Blessed Are Those Who Hunger — Tim Conway

The Fourth Beatitude: Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Matthew chapter 5, we now find ourselves facing the fourth beatitude. Matthew chapter 5, verse 6,. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Let's pray once again.

Father, it does seem almost a strange thing that one man should stand up and say things out of his mouth and the rest of the people gather around and listen. Somewhere we even read something about the foolishness of preaching.

It's just an odd thing that you should so design your kingdom that your people would sit and listen on a regular basis to a certain book being preached from. And by that means, your people would be helped, strengthened, encouraged, grow, sanctified, press on one of the mechanisms, one of the manners in which the people of God are fed and helped to endure to the end.

It is a strange thing. And we recognize that much like the Word of God itself, unless you empower, make it living, cause the noises that come out of my mouth to make sense in people's minds and to be used of the Spirit of God to increase faith, to increase conviction, to increase a knowledge of God, to increase that in our thinking that is necessary, to have those things happen within our thinking processes that would result in us being better for it and going forth from this place changed.

That's something that we're absolutely dependent upon you to make happen. And I pray that it indeed would in these next few minutes. I pray in Christ's name. Amen. So, this fourth beatitude, you see it there.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Now, I'm going to speak for myself here. I can't speak for you on this, but I know what I feel. I find it extremely helpful and enlightening and comforting that God gives us so much clarity in His Word as to what genuine Christianity looks like.

I mean, I hope you all can recognize what our Lord is doing in these beatitudes. He's describing Christians, and that is so valuable to us. Why? Because when God saves, God saves a certain way. God does certain things in people that He saves.

And He does it... Look, we may have differences. God may make some of us shorter and some of us taller and some of us more outgoing and some less outgoing. But I'll tell you this. There are certain aspects of what it means to be a Christian that are absolutely the same in every single one of us.

There may be varying degrees. That may be true. But you know what? There are certain things that are absolutely, essentially true for every Christian. This is key. Why is it key? Because what does the devil do?

How does the devil get victory over us? Ultimately, the devil gets victory over us by deceiving us in such ways that we rebel against God, and in the end, God damns us. And that's how he gets the victory over us, by having God ultimately reject us and cast us away.

That's exactly what he did to Adam and Eve, right in the very beginning. What does he do? He's a deceiver. And you know what is so valuable is when we have truth. Listen, you can be wrong about what the weather is going to be tomorrow.

No big deal. Okay, so you get your head wet. You British have no problems. In Texas, we run from the rain. But listen, if you're wrong about whether or not you're a Christian, that's not a minor thing.

And when you've got, listen, false prophets, false apostles, false Christ, false teachers, false brethren, we could go on. What happens? False doctrine, false teaching, which is meant to do what? Deceive.

And there's these servants of the devil who come masquerading as angels of light, which we shouldn't be surprised because the devil himself does it. Listen, if you've got an enemy that's, by the way, a fallen angel, and a third of the angels, and they're going around trying to deceive people so that they end up in hell.

You know, that's exactly what he's doing. He wants to deceive us so that in the end we miss heaven. And when we've got an enemy like that, you should be grateful. Listen, we should not be afraid of the truth of Scripture.

Now, people get afraid, and here's the problem. If we go to Scripture and we find out what it says about genuine Christianity, and we see that we don't line up, well, the devil's right there to tell us, you know, well, it's not that big a deal, or you really are like that.

He wants to press us into some kind of deception. Just don't worry. Yes, it's true you're not like that, but you'll take care of it tomorrow. That's another deception. Just get right tomorrow. Or, this is classic.

He'll do something like this. Oh, don't you know Christianity is entirely defined in Romans chapter 7? Oh, wretched man that I am. Don't worry about what the Bible says anywhere else. It's okay for you to think that you're going to heaven and just living on in sin.

There's no problem with that. Listen, we have a deceiver that wants to damn us. And you know one of the problems? By nature, we love the lie. Isn't that what 2 Thessalonians says? They loved a lie. They didn't want to believe the gospel and so be saved.

You see, this is the problem. We have an enemy that actually caters to what we like by nature. And I am so thankful that the Lord has given us this kind of truth. And there could be no more urgent question at this present time than just this.

What is a Christian? That is one of the most essential questions on the face of this planet. Why? Because Christianity is our only hope. We have no other hope. We have none other. The message of the gospel is the only hope.

It's not like there's several. It's not like there's choices. Listen, when you dissect the Christian. This is what Jesus is doing. He's dissecting the Christian. He says, when you take out the scalpel.

