Hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
This beatitude is one of the most important verses in the sermon on the mount.
The foundational requirement of all godly living is to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Such hunger is seen in Moses.
Exodus 33:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Is also seen in the psalmist.
Psalms 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 42:2 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; 63:2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
Psalms 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
And apostle Paul.
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
The spiritual condition of Christians throughout their lives will depend on their hunger and thirst for: 1. the presence of God.
Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 2. The word of God.
Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
3: the communion of Christ
Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
4. The fellowship of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
5. Righteousness. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 6. Kingdom power. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 7. The return of the Lord. 2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
One of the early signs of life in a normal baby is hunger. So the one that is truly born again shall hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Psalms 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
Psalms 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
Luke 1:53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
Luke 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Very very unfortunately, the Christians hunger for the things of God is destroyed by worldly anxiety and deceitfulness of wealth. Matthew 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Desire for things. Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Life’s pleasures. Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Failure to abide in Christ. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
When the hunger of believers for God and His righteousness is destroyed, they will die spiritually.
For this reason it is essential that we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s convicting work in our lives.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
But then anyone that is hungering and thirsting for righteousness shall be filled
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Fullness is God’s answer to the emptiness of man’s heart.
As the body has its natural appetites for hunger and thirst for food and drink suited to its nourishment, so has the soul.
When the soul is awakened to a sense of its wants and begins to hunger and thirst for righteousness or holiness which is proper food, we know that it must be purified by the Holy Spirit and be made a partaker of that living bread or perished everlastingly.
Now as God never inspires a prayer but with a design to answer it. He who hungers and thirst after the full salvation of God may depend on being speedily and effectually blessed or satisfied, well fed.
Righteousness here is taken for all the blessings of the new covenant, all the graces of the Messiah’s kingdom. Meaning a full restoration to be image of God.
In deed God will fill every genuine hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Let us pray.
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