HUNGERING AND THIRSTING AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS Mt 5:6
I. This Is The Greatest Test Of A Christian
A. This should be the MAIN focus of our lives - Mt 6:33 seek the God's righteousness
B. Three elements of this commitment
i) goal : find righteousness
ii) hope : be filled
iii) source of hope : Jesus
C. We all relate because we hunger and thirst after something
D. Food is to our bodies as Righteousness is to our soul
E. God puts eternity in our hearts - Eccl 3:11
F. We drink from broken cisterns that hold no water - Jer 2:11-13
G. We spend our time on things that do not satisfy - Isa 55: 1-2
II. The Issue Is Not Whether We Hunger and Thirst But What We Hunger And Thirst For
A. This hungering and thirsting is not a one time thing but continually
i) Ps 63 - my soul thirsts for you
ii) Ps 42 - as a deer pants for water , so my soul pants for you
B. Many hunger and thirst for the wrong thing
III. What Is Righteousness And How Do We Achieve It ?
A. It starts with God's word - Ps 119:72 your commands are
righteous
B. Our Words Prove Our Righteousness - Rom 3:4
C. How we deal with others show our righteousness - Mt 25 the
righteous asked when they did their deeds for the Lord
D. How peaceable we are shows righteousness - Jam 3:18 the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace
E. Righteousness is accounted to us by our Faith
i) Rom 3:28 a man is called righteous due to his faith
ii) Rom 10:10 man believes unto righteous
F. Faith that acts proves our righteousness -Jam 2:24 a man is call righteous by the things that he does
H. Unrighteousness is when sin RULES in our bodies - Rom 6:12-14
IV. Conclusions
A. Righteousness comes from following our Lord and his words
B. It should be our number 1 goal in life to be like him
C. Rom 6 starts with us being buried with Christ in Baptism (6:4-6) and ends by not yielding our body to sin but righteousness