I. (Matt. 5:6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. In his sermons on the beatitudes, John MacArthur tells this true story. During the liberation of Palestine in World War I, a combined force of British, Australian, and New Zealand soldiers was closely pursuing the Turks as they retreated from the desert. As the allied troops moved northward past Beersheba they began to outdistance their [water supply]. When the water ran out, their mouths got dry, their heads ached, and they became dizzy and faint. Eyes became bloodshot, lips swelled and turned purple, and mirages became common. They knew that if they did not make the wells of Sheriah by nightfall, thousands of them would die. Fighting for their lives, they managed to drive the Turks from Sheriah. As water was distributed from the great stone cisterns, the more able-bodied were required to stand at attention and wait for the wounded and those who would take guard duty to drink first. It was four hours before the last man had his drink. During that time the men stood no more than twenty feet from thousands of gallons of water, to drink of which had been their consuming passion for many agonizing days. It is said that one of the officers who was present reported, I believe that we all learned our first real Bible lesson on the march from Beersheba to the Sheriah Wells. If such were our thirst for God, for righteousness and for His will in our lives, a consuming, all-embracing, preoccupying desire, how rich in the fruit of the Spirit would we be? 1 That is the kind of hunger and thirst of which Jesus speaks in this beatitude Those who truly come to Jesus Christ come hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and those who are in Him continue to know that deep longing for holiness. 2 1 Quoted from E.M. Blaiklock, Water Eternity (August 1966), p. 27 2 MacArthur, John F (2004-01-06). Matthew 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Four Volume Set (Macarthur New Testament Commentary Serie) (Kindle Locations 4727-4742). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. 1 of 9
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. We are going to unpack this beatitude with three questions. What is the righteousness that Jesus wants us to hunger and thirst for? What does it mean to hunger and thirst? When and where does God give us satisfaction A. WHAT IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT JESUS WANTS US TO HUNGER FOR? 1. What it is not First of all, the righteousness that Jesus has in mind is not morality. It is not the equivalent of a good citizen. It is not being a decent sort of fellow. It is not traditional Christian values, i.e. motherhood, America, and Apple Pie. In other words, it is not moral conservatism. The righteousness that Jesus has in mind is also not religion. (Matthew 5:20) "20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The righteousness that Jesus has in mind is not a desire to look good to others. It s not external. It is not the righteousness depicted by a 1950 Normal Rockwell painting. The righteousness that Jesus has in mind is not happiness. You can be happy, and at least temporarily, not be righteous. You can be righteous, and at least temporarily, not be happy. The righteousness that Jesus has in mind is not spiritual experience. 2. A definition of the Righteousness that Jesus wants us to hunger and thirst for. It begins with the free gift of righteousness that God gives us at conversion. This righteousness is a work of grace. It has no connection with human effort. But, most importantly, it is the righteousness that comes to us through progressive Sanctification. (Define). 2 of 9
Hungering and thirsting for Righteousness means hungering and thirsting for freedom from the desire to sin, freedom from the power of sin, and freedom from the presence of sin. In other words, it is hungering and thirsting to be holy as Jesus is holy, to be like Christ, to model the new man. In the words of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, it is The desire to be free from sin in all its forms and in its every manifestation...it is a desire to be right with God, a desire to get rid of sin, because sin is that which comes between us and God It includes a desire to free from the power of sin. 3 A desire to be free from the very desire for sin It is the longing to be positively holy 4 It is a future hope. It is the longing for the new heaven and earth. It includes an inward ache for the world to come. Jesus instructed us to pray for it. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matt 6:10) Jesus taught us to pursue it single-mindedly. (Matthew 6:33) "33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." B. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HUNGER AND THIRST? Watson: Spiritual hunger is the rational appetite whereby the soul pants after that which it apprehends most suitable and proportional to itself. 5 True hungering and thirsting will motivate self-denial, but it won t seem like self-denial, because our eyes will be fixed on the object of our desire righteousness. Anecdote: Jacob served Laban 7 years for Rachel, And they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her (Gen. 29:20). 3 Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sermon on the Mount, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959-60) pg. 65 4 Ibid, Lloyd-Jones, pg 66 5 Watson, Thomas (2012-09-02). The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 (Kindle Locations 2441-2442).. Kindle Edition. 3 of 9
Anecdote: The man in Haiti on one leg who walked 20 miles to the conference. The longing that the Seahawks had to win the Super Bowl. 1. Hunger described Hunger is a sign of life. Dead people do not hunger. Only the living hunger. The first thing a new born baby does is cry out for food. His hunger is a sign of life. In the same way, hunger for righteousness is a sign of spiritual life. Its lack points to the absence of spiritual death. Hunger and thirsting produces a restless striving. It is like the longing that an unwed woman has for a husband, or like the desire a childless woman has for a baby, or like the longing a man stuck in a dead-end job has for a promotion. It is like the longing that a starving man has for food, or like the thirst that the allies in WWI had for water as they drove the Turks out of Palestine. Lange: Hungering and thirsting is A figurative mode [describing] a desire so intense as to be painful. 6 The Bible gives us several powerful word pictures. Notice: they all describe hungering and thirsting for God. (Psalm 27:4) "4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm 42:1 2) "1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalm 84:1 2) "1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God." (Isaiah 55:1) "1 Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Story of Lucy at the stream in the Narnia Chronicles. 6 Lange, J. P., & Schaff, P. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Matthew (p. 102). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. 4 of 9
