Blessed Are Those Who Hunger And Thirst

Man, I am so parched and thirsty.

Oh, look at water.

Oh, that's satisfying.

You know, all of us,

everyone everywhere,

is hungering and thirsting for something.

All of us want to be satisfied with something.

All of us want to be happy.

Fifty years ago this past summer,

the Rolling Stone released one of their hits,

I Can't Get No.

In the 1990s, U2 released The Joshua Tree.

I'm a big U2 fan.

My son and I were listening to The Joshua Tree

in our truck this past week,

and we were listening to the second song on the album

very carefully.

It says, the title is,

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

So Bono sings this,

I believe in the kingdom come

when all the colors bleed into one.

He's singing about Jesus.

You broke the bonds and you loose the chains.

You carried the cross, all my shame.

You know I believe in.

And he goes into the refrain,

but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

We're all looking for something.

We're all looking to be satisfied.

We're all looking to be happy.

Where are you looking for happiness?

Where are you looking to be satisfied?

What are you living for thinking that it's going to deliver?

Make you happy.

All of us want to be happy.

And Jesus tells us in Matthew 5, 6,

of where to find happiness.

Of where to find blessing.

Of where to find satisfaction.

Would you turn with me to Matthew 5, 6.

Jesus says,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they shall be satisfied.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness,

and you will be satisfied.

Well, we're in the middle of,

we just started actually,

this series on the Sermon on the Mount.

And I've been trying to frame it

as the manifesto of King Jesus.

And in this Sermon on the Mount,

His manifesto,

our King proclaims

what is to be true

of the citizens of His kingdom.

Those are the Beatitudes.

And then for the rest of the Sermon on the Mount,

He explains how His citizens live it out.

Live in light of the kingdom.

Live in light of what He has done.

The Beatitudes actually have a logical flow to them.

It starts with declaring your spiritual bankruptcy.

Seeing your debt to God.

And then it moves to mourning the sin

that puts you in debt.

You see it as sin against God,

and you grieve it because it grieves God.

And then we move into being meek.

When you realize your spiritual bankruptcy,

when you realize that it is against God,

and you mourn,

you're going to find yourself in a meek place.

You're going to see yourself as you are

in relationship to God and to others.

And for those who recognize,

they declare their poverty,

God meets them with grace.

He pays their debt.

With those who mourn,

He comforts.

With the meek,

He says,

I have a parcel of land for you in the new earth.

It's yours.

Bank on it.

And here in 5.6,

Jesus seems to turn a corner

because it seems as to what He's saying

is the spiritually bankrupt

who've been,

by the generosity of God,

they've been made debt free.

For those who are mourning their sin,

for those who have become meek,

they have an appetite

for something quite unusual.

They have a intense appetite.

It's an unnatural appetite.

It's even a counter-cultural kind of appetite.

And what Jesus says is that

these ones,

they hunger and thirst for righteousness.

If I can summarize Matthew 5.6

in just four words,

it would be this.

Christ is our satisfaction.

Christ is our satisfaction.

And I want to help you to see that

with two points.

We seek,

He satisfies.

We seek,

He satisfies.

All point to Christ is our satisfaction.

And so let's look at this first point.

We seek.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness.

He's talking about an appetite.

You're hungry for something.

Our appetite as kingdom citizens

is intense.

So when Jesus says hunger and thirst

for righteousness,

obviously He's using a metaphor.

Everyone can relate with it.

We've all experienced hunger

and we've all experienced thirst.

thirst.

And we hunger for food

and we thirst for water

and food and water

are essential to living,

aren't they?

But we live in a first world context.

And so our hungering

is a kind of,

I miss a meal

and I'm feeling faint hunger.

It's not that strong.

I came home recently

and I had skipped lunch

and I made a major mistake.

I walked in the kitchen

and my family was there

and I said,

oh, I'm feeling so faint.

And I have not lived it down.

I come home

and my kids are like,

Dad, are you feeling faint?

We miss a meal

and we're hungry.

We go without water

for a little bit

and we're thirsty.

That's kind of

first world hunger and thirst.

Third world hunger and thirsting

is something else.

People in places

where you're not sure

you're going to eat next

know a hunger

that we don't know.

They know a thirst

we don't know.

Our hunger is a hunger

between, you know,

what in the refrigerator

am I going to eat?

Third world hunger is

there's nothing

in the refrigerator to eat.

First world thirsting is,

man, I prefer my water cold.

Third world thirst is,

do we have clean water?

I mean, the people in Flint

are getting it right now.

What Jesus is getting at

is this third world hunger

and thirst.

It's intense.

