirsty or not.
Generally, when someone says that they are hungry, they mean that it has been several hours since they last ate. But this is not real hunger. The kind of hunger of which Jesus spoke of could not be satisfied by a mid-morning snack. This kind of thirst of which Jesus spoke of could not be quenched by a brief trip to the water cooler. Jesus was speaking of people who are in desperate and dire situations like those who are suffering from famine. How can you really know if you have a hunger and thirst for God’s Righteousness?
A. You Will Have Right Affections
Turn one chapter over to Matthew 6:19-21- “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: [20]- But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: [21]- For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.”
You don’t have to look very far to realize that many people in the Church have wrong cravings. They seem to crave the material things of this world rather than hunger and thirst for the things of God. [Jesus gives to us 3 enemies to the material world.]
Unnoticed Moth! Notice the word “moth”. Back in the days when Jesus was giving this Sermon; when a man had nice clothes, people knew one thing about him; it was a sign that he had the money. It was a sign that he was rich. Money was no object to him.
Now what Jesus was saying is that when that man would put up his material things back in his closet, there was a little thing called a “moth”. That moth would get into his clothing; then when that man would pull his clothes out of the closet he would find that the clothes he was so proud of would be full of holes. The value of his material things lasted but for a short period of time. They brought very little pleasure to him.
Now, when a person gets thoroughly right with God, these things that you are proud of won’t mean much to you. You see them for what they really are. You see them literally filled with holes and you wonder how you could ever love something like that.
Jesus mentioned the (2)- Undermining Rust! Look at the word “rust”. Jesus said that there is a little thing called rust that will eventually destroy those possessions. Rust is something you don’t see at first, but later on it will begin to surface. On many occasions, the more you try to rub out the rust, the more rust you’ll find.
Then there is the (3)- Unseen Thief! Notice the word “thief”. The thief does not come in just to see what you have; he comes to take what you have. He comes to take away something from you. On many occasions, a thief has stolen something very valuable from a certain family.
Keep in mind that Jesus never condemned a person for having material things. But there is a problem when you begin to hunger and thirst for the material things more than you do for the spiritual things God has for you.
If you really desire the things of God, you will begin to lay up the right possessions; the possessions that are eternal. A person that is really hungry and thirsty for the Righteousness of God, their affection will be set on things above, and not on the things that are on this earth.
Isaiah 55:2, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”
WHEN THE TITANIC SANK ELEVEN MILLIONAIRES WENT TO THEIR WATERY GRAVE WITH HUNDREDS OF OTHERS ON BOARD. THE COMBINED WEALTH OF THOSE WHO DIED WAS $200,000,000 ... AND THIS WAS IN 1912 DOLLARS! ONE RICH MAN, MAJOR A.H. PEUCHEN OF TORONTO WAS ONE OF THE FORTUNATE SURVIVORS, BUT ONY BECAUSE OF A WISE LAST MINUTE DECISION HE MADE. WHEN THE SHIP WAS SINKING HE HAD $300,000 ON BOARD IN MONEY AND JEWELS ALONG WITH SECURITIES IN HIS CABIN. HE STARTED FOR HIS CABIN TO SAVE HIS WEALTH BUT THEN STOPPED IN HIS TRACKS AND TOLD HIMSELF, "THE MONEY SUDDENLY SEEMED TO ME A MOCKERY AT THAT MOMENT, INSTEAD I STOPPED AND PICKED UP 3 ORANGES!" HIS APPETITES CHANGED AND THIS NEW FOCUS SAVED HIS LIFE!
How Do You Know If You Are Really Hungry & Thirsty For God’s Righteousness? You Will Have Right Affections!
B. You Will Have Right Allegiance
Look down in Matthew 6:24- “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON.”
The word “mammon” simply describes what a person trusts in. In other words this is ‘the seed of a person’s trust and affections’.
What satisfies you? What are you trusting in? Who are you trusting in? The real question is: IS JESUS CHRIST ENOUGH TO SATISFY YOUR SOUL?
I heard a story about a fellow by the name of Jerome Greene. A boy was talking to his girl friend one day and he said; (‘I don’t have the money that Jerome Greene has, but I love you.’). His girl friend didn’t say anything. Then he said; (‘Honey; I don’t have the house that Jerome Greene has, but I sure do love you.’) Again, his girl friend didn’t say a word. He said; (‘I don’t have a brand new Porsche like Jerome Greene, but I sure do love you.’) To which she finally replied; ‘Honey, I love you to but tell a little bit more about this fellow by the name of Jerome Greene.’
