All right, turn to Matthew chapter
five. I wrote out some notes a little
bit over a week ago. And I had two pages. And all
week long, I thought I'll rush through. I'll go ahead. I'll
move through right on through this. I was able last week to give
you an introduction. There's like four words. Well,
that's not going to work this week. But Penny and I Ray and
Kathy talked some yesterday evening and it's good to have them with
us too. We talked some yesterday evening and I thought I need
to condense this down and concentrate on some of the things that we
actually talked about last night. I didn't plan it that way. Some
of the things we talked about last night are some of the things
I want to try to talk about this morning. Be that as it may, Matthew
chapter 5 and verse 6 is my text. Just one verse. Now, of course,
this is what is traditionally called the Sermon on the Mount.
We don't know for sure what mount it was, and it really doesn't
matter. But it's the Sermon on the Mount. And in the beginning
of the sermon, what we often call as preachers, his introduction,
the introduction, Christ's introduction in his Sermon on the Mount is
what we call the Beatitudes, the blessings. And he says, blessed
are, blessed are. He has those things. And one
of those beatitudes is this, verse six. Blessed, and I say
blessed, you can say blessed, I may say both, and Joe talked
about who and whom, and I have a few whoms in here, and I ain't
for sure whether I got them right or not now. I'm serious. So if I get it wrong English,
you have to ask me later, what did you really mean, who or whom?
I'm serious with that. You kind of scared me back there,
Joe. I thought, I need to be up on my English more. But listen
to what he says. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. I believe that with all of my
heart. I believe that with all of my heart. As introduction, first of all,
I do not believe that there will be one single individual in this
world has been, is now, or shall be, at least until that final
day that Joe was talking about. There will not be one person
who does not hunger and thirst in this manner who shall not
be filled. Not one. Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for some of them shall be filled.
Is that what it says? No, for the same day, for they
shall be filled. The very fact that they hunger
and thirst is a guarantee they're going to be filled. Do you see
that? That's a true beatitude. These
are not mights or maybes or ifs. This is sure. This is absolute. And this is not Christ simply
looking into the future and saying, I can say this to you. This is
true because blessed are they. And when you have the blessed,
there must, by default, be a what? A blesser. And without contradiction, the
lesser is always blessed of the greater. That's what the book
says. Now I want to try to deal in
detail with this one beatitude, but I need to set the scene.
I want us just to try to be as brief as I can, but thankfully
Joe left me a few extra minutes. He didn't take a lot of time
this morning. I want to consider the Sermon on the Mount in general,
to give us a general idea about the Sermon on the Mount. Now
I want you, I'm going to give you a few things and I want you
to think about what I'm saying and then go back later. You can
get the tape. Modern day, just about everything
is taped. You can go back and listen to
it over and over again. Get your Bible out, a pen and
a paper and pencil and check these things out. But what I
want to do is give you a few things first of all just to think
about. And I want you to think for yourselves.
I don't want you to say, well, Walter said that. We're not big
on that here, but Walter said that, therefore I believe it
because the preacher said it. We're not that kind of ilk around here.
But we are of that ilk. If the preacher says it, and
it is thus saith the Lord, then we know we best believe it because
it's not the preacher's word. It's God's word. I'm not up here
preaching myself. I'm not going to stand here and
tell you I've always preached Christ. I don't think I've always
preached Christ. I think I have miserably failed
sometimes. But my desire is to preach nothing
else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. My message is about
Him, not about me or not about you. Though I may say things
about myself and about you, Just a few things here. Now remember,
think about this, read it later, study on this. This was a sermon
to some about themselves. You'll see that in chapter 5
verse 11 through 16. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely and then look at the qualifier for my
sake. Now everybody has somebody in
this world that talks about them. We all have enemies or detractors.
