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Blessed are the Hungry · CCC West Covina

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Father God, we thank you for tonight and a chance to gather
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together to understand more of what Your Word says.
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You realize, Lord, that you are a great God, and You have given
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us Your word to explain to us who You are and what You've
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done. The whole Bible is about you,
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and we have come to worship and to honor you.
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We've come to understand You. Lord, You want us to know you.
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You've said that your people Israel were destroyed because
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they did not know you. And so, Father, we have come to
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understand the greatness of your character.
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So tonight instruct us in the way that we should go, that we
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might grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our
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Lord, until you come again, as you most surely will, in Jesus
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name, Amen. There was once a man who was
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extremely unfulfilled, unhappy, unsatisfied.
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He was not satisfied with his job.
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In fact, he was depressed about his job.
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He was not happy with his family nor his wife.
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So he decided to escape it all. He decided to get away and he
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joined a mute monastery where he took a vow of silence where he
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could not say anything for five years.
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So he went and thought, this is going to be great.
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Nobody to bug me, nobody to criticize me, nobody to yell at
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me. It's going to be great.
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So he went to this mute monastery and didn't say
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anything for five years. At the end of those five years
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he could say 2 words. So he was called into the
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superiors office and he said you were able to say 2 words, would
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you like to say them today? He nodded and said bad food.
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So he went back to the monastery, was there for another
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five years. At the end of those five years,
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he was able to meet with the superior, and the superior asked
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him, You have an opportunity to say 2 words, which 2 words do
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you choose? He said hard bed and he went
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back to the monastery and was there for another five years.
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Upon meeting with the superior one more time, his superior
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asked if he had any words or any 2 words you would like to say.
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He nodded his head and said I quit, to which the superior
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responded. Well, I'm not surprised you've
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done nothing but complain ever since you got here.
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I read that story and I couldn't help but laugh to myself.
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Because so many of us are unsatisfied with where we're at.
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If we can change our circumstances, If we can change
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our situation, If we can change our job.
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If we can change our wife or husband or family or kids.
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If we could just change things the way we think they should be,
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maybe we'll be fulfilled, maybe we'll be happy, maybe finally
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I'll gain some kind of satisfaction.
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And the reason that is, is because man is driven by 1
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motivating factor, and that factor is simply the drive for
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fulfillment. Every man that's ever born has
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that same drive, that same passion within him or within
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her, that somehow I could be, can be fulfilled in life.
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Israel was that way as a nation. They were driven to be
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fulfilled. So to begin tonight, turn with
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me in your Bible to do Jeremiah chapter 2.
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I want to show you something. God is going to speak to the
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nation right before they go into captivity.
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Jeremiah is the prophet, and so the Lord says in chapter 2 verse
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#4 hear the word of the Lord, O House of Jacob, and all the
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families of the House of Israel. Thus says the Lord, What
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injustice did your father's find in me that they went far from
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me, and walked after emptiness and became empty?
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Or to ask a question what? What is it that drove you away
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from me so much so that you would you would be driven to
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something that's unfulfilling? What caused you to do that?
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Verse #8 at the end says they walked after things that did not
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profit. You left me for no advantage.
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You left me for no satisfaction. You left me for no fulfillment.
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You left me to be empty. Why?
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And the Lord says in in verse 10, you can, you can look as far
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to the West as you want or as far to the east as you want.
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No matter how far you look in the West or the east, no matter
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how far you look, the answer will escape you.
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So he says in verse 11, has a nation changed gods when they
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were not gods? He asked a question.
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Did did the Canaanites change from worshipping Baal when Baal
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is not a God? Answer no.
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Did they change from worshipping Ashtaroth?
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And Ashtaroth is not even a God. But did they change their gods?
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Answer no, not at all. Did the Babylonians change from
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worshipping Marduk and Marduk's not even a God?
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Answer No. Nations didn't change their gods
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when they didn't even have a God.
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But he says my people have changed their glory for that
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which does not profit. My people who have the
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opportunity to worship the one true God, have turned from me to
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pursue that which does not profit.
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So he says in verse 12, Be appalled the heavens at this and
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shudder. Be very desolate, declares the
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Lord. For my people have committed 2
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evils. They have forsaken me, the
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fountain of living waters, to dig for themselves.
