Sermon on the Mount 4

 

 

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Seemon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)

Click to enlarge
"Sermon on the Mount"
(Bloch)

 

Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5:6-8

Those Who Hunger & Thirst for Righteousness
The Merciful

Hunger & Thirst
for Righteousness

Be
Merciful

What did both John and Jesus call for in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? (Mt 3:2, 4:17)

Repent -
Have a change in mind

 

What specifically did they need to have a change in mind in regard to? What is the main theme of the SOM?

Righteousness (+R)

All God is, commands, demands, approves and provides in Christ

 

Why? What had been their primary example of +R?

Because they had seen only the external +R the Pharisees taught and exhibited - outward show for praise of men not God

 

What did the King teach about +R needed to enter His Kingdom? (Mt 5:20)

It must surpass the +R of the Scribes and Pharisees

 

What then is the purpose of the beatitudes? How to be saved?

Not...

     how to be saved

But...

     How the saved live


Characteristics of believer

 

Ideal lifestyle of citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven who still live on planet earth

 

The secret of a happy life

Happiness that endures...

Forever!

 

What is the progression in the beatitudes? Remember each beatitude is like a clue in a "treasure map", each containing a crucial component of the secret of that leads to a truly happy life now and forever!

(1) Recognize spiritual poverty (Mt 5:3) (keep on recognizing even after saved - abide in Vine, Jo 15:5, or can do absolutely nothing in our own strength.

Reward: Continually possess the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

(2) We mourn over our sins (Mt 5:4) (continual need - in these mortal bodies we continue to commit sins against God)

Reward: As we confess our sins He comforts us with forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness

 

(3) Our spiritual bankruptcy and mourning should instill in us a gentle, meek spirit (Mt 5:5) one that accepts all that occurs in our life as from or filtered through the sovereign hand of God. Meekness is power under control, like our Lord (Mt 11:29) and Moses ( Nu 12:3).
Reward: Inherit the earth.

 

Who is blessed (spiritually prosperous independent of the circumstances) in Mt 5:6?

Those who hunger and thirst for +R

Remember that Jesus is describing the character of those who belong to His kingdom - a peculiar appetite and thirst for +R will mark them as different from the world!

 

What is the tense of the verbs "hunger" and "thirst"? Why did Jesus select those terms?

Both = present tense
Paraphrased "those who continually hunger and thirst"

 

 These are the most basic human needs. Without them we would die.

 

What is Jesus implying? Does the natural man hunger and thirst for +R?

In our fallen state there is none +R and none seek to live according to His +R standards (Ro 3:10-11). This is the state of the natural man (Ro 5:12).

And so Jesus'  implies that if you have absolutely no hunger and thirst for +R you need to examine the state of your soul. Spiritually dead people have no appetite for spiritual things.

Dear reader, have you ever by faith accepted Christ's perfect righteousness (Read Ro 1:16-17, Acts 4:12, 16:30-31, Ro 10:9-10, Eph 2:8-9)

 

Spiritually speaking...

You are what you eat!

 

What is the context? Clue: How available was food and especially water in ancient Palestine?
They were poor compared to America and water was not readily available. One could quickly die of dehydration in the arid conditions.

 

Jesus is not describing genteel urgings but desperate hungering and thirsting - those who keep on acknowledging their spiritual poverty, keep on seeking to live out God's +R as a starving man longs for food or a man perishing from thirst longs for water. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? What are you hungering and thirsting for? Remember there is the world's way (it is passing away) and the King's way (endures forever).

 

What +R is
Jesus referring to? What happens we are
saved (2Cor 5:21)? How are we then to live? What does Jesus emphasize in Mt 5:21-48?

When we are saved we receive the +R of Christ at that moment and forever (2Cor 5:21)

 

Christ becomes now and forever our source of righteous living (cf 1Cor 1:30)

 

And so based on our position in Christ, the King calls His subjects to practice +R as our lifestyle from the heart (see Mt 5:21-48 where Jesus contrasted external with internal +R)

 

What is the King's promised reward, the blessed state of those who hunger and thirst for +R?

They shall be satisfied
Completely satisfied


Note: "filled" =
passive voice = filling comes about from outside source. The verb "filled" was originally used meaning to fatten animals. The root word describes green grass standing in a field or meadow. It's the place where sheep can graze. The ideas are to satisfy with food, to be fed full, and completely satisfied.

