Searching for Satisfaction
Isaiah 55:1-2 and Matthew 5:6
August 7, 2005
Morning Service
The year was 1734 and the place was a small village in Massachusetts called North Hampton. One minister became deeply concerned with the trials and problems facing the church throughout New England. To say the spiritual state of the church was in shambles would have been an understatement. So this one minister committed himself to seeking more and more of God.
The problems in the church were great because the church had become an institution of compromise. In 1662, the church began what was called the Half Way Covenant and allowed the parents, who were not saved, to have their children baptized. These children, if they never testified to salvation, were given membership in the church and were only denied the Lord’s Supper, eventually that was even allowed.
This sounds like no big deal but it created major problems within the church because within a few decades, the majority of those on the church rolls were part of the Half Way Covenant. These were people who had never experienced salvation through Christ. The people began to place their faith in church membership, instead of faith in Christ, to gain a place in Heaven.
In all of this, one minister knew something had to be done and so he sought the guidance of God through earnest prayer. He felt compelled to preach a series of messages on justification by faith alone and began these messages in the fall of 1734. The minister was Jonathan Edwards and as part of this series of messages he delivered the message that broke revival: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
Edwards swept away the hope of heaven for the unsaved and proclaimed that faith in Jesus alone was key to finding saving grace. This led to a series of conversions that sparked an outpouring of revival that America had never seen before or since. The revival is now called the First Great Awakening and would last for nearly thirty years with results that would shape the course of American history.
The results of the Revival
• 25 to 50 thousand came to Christ during this time. If this same thing were to happen in America today there would be over 25 million won to Christ. What would our nation be like if 25 million people got genuinely saved?
• The cause of missions was advanced specifically with American Indians.
• A new movement of religious liberty was created with the goal of having a church free of government control.
• There was a new form of ministry developed to reach large numbers of people called the traveling evangelist.
• The revival gave a new unity to the colonies and forged the foundation of an American nation. This revival more than any other factor paved the way for the Revolutionary War and American Independence.
Our nation and our church is in a desperate need for a new revolution. We are in need of a mighty outpouring of God’s spirit. We need that which only God can give but the sad thing is that we settle for far less than what God wants to do.
The church of today is not much different from that of Edwards day. Casual Christianity has become the standard for most denominations and is continuing to rise. In fact a recent Gallop Poll saw little difference between the behavior of churched and unchurched people on a wide range of issues including lying, cheating and stealing.
Statistics from churches individuals claiming to have a relationship with Christ
91% - Thought it was okay to lie at work or at home
75% - Admitted to lying to their friends
86% - Christian teens - Admitted that they lied to their parents on a regular basis
92% - owned a Bible but only 11% read it daily
91% - pray but 87% do not believe in the Ten Commandments
61% - Believe that premarital sex is NOT morally wrong.
What is the problem in the church today?
We have lost the hunger for the things of God. We have lost the passion for living for Jesus. We have lost the essence of Biblical Christianity.
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard in this church that the principles of scriptural holiness are either old fashioned or out dated. I have heard people say how they want to have this incredible worship experience and then show up with the enthusiasm of a wet noodle. I have heard people go on how much they love Jesus and then go out and live for Satan the rest of the week. I have heard people say how important the church is in their lives but then rarely ever come.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! What our church needs is to rediscover a passionate love for Christ. We desperately need to discover a hunger for God.
Open your Bibles with me to the book of Isaiah 55:1-2
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Isaiah 55:1-2
I. God offers a personal invitation to renewal
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
God offers us the opportunity to walk with Him
When God makes this invitation to come, He isn’t asking for a one time encounter. God is inviting us to have a close relationship with Him and join Him for a journey. This word come means to walk or to live in a specific manner. God is giving the invitation to come and live for Him.
God offers refreshment to the weary soul
God graciously calls out to those who are weary and are in need of spiritual refreshment. God wants to give us exactly what we need, a renewal of our spirit. So many people have a deep longing that they cannot completely identify or describe. They may not be able to identify it but it is very real. Are you in need of spiritual refreshment?
This is a thirst for more of God’s power and presence in your life. It is growing closer to God and deeper in your walk with Him. Are you in need of more of God’s presence in your life? Do you need more of the power that only Christ can give?
God offers His resources as a free gift
God has the desire to bless you with Himself. When God comes and takes residence in our hearts, we are forever changed. There is nothing that we could ever dream of giving God in exchange for His grace. This is precisely the reason it is grace because it cannot be earned. God offers us a limitless supply of His power and grace through the person of Jesus Christ.
II. God offers an infinite supply for renewal
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Stop searching for satisfaction in things that can never satisfy!
How often do Christians waste their time and effort on things that just do not bring true satisfaction?
• Habitual social sins: Drinking, smoking and similar things
• Lust/Pornography: Sex outside of marriage
• Gossip - spreading lies or half truths
• Religious spirit: Just coming to church but never experiencing saving grace
Religion cannot save you! Only the grace found in Jesus has the power to save
Today there is a desperate craving for the things of this world - money, possessions, fame, pleasure and the list goes on. The things of this world are worthless when seen in the light of eternity. None of these things will ever satisfy the longing of the soul.
Why do so many people do so many things to find satisfaction? Because they want to be satisfied by their own efforts. Self satisfaction is a cheap imitation for God can give you. True satisfaction can only come from living your life for Christ!
Are you going to quit playing games with God and allow your life to be Christ’s alone?
III. God offers an absolute intimacy in renewal
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
What does it mean to hunger and thirst?
The normal usage of these words mean to have a partial hunger or a partial thirst. However, these words are different because they describe a complete hunger for the entirety of something and a complete thirst that may never be satisfied.
The word hunger is often used to describe a deep desire or longing. Thirst is often used to describe a great craving. What Jesus is talking about here is that if we are ever going to find satisfaction in Him we have to want more than anything else in life. This then becomes the key issue - our desire.
Anything that dulls our desire for God, to us it is sin - Susanna Wesley
When we were at District camp, there was one evening that we had to skip dinner. By the time we got back to the room it was after 10pm and I was hungry. We decided to get a pizza and I was assigned the task of picking it up. The whole way back I had to smell that pizza and I was this close to eating some in the car. I was extremely hungry that evening and I really wanted that pizza.
Later that same night, I woke up about 3am and had an incredible thirst with nothing right there for me to drink. I got to the point that I couldn’t stand it and went to the sink, turned it on and started to drink the water.
My point is this, when you are hungry and thirsty for living for Jesus, you’ll do whatever it takes to discover what you desire. Jesus wants us to crave a relationship with Him but not just a common relationship. Jesus wants us to crave a relationship with Him that changes our lives.
Our hunger and thirst needs to be for righteousness. Righteousness means two key things for our lives: first we are made right with God and second, we desire to right for God. This is a passion to live a life that God can be honored through. This is a longing to have more and more of Jesus filling into your life.
The more you hunger for Jesus, the more you will seek Him. The more you seek, the more you will find. The more you find will give a greater desire for more and in the end you will have a greater hunger
Conclusion
Hungry - Kathyrn Scott
Hungry I come to you for I know you satisfy. I am empty but I know your love does not run dry. So I wait for you So I wait for you
I’m falling on my knees. Offering all of me. Jesus you’re all this heart is living for
Broken I run to you for your arms are open wide. I am weary but I know your touch restores my life. So I wait for you So I wait for you
Are you hungry for what only Jesus can give? Do you want more of Jesus in your life? Do you want to give Him your all today? The altar is open and if God is speaking to you make your way down here.