If you're the worst piece of work in this world, well you're
going to have detractors. But if you're one of the most
honest upright individuals on the face of this earth, you're
going to have detractors. So this is not just about having
detractors, it's having detractors for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of
the earth. You see what I'm saying? It was
a sermon to some about themselves. It was not an indiscriminate
sermon. If you look at chapter 4, verse
25, you see multitudes thrown to him. And basically why? Because
he was healing people. And if I could do that today,
this building would not hold the people that were thrown to
us. But I can tell you this, if I could do that, if I could
heal, there was a little fella at the baby shower yesterday,
he was coughing and sick. And Ellen, I wanted, I thought
to myself, I wish I could go up there and lay my hands on
that little fella and just make it to where all of a sudden,
he was gone. I felt for him, you know? Most individuals, adults,
I don't feel that way for them. That went on the tape too, didn't
it? But you understand what I'm saying, but listen, if I could
do that, if I preached the gospel that I preach, even if I could
do that, they'd leave. They'd still leave. Because they
did the Christ of God. He healed people, raised the
dead, but when he began to preach and teach, they got mad and left. And that's just what the truth
does to people. But here, multitudes thronged
him, but you'll read that he went up into a high mountain,
and when he was sent, then he called his disciples unto him.
We know one of them was an imposter. Right? Judas was an imposter. And I figure some of the multitude
came with him. There are those in the New Testament
that are called disciples. But you find out that as he began
to preach, they began to filter away. They said, this is a hard
saying. Who can hear it? And it says, from that time,
many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
But still, basically, this was not some indiscriminate sermon
to the masses. The Bible always has certain
recipients in mind. Even when, was it Isaiah or one
of them, preached concerning Satan's fall? and he's actually
talking to Satan about himself, but it was still to Satan. You
see what I'm saying? This Bible's not just written
for everybody, everything in it for everybody, and everything
applies to everybody. It's just not so. It's not an
indiscriminate sermon. Number three, it was a sermon
to some about others. Chapter five, verse 20. For I
say unto you that except your righteousness exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees. So He was talking to some about
others. And I know there are people who
get upset with me and others who believe the gospel because
we always talk about these other people. Look, we're warning men
and women about these other people. You keep saying, you've heard
them say, you've heard them say, but I say it to you. That's the
way our Lord preached. You see what I'm saying? So the
Sermon on the Mount was a sermon to some about others. A fourth
observation from the Sermon on the Mount. It was a sermon with
warning against presumption. Go to chapter 7, verses 21, 22,
and 23. Many were saying to me that day,
Lord, Lord, let us in. Look what we've done. Or not
so much look what we've done, but Lord, they expect to go in
because of what they've done. And our Lord said, I'll tell
them no. Isn't that what he says? He said, I'll tell them no. Depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. And I don't
care what kind of presumption you got, whether it's the presumption
of free will, whether it's the presumption of works for justification,
or whether it's the presumption of I'm a Calvinist, therefore
I'm okay. Whatever your presumption is,
whatever your sandy foundation is, if your house, you got a
house, that's all well and good, but if your house is built upon
the sand, it'll crumble. If your house is built upon the
rock, your house will stand. And many men have houses. Most
men in this world have houses. Some are in pagan religion, but
a lot of it's in Christianity. Every person who professes to
be a Christian is building a house whether they realize it or not.
The problem is not so much the house, it's what the house is
built upon. That's what our Lord taught.
He warned against presumption. Don't ever presume on God. Number five, it was a message
to the Jews, wasn't it? Look at verse 21 of chapter five.
You have heard that it was said unto them of old, thou shalt
not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the
judgment. But I say unto you, he's not saying what they say
is wrong, and that's not what he's saying, but he's saying
I've got something more to put with this. But I say unto you
that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall
be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother Rekha shall be in danger of the council." That word is
Sanhedrin. It would be actually, most Gentiles
would have no idea if we just used the word today council.
What are you talking about council? You're talking about the Sanhedrin.
Now a couple of things, that's Jewish. That's Jewish. Let me just add a little one,
a little side note here. There are those who feel the
Sermon on the Mount is a Thousand-year kingdom message.
Yeah, they think the kingdom of Christ is a thousand years
and a thousand years only It's still yet to come it'll last
for a thousand years Well, let me tell you I got no even in
the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom The coming kingdom
and even if part of it is going to be fulfilled in the thousand
years When Christ reigns on this earth, which I believe the scripture
teaches I got no reason to believe there's going to be a Sanhedrin
during the thousand years Now do you understand what I'm getting
at here? There are those in other words who think this message
is about the kingdom. Well the Jews rejected the kingdom
so the kingdom was postponed and then all of this will then
be valid again one day when a thousand years come. That's not so. And
when you approach the scripture that way you do it for one reason
so you can pick and choose what you want. Well, that applies
to a thousand years, and that don't. That applies to now, and
that applies to yesterday, and this one applies to tomorrow.
