Starving to be Satisfied Matt 5:5
Men naturally desire happiness: but they don’t know in what it is to be found. The philosophers of old wearied themselves in vain to find out what was man’s chief good. But our blessed Lord has informed us wherein it consists: it is found in holiness (righteousness) alone; which, when embodied, as it were, and exercised in all its branches, renders us completely blessed. (Simeon)
The Progression There is a sequence that progresses from realizing our spiritual poverty to mourning because of it, to being humbled by our condition so that we are driven for relief. We live in a middle of a society chasing all the wrong things, even religious, people who think they're good enough, they're kind enough, they're nice enough, they're religious enough. And they thing they are not bankrupt. They don't recognize their utter bankruptcy. We're not talking here about felt need, we're not talking here about, "Well, things aren't working out at my job, or things have kind of gotten messed up in my marriage, or I'm not really happy with the career I've got or I've got a lot of guilt and a lot of shame in my life, or I had a lot of abuse as a child and I need to kind of get over this, and I need a sort of a psychological boost." We're not talking about that, we're talking about such an overwhelming weight of conviction about your sin that you turn to mourning and you're left to see yourself in the lowliest of places. Jesus says, "Those are the very people who in that condition are going to recognize that what they desperately need is righteousness and what they don't have is righteousness and so they hunger and thirst for it (MacArthur).
The Problem they shall be filled
Gk chortazo to fill, satisfy with food, to fatten animals - absolutely satisfied. fully satisfied but always desiring more. Moses Ex 33 Phil 3 The innate desire of man’s heart is to be happy and God’s provision is holiness (Righteousness) The problem is that the world suggest one solution and Jesus affirms another.
The Deceptive of the World - the things of the world bring happiness Is 55:1-2 . . . spend money on what is not bread? Jeremiah 2:13
The Direction of the Word - the things of God bring happiness Is 55:2 eat what is good let your soul delight in abundance Is 55:6-7
You don't directly seek happiness. God gives it. He blesses those who are overwhelmed by their moral bankruptcy, who are overwhelmed by their sin and mourning, who are meek and humble and lowly and who are passionately, desperately pursuing righteousness. They're not pursuing happiness, they just receive it from God. The one who pursues happiness is generally doomed to misery. People who come to the church and listen to the gospel and make some move toward Christ because they want Jesus to make them happy...miss the whole point. They would be like a man with a terminal illness who wants to go to the anesthesiologist and just get a shot so he doesn't feel any pain. But if the man is only concerned about the relief of his pain, he's a fool. Something far more important needs to be done, he needs to be cured at the point of his deadly disease. People come all the time to the church on this grounds, they come
because there's something wrong in their life or they're upset or lack of fulfillment has moved into their life or they've been living a long time and all their goals have gone up in a puff of smoke and all their relationships have disintegrated and etc., etc., etc. And in the pain of all of that they wander into the church and typically today that's exactly where the church thinks you have to meet people. And so, the message is geared to those people with their felt-psychological, emotional, social, economic, physical needs. That's why there's so many shallow conversions, so much fruitless seed planting. You see, the world would like to eliminate the pain but we're here to eliminate the problem. Big difference. And the problem behind the pain is sin. And it's not until a person grapples with the sin issue that they will find true satisfaction, blessedness and happiness. (McArthur).
The Pursuit who hunger and thirst after
Gk peinao hunger, to crave ardently, to suffer want and Gk dipsao suffer from thirst, those who are said to thirst who painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened. A deep overwhelming desire for food or water!
Someone who is physically hungry and thirsty is characterized by Desperation, Desire, Determination and Dedication. It is no different for someone who is Spiritual hungry (Ps 42:1, 107;5, Judges 15:18), A man who hungers after righteousness, is in anguish of soul and ready to faint away for it. He finds a lack of Christ and grace. He is distressed and in pain until he has his spiritual hunger stilled and allayed. So a man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness says, 'Give me Christ or I die! Lord, what will you give me seeing I go Christless? What though I have abilities, wealth, honor and esteem in the world? All is nothing without Christ. Give me Jesus—and it will suffice me. Let me have Christ to clothe me, Christ to feed me, Christ to intercede for me!' While the soul is Christless, it is restless. Nothing but the water-springs of Christ's blood, can quench its thirst. (Watson). The man or woman who hungers and thirsts after righteousness sees that sin and rebellion have separated him or her from a holy God and that that separation has immense implications in time and most notably in eternity, namely eternal punishment in hell. And the person longs to end that separation, longs to end that rebellion, longs to be forgiven of sin so that they might enter in to the blessing of God in time and the heaven of God in eternity. That's the issue. People aren't going to be saved when they seek a happy life. They're going to come into the kingdom when they seek righteousness. (Mac Arthur). A person who is really hungry and thirsty would eat whatever food is set before him. The person who is spiritually hungry is humble and submissive and will take spiritual food on any terms. They are will to go where the food is to be served. They will take food on any terms, but let a person began to complain about things in a church, it’s too big too small, too this too that, people are too old or too young; the service is too traditional, too contemporary. That person is not at a point of craving and will not be satisfied. But, when one is hungry they are single-minded and driven to do whatever it takes for their soul to be feed. A person who is truly spiritual hunger has a passion and pursuit to reach out to God’s word and God’s people, to the point of being satisfied. It is not something on Sunday and then goes away, but it is a lingering pain and passionate pursuit that will not go unsatisfied. It will not let up till one is fed. Not merely hunger, but craving, desperate to be fed. (Lawson) Hunger is something that is deep and profound that goes on till it is satisfied. It hurts, it is painful. (Lloyd Jones). Luke 15:14-23 Prodigal son, to be hungry is not enough, I must be really starving to know what is in His heart towards me. When the prodigal son was hungry he went to feed upon the husks, but when he was starving, he turned to his father.(J.N Darby) The Gk words for hunger and thirst are in the present tense suggesting a continual action, a persistent pursuit. It lingers in the heart and soul of the believer. This pursuit to be filled never goes away. Ps 42:1-2 You see the Christian is one who at one and the same time is hungering and thirsting, and yet filled. And the more he is filled the more he hungers and thirsts. He continues, It goes on and on . . . hungering, thirsting, yet filled and satisfied, but longing for more, never having enough because it is so glorious and so wondrous: fully satisfied by Him and yet a supreme desire to know Him . . . (M Lloyd Jones).
