Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (ESV)
1. A duty: To Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness
Isaiah 26:9 – “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks You.
For when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”
A rational appetite comes from lack of nourishment and water.
Righteousness is giving to God and your neighbour their due, namely glorifying God and loving people.
Realizing your lacking in this causes a spiritual hunger and thirst.
There are two types of righteousness:
a. Imputed (put to our account) and
b. Imparted (clothed with).
Your desire should be for Christ’s righteousness, which we do not have by nature.
Your whole soul, emotions and life must pant after Christ – our Prophet, Priest and King.
We need to ask the Lord why we are not hungering after His righteousness.
Believers are complete in Christ, having His imputed righteousness.
The weakest is as justified as the strongest saint.
Impartation (or implantation):
Spiritual hunger makes us blessed. Dead people cannot hunger. Hunger comes from life.
The Reformers had a strong desire after God and His righteousness.
Notice how easy God makes it for you.
You only have to hunger and thirst after His righteousness.
All you need to bring are sighs and tears.
We only need to bring an appetite.
2. The true Character of a Godly Man, Woman or Child
It’s one who hungers and thirsts after spiritual things.
Romans 8:26 – “… the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (ESV)
Ungodly people have no desire for spiritual things:
a. They’ve never felt their emptiness – too full of the world and themselves.
b. They think they can do well enough without it.
c. They desire sleep more than food.
d. They refuse their food – fanatics and enthusiasts.
e. They delight more in the garnish of the dish than the food itself.
f. They prefer the things of the world to satisfy them rather than the things of Christ.
The Lord says that you will be happy when you hunger and thirst after righteousness, because you shall be satisfied.