The Secret of Satisfaction
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We are in the series, Living a Happy Life where we have been looking at the teaching of Jesus in His famous Sermon On the Mount.
Each of these statements begin with Blessed is… or Happy is… They are instructions on how to be truly happy… to be full of joy… truly satisfied… truly secure.
Our culture thinks differently. Culture says, Happy are the rich… Powerful… good looking… influential… intelligent… wealthy… those who are at ease… who have plenty… That’s what our culture says. But that’s not what Jesus says.
The culture says a person is blessed or happy based on what that person has. Many look at the 10 commandments and believe that a person is happy based on what he does. Do this… don’t do that and so on. The Beatitudes go beyond this. The 10 commandments deal with outward actions, while the Beatitudes deal with the heart, or the “attitudes that ought to be.”
Let’s read them until we get to todays teaching.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Look again at that last one. I want to talk to you today about the secret of satisfaction. IOW, how to have your deepest hunger met.
Now in our culture today, advertisers do their best to create a hunger or thirst for whatever they are selling. That’s why ads during the Super Bowl are so expensive.
I am always amazed that the same people that will spend millions to make you desire a new phone… a drink… a smoke. a new car or whatever they are selling are the same ones that scream censorship when parents don’t want age inappropriate material around their kids. What we read, listen to and watch impacts us.
Steve Jobs was the master. He invented the iPhone, but not only that, he made everyone thing that they just had to have one. line in the mall for iPhone 4.
Think about it. Maybe you are watching a show and they show a Coke. It’s cold and it has that fiz and all of a sudden you get up go the fridge and get one. You were not even thirsty until you saw that. They create in us a desire for what they are selling.
Well, let me say this. Today the Holy Spirit is wanting through this message to create in you a hunger for something that you do need… a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. And if you develop that hunger and thirst, You will find satisfaction.
Look at what Jesus said in Matt 5:6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
What does it mean to hunger for righteousness?
What does it mean to hunger for righteousness?
Many people have the wrong idea of righteousness. They may think of a Pharisee who had an outward righteousness but were rotten on the inside. They think that righteousness is something that we do.
But righteousness in the Bible is wrapped up in a person and His name is Jesus. 1 CO 1:30
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
He is made righteousness for us. Jesus is our righteousness.
When a person hungers and thirsts for righteousness, they are hungering and thirsting for Jesus.
When a person hungers and thirsts for righteousness, they are hungering and thirsting for Jesus.
If you understand that, you will get the rest of this message. Life’s hidden hunger is for a relationship with Jesus. You may not know it, but that’s a fact. There is a hole in every person that only a relationship with Jesus will fill.
How can we hunger and thirst for the Lord Jesus?
How can we hunger and thirst for the Lord Jesus?
Let me give you three ways. There are probably more but here are three.
1. We must desire Jesus above all else.
1. We must desire Jesus above all else.
Jesus was talking about hungering and thirsting in the physical realm. We have all been hungry. If’s ok to hunger physically. God made us that way. We also become thirsty, and God made us that way too. The problem is when we place satisfying our hunger above all else we are making a big mistake. In Matthew 6, Jesus spoke about food fashion and fitness. Here is what he said about them.
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
There is nothing with food, fashion or fitness if they are in their proper place… 2nd place to Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 “33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything (food, fashion & fitness) you need.”
There is nothing wrong with stuff… wealth… as long as it’s not what we seek over a relationship with Jesus. God will not take 2nd place to anyone or to anything.
Jesus is heaven’s bread for man’s deepest hunger.
Jesus is heaven’s bread for man’s deepest hunger.
Look at it again. Matt 5:6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Most people don’t seek the righteousness part, they want the blessing part. We want the satisfied part. Most people say that they want to be satisfied. That’s the problem. When you want satisfaction, you won’t get it. When you want happiness, you won’t get it. When you want to be blessed, you miss it. You don’t really need satisfaction, happiness of blessing… what you need is Jesus.
When you hunger and thirst for Jesus you are blessed… happy… satisfied. These are by-products of a relationship with Jesus. That lack of peace, lack of Joy, lack of fulfillment, lack of satisfaction, … all of these are symptoms of not having a relationship with Jesus.
ILL - Suppose you are sick… you feel horrible and you go to the doctor. He says you are very sick but don’t worry about it. I’ll give you something to kill the pain or nausea and send you home. You leave high on the shot he gave you for the pain and feel ok for a bit. Then the pain comes back. Why? Because all he did was treat a symptom. If he doesn’t find the infection that’s causing the pain, it will come back. The pain was a symptom of an illness.
