Finally Full | Tom Wadsworth

Most of us know what it feels like to be empty inside — and to reach for something that doesn't actually help. In this message from the Blessed series, we dig into Matthew 5:6, where Jesus promises that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. But what does that kind of hunger even look like, and what does it mean to be filled? Through honest personal story and two remarkable Old Testament prophecies, we explore the difference between looking good on the outside and being transformed from the inside out — and why the emptiness you feel might be exactly where God wants to meet you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

So we're going through the Beatitudes, which is in Matthew's gospel, and today I'm going to be talking about a verse. It's Matthew chapter five, verse six. And Jesus says this: He says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. That's good. I um just want to be a little personal. This verse actually means so much to me in the season. Um, and uh it my wife and I work for a missions organization, and we have been it probably since September, October, it's been an amazing season for us in terms of serving God. And and we, you know, we work in Eastern Europe, we work in Africa, and the Lord has just put favor um us, and he's opened up doors that we, you know, we couldn't have like we weren't knocking on, and and so it this really the last six months has been a real time of favor and fruit and personal growth for us. It was like this is amazingly good, and um and it is without like overstating or selling that that like if someone asked me, like how you know, I would I could I would talk about my relationship with Jesus, I would say it I never thought in my wildest imagination that I could be where I'm at today in terms of like freedom and life inside. Like it's I'm not like making it up. Sometimes, you know, people will like they'll sell the gospel because they they you know what I mean. I'm telling you, it's real, it's a reality for what I um, you know, for how good God has been to me. I'm just telling you the truth, and um, and so it's been a wonderful season, uh, but I hit a speed bump. I hit a speed bump. And uh and I want to tell you about that. Um and so uh my wife has a she got a job, the uh like a part-time job, and she's been working it, it it comes and goes, it's not like all the time, but for two weeks this spring, she she had a job where she was working at night all night, and so she'd be gone, and I was lamenting. I'm like, oh like she asked me if she should have this job. I'm like, no, you should not have this job. You know, I'm like, and and there was the two week, and and honestly, I just don't do well without my wife. I mean, I don't do well without her. I just I just love her. I've just she's amazing. And so uh, you know, um, you know, the first week went by and I did, you know, I just was like really pressing into the Lord. Like I had nights where I could take walks at night and spend time with God. The second week, you know, I uh I it was a very discouraging um um week for me. There like work was really difficult and I felt really frustrated. I was overwhelmed with like a lot of like really heavy burdens. And um and I found myself in a really bad place. Like I was discouraged, I couldn't sleep at night because I was like thinking all the time, and I'm lonely because my wife abandoned me for money, and sometimes when we're in these difficult situations, it's like a press, right? And some things will squeeze out of you that surprise, may may shock you. I got some stuff squeezed out of me that was sh that was was shocking. It wasn't well, it wasn't shocking, but it was embarrassing. And so one of the nights that she was gone, I was really, I was really struggling. And I and and I my history is like is before I came to Christ, I I had a drug and alcohol addiction. And so that was how I came to Jesus as a broken person that needed to be healed and freed and forgiven. And so um when Anya was gone, one day I I I'm not using drugs or alcohol now, but I struggle sometimes with smoking cigarettes. And so she was, she was one of the days she was gone. During the day, I was tempted, I can smoke, and she won't know. Because it's always tricky if I struggle with smoking, she always knows, right? You go to it's like you can't hide it, right? It's like you stink, and like I'll go to bed and she's like, you stink, you know. And so I thought I can actually get away with that. You know, this is like my thinking, my broken thinking. She'll never know. I have been good for so long, right? I have been so good, it's okay. But then I realized I I realized I can't do that because this is my this is it's a a door to addiction. And for me, it's like it is a no-no. It's a no-no. And so all during the day I kept thinking about it. I was toying with it. I was like, I was like, and I fought, and and and that night I went to bed and I I I I I went, I slept. I felt I fell asleep. I thought, okay, I made it through today. This was a real a real test. And I don't struggle with smoking a lot. It it you know what I mean, it but when it comes, it's overwhelming. And wouldn't you know it? Like at one in the morning, I wake up, eyes, I'm like wide awake. And and without fighting, without praying, I get up and I and I go to the Clark station and buy a pack of cigarettes. And and I smoke like I don't know, like half of the pack, like back to back to back. I mean, till I'm sick. This is a picture of addiction, right? It's like that didn't work. I'm never another one. It's like it it it uh it it was a it's a picture of my past, my life before Jesus. The horrible thing was is that when I left, I mean, there's lots of horrible things, but I left this the I was walking down Brook Park Roads chain smoking, like think thinking this is gonna help me, right? And I walked past a guy, a homeless