Blessed Are Those That Hunger & Thirst For Righteousness
Beatitudes Of The Bible • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Last week we started up, once again, our theme “Beatitudes Of The Bible.”
We examine the third beatitude “Blessed are the meek” wherein we discussed the importance of the meek character trait in Christians life.
This week we now turn our attention to the fourth beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount which is…
“Blessed Are Those That Hunger & Thirst For Righteousness.”
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
As we have been going through these particular beatitudes there has been a constant and continual graduation from one to the other.
Those who are truly “poor in spirit” will “mourn” over their sins and be ready with “meekness” to receive the implanted word because of their “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Before we get into our lesson for today I want us to first stop and ask the question what exactly does “righteousness” mean?
The word “righteousness” here is found 91 times in the N.T. and in the Greek O.T., the LXX, it is found 261 times so it is of great importance.
Basically righteousness should be defined as “doing what is right according to God through His word which allows us to be found just.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
So with that in mind let us ask the questions “What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness” & “How are we satisfied if we do so?”
Hunger & Thirst For Rightness
Hunger & Thirst For Rightness
Hungry OR Longing.
Hungry OR Longing.
There is no one that has not found themselves from time to time with a stomach that is speaking to them out of hunger.
That “rumble” or “hunger pangs” is your body letting you know that it is longing for food and lacking nourishment.
When hungry the brain triggers the release of a hormone called ghrelin which signals the stomach to produce its acids to digest food. If there is no food the acid attacks the stomach lining and that causes “hunger pangs.”
Studies have shown that this hormone can increase hunger by up to 30 percent in adults.
In other words we start longing and searching for food to eat.
Thirsting OR Craving.
Thirsting OR Craving.
Again no one here hasn’t found themselves at some point thirsty.
When your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth and your lips stick together.
Though you can go about 40 days before sever medical issues arise you can only go about 3 days without water.
I can’t imagine being “1 day” thirsty much less three.
There are stories of those that survived shipwreck and were so thirsty they caught sea turtles and drank their blood. Others who drank the salt water and died because of it.
In other words when thirsty we start craving and searching for something to drink.
Longing & Craving Righteousness.
Longing & Craving Righteousness.
Jesus, having created us (Psalm 139:13), knows how our bodies work and how our “hunger & thirst” works and uses this illustration to teach us a powerful spiritual truth.
“IF” we are truly physically hungry & thirsty we will stop at nothing to try to bring relief and this is exactly what Jesus is wanting from us spiritually.
What happens if we don’t listen to that spiritual longing and craving, what are the signs we are spiritually starving and thirsting?
Spiritually confused.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Spiritually Irritable.
16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Spiritually weakness.
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
If we find ourselves in this situation or simply don’t want to be in that situation we must understanding what it means to long and crave righteousness.
Longing and craving righteousness means we desire God’s Word over food and water itself.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Summary
Summary
To hunger & thirst for righteousness is to have a “pang & craving” that cannot be filled or satisfied by snacking or sipping but rather feasting & gulping. To deprive ourselves of this spiritual food & drink leads to starvation spiritually.
Being Satisfied
Being Satisfied
Feasting & Gulping.
Feasting & Gulping.
You know that when you finally get that food or that drink how satisfied you are, that overwhelming relief of being filled or quenched.
As we all know though, not long after eat or drinking we find ourselves in the exact same spot, hungry and thirsty again. This is a never ending reality for us all.
Spiritually speaking this constant need for more is the case as well while here on earth.
Look at our text again…
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The grammar in this verse is different than what is normal when the phrase “hunger and thirst” are found.
Typically these verbs are followed by the “genitive cause, however, in this verse these verbs are followed by the accusative case.
This means the verbs “hunger and thirst” are actively upon the word righteousness.
In other words Jesus is saying that “The one blessed is the one that is constantly aware of their hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Remember there are plenty of people that do not know they are starving and dying of thirst from God’s word.
Those that do understand their constant hunger and thirst will be blessed with eventual “eternal” satisfaction.
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Summary
Summary
When we feast on God’s word and drink from it’s milk we will be satisfied in this life and the next.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
Conclusion
Conclusion
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.