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Cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
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The Lord says, I want you to stand back and be appalled and
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be astonished at this. So heavens, you're not going to
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believe what I'm going to tell you, but I'm going to tell you
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that my people have forsaken me. They have committed 2 evils.
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And notice the evil wasn't they murdered somebody.
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The evil wasn't that they committed immorality.
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The evil was simply that they, as he says, forsaken me, the
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fountain that gives true living water.
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And they, they dug for themselves broken cisterns that
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can never hold water. He, he helps you understand what
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evil really is. This is evil.
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Whenever you choose to be satisfied and fulfilled with
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something other than the true God, you have committed that
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which is evil because you have forsaken the true and living God
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to pursue something that cannot fulfill you.
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It's empty, it's it's vain, it's useless, but people do that all
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the time because the the motivating factor in every man's
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life is a drive for fulfillment. But yet if you drive in a way
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that takes you away from God, you're committed evil and you
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will never be satisfied. In fact, he says down to verse
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#17 have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking the
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Lord your God, when he led you in the way, I mean, you did
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this, I LED you all the way. I cared for you, I nurtured you,
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I protected you, I provided for you, I did everything for you.
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I fought your enemies for you, I part of the Red Sea for you, I
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fed you manna from heaven. I did everything for you.
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And yet you did this to yourself.
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You decided to forsake me. You decided to walk away from me
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because in your mind you thought that there was something else
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that was better than me. There is something that will
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fulfill you and satisfy you better than me.
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And God defines that as evil. We don't think it that way.
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We think that people who commit heinous sins, they're evil.
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But in God's eyes, whenever you turn from him and pursue that
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which is nothing but you think it's something that's evil.
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Verse 19, he says your own wickedness will correct you and
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your apostasies will reprove. You know therefore and see that
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it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God.
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He tells him why, And the dread of me is not in you, declares
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the Lord God of hosts. He says you don't fear me.
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That's why you turn from me, verse 22.
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Although you wash yourselves with Lye and use much soap, the
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stain of your iniquity is before me, declares the Lord.
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You go through the motions of trying to cleanse yourself.
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You try to get things right, but you're not.
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You're not truly repenting of your sin.
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How sad. Many years earlier, Isaiah the
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prophet was prophesying to the nation.
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This is what he says in chapter 55 verse #1 Ho, everyone who
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thirsts, everyone. Anybody who's thirsty.
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Now remember the number one motivation in the heart of every
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man is a drive for fulfillment, a drive to satisfy whatever
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thirst you have, the drive to satisfy whatever hunger you
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possess. Every man is driven the same
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way. So God says to the prophet
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Isaiah, everybody you thirst, no matter where you are, whether
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you're a Jew or you're a Gentile, whoever is thirsty,
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come to the waters and you have no money.
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Come buy, eat, come buy wine and milk without money and without
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cost. Why do you spend your money for
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what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy?
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Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight
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yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me.
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Listen that you may live. You see, God is is is pleading
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with people. He's pleading with the nation.
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You come, come that you might live.
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You're thirsty. I will satisfy your parched
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soul. You're hungry.
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I will feed you with in ways you'll never understand, but you
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got to listen to me. Verse 6 Seek the Lord while he
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may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
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Let the wicked forsake his way and the righteous man his his
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thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have
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compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly
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pardon. This is Isaiah, he's prophesying
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before Jeremiah. He is pleading with the people.
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This is what God says. Come and the Lord will satisfy.
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He'll protect you, He'll provide for you, and by the time
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Jeremiah prophecies, they have committed the evil of turning
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away from the one true God who can fulfill them to pursue
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something that can do nothing for them.
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It could be a person, it could be an event, it could be a
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situation, but they're pursuing all all that there is, but never
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be satisfied. Excuse me.
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So Jesus comes along in Matthew chapter 5 and says, I want to
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give you, provide for you fulfillment.
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You are driven that way anyway, but you need to be driven my
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way. You be driven to me.
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And so he begins this Sermon on the Mount by saying, blessed are
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the poor in spirit, for there's the Kingdom of heaven.
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Blessed are those who mourn, for they should be comforted.
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Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
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I'm offering you my Kingdom. I'm offering you comfort.
