[Beatitudes] Blessed Are Those Who Hunger And Thirst | Benny Ho

today we're continuing our series in the beatitudes and i trust that you've been enjoying the first few beatitudes that we've gone through but today i'm going to read for you once again matthew chapter 5 from verse 1 all the way to verse 12. so follow along with me as i read this beautiful portion of scripture for you now when jesus saw the crowds he went up on the mountainside and he sat down and his disciples came to him and he began to teach them he said blessed are the poor in spirit for death is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and curse for righteousness for they will be filled blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy blessed are the pure in heart for they will see god blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of god blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and blessed are you when people insult you persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you let's bow and we have a word of prayer lord i asked this morning that you will speak to us lord allow your word spoken so many years ago to become a living word that will challenge our hearts and cause us to move from passivity to passion god bring us to a place where we will truly long and curse and hunger after you your kingdom and your righteousness so we commit this time of sharing now to you in jesus name we pray amen amen there's an old french proverb that goes like this a good meal ought to begin with hunger and i totally agree with it a good meal ought to begin with hunger it is hard to enjoy a good meal when you're not hungry but when you are starving anything tastes good now in the middle east food and water were used carefully and never never wasted the digging of wells and the cultivation of land were matters of life and death and in this next beatitude in matthew chapter 5 jesus begin to link righteousness hunger and thirst together to show us that righteousness is as necessary for life as water and food now doctors tell us that we are what we eat culture tell us that food is fellowship the saying also goes that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach now all these basically point to the fact that our outward man is dependent on food and water but here's the principle if our physical life depends on food and water our spiritual life revolves around righteousness and that is why jesus said in matthew chapter 5 verse 6 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied the word hunger used here is the word pinato which actually means ardently crave eagerly seek after there's a certain intensity of desire the word thirst is deep south which means painfully feel the need for water so you need to capture the nuance here that is actually speaking of something that is very intense and it's telling us that in god's kingdom that that that is the level of intensity we need as we pursue after righteousness we pursue after god's kingdom and his righteousness now what is this righteousness that we are hungering and trusting after the word righteousness here is the greek word dikaio sonio which actually means a quality of being right or just uh a condition approved by god an uh correctness of thinking feeling and acting in other words this word righteousness is a very comprehensive word it's a very all-encompassing word and it tells us that righteousness this righteousness in the bible it actually comes with three different aspects and i want to outline them for you and help you to unpack this now there are three aspects to righteousness biblically number one is spiritual righteousness this is a righteousness that comes out of a right relationship with god through the cross and this is probably the most fundamental out of which all the others will flow it's a righteousness that comes out of the right relationship we now have with god because of god's work the redemptive work of christ on the cross philippians chapter 3 verse 9 describes this paul said i consider them rubbish referring to all the accolades that he has all the right self-righteousness that he had in the past he said i consider them now rubbish that i may gain christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is true faith in christ the righteousness that comes from god and is by faith now to the pharisees righteousness is all about conformity to rules it's all about external religiosity but without inward holiness jesus is calling us to hunger and thirst after a righteousness that is not of our own it is a righteousness that comes from god and is by faith it is rooted in what jesus has done for us on the cross of calvary and that is why jesus actually went on to say in matthew chapter 5 verse 20 for i tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses death of the pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven so the first aspect of this righteousness that we are to hunger and curse after is a spiritual righteousness rooted in the cross now out of that will come the next one moral righteousness this is a righteousness that the christian practices in his personal character and conduct that pleases the lord this is another aspect of righteousness that we are to hunger and thirst for as outlined in the beatitudes uh hebrews chapter 12 verse 11 says this no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful but later however it produces a harvest of righteousness that's the same greek word and peace for those who have been trained by it and i want you to know this brothers and sisters as the inner man is being satisfied with god's righteousness we will become increasingly dissatisfied with sin you see the more we embrace the righteousness of god inside the more repulsive we are towards sin the more we find our satisfaction in god the more we are dissatisfied by the things of this world i like that old song that we used to sing written by martin norstrom that goes like this right earthly things have left me dry only you can satisfy all i want is more of you and i think that's what it's describing here you see the more we embrace the righteousness that comes from god the more we are satisfied by the things that pleases god the less we are satisfied with the things of this world and we see this in the life of moses in hebrews chapter 11 verse 24 to 26. listen to this by faith moses when he had grown up refused to be known as the son of pharaoh's daughter but he chose to be mistreated along with the people of god rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin you see moses was raised in the palace but when he realized who he was he was no longer just content