The Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness:

Introduction:

Good morning everyone it good to be here to be able to come to worship God to day. Last week we talk about blessed are Meek for they shall inherit the Earth, we talk about what means to be meek, how does one become meek, and that being meek is not a weakness but a strength. this week are going to be continuing with the beatitudes. This week we are going to be looking what Christ meant by blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness. Let turn in our Bibles to Mt 5:6

Matthew 5:6 NASB95

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

So for today we are going to be looking at what means to have hunger and thirst for Righteousness, secondly we are going to be looking at how does one become full, and finally our 3rd point for today are there people who still hunger and thirst today.

What does it mean to have a Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness:

Our first point for today is what does Christ mean by blessed are those who hunger and Thirst for Righteousness back in Mt 5:6

Matthew 5:6 NASB95

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

There are some very important key words here that we need to understand the first two are Hunger and Thirst. Hunger and thirst is something of a need both in the Physical body and the Spiritual body as well. the problem is that mankind while they live here on earth tend to focus on the Physical body needs over the Spiritual body needs. which leads us to our third key word here which is Righteousness. Which leads to our question what does it mean to hunger and Thirst for Righteousness? What does Righteousness mean? It means to those who are Just, those who have morality, Honor, Honestly etc. They seek after things of God. Lets turn in our Bibles to Phil 3:8-9

Philippians 3:8–9 NASB95

8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

From this passage here in the letter to Philippians, we see that Paul makes some great points here within these two verses. The 1st point that Paul make within these two verse is the value of knowing Christ. Today we as Christians need to understand the just by knowing Christ and his teaching we are closer with God remember John 14:6

John 14:6 NASB95

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

In order to know God we must know his Son Jesus, because it is only through Jesus Christ that we are able to come to the throne of God. The 2nd Point Paul makes is that not our own Righteousness, but God’s. As Christians we should be seeking out the things, and how God want his people to live. Let’s turn in our Bibles to Rom 6:16-18

Romans 6:16–18 NASB95

16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

From these three verse here Romans it really boils down to the fact that it really comes down to a person decision here on earth in this life. Are we going to chose to spend this life chasing our own passion and desires within our hearts, or are we going to seek out God and his righteousness? Which leads to our 3rd point Paul makes here in Phil 3:8-9. The Righteousness of God, base off our own faith that we have come to believe. which leads us our duty as Christians which is to seek out what is God’s. Lets turn our Bibles to Mt 6:31-33.

Matthew 6:31–33 NASB95

31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

From this passage here in the Gospel of Matthew, we see that Jesus is teaching about a cure for Anxiety, Mankind tends to think of themselves and worry about the Physical needs before the Spiritual needs. Which leads us to our Next Point for today.

How does one become full?

When comes to our natural physical bodies, tend to eat when we are hungry and we tend to drink when we are thirsty. so is our Spiritual body, it to hungers and thirst. which leads to how do we feed our spiritual Bodies? well to answer that question very simply look no farther than Mt 6:33

Matthew 6:33 NASB95

33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

As Christians our spiritual food is God’s will, and Christ’s teaching, and applying them to our daily life. its our duty to seek out the kingdom of God because remember he first love us lets turn in our Bibles to 1st John 4:18-19

1 John 4:18–19 NASB95

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.

God came to mankind first out of love, but we see that mankind rejected God. therefore we have to seek God out. the only way to seek God is to know know his words, trust and obey in them. Remember when we talk about Christ and his trial with Satan? Lets turn in our Bible to Mt 4:3-4.

Matthew 4:3–4 NASB95

3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Even Jesus stated that mankind shall not live by bread alone, but on the words that proceed out of the mouth of God. Today how often do we spend in God’s words? how often to we try to grow spiritual? it really comes back to being slave of the world or being slaves to Righteousness back in Rom 6. we tend to get caught up in our life here on Earth and worry about our physical body, which in turn we neglect our spiritual body. in order to feed and to grow our spiritual body we must study like those who where in Berean, Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 17:10-11

Acts 17:10–11 NASB95

10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

Its our duty as Christians to want to know more about the being that gave us his son for our sins. its our duty to want to grow in order to bring other back to him so that they to might grow. we should want to hunger and thirst for God and Christ, As Christians we do not want to neglect our spiritual bodies because that is the body we will spend eternity with God, and Christ. As Christians we understand that we are like children, and we must start with milk that will nourish our spiritual bodies. Lets turn in our Bibles to 1st Cor 3:1-3

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 NASB95

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

From this passage here we come to see that Paul warns the early Church about jumping early into deep topics within the church, things that people of the early church did not understand quit just yet. today we as Christians sometimes do this also, we can mislead people because of this. being a Christians is a growing process. we must start with the basic needs of our spiritual bodies. which means we must start with basic lessons and teaching before we move to solid food which represent deeper and mature topics within the scriptures. As Christians we desire to share in God’s love, but if we do not know how to explain than how are we to share it? As Christians we understand that in order to know God, we must also know his son, Remember Jesus words back in John 14:6? As Christians we should want know everything there is about Christ. after all Christ is the bread of life. Lets turn in our Bibles to John 6:30-36

John 6:30–36 NASB95

30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.

Christ is our bread, and if we believe in his words than we we never thirst, remember the conversation with the Samaritan women at the well back in John 4:10-14, Christ is our spring he not only our Bread but also our water. This allow us to move on to our last point for today.

are there people that still hunger and Thirst for God, and Christ?

As Christians should we strive to be hungry and thirsty for the God’s and Christ’s words? absolutely we should. We have three prime examples within scriptures that prove it. Lets looking at the first example, lets turn in our Bibles to Mk 10:17-27

Mark 10:17–27 NASB95

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 “You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. 23 And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

From this passage here in Mk we see that a rich young ruler came to Jesus, hungry and Thirsty, but we also see that he could not let go of the food of the world, another example we can tie with this passage is Mary and Martha. Let turn in our Bibles to Lk 10: 38-42

Luke 10:38–42 NASB95

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

From this passage here we see that Jesus enter the house of Martha and Mary, we also see the choices that were made from this passage here in Lk. Martha choose to server, and Mary chose to listen to Jesus teach. Mary chose eat what was spiritual at the time, and it was not going to be taken from her. which leads to our last example the parable of the Prodigal son, or Lost son. if you want to turn in your Bibles to Lk 15:11-32 you. most of us know the parable about how the young son took his inheritance and spend it on worldly gain then recognize that he needed to come back home, because he could not afford to eat anything due to a famine. from these example there are people in the world today who hunger and thirst for God. even we as Christians need to have this hunger and thirst for God. As Christians we need to strive to walk in the ways of God and Christ, not strive to walk in the ways of the world.

Conclusion:

I hope today we strive to hunger and thirst for God, and Christ. I may not know what you struggle with today but i do know a being who cares for you, who wants a relationship with you. because there going to be day when we all have come to stand before him. the only question i can ask is are you ready? if you are hungry and thirst, if you have question, if you are in need of Prayers or if you wish to be Baptized today please come forward as we stand and sing.