2. From Where does hunger and thirsting come? Hunger and thirsting comes when New Birth infuses into us a share in the divine nature. With the divine nature comes a longing for holiness. 7 Another way to say this is that at conversion God writes his law upon our hearts. God performs a spiritual heart transplant. He removes a heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh.e. he writes his law upon our hearts. New Birth begins the hungering and thirsting and then a growing sense of our utter bankruptcy amplifies it. The first three beatitudes describe the fruits of this bankruptcy. That is why hungering and thirsting for righteousness is number four. The more we experience the first three, the greater will be our sense of bankruptcy, and the more we will hunger and thirst. Blessed are the poor in Spirit (Mat 5:3) Blessed are those who mourn (Matt 5:4) Blessed are the meek (Matt 5:5) Last, hungering and thirsting for righteousness is further amplified by the growing conviction that Christ is my happiness. Everyone with this conviction will be restless for more of God. Our hearts restless till they rest in you. Augustine Jesus fights pleasure with pleasure. 8 DeYoung This is why Sam Storms defines sin as seeking our happiness in something other than Christ. (Matthew 13:44 46) "44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." Jesus described himself as he who satisfies our hungering and thirsting. 7 (2 Peter 1:3 4) "3 God has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature." 8 Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012, pg 86 5 of 9
(John 4:14) "14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. " (John 6:35) "35 I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." 3. What ends spiritual hunger and thirst? When Christ satisfies our spiritual hunger it doesn t go away, it grows. When the world satisfies our spiritual hunger it dies. People that are spiritually full don t hunger. i.e. people that are self-reliant don t hunger. People who depend upon their own righteousness don t hunger. People convinced that their happiness and joy are tied up something other than God thirst and hunger for what they are convinced will satisfy it. This was the great sin of the church at Laodicea. (Revelation 3:15 18) 15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." Spurgeon: [Hungering and thirsting] is the very opposite condition to that of the self-satisfied and the self-righteous. Pharisees never hunger and thirst after righteousness; they have all the righteousness they want, and they even think that they have some to spare for that poor publican over yonder who cries, God be merciful to me a sinner. 9 C. WHEN AND WHERE DOES GOD GIVE US SATISFACTION? The Satisfaction of which Jesus speaks is already but not yet. 1. The first Satisfaction is Immediate (Romans 1:17) "17 For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith. " 2. The second Satisfaction is Ongoing 9 Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol pg 480) 6 of 9
(Proverbs 4:18) "18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day." 3. The third Satisfaction is Future (1 John 3:2) "2 We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." (Revelation 22:17) And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." 4. Caveat: God s Satisfaction Increases our hunger The great irony is that the more God satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst the more we hunger and thirst. It is like drinking seawater. Therefore, the level of our hunger and thirst is a barometer of our spiritual maturity. Lloyd-Jones: The Christian is one who at one and the same time is hungering and thirsting, and yet he is filled. And the more he is filled the more he hungers and thirsts. 10 Edwards: The greatest eminence and perfection that the saints arrive at in this world, has no tendency to abate their desires after more; but, on the contrary, [being satisfied in God] makes them more eager to press forward. 11 D. APPLICATION 1. Hunger and Thirsting precedes Conversion Those of you without hunger and thirst teens, visitors, church attenders without any hunger or thirst hunger for righteousness is a sign of life, of conversion. It occurs to the degree that we see our great need, to the degree that we feel our moral and spiritual bankruptcy. To get new birth you need to humble yourself. You need to confess your need. MacArthur: The great Puritan Thomas Watson wrote, He has most need of righteousness that least wants it. No matter how rich his spiritual experience or how advanced his spiritual maturity, the hungering Christian will always say, 10 Ibid, Lloyd-Jones, pg. 70 11 Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise on The Religious Affections, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1834, reprint 1984) pg. 312 7 of 9
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? (Rom. 7:24). 12 Seek the poverty of Spirit that amplifies hunger at the cross. Look to Jesus. He models this hungering for righteousness. In fact, he died to usher in universal righteousness. My food he said, is to do the will of him who sent me. Find your happiness in Christ. Be greedy for your happiness, but pursue Christ for its satisfaction. 2. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is not optional. What do you really Hunger and Thirst for? For where your treasure is there will your heart be also (Matt 6:21). So, where is your heart? Really? The object of your hungering and thirsting points to your real treasure, your real god, what you think will really make you happy. God sees our hearts with omniscience. He understands our motives and lusts better than we do. So don t hide from him. Confess it, and beg him to reveal himself to you. 3. Inflame your hunger and thirst As we have seen, The capacity to hunger and thirst comes with new birth. No one who has been born again is without at least some knowledge of this hungering and thirsting. Therefore, uungering and thirsting grows in the saint who feeds his hunger and thirst. Fan into flame the gift of God that is within you (2 Tim. 1:6). Anonymous: Two natures beat within my breast: One is cursed, the other blessed. The one I love, the other I hate. The one I feed will dominate. Which nature are you feeding? Which appetites are you feeding? 12 MacArthur, John F (2004-01-06). Matthew 1-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary Four Volume Set (Macarthur New Testament Commentary Serie) (Kindle Locations 4838-4840). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. 8 of 9
So, what can you do to feed your hunger and thirst? Negatively Avoid people that dampen your hunger and thirst. Avoid situations that damper your hunger and thirst. Sensitize yourself to legitimate hobbies and entertainments that quench your hunger and thirst for righteousness. (Super Bowl). Positively Take advantage of the means of grace Church attendance, Bible study, prayer, HG attendance. They are God s bellows. 4. Jesus is Our Hunger and Thirst Most of us listening to this sermon feel inadequate, and in fact, we are inadequate. We will never hunger and thirst enough to merit God s favor. That is why we have a Savior. Jesus hungered and thirsted perfectly. When we believe the gospel God imputes Christ s hunger and thirst to us. In addition, Jesus took our apathy and indifference towards his Father onto himself, and then he bore the wrath that our apathy deserves. Jesus did all of this to amplify our hunger and thirst so that he in turn could satisfy it. Ask him for the hungering and thirsting that you lack 9 of 9