Do you have the right appetite?

If you have a bible open it up to Matthew 5. I have titled the message this morning. “Do you have the right appetite? Pray with me.

The scripture we are in today is Matthew 5:6 which says…

Matthew 5:6 ESV

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

And what I want you to take away from the message is this as our main idea.

Those who are truly satisfied are those who are always hungry and thirsty for the Lord.

A story caught my attention this week that fits into the sermon I am preaching.

NUTRITIONISTS HAVE DRAMATIZED the importance of diet by telling us that we are what we eat. The thinking is, if we eat too many doughnuts and cream puffs, we'll become walking pastries. And the argument is pretty sound, as far as it goes.

In the realm of the mind and the spirit, "you are what you eat" is more penetrating. If you feed on violence, excitement, erotica, and materialism, you will eventually personify them. You will become what you eat.

I think we can accurately say that Elvis Presley never understood this.

His life was a pitiful pursuit of materialism and sensuality. In Elvis's heyday he earned between $5 million and $6 million a year. It is estimated that he grossed $100 million in his first two years of stardom.

He had three jets, two Cadillacs, a Rolls-Royce, a Lincoln Continental, Buick and Chrysler station wagons, a Jeep, a dune buggy, a converted bus, and three motorcycles.

His favorite car was his 1960 Cadillac limousine. The top was covered with pearl-white Naugahyde. The body was sprayed with forty coats of a specially prepared paint that included crushed diamonds and fish scales. Nearly all the metal trim was plated with eighteen-karat gold.

Inside the car there were two gold-flake telephones, a gold vanity case

containing a gold electric razor and gold hair clippers, an electric shoe buffer, a gold-plated television, a record player, an amplifier, air-conditioning, and a refrigerator that was capable of making ice in two minutes. He had everything.

Elvis's sensuality is legendary. Those friends and relatives most familiar with his state in the last months of his life tragically reveal that Elvis had very much become the victim of his appetites. He was what he had eaten—in the profoundest sense.

Elvis Presley's tragic life dramatizes the significance of the Lord's teaching in this fourth Beatitude, because in it Jesus sets forth the appetite and menu that bring spiritual well-being: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

In this splendidly paradoxical sentence Jesus tells us what we ought to eat and how we must eat if we are to have spiritual health and ultimate satisfaction. Spiritual health comes from hunger.

So what is your appetite? And Im not talking about the breakfast we ate yesterday, and the meals we eat on Wednesday night or the meals we have each and every day. I am talking about your own spiritual appetite.

Few points I want you to think about the first is this.

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness starts with the right diet.

Many of us know we have to eat a certain way in order to be healthy. The Gym exercise all may be important, but if you are going to be in the shape you want to be it starts in the kitchen.

Now when we read this text and think about it in the context of what we have been studying the place of this verse is quite important.

Remember what Jesus has taught us so far. We are to be truly broken in Spirit. Bankrupt as I have discussed. Coming to God out of a place that tells him I have nothing to offer in terms of saving myself.

You have to mourn over the sins you have. Not desire to commit them anymore, but striving to turn away from them and run back to God.

You have to let those things turn you into a meek and gentle person. Whose desires cause you to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

In thinking in terms of food you have to be well balanced in order to achieve your nutritional goals. Same goes for those spiritual goals as well if you want to have the right diet Spiritually you will hunger and thirst for righteousness.

I love the words of one man. He said… Consider the force of this fourth Beatitude as we have opened it: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst [like the starving do for food and the thirsty do for water] for righteousness [righteous living], for they shall be [fully] satisfied." < "You are what you eat" is not as simple as it may first appear. It is profoundly es-o-teric. The tragedy of our time is that the world is hungering and thirsting after sex and wealth, violence and excitement. The church's tragedy is that many in her are seeking the same thing— and their diets are making them as empty and pathetic as the world.