You ever dissected something? When I was in 9th grade science, we dissected pigs. We have a doctor amongst us. You dissected things? You start cutting them apart. What are you looking for? You're looking for the pieces and the parts and the organs.

And what makes up this thing? Jesus is actually bringing out the scalpel with Christianity here. And he begins slicing. He says, you know what you're going to find? Here are the organs that make up this animal that's called a Christian.

What are they? Well, they're poor in spirit. And they groan and they shed tears over their own sinfulness. And there's a meekness that's wrought in them. And they hunger and thirst for righteousness. You see, the Christian is not just merely drifting aimlessly upon some empty sea of religion.

That's not where we're at. This isn't about plain religion. This is not about just making it to church on a Sunday. That's not where Jesus goes deep. He shows us true Christianity reaches into the deepest recesses of who we are.

Right down to what the appetites are. Right down to what we hunger for. What we thirst after. Touches the appetites. It transforms desires. I'll tell you, one of the things you see here is if there's anything that's true about when God saves somebody, He gives us a desire for things that we formerly did not desire.

The deepest yearnings of the heart. You just have to look at that level. Listen, this is not, you know, you hear this thing. Oh, he got religion. People said that about me when I got sick. You know, that's a common thing.

He got religion. Brethren, this is not just about getting religion. This is about a complete transformation. The deepest yearnings of the heart. One of the things we need to recognize right away is Christianity is more than getting your sins forgiven.

Now, it is that. Thank the Lord it is that. But listen, there are verses, I mean our Bibles abound with verses like this. This is just an example. Listen to this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation.

You know this verse. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. What Jesus is pointing out is that this is one of the things that's altogether new in a person that knows the Lord.

We hunger and thirst for things that formerly we didn't hunger and thirst after. Because listen, the thing is, Job says this. It's said in Job. I don't remember if Job himself said it or if one of his three friends said it.

But men drink sin like water. You know what happens? We drink righteousness like water. You see, it's a thirst issue when somebody becomes a Christian. In fact, listen. Spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst is such a hallmark characteristic of genuine Christianity that again and again and again, Scripture actually addresses its promises to the hungry.

Now, hear what I'm saying. This is key. Do you realize how often the Bible addresses its promises to the hungry? Not to Christians. In fact, no place in Scripture can you find that says, well, if you're a Christian, you get these promises.

You get these blessings. Now, I know there's lots of places where it does talk about what people are like who get the blessings of God. That's what we're faced with in the Beatitudes. But so often in Scripture, it's not to the Christian.

It's to the hungry. Do you realize how much this comes at us? I'm not going to be exhaustive here, but I want you to hear this. I don't want you to look at all these, but just listen to this. It's the deer pants for the water brooks.

Biblical Portraits of Spiritual Hunger

I know you're familiar with this. This is Psalm 42. 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? And then the psalmist says the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime.

Who gets loving kindness? You have it connected with a man who's panting after the Lord. Or this. Very similar psalm. O God, my soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you. And then he says this. My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness.

Again, what I'm showing you is that the promise of loving kindness is to the one panting. The promise of satisfaction of morrow and fatness belongs to the one thirsting and longing for the Lord. Or this.

Psalm 84. My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house. It says shortly after that. So you see the blessing connected.

Or this. Psalm 107. He satisfy the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness. You see the promise. Again, it's much like this beatitude. There's a satisfaction, there's a filling that is promised.

He fills the hungry soul with goodness. Or Mary, when she's speaking her Magnificat. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. That's Luke 1. Psalm 17. I shall be satisfied.

You see, when you start talking about satisfaction, that means there's a dissatisfaction. You know what hunger is? It's a dissatisfaction. When somebody needs to be filled with food or with water, there's a dissatisfaction.

Something is making them uncomfortable. Something inside is yearning to have that hunger satisfied. He says, I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness. And I can tell you this. This is a hunger right here for righteousness.

Because he's going to be satisfied when he awakes in God's likeness. In Christ's likeness. Psalm 145. He will fulfill the desire. Again, that's what hunger is. Hunger and thirst. Hunger and thirst are ways to express strong desire.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry and save them. Or you have Psalm 36. They're abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house. You give them drink from the river of your pleasures.

Proverbs 10. The desire of the righteous will be granted. Now see, the desire of the righteous. What's the desire? Something you hung after. A hunger after. It's going to be satisfied. Again and again and again and again in Scripture.

What you find is the hungry are the ones who are filled. The hungry are the ones who are satisfied. The hungry are the ones who are given. This is such a characteristic that Scripture doesn't even have to address us as Christians.