guy that's sleeping against the fence, and it's cold and wet. And I saw him, and I thought, well, I like normally I would like be engaged and stop and like you know, you know what I mean? Just like it's like compassion is kind of one of my things. And I looked at him, I thought, well, I can't do anything because look at me now. Do you know what I mean? I walked past him, and he was like, I mean, he was in a bad place, right? And so I hit a speed bump. And in the moment, I like the next day, I mean, I didn't sleep all night because I felt so guilty. And you know, and and you know, the shame that's involved with that, the sneaking that's involved with that, the high, it's all the stuff, it's all the bad stuff of of my sinful past that I was reminded of. And this was like a month ago. And so I I uh I hit a speed bump and I did some things that I that I know were wrong. And I was trying to find life. I was trying to like find peace and comfort, and and it was anything but that. And I knew that I wasn't right inside, right? I knew that I'm not righteous. Like I know, I mean, righteousness when Jesus says, you know, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Like righteousness is righteousness is knowing that you're the you're right inside, that you're you're doing what you ought to be, and you're be you know, that your behavior is integrated. You're doing how being who God created you to be. It's righteousness. And when I sinned like this, it was like I was, it's like my old self, twisted, dark, ashamed, guilty, right? And I the next morning I woke up, I'm like, Lord, I couldn't sleep. I was like exhausted, I had a headache, my body was poisoned because I hadn't smoked for a really long time. Like I'm poisoned. And um, and I realized that I didn't, I didn't wasn't thinking about this verse, but as I was praying for it, this was my verse. Because I knew blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The the word that Jesus is using about hungering and thirsting, you like you only know you're hungry and thirsty when you're hungry and thirsty. You don't think about it. Like, how many people had donuts this morning? You're not thinking about food right now, you're not thinking about I'm hungry, you're not thinking about I'm gonna go to Chipotle. You're not, you're good, right? It's only when you're aware of your lack that you are that you realize you're hungry, hungry. It's the same way for connection with Jesus, it's the same way when you think I am broken inside, and I'm still like twisted a little bit. There's still darkness in me. It's like when you realize that that I am not righteous, it's when Jesus makes sense. And he promises that if you will acknowledge that, I'm gonna fill you up. I'm gonna fill you until it till you're full. This is a promise from God. This passage is a declaration, it's a it's a spiritual truth. It really is a spiritual truth that as people acknowledge their need for God, they're that they're that they're you know, that they're broken, that they're sinful, that they're separated from him, and then they look to him to provide righteousness, that everything changes. Um, in the sermon of the mouth, which is this, the this, this is Jesus' preaching, he talks about righteousness four times in the sermon of the mouth. This is the first place he talks about. He says, he promises some things. And in verse, in this is verse five, uh, verse six, he he says, if the righteousness, if you it's to be longed for, like to be right inside and to be right with God and to live in a right way is something that you should long for in the same way that you long for chipotle, in the same way that you crave water. Like it should be that like visceral, that like it's it is really that important that you should long for it. And if you long for it, if you recognize your lack, he promises that he will reward you. Now that's good news. The second thing that we we learn, this is in in chapter 5, verse 10, Jesus says that blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness' sake, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. That he's introducing the idea that when someone tries to live righteously and be right with God, it's gonna be opposed. It is gonna be it's gonna be challenged. There's a fight that's gonna happen and in in in persecution, almost like I'm gonna crush this before it gets started. I do the enemy does not want the Church of Jesus to actually to be right, to be righteous, to be whole, to be alive. He doesn't want it. And so he's gonna attack. If you're pursuing becoming whole, there's gonna be a fight. It's it's not gonna be not like not that it's gonna be uncontested, but he says that when you're persecuted for doing the right thing, for being right with me, like that I'll pour out my kingdom on you. It's a great promise. The second thing, or the third thing that Jesus says is he looks at the religious leaders, he looks at all the professional like leaders in the day, and he says, You better, your righteousness has to be better than them. Like, think, think seminary professors, think like you know, like like like leaders and scholars and and like famous pastors and preachers. Jesus of the day, Jesus said, You're unless your righteousness exceeds those guys, you will not enter in. And he's really hard on he's Jesus is really hard on leaders. He he the people that represent him but don't walk with him, represent him but aren't submitted to him, represent him, but there's no life in them. He's super hard on them. And in chapter 23, Jesus like is a full court press. He's he's like really challenging the leaders, and these guys were they were Pharisees and scribes, and he basically calls them and says, Hey, you guys are like cups that are clean on the outside. You know, it looks good, you look good, but inside it's disgusting. Inside, I see greed and self-indulgence. It's Jesus is challenging a righteousness