to enjoy the the the life that he could have in the palace but instead he chose to be mistreated along with the people of god rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin he regarded disgrace for the sake of christ as a greater value than the treasures of egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward in other words as the as moses begins to know god and begin to experience the goodness of god he has such an appetite developed for spiritual things that he was willing to let go of the things of this world because he has found his satisfaction now in god and moral righteousness becomes something that he hungers for something that he thirsts after something that he begins to pursue so firstly we are spiritual righteousness out of a relationship with god right relationship with god and then comes moral righteousness something that we begin to pursue out of that relationship with god and the third is social righteousness the biblical word righteousness actually goes beyond just having a right relationship with god spiritually of just moral righteousness in character and conduct as a result but more than that it also includes social righteousness in liberating the oppressed upholding justice serving the poor helping the needy we see this in luke chapter 4 verse 18 and 19 at the inauguration of the ministry of our lord jesus christ he declared this the spirit of the lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor it set me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the lord's favor you see when jesus inaugurated his ministry he was declaring at the same time a year of the lord's favor or the year of jubilee now it was a year that happened once every 50 years in israel it is a year where it brings good news to the poor liberty to the captives healing to their afflicted and freedom to the oppressed it's a year of reset when when god just reset the whole of society so that those who are in debt can be set free from the debt those who are in slavery can be set free why because the king has come and he will bring his righteousness into society and this is what jesus challenged his disciples to hunger and thirst after spiritual righteousness moral righteousness and social righteousness see now how does all these three aspects of righteousness co-relate now here's the key listen carefully to this and don't miss this our social and moral righteousness only finds his theological underpinning in the spiritual righteousness that is rooted in christ's work on the cross see here's the key the starting point the root of everything the source of everything is first a right relationship with god through the cross and then out of that will come the fruit of moral and social righteousness see when a sinner comes to christ he is declared righteous by grace true faith that is justification then out of that living relationship now with christ he that the christian now pursues a life of moral and social righteousness by the power of the holy spirit that's sanctification but the pursuit of righteousness will only find its ultimate fulfillment when jesus returns and that is glorification therefore brothers and sisters righteousness is a fruit or an outcome of first our relationship with god when we pursue moral and social righteousness apart from god it can be very self-centered it may be good but it is still centered on ourself but when the pursuit of moral and social righteousness is rooted in our relationship with christ then moral and social righteousness is no longer what i have to do it is something that i want to do it flows out of a living relationship that we have now with christ it's kind of like this now i love my wife and i want to be faithful to her but i'm faithful to her not because i'm trying to earn her love because she already loved me right after all i'm so lovable right but because she already loved me it demands from me a life of loving her in return but i do this i loved her i want to stay faithful to her not to earn her love but it is to honor the love that she already gave me and i think this is the beauty of true righteousness that is rooted in the cross i love because he first loved me because jesus loved me so much that he died for me on the cross and he came to set me free now out of that living relationship i have now with god i want to do what is right pursue moral righteousness and i want to be a blessing to people who are oppressed and afflicted people that are far away from god that's social righteousness my my pursuit of moral and social righteousness is by an outcome of my living relationship with jesus christ everything is rooted in my right relationship with god john chapter 6 verse 35 reminds us that it's all rooted ultimately in christ jesus said in john 6 35 i am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst see where is that hunger and thirst going to be satisfied except in the person of our lord jesus christ therefore coming to jesus is the first step towards true satisfaction and fulfillment in christ in life see christ and christ alone is the one who can satisfy your hunger and thirst he alone is the giver of satisfaction in life blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied you know jesus told the samaritan woman at the well in john 4 14 listen to this whoever drinks of this water will tears again but whoever drinks of the water that i shall give him will never thirst and here jesus is talking about an ongoing test you know the word drink in john 4 14 is a present continuous tense which means that whoever drinks and keeps on drinking whoever drinks and keeps on drinking why because hunger enters brothers and sisters are signs of life isn't it you know when we first come to christ it's because god already gave us a hunger and a thirst so as a result we come to christ and we are now safe now in a right relationship with god but that hunger and thirst must continue we drink and we keep on drink drinking we believe and we keep on believing why because hunger and thirst they are signs of life having an appetite are signs of life isn't it dead people have no appetite so here's my point unsaved people have an appetite for sin but saved people have an appetite for god and his righteousness and for that reason you know one of the first symptoms of someone falling sick is a loss of appetite your physical system shuts down and you lose all desires for food even the best gourmet food taste seems tasteless when you are sick but once you recover what happened the first thing you want to do is eat right in the same way when we hubble unconfessed sins in our life we begin to lose an appetite for spiritual