Symptoms are God’s way of saying something is wrong, fix it.
That unhappiness you feel, that lack of fulfillment that you feel, that lack of Joy you feel… all of that is a symptom. And if you treat the symptom without treating the disease, that’s foolish.
So the Bible doesn’t say, Happy are those that hunger and thirst for blessedness… for peace… for anything except righteousness. It doesn’t say that because our problem is unrighteousness.
Out of unrighteousness comes all those other things. So until we recognize that our deepest need is a relationship with Jesus… until you bring all of your ambitions into burning focus to seek Jesus, you will not have your deepest hunger and thirst met.
There is nothing wrong with Physical hunger. And if you have a physical hunger, spiritual things will not satisfy that hunger.
Suppose you invite me over to your house to eat. I know you are a good cook so I don’t eat much that day because I plan to clean you out that night. When we get there, you want to show me your garden, your addition to the garage, your new 100 inch TV, your new Mac… Now my stomach is growling through all of this. then you show me things you are reading and want to talk about that, but my stomach is going … where’s the food.
There is nothing bad about any of that except that it will not satisfy our physical hunger.
And conversely, food (things) will never meet your need of your deepest longing which is a relationship with Jesus. You are both a physical and a spiritual being.
If you don’t eat physically, you’re going to die. If you don’t drink water, you are going to die. If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you are going to die.
If you don’t eat physically, you’re going to die. If you don’t drink water, you are going to die. If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you are going to die.
Jesus is not some luxury, He is a necessity.
There was a lady who loved the Lord and the WOG. Her favorite verse was 2 Timothy 1:12 “…I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.”
As she got older, she had memory problems and could not recite all of the verse. Finally, on her death bed, all she could say was “one.” But let me tell you… That was enough.
We must seek Jesus above all else.
2. We must desire Jesus passionately.
2. We must desire Jesus passionately.
Jesus is talking about a person who hungers and thirsts. What does that mean?
A person who is hungry is on a deliberate quest.
A person who is hungry is on a deliberate quest.
Jesus isn’t just talking about a person with an appetite, but of a person who see himself broken and bankrupt and famished.
What are the marks of this kind of hunger? Well you won’t be interested int he flower arrangement… or the sports scores, you will be focused on the food and drink… the buffet bar.
Often people will come to church like we are today and there mind is in other places. They may even leave saying they just were not being fed. Why is that? Because they are not hungry. There is no deliberation… no determination to eat.
If someone comes here and is hungry, they will be fed. Some folks come to church and act like they have done God a huge favor by coming. They sit back and cross their arms and say, OK, convince me… entertain me. So during the sermon they have a mental argument going on inside their heads. When the preacher says… they go “Yes but…” They are not hungry… they are not desperate. They are not trying to be fed. Can you imagine a starving person saying, well if someone wants to feed me they can… I have heard people say that if God wants to save them… he can. Let me say it like Jesus, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…
A little girl said, mama may I have a drink of water? It was already 10:30 at night but her mama got up and gave her a sip of water. Around 11pm the little girls once again said, Mama can I have another sip of water? So she got up and gave the little girl another sip of water. She said not that’s it, you go to sleep. At 11:30, the little girl asked mama, can I have a sip of water? so she got her a sip of water and said, that’s it. If you say another word about water, I’m going to spank you. 15 minutes later, the little girls said, Mama when you get up to spank me, will you bring me a sip of water?
A person who is hungry and thirsty will pay the price. A person who is not will not pay the price.
I remember a guy in the corner of Vets and Clearview years ago. His sign said that he would work for food. I tOld him that if he would meet me just over the interstate at the hospital where I worked, that I would feed him three meals, let him shower and pay him for the work. He wasn’t interested… he wasn’t hungry.
A person who is hungry is on a determined quest.
A person who is hungry is on a determined quest.
A deliberate quest becomes a determined quest for food. It’s the same for our spiritual food.
A person who is hungry is on a desperate quest.
A person who is hungry is on a desperate quest.
Someone who is desperately hungry will go anywhere, do anything and pay any price to satisfy his hunger. They lose their pride and everything that stands in the way of them being fed.
Sometimes people will come to church looking for something to criticize. You can find something to criticize anywhere.
A person sits down to eat and says… the salt is damp… the plate is chipped… the table cloth has a spot… I can tell you something about that person… they are not hungry.
