Matthew 5:6

Please take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

! While you're getting there, Alex, I never heard the battle shield verse of Be That My Vision.

! That was great. Thank you, brother, for sharing that one with us.

That may need to be a permanent fixture in that song.

Clay said the next step is that we sing it in Gaelic.

This morning we're going to continue our careful consideration of the Sermon on the Mount.

Recall that this sermon is a declaration of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And we rightly understand that the Kingdom has come because the King has come.

Matthew records for us in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 17.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

From that time, Jesus began to preach the beginning of His ministry, saying,

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

Recall also that Jesus begins His sermon with declarations of blessedness for a people with particular characteristics.

He's showing us what those who are citizens of this coming Kingdom look like.

He has declared blessed those who recognize their spiritual poverty.

Those who come before God with nothing in their hands but an appeal to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

And He says they're blessed because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

He has declared blessed those who mourn over their sinful state and over the sinful state of the world around them.

The sin-sick nature of the place in which they live.

And He declares them blessed for they shall be comforted.

He has declared blessed those who understand what they truly deserve.

Do not seek retribution when wronged, but trust in God's sovereign goodness and His final making of all things right.

And they're declared blessed for they shall inherit the earth.

So join me now in considering the fourth of Jesus' declarations of blessedness in Matthew chapter 5, verse 6.

Matthew 5:6

Before I read it, beloved, I remind you that this is God's Word to us.

It was written for His glory and for our good.

And as such, we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Matthew chapter 5, verse 6.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Now, as I've done over the past few weeks, I want to work through the single verse with a series of questions.

And I am going to take you elsewhere in the Scripture today.

So I'm going to encourage you to pull your ribbon marker out and stick it in Matthew chapter 5 as I take us to other places.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

The first question I want to ask is simply, and most importantly, what is meant by those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?

Let's first think a little bit about this phrase, hunger and thirst.

Now, last week's text, Matthew 5, verse 5, was a direct citation of Psalm 37, verse 11.

Matthew 5:5 Psalms 37:11

I helped explain that to you and showed you a bit of the context of Psalm 37.

In Matthew 5, verse 6, Jesus is not directly citing any Old Testament text,

Matthew 5:6

but he is drawing on metaphors that his listeners would have been familiar with.

It is understood that Jesus' primary audience, the Sermon on the Mount, would have been Jewish listeners,

and that Matthew's account, his gospel account, is particularly aimed at Jewish listeners.

That means we have to do a little extra work.

I'm assuming most of us, maybe none of us, are of Jewish descent,

certainly not familiar with the Old Testament text the way they would have been.

But these metaphors that he draws on, they would have been extremely familiar with.

I'm going to show you just two examples that are statements of hungering and thirsting

that end up with negative results,

but he's drawing on these types of metaphors to help us understand what it means to hunger and thirst

for anything, in this case, righteousness.

The first is from Isaiah chapter 55, verse 2, and the first half of verse 3,

Isaiah 55:2

which reads,

So God, speaking metaphorically through the prophet Isaiah, says,

Stop trying to satisfy yourself with anything other than me.

He's saying, I am the rich food that your soul needs.

I am your sustenance.

Another text, an example of this metaphor Jesus is drawing on,

Jeremiah chapter 2, verses 12 and 13.

Jeremiah 2:12

This is from our Bible reading a couple of weeks ago,

if you're keeping up with us on this,

where we read,

Be appalled, O heavens, at this.

Be shocked.

Be utterly desolate or dismayed,

declares the Lord,

for my people have committed two evils.

They have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

This time, God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah,

speaks metaphorically of himself as an unending source of life.

Water bringing forth life.

And an ending source of it.

A fountain of living water.

And he accuses his people of seeking life in a way that will never satisfy their thirst.

They're digging for themselves wells that won't hold life-giving water at all.

So food and water are the most basic of human needs.

And I think we take that for granted.

There is food and water everywhere in the place that we live.

You can walk out in the hallway and drink as much filtered water as you want to

from a water fountain right now.

Right?

We don't quite appreciate in Jesus' day how much work it was to obtain sustenance

and to have clean, safe water for drinking.

But surely this is at the very core of life.

A person does not last long without one,

and certainly not long at all without both.

So Jesus is speaking of our most basic human need

as he picks up this metaphorical language.

It's very possible that none of us have really ever,

in the temporal sense, hungered and thirsted.

The way these people would have understood what it means to be hungry and to be thirsty.

So we have to apply our mindsets.

We have to try to imagine the type of longing that Jesus here is speaking of.

And what is it that he says we should hunger and thirst for?

Righteousness.