It just addresses us as the hungry. That's so often who the promises are made to. Now I know there are many other ways that Christians are described in Scripture. But this is a very prominent way. I love this.

In fact, even reading this made me feel like... I did a series of messages on the Song of Solomon. Now I know you previously had some messages that came from there. And I don't know if that will ever happen.

But the Song of Solomon is tremendous. Listen to this. Eat, O friends. Drink. Yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones. That's Christ speaking. Eat. Drink deeply. Isaiah 41. The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none.

Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them. You see, there it is again. The promise goes to the thirsty. That's how Scripture talks. I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Isaiah 44. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground. Isaiah 55. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. I mean, you're being told, come. And you don't have to have money.

Come buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money, without price. Isaiah 65. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat. Behold, my servants shall drink. Behold, my servants shall rejoice.

Isaiah 66. Feed and be satisfied. Drink deeply and be delighted. Of course, John 4. Jesus says, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become into him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life.

John 6. Where we were. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of the bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

And then John 7. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

And then our Bibles end. Revelation 7. They shall neither hunger anymore, nor thirst anymore. See, again and again, it's the hungry. Now, see, this is key. Because hunger is not something that is vague to us.

You know, one of the beauties of hunger is we've all experienced it. So, Jesus is dealing in a realm here that we can all readily identify with. So, let's think very carefully. Let's dissect this. Turn in your Bibles to John 6 .44.

This is actually a verse that we read during the Lord's Supper. I want to ask you a question here. I want to compare two verses and have us just use some good logic. So, John 6 .44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

Probably most of you have heard that verse before. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Now, that verse has gotten lots of mileage through the centuries. It can obviously be used to prove all sorts of things.

It also is a favorite, by the way, with hyper-Calvinists. There is a way to twist it and make it into something that we should never make it into. But now, listen to what it's saying. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws.

Did you get that? Draws. That means... Let me just tell you a little bit about that Greek word behind that. Drawing. It basically carries the meaning to move an object from one place to another by pulling it.

And the assumption is that the object being moved is either incapable of moving itself or unwilling to move itself. Where all the pulling comes from the mover. That's the idea that we have here. The object itself is incapable of propelling itself or unwilling.

That's the issue. In either case, there's an exertion on the part of the mover. Okay, you see what it says. No one can come to me unless the Father moves that object, which is people, moves them to Christ.

Okay, another verse. John 7. Now listen to this. Jesus stood and cried out. I've already quoted this one to you. Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Now, here's why I'm saying both of these verses.

Both of them have to do with coming to Christ. Jesus says this. You can't come to me unless my Father draws you. He also says, pronounces on this last, this great day of the feast. He says, everyone who thirsts, come to me.

Now, just compare those. You can only come if the Father draws. He says, if you thirst, come. When we put both of these together, Jesus is teaching us that the pull of the Father is necessary. And yet, if you thirst, you go.

If you thirst, you will go. What's the conclusion in all that? When you put them both together. How does the Father draw? By making you thirsty. By making you want to go. By giving you a hunger. I mean, you put them both together.

Jesus is teaching that very thing. He says, thirst is this. It's the pull. You know what God does? It's kind of like a glass of water. God designed our bodies to get to the place that when we need to be hydrated, something in us.

And isn't it an odd thing? Isn't it an odd thing that after you get done eating, you're not hungry? But then let enough time go by and you are hungry again. What is hunger? How would you even describe it?

But we all know it. It's like after you've had a big, juicy, dripping with cheese hamburger. When you get done with it, you don't want another one. Most of us don't. Why? Because something has been satisfied.

Something has been filled. But let enough time go by and now something kicks in. And we all know it. We all know what it means to be full. Like, no, I can't. You ever been there? We have Thanksgiving.

We feast at that time of the year. You probably have your feast here. You get to the point where it's like, no, I can't eat another bite. But then there's another time where somebody says, I could eat a horse.

What's happening? We don't know. I mean, I don't know what makes that work. But you know what? Something in the spiritual realm, in the same manner, happens to us. Jesus is saying, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

That is something that is a reality. Something kicks in. Something that needs satisfying. Something that is dissatisfied. And what we're being told is this. This hunger, God has to pull an individual.

How does He pull them? He doesn't pull them with strings. He doesn't pull them with chains. He doesn't pull them with ropes. He pulls them by their appetites. He pulls them by hunger and thirst. That's the issue.

You see, that's really the issue with the people that walked away from Christ. And why Peter didn't. Why Peter would say, where are we going to go? Because he had a thirst for something that he recognized that only Christ could answer to.