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I'm offering you the world. And then he says, blessed are
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those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they and they
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only will be satisfied. Nothing else is going to satisfy
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you. Every other pursuit you have
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will end up in emptiness but you hunger and thirst for
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righteousness. Then you will find satisfaction.
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That's the beatitude for this evening.
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If you have your notes in front of you, the outline is the same
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as it was the previous three weeks.
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We will define the condition, describe the consequences,
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detail the characteristics, and then determine our course.
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Let's define the condition. Blessed are those who are hungry
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and are thirsty for righteousness.
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First of all, the negative aspect of hungry and thirsty.
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It's interesting to note that every one of us has pursuits in
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life, driving ambitions. Usually they're material and
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temporal, not spiritual and eternal.
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That 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal said.
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All men seek happiness. This is without exception.
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Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this
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end. The cause of some going to war,
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and of others avoiding it is the same desire in both attending
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with different views. They will never take the least
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step but to this objective. This is the motive of every man,
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even to those who hang themselves.
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He understood that man is driven with passion.
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Everybody has a driving mechanism within them.
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It's always the same. I must be satisfied, I must be
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fulfilled because I'm empty. So we begin to pursue whatever
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avenues out there to fulfill my emptiness.
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Sometimes it's praise. People need praise.
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So we work hard at work so that my boss and my fellow employees
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will praise me. I'll work hard in in the gym so
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that when I go to the field, I'll perform at a great, great
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height and everybody will praise me.
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People have an ambition to be praised, to be honored, to be
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recognized, to be affirmed, and that that motivates them.
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It drives them so much so that they begin to manipulate events
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so that they are praised even all the more.
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Christ would say in Matthew chapter 6 verse one, beware of
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practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by
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them. Otherwise you have no reward
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with your Father who is in heaven.
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So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you,
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as the hypocrites do in the synagogues.
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And in the streets that they may be honored by men.
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Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.
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Don't be like the hypocrites. They want everybody to know how
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much they give. So they'll blow the trumpet as
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they begin to drop their gifts in the in the offering basket
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and walk away so proud because others have seen that they've
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given to God. Christ says that's the only
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reward they're going to get because they seek praise from
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man. Others are are driven by the
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ambition for more possessions, more things, more object.
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It's like the rich, the rich fool when the Lord said man's
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life does not consist in the abundance of things in which he
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possesses. And we read that, but we, we
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still still want just a little bit more of this or a little bit
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more of that and possessions and having them drive me for more.
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Then then there's the lust for power to be in charge, to be in
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control, to be recognized as an all powerful one.
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Like like Lucifer. He was driven by power, by
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pride. He wanted to be just like God.
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He wanted to be worshipped like God.
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It was driven by power others are hungry for, for pleasure.
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Remember the prodigal son? He wanted his inheritance.
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What drove him pleasure. He spent all of his money and
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all of his efforts on wanton sin.
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When he recognized the very end, it was empty.
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It was nothing that got him nowhere.
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Classic example. Of course you know Solomon says
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these words in Ecclesiastes 2 verse #9 I became great and
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increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
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My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired.
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I did not refuse them. Whatever my eyes saw, whatever
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they wanted, I did not refuse them.
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I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.
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Whatever pleasure I wanted, I obtained, for my heart was
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pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all
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my labor. In other words, I built gardens
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and I built more gardens. I built houses, and I built more
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houses. I obtained horses, and then I
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obtained more horses. I obtained wives, and then I
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obtained even more wives. Whatever my eyes desired,
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whatever my heart pleasured, whatever I wanted to do,
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whatever I labored on, I just purchased, obtained, received.
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Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had
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done, and the labor which I exerted, and behold, all was
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vanity and striving after the wind, and there was no profit
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under the sun. Solomon is a great example of
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the passion to hunger and the thirst for for possessions or
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for wives or for more power, more pleasure.
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And he had the opportunity at his fingertips to do whatever he
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wanted. None of us do, but he did.
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And the end result was what? It's empty.
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It's driving after the wind. There's nothing there.
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So Christ says I've I've come to offer you fulfillment.
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I've come to offer you satisfaction, and those who
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hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be
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satisfied. The drive you have on the inside
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of you is to be directed only to Me.
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And when you find me, you find a life.
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You find everything there is in life, but you must hunger and
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thirst for righteousness. That's the positive aspect.
