Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Preached on February 2, 2014 at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA.

Turn with me to Matthew 5. Today we continue our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the Beatitudes. Before we get started in our specific text, I wanted to mention something that I believe I have wrongfully under emphasized over the last three weeks. For me, and I hope for you, each one of these beatitudes have greatly convicted me. They have pierced my heart, and this is exactly what God wants His Word to do when we interact with it.

• Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 
  
  

This is why I continue to encourage all of us to be Bible people. Because God’s Word is not dead, it is alive, and it changes lives.

Having said that, once we are convicted by God’s Word we have two roads we can take. Road one is the road of the Pharisees and road two is the road of Grace. The Pharisaical road is when someone reads the Word of God and looks to themselves for the strength to adhere to what they found convicting. For example, last week we examined what it meant to be meek. If you walked out of here and said I need to be more meek. And then you asked yourself, “What can I do to be more meek?” Then you are walking down the road of a Pharisee. For you are looking to yourself to produce the fruit in your life. Jesus warned us about this in Matthew 16:6.

• Matthew 16:6 – “Jesus said to them, "Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
  
  

Jesus tells us that we need to watch ourselves. He is warning us that we must be on guard against this leaven, this appetite that we have to be our own God.

Instead, we are not look to ourselves, but to the Lord. It is His Grace that produces these qualities, these beatitudes, in our life. These Christian characteristics listed in the beatitudes are a result of the Holy Spirit coming into your life, regenerating you, and giving you eyes to see, a heart that mourns, and a lowly disposition. If you are born of the Spirit of God, then you should walk by the Spirit of God.

• Galatians 3:3 - - “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? “
  
  

Therefore, if you are convicted by the Word of God, do not look for strength within yourself, but look for strength within the Lord. Pray that God would grant you the characteristics listed in the Beatitudes. With that said, let us know look at Matthew 5:6.

• Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”
  
  

So often we read our Bibles, listen to sermons, and even teach without thinking about the words that are being used. As we start today I think it is important for us to understand the key word in this text, righteousness. What does righteousness mean?

The answer is somewhat obvious, for the answer is in the word itself. To be righteous is to be right. To do things, to say things, to think thing that are correct, and to not do wrong things.

This word righteousness assumes something. It assumes that there is an actual, real, measurable standard by which we all must live by. What is interesting about this belief of a universal and absolute standard is that it is a fleeting belief in this postmodern world. More and more people reject the idea of absolutes. Instead more and more of the American culture accepts relativism. Relativism is the idea that each person has their own standard to live by. It is the idea that each person makes their own rules and no one can tell them that they are wrong. Relativism is the belief that righteousness is self defined, or culturally defined, and this belief is rampant in America and rampant in churches.

Jesus's statement concerning righteousness totally blows the door off of relativism. Jesus says there is a right way to live. Jesus says there is a standard of virtue. And this is not the only time Jesus uses this word in Matthew. In fact, he mentions righteousness twice in the beatitudes, and he mentions is three more times in the rest of the sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:20, Matthew 6:1, Matthew 6:33). Therefore, either Jesus is lying to us, or there really is a right way and a wrong way to live in the world He created.

And if the world was intellectually honest, we would all agree with this; because this standard is something that everyone can sense or feel, it is intuitive. No matter what culture, no matter what point in history you look at, you will always find a similar standard that people live by. This standard is commonly called the moral law. For example, murder; all cultures throughout all time agree that it is wrong to randomly kill someone for no reason. Another example, all cultures throughout all time agree that it wrong to steal. If that is not enough, the proof or the moral law lies in your reaction when someone treats you “wrongly.” If you didn't have implanted in you a sense of right and wrong, then you would not be offended when someone spits in your face and pushes you to the ground.

The truth is that there is a standard, and there is a standard Giver, and he happens to be Jesus's Dad, the Creator of the Universe, and we are to live by this standard. But there is a problem, and Jesus speaks of that problem.

When Jesus say's “ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” He is making a very indicting statement about humanity. For to hunger and thirst for something means that you lack it. When you hunger for food, it means your stomach is empty of food. When you hunger for righteousness, it means you are empty of righteousness. You lack righteousness.

So if we put these two thoughts together we see that God has a standard, or way, in which we are to live; however, we fail to live in conformity with that standard. We fail to live in a right relationship with our Creator. In fact, we are incapable. The most on point indictment of this truth is Romans 3:10.