 

When? Now and in the future
(cf Isa 25:6, Lu 13:29-30, 14:15, 22:28-30, Mt 8:11-12, Rev 19:9)

 

How does this contrast with the world's way?

The world seeks for material possessions which can never fully satisfy. (cf Heb 11:24-25 "passing pleasures of sin")

 

Ex: Elvis Presley had a 1960 Cadillac with 40 coats of paint that included crushed diamonds and hardware in 18K gold. His possessions ended up possessing him and he died a tragic death, the perfect picture of a man who in the world's eyes had everything but who was not filled spiritually.

 

What is the key to hungering and thirsting for +R (Jo 7:37-39, cf Isa 55:1-2)? (Note the verbs "come" and "drink" are both in the = present tense calling for this coming and drinking to be our lifestyle)

 Come to Jesus
Source of rivers of living water

Come and drink the first time = salvation. Then...
Keep coming
Keep drinking

 

Spirit within causes us to be thirst for +R...

 

We must then choose to come and drink

 

We must do this continually

 

We must continually recognize our state of spiritual poverty (Mt 5:3) acknowledging that in our own strength even as believers, we cannot initiate spiritual hunger and thirst (cf Jo 15:5, Ro 7:18) but must manifest a continual dependence on our Counselor, the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16-17, 24), Who will lead us into all truth. He will lead us into this righteous lifestyle but we must still make the moment by moment decision that work out that lifestyle in real life situations (see  Philippians 2:12-13)
 

This beatitude corresponds to the doctrine of sanctification (present tense salvation - see diagram on Three Tenses of Salvation)

 

Believers who recognize their spiritually poverty in that they can't live righteously (sanctification) apart from the Spirit will continually come to Him

Application

Do you crave God's +R?
What diminishes your craving?

What stimulates your craving?
 

Madison Avenue has played on this physical craving with the slogan

"Bet you can't eat just one" (Potato Chip)

 

The tragedy of our time is that so many people are wasting their lives (and beloved the church is not immune to this "disease") chasing after three things that can never satisfy--Money, sex and power. We want money - we sacrifice our families to get it. We want sex - we sacrifice our morals to get it. We want power - we sacrifice our friends to get it. And when we finally attain these goals (if we are not destroyed first) we find that none of them truly satisfy our deepest need, the need within our soul for Jesus. We end up like the richest man in the world who was asked what it would take to make him happy, to which he quipped "One dollar more!" Funny, but true. Only Jesus satisfies!

 

What does (Jer 9:23-24) state is worth boasting in?
Where or what is your source of greatest boasting beloved?


Let's look at some men God used mightily and how this beatitude relates to their lives...

 

David

Psalms 27:4-6

 

What is David's "one thing"?

To dwell in the house of Jehovah
All the days of His life
To behold the beauty of Jehovah
To meditate in His temple
 

David hungered and thirsted for closeness to Jehovah

 

Psalms 63:1
Psalm 63:1 (A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.) O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Had he already experienced God?
What was his response?

What is the paradox (where is he)?

David is in a dry land where there was no water

David is thirsty but not for water

It was his soul which was thirsty

 

David had tasted of God because he calls him
"Thou art my God"

Seeking corresponds to hungering and thirsting

One taste of God was not enough

He wanted more of God

 

(cf manna in the wilderness - it was a reflection of God's gracious provision to Israel in the wilderness but it was only enough for each day. They were to come back daily, Sabbath excepted, and partake of His manna. A perfect picture of our need to continually come to Him)

 

How do we see this continual hungering and thirsting portrayed by David in Psalm 143:5-6? How would this be especially applicable to one who has drifted from the longings they once had for their first love?

Psalms 143:5-6

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings; I muse on the work of Thy hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a parched land. Selah. (For "Selah" the Amplified has "pause, and calmly think of that"!


David remembered what it was like
He meditated on what God had done and His work
Then...
He stretched out, his soul longed for more of God

 

Again David pictures his soul longing as one who is in the desert and who is desperate, even potentially dying of physical thirst. For this person, the only thing that can quench the thirst is water. For David, a man after God's own heart, the only thing that can quench his innermost being's thirst was the living water of God.

 

Don't you long to have the same experience David had?

 

Walk by the Spirit in obedience, an internal righteousness from the heart, not self-righteousness like the Pharisees. Theirs is the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Moses
Ex 33:7-18
What was the context?
What had Moses seen?
(clue: what mount was he on in Ex 24:15-18)?