Why did Jesus say that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are going to be satisfied,

are blessed,

and not instead those who hunger and thirst for God?

In Isaiah 55.3, which I just read to you,

what does he say is the place of sustenance?

What is the bread, the rich food that God's people should buy?

He says it's himself.

He says, come to me.

In Jeremiah 2.13, which I just read,

there's two evils.

First, that they've forsaken me.

They've turned away from me,

this source of water, living water,

and they've turned elsewhere,

failing sources of water.

An additional Old Testament reference,

Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2,

Psalms 42:1

likely familiar with,

as a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants or thirsts my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

So why?

Why does Jesus say,

those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

and not those who hunger and thirst for God?

I have to imagine,

and I think that good exegesis

has to be intermingled with a bit of imagination,

that his listeners cocked their heads a little sideways

when he said that,

instead of hungering and thirsting for God,

because they would have been familiar with these texts.

Isaiah 55, Jeremiah 2, Psalm 42.

Why does he say,

hunger and thirst for righteousness?

At the outset of our study,

just a few weeks ago,

I posited to you

that in the Sermon on the Mount,

two major things emerge.

The second of those that I posited to you,

which we have been dealing with now at length,

and will continue to deal with,

is this idea of human flourishing,

blessedness.

What does it mean for us to be doing well in the world?

Citizens of God's kingdom,

Jesus is saying to us,

will flourish.

They will have joy,

and comfort,

and peace,

and satisfaction.

We have seen,

and we're going to continue to see,

that the type of flourishing

that happens in God's kingdom

often runs,

rubs right up against,

pushes against,

stands in contradiction

to the world's concept of the same.

So that's one theme we've been looking at,

and we'll continue to.

The first that I presented to you

was the idea of whole person

righteousness.

Whole person righteousness.

Jesus corrects in this sermon

the misunderstanding that God is only concerned

with action.

Citizens of God's kingdom

will not only honor God with their actions,

but also with their thoughts,

and their intentions,

and their motivations,

and their motivations,

and on,

and on,

with every bit of their being.

We sang Deuteronomy 6-5 this morning

with the kids.

Not by design,

but how wonderful,

a song for us to sing.

This very command

that we should love the Lord our God

with all of us.

Every bit of us.

Leveraged off into His direction.

This beatitude

picks this up.

This theme speaks to this whole person

righteousness theme.

Let me show you

elsewhere in the sermon.

So in Matthew 5,

Matthew 5:20

verse 20,

Jesus says,

For I tell you,

unless your righteousness

exceeds that of the scribes

and Pharisees,

you will never enter

the kingdom of heaven.

So He's addressing

this issue of the day.

A great issue in Jesus' day

and a great issue

in our day as well

of rampant hypocrisy.

Many declared

and declared

to love God with their lips,

put on a pretty good show

to convince others

of the same,

the outward trappings

of religion,

of devotion to God.

But they denied

and deny

a love for Him

which totally

permeated

their lives.

Thoughts,

intentions.

John the Baptist

says,

You brood of vipers

to the Pharisees.

Who everyone else

would have looked at them

and said,

They've got it together.

These men know

how to rightly

worship God.

And they were indicted

for being

whitewashed tombs.

Jesus declares

the woe to them.

Whitewashed tombs.

You look nice

on the outside

but inside

you're full

of dead people's bones.

Jesus is trying

to correct this.

He's saying

it's not just outside.

That you can put on

the trappings

of religion

that all of you

is devoted

to me.

Further on,

in the conclusion

of this sermon

in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

And these should be

scary words to us,

beloved.

Verse 21-23.

Jesus says,

In a warning to us

to not deceive ourselves,

He says,

Not everyone

who says to me,

Lord, Lord,

will enter

the kingdom of heaven,

but the one

who does the will

of my Father

who is in heaven.

On that day,

the end day,

many will say to me,

Lord, Lord,

do we not prophesy

in your name

and cast out demons

in your name

and do many mighty works

in your name?

And then I will declare

to them,

I never knew you.

Depart from me,

you workers

of lawlessness.

So we see here

that there are people

who are doing things

in the name of Christ

and it would seem

miraculous things

in the name of Christ.

I don't know any of you

who have done miraculous things

in anybody's name,

but here are people

who at least appear

to have done

some rather miraculous things,

but they're not keepers

of God's law.

They don't have

this whole person righteousness

that we're talking about here.

Jesus says to them,

I never knew you.

Depart from me.

the Beatitudes,

beginning in Matthew 5,

and everything that follows

in this sermon

is Jesus' very careful work

of teaching His listeners

then and this morning

that a life that is pleasing to God

encompasses our whole being.

He's getting in

and He's mixing it up.

