"The Pivotal Beatitude" Matthew 5:6

Episode 68

 

Title: The Pivotal Beatitude
Text: Matthew 5:6

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

Introduction:
“Social change is a term used to describe variations in, or modifications of, any aspect of social processes, social patterns, social interaction or social organization” (Sociology discussion)
Social change, in any time period, is important regardless which side a person takes. Some examples would include: Education, women rights, poverty, civil rights, pay gaps, etc. Some social changes happen over time, others happen immediately, depending on circumstances. One thing to keep in mind though, is that society is made up of individuals, and real change comes from within.
“Everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself” – Leo Tolstoy
We now come to what is known as “the pivotal Beatitude”. Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” 
There is an old saying, “you are what you eat”, it implies that if you eat healthy you will lead a better life, and that bad food choices can have bad outcomes. This is also true in the spiritual sense.
“How can we elevate our hunger for kingdom priorities, a longing for the good, the true, and the beautiful? In other words, a longing for God? How do we avoid the mental and emotional gluttony of this world—the malnourishment of soul that craves the next high, a spirituality du jour, a moral framework and lifestyle that makes sin appear normal and righteousness look strange?4 Such questions need careful attention.” - Castaldo, Chris. The Upside Down Kingdom: Wisdom for Life from the Beatitudes (pp. 56-57). 
A. Malnourishment from Sin
When we attempt to satisfy the hunger of the flesh, we will be left famished. If we consume a steady diet of greed, lust, and pride… those things will eventually become our identity. Those things will also prevent us from proper spiritual health and growth, and leave us spiritually malnourished.  
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” – Hebrews 5:13
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” – Matthew 4:4
B. Manna from the Savior
Notice, Jesus said those who hunger and thirst after righteousness… “they shall be filled”.
John 6:35 – “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
Psalms 107:9 – “For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”
“Manna is the miraculous "bread of heaven" (Psalm 78:24) that God provided for the Israelites while he led them through the Red Sea on dry ground and into the Wilderness of Sin (Exod. 16).” (crosswalk)
Spiritually speaking, we must truly understand that only manna (bread from heaven) will satisfy our hunger and shape our identity to be like Christ.
Illustration of the difference between longing and liking an idea. Many people, like the idea of being like Christ, but they don’t yearn for it. When I was younger I used to always hear that one way you know a Christian is out of God’s will is because they are miserable. This is not always true. A Christian who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, but feeds on the world, is miserable. But a Christian who hungers after sin is not.
C. Menu for the Saints
The longer you stick to a diet, the more it will impact your health. The key to good health is exercise and diet, not just one or the other. There are some Christians who do neither, some who only pick one, but the key is to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and put our faith into practice. Think about physical exercise for a moment. There comes a time in any persons life when they realize that physical exercise does not work without a healthy diet. Some folks can eat anything they want and still look great, but it does not mean that they are healthy. 
Christians must put our faith into practice, but we must also be fed spiritually.
Philippians 4:9: “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Faith is best put into practice when hunger and thirst after righteousness. Going through the motions is not only empty, but it’s also exhausting and dangerous. Just because a person looks the part, doesn’t mean that he is. A man can look tough, but not know how to fight. A person can look in shape, but gas out on a hike very quickly. The best illustration for this would be a runner. Runners must not only train, but carefully watch their sleep and diet. They need exercise, rest, and nutrition. It’s a balance.
Notice what Paul said, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me…do”. “learned, received, heard”
Submitting to the Lordship of Christ; Yielding to the Spirit; Repentance; Obedience; Forgiveness…
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” – Psalm 1:1,2

Outline: How do we?
I. Re-habituate our Desires
Indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus extols such hunger as “blessed.” “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt 5:6). And Jesus offers himself as the only satisfaction of such hunger: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). If the heart is like a stomach . . . we could render Augustine’s prayer in line with the metaphor: “You have made us for yourself, and our gut will rumble until we feed on you.” – James K.A. Smith
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:” – Psalm 139:23
To re-habituate means to re-accustom, or re-familiarize. Not to be redeemed or re-born. That is the work of the Holy Spirit at the time of Salvation. Only through Christ can we be born again. For the Christian who is carnal and hungers and thirst after the world, they need to be re-accustomed. There is a new man within. We need repentance, restoration, and refreshment. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is there. It is apart of the new birth. At times, there needs to be a purge and a re-dedication of ones life. 
II. Refine our Diet
“Just; accordant to the divine law. Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law. Integrity, virtue, and purity of life.” (AV 1611)
What we consume becomes our identity. Again, if we are on a steady diet of materialism, satisfaction, and strife that will be our identity. We become what we consume, who we are around, and what we desire.
“And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” – Job 1:8
Yes, we must spend time in the Word, in prayer, and at Church, but it’s more than just doing. Philippians 4:9: “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Obedience; Repentance; Confession; Faithfulness; Fellowship. Spiritual disciplines can keep us here.

III. Restore our Devotion
To be devoted means to be very loving or loyal. How we truly love and be loyal to God above all is by hungering and thirsting after righteousness. I believe this is why this is called the pivotal beatitude. This truly defines a persons motives and desires.
“But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.” – Samuel 13:14

Conclusion:
- What do you truly desire? What is it that your hungering and thirsting over?
- If we are what we eat, who are you?

A special thank you to my Pastor, Mike Barnette, for the song “All Things New.” Please support his podcasts by clicking and sharing the links below.

The C.O.D.E. of Man Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Oglxqy35Wg4m4YMfU8Q28?si=074063174e334747

The Way of Holiness Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/show/08UgdbUrBDZoWWnfiCYxbO?si=oG-EaQzfQMC5GN-N7NaxvA

Daybreak Devotions Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2Z25hqT5DNOZcwBLBXc67I?si=1f1c8f24a3e24618

Also, a very special thank you to my dear friend, Dave Compton, for the opening remarks.