Moses had seen the glory of God on Mt  Sinai as he entered into the midst of the cloud of glory
(see Shekinah glory cloud)

 

Despite having seen this incredible manifestation of God, far from satiating Moses, it created in him a greater hunger after more of His righteousness. He desired to know God's ways so that he would know Him

 

Moses did not want to go forward unless the Lord was leading.
 

Paul:

Philippians 3:7-14

Note: This was written after the Holy Spirit had come to permanently indwell all believers. Paul valued knowing Christ Jesus above all else and counted everything else as loss in comparison. He understood that righteousness can come only through faith in Christ and spoke of being conformed to His death. Believers die to self, and God's Spirit controls—His righteousness in and through them.

 

Paul makes it clear that he had not yet attained the goal for which Christ had laid hold of him. He had not come to the place in his Christian life where his growth in spiritual maturity had been completed. And so he pressed on hungering and thirsting passionately for righteousness. And so to should we beloved!

What things do you need to avoid
so that you do not dull your spiritual appetite?


There are few things more important
than our spiritual appetite.


A healthy spiritual appetite is one of the great secrets of progress in Christian maturity.


We are what we eat.

 

John Stott wisely counsels that...

"If we are conscious of slow growth, is the reason that we have a jaded appetite? It is not enough to mourn over past sin; we must also hunger for future righteousness" (Stott, J: The Message of the Sermon on the Mount)

 

In case you are not yet convicted, here are a few more questions...

On a scale from 1 to 10 how hungry am I for spiritual things?

What is my attitude toward personal righteousness?

What do I hunger for in life?

To what extent do I hunger for God's Word?

How is my appetite for the truth of the Bible?

How am I growing in my love for holiness?

Do I long to be with mature Spirit-filled Christians?

Would I rather be with carnal, immature people?

How hungry am I for the works of the flesh?

Do I sincerely pray "Lord, keep me from the temptation which so easily besets me?"

Have you found yourself leaving your "first love"? (Rev 2:4). The antidote is a Spirit initiated and empowered intense hungering and thirsting for righteousness. (Rev 2:5 plus Mt 5:6)

 

Lord God, let it not be said of us as it was of Israel...

"They did not thirst when He led them"
(Isaiah 48:21)
AMEN

 

 

Beginning with Mt 5:7, the Beatitudes take on a people-to-people aspect. Thus those who are poor in spirit (Mt 5:3) respond to others by being merciful. (See also notes on Greek word eleos for mercy, notes on God's Attribute of Mercy)

Wouldn't it be wonderful to know that everything was right between not only you and God, but also you and others? Enabled by the Spirit, put this beatitude into practice and you can realize that potential beloved.

How can one
misinterpret (and misapply) Mt 5:7?

You can falsely conclude that being merciful to others will merit (or earn) mercy being repaid to you by God.

 

Thus they engage in diligent social action (which is commendable) with the idea of accruing merit that will be used as bargaining chips before God to receive mercy at judgment. Mt 5:3 reminds us that we are spiritual paupers desperately in need of God's grace and mercy. We mourn over our sin. We bend our wills in meekness to His perfect will. We hunger for His righteousness not our own. Thus a careful interpretation of the progression and relationship of this beatitude to the preceding (the context) leads one to conclude that beggars have no means by which to earn mercy.

 

Note: Again we see how critical it is to arrive at correct interpretation, (through careful observation which allows one to establish the correct context) lest we wander off the trail and onto the dangerous path of futile and inappropriate application.

 

What then is the correct interpretation of Mt 5:7?

Believers show mercy for they have been shown mercy and now have God's Spirit within enabling them to do what heretofore was impossible (now it is "Him-possible"!) This will be discussed more below.
 

Remember that the "Be attitudes" represent Jesus' description of what the ideal citizen of His kingdom looks like. A natural man (unregenerate, unredeemed by the blood of Jesus) cannot carry out these "Be attitudes". They are possible only to those who are saved (cf 2Cor 5:17)!


What is the reward of the merciful? Why are they blessed?
 They shall receive mercy
(Will discuss more later)

 

Note "they" and they alone will receive mercy ("they" is emphatic in Greek as with all the beatitudes. This emphasizes the "exclusivity" of the "club of the blessed")

 

What is the definition of mercy?