I am afraid that what has happened in our Churches today is that we can now come into our Worship Services, sing the praises of God, and yet know down deep in our heart that our allegiance is not to Him. And the sad thing is that God knows it, and so do we. (This is the reason why so many of our Church members are unhappy)
Jesus said back in Matt.15:8,9- “This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. 9- But in vain they do worship Me”
You see, everybody is trusting in something or someone. Man is made that he must live by faith. Therefore, you cannot live without placing your trust in somewhere, something, or someone. There are so many that are trying to serve 2 masters and they are driving themselves crazy doing it. (They want to have God and have the world at the same time. They want to look to God but also look to the world in order to be completely satisfied)
I heard about a man who visited a foreign country. When he got off the airplane, he noticed a beautiful girl. In fact, she was so beautiful, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He began to follow her. Every where she went, he went with her. He never dreamed that he could find such a beautiful girl. For days, all he did was follow her.
This girl finally had all that she could take of this. She turned around and asked the man what he was doing following her everywhere she went. He replied; (‘You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I can’t take my eyes off of you. There is no one that compares to you. I will never look for another girl.’) About that time, she said; ‘If you think I am the most beautiful girl you have ever seen, you ought to see my sister. She is right behind you.’
He immediately turned around to look for her sister, and when he did, he was staring at the most ugly woman he had ever seen in his life. He was furious. He turned to back to that beautiful girl and said; (‘You deceived me; You said that she was prettier than you were. You deceived me.’) She said; ‘You too have deceived me. If you thought that I was the most beautiful girl you have ever seen; if you thought that there was no one that could compare to me then why did you turn and look for my sister.’
There are too many Christians who have said with their lips that Jesus is so precious to them. They have proclaimed that Jesus is the only One that could ever satisfy them. Yet, when they leave the Church, they go looking for someone else, or they will look to something else to satisfy them.
Here is what most Church members do. Notice the word “despise”. This word means ‘to under-evaluate’. They are telling Jesus one thing with their mouth, but their heart is saying something else. They are trying to serve and satisfy 2 masters at the same time. Here is the lesson that Jesus is teaching here. If you are going to hold on to Him with both hands - then you don’t have any other hands to cling to anything else.
Let’s get real honest for just a moment. I don’t believe the greatest problem with the Church is the gross sin of alcohol; dirty movies; drugs. The biggest problem in our Churches is that we have too many people who are trying to serve 2 masters at the same time, and they cannot find any satisfaction whatsoever.
What the Church needs is some Christians who will say; ‘I am going to cling to Jesus Christ. I am going to hold onto Jesus with both hands. I am going to fully trust Him and Him only. I am going to be loyal to Him. I am going to invest my whole body, soul and spirit to Him. I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS - AND I AM NOT ABOUT TO TURN MY BACK ON HIM.’
We are not going to have Real Revival until this happens. But once we commit totally to the Lord - then (and only then) will there be joy and excitement in our Christian life. You will still have difficulties, disappointments, and distractions - but your heart will be so committed to Him that you will not think about turning back to this world.
You should never find yourself saying; ‘This is my life; my job; my house; my family’ … When you begin to talk like this, Jesus gets lost in the maze of this world. In order to be fully happy your allegiance must be to the Lord Jesus Christ.
How do you know if you have a hunger and thirst for God’s Righteousness?
C. You Will Have Right Ambitions
Notice Matthew 6:33- “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The “Kingdom of God” (here in this verse) is not a place, it is a rule. (“Seek first that God will actively rule in your life”). Your desire will be to please God and let Him rule your life completely. A Christian will experience happiness when they are right with God and God is in control over their lives.
When a person is hungry & thirst they have only one ambition (one priority) and that is food and water. They won’t desire a little snack; they will want more than just 2 or 3 bites of food. A hungry man (1)- Is a single minded man. This speaks of a starving man. This is one who has not eaten in a long time. A hungry man is not interested in politics. He is not interested in how things look. He doesn’t care if his clothes are up to date or out of date. He doesn’t care if people will talk about him. He just wants something to eat. He has only one thing in mind; and that is food. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness” …
A hungry man (2)- Is a Humble man. A man who is starving has no pride whatsoever. When you get a man hungry enough, he will beg for food.
If you sit a starving man at a table, bring him fried chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, fried apples; promise him a piece of chocolate cake; peach cobbler with ice cream and put it in front of him if he is starving, he will not say; ‘That chicken, potatoes, beans, corn, looks good, but my fork is bent and I am not going to eat it … I would eat that plate of food, but there is parsley on the plate, and I don’t like parsley … I am not going to eat that fried chicken because my plate is chipped.’
Listen, if you put fried chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, fried apples; [promise him dessert] in front of a starving man, those things will not matter to him. In fact, he will not even notice those things. He is interested in one thing - - food.