It's prioritizing.

If you don't know

where your next meal

is coming from

or where your next water

is coming from,

you're going to be

prioritizing that

pretty significantly,

don't you think?

You're going to be saying

no to other things

so that you can get that.

What this is getting at

is an intense

spiritual appetite.

This is a metaphor.

And what Jesus is saying

is that

for those who

He has called to Himself,

they have a controlling appetite

for righteousness.

righteousness.

It's intense.

It prioritizes things.

A Christian longs for,

pursues,

yearns after righteousness

just as much as he craves

food and water.

Because righteousness

is essential.

It's a requirement

of kingdom living.

Those who are citizens

of the kingdom,

who have been saved

by grace,

they live

for righteousness.

It's the food

and drink

of a Christian.

It shouldn't surprise us,

John 4,

Jesus says

that His food

is to do

the will

of the Father.

Jesus,

hunger and thirst

after righteousness.

And so this is a metaphor

for an intense

spiritual appetite.

But it's also

unnatural.

This appetite

may be intense,

but it is unnatural.

When you were born

and you came out

of your mama,

you didn't come

wanting

this spiritual appetite.

You weren't hungering

for righteousness.

In my devotions,

I've been reading

through the book

of Romans.

Romans.

And yesterday,

I came across this.

Well,

more like it came

across me.

This is Romans

Romans 3:10–18

chapter 3,

verses 10 through 18.

None is righteous.

No, not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for God.

All have turned aside.

Together,

they have become worthless.

No one does good.

Not even one.

He closes this little section

in verse 18.

There is no fear of God

before their eyes.

None of us.

None of us

have an appetite

for godliness.

None of us

are born that way.

None of us.

It's unnatural

for a human sinner

to want righteousness.

Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:1–3

verses 1 through 3

talk about

we are

dead in our trespasses

and sins.

Following the course

of the world.

Following the prince

of the power of the air.

Among whom we all

once lived

in the passions

of our flesh.

Carrying out

the desires

of the body

and the mind.

Like the rest

of mankind.

You know what sinners

naturally crave?

Unrighteousness.

Apart from Christ

what we want

is to fulfill

our sinful appetites.

Our natural appetite

is for things

that grieve God

not please God.

Sinners crave sin.

And so this

hungering and thirsting

for righteousness

that Jesus

is talking about

what you've got

to understand

is you cannot

produce that

in yourself.

You are so sinful

I am so sinful

we can't make

ourselves want

righteousness.

But God can.

And God does.

God can cause

a sinner

to hunger

and thirst

for righteousness.

How?

By giving them

a new heart

with a new desire.

And it's the

sole domain

of the regenerating

work of the Holy Spirit.

The appetite

for righteousness

is not natural.

It's supernatural.

It's a work of God.

When God

1 Peter 1.3

causes a sinner

to be born again

and He causes

that born again

by the Spirit

John 3

that sinner

is giving

a new appetite.

A hunger

and thirst

for righteousness.

A desire

to please

God.

For a Christian

and you know

all this

if you're a Christian

your sinful desires

don't go away.

But you have

a new affection.

A new inclination.

A desire

to please God.

So when we read

Matthew 5.6

you've got to realize

that this appetite

that Jesus is talking about

is a grace given appetite.

It's a spirit born appetite.

No one seeks God

unless God changes them.

Our appetite

for righteousness

it's intense.

It's not natural.

It is supernatural.

It's a work of God's grace in us.

The next thing you need to know

about this

seeking of God

we seek

He satisfies

that this appetite

is a

counter-cultural

appetite.

What we want

is counter-cultural.

It's a kingdom appetite.

Let's say that all of us

file out of here

and we break up in twos

and we're going to go out

into downtown Kenosha

and do an informal

unofficial survey

of people we come across

and we're going to ask them

two questions.

The first question is this

hey

what makes a person happy?

I'm guessing we're going to get

all sorts of answers.

Little kids say candy

candy makes me happy.

Other people say

well

the next iPhone

will make me happy.

I really like music.

Music makes me happy.

I love to paint.

Painting makes me happy.

Sex makes me happy.

Vocational success

makes me happy.

Makes people happy.

Financial independence

having no worries

that'll make everybody happy.

Having the perfect body

will make people happy.

Making everyone happy

will make me happy.

Being in control

will make me happy.

Family and friends

make me happy.

The great outdoors

makes me happy.

And then we ask them

the second question.

Well what makes you happy?

You know

I'm guessing

that if that person

was really honest

and if they've been around

long enough

we'd hear something like this.

Well

I'm not really sure.

I still haven't found

what I'm looking for.