He's making very careful,

precise cuts

to help us to see

that there's nothing

we can do

to be accepted

by God.

Poor in spirit.

By His grace to us

in the personal work

of Jesus Christ,

we can stand right.

We can be righteous

before Him.

And all of our lives

can and should

be given to Him.

those who belong

to the kingdom of heaven

who have

been saved by God

through the personal work

of Jesus Christ

will,

at our core,

long,

desire,

deeply desire,

hunger and thirst

for righteousness.

We will desire

above every other desire

to serve the King

of the kingdom

that we are citizens of.

On your bulletin this morning,

a C.S. Lewis quote for you.

I hope this one's familiar to you,

but I think it's apt

in this particular spot.

He wrote,

If I find in myself

a desire,

so read there,

hunger and thirst

for righteousness,

a desire which no experience

in this world

can satisfy,

the most probable explanation

is that I was made

for another world.

I'm a citizen

of a different kingdom

because nothing

in this world

can satisfy

this deep longing

in me

for righteousness.

I want to make this point

just a bit further.

I'm answering the question

still,

in case you lost me.

Why did Jesus not say

hunger and thirst

for God?

Why this righteousness

theme here

in verse 6

of Matthew 5?

So let me show you

just a little bit

further

by showing you

a little bit

about the structure

of Jesus'

blessed declarations,

these beatitudes

that we see.

So look,

if you will,

Matthew 5.

There are

eight declarations

of blessing.

We've got

one per verse

through verse 10.

Excuse me,

verse 10.

And then we understand

verse 11,

although he does say

at the beginning of it,

blessed once again,

but to see it

as a further

explanation of

verse 10,

the declaration

of blessing

found in verse 10.

So there are

eight total.

And they are

grouped

into

two sets

of four.

Before we talk

about those

two sets of four,

though,

I want to show you

that the very first

beatitude

begins with

the kingdom

of heaven,

for theirs

is the kingdom

of heaven.

And the last one,

just before the

further explanation

of it,

in verse 10,

Jesus says the same,

for theirs

is the kingdom

of heaven.

So we have

this book ending

of the Beatitudes

with this idea

of citizenship

in the kingdom.

John Piper

referred to this

as a kingdom

of heaven sandwich,

which really

made me laugh

at the time,

and now that I'm

reading it,

it's not that funny,

but he talked

about the meat

in between,

I guess.

But anyway,

I chuckled

and I wrote it down.

So now,

when we look

at these two

groupings

of four,

the first four

are passive,

if you'll allow

the word.

They're happening

within.

They're attitudes

of heart.

They're understanding

of condition.

They're not

retaliatory

in the case

of meekness.

It's happening

within.

It's who we are.

And then the second

four are active.

They're evidencing

of who we are.

So verse six,

where we are today,

blessed are those

who hunger and thirst

for righteousness,

ends these first four,

this grouping

of these first four.

We're hungering for it.

We're lacking it.

We want it.

We want it to be ours.

We want to be filled

with righteousness.

righteousness.

And then at the end

of the second grouping

of four,

we see the result

of having been

filled.

Blessed are those

who are persecuted.

For what?

For righteousness'

sake.

So they are now

expressing righteousness

and people are seeing

righteousness

in God's citizens

of his kingdom.

And because of that,

they are persecuted.

So the first four

beatitudes describe

the broken,

grieving,

quiet person

who hungers

and thirsts,

wants to be filled

with righteousness.

And the next four

beatitudes describe

the merciful,

pure peacemaker

who is persecuted

because of this

righteousness.

So,

whole person

righteousness,

both inward

and outward,

right?

He's expressing

what the citizens

look like

under the lordship

of their king,

Jesus Christ.

I'm going to show you

a bit more

about righteousness

and what this is

going to look like

and express

in our lives.

And to do that,

I want you to turn

to Psalm 1.

This is our public

scripture reading

from last

Lord's Day.

very interestingly,

the Septuagint,

which is the

Greek translation

of the Old Testament,

I'm going to talk

a little bit more

about what the

Septuagint is

in just a second.

The Septuagint

translates

the Hebrew word

into Greek.

I'm not going to

tell you the Greek word.

It's not important.

I probably won't

pronounce it all

that well anyway,

but it's the same

in the Greek translation

of the Old Testament

as it is here

in Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

the same Greek word.

Now,

as a bit of an aside,

because I know

that I throw

the word Septuagint

out.

If you're reading

well,

you're going to see

this particular

piece of literature

referenced.

Septuagint

is our

Anglicanized word

of Latin,

of course.

You should study

Latin.

of the longer

title,

Versio Septuaginta

Interpretum.