• Romans 3:10 - “as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; “
  
  

Paul leaves no wiggle room in this statement. In case we didn't understand what “none” meant, he reinforced it by saying, “no, not one.” Everyone who has ever been born, is not righteousness. However, many people do not accept this reality. They don't accept that they are sinners. They suppress this truth. The don't believe they are unrighteous. One reason for this, I believe, is because we tend to use the wrong standard. When we evaluate ourselves we compare ourselves to others. We look at the culture to determine our righteousness. We look around and feel good about ourselves because we aren't as bad as that guy over there. We are like Sodom comparing ourselves to Gomorrah, and because of this we think we are ok. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 1:8.

• 1 Timothy 1:8-11 - “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. “
  
  

The correct standard of living is provided to us through the law. It is like a line in the sand drawn by God. This law does not come from man, but from God. This law is provided to fallen humanity as a scale for which to weigh its righteousness, or lack there of. And this law is for a specific group of people: the lawless, and disobedient and the ungodly. It is for people who are not Christians. For if you are a Christian, you are not under the law, but under grace. But those who are not under Grace, i.e. those who live contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance to the Gospel, the law is for a very specific and good purpose.

• Romans 3:20 - “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
  
  

The law of God is like a spiritual cat scan. We stand up against it and we see that we are out of sync with God's will. The law runs us through a series of tests and the results are a zero righteousness count. God says don't covet, and then we covet. God says don't lie, and then we lie. God says don't lust, and then we lust. The law is the means to prove our desperate need for an outside righteousness.

And Jesus says that those who recognize this and hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed. So now let us ask, what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness?

First, to hunger and thirst does not mean a casual interest. This desire to have righteousness is not one that is like taste testing. To hunger and to thirst is to have a deep and desperate longing for righteousness, and lets be honest, it is a desperation because we are spiritually starving. We are completely void and the threat of death is always looming. Psalm 63:1 provides a great picture of this thirst.

• Psalm 63:1 - “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. “
  
  

This is the kind of desire for righteousness that Jesus is talking about. A recognition that the one thing you need as you wander through the dessert of life, is the water that only God can provide. It consumes you. It is all that you think about in life, being and doing the will of God.

With that said, Jesus tells us that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will be satisfied. How? How are we who are void of righteousness to get righteousness? We have already seen that the law of God is not the answer, for its purpose is to show us our unrighteous condition, not to fix it. So if the law won't make us right before God, what will?

• John 6: - “Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 30 So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  “
  
  

If we are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, we will only find satisfaction in Jesus. There is no other well that we should drink from then Him. All other religions, all other philosophies, all other strategies are like drinking sand. Why? He is the only one who lived a righteous life and therefore He is the only one who has righteousness to give, and he offers this righteousness to you. It yours for the taking, all you have to do is to believe in Him. And notice that Jesus does not say that you need a balanced diet. He doesn't say that Him plus works equals, satisfaction. He says, “believe.” The belief is the means to the free gift of the living water of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus satisfied. Him alone. Faith alone. Grace alone. Christ alone.

Before we end, I want to clarify one thing. The hunger and thirst for righteousness does not end at conversion. It is an ongoing characteristic of a Christian here on this Earth. It is a longing that continues, until the return of Christ, or until death. Right now, some of you are saying hold on, you just told me that Christ satisfies and we just read in that “whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” All of these things are simultaneously true. Perhaps scripture would be the best way to explain.

• Philippians 3:8-14 - “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
  
  

In this text Paul is explaining that he is simultaneously satisfied and hungry. Prior to having faith in Christ he attempted to create His own righteousness. All of that effort, all of those years, all of that work he now counts as rubbish, it was unsatisfying. It was like drinking sand. But now he has tasted that the Lord is good, and it was like honey on his lips. It was like that first sip on a hot day working out in the yard. It is like the Coke commercial, where they take one drink and release a satisfied “awwww.” He had found what he was looking for. However, having said that, Paul still knew that even though the spring of living water had taken up residence in his heart, there was still more work to do in his life. He knew that until the Lord returned he was still not perfectly righteous. He had not reached the goal of being Christlike.

If you have tasted that the Lord is good, this is exactly where you are at today, and what a good place to be. You have searched for satisfaction and you have found it in Christ. Your looking is over. There are so many who have yet to find it. Wandering in the dessert and dieing of spiritual hunger and thirst. So let us not waste this great gift. Let us drink deeply from the well of Jesus Christ.