that's just looking good. It's like appearances only. He said, it's your righteousness has to be better than that. He then he he doubles down and he says, You guys, you leaders are like white whitewashed tombs. It's like a place where dead people are, and someone puts white paint on it. Look how clean, look how good that is. He says, No, inside is dead bones and death. You know, Jesus is super hard on people that that say that they represent him and serve him, but they're hypocrites. Like he is he is in their face. And people that are broken and honest and vulnerable and come to him. I mean, he is gracious and kind and merciful. And so the uh the fourth thing in the Sermon of the Mount is that Jesus says in verse uh 33 of Matthew, he said, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, his righteousness, and everything else will be added to you. And in this passage, Jesus is basically saying, righteousness and the pursuit thereof is not something that's like to be ignored. And he said, It's of primary importance. Like, seek this first, go after, go after God's kingship over your life and his his righteousness, not your righteousness, his righteousness. This is the most important thing that we can do in life, and everything else will get sorted out. That's what he says. Everything else will be added to you. And so the question when when Jesus is teaching this is that what about me and you? How right are we? How much does sin have a hold inside of us? How twisted are we inside? Do we turn to God for help or do we turn away from him to satisfy our hunger and our thirst with things that'll defile us or destroy us? Like me, like I did, right? Like I did. You know, the worst part about like this my struggle with sin is it opened the door and now I I'm fighting it again. I have to fight, I have to actively fight not smoking right now until I get through it. And the problem is to you, is that that was a door. If I play around with that, I'm gonna be drinking again. Like I know how it works. I'll be at the clerk buying a pack of cigarettes, next thing I'm know, I'm buying a 40-ounce. I'm just no, this is my this is my weakness. What is your weakness? What do you turn to to find life that is turning away from God? The Lord wants to heal you of that. And he promises to fill you up in such a way that you won't need it anymore, that you don't want it anymore. Will you be perfect? No. Am I perfect? No. The interesting thing about Matthew chapter 5, verse 6 is it says that that um that when we when we're hunger and thirst for for righteousness, that it the the truth is is that it the righteousness that he gives us, it it's it's outside of ourselves. It's something that we take in. Like you eat and drink food. It's like you're not self- you don't have a nuclear power plant in your stomach where you're like refueling yourself. You need to, you need to receive life into your body and it produces life. When you want to become righteous, his righteousness, you receive it into you. It's not yours. And like theologians call this um like alien righteousness. And it's I don't mean little green men, righteousness. Alien righteousness is like otherly righteousness, it's God's righteousness that he gives to us when we choose to trust him and believe in him and turn to him. He gives us his righteousness, righteousness, the righteousness of God. And then he promises that in our life that he will fill us up. Just picture a cup of an empty cup, an empty vessel, and God's saying, I know that you need living water, and I'm gonna pour it in, I'm gonna keep pouring it in, I'm gonna pour it in, and I promise you, one day you'll be full, you'll be lacking nothing. This is my promise to you, and I will see it. And when Jesus is teaching this, he's talking all about himself. All of these things are Jesus, Jesus is gonna fulfill all of it, and you know what I mean? He's the one that's doing everything. And I want to just point out these two Old Testament prophecies about the Christ. And um, and the first one is it's in Isaiah, it's an old testament prophet, but 700 years before Jesus was born, there's this picture of righteousness and salvation that Isaiah the prophet talks about. It's it's a short verse, but it's in Isaiah 61, verse 10. And this is the this is the prophet. He says, I delight greatly in the Lord, and my soul rejoices in God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation, and has arrayed me in a robe of righteousness. This was a promise of what Messiah would would do for for humanity, is that salvation would come because the messiah would would take a salvation. And like just imagine how dirty we are. I remember some of the horrible things I've done in my past, and I felt so dirty that I would take trying to take a shower to get clean. I don't know if you ever you relate to that, but I couldn't get clean. I couldn't wash away my stain. You know what I mean? I couldn't do it. And in this passage, the prophet says that there's going to be one who's going to give you clothes of salvation. I'm going to put white clothes on you, like clothes on you. And I'm going to take a garment, a robe of righteousness and cover you with it. So that when the when my father looks at you, he sees someone who is perfectly clean and covered in righteousness because it's my righteousness. I give you my righteousness, not yours. It's mine. And I give it to those who trust me and who turn to me in repentance and faith. I give it gladly to you. This is called conversion. This is when a this this happens when a person comes to faith and is born born again. This is conversion. But Jesus is saying it doesn't just stay as clothing, that it actually penetrates us, that it that he's going to fill us up, that we're going to that righteousness is going to just be a get out of jail free card when we get you know when we stand before God. Here's my get out of jail free card. Come