HUNGER AND THIRST by Keith Giles

HUNGER AND THIRST by Keith Giles
*NOTE: This is adapted from a sermon which is available as an mp3 download on my blog.

MATTHEW 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Here Jesus is speaking to his disciples, his followers, about life in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom reality, the place where God has His perfect will and reign, is the one true reality. We know that soon the full and total reign of God will come to this Earth and that Jesus Himself will sit on the throne and rule over every tribe and tongue and nation.

But Jesus is asking us, his followers, to begin living under the rules and the laws of this Kingdom today! We’re not to wait until this Kingdom fully comes, or else we’ll be left out of this Kingdom. We’re to live now, today, as if the King were here and the Kingdom had fully come.

This is why Jesus came; to announce that the Kingdom of God was “at hand”, that it was “near” and to call disciples who would be willing to live in that Kingdom Reality now.

Jesus uses here the terms “hunger and thirst” because they are powerful. He uses these terms because they are synonymous with the most powerful impulses in the natural realm. Literally these words mean “to suffer deep hunger” or “to suffer thirst” for the Kingdom (or for Righteousness).

Righteousness (or justification) means “to be made right with God”. Therefore, Jesus is saying that the only real happiness and satisfaction is found in being right with God.

Hunger and thirst are intense desires. Most of us have never really known true hunger or thirst. Seriously.
But the kind of hunger and thirst Jesus is speaking about here is continual. The mystery is that, even though he says we “will be filled” or satisfied in our desire for “being made right with God”, the Greek verbs here are present participles, which implies a continuous action. We are to be “continually” seeking desperately after the righteousness of God.

I want to look at a quote by a guy named Martyn Lloyd-Jones who said-
“ I do not know of a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself in this whole matter of the Christian profession than a verse like this. If this verse is to you one of the most blessed statements of the whole of Scripture, you can be quite certain you are a Christian. If it is not, then you had better examine the foundations again.”

What he means by this is, if you are true disciple or follower of Jesus, you should have an intense desire to be made right with God. You should have an immediate sense of your sin and your need for God, and if so, then this verse will be a great joy to you because here Jesus is telling you that you will be filled, your hunger and your thirst will be satisfied.
But, if this verse means nothing to you, then maybe you’re hungry or thirsty for something else? Satisfaction is available, but only through Christ.

SO WHAT DO YOU HUNGER FOR?
Many of us have never experienced life-threatening hunger or thirst. We may have experienced hunger for a specific food, a craving for something we’ve not had in a while. In those moments, when we’re tired of eating certain things we begin to hunger after things we’ve not had in a while. We can all relate to this concept of hunger; that is why this is such a great illustration that Jesus uses here in the Sermon on the Mount.

We as humans hunger and thirst not only for food but for satisfaction in life. We search in all kinds of different areas to be filled, to be satisfied, but we always end up falling short.

Blaise Pascal said that we all have a “God-shaped void” in our lives. All men are hungry and thirsty; the problem is that we try to fill that emptiness, that hunger, with things other than the righteousness of God. Some of you hearing this message are empty; you have not been satisfied. You are trying to fill that “God-shaped void” in your life with all kinds of things, but you are left empty, unsatisfied.

WHAT ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR?
As a young man I developed a passion for jackets. Especially leather jackets. I can remember one Christmas telling my parents that if they only bought me one gift that year that it had to be a specific black suede leather jacket with fringe along the sleeves and along the back. When I opened the gift I was thrilled! I wore it constantly. I was satisfied. At least until I saw another jacket even cooler than the one I already had.

Over time I began to wise up and realize that, no matter how many leather jackets I owned, I would never be satisfied. As children we all remember wanting a certain toy desperately, and after we received it we forgot all about it only a few days later. Why? Because these things, these toys, these objects of our desire, are incapable of satisfying us. What we hunger for is something more elusive and beyond our touching.

We try to satisfy ourselves with money and power, education, sex, pornography, boyfriends and girlfriends, toys and earthly possessions that allow us fun and entertainment for a time, but yet all these things lead to a deeper sense of need, a deeper longing for satisfaction, because they do not fill that need.

C.S. Lewis states:
"We are half hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased."

Remember: When the prodigal son was hungry he went to feed upon husks, but when he was starving, he returned to his father.

DO YOU STARVE AFTER GOD?
(John 14:13-14).The Woman at the Well - Jesus answered and said unto her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life

(John 6:26-27) Feeding the 5000 – Jesus answered them and said, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

In your life right now, what are you hungering and thirsting after? Where is your heart?

David, a man after God's own heart has said:
“Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You.” PSALM 63: 1

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR GOD, FOR THE LIVING GOD. WHEN CAN I GO AND MEET WITH GOD?” - PSALM 42:1-2

CONCLUDING POINTS:
Thomas Watson said, "He who has the greatest need for righteousness is the one that least wants it.”

Do you find yourself saying, "Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24). Or are you self-righteous, thinking everyone else is wrong and you are right?

If you are in any sense satisfied with yourself you need to question whether you really hunger after righteousness.

Does Anything External Satisfy You? Do things seem to be better in your life when you buy something new? A hungry man will never be satisfied with flowers, music, or an encouraging speech--he will still want food. A thirsty man will not be satisfied unless he is given a drink.

Man's need for Righteousness is not compared to one who needs to be awakened from a light sleep, but it’s compared to someone who needs to be raised from the dead! It is a life-or-death issue--not an optional activity to be squeezed into an already busy schedule.

Do you hunger and thirst for God like it’s about life and death? Do you “starve” for God?

IN MATTHEW 6:33 Jesus is urging us to stop worrying about the daily needs of our life, and to stop pursuing the things of this world (food, fashion, shelter, etc.), but to instead “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus is urging his followers to understand:
YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU!

THIS WORLD IS PASSING AWAY!

STOP LIVING FOR THE EMPTY, TEMPORARY THINGS OF THIS WORLD!

THE KINGDOM OF ORANGE COUNTY IS PASSING AWAY!

THE KINGDOM OF FASHION ISLAND IS PASSING AWAY!

THE KINGDOM OF SOUTH COAST PLAZA IS PASSING AWAY!

THE KINGDOM OF ENTERTAINMENT AND PLEASURE AND MATERIALISM AND VANITY….ARE ALL PASSING AWAY VERY, VERY SOON!

SO, STOP LIVING FOR THOSE THINGS WHICH CANNOT SATISFY!

START HUNGERING AND THIRSTING FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR “BEING MADE RIGHT WITH GOD”, FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD….NOW, TODAY!

**MATTHEW 13:44 gives us a picture of what the Kingdom of God is like for those who really “see” it and “find it”.

“The Kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

WHATEVER IT TAKES, GET THE KINGDOM. WHATEVER IT COSTS, LIVE FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

The man in this parable is eager to sell all that he has in order to get the treasure he’s found. The Kingdom is the treasure, and “with joy” (it says) this man ran and quickly sold all that he had in order to exchange it for this great treasure.

Have you seen the Kingdom? Really? Do you hunger and thirst for God and for being made right with Him?

Are you eager to run and sell it all, give it all, whatever the price, in order to be part of that Kingdom?

If so, Jesus has good news for you, “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled”.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all those other things will be added to you as well.”

AMEN
kg