Mercy is the outward manifestation of pity

 

Mercy is
Compassion in action


Mercy...
sees a need
is moved by the need
has resources to meet the need

and
responds to the need

 

Thus mercy involves...
Recognition
Motivation
Action

Mercy looks not at what a man deserves or is worthy (remember how God saw us before Christ!) but what he needs

Merciful ~
"Mercy full"!

 (Click more discussion of definition of mercy)

Mercy is not shown in words but in action (1 Jo 3:17-18)

What about non-believers showing mercy?
Yes to a degree, they can show mercy in their natural, human strength. And yet their mercy will always be limited and tainted by the fallen sin nature we all inherit from Adam (cf Ro 5:12, 7:18).

What is the Source of mercy? (2 Cor 1:3)

God
The Father of mercies


God of all comfort
(showing mercy brings comfort)

 

Ultimately, the fountainhead of all mercy is God

 

Mercy is one of God's attributes
(see notes on His attribute of Mercy)

 

How does mercy relate to those dead in their transgressions in (Eph 2:4-7)?
God being rich in mercy

(because of His great love)

when we were dead in our transgressions (undeserving)

Made us alive with Christ
(by grace we were saved)

 

Note God's mercy involves...
Recognition - we sinned
Motivation - great love
Action - saved by grace

 

It is only as we come to know Christ as Savior that we can "tap into" God's inexhaustible supply of mercy. Believers are no longer restricted by their meager natural resources and can now show His supernatural mercy to others through acts of kindness and goodwill.

 

How does Jesus expand the meaning of being merciful...

What is His point in the parable in Mt 18:21-35? What was the occasion?
Peter asked Jesus if  forgiveness "times 7" was enough

 

Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven could be compared to the teaching in this parable

 

Synopsis: Slave unable to pay the king an "impossible" debt sought release and forgiveness which was granted out of compassion.

 

The forgiven slave was unwilling to forgive a lesser debt, throwing the debtor into prison.

 

The lord was informed, was angry and handed him to the torturers - asking should he not have had mercy even as he had received mercy?

 

Jesus' Point:
Kingdom Citizens should forgive proportional to how great forgiven...should motivate us to forgive

 

Note: As new creations in Christ, whose heart of stone has been replaced with a heart that beats for God, believers are benefactors of the rich mercy of the "King" (Eph 2:4) and as such should be motivated to show mercy, including mercy in the form of forgiveness (cf Col 3:12-13 discussed below, Eph 4:32, 5:1, Mt 6:12, 14-15, Ro 12:20-21)

 

James Montgomery Boice explains that there are three main points to this parable..."First, there is a judgment coming. Jesus did not pass over that teaching. He spoke of forgiveness, but He also spoke clearly of what happened to the wretched man in His story. He was cast into prison until he should pay back all he owed. That judgment hangs over everyone who has not experienced God's forgiveness through Christ. Second, there is forgiveness. God does forgive. God sent Jesus to be the basis for that forgiveness. Third, the only sure proof of a person's having received God's forgiveness through true faith in Jesus is a transformed heart and a changed life. How do we get that down into the practical areas of our lives, so that we actually begin to treat others as we have been treated? It is by standing before the thrice holy God and thus seeing ourselves as the vile sinners we are—vile and yet forgiven through the death of God's own beloved Son. That awareness should humble us so that we have simply no other option but to be forgiving to others from our heart. (Boice, J M: The Parables of Jesus) (Bolding Added)

 

How does Jesus' teaching in (Lu 6:35-36) further underscore the obligation kingdom citizens (believers) have to be merciful?

 

God gives mercy to...

Ungrateful and evil

 

"like Father, like sons"
Be merciful as your Father is merciful

 

How are kingdom citizens described in Col 3:12-13? How should this motivate us? How are we now to behave?

Chosen, holy, beloved!

 

Liberated and motivated by the Truth...that...
(1) He has elected us!
(2) He has set us apart from this world and for His good work.
(3) He bestows the Father's faithful covenant love upon us His sons and daughters.
 

Each of these grand truths should inspire us to walk worthy of our high calling

 

Consequently...

 

(1) When we see the need to forgive - "the debt someone owes us"
 

(2) We should recognize we have the Spirit of Christ in us Who enables us to meet that need and "forgive that debt"
 

and
 

(3) We should follow through and forgive the one who has a "debt" against us, recognizing that their debt is far less than the debt the Father has forgiven for us!

What is the rather stern warning in James 2:13?