And so he wasn't going to leave. Why will people walk away from Christ? Because they don't possess that hunger, that thirst that is being described here. Brethren, what I want you to recognize is this.

That for you to have a hunger and thirst after righteousness. For you to have a hunger and thirst after God. It's very special. It's very unique. It's not natural. It's not inborn. It's very supernatural.

And listen, Scripture speaks this way. And really, if you have ears to hear, it's saying the same thing. Listen to these two verses. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

In other words, how somebody is saved. How somebody actually ends up being a vessel of mercy. A recipient of God's compassion and mercy. How do you get there? It's not of him that wills. And yet, Scripture says, it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

You see, again, you put those two together. What it helps us to do is recognize this. It's not of him that wills, and yet it is of him that wills. But see, it's not ultimately of him that wills, because it's of God who wills.

And when God wills, He makes us will. You see, it's all got to do with the ultimate cause here. That's the real issue. I'm just saying this. This is supernatural. And it is very unique. It is very special.

When you find people that hunger and thirst after righteousness, really, it's a rare commodity in this world. And I hope this helps everyone just to realize how special, how supernatural this is. I don't know a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself.

In this whole matter of our Christian profession, that a verse like this. I mean, what a statement. What truth are we hit with? Now, I just want to talk here. Righteousness. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Imputed Righteousness and Justification

Now, this requires a bit of a word study. The term righteousness, there is a root word there in the Greek that is really behind imputed righteousness. It's behind imparted righteousness. Or let me say it different ways.

It's behind legal righteousness. It's behind moral righteousness. It is used other ways. There are times that righteous in our Bibles is actually used of self-righteous. I didn't come to call the righteous.

There are more ways than just what I'm going to give you right now that this word is used. The term, it's a decay word group behind righteousness. It also sometimes in certain forms is translated justification.

But I want you to see and be very clear on this. Because there are two main ways that righteousness is used in Christianity. And these are both fundamental Christian realities that we need to be really clear on.

So, I want to strive to help us be clear on these. Okay, first, let's go with the legal righteousness. By legal, I'm talking, let's just be plain, I'm talking imputed. What I mean by that is Christ earned a righteousness by His own law keeping.

By His own doing of the will of His Father. By His own obedience. He is righteous. And that righteousness is accounted. That's an accounting term. It's counted to my account. Just like my sins are counted to Him.

This is an imputed righteousness. Which means I didn't work for it. I didn't earn it. He did and God counts it to me. That is an imputed righteousness. It is an accounting concept that actually translates into a legal reality.

A courtroom reality. Because justification is part and parcel of this kind of righteousness. Justification and righteousness, they come from the same root word. What is justification? It is to declare righteous.

The opposite of justification is condemnation. You're either justified, that means you're not found guilty. Or you're condemned, you are found guilty. So, turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 4. I think the greatest verse on justification.

Helping us to recognize what it is about. An imputed righteousness. What that concept is like. I think the greatest verse in our Bibles is Romans chapter 4 verse 5. I think it is one of the most expressive.

Now there are others. I want us to be very clear on this. Because there is confusion with regards to this. And we don't want to be confused. Especially as it's got to do with the Sermon on the Mount. We do not want to be off on this.

Or else you're going to misinterpret the Sermon on the Mount. And how we need to apply the teaching there to ourselves. So, I'll be more specific about that in just a second. But look at Romans 4 verse 5.

Now I know we're picking up midstream in Paul's argument. Really the larger argument of the whole book. But look at how God is described here. But to him. Now that him is you and me as believers. But to us.

Who do not work. You see we don't earn it. But we believe on him who justifies the ungodly. You see what happens? This is not a person that works. This is not a person that earns their own righteousness.

They trust the God who justifies the ungodly. And to that person his faith is accounted for righteousness. You see the accounting term. It's accounted. It's imputed. This person is pronounced righteous.

But look at this. They're not righteous. They're ungodly. Do you see that? How do you get a person who's ungodly? That means they're guilty. That means they're guilty of crimes. How do you get a person to stand in a courtroom.

God's courtroom. And actually have them declared just when they're ungodly. Well there's only one way. You have to impute it from somewhere else. And thank the Lord God works that way. That actually we can be found righteous.

Brethren this is the heart and soul of the gospel. That this can even be the case. That I an ungodly wretch can be declared just. I can be justified in the courtroom of God. And it happens by an accounting of righteousness to me that is alien to me.

It's not my own. It becomes my own. But it was earned by somebody else. And again we see this truth again in the very next verse. Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from work.

Don't you love that? Imputes. We've seen, now I'm reading from the New King James. But we've got this accounting term in verse 5. We've got this imputation terminology in verse 6. Now jump over to the next chapter.