on in. I mean, it like it is true that we're righteous, we're positionally righteous, but God wants us to be righteous inside. And I read you another Old Testament prophecy. I love it. This is one of my favorite parts of the Bible. It's in Ezekiel chapter 36. This is this isn't just salvation, this is transformation. This is Jesus' righteousness. And so in verse 24 of chapter 36 of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel says, he's looking towards Christ, and he's looking towards fulfillment for Israel. And he says, For I will take you out of the nations, and I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back to your own land. I'm gonna I'm gonna gather you and bring you home, he says. Verse 25, I will sprinkle you with clean water and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and from all of your idols. Like the the Messiah, God is gonna clean us in a way that water and soap won't do, right? He's gonna cleanse us of impurities and sin and things that have happened to us and things, sins that have been done to us, and sins that we've done. He's gonna purify his people. Listen to this, verse 26. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. This isn't just superficial righteousness. The prophet is saying that I'm gonna make you new inside. Like you can actually be new inside. Like I'm gonna take this stone heart that is like unfeeling and calloused and hard, and I'm gonna rip it out of you. I'm gonna give you a soft heart that feels again, that's alive again. A new heart. And then he's gonna breathe into his people the spirit of God. Like this isn't religion of just like I'm gonna, I'm gonna be better person. This isn't like I'm gonna, this isn't icing on the cake religion. This is transformational Jesus Christianity, that you are become who you were intended to be when God created you, that he's determined to transform you into his likeness. And he has power and authority to do it. You don't have to stay the way you are. If you claim Christ, there's a future of of life and transformation and healing. And you know what's amazing is that in in verse 26, he says, he promises that he's gonna pour his spirit into us, breathe his spirit into us, and move you, move us, cause us, compel us to follow him. So like our ability to follow God is because he empowers us to follow him. Our ability to stay faithful is that he empowers us to be faithful, he moves us to be faithful. It's not like we're just white knuckling it, he changes us. This is this is different. Like, there's no other religious teachers that talk like this, that promise this and then back it up. There's no one, and the world is full of broken people like me that have experienced this, like you, and if you haven't, there's an invitation for you to experience this. This is the filling of righteousness. Like I'm gonna pour it into you till you're right with me, you're right inside, and then you live in a way that is right. And people look at you and think, there must be a God. There must be a God. Look at that life. How can you have peace in a time of chaos? How can you have joy when everyone's despairing? How can you have strength when everyone's faltering? It's because that life comes from another source, it comes from God Himself. He pours it into us. This is Jesus' righteousness. Verse 28, he says that then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, you will be my people, and I will be your God, and I will save you from all of your uncleanliness. Like all of the work of God that he's doing is so that we can actually walk in the promise. The promise that he had for Israel is that they would live in the land of Israel, and that he would be their God, they would be his people, and they would live together in closeness. All of the work that God's doing in you and me in Lakewood Vineyard is that he would dwell in the midst of us, that he would be our God, we would be his people, and we would live in relational closeness and worship and love with the Lord. That all the promises that God has made to humanity are for you and for me. And we don't want to leave anything on the table. You don't have to leave anything on the table. It's not gonna be easy, it's not all gonna happen at once, but right now we have to believe that this is true. And my failure, right? It was a failure. It got turned on its head because of this principle. You know what I mean? Like the like the enemy wanted to crush me and destroy me and shame me and get me to go off and spiral out of control and end up in you know in a ditch. And I remembered that I there's a God of mercy that loves me. And I went to him and I confessed, I confessed to my wife, right? I confessed to my friends. I'm like, you know, I don't just stop this right now, Lord. Stop this right now before it gets out of control. Would you cla you would you would you free me? Like, Christianity works, it's pragmatic. I don't it works because it's good and it's true, and that's the invitation. How do you respond to this? Like, how are you gonna respond to the to this truth? How am I gonna respond to this truth? Why don't we invite the worship team to come up and and let's can we do something? Can we engage the Lord in worship? And and when I I this morning I I I got up, I woke up and I was walking and I was praying, and I said, God, what do you want to do in our church today? And he and he I felt like he said, I want you to tell people to come to me. Tell them to come to me, whether it's the first time to come and receive forgiveness and salvation, or there's someone that knows you, that knows me and loves me, but is in a difficult place. Tell them to come to me. I am their way out and I'm their way forward and I'm their righteousness. That's the word of God for for us today. Let's worship and then we'll we'll do some ministry time. Thank you for listening to the weekly figure. If you like to come, you can listen.