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What is that? Well, in the Old Testament, it's
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unique to understand that righteousness is equated with
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salvation. So when you're hungering and
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thirsting for righteousness, to be reconciled to God, to be
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right with God, that's what salvation is.
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And those who hunger and thirst for justification, for
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reconciliation, for righteousness, our Lord gave us
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His righteousness at the cross when we embrace Him as our Lord
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and Savior. And so we had this positional
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righteousness that we have, we are declared right before God,
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not because of anything that we have done, but because of
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everything that He has done. And He says, when you hunger and
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thirst for righteousness, not just positional righteousness,
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but practical righteousness, not not just salvation, but
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sanctification, when when you pursue to be set apart unto me
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for my purposes, when you pursue to be holy as I am holy, when
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you set your eyes, when you set your heart, when you set your
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mind on on following after me, you will be satisfied.
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Your search will be complete. You'll recognize that everything
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you've longed for, I will give you.
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Everything that you need I have, but you must hunger and thirst
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for righteousness. That's why you would say in
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Matthew 6, Seek ye first. My Kingdom and My righteousness
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make the priority. It's all about My Kingdom and
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I'm a righteous king, and I want you to be as righteous as I am
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righteous and I want you to pursue me and I all these other
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things will be added unto you, but you got to make me the
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priority. That's why Paul says in Romans
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1417, the Kingdom of heaven is not eating and drinking.
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It's righteousness, it's peace, it's joy in the Holy Spirit.
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When you're righteous, when you declared right before God,
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you've been reconciled to God. You're no longer his enemy,
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you're on his side. You have peace, and those who
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have peace have joy. And that's what my Kingdom is,
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righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
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So important to understand. Interesting that this word
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righteousness is used seven times in Matthew's gospel, five
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times in the Sermon on the Mount.
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Only one other gospel writer mentions the word righteousness,
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but Matthew mentions it quite frequently.
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Why? Because the only way to get into
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the Kingdom is to obtain the righteousness of the king.
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He's come to present the Kingdom.
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So the condition is simply this. You hunger, you are thirsty for
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righteousness. And if you are, you'll be
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satisfied, which tells us the consequences.
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The consequences are three. You'll be happy, you'll be holy,
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yet you'll still be hungry, you'll still be thirsty.
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He says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
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righteousness. The the contentment, the joy,
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the the blessing that comes. Listen to what Psalm one O 7
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says it says, For he satisfieth the longing soul, and fillet the
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hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 34, verse #10 They that
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seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
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Jeremiah 31. My people shall be satisfied
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with my goodness, saith the Lord.
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Luke 153. Mary says He has filled the
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hungry with good things. John 4/14 Whosoever drinketh of
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the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
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John 635I in the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never
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hunger. Wow, there is something about
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what God does in the life of an individual that satisfies his
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soul. He says, You come to me, you're
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blessed, you come to me, you'll be happy #2 you'll be holy.
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Why? Because you would have obtained
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my righteousness. And Peter would say, I want you
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to be holy as the Lord God is holy.
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I want you to be holy in all your conduct, not just some of
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your conduct. Peter says, I want you to be
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holy in all of your conduct. Why?
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Because the Lord your God is a holy God.
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In other words, I, I want you to be set apart when when you are
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pursuing God, when you are hungry and thirsty for
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righteousness, you are, You are set apart unto God for his
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purposes. That's what it means to to be
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holy or to be sanctified. You are set apart unto God for
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his purposes and all of a sudden you are.
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You are an antithesis to society because you pursue what they
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don't pursue. You are driven inwardly by God
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to God for more of God and they are not and they don't
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understand that. But the the consequences of
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pursuing and hungering for righteousness is happiness,
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holiness, yet you're still hungry.
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In other words, you're satisfied, but yet you're still
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not satisfied. You know, you've, you've been in
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that place where, where you just sit down.
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You've had a long day and you come home and, and you, you make
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your favorite cup of coffee and your wife has just made those
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beautiful chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts in them.
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And they're really warm coming out of the oven.
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And you, you, you set that, that warm cookie right there.
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And then you, you've got your coffee right there.
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And, and maybe you'll, you'll, you'll dip the, the cookie into
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the coffee and, but, but you will sip your coffee and eat
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that beautiful warm cookie and say, ah, I am satisfied.