things how many of you agree that when we actually are walking in sin when we begin to have when we begin to harbor unconfessed sin in our life we actually lose an appetite for the things of god we have no more desire to fellowship you want to avoid church we start missing cell groups and all that we we rather read the west australian than to read the bible right you rather listen to bts than matt raymond why because once we begin to harbor unconfessed sin we begin to lose an appetite for spiritual things see and i know some of you older ones don't even know what is bts right actually a korean boy band you know so i'm cooler now but here's my point right once you repent and you come back to god your appetite and thirst for spiritual things will return hunger and thirst for spiritual things to me is a sign of spiritual life and health that's why luke chapter 1 verse 53 tells us he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty god always respond to our inner longings our deepest desires anyone who hungers and thirsts shall be filled i find that many people in this world they are searching they are curious but they are not testing you know we are interested but we are not really hungry we are empty but not desperate there are those they are there we can be there but there's no intensity of desire and when i talk about this hunger and curse after righteousness and god and all that this hunger and thirst comes with a certain intensity of desire i'm not talking about a thirst that you get after a meal at chicken rice corner but it's a thirst that comes when we have walk for days in the desert and then all of a sudden you come across a store that is there is a selling ic code 7up and you rush over there you pay 500 for a glass and you glove it down in two seconds that's the kind of intensity we're talking about are you thirsty for for god this morning are you hungry for him do you sense that lack that craving that conscious but unsatisfied need for god and his righteousness the psalmist put it this way in psalm 63 1 oh god thou art my god early when i seek thee my soul thirsts for thee my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is wow such intensity of desire and do we have this deep longing for god are we hungry for more of jesus and his righteousness today do we have this holy desperation inside of us you know i want you to listen to the intensity of desires in the words of the psalmist and may the lord use these words to just spark a desire in all of our heart psalms 42 verse 1 and 2 says the psalmist wrote as the deer pens for streams of water so my soul pens for you my god my soul thirsts for god for the living god where can i go and meet with god you hear the intensity of of longing in the words of the psalmist psalms 27 4 the psalmist says one thing i ask from the lord this only do i seek that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life and to gaze on the beauty of the lord and to seek him in his temple these are the words of of one who knows what it means to hunger and thirst after god and his righteousness the psalmist said in psalm 63 8 my soul follows heart after thee thy right hand upholds me sums 107 verse 9 for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness doesn't matter if you are old-time christian or you are a new convert it does not matter if you are an usher or pastor if you long for the lord with intensity he will come god's not looking for position he's looking for passion if there are enough people here who are passionately longing hungering for more of jesus for more of god's righteousness god will break into our midst matthew chapter 5 verse 6 blessed are those who hunger and trust after righteousness for they shall be filled you know my friends maybe today you're coming to this livestream you know feeling empty and discouraged or you may have even lost your appetite for the bible or for prayer you may sense a holy dissatisfaction inside of you but this morning we can posture our hearts to hunger and thirst after god's kingdom and his righteousness and we shall be filled matthew 6 33 jesus tell us seek first and foremost his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be given to you as well you know if you go to europe during winter the mountains are just kept with great glaciers right throughout the entire winter and during that time there is no life but once summer comes and the sun begins to shine what happened the ice begins to melt and it becomes streams and then rivers that actually brings life to many who live in the valley so here's my point god can do the same for every one of us this morning he wants to transform our coldness our liturgy into life and passion and he can give us streams of living water in dry places the question is will we hunger and trust after god and his righteousness now let me end with this here's my prophetic burden for us this morning a.w tozer in his classic book the pursuit of god actually contrasted between being in the presence of god positionally and experiencing the presence of god actually you see his point he was contrasting between being in the presence of god positionally now we know that god is with us we understand that god is omnipresent that he's always with us we are in the presence of god positionally we are but he also contrasted that against experiencing the presence of god actually in other words actually experiencing tangibly the presence of god in our life just this deep inner knowing that god is with me that i am intimate with him i'm close to him you see when the presence of god becomes a tangible reality in our community the church becomes a magnet for hungry souls and broken people i find that when we gather and and everybody's hungry and thirsty and excited and enthusiastic about meeting god it's just we become a magnet for people who come in and they just sense that there's something that god's presence is here just think about our recent worship night we were just a bunch of people who came together with no other agenda than to long and hunger for the manifested presence of god and i so enjoyed those moments where we could just really sing and worship god from the depths of our being and my prayer is that may jesus christ becomes the prominent preeminent attraction in this house you know one thing more important than just making people feel welcome in this house is to make the father the son and the holy spirit feel welcome here the key is it's a longing a hunger a thirst for god's kingdom and his righteousness you know so you ask church here's my burden for all of us for fcc how do we do this how do we hunger and thirst after god's