We must remember that Jesus has provided us with the menu and appetite. The main course is righteousness-conformity to his will. The method is desperation. We are to hunger for righteousness and so pursue it with all that is in us. The result is profound satisfaction, now and forever.

Church family we should desire this righteousness to be free of sin. When Jesus died it accomplished many things, but one of the great things it does for the believer is it makes you righteous in the eyes of God, because he sees you as he sees his very own son, and that alone should propel you to seek this righteousness, because you have been bought with this price which is Jesus himself.

Can I ask you why would one go on a diet in the first place? Because you have a goal in mind correct. You want to look good for your wedding, be a in shape as father or mother, just feel better. Nothing is going to satisfy the believer quite like seeking the righteousness of God.

Think about the context this was written in they did not have the Luxuries of our day in age, They could not say I am hungry let me go grab a snack out of the pantry and a drink out of the fridge maybe our modern luxuries have led to to this false believe that I don’t have to hunger or thirst for anything and that includes God.

Ouch right? I said this is the main idea but those who are satisfied are those who are always hungry and thirsty for the Lord.

Always.. It should be a norm for us as believers to approach our spiritual lives with these deep hunger this deep thirst that only one can satisfies. I would argue to you today that God only approves of those who are desperate from him in this way.

This was the attitude of David who said in Psalm 63:1

Psalm 63:1 ESV

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.

Talk about desperation for God right. David in the Psalm says. God I earnestly I seek you. He is pouring his heart only to God. His very own soul is dehydrated without God he is going to faint without God. He thirsts for him like a man trapped in a place without water.

In another Psalm he says this.

Psalm 17:15 ESV

15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

David never had enough of God, and we should be the same. Find your satification in the Lord and in seeking righteous.

Take note of this.

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is the only thing that can truly satisfy.

Imagine your favorite food for me that is Tacos with a nice cold coca cola , I love homemade tacos, and I could image eating them everyday honesty. And if I could just have a taco every time I hungered and a soda every time I thirst I would be sasitified, but I would continuely want more tacos more coca cola, the same should be for us as believers not with the tacos, but for us as we hunger and thirst for righteousness. When we seek the righteousness of God. We should always desire more of him to more like him. I don’t see a point where I in my life would want less tacos, but in more so I should never be in a place where I don’t hunger and thirst for the righteous of God.

We live in a world that is seeking total satisfaction but cannot find it because its looking outside of the one who can truly satisfy. x2

I don’t think I have said many things truer than that very statement. Our whole american culture is built on this idea that materialism brings this joy and satisfaction.

I quoted something similar to this earlier but I read something else that was really heartbreaking because I see it and it will relate to all of us..

Jesus pronounces the spiritually famished to be "blessed" or approved. The reason is this: Those who truly hunger and thirst know Christ. And that is why this is such a penetrating warning to evangelicals. Concern for righteous living is on the decline in the evangelical church Many watch more murders and adulteries on television in one week than their grandparents read about in a lifetime-and with no twinge of conscience. Their casual viewing is a tacit approval of evil. The pollsters tell us that the ethical gap is narrowing between the church and the world. And many evangelicals are no more concerned about the unrighteous plight of the world than their non-Christian neighbors.

Some professing evangelicals would regard a desperate longing for righteousness as odd, even fanatical.

If you have no longing for righteousness, you had better initiate a careful analysis of your soul. Christ's words are such a gracious test, because each of us knows in his heart of hearts whether he really does long for righteous living.

However, if you do hunger and thirst for righteousness, if the Lord has given you a holy discontent with your life, you have his smile! I did not mention it like the previous sermons, but remember what I said in part about being blessed. Blessedness is not simply a nice wish from God, it is a pronouncement of what we actually are approved. Blessedness indicates the smile of God or, as one man put it, the Applause of Heaven.

It brings God great joy that you want to be like him. Remember what I said last week as we read and study these beatitudes they get harder, they get more difficult, and the reality is this pursing God with a hunger and thirst is not easy if your not seeking him with all your heart. If you are not truly satisfied in him.