In Matthew 5-6

Jesus tells us

what leads to real happiness.

It's a surprise.

It's so counter cultural.

I am guessing

that when we're doing

our informal survey together

we're not going to hear

many people say

when we ask

hey what makes you happy

they're like

righteousness makes me happy.

Mmm

I just love to say it.

Do you know why?

Because normal people

don't think righteousness

is happiness.

Seriously.

Normal people

don't think

that righteousness

results in happiness.

Normal people

tend to think

that righteousness

leads to things

like boredom.

Being uptight.

Getting constipated.

Things like that.

Feeling guilty.

Churning your own butter.

People think

righteousness comes

like when you have

eight kids

and you dress them all

in different sizes

of the same

denim outfit.

they think

that's what

righteousness is.

Billy Joel gets at it.

If that's what

righteousness is

I'd rather

laugh with the sinners

than cry with the saints.

Seriously.

Those who are righteous

are serious

party poopers.

Let's stay away

from them.

Well brothers and sisters

in Christ

I'm here to tell you

this morning

that they got a point.

A Christian

who craves righteousness

is anything

but normal.

A Christian

is a sinner

born again

by the Holy Spirit.

A new creation.

A Christian

a citizen of heaven

is one who's been

justified.

Their sin

put on Christ

God's wrath

poured out on Jesus

for them.

Christ's righteousness

33 years

of perfect living

imputed to the Christian

the sinner

in God's favor

poured out for eternity

on the sinner.

Is that amazing?

That's not normal.

Justified

set apart

made holy

transferred from the domain

of darkness

into the kingdom

of the beloved son.

Christian's not normal.

The penalty of sin

fully paid

the power of sin

is broken.

They hold on to this promise

that sin will one day

be eradicated.

They've been given

the verbal deed

that has been sealed

by the blood of Jesus

that they have a parcel

a beautiful parcel

in the new earth

waiting for them.

That's not normal.

It's biblically normal

but it's not normal

to the world.

Christian is anything

but normal.

Check it seriously.

Seriously.

You know what a Christian is?

A Christian

is a walking

supernatural event

of grace.

That's what we are.

A Christian

is a miracle

of regeneration

wearing Adidas.

That's what a Christian is.

It's amazing

what God has done.

We're anything

but normal.

We are counter-cultural

by God's grace.

We've been made

citizens of the kingdom

of heaven

and we have

a spirit-born appetite

for the things

of God.

Of course it's not normal.

We stand out.

It's counter-cultural.

Don't let the world

deny you.

Don't let the world

deny you

what you're craving.

Don't let the world

give you

some empty calories

of worldly

empty promises.

Don't let that happen.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural appetite

picks purity

over pornography.

That's what we want.

Purity.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural appetite

craves to be generous,

not greedy.

We want to be

like our king.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural hunger

hungers to be honest

and not to lie,

like our king.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural appetite

wants to serve others,

not to be served.

It's very Christ-like.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural appetite

longs for God's glory,

not our own.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural appetite

is hankering

for world evangelization,

not worldwide

internet access.

Hey, that would be great,

but not as good

as people from every tribe,

tongue, and nation

coming to bow

at the knees

and worship Jesus.

as it were craving.

Our spirit-born

counter-cultural appetite

craves above all else

God's will.

We want what God wants.

This intense,

supernatural,

hungering,

thirsting for righteousness

is counter-cultural.

Now, I'm guessing

you're wondering

something right now.

What is this righteousness

that Jesus is talking about?

If it's all that,

I want to know.

Well, this appetite,

our seeking,

is for righteousness.

And where I want

to bring you

is this is Christ-likeness

that we're hungering for.

Chances are

that when you hear

the word righteousness

and if you've been raised

in a Protestant church,

you think in terms of

Pauline righteousness.

It's a legal righteousness,

a positional righteousness

that God imputes

to a sinner

like that

when they believe.

They're made

legally righteous

in God's sight.

It's the righteousness

of being justified.

And though that is true

of us in Christ,

that's not the nuance

of righteousness

that Jesus is talking

about here.

Matthew,

who wrote

the Gospel of Matthew,

uses righteousness

in a different way.

We see that

in chapter 5,

verse 10.

Blessed are those

who are persecuted

for righteousness' sake.

And then if you look

at verse 20

in chapter 5,

we read,

for I tell you,

unless your righteousness

exceeds that

of the scribes

and Pharisees,

you will never enter

the kingdom of heaven.

Righteousness

in the book of Matthew

is describing

a way of living.