righteousness you know i think that we have two options right one is we intentionally pursue jesus until spiritual hunger comes see we worship him we feed on his word until something happens that's the responsibility of man you know that we spend time with the lord and we hung we we we worship him we read his word we study his word we let his word become preeminent in our life that is our responsibility but the second is when god suddenly and sovereignly invades our world and when god suddenly invades our world we cannot go back to life as usual then it becomes a time when god moves in revival power when heaven invades earth that's the sovereignty of god i cannot engineer that all i can do is to worship him all i can do is live my life according to his word and then god can sovereignly choose to invade our world when you study the revivals to church history i found both aspects at play there's always a remnant who is hungering after god that's man's responsibility and then suddenly there's a sovereign move of god that is god's sovereignty and then suddenly you know god runs the heaven and he comes down and he reveals himself even to those who are not seeking after him read the revival surpass how god has moved even among people who don't know him people who who are not seeking after him god can just suddenly stir hunger within them and they all come in repentance before god and you know i was reading a book given to me by pastor coming from joyce city church is a book entitled the great outpouring talking about a prayer retreat center in wales it's actually called the grace outpouring it's a tells a story about a prayer retreat center in wales called faryo branin and in 2008 what happened was god actually led an evangelist by the name of roy godwin to serve in this remote retreat center in wales and after a while he felt so dissatisfied because he's an evangelist and he desperately wanted to lead people to christ and not go and run a retreat center no he sought god because god led him there so sovereignly he had to seek god to say god can you release me from this assignment can you let me go but god intervened after he prayed within hours a non a pre-believing couple actually showed up at the door of the retreat center why because they were driving past and they just felt so compelled to want to come in and ask what is going on in this place what is this place all about and so they came knocking on the door so what roy did was that he showed them hospitality and then showed them around the place but the moment they stepped into the chapel this couple just began weeping they felt the presence of god of course at that point they didn't understand what that was but they felt something different they felt the tangible presence of god and roy actually ended up sharing the gospel with this couple and then the next thing you know the same thing happens day after day again and again right up to today 10 years later more than 10 years later it's still happening today in this retreat center from one man's hunger and thirst it has become a sovereign move of god that has gone into different parts of the world and i think i long for the time when the church can become again a place where people can run to to find refuge people can non-believers can run to to get to know god you know and where do we begin i think like the church in leo this year in revelations chapter 3 we recognize that we are poor blind and naked but jesus comes in revelation 3 20 talks about jesus coming and knocking on the door of the church and revelations 3 20 jesus said here i am i stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice opens the door i will come in and eat with that person and they with me you know our lord jesus stands at the door of our church this morning and he knocks and all it takes is one man one woman if anyone hears my voice and opens the door he will come in and he will invade this house are you hungry for more of jesus are you hungry for his righteousness are we longing after his kingdom that is to come seek ye first and foremost the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you because if we are hungry thirsty matthew chapter 5 verse 6 will come to pass blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness spiritual moral and social righteousness and they shall be satisfied amen let's bow and we have a word of prayer you know this morning even though we are not meeting physically i believe that god is able to move even across the airwaves and god is not con confined by time and space but wherever you are the lord is with you and he can touch you know many of us here today perhaps we feel stirring within our soul and we say god make me hungry make me thirsty aw toaster once wrote the mystics once wrote this words lord i hunger to be made hungry i thirst to be made thirsty even if we are not hungry not thirsty we say god i want to be make hungry i want to be made thirsty and my prayer for all of us is that we will all begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness thrust after god and his kingdom and his righteousness and god will come and meet us at our point of desire hallelujah thank you lord so wherever you are whether in your living room in your bedroom would you just lift your hearts to god and say god make me hungry make me thirsty because blessed are those who hunger and trust after spiritual moral social righteousness for they shall be satisfied so take a moment with you and allow me to pray let the holy spirit touch you this morning stir up a desire within you to seek after god and his kingdom and his righteousness father i ask in jesus name that you will come and you stir up the hearts of your people god i want to be made hungry i want to be made thirsty so that your righteousness becomes my pursuit earthly things have left me dry only you can satisfy so come lord jesus and do that work in each one of us stir up a hunger and the thirst for your word and for your presence come and do that in each and every one of us we pray thank you lord thank you lord take a moment and just receive and let the lord minister to your hearts thank you lord praise you jesus lord i give you glory give you praise i worship you because you are worthy lord make me hungry make me thirsty and we lay hold of your word in matthew 5 6 blessed happy are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness spiritual moral and social for they shall be satisfied thank you lord in jesus name we pray amen you

Channel: Faith Community Church Perth

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Length: 35min 23sec (2123 seconds)

Published: Tue May 04 2021