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But as soon as that cookie's done, you're unsatisfied.
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And so you want another cookie and you say, I'm so satisfied.
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But then you want another one. And the next day you want more.
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See, that's, that's the way it is.
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That's the way it is with with righteousness.
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You're hungry and thirsty for righteousness and God says I
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will satisfy you. But then again, you're never
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really fully satisfied. In fact, the psalmist says it
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this way, Psalm 1715 I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy
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likeness. When I'm finally dead, which I'm
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really alive and I'm in heaven, and I awake with your likeness,
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then I will fully be satisfied. Remember, Remember Paul, he said
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in Second Timothy 112 I know whom I have believed, and then
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persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
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unto him until that day. I know whom I have believed.
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And yet in Philippians 3 he says, Oh, that I may know him,
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that there was a hunger to know God even all the more.
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He knew him, but he wanted to know Him all the more.
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And that's what happens to those who hunger and thirst for
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righteousness. It's whenever you are parched in
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your mouth and you want some water and you drink the water.
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Listen, having drank the water doesn't mean you won't be
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thirsty tomorrow. You will be.
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Or the next day. You're going to continually be
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thirsty in the physical realm when you eat your dinner
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tonight. Well, maybe you've already eaten
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dinner, you're satisfied, but when you wake up for breakfast
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tomorrow, you're still going to be hungry.
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With The same is true with scripture.
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The same is true with righteousness.
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The same is true with learning to live a holy separated life
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unto God. All that is true, you just want
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more of it. I had a had a phone call today
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with Don and and Wanda Slavin and they had just listened to
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last Sunday's sermon and they were praying for me and for our
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church and I called them out of the blue.
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Just want to know how they work because they haven't been here.
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Of course they can't get here because Don is is too weak to
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drive and and Wanda is going to have a procedure pretty soon and
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so she can't really drive until that time.
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And so they're stuck at home. And she said to me, you know, I
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heard your sermon. And she said, you know, I, I, I
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would love to drag my family to church with me.
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At the end. I hear the gospel of John, she
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said, but I can't even drag myself out of my house to get to
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church to drag somebody else with me.
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But she wants to be here and Don wants to be here.
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These can't make it, but but they're the, the example of I
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want to be here. I can't be here, but I just
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hunger and thirst for more of the word and they said you know
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what physically we're we're we're hurting, but spiritually
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we are we are alive and our souls are are filled with the
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joy of the Lord. What a great testimony.
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Beautiful couple love the Lord. They want to be here so bad, so
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bad. They just can't physically make
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it. Same is true with Jan and Jerry
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Simmons spoke with her today and they're just having a hard time.
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And she says, oh, I just miss church.
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I miss my church family. I just long to be there.
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There, there's this hunger, there's this thirst to be with
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the people of God, to hear the word of God.
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I wonder if you have that. I would hope you do.
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I mean, you're here. So I would assume that that
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that's part of your DNA that you, you want to be here because
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you're hungry and thirsty for righteousness and you want to
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know what the Bible says and you, you want to grow and you
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walk with the Lord. That's why that's why you're
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here. I don't want to assume that
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necessarily, but I don't think the best of you, right?
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And so you, you got to realize that, that, that that's what
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happens. God says blessed are those who
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hunger and thirst for righteousness.
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These are the happy people. These are the holy people
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because they're saved. They're set apart unto God for
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my purpose, but they're still wanting more holiness.
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They're still wanting more happiness because they hunger
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more and more for my righteousness #3 detailing the
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characteristics. What are the characteristics of
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those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?
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There are many of them. I'm just going to give you 41.
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Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness squelch all their
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sin. They separate themselves from
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their sin. They silence their sin.
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In other words, they want nothing to do with evil.
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Psalm 97, verse #10 says You who love the Lord hate evil.
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Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are increasingly
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dissatisfied with substitutes. It is our the mind recognizes
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sin, the heart is repulsed by sin, and the will refuses to
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sin. Those who hunger and thirst for
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righteousness that they want to suppress, squelch, separate,
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silence, all sin in their lives. Jerry Bridges, in his book The
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Pursuit of Holiness, said these words.
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He says, I realized that my personal life's objective
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regarding holiness was less than that of the apostle John.