No mercy = merciless judgment


Mercy triumphs over judgment
 

(NLT paraphrase "But if you have been merciful, then God's mercy toward you will win out over his judgment against you")

 

The question is what judgment? Some favor this is a reference to the judgment of believers when their works will be burned up. A majority favor this as the Great White Throne judgment where those who never showed mercy, show by their lack of mercy they were not children of the Father of mercies. And thus they receive no mercy.

 

Dear kingdom citizen, Is there anyone that your Father in heaven is calling you to forgive even as you have been forgiven?

 

Will you be merciful
just as your Father is merciful?

Is there future mercy yet to be received? See 2Ti 1:15-18

In verse 18 Paul makes a statement that is like a wish or even a prayer for Onesiphorus that "the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day"

"That day" in context has to be the "day" of the Judgment Seat of Christ (see study of bema or Judgment seat of Christ) where we give account for the deeds in the body and we will receive reward or loss (2Cor 5:10, Ro 14:10, 1Cor 3:10-15)

 

"If we refuse to forgive and have absolutely no desire to forgive, we need to examine carefully whether we are Christians because forgiveness demonstrates whether we have ever been forgiven" (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books)

How do believers show mercy?
What actions can (and should) we take?


1. Forgive
In the same way that we are forgiven we will forgive others (cf Col 3:12-13, Eph 4:32, 1 Pet 3:8)

Are you bearing a grudge, maintaining bitterness, seeking revenge, or holding someone in emotional hostage? The call of Christ is to forgive. You must release them from your own sentence of condemnation or indebtedness toward you.

Note that this does  not mean that your emotions and hurt is immediately gone? Kent Hughes says “The fact that you have forgiven and continue to forgive is a sign of grace, despite the ambivalences and imperfections of your forgiveness”

2. Have Compassion
Embrace the fallen and downtrodden. See (Gal 6:1). Rather than speaking about or acting vindictively toward the sinning brother in this passage we are to gently restore = mercy in action.

3. Giving
God has made us stewards of all He has given us and we demonstrate the mercy of God to others by the way we give to meet pressing needs.

Mercy does not mean to throw your resources to the wind, but to use them wisely in meeting the needs of those in distress.

4. Speaking
Mercy is found in speaking the gospel of Christ—that gospel of forgiveness and mercy, to fellow sinners.

The Psalmist declares, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary” (Ps 107:2, cf 1 Pet 2:9-10).

Here's the point: Those on the receiving end of mercy (believers) can now show mercy to others by proclaiming Jesus Christ as Redeemer to those still in bondage to sin and under an imminent sentence of eternal death (John 3:18, Heb 12:25, 1Jo 5:10)

5. Praying
We show mercy when we pray for the conversion of unbelievers.

Is it because others deserve to know Christ and his forgiveness? Is it because others have some good in them that might be bettered through the gospel? Are we to pray because others are longing to come to Christ? No, we pray because none of us deserve to know Christ, none deserve forgiveness, and on top of it all, none are even seeking after God (Rom 3:11). We pray because as the recipients of mercy, we long for others to know the same bounty of divine mercy through Jesus Christ.

 

The Pure in Heart
Matthew 5:8

Remember Yuri Gagarin...
1961 The Russian cosmonaut who was the first human to travel into space...After circling the earth, he came back to announce that he had not seen God there. Had Mr. Gagarin simply stepped outside his capsule without his space suit, he would have found God immediately!

 

Natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

 

Jesus says clearly that

The pure in heart

They...

Shall see God.

We are going to look at what Jesus meant by pure in heart and seeing God...

 

Who are the blessed?

Pure in Heart

 

Why are they blessed?

They shall see God

What is the definition of pure?

Greek = katharos (2513)

 

.Free from corrupt desire, sin and guilt
Unalloyed, unadulterated
Nothing mixed in

 

Describes pure motive in one's heart...

Single mindedness
Undivided devotion
Spiritual integrity

"This one thing I do" is the idea

 

What did we see in James 4:8 that parallels this truth?

Purify your hearts
You double-minded

 

Cleansing the hands symbolizes external behavior;
Cleansing the heart refers to inner thoughts, motives, and desires

 

Fanny Crosby the great hymn writer who was blind from birth wrote..."It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me." A saint who was pure in heart - How else could a blind saint have written such words as...

 

Blessed Assurance
Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
(
play)

 

The cultural, historical, religious context really helps one understand why and what Jesus was declaring in this beatitude, so let's take a moment and look at that context...

 

What if