And most of the time, they don't apply anything to today and themselves. Right? But this is still a Jewish
message. Now, you hear what I'm saying?
You look at it. You read it. But the Gentiles
seek all this stuff. Don't seek after that. Number
six, it has past application. look at verse 22, but I read
that part. But whosoever shall say thou
fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring
thy gift to the altar, and thou rememberest that thy brother
hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar,
and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thy gift. That's specifically Jewish right
there. But there's still sound lesson
for that today. Christ is teaching a principle that is still absolutely
sound today. Don't think you can worship God
only Godward and not pay the respect toward your fellow humanity
that God commands of fellow respect toward your fellow humans. You see what I'm saying? In other
words, I'm going to worship God and I don't care about any responsibility
to everybody else. That won't work. You understand
what I'm getting at? I'm going to worship God, but
I could care less about my fellow man. It don't work that way.
Although we can be very religiously prone to do that. As long as
I'm worshiping God, it don't matter what I do to men. It don't
work that way. God sets up kings, and God sets
up presidents, and God sets up secretaries of state, and all
of these things, and you resist that ordinance, you resist the
ordinance of God. You see it? There's still Mason
application of God's truth to any person under any age. You
know, under any time. It has future hope. Chapter 6,
look at it. Verse 9 and 10. After this manner,
therefore, pray ye, our Father which is in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. And that's the way every prayer
of a believer should start out. Honoring God for who He is. Holy. Separate totally different from
anything else in the in whatever is Above everything, but then
look thy kingdom come In whatever aspect it is There are some who
when they read that they think the thousand years But remember
the scripture says Christ's kingdom shall be forever there shall
be no end And then the book says that when the thousand years
are ended Huh? So therefore the thousand years
themselves can't be the kingdom. They can at best make them be
a part of the kingdom, but they're not the kingdom. And we know
since believers are even now presently being translated into
the kingdom of God's dear son, you can't be translated into
what don't exist. You know? So these things are
not so dry and simply cut as some dispensationalist would
want you to believe. but it's never wrong to pray
for Christ's kingdom to come. I've been praying for that and
we see a part of it happen just this morning when a young lady
stands up and say, God Almighty save my soul. That's a part of
the kingdom coming, isn't it? But let me tell you, this is
not the end of it. Is it? If this is the end of it, the
prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the kingdom fall far
short of the glory of that kingdom. I'll tell you that right now.
That's just a fact. has future hope. Number eight,
it has warnings relative to now about the future. In other words,
you'll come to me in that day. But you can't wait to that day
to get everything settled. Everything has to be settled
today before that day in the end arrives. Because if you wait
until that day, you may be in real, real trouble. You see what
I'm saying? And according to our Lord's words,
these all have present vitality at any time. Look. This is the summary, if you will,
of His Sermon on the Mount. Chapter 7, verse 24. Therefore,
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, not just the last specific
sayings, but what? From the Beatitudes all the way
through. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, And a Calvinist is going to read this to you
now. Most of you, if you understand what I'm saying. And doeth them.
That's what he said, right? And doeth them. I thought y'all
didn't believe in doing. No, I just need God-led doing.
God-caused doing. That's what I need. And doeth
them. I will liken him unto a wise
man that built his house upon a rock. But there's also a foolish
man. He built his house upon what?
On sand. And when the rains came and the floods rose up, what
happened? The house on the sand fell. But it didn't just fall. Great was the fall of it. Think
of the hope dispelled and dispersed and just shot down in that day. Don't everybody that wants to
go to heaven get to go to heaven? No! Millions will want to go. but won't go. But this is true
because he started out with this, blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Amen. Do you see that? Isn't that a
glory? Yes sir. So what does this one
beatitude, what's it talking about? I started once to give
you a quote of a fellow But then I thought it don't matter. No
need me to feel your head full of that stuff and then try to
refute for 15 minutes what he said. I've done that before and may
do it again, but it's not necessarily this morning. I want to give
you 11 things concerning this one verse. There are some things that are
strictly straight for the said right here. I mean, we know it's
absolutely true because it says it this way. Yes, sir. But because
certain words are used and things are said, we can also infer other
things that go along with it. And you think for yourselves.