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He was saying, in effect, make it your aim not to sin.
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As I thought about this, I realized that deep within my
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heart, my real aim was not to sin very much.
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Can you imagine a soldier going into battle with the aim of not
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getting hit very much? The very suggestion is
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ridiculous. His aim is not to get hit at
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all. Yet if we have not made a
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commitment to holiness, without exception, we are like a soldier
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going into battle with the aim of not getting hit very much.
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We can be sure if that is our aim, we will be hit not with
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bullets but with temptation, over and over.
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Again, so the will just refuses to sin.
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Why? Because I'm hungry and thirsting
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for that which satisfies my soul.
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The righteousness of God #2 the life that hungers and thirst for
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righteousness not only squelches all sin, but surrenders every
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substitute. Surrenders every substitute.
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A truly spiritual man will never be satisfied with that which is
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material or that which is temporal.
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In fact, a hungry man doesn't want food and a new shirt, he
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just wants food. A thirsty man just wants water,
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not water and something else. And so you surrender every
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substitute. Psalm 119 verse #20 My soul is
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crushed with longing after Thy ordinances at all times.
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Vance Havner was was a a country preacher.
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I don't know if you've read any of his books or not.
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He's got a a multitude of books in his his book entitled Pepper
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and Salt. He says this.
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He says we have too many casual Christians who dabble in
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everything but are not committed to anything.
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They have a a nodding acquaintance with a score of
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subjects but are sold on nothing.
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Of course I'm interested in church, but with my club and my
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lodge and my golf and my activities and my stamp
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collecting and and my ceramics and my African violets, I just
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can't get too excited about religion.
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Our Lord had no place in his program for casual disciples.
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It was all or it was nothing. That's so true.
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Christ demands everything. Come after me, come after me,
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deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow
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me. Don't follow me and someone else
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Follow me. Serve me, honor me.
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The person who hungers and thirst for righteousness, he
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surrenders every substitute. Anything that will sort of take
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the place of God, he wants to get rid of because it never
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satisfies #3 #3 He searches the Scriptures.
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He searches the Scriptures. Psalm 26 verse #9 With my soul
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have I desired Thee in the night, and with my Spirit within
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me will I seek Thee early. There's something about a hungry
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man that that searches for the bread of life.
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Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
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proceeds out of the mouth of God.
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And so he searches the scriptures.
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Psalm 63, verse number 10. God, early will I seek thee.
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Jeremiah 1516. What did Jeremiah say?
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Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and they were the joy
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and the rejoicing of my heart. He said that knowing that all
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the people he preached to would never listen, never repent, and
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never follow his God. So you realize that the joy was
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not in the response of the people.
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The joy was in the opportunity to hear the word, digest the
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Word, feed on the word of God. That's what a hungry man does.
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That's what a thirsty man does. This is this is the living word
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of God. This is living water.
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This is bread of life. This is what satisfies #4 the
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one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is satisfied even
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in suffering. Satisfied even in suffering.
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Proverbs 27 Seven To the hungry soul every bitter thing is
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sweet. The hungry soul remains content,
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The hungry soul remains satisfied.
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The hungry soul remains pursuing righteousness in spite of
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troubles and trials, in spite of persecution and affliction, in
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spite of difficulties and hardship.
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Because to him, even in the bitterness of life there was
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sweetness. Because he knows his God is at
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work. His God is a plan is God always
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knows what's best and so he continues to pursue
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righteousness. Where do we go from here?
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3 things. One, you need to develop an
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appetite for the righteousness of God, need to develop the
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appetite for the bread of life and for the living water.
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And Psalm 34, eight says, O taste and see that the Lord is
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good. I wonder what your appetite is
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like for the word of God. I wonder if there's a hunger in
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your soul to learn more and more and more.
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I wonder if there's a thirst in your soul that caused you to
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want to drink from the living water.
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Do you have the kind of appetite that can never be satisfied with
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just one sermon or just one reading of the scriptures or
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just memorizing one verse? Do you have the kind of appetite
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that once you've memorized one verse, you you want to memorize
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2? Once you've read 1 chapter, you
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want to read 2. Once you've heard one sermon,
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you want to hear the whole series.