The Provision Blessed . . . righteousness
We must seek after righteousness- God’s words and ways. We need righteousness like we need food, Gk- dikaiosuna- to be right with God. It is both salvation Titus 3:1-10 and sanctification. Phil 2:12-13 It is not enough to be hungry, but what are you hungry for? What is it that you desperately must have? (Lawson). The provision that will satisfy is found only in the person and work of Jesus. His righteous life and sacrificial death provides what is need for our righteousness. Only a relationship with Him can bring the happiness that our soul longs for (John 6:48 -58). All that is required is to bring an appetite. Christ 'has fulfilled all righteousness'. We are only to 'hunger and thirst after righteousness'.. God does not require rivers of oil—but sighs and tears. The invitation of the gospel is free. If a friend invites guests to his table, he does not expect they should bring money to pay for their dinner—only come with an appetite. So, says God, It is not penance, pilgrimage, self-righteousness which I require. Only bring an appetite: 'hunger and thirst after righteousness'. (Watson)
Two kinds of Righteousness
Imputed Righteousness – Positional Righteousness- the righteousness of Christ. This becomes ours in the act of Justification (Luke 18:14, Rom 5:1,8:30, 1 Cor 6:11) 'He shall be called the Lord our righteousness' (Jer 23:6). By virtue of this righteousness God looks upon us as if we had never sinned (Num 23:21). This is a perfect righteousness. 'You are complete in him' (Colossians 2:10). This does not only cover, but adorn. He who has this righteousness is equal to the most illustrious saints. The weakest believer is justified as much as the strongest. This righteousness is worth hungering after. Three historical pictures illustrate imputed righteousness: 1) Arraignment- a courtroom trail 2) Accounting- a cash transaction 3) Attire- a clothing exchange. In the courtroom we as guilty sinners stand before the bar of God where our sins are made known and we are weighed in the balance and found wanting. We stand condemned before a holy God. When we believe in Jesus he takes our penalty upon himself and gives us his righteousness. We are acquitted of all charges and the judge declares us to be righteous. God looks at Christ and sees his perfect righteousness that was imputed to us.
At the cash transaction we find our bank account spiritually empty, we are shown to be spiritually bankruptcy. The debt that we have incurred is too great for us to pay, we could never pay it off. In the act of justification all the vast spiritual riches of Christ become credited to our account (Rom 4:1-5) and although we are unrighteous, spiritual bankrupt we become righteous when all of Christ’s righteousness is credited to our account.
In a dressing room I find myself wearing what appears to be fine apparel, but in reality these “good works’ of mine are just filthy rags before God (Is 64:6). I need a change of clothes. I need to remove these unrighteous garments and be clothed in his righteousness. At the act of Justification our filthy rags are put on Jesus in his death on the Cross and his righteous white robe that has been washed in the blood of his sacrifice is put on all of us who believe (Rev 7:9, 14). We are dressed in the perfect righteousness of Christ (Gal 3:27).
Implanted Rightousness- Practical Righteousness: an Inherent righteousness, Sanctification is the porscess in Growing in to Christ’s likness, it is becoming more and more like him. Implanted righteousness is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, 25) and Jesus (Col 1:27, Matt 28:20) to lead you and guide you into practicing righteousness. It is a new holiness of heart and life (2 Cor 5:17, 1 Pet 1:23). This is what a soul hungers after. This is a blessed hunger. This evidences spiritual life. A dead man cannot hunger. Hunger proceeds from life. The first thing the child does when it is born, is to hunger after the breast. Spiritual hunger follows upon the new birth (1 Pet 2:2).
God never bids us to seek him 'in vain' (Isaiah 45:19). Here is a honeycomb dropping into the mouths of the hungry—'they shall be filled'. 'He has filled the hungry with good things' (Luke 1:53). 'He satisfies the longing soul' (Psalm 107:9). God will not let us lose our longing. Here is the excellency of righteousness above all other things. A man may hunger after the world and not be filled. The world is fading, not filling. Cast three worlds into the heart—yet the heart is not full. But righteousness is a filling thing; nay, it so fills that it satisfies. A man may be filled and not satisfied. A sinner may take his fill of sin—but that is a sad filling. It is far from satisfaction. 'The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways' (Proverbs 14:14). He shall have his belly full of sin; he shall have enough of it—but this is not a filling to satisfaction. This is such a filling that the damned in hell have! They shall be full of the fury of the Lord! But he who hungers after righteousness shall be satisfyingly filled. 'My people shall be satisfied with my goodness' (Jeremiah 31:14). 'My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow' (Psalm 63:5). Joseph first opened the mouth of the sacks, and then filled them with grain and put money in them (Genesis 42:25). So God first opens the mouth of the soul with desire and then fills it with good things (Psalm 81:10). (Watson)
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