Listen to these 11 things I'm going to give you. First of all,
let me read it again. Verse 6 of chapter 5. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Remember those few words, hunger
and thirst after what? Righteousness. Remember them
for sure. Those are the key. Those are
the crux. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. That's what I
want to talk about. Blessed hunger and thirst. Blessed hunger and
thirst. We don't generally think of the
hunger and the thirst and being blessed, do we? We think of the
field being blessed. But this says, blessed are they
which do. Not, if a man hungers and thirsts,
then he will be blessed. You see what I'm saying? You
see how it's said, the words that are used, the order they're
used in, what he actually says? First of all, number one of these
11 things, blessing precedes filling. If you read that, you
can see that, right? Blessing precedes filling. But
also, blessing precedes hunger and thirst. And I don't mean
just in word order, but in fact of what he's saying. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst, for they shall be. So
they're blessed even before they're filled. So while the blessing
precedes the filling, the blessing also precedes what? The hunger
and the thirst. Isn't that clear? You don't have to be a theologian
to see that. Number two, hunger and thirst
are a blessing. Yes, sir. You see that? Hunger
and thirst are a blessing. Yes, they are. When a person
falls, and I like that word, when a person falls under true,
bona fide spirit conviction, they begin to have this hunger
and thirst, but it don't feel like a blessing. It can even
feel like a curse. But it's still a blessing. You
know? Because, and I want to jump ahead,
but I'll mention it again. What drives you to the table
to eat? Being hungry and thirsty. You
see it? So the hunger and the thirst
in themselves are a blessing. Though they certainly don't feel
like it. Especially when they first began. Right? When they
first began. So hunger and thirst are a blessing.
Why? Overall, there's no doubt, they
shall be filled. But it didn't say, well, they're
going to do this, but they shall be. If they're hungry and thirsty,
it means they're already blessed. And if they're blessed to be
hungry and thirsty, his conclusion is, they shall be filled. Isn't that glorious? Now one
fellow, the one I was going to give you the quote on, basically
applied all this to the thousand year reign of Christ. And he
basically righteoufied us, and what we're really wanting is
everything else around us to be like what we are inside. That
ain't what he's talking about here. That ain't what he's talking
about here. Hunger and thirst are a blessing.
They shall be filled. Because that's God's purpose
into this matter. All right, so number three. The
hunger and the thirst is after a specific article. Right? Blessed are they which
do hunger, which do. Now it's real hunger and thirst
now. Not natural hunger and thirst, but still real hunger and thirst
nonetheless. The hunger and the thirst is
after righteousness. Righteousness. But then my question
was, before whom? Wouldn't it be before God? What
if you're righteous before all your fellow men, but you're not
righteous before God? You're a goner. He's the one
that matters, right? But what if you're righteous
before Him, but everybody else thinks bad of you? What does
it matter? You see what I'm saying? What
does it matter now? I know it matters in a natural
sense even none of us want to live in total misery with all
of our companions around us hating and despising us But if a man
don't think I'm righteous that don't mean squat if God Almighty
sees me as righteous You understand that? but God Almighty don't
see me as righteous It doesn't matter if all of my comrades
on this earth thinks they're one of the most righteous men
that ever walked. The hunger and thirst is after
righteousness, yes, but it's before whom? And it's of whom? Of whom? Look at chapter 6. That
one verse, verse 33. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. Do you see that? First of all,
it's His. Not something even He gives to
you. First of all, it's His. What
is real righteousness? Look at God, strictly considered,
and you'll see true righteousness. You'll see His righteousness.
As a matter of fact, one of the reasons Paul said he's not ashamed
of the gospel. There are a couple there. One, it's the power of
God and the salvation. That's true. and it's the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth. That's true. To the
Jew first and also to the Greek. That's also true. But it also
says, for therein, here's another reason I'm not ashamed, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. So the hunger
and thirst is after righteousness, but it's before whom and of whom.
This righteousness is not just any kind of righteousness. As
long as I'm a moral person, it don't mean squat. It don't mean
squat. Now does that mean you can be
immoral and everything's okay? No. No. But morality itself won't
cut it because it's God's righteousness we're talking about. We're talking
about hungering and thirsting after not a human righteousness,
not a legal righteousness, but a God righteousness. That's the
real righteousness. Now your father in heaven's perfect?