We're not talking

about the legal

positional righteousness

of Paul,

but a real-time

practical righteousness

that results

from faith-filled

decisions

to do God's will.

Righteousness

is living in conformity

to the will of God.

That's what Jesus

is getting at here.

And what that requires

is faith-filled obedience

of both attitude,

what's in you,

and action.

And so this righteousness

that Jesus is talking

about here

is not a pharisaical

righteousness.

And a pharisaical

righteousness

was one that was

self-dependent

and aimed at

pleasing others,

impressing others.

That's not what's

going on here.

The righteousness

that Jesus

is talking about

is God-dependent

and God-aimed.

And Jesus

is going to spell

that out for us

in the rest

of the Sermon

on the Mount,

but I want to

bring you

one more step.

I hate goats.

I really hate them.

I have had some

less than pleasant

experiences with goats.

And as a result,

I don't like goat meat.

There's this

goaty aftertaste

and it just

makes me sad.

A couple years ago,

some friends

invited us over

and they served us tacos.

And as soon as

I bit into the taco,

I was like face-to-face

with a goat in my mind.

And I was like

I was like face-to-face

with a goat in my mind.

I asked,

is this,

does this happen

to be goat meat

in this taco?

And they're like,

well, yes, of course.

And then I said,

will you pass the chips,

please?

Because I can't handle

this anymore.

That taco

had a goaty flavor.

the righteousness that we hunger and thirst for.

And for some who come into contact with this kind of righteousness,

that flavor is repulsive.

But for those of us who've been born again,

the righteousness that we long for

has the savor of the Savior.

the flavor of our founder,

the tastiness of the one who was sinless.

It's got the zing of the king of kings.

It's got a strong aftertaste of the king of grace.

And we love it.

We can't get enough of it.

The righteousness here

is a Christ-like righteousness.

And we see it played out

all throughout the New Testament,

all throughout the Gospels.

You keep an eye on Jesus

and you see righteousness incarnate.

We want to be conformed to Him.

We want to be conformed to the will of God.

I'm not sure if you remember this being in your Bibles,

but in Romans 8.29, we read,

for those He foreknew,

He predestined,

He willed to be conformed

to the image of His Son.

And so if righteousness is conformed

to the will of God,

you better believe

that we're going to have a hunger and thirst

to be like Jesus.

And so this righteousness

is a Christ-like righteousness.

We hunger and thirst for Christ-likeness.

The Father made us alive by His Spirit

so that we would live for Christ

to be like Christ.

That's what we want.

That's what we're hungering and thirsting after.

And so when we talk about

we seek our appetite,

it is an appetite that is intense.

It is an appetite that's supernatural.

It's born in us.

It's an appetite that's counter-cultural.

It's an appetite for Christ-likeness

to be like Him.

And so as I close this first point,

I just want to ask you,

do you have the hunger?

Are you thirsty for Christ-likeness?

Do you want to be like Him

in every area of your life?

Do you want it?

Do you love others like Jesus loved others?

Do you long for the Word of God

as though it's pure spiritual milk?

You can't live without it.

And maybe you're settling for

empty calories of worldly promises

that don't satisfy.

Shove those aside

and turn to the One who satisfies.

Now let's turn there now.

We've talked about our appetite.

We seek.

Blessed are those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness.

Let's look to the One who satisfies.

For they shall be satisfied.

That word for in verse 6,

blessed are those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness.

For they shall be satisfied.

You see in all the other beatitudes.

It signals the reason why.

The reason why someone

who hungers and thirsts

for righteousness is happy,

is blessed,

it's because they know

that they're going to be satisfied.

They got the promise.

And what you need to see here

is that satisfaction

is a satisfaction given by God.

Look back at 5.6.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness

for they shall be satisfied.

It's a passive verb.

You know what that means?

It means that the subject of the verse,

those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness,

they don't satisfy themselves.

They are satisfied by someone else.

The subject is being acted upon.

Who's the one doing the satisfying?

God alone satisfies our craving

for Christ-likeness.

God satisfies.

God satisfies.

I'm not sure if you've figured this one out yet.

Sin never satisfies.

Christ always satisfies.

And so, for the remainder of our time,

I want to help you see

how God satisfies

a citizen of the kingdom of heaven

with Christ

three ways.

Before I get to them,

I want to just remind you

that as kingdom citizens,

we live in between

the kingdom inaugurated

with Jesus' first coming

and the kingdom consummated

when Jesus comes back

and He cleans house

and He makes all wrongs right.

And so, these three ways

that God will satisfy us with Christ,

what you need to understand

is that the first two

deal with the present.

A present satisfaction.

It's partial.

