Are you hungry? Matt 5:6

Introduction

Think about for a moment the hungriest you have ever been. Now think about the thirstiest you have ever been.

One commentator said this “The first three beatitudes are also costly and painful. Becoming poor in spirit involves death to self. Mourning over sin involves facing up to our sinfulness. Becoming meek involves surrendering our power to God’s control. The fourth is more positive and is a consequence of the other three. When we put aside self, sins, and power and turn to the Lord, we are given a great desire for righteousness. The more we put aside what we have, the more we long for what God has.

I remember going over to my great grandparents house growing up and my great grandma would always ask if we were hungry. That was a different time wasn’t it? This evening I want to ask the question, are you hungry

Hunger after righteousness

I am thankful that I don’t have any real memories when I have been starving, looking at me you can tell I haven’t missed many meals in my life. My junior year of high school is probably the hungriest I have ever been. I had to cut weight to make a lower weight class in power lifting so for one week I barely ate anything, drank lots of water and pretty much starved myself to make weight. After that week, we had our final meet of the year in Strawn, Tx. We had to get there early in the morning to weigh in, but the meet didn’t start until around 2 PM, so we went and weighed in and I made weight, but I was so hungry. After weigh in we had a few hours, so we went to Mary’s Cafe, and we all got chicken fried steak. I don’t know if it was because I was so hungry or what, but that was one of the best chicken fried steaks I have ever had.

When is the last time we were that hungry for righteousness?

First lets define righteousness; Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law. righteousness as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion.

In short when we hunger after righteousness, we are hungering after God.

I think its fair to say that we often treat God like a frozen TV dinner. Those things sit in the freezer and often never get eaten unless we are really desperate.

We ought to hunger after God everyday, not just when things aren’t going our way.

Most people only seek God when something bad is happening

Their marriage is failing

Their finances are failing

someone is very sick in their life

they have come to the end of themselves

Luke 6:21 “21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.”

Moses is a great illustration of a man who hungered after God

When Moses was in the wilderness the first time, God appeared to him in a burning bush. When he went back to Egypt to deliver Gods people, he saw Gods power and might in the ten plauges. He saw God part the red sea and destroy the enemy with it, he saw Gods glory in a pillar of clouds by day and fire by night as they wandered in the wilderness. Over and over Moses sought God and found him.

Exodus 33:11 “11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”

But Moses wasn’t satisfied with that, he wanted to see Gods glory

Exodus 33:18 “18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”

One commentator wrote “Moses never had enough of the Lord. Yet from dissatisfaction came satisfaction.”

Because of Moses’ continual longing for God, He found favour in the sight of God Exodus 33:17 “17 And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”

Because of that God promised moses this in Exodus 33:19 “19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

Do we like Moses, seek the face of God every day or do we only hunger after him when we need something?

Thirst after righteousness

A person can last about three weeks without food, if they have access to water, but a person can only last three days without water.

The book of Psalms has a lot to say about thirsting after God.

Look what David said in Psalm 63:1–3 “1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, My flesh longeth for thee In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise thee.”

Psalm 63:7–8 “7 Because thou hast been my help, Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8 My soul followeth hard after thee: Thy right hand upholdeth me.”

Psalm 143:6 “6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.”

Psalm 42:1–3 “1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my meat day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?”

The object of our spiritual hunger and thirst

For an unbeliever this hunger and thirst leads to their realization of their need for a saviour.

Macarthur put it this way “When a person initially hungers and thirsts for righteousness he seeks salvation, the righteousness that comes when one turns from sin to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. In poverty he sees his sin, in mourning he laments and turns from his sin, in meekness he submits his own sinful way and power to God; an in hunger and thirst he seeks God’s righteousness in Christ to forgive his sins”

For a believer this leads to sanctification.

No believer “arrives” in his spiritual life until he reaches heaven.

Look at Pauls prayer in Philippians 1:9–10 “9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;”

We should hunger and thirst after righteousness every day so we can become more like God every day.

For they shall be filled

On this earth we will never be filled, we will always be hungry for the righteousness of Christ, but when we get to heaven we will be filled

Psalm 107:9 “9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, And filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

John 6:35 “35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

John 4:14 “14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Conclusion

What is keeping us from hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of Christ? \

Have we realized our need for a saviour, have we mourned over our spiritual condition, have we relinquished our power to God? If not, decide to right now, and get your spiritual appetite back.