I think I said

that right,

which means

translation of the

70 interpreters.

So,

the translation

of the 70

and its abbreviation

the LXX.

So,

you're reading a book

and you see LXX,

that's the Roman numeral

for 70,

right?

is derived,

this title is derived

from a legend

that 72

Jewish scholars,

that's six

from each of the

12 tribes of Israel,

worked independently

to translate

the whole of the

Old Testament

into Greek

and ultimately

produced identical

versions.

I don't buy into

this legend at all.

I don't believe

that the Septuagint

is inspired.

However,

it's useful,

right?

So,

more likely,

we don't know

exactly the dates,

but the work

of translating

into Greek

began in the

3rd century B.C.

and was completed

in 132 B.C.

So,

it was a work

done across

a bunch of time,

more likely.

But the way

it's helpful to us,

right,

not being

speakers of

Hebrew

or of

Koine Greek

and we're trying

to take

our English minds

and get them

connected to

this very,

very ancient text

is that men

who are much

closer to

the original

Hebrew text

of the Old Testament

who were also

Greek speakers,

helped us.

What did they

understand the word

to mean?

Like,

how did they

read Psalm 1,

blessed is

the man?

And they brought

it over

into this

Greek word

that is inspired

in Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Are you connecting

with me?

I hope that you are.

I haven't lost you

completely.

It's helpful for us

in drawing connection

between the Old Testament

and the New Testament

simply as the minds

of the readers

help us

understand the

original language.

Ask me more questions

later if I've lost you

entirely.

It's helpful.

So if you hear people

refer to the

Septuagint

or to the LXX,

this is what they're

talking about

as we look at these words.

So,

Psalm 1,

the very first word

in the Greek version

of the Old Testament

is the same

as the word

in Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5:6

verse 6.

Blessed

is the man

who walks

not in the counsel

of the wicked,

nor stands

in the way of sinners,

nor sits

in the seat

of scoffers.

But his delight

is in the law

of the Lord

and on his law

he meditates

day and night.

He is like

a tree

planted by streams

of water

that yields

its fruit

in its season

and its leaf

does not wither.

In all that he does

he prospers.

The wicked

are not so,

but are like chaff

that the wind

drives away.

Therefore the wicked

will not stand

in the judgment

nor sinners

in the congregation

of the righteous.

For the Lord

knows the way

of the righteous,

but the way

of the wicked

will perish.

So you can see

here this man,

this flourishing man

and we can see

the way

in which he

flourishes.

Again,

a metaphor.

Verse 3,

he's like a tree.

A tree that's

planted by water,

has all

of the sustenance

it needs,

does the work

that it's supposed

to do,

that is yielding

its fruit

at the proper

time.

its leaf

never dries up,

it's always

productive.

And we see

the contradiction

to that,

the wicked

who are like

a byproduct

of the harvest

that's no good

for anything

and the wind

simply blows

it away.

And so there's

a way

of the wicked

and there's

a way

of the righteous.

righteous

and the man

who walks

in the way

of the righteous

is declared

blessed.

This kind

of living

is a great

work of God

on our behalf.

Beloved,

this is not a thing

we do ourselves.

Just like poverty

of spirit

is not a thing

that we produce

ourselves

or deep sadness

over our sin

and the sin

of the world

is not a thing

we produce

in ourselves

and meekness

is not a thing

that's accomplished

by ourselves.

In the same way,

this type

of hungering

and thirsting

to walk

in the ways

of God

is a great

work of God.

John 15

John 15:5

verse 5

about in the middle

of what we call

the upper room

discourse

Jesus said

I am the vine

you are the branches

whoever abides

in me

and I

in him

he it is

that bears

much fruit

for apart

from me

you can

do

nothing.

And just

before this

in the very

same discourse

in chapter 14

verses 15

through 17

Jesus said

to his disciples

if you love me

you will keep

my commandments

and I will ask

the father

and he will give

you another helper

to be with you

forever

even the spirit

of truth

whom the world

cannot receive

because it neither

sees him

nor knows him

you know him

for he dwells

with you

and will

be in you.