How do we get this satisfaction? Through Jesus right?

Couple of scriptures.

John 4:14 ESV

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

remember the women who Jesus was met at the well went there at the hottest time of day because she was thirsty she was ashamed, but Jesus told her if you drink from the water I give you will never be thirsty again.

Of course I am going to get thristy again, but nothing like satisfy my spirit more than the living water himself Jesus Christ.

John 6:35 ESV

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.

Like I just said we go around in this life seeking satification is all kinds of things, but Jesus is so Clear if you are truly hungry don’t go seeking bread seek the one whom the bread comes from.

Nothing satifies a hungry soul and thirsty spirit like Jesus does.

Psalm 107:9 ESV

9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

If you fill today like your diet is not quite satisfying feast on the Lord.

To be satisfied according to Merriam-webster says.. to pleased or content with what has been experienced or received satisfied customers a satisfied smile The example it gives It attracted a capacity audience of art world luminaries and suburban bankers or whoever they were in their tuxedos and jewels and wild satisfied looks of feeling they were at just the right place that opening evening in Manhattan.—Jill Johnston another one said : paid in full … on repayment the term becomes a satisfied term and automatically ceases.—Robert Megarry et al. last one says : persuaded by argument or evidence But he was not rude, for as soon as he was satisfied that the papers would remain with him he became almost subservient …—James A. Michener

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is the only thing that can truly satisfy not only in this life but the life to come.

Luke 22:29–30 ESV

29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

There will be a day where we feast with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords for all of eternity.

The text has taught us those who are satisfied are those who are always hungry and thirsty for the Lord.

But how do we really know if we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

Few more points to add.

Those who want to hunger and thirst for righteousness must avoid all unrighteousness.

When Covid 19 hit and there was all the unknowns of the disease we saw the masses doing whatever it took to try to not catch it. There were people who never left there homes, never went to the store, started working at home, wearing masks just so they would not catch this virus, because they knew at least when it first started it was causing some serious damage.

what if we as believers took the seriousness of sin like that avoiding it like it was the plague. Little silly sins may not seem like much but they push you away from God. Yes Jesus Christ died for them, but he wants you to take the righteousness that he has given and stay away from everything he died for. He died for his, yet many of us if we are honest dabble around to much in the the sins he died to forgive.

Its not just about avoiding the sins that plague us its examining all the things that make our faith a little more dull as well. Think about it. there are Little things like what we watch what we read what we listen that is causing our heart to drift ever so slightly away from the Lord.

Our consciences have been hardened so much that things the Lord find’s detestable are just part of our everyday lives. And we seem radical if we ourselves want to avoid these things.

Martyn Lloyd Jones said. There are so many things that I cannot condemn in and of themselves. But if I find I spend too much of my time with them, and that somehow I want God and spiritual things less and less, then, if I am hungering and thirsting after righteousness, I shall avoid them. I think it is a commonsense argument.

That is where I believe many of us land, believers I don’t believe default into spending as much time with their hobbies, and think I want this to replace serving the Lord and pursuing him, but if we look and see that we are pursuing other things then we must come to a place and say I must put away the things that even make me dull to serving and seeking the Lord.

Make note of this as well.

Those who want to hunger and thirst for righteousness must make time to do so.

I say that point, and I am guilty of so often not doing this. I make time to watch my sports teams, to listen to my podcasts, to spend time working, time with my wife, time with my kids, and do not spend enough time pursuing righteousness. If the Lord is so good and we have tasted and seen his goodness our priorities should fall in line to seek him first. A good portion of our day should be dedicated to the Lord. If you are struggling to do this make a to do list everyday and write down Hunger and Thirst for the Lord… at so and so time and so and so time again…

Take note of this as well.

Those who want to hunger and thirst for righteousness know the Word of God.