Be perfect like him. You see what I'm saying? That's
a tall order. Ah, but blessed are they who hunger and thirst
after it. Why? For they shall be what? Filled. Filled. So that was number
three. Here's number four. Hunger and
thirst. It doesn't say it, but you know
this is true. Hunger and thirst are personal
needs. Private individual needs. I can't hunger and thirst for
you and you'd be filled. You see what I'm saying? That's
why I use those two words. It's not just blessing related
desire righteousness. You can desire it for somebody
else. But hunger and thirst are what? Personal needs. Do you see it? That you cannot,
you can't, well I can give somebody food. Yeah, but you know, you
can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You
know? There are people that eat and
then throw it back up. You know what I'm saying? You see, the
hunger and the thirst are personal. You can't take nobody else in
with you. Though 5,000 walk in the door
with you, you didn't bring them with you. You know what I mean? It was just God's sovereign purpose
that at the same time, y'all were all hungry and thirsty,
and he began to fill all of you at the same time. That's what
it was all about. So hunger and thirst are personal
needs. Number five, what is the personal
need? What is it? What's the personal
need? Righteousness! That's my chief
need! You see it? And Paul says, I
don't need righteousness which is of the law. That's what he
said, didn't he? That's not what I long for, Paul
says. Oh, that I might be found in
Him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. That's where it's at. That's
where it's at. The hunger and thirst here is
after a specific righteousness. It's the righteousness of God
in Christ. Okay? In Christ. If you leave
Christ out of the equation, You've lost the whole thing. Lost the
whole thing. So, number five, the personal
need is righteousness. But here's number six. Hunger
and thirst must be satisfied by something without. Right? If you feast upon your own body,
what's going to happen? You will consume yourself. Right? When you're hungry and thirsty,
what satisfies it? The only thing that will satisfy
hunger and thirst is something from without that you don't have
naturally. Now all men, granted all men
can hunger and thirst naturally, but all men do not hunger and
thirst after righteousness. And specifically the righteousness
of God which is in Christ Jesus. So hunger, number six, hunger
and thirst must be satisfied by something without. Number
seven, hunger and thirst being filled. Hunger and thirst. Remember those are the words.
Hunger and thirst being filled demands consumption. Doesn't
it? Yes sir. God don't feed us intravenously. And we just lay there like a
vegetable but we keep on going. You understand what I'm saying?
Now some people think we kind of believe that because we believe
in free, sovereign grace. No, what we're saying is God
Almighty makes you so hungry and thirsty after the righteousness
of Him in Christ Jesus that you will then consume Christ Jesus. He becomes everything to you.
You care about Him. You love Him. You want to learn
of Him. You want to pray with Him and to Him and everything.
The whole thing will be bound up in Him. Remember Christ said,
He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood. That's the one that
has eternal life in Him. So hunger and thirst be filled.
It's just amazing how smart our Lord was. And that is being almost,
it almost feels blasphemous to even say it that way. I would
have never even thought, okay, hunger and thirst are going to
particularize this thing. I would have thought, you know,
they that desire. They that really want righteousness. You see what I'm saying? He said,
blessed are they that do hunger and thirst because it qualifies
so many things. You see what I'm saying in all
of these points? Hunger and thirst being filled demands consumption.
But here's number eight. Consumption. That is in line
with what this is talking about. I'm not talking about gluttony
now. I'm talking about gluttony. Eating just for eating's sake.
Drinking just for drinking's sake. Well what do we call that? We call that a drunk. I guess
he's not talking about liquor, he's talking about water. You
understand what I'm talking about? Consumption is no mere act of
the will, but a response of absolute necessity. Somebody said, if
you just will, that's fine. But Christ said, blessed are
they that do hunger and thirst. This is not just why I will to
eat something. No, I'm hungry and I'm thirsty. And the only
thing that will help is to consume it. out of absolute need. I cannot but consume it. If you can leave Christ alone,
you don't know Christ. If you can leave Him alone, you're
not truly hungry and thirsty after righteousness. Because
blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. So consumption is no mere act
of the will. It is an act of the will, but
it is no mere act of the will. It must go with absolute necessity. Do you see that? It's what I
got to have. You know, it's what I got to have. Now here's number
nine. We'll get close to the end here.