If you come to church to judge, you are not hungry. If you come to church with an appetite, you will be fed. It depends on your appetite.
A lady told her pastor, “I didn’t like the way you preached this morning.” He asked her, what was wrong? She replied that it was your language… it wasn’t elegant. He said, I’ll try to remember that. What else do you remember? She said, Frankly, I don’t remember anything else. He said, If I hadn’t said pants, you wouldn’t have gotten anything out of it.
A person who is hungry is on a deliberate, determined, and desperate search for food. Do you see your relationship with Jesus as your greatest need? Do you seek that relationship with Jesus as a starving person seeks food? When you get to that point you will find him.
Why are people not hungry?
Why are people not hungry?
There are many reasons.
1. A person who is not hungry might be sick.
1. A person who is not hungry might be sick.
When you are sick physically you lose your appetite… same spiritually. When you are sinning you lose your appetite.
2. A person who is not hungry might be full of other things.
2. A person who is not hungry might be full of other things.
We get full of the garbage of this world. Pro 27:7
7 A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
When you are full, nothing sounds good. But even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
3. When we desire Jesus above all else, and seek Him passionately we will enjoy Jesus perpetually.
3. When we desire Jesus above all else, and seek Him passionately we will enjoy Jesus perpetually.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
You don’t have to do without him … ever. Desire Jesus… seek Him and you will enjoy him.
Listen to this.
You have as much of God as you want.
You have as much of God as you want.
If you have a shallow thirst, you will have shallow satisfaction. If you have a small hunger, you will have small satisfaction.
Jesus is the one who made the promise that if you hunger and thirst for Him that you will be satisfied. We all have this hidden hunger that only a relationship with Jesus will satisfy.
Jesus said to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Some people have a negative idea of righteousness. They think about the Pharisees who were known for what they are against. That happens today as well. Too many Christians are know for what we are against. People think that to live a righteous life, they can’ have any fun. That’s not true.
If you live a righteous life, you can be blessed. Happiness and holiness are linked together. Listen, you do not lose the good things of life when you come to Jesus. Look at this passage again. Matt 5:6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you will be satisfied. Jesus said that not me. Then look at Matt 6:33
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Good things are not taken away from you. They are added to you. You begin to enjoy life in the context of righteous living. Don’t let the devil get you to thinking negatively about God. Paul said 1 Tim 6:17
17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
God just wants you and I to have our priorities right. Desire God above all else… Seek Him passionately… Then you will enjoy Him perpetually.
Being a Christian is not something we do and it’s over… that we don’t have to seek God anymore. Just like we become physically hungry and thirsty, we will become spiritually hungry and thirsty.
Thanksgiving Dinners- Have you ever sat down to eat Thanksgiving Dinner and you eat turkey, ham, Cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, Green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce and several pieces of pecan and pumpkin pie.
You eat all of that and go, I don’t need to ever eat again. Right? Of course a few hours later, we are looking in the fridge for leftovers.
God allows us in the physical realm to have a continuing appetite so that we might have continuing satisfaction. Being satisfied is not a once and for all thing. We have a continual hunger but not because the food didn’t satisfy you… it did. You have a continual appetite because the food did satisfy you. In the same way, the goodness of God gives us a continual appetite for our relationship with the Lord.
When you desire him above all else, seek him passionately, He will meet your deepest needs.
When you desire him above all else, seek him passionately, He will meet your deepest needs.
And when you meet Jesus in His glory and sweetness, you will be blessed and all these other things will be added to you. Write this down.
You will be completely satisfied, you will be continually satisfied, and you will be certainly satisfied because Jesus said it will happen.
You will be completely satisfied, you will be continually satisfied, and you will be certainly satisfied because Jesus said it will happen.
Check these out.
9 For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
if people understand what they have in Jesus, you could not keep them away with a machine gun.
3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
I am not telling you about a funeral nor am I inviting you to one. I am showing you how to have a feast.
I remember when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I had been in church all my life but I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. So I prayed and asked Jesus into my life… not for fire insurance, but for change in my life. When I did, my soul was satisfied and the turmoil was gone.
Conclusion
Do you know what evangelism is? It’s jut one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. That’s what I am doing today. I can’t do it for you… I wish I could, but I can’t. But one thing I can do is to hold up the WOG and tell you what Jesus said. Matt 5:6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Desire Him above all else. Seek Him passionately. And you will enjoy Him perpetually. I promise and I promise because Jesus said so.