Romans 5 .19. Now we really could start at verse 12. We just don't have time to develop that. I mean the logic and the reasoning of Romans 5 .12 through the end of chapter 5. Is just some of the most amazing logic and discussion about imputed righteousness.

That we can find in our Bibles. It is phenomenal. But let's just settle with one verse. Verse 19. Romans 5 .19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.

And so there you see it. I mean, look this might be a hard pill to swallow. But you do realize we are guilty by imputation. Just as well as declared not guilty by imputation. You follow my meaning? We are counted sinners based on the federal headship of Adam.

If you're in Adam, you're guilty and you're condemned because of that connection. And that is the argument of this portion of Scripture. And you don't want to get away. Look, there's a deeper reason for our condemnation than just our own sin.

And it's got to do with that headship of Adam. And before you find fault with that, be glad God works under federal heads. Because if He didn't, then we wouldn't have the truth that Christ's righteousness is able to be imputed to us.

And that's what's said. See, one man's obedience. Well, that's not mine and it's not yours. It's Christ's. And by His obedience, many are made righteous. Don't you love that truth? Anyways, that is imputation.

Imparted Righteousness and Christian Conduct

But you full well know that the Bible often is not speaking about us being ungodly, receiving a righteousness not our own, alien to us. Often times, righteousness is simply talking about our own moral uprightness.

Us doing right. Not Christ doing right and imputing it to us. But us actually doing right ourselves. Right? You would agree? Scripture often talks that way as well. And speaking about us conforming to the will of God.

I'm talking about the righteousness of character, the righteousness of conduct that pleases the Lord. I'm talking about the righteousness that involves right behavior on your part and my part. So, basically, we're talking about not succumbing to sin.

That's what right behavior is. Well, let's see that. Because here's what happens. You need to recognize the argument of Romans. He goes on this, oh it's detailed, teaching in chapter 5 about imputed righteousness.

But then he says this. Well, because our righteousness is imputed and grace is that great, do we just go on sinning? And he says, nope, now I'm going to deal with you about practical righteousness. You can't.

And in fact, he is going to teach them that the way you can know that a person is actually received the righteousness of Christ is because you see righteousness of their own in their lives. See, they go hand in hand.

If you've got somebody that's living an ungodly lifestyle, what he says in Romans 6 is repeatedly, he says that sin will not have dominion over you. And he says it in various ways, but let's look at it.

Romans 6 .13. Here we're going to see righteousness used of what we might call not imputed, not imputed, but imparted righteousness. It's imparted. God actually works this out in us. Look at verse 13.

Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness. You see, it's very practical. This has nothing to do with the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's not what he's talking about. He says, do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

You see what righteousness means here. It's not imputed. It's got to do with you conforming your life to the will of God, to what pleases God. And you see, righteousness is used both of these ways. And so we need to be very clear.

Do you know something? This is common. There's lots of words in your Bibles that can be used different ways and mean different things. How can you tell when you have a word that has different meanings what meaning it carries in any given passage?

How can you tell? Context. Absolutely. Hermeneutics. Bible Interpretation 101. If you want to understand what words mean, you've got to pay very careful attention to context. Here's another example. Romans 6 .19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.

For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. You see, righteousness there is the opposite of what?

What's it the opposite of? Uncleanness and lawlessness. And so this is law keeping. This is righteousness. This is holiness. This is doing the will of God. Now you see, very clearly you can see that the word is used both ways.

It's used both ways right in Romans. I mean, one of the things that you need to be really careful when you're reading Scripture is that you're interpreting these words correctly, because if you don't interpret correctly, you can end up with an entirely wrong meaning.

The reason I went through and did that word study right there is because righteousness is obviously used not just once, not just in Matthew 5, 6, but it's used repetitively throughout the Sermon on the Mount.

And so the question is this, how is righteousness used in Matthew 5, verse 6? Well, context. Context is the key. So, go back to the Sermon on the Mount. Go back to Matthew chapter 5. I want us to look at context.

Certainly, Matthew 5, 6 all by itself might... I mean, I guess you could begin by asking this question. What does it sound like Matthew 5, 6 is referring to? An imputed righteousness or a practical righteousness?

Does it sound like I'm hungering and thirsting for something that only Christ can give me? Or does it sound like it's actually a hungering and thirsting for righteousness myself? Maybe you could say, well, it could probably go both ways.

Perhaps. But let's look at the context. Just consider this. Consider the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit. Well, you see, this has to do with me. Poor in spirit, that's me. Or verse 4, blessed are those who mourn, that's me.