And I've got ten minutes for you and twelve o'clock. I need
to go back and make a few other points. Think about it. Consumption of absolute necessity
is joyfully willing. isn't it? If you're hungry and
thirsty, does somebody have to force you against your will to
go to the table and eat? Huh? Is it God's got to get your
head and push it down in it? You know, or I'm like the mother
on the Christmas store, whatever, you know, feeding the mashed
potatoes to her little boy. I know if God Almighty blesses
you with a hunger and thirst after righteousness, you will
joyfully willingly consume Jesus Christ. You'll be glad to sit
at the table. And you'll remember that you're
nothing but a beggar plucked off a dunghill and made to sit
with princes and kings. So consumption of absolute necessity
is joyfully willing. You know, there are people who
actually have said before y'all people teach it, God drags people
kicking and screaming against their will. Right into heaven. No. That's not the gospel. Some may have taught that. Some
may still teach that, but that's not the point. Christ said, Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for
they shall be filled. Not just stuffed. Filled. See stuffed means against the
will. Filled is what? When you just eat, and you can
eat, and you can eat. You see what I'm saying? And
you can eat until what? Until one day, you will be what? You shall be what? Filled. Filled. All right, number 10. Joyful willingness must be. Now this is a gimmick. This is a putt that far. You
know the hole? It's right on the rim. All you
got to do is tap it right in. Joyful willingness must be predicated
the hunger and thirst. People in religion are trying
to make people joyfully willing, but they're not hungry and thirsty.
Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Oh,
you need to do this. Yeah, they all need to. We all
need to do this. But the ultimate question is
this. Are you hungry and thirsty after righteousness? Take hope.
You shall be filled. Amen. Why? Because Christ said
so. Yes, sir. You know? And he was
a Calvinist before it was invoked to be a Calvinist. Now, I'm being
a smart aleck there, you know what I mean. But he was free,
sovereign grace all the way down the line. You know why? Because
he's the starter of it and the finisher of it. Joyful willingness
must be predicated by hunger and thirst. So we're right back
to square one. What's my problem? Well, I don't
have one. Then you won't be filled. You're
okay. Go on. Go on! And you might be
one of those in the end And he says, no, you're not coming in.
But blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. So joyful, willingness must be
predicated by hunger and thirst. But here's the 11th one, the
last one. And this is where I jumped ahead
of myself. But you know the answer. Who is the blesser? Is that the
way? Is it a blesser? A blesser and
a blessee? Is that what it'd be? You know
what I'm saying. Should it be whom? I've got a
who and a whom right here together. I ain't for sure. Who is the blesser? Who is the
blesser? Who do you think the blesser
is here? God is. And he has to bless you to even
have a need. Because none of us by nature
are hungry and thirsty after righteousness. Oh, we may hunger
and thirst after our own, but that won't cut it. Because that's
not the kind he's talking about. So who is the blesser? God is
the blesser. Right? Now anybody, if you don't,
any person, I say you, I'm not talking about anybody specifically
necessarily here. But if anybody thinks God's not
the blesser, it doesn't matter what I've said today, it's not
going to change your mind. It's not going to make a difference
to you. But if you know God's the blesser, then whenever you
give credit to anybody, then who gets all the credit? The
blesser. Right? If you try to take any
credit for yourself, what are you doing? What are you saying
to the blesser? You didn't do it all. Huh? Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1, and I will summarize. There are just 11 things. There
were more. I sat down this morning. Penny
and Kathy were there. I made this two pages down into
one because I knew I'd never get done. It'd have to be a two
message deal. And that would have been all
right. But because Ray and Kathy are here and didn't know that
this young lady, there was a reason why. In other words, I sat down
and rewrote all of this, all this this morning. Now out of
these 11 things that I've given you, there are more than that,
but these are 11, I think, no, no, these are 11 scripturally
founded statements that I've given you this morning from that
one verse, right? These 11 things. Now listen,
there is but one message that fits Christ's sayings. There is but one message that
fits specifically, now all the sayings, but especially chapter
5 verse 6. There is but one message that
fits. Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness
for they shall be filled. There is but one message. Now
I'm going to read it to you, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And
for the sake of time, verse 26. For ye see your calling. So if
you're called, what's that mean? Where does the calling come from?
Without. The caller. Yeah. You see that?
