May I please God to bless us
together for a few moments as we consider his word and further
our meditation in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 and tonight
we will read the 6th verse. The 6th verse in the 5th chapter
of Matthew's Gospel and that reads Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Well here is again a wonderful
statement to realise that if we are amongst those who truly
hunger and thirst after righteousness then we are blessed and there
is a wonderful promise which tells us for they shall be filled
and of course that doesn't just mean that we shall be blessed
and encouraged and filled with the things on this earth in a
spiritual sense but also in glory at last. So here we have this
statement of blessed are they which do hunger and thirst. Well,
it's an expression which we can understand, can we not? We know
what it is to hunger and thirst naturally and how we hunger and
we thirst and that isn't just a one-off experience in our life.
Indeed day by day we hunger and we thirst and we need food and
we need drink to satisfy our natural body. Well really how
much more important it is that we might be truly hungering and
thirsting with a spiritual appetite, that we might indeed be blessed
And here we have this statement, those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Well, righteousness, we can think
really of that as being in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ was righteous. He was the only righteous man
that has ever lived. and we have this great and glorious
example set before us in the Word of God. So when we think
of this as righteousness we should think perhaps of the life of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the wonderful example that he sets
before us and to truly be blessed with that hunger and thirst to
live our life unto the Lord and not unto ourselves. How self-centred
we can easily become and find ourselves occupied with trivial
things which perish, pass away, and yet those things which are
eternal, those things which reference our blessed saviour the Lord
Jesus Christ, are not passing, they are eternal. And therefore
may we indeed be blessed with this hunger and thirst, and not
just on occasions, but may it be every day We may get up in
the morning and be blessed with this hunger and thirst after
righteousness. We may live day by day with this
desire in our hearts to be found in this way. In this Sermon on
the Mount, the Lord Jesus speaks in the 6th chapter and we read
in the 33rd verse where he says, But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto you. The great consolation is that
we know that the Lord will add unto us all things that we need
in this natural life. And that's not all things that
we think we need, there's a big difference. But God does supply
our need, he's promised to supply our need, and how thankful we
are because of that. But he gives us then this wonderful
instruction to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and it's really because he's spoken previously In this sermon
he says therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what
shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for after
all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly father
knoweth that ye are in need of all these things but seek ye
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. and all these
things shall be added unto you. So here we have a gracious exhortation
to truly hunger and thirst after these great blessings. Because
they bring with it that which satisfies, satisfies the soul,
for they shall be filled. Whatever we have in time, whatever
we receive in time things, you may look forward to them, and
they come and they go and I suppose if we are really honest you know
nothing ever really adds up to our expectation there is always
something which perhaps doesn't quite match what we had hoped
for but you see in spiritual things it is very different because
the Lord gives us those things which we didn't really expect
and we know we didn't deserve and therefore there is all the
more reason to truly thank God and to be filled with those things
which he sees fit to give unto us. What a blessing it is then
to be found like this, hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Isaiah in his day, well no doubt
we are familiar with some of the chapters in Isaiah and no
doubt familiar And where is the fifth chapter in Isaiah which
of course commences, Ho everyone that thirsteth. Well here we
are then, thirsting. Ho everyone that thirsteth. And
how are we to come? Come ye to the waters. He that
hath no money, that means somebody who is in poverty. doesn't have
any ready currency, doesn't have anything of any virtue himself. And he that hath no money, welcome
we are. Come ye, buy and eat, ye come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price. And he goes
on, wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness. And the good things are centred
upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Incline your
ear, listen to what the Lord is saying, incline your ear and
come unto me, hear, and your soul shall live And I will make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David." Well, what a blessing it is then to have that true
thirst and that true hunger. Realising that we can come to
our God and we don't have to pay for anything. The Lord feeds
us. Israel of old, they didn't have
any currency did they to pay for the food that was supplied
to them all those years in the wilderness. But every day The
manna came, apart of course from the Lord's Day when it double
portioned on the previous day. But what a mercy it is to know
that we have a God who can give us that which we need. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. It's
quite clear therefore that if there's no hunger, if there's
no thirsting, Then there's going to be no eating and no drinking
and no filling. And there's going to be poverty
and there's going to be barrenness and there's going to be weakness.
