SOM #5: THE HAPPY HUNGRY (Matthew 5:5)

(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)

Matthew 5:6 – THE HAPPY HUNGRY

#5 – SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Hunger and thirst express two basic needs. The need for food and the need for water.

In America where of most people really do not understand what it is to be hungry and thirsty, we have a hard time understanding the concepts of hunger and thirst.

But for you and I to be truly happy, we must learn what it means to hunger and thirst. Not that we need to hunger and thirst after food and water to be happy. We must learn to hunger and thirst after righteousness in order to be happy.

Hunger and thirst are basic responses to needs.

The Lord Jesus is telling us here that the happy individual is one who hungers and thirsts after one of man’s basic needs – the need to be right with God – righteousness!

To be right with God is more essential than having food to eat and water to drink.

Therefore our Lord is telling us to have true hunger and true thirst for righteousness, that is, being right with God.

In the original language these words are expressing a continuous hunger and a continuous thirst. We should be continually hungry and continually thirsty, and the result is we will continually satisfied.

What is going to happen when we hunger and thirst after righteousness?

We will lean on God.

We will learn from God.

We will live for God.

We will love with God.

LEANING ON GOD

When we lean on God we are expressing a reliance or faith in God. Hebrews 11:6

We must lean on God for RIGHTEOUSNESS.

We must lean on God for righteousness because we have no righteousness of our own. Romans 3:10-12

We are unrighteous before God.

We need forgiveness.

We need cleansing.

We need guilt removed.

We need eternal life.

We need righteousness.

Do you know why Jesus Christ died?

Yes, He died for your sins, and the sins of the whole world.

Yes, He died so you can be forgiven.

Yes, He died so you can go to Heaven, if you trust Him as your Savior.

But He also died so God could declare you righteous, or right with Him! 2 Corinthians 5:21

You see, when our sins are dealt with

When are sins are paid for

When are sins have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ we have the opportunity to be made right with God!

We are declared righteous by God, when we place our faith in that shed blood of Christ. Romans 5:1

Because Christ already died, has already been buried, and has already risen from the dead, all I must do for righteousness is to lean on Him by faith.

Have you leaned on God by putting your faith in Christ for righteousness?

Those of us who have leaned on Christ for salvation should not stop learning. We are to hunger and thirst after righteousness in such a way that we continue to lean on Him! 1 Corinthians 1:30

Just as I could not be right with God apart from leaning on Christ by faith, I can not live a righteous life, apart from leaning on Christ now.

He is my righteousness. Galatians 2:20

See yourself as dead!

When Christ died, you died.

See yourself as alive.

When Christ rose from the dead, you rose from the dead with Him.

See yourself as having Christ alive and living inside of you.

Christ liveth in me!

See yourself as leaning on Him for a righteous life!

…The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Our hunger and thirst should be such that we simply trust Christ who is in us to live His life through us.

Be hungry enough to totally rely on Christ for your righteous Christian life. Be thirsty enough to lean entirely on Him who lives in you, for everything!

LEARNING FROM GOD

You, dear Christian, come with an operator’s manual. It tells you how to live your new life in Christ. It tells you how to adjust and let Christ run your new life.

It tells you how to maintain your new life in righteousness.

And the real enthusiast as a Christian, the one who will hunger and thirst after righteousness, is going to hunger and thirst after this book in order to learn from God. 1 Peter 2:1-3

Just as a baby craves milk, so should we crave the Word of God.

For it will teach us who we are in Christ, and how we should act in Christ.

LIVING FOR GOD

If you hunger and thirst after righteousness, it means you want your life to count for God.

You want your life to count for God not just on Sunday, but all week.

In living for God, there are two verses I suggest you pray over this week: Matthew 5:16, Psalm 19:14

LOVING WITH GOD

Because Christ lives in you, he wants to love through you!

Jesus Christ gave the greatest expression of love when He went to the cross. 1 John 4:10

And now Christ wants us to express Christ’s love to an unsaved world and even to our enemies.

Christ especially wants us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. John 13:34-25

(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)

MATTHEW 9:23-27 – STORMY WEATHER

LIFE OF CHRIST #24

We all face trials and troubles often. It is what Cole Porter called “Stormy Weather” in a song that he wrote.

There were a couple of times when the disciples faced storms on the Sea of Galilee.

As we look at this story about literal storm, we also learn lessons about the figurative storms that cause trials and troubles in our lives. Let’s see what lessons we can learn this morning about stormy weather.

STORMY WEATHER IS BEST FACED WHEN JESUS IS IN THE BOAT

Vs. 23 – Think of the boat as our lives.

Although God is present everywhere, there is a special sense in which God is present in our lives. When He indwells us, He has taken up special residence inside of us. John 14:16-17

God the Holy Spirit dwells inside of the Christian.

He is there to guide us, protect us, keep us, teach us, and comfort us.

And God has promised the Christian that this presence is unending! Hebrews 13:5-6

You have heard people say, and might have said yourself, “I wouldn’t want to face this problem without the Lord!”

How true! If God is willing to take up residence in our lives through his Holy Spirit it would be dumb not to avail ourselves of His presence.

