Scripture: Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
4 Paradoxes in our series thus far:
1. The Wealthy Poor
2. The Comforted Mourners
3. The Courageous Meek
4. The Satiated Hungry and Thirsty
I. Pronouncement of Blessing
A. The Blessing
Declaration: Blessed are the/those who…
Identification/Description: poor, mourn, meek
Result/Reward: theirs is the Kingdom, shall be comforted, inherit the earth
If that is how God clothes the grass… which is here today and tomorrow is thrown… will He not much more clothe you? (Mt 6:30)
If you… know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! (Mt 7:11)
B. The Blesser
1. Left the crowd
2. Went up the mountain
3. Sat down
4. Opened His mouth and taught
And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mt 7:28-29, NKJV)
He taught with REAL authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law. (Mt 7:29, NLT)
WHO can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him! (Mk 4:41)
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the WHOLE countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and EVERYONE praised Him (Lk 4:14-15)
No one EVER SPOKE the way this Man does! (Jn 7:46)
II. Prescription for Blessing
Hunger and thirst: two experiences
Food and water: two needs for survival
- Hunger for food
- Thirst for water
A. The Blessed Hungry Recipient
Give us day by day our daily bread ... (Mt 6:9)
Biblical Depictions of Hunger
- The Prodigal Son fighting with pigs for food
- Lazarus fighting with the dog for food crumbs
B. The Blessed Thirsty Recipient
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Ps 42:1-2)
O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Ps 84:1-2)
O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water (Ps 63:1)
C. Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness. (Mt 3:15)
1. To be made right with God
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, holiness and redemption. (1 Cor 1:30)
2. To have a right standing with God
… just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:21)
3. To be reconciled to God
All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. (2 Cor 5:18-20)
I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger... (Jn 6:35a)
… whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water… will become… a fountain… springing up into everlasting life. (Jn 4:13-14)
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (Jn 15:7-8)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly... (Col 3:16)
Don’t just take hold of the Bible. Let the Bible take hold of you.
… seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Mt 6:33)
And I—in righteousness I will see Your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness. (Ps 17:15)
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His Temple. (Ps 27:4)
III. Promise in Blessing
A. The Certainty of Reward
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled.
shall be filled (kortasthesontai) - gorge food in abundance and to capacity
B. The Continuity of Satisfaction
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phi 3:10)
Challenge
How is your appetite?
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Mic 6:8)
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness (Ps 107:8-9)