What a blessing then if the Holy Spirit leads us and gives us
this God-given desire after these spiritual blessings. The Psalmist
David in the 24th Psalm and in the early verses of that Psalm,
he speaks to us and says these words. He that hath clean hands,
well we may tremble at that, might we? And a pure heart, well
we might tremble at that. Who hath not lifted up his soul
unto malice, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation."
Well, we cannot ourselves realise and know that in and of ourselves
we do have clean hands and we don't have a pure heart. But
how wonderful it is that the Holy Spirit gives us to know
that he has granted us that new life, that new spirit which does
desire true heavenly things and longs after spiritual joys and
is found really in this righteousness from the God of his salvation. That's where our righteousness
comes from. It doesn't come from anything that we are able to
do ourselves. It comes from God himself. how
good it was that we were able to read in the Word of God that
account which we had read to us in the 4th of Romans where
the Apostle there speaks so very beautifully about this righteousness
and he speaks of course with reference to Abraham and in the
4th chapter that we read together We came down to this verse, the
5th verse, or the 1st, 4th verse perhaps. Now, to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of dead. But to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Well, what a blessing that is,
you know. Doing it in hunger and thirst after this living
faith is the gift of God. And if we receive this gift of
living faith, then what does it enable us to do? It enables
us to believe the truth of God. The truth of God. And if we're
blessed with that believing, then you see, this is the word
But believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, that of course is
none less than the Saviour himself. His faith is counted for righteousness. And as we read together in this
account, how good it is to realise that this faith which God gives
is that which is a wonderful favour and we're told, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Well, we are due to have that
sin imputed to us, it's our sin isn't it? What a blessing to
think the Lord himself takes our sins, all our sins, all of
our sins, or we might think little sins, but a little sin condemns
us to hell and the Lord takes them and imputes them unto himself. And so he says, cometh this blessedness
then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also.
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. That's why he was granted this
wonderful blessing which we read of as imputed righteousness. God gave it to him, he placed
it upon him, and not only Abraham, the whole Church of God. We who
may feel very unworthy to receive any good thing from Almighty
God, to think that the Lord Jesus, he imputes unto us, he gives
us, His righteousness. Isn't it something that you and
I should be seeking after? Isn't it true? Blessed are they
that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, because this righteousness
brings with it eternal blessings. And so here we have this wonderful
statement. For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? not in circumcision
but in uncircumcision and he received the sign of circumcision
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been
uncircumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe
though they be not circumcised that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also. Well tonight What a favour if
the Holy Spirit comes upon us and gives us that faith to believe
the great and glorious truth of the Gospel, faith to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith to believe that it is He who
justifies. He is the one that makes us just
with God and because of that we are found righteous in His
sight because He gives us that righteousness which is not of
ourselves. But it is a great and glorious
gift. The Apostle further on in the
Crystal to the Romans and in the 8th chapter as we come down
towards the end of that and in the 30th verse we read moreover
whom he did predestinate and this is a lovely string of promises
moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called. It must
be so. Who God had ordained should be
called, they will be called, and they are called. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. You see, there's a good end.
to those whom God deals with, He doesn't leave them, He doesn't
forsake them, He brings them safe home to glory. So what a
wonderful need and what a wonderful blessing it is if you and I are
found, therefore, named, blessed. who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
because those who are righteous, those who are justified, would
indeed be blessed with that great gift of being glorified. And
so the Apostle says, what shall we say then to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? Well, ponder that,
you see. If God's on our side, it doesn't
matter who's against us, they won't succeed. We have so many
illustrations in the Word of God when there were vast enemies
against God's people. But you see when God was on their
side, the victory was gained and God received the honour and
the glory. And the Apostle just goes on,
there are lovely words, I'll just read them. He that spared
not his own son, think of that, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things as
blessed gifts of his righteousness. Who shall add anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is it condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us, those who receive his
righteousness We have a great and glorious High Priest on the
right hand of God there to intercede for us. And then he says, who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? It's impossible, isn't
it? Because those who receive his
righteousness, he's given it to them. Shell tribulation or
distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sort,
as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long
We are accounted as sheep to the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors. How through Him that loved us. And he says therefore with that
wonderful evidence, for I am persuaded that neither death
nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now bless with the confirmation
of these truths in our heart. Surely we are filled with the
blessing of the Lord and we can thank God for a few words like
this, so encouraging, blessed are they which do hunger and
thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Amen.