When you trust Christ as your payment for sins, you are what the Bible calls, born again, by the Spirit of God. And God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life. Romans 8:9

If you have truly trusted Christ as your Savior, you have God’s presence in your life no matter what the storm may be. Make sure that you have Christ in the boat that is your life!

STORMY WEATHER RESULTS FROM OBEDIENCE

Vs. 23 – The Lord Jesus entered the boat. The disciples followed Him into the boat. It was the Lord Jesus who decided where they were going. Luke 8:22

The disciples ended up in a storm on the Sea of Galilee because they were following Jesus in obedience.

Of course, being obedient to God as a Christian and following Jesus’ leadership in our lives is the right thing to do. Luke 9:23-24

Following Jesus after trusting Him for forgiveness does not mean that it will be an easy life. In fact, we will have storms. 2 Timothy 3:12, James 1:2-4

The storms that Jesus leads through will make us strong and mature. And I’d rather follow Jesus in the middle of a storm than to not follow Jesus. Being in the center of the Lord’s will is always the safest place to be.

But you’ll also face storms if you’re not obedient to God.

Would you rather face storms being in the center of God’s will, or out of God’s will? Which makes the most sense?

STORMY WEATHER IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

Vs. 24 – I don’t have to tell you how dangerous storms can be. Just consider last year’s tsunami and hurricanes Ivan and Rita.

This storm was a very violent storm, and even seasoned fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John were having trouble with it.

The storms of life which we face are also dangerous.

Sometimes we will be in physical danger because of persecution, accidents or illness.

Other times we are in emotional danger with our “storms” threatening to overwhelm us with fear and/or depression.

Other times we are in Spiritual danger, with Satan’s attacks challenging us to give up or to sin.

And this verse alludes to another danger. We might be concerned because in the midst of the storm God appears to be asleep. He does not seem to be responding to our problems during the storm. He seems to be silent.

Our Lord Jesus was able to sleep because He had a human body that got tired. He was also able to sleep because, being sinless, He had a clean conscience. He was also able to sleep, because He quietly allowed Himself to rest in the hands of His loving Heavenly Father.

If you are doing what is right before the Lord, confessing your sins as a Christian, and striving to live for Him, don’t panic when God appears to be asleep. He’ll show Himself to be very much alive at just the right time.

STORMY WEATHER INVOKES FEAR AND PANIC

Vs. 25 – When storms come we tend to fear. And sometimes when storms come we will go into a panic. The situation seems to be absolutely hopeless!

Humans tend to be fearful. If we didn’t tend to be fearful, God would not have put so many verses in the Bible telling us not to be afraid. I’ll just give you two samples, but there are many more “do not fear” verses in the Bible. Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 41:10

We tend to fear and worry about what might happen but hasn’t happened.

We tend to fear and worry about the future.

We tend to fear and worry about the opinions of others.

We tend to fear and worry about our children, our parents, our spouses.

Then comes the times our problems are so real to us that they tend to overwhelm us. We hit the panic mode.

Yes, many fears are justified. But there is a proper way to handle fear.

These seasoned fishermen were literally in over their heads and they knew it, coming to Jesus in panic.

STORMY WEATHER REQUIRES PRAYER AND FAITH

Vs. 25 – The disciples awoke the Lord Jesus.

Their anxious prayer was an indication that they had come to the end of themselves, and that they had at least a little faith that Jesus could help.

I personally think that they waited too long to ask Jesus for help. The moment things got a little stormy, I think they should have come to Him.

We are like that. If things seem to be just a little stormy or troublesome, we’ll just worry over it and try to solve it ourselves, instead of bringing it to God right away.

But when problems get full blown, we come in a panic with a little, but not much faith that God can help. Philippians 4:6, James 1:5-8

Vs. 26 – Note that Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for waking Him up. Like I said, I feel that He would have welcomed being woken up sooner.

Notice our Lord’s calm rebuke in the midst of the storm.

He was not in a panic. He’s totally under control. He can even take the time to rebuke the disciples before He did anything. He is master of the situation.

Let’s remember when we give our stormy problems to God He is not in a panic. He can solve the problem leisurely if He chooses to. There is no reason to get in a dither or bent out of shape.

STORMY WEATHER REVEALS THE GLORY AND POWER OF GOD

Vs. 26 – Jesus said the word and there was perfect calm. It was like there had been no storm. There was no rocking of the waves that normally follow a storm. There was perfect peace.

When Jesus speaks the Word there is perfect peace.

Sometimes the problem totally disappears, but more often than not the place where the greatest miracle has occurred is inside of us.

We are at peace.

God has calmed the ragging in our souls.

Vs. 27 – The disciples were absolutely amazed! The Lord Jesus had done what they had never seen before. A human being told the storm to cease and it did. The winds obeyed Him! The waves obey Him.

They had a new appreciation for the power of Jesus!

They had a new appreciation for the glory of Jesus!

And when Jesus calms our storms, we too, should have a new appreciation for the power and glory of the Lord Jesus.

We should be amazed!

We should be filled with praise and worship.

We should be ready to trust Him when an even bigger storm comes.