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THE GRADUATION CLASS OF 1410 BC

Introduction

Graduation Day is a day to remember. Why it only seems like a short time ago that I graduated from High School myself. (It was 28 years ago!)

Graduation day is a day to remember God and all He has provided for you.

Graduation day is a day when Parents, family, and friends all celebrate in a great accomplishment in your life.

In the book of Deuteronomy we find Moses, instructing, exhorting and encouraging the graduating class of Israel of 1410 BC.

They, like every graduate, were preparing to enter a land of opportunity and promise. Up to this point all they had known was school life - that is, the school of the wilderness. Now it was graduation day. They would finally be entering the Promised Land.

Listen to these words Moses gave to the Children of Israel as they prepared to enter the promise land.

Let’s Read Deuteronomy 6:10-13

Perhaps these words do not strike you as graduation words, but they are. They are words of life and death.

Moses exhorted these graduates that they would soon be leaving the restful havens of the home life they had known and would soon be going into a land that was unknown.

The danger they faced in leaving their familiar surroundings was to become preoccupied with the surroundings of new life in a new land.

Moses instructs them of the danger, "When thou shalt have eaten and be full, Then beware lest thou forget the Lord."

Their hearts on this day would deny the thoughts of ever leaving their God.

What should fill our lives after graduation? It should be a hunger and thirst for God.

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

When God looks into our hearts what does He long to see? When He examines our character, what does He hope to find?

Some would suggest that we fill our hearts and lives with the realms of worldly success.

But God is not looking for that. He looks to see if there is righteousness in our hearts.

Do you have a hunger and thirst to be filled with God's righteousness - that is, do you have a hunger and thirst to be right before God?

At the end of our lives all the diplomas, degrees and worldly success we have gained in this life will not be enough to get us into heaven or even to merit any rewards as a Christian. Only a righteousness based solely upon the righteousness of God will ever attain us anything in eternity.

Let’s think for a moment on this idea of a Spiritual hunger and thirst:

I.         SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS DESPERATION.

An old Chinese proverb says, "Thirst breaks through stone walls." In other words, if you are really thirsty, you'll do anything to find water.

            Are you thirsty for God in the same way as the psalmist who cried out:

Psalm 42:1-2--“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalms 63:1–“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

May I say that this thirst is not quenched by the likes of what the world has to offer. This thirst dominates the body, mind and soul. It is a holy craving deep within the soul for the things of God.

Wisdom and understanding in the matter of righteousness is not going to just fall in your lap!

            Look at the desperation required to find those things in Proverbs 2:1-11.

Folks who desired earthly gold, silver, and precious stones in the past suffered through all kinds of hardship to obtain their earthly treasure.

What are we who claim to be the children of God willing to endure in order to obtain the heavenly treasure that comes from a life of obedience to God?

            SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS DESPERATION.

II.       SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS AN EAGERNESS TO OBEY.

            Do you have a hunger to obey the words of God?

            The psalmist speaks in Psalm 40:8, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God …"

            Do you delight to do the will of God?

The hunger and thirst of the righteous person is to be right with God in every area of their lives.

            We are not suppose to segregate our lives with regard to God.

            (i.e. Church life, Social life, School life, Work life, Home life)

Our spiritual lives are not to be Schizophrenic! We should be obedient to God in every area of our lives.

            God wants us to be in full-time Christian service, no matter what our vocation may be!

            Jesus said in Luke 11:28–“. . .blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it!"

Obedience requires time alone with God--reading and studying His Word, praying and meditating on it so that we might obey it.

            SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS DESPERATION.

            SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS AN EAGERNESS TO OBEY.

III.      SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS DESIRE TO BE LIKE JESUS.

            The popular call today is WWJD, "What Would Jesus Do?"

            It is not a call to speculate what Jesus would or might happen to do.

            It is a call to do what Jesus did.

            A.        Jesus Depended Upon His Heavenly Father.

            B.        Jesus Desired Communication With His Heavenly Father.

            C.        Jesus Delighted In Fellowship With His Heavenly Father.

The desires of the heart are at stake here.

            What will we desire once we are presented with a new land filled with opportunities?

            Have a spiritual hunger and thirst to be like Jesus.

            SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS DESPERATION.

            SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS AN EAGERNESS TO OBEY.

            SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS DESIRE TO BE LIKE JESUS.

IV.      SPIRITUAL HUNGER AND THIRST IS A HATRED FOR SIN.

Psalms 19:13–“Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.”

Would it have been truthful for Moses to have told the Israelites that they would never have to face the temptation to sin in the new land? No!

As much as you would like to think that sin will not tempt nor touch your life it is not true. That is a fairy tale. And fairy tales are in the enchanted land of make believe.

But when we are going into a land that will tempt us with the opportunities to sin, it is the time spent in God's Word that will allow us to see sin as sin and to overcome it.

            James 4:17–“Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

We should allow God’s holy spotlight to examine our hearts everyday to keep the evils of sin at bay in our lives.

Conclusion

How can we maintain our hunger and thirst after God and after His righteousness?

1.         Make Sure We Have God’s Righteousness In Our Lives–I’m talking about a Relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ–Are you saved!

2.         Obey God Immediately … do what He says without hesitation.

3.         Call Sin by its Right Name … do not varnish over sin by calling it a mistake, accident, error or oversight, call it sin. Then confess it and receive God's forgiveness.

4.         Stand Firm on God's Word … as you do the will of God (Obey God), your thirst for God will increase.

Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness "shall be filled."

What are you filled with today? What will you be filled with a year from now? A decade from now?

Moses warned the graduating class to not become filled with the consuming items of this life.

For when that happens we become satisfied.

Don't ever be satisfied with where you are in your walk with Jesus Christ. Don't allow the things of this world to rob you of your passion to love and serve Jesus Christ.

Psalms 17:15–“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

Today I challenge and exhort you who are graduates, and all who hear my voice … hunger and thirst for God and His righteousness.

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!