Taken what you have heard from me and seen from the Word of God today are you a man or women who truly desires righteousness. Do you hunger and thirst for the Word of God? Do you know it. Joshua 1:8 tells us

Joshua 1:8 ESV

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Hunger and Thirst for the Word of God day and night all the time. My main idea for you included the word always for a reason. Joshua says this day and night for a reason, because we are to be desperate for the word of the Lord so much so that we should constantly think about.

This should be a normal response for the believer. Reading Joshua 1:8 when comparing it to this verse you could say Those who want to hunger and thirst for righteousness have the word of the Lord never departing them never leaving there mouth for they are seeking it day and night leading them to righteousness.

Even the Psalmist points us in this direction.

Psalm 1:2 ESV

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Delight in the word of God. If we hungered and thirsted for the word of God like we did our food imagine what we would look like as believers in Christ.

Take note of this as well.

Those who want to hunger and thirst for righteousness have a faithful prayer life.

I was reading this week something I have known for along time, but the greatest Christians are not just one’s who are buried in the word of God they are one’s who seek God in prayer often. You hear about great men and women of the faith praying sometimes for 4 or 5 hours a day. Wow. Idk about you but I dont pray four of 5 hours a day.

And I am not saying that is what you need to do to hunger and thirst for righteous but you better believe you need to have a faithful prayer life. That is why I put out that prayer guide to led to pray for specific things. The Lord has worked through those prayers as well. But we need to make it a habit just like to need to eat to be people of prayer.

In our own strength we are never going to be people who naturally hunger and thirst for righteousness. So if you don’t have that hunger and thirst for righteousness have the right diet know only he can satisfy avoid all unrighteousness, go to the Word of God, and have a faithful prayer life, and I bet you if you are born again believer you will be blessed hungering and thirsting for righteousness finding satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Told you I would be quoting Martyn Lloyd Jones often and he talked about the importance of this verse in our lives and he says this and I want to close with his words.. Why should this be the greatest desire of every one of us?

I answer the question in this way. All who lack this righteousness of God remain under the wrath of God and are facing hell.

Anybody who dies in this world without being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ goes on to utter hopelessness and wretchedness.

That is the teaching of the Bible, that is what the Bible says. "The wrath of God abideth on him.' It is only this righteousness that can fit us to be right with God and to go to heaven and to be with Him and to spend eternity in His holy presence. Without this righteousness we are lost and damned and doomed. How amazing it is that this is not the supreme desire in the life of everybody! It is the only way to blessing in this life and to blessing in eternity.

Let me put to you the argument of the utter hatefulness of sin, this thing that is so dishonoring to God, this thing that is dishonoring in itself, and dishonoring even to us. If we saw the things of which are guilty so continually in the sight of God and in the sight of utter holiness, we should hate them even as God Himself does. That is a great reason for hungering and thirsting after righteousness-the hatefulness of sin.

But lastly I put it in a positive form. If only we knew something of the glory and the wonder of this new life of righteousness, we should desire nothing else. Therefore let us look at the Lord Jesus Christ. That is how life should be lived, that is what we should be like. If only we really saw it. Look at the lives of His followers. Wouldn't you really like to live like those men, wouldn't you like to die like them? Is there any other life that is in any way comparable to it-holy, clean, pure, with the fruit of the Spirit manifesting itself as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. What a life, what a character. This is a man worthy of the name of man. That is life as it should be.

And if we see these things truly, we shall desire nothing less; we shall become like the apostle Paul and we shall say, 'That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made contormable unto his death; if by any means 1 might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' Is that your desire: Very we ax, go i khal in siven you; ek, and ye shall fond;

'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled'—with 'all the fullness of God'.

What do you hunger and thirst for today? Don’t leave here today without asking yourself is God above all things and if not do you need reminder of what he has done so that you seek his righteousness by dying on the cross rising from the dead on the third day so you could seek him and hunger and thirst for righteousness for all of your days.

No matter where you are at today grow your hunger and thirst for him let us pray.