The caller. Most people, all they care about
is men's response to a call. And they rarely ever talk about
the caller and the calling. And you know why? Because they
really don't believe that that makes any real difference. Because
God's trying to call everybody. Right? Right? That's what they
teach. That's what they preach. God's
trying to call everybody, and then those who are either wise
enough, smart enough, spiritual enough, whatever, become hungry
and thirsty enough, and then they answer. Is that what this
says? Now look, for ye see your calling,
brethren, how that not many So that, listen, I'm not that smart,
but I know this means not all. Right? Hell, that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, and there's still hope
for even them. Right? Because it doesn't say
not any, just not many. Now that's what God says through
his apostle. This is inspired word, not many
are called. You see that? But God hath, and
I can't get away from it because this is what God says. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. Now here's the question. You say you're hungry and thirsty.
That's great. You shall be filled. But when
you're hungry and thirsty, you take your place with everybody
else that's hungry and thirsty. Don't you? And notice what he
says. The foolish things. Can you take
your place as one of the foolish things of the world. You see
that? God hath chosen, but God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world
and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the
things which are not. Can you take your place with
the nothings? That young lady this morning told me on the porch.
She said, I am nothing. I think she may have even said
that here too. But as long as, you know, I'm nothing. There's
two things that God does for every person He saves. He shows
them who they are and He begins to show them who they are and
He begins to show them who Christ is. There's the two main things. It always starts there. There's
a lot else to come, but it always starts there. Until it starts
there, you've not been called. You've not been saved. You're
not really going to be, you cannot be hungry and thirsty after righteousness. Because when He shows you what
you really are, you realize you got none. And when He shows you
who Christ really is, you realize that's where it's at. That's
where it's at. That's the gospel. Because look,
look, in the things which are not, to bring to naught the things
which are, that are. Enigma language, but true nonetheless. But then look, why? Why did God
do it that way? That no flesh should glory in
his presence. And they will not. Because many
will say, Lord, we've done all this. And he says, you're not
coming in. You see it? Now look, but of
Him are ye in Christ Jesus. You see that? Who of God is made
unto us. This is what we then, when God
puts us in Christ, what we experience of Christ. But of Him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. What? Wisdom. Righteousness. And sanctification and redemption. Now listen to me. Even if you
were born and raised under the gospel, until God Almighty placed
you in Christ, you didn't really know Christ as those things.
Until He puts you in Christ, but of God are you in Christ
Jesus. You see that? Sanctification
and redemption that according as it is written. Now here's
it. Who is saved and who's not? He that glorieth. What's he going
to glory in? Just one thing and one thing
only. That he, that, Joe, you was talking
about. Here's the summary of all this
deal. That according as it is written, he that gloryeth, let
him glory in the Lord. Amen. Amen. You see that? That's what we're preaching.
That's the election we're talking about, the predestination we're
talking about, the calling we're talking about. That's the whosoever
will. Yes, sir. The questionnaire, will ya? Yeah.
There are a lot of whosoever won'ts out there. But are you
truly a whosoever will? Well, who made you that way?
Who made you willing? God did. You give him the credit.
If you give yourself credit, you're not in this group. But
if you can give God all the credit, why? Because it had to be. There
was no other way. Blessed are they that do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. First of
all, positionally, even right here, we see Him. He has made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
I see all my righteousness up yonder in glory at the right
hand of God the Father. I see none of it in here. I see
none of it in here. Every time I look in here, I
become hungry and thirsty after righteousness. You know? But
when I look up there, you see, when I set my affections up there,
what do I see? Fullness, Joe. Fullness. But you know what? One day, that
fullness will be even where? In here. It will be in here. That day you're talking about,
Joe, it's going to come. So therefore the fullness is
indeed truly fullness. Isn't it? I mean one of these
days I will be, my problem's not you, although you are a problem. My problem is me. You know, my
problem's me. And when God finally, by His
grace, enables me to be done with me, that will be glory. That'll be glory. But you think
you're a pretty good fella, I know, and I'm wrong most of the time.
No, I'm wrong all the time. Every time, Mason, I thought
I'm a pretty good fella, I find out that everything I did somehow
or another was shot full of hell, shot full of sin, and shot full
of self. So I'm still today hungry and
thirsty after righteousness. But you know what Christ promised
me? shall be, what? Filled to the full. That's that
whole word, you know? Filled to the full. To be done
with it. But not just done with it. Joe,
to have everything that's glorious. Isn't that something? That's
free sovereign grace, folks. That's the only message that
fits. It's the only message that fits. Why? Because it's the only
message that's true. Father, teach us this lesson. Oh God, make us hungry and thirsty
after righteousness. And help us to rest upon your
promise that they shall be filled. I thank you in Christ's name,
amen.