There are people who come to Church and criticize what is going on in the Church. They come into the Church with their spiritual notebook out - looking for things to run down; looking for things to criticize. What they don’t realize is that this is the very kind of people Satan uses to stop up the blessings from Heaven.
A hungry man (3)- Is an Empty man. He doesn’t have anything in his stomach. He is starving. He wants to be filled with food.
I think that the problem with most Church members is they have been eating ‘junk food’ before they come to Church. When this happens, they don’t have the appetite they need for spiritual things. Instead of enjoying the Worship Service, they don’t have any room for the good things from God. So they will say something like this; ‘I can’t believe the service went so long. I have heard those songs before. Why do the same people go to the alter every service. He doesn’t preach like he use to.’
I mentioned earlier that my wife Gena is a great cook. She cooks everything first class. But there have been meals (some of them being my favorite meals) that I just couldn’t enjoy because I had a snack just before supper. The supper was good, but the junk food ruined my appetite.
You take a starving man; one who is single minded, humble, and empty - and hungry for the things of God, he will not be complaining, griping, grumbling; the only thing he will want and all he will desire is God’s Righteousness.
I love to eat; but there are certain things that I will not eat. I hate turnips. Now, if you fix Ham, corn, green beans, fried potatoes, biscuits, gravy, chocolate cake for desert, and right in the middle of all that food you put a bowl of turnips, I want to tell you, those turnips will not hurt my appetite one bit. My hunger is for the things I enjoy eating.
If you come to Church and you leave without receiving something from God you had better check up and realize that the problem it is not the food on the table, it is the simple fact that you are just not hungry like you ought to be for the things of God.
Allen Cairnes a minister of Faith Free Presbyterian Church in Greenville, S.C. made a great statement about this verse: “No soul will be left empty who earnestly yearns to be filled.”
A hungry man (4)- Is running to get his food. If a person is hungry enough, you won’t have to beg him to eat; once he hears the dinner bell he will come running to sit at the table to eat.
There are people who come to Church, look at the choir and the preacher, and say within themselves; ‘Alright; you have an hour to feed me; now get to it.’
Once you get a person hungry for the things of God, hungry for His Righteousness you will not have to beg them to come to Church, in fact, you won’t be able to keep them away from Church. You will not have to beg them to stay at Church, you won’t be able to keep them away.
This sermon is not intended to put you on a guilt trip; this sermon is to get us aware of the fact that there may be something wrong with our appetite. If you want to be happy truly happy, you must be hungry for the Righteousness of God.
Listen carefully. When God saves a man/woman, He makes them Holy and He creates within them a desire for Holiness. I don’t believe in the Christianity of a person who has no desire to be holy. Holiness is not happiness to those who do not know Christ. A Christian will hunger and thirst that God’s Righteousness may operate in their lives.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne had a prayer expressing his desire of a regenerated heart; “Lord, make me as holy as it is possible for a saved sinner to be.”
III. The Delight In Righteousness
Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for His Righteousness, “They shall be filled.” What a promise that Jesus gives to His Children. God promises a delight when you are hungry. The reward for being hungry is that you will be satisfied. JESUS WILL BE THE ONLY THING THAT WILL MATTER. You have all of God you want.
Notice those 4 words: “THEY SHALL BE FILLED.”
A. God Will Sustain Your Life
Listen carefully. When a Christian is right with God, they are happy, and they will continue to be happy in the Lord. When a Christian is happy, they will find themselves stronger in the Lord; and they will have more stability in their Christian life!
B. God Will Satisfy Your Life
Your satisfaction all depends on your hunger. The “hungrier” you are and the “thirstier” you are, the more God will feed us and fill us.
Go back and read where Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. You will learn 2 tremendous truths.
Jesus did not feed them as much as He could - Jesus fed them as much as they would!
God always meets a man at the point of His/Her desire!!!!!
Conclusion
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? How hungry are you? How thirsty are you? Jesus tells us that we can be happy if we hunger and thirst after His Righteousness.
Psalms 107:9- “For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”
Psalms 34:10, “...they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.”
Psalms 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd” ... “my cup runneth over.”
Isaiah 44:3, “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring.”
John 4:14, “Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give them shall never thirst.”
John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; he that comes to Me shall not hunger.”
Psalms 34:8, “O TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD: BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT TRUSTETH IN HIM.”
Have you thought about the fact that your hunger and your thirst never ends, even after death? Do you remember the rich man in Luke 16- “send someone to dip the end of their finger in water and let one drop fall on my lips ... for I am in torment.”
An Atheist was speaking to a large crown... He denied and defied that there was a God ... Man in back had an orange... Sweet or sour...
To be a Great Church means that we will be Great Christians! Great Christians Desire the Righteousness Of God!