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Once you are with the people of God, you want to continue to be
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with them. There's this driving force in
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your life that moves you further and further to hunger and thirst
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for more of the salvation and sanctification that comes to the
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righteousness of Christ Himself. You need to develop an appetite
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for the things of God, Peter says as newborn babes desire the
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pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.
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If if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, if you have
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tasted the the grace of God, if you look, if you've come to
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taste just the goodness of God, then you should be like a a
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newborn babe screaming for more of God, never getting enough.
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There's so many times we are unwind to surrender our
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substitutes. We're unwilling to squelch the
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sin in our lives. We're unwilling to search the
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Scriptures because we think down deep that maybe the Lord isn't
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enough. There's got to be something
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else, but there's not. Just read the book of Jeremiah,
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Just read Ecclesiastes. Just read the Bible.
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It comes only from the Lord. Develop an appetite #2 Delight
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yourself in the Lord. You're not going to delight
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yourself in the Lord unless you develop an appetite for the
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Lord. Psalmist said.
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You know the verse, Psalm 37 verse #4 delight yourself in the
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Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
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Augustine said it well. Thou has made us for thyself,
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and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee and then
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deny the world. Deny the things of the world.
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John the Baptist did. He was raised in the priesthood.
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His father was a priest, but he denied the things of the world.
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He didn't dress like all the other priests.
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He didn't eat what all the other priests ate.
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He certainly didn't speak and preach like the other priests.
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He was the antithesis to Judaism.
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He lived a different kind of way.
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He denied the things of the world over in Psalm 58.
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Psalm 58, listen, I'm sorry, Isaiah 58, Isaiah chapter 58,
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listen to what the Lord says. Verse 13.
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If because of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing your
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own pleasure on my holy day, I think that's just so good.
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If he says because of the Sabbath, because of the day,
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that's a holy day. If you set aside my day to honor
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me. If you do that and call the
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Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable and honor
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it, desisting from your own ways, This is everything we just
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said to you. If you're, if you're willing to,
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to set aside one day for me, if you're willing to separate
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yourself from everything else, desist from doing anything else,
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focus on me, he says. Desist from your own ways, from
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seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you
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will take delight in the Lord. That is just so clear, God.
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God says you need to set apart a day for me.
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You need to keep it holy. You need to stop seeking other
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pleasures. You need to desist from your own
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way. Stop thinking that your way is
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better than my way. You do that.
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You will take delight in the Lord.
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Listen to this and I will make you ride on the heights of the
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earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your
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father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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God says I'm going to, this is what I'm going to do, but this
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is the requirement. It's all about hungering and
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thirsting for me. So you're willing to set aside
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every substitute? Search only for me.
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Stop seeking the pleasures of your life.
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Focus solely upon me. Search my scriptures.
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Deny yourself, and you'll be satisfied.
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That's God's promise to you. It's God's promise to me as He
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sits on the the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee and all these
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people are all around him. He says, you know what, I really
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want you to be blessed. So if you're willing to
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recognize that that you have nothing to offer me, that the
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Kingdom is yours, if you're willing to to mourn over your
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sin, I will. I will comfort you.
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If you're willing to be meek, I'll give you the earth.
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And if you hunger for my righteousness, I guarantee your
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satisfaction. That's what the Lord says.
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I just happen to believe that. I wonder if you do.
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I would trust that that's the case.
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Let's pray together. Lord God, thank you for today.
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We are a blessed people to have been able to spend a few moments
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in your word. We are grateful, Lord, for how
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it is you make all these promises.
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And yet, Lord, so many times we we are driven to move away from
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you by that inner compulsion to be satisfied.
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And mostly it's just temporal, material things that never last.
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But we just keep doing it over and over and over again.
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And you're a patient, you're kind, you're loving, and you're
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graceful. And you keep calling us back to
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you. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come
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to me, come to me. Those of you who are hungry,
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come to me. I will feed you with the bread
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of life. I will give you the the water of
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life. I will satisfy the deepest needs
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of your soul so that you will delight in me.
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And when you do, you'll be fully, totally satisfied.
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And yet you'll still want more. You'll still cry for more, as it
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should be, until the day we awake in Your presence, and we
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will be fully like you till that day comes.
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Lord, give us the drive and the motivation to pursue only Christ
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in Jesus name, Amen.