And the last one,

the future satisfaction.

That's going to be full and complete.

So, the first way

that God satisfies us in Christ,

we've already talked about it this morning,

God justifies us

through the finished work of Jesus.

I'm guessing that many of you

have this anxious hunger

for forgiveness,

to know that you've been forgiven,

to know that you're not condemned

for your sin,

and Jesus satisfies.

The doctrine of justification

helps us to be satisfied

in the finished work of Christ,

to rest in what He's done,

to be content in His work

on the cross on our behalf.

Our sin,

imputed to Christ,

God's wrath,

poured out in full on Jesus,

and simultaneously,

Christ's righteousness,

His perfect living for 32 years,

His perfect conformity

to the will of God,

that is imputed to us,

and because it's imputed to us,

what's poured out on our head

is not wrath,

but God's favor forever.

Let that satisfy you.

But it's a partial satisfaction

because if you're like me,

and I know you are in this area,

though you're justified,

you still sin.

We are simultaneously justified

and sinners.

In other words,

you have vying appetites within you.

There's something in you

that wants to hunger and thirst

for ungodliness still,

but there's something in you

born of the Spirit

that hungers and thirsts

for Christlikeness.

And so we're justified.

That is satisfying,

but it's partial

because I'm still wrestling with sin.

And so let me point you

to another way

that God satisfies us

in the present.

Would you turn to Romans 13, 14?

We are legally righteous

in God's sight.

Thank God for Jesus.

But we constantly fight our sin.

And one of the ways

we fight our sin,

we are shown in Romans 13, 14.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

and make no provision for the flesh

to satisfy its desires.

Find your satisfaction in Jesus

and it will crowd out desires for the flesh.

Christ justifies us

and Christ sanctifies us.

We dwell on Him.

We find our savor in the Savior

and it weakens the delight of sin.

We say no to sin

by being satisfied in Christ.

By putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is what defines me.

Who defines me?

This is the one I live for.

This is the one that controls me.

This is the one I want to please.

If you have a sissy view of Jesus,

you're going to have a hard time

fighting sin.

But if you have a grand

and glorious view of Jesus,

if He just continues to ravish you,

like,

I can't believe Him.

He's awesome.

And you dwell on that.

And you put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It will weaken the desire for sin.

God satisfies us in Christ.

He's justified us.

God satisfies us in Christ.

His delight in us

helps us to fight sin.

Those are the two for the present.

The last way that we find

our satisfaction,

that God satisfies us in Christ,

it's a future satisfaction.

They shall be satisfied.

And this future satisfaction

is our full and complete satisfaction.

When Jesus returns,

He said He would,

we will receive glorified bodies

unencumbered by sin

and we will see Him.

Faith turns to sight.

One of the joys of having

your resurrected body

is resurrected to eyeballs

that will see your Savior

and be with Him.

At that moment,

at that moment,

you lay eyes on Him.

At that moment,

you're in His presence

that you hear Him call your name.

At that moment,

you're going to be satisfied.

There's going to be a contentment

that you've never had.

It's going to be complete.

It's going to be full.

And it's going to be forever.

Because you're going to be

in His presence forever.

We will be with Him

completely satisfied

in His presence

for all times.

So we have present satisfaction

justified.

We're being sanctified.

We're dwelling on Christ

and we've got this promise

of a future satisfaction

of when we're actually

with Him.

I hope that makes you happy.

I hope you realize

your blessing,

how good that is.

There's one last thing

I want to add.

This is a satisfaction

that's guaranteed.

You can bank on it.

They shall be satisfied.

Citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,

your future satisfaction

is guaranteed

because God never lies.

Jesus is coming back

and when He comes back,

you will experience

fullness and completeness

of satisfaction

in His presence.

You will be completely satisfied

by Christ Himself

for eternity.

He is,

Jesus is,

your satisfaction.

And He is

your guarantee.

So be happy.

Fight sin

with joy

because Jesus

is your satisfaction.

We seek.

God satisfies.

Christ is

our satisfaction.

satisfaction.

A satisfaction

that is guaranteed.

So let me just close

with this one question.

Who are you hungry for?

Let's pray.

God, we trust You

and Your Word.

Jesus, thank You for

this word,

this verse.

we look to You,

Lord Jesus.

We look to You.

I pray for us,

Your people,

that You would

deepen in us

a hunger and thirst

for Christ-likeness

and that, God,

You would meet

that hunger,

You'd meet that thirst

on this side of glory

that we'd find

satisfaction in Christ

but ultimately, God,

that we'd look forward

to being fully,

completely satisfied

when we see Him

face to face.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.