And when we read

that John 14

John 14:15

verse 15

and following

in light of

John 15

5

I think it's

right to

restructure it

a bit

to hear Jesus

saying

if you love

me

I've given

you the helper

in fact

the fact that

you love me

is a sign

that I've given

you the helper

and he

will help you

to keep

my commandments

and it's

these people

I hope it's

you people

I praise God

that it's

me

that hunger

and thirst

for righteousness

that have this

declaration spoken

over us

of

blessed

Jesus says

we're the ones

that are

flourishing

that are

doing well

in the place

that we live

and will

forever

why are

those who

hunger and thirst

for righteousness

declared

a blessing

right

because

they shall

be

satisfied

and this

statement by

Jesus has

both present

and future

implication

those of us

who hunger

and thirst

for righteousness

will be

satisfied

in three

ways

first

and all of

these are

from the

book of

Philippians

if you

want to

go there

I'll read

carefully

to you

we will

be satisfied

in three

ways

first

we are

found

righteous

in

Jesus

Christ

those of

us who

are citizens

of God's

kingdom

finding in

us working

this longing

to be

righteous

before God

are

found

righteous

in Jesus

Christ

we have

been

declared

righteous

there is

a status

of being

righteous

Philippians

Philippians 3:9

chapter 3

verse 9

Paul says

not having

a righteousness

of my own

that comes

from the

law

but that

which comes

through faith

in Christ

the righteousness

from God

that depends

on faith

and so

in Jesus

coming to

earth

incarnate

becoming a

man

fully

taking

on

being

100%

man

while also

being

100%

God

he came

and he

lived

a perfect

life

he kept

the law

in every

possible

sense

no one

else has

ever done

this

right

except

the God

man

Jesus

Christ

and so

righteousness

was his

and by

faith in

him

that

righteousness

is credited

to our

account

so we

positionally

stand before

God

as

righteous

as those

who hunger

and thirst

for it

right

we're

satisfied

because we

have it

in

Christ

in this

declarative

sense

we've been

justified

before God

he has

looked at us

and said

righteous

secondly

the second

way

is that

we will

be

increasing

in

righteousness

the

day to day

practice

of obedience

to God

the

declaration

is

waving

over us

as a

banner

and yet

we're still

meant to be

turned out

in appreciation

for what

Christ has

done for

us

in the

pursuit

of

holiness

Paul

writes

again

in

Philippians

Philippians 2:12

chapter 2

verses 12

and 13

I'm actually

working backwards

through the

book

he says

therefore my

beloved

as you

have always

obeyed

so now

not only

as in my

presence

but much

more in

my absence

work out

your own

salvation

with fear

and trembling

now what

he's saying

here

is not

work for

your salvation

but evidence

your salvation

right

be about

the work

of one

who is

saved

one

who is

a citizen

of the

kingdom

don't

delude

yourself

and think

that you

can live

however

you want

to

those who

have been

saved

by God

who have

been

drawn

into his

kingdom

who have

been

declared

citizens

are so

glad

to live

in this

place

to be

citizens

of the

kingdom

of heaven

and therefore

serve

the king

so work

out your

salvation

with fear

you can

say

with

awe

and with

trembling

verse 13

for it is

God who

works in

you both

to will

and to

work

for his

good pleasure

so this is

the process

of

sanctification

we've been

justified

we are

being

sanctified

biblical

sanctification

is often

called

progressive

sanctification

we're getting

a little

bit better

one degree

of glory

to the

next

as we

work

and God

works

in us

for his

good pleasure

and so you

want this

to be true

of you

you want

to not only

say

hunger

and thirst

for righteousness

but evidence

your hunger

and thirst

for righteousness

by doing

good works

by being

obedient

by pursuing

righteousness

by in the

temporal sense

being filled

with

righteousness

righteousness

and then

thirdly

third way

we'll be

satisfied

as we

will one

day

be

completely

righteous

Philippians

Philippians 1:6

chapter 1

verse 6

Paul writes

to the

Philippian

church

and I

am sure

of this

that he

who began

a good

work

in you

will bring

it to

completion

at the

day

of Jesus

Christ

so the

day will

come when

Christ will

return

or will

go home

to be

with him

whoever

comes

first

and will

set aside

the burden

of his

bodies

of death

our

having been

delivered from

sin

still our

sinful

inclinations

and we

will have

no choice

but to live

rightly before

God for

forever

all of our

living will

be given

in worship

to him

and while

we await

that glorious

day

we'll be

set free

from the

hindrances

of our

flesh

and we'll

experience

the full

devotion

to God

we will

stand

confident

before him

in the

accomplished

righteousness

of Jesus

Christ

and

work

to become

righteous

by the

power

that he

works

within us

we will

hunger

and thirst

for

righteousness

righteousness

the

contemporary

pastor

John

Piper

I don't

think I have

to tell

you who

he is

but anyway

said this

in a sermon

on this

text

which I

appreciated

he said

the great

tales

of the

future

will be

written

about

real men

and women

who are

passionately

committed

to one

thing

the

righteousness

of God

Jesus

speaks to

us

today

blessed

are those

who hunger

and thirst

for

righteousness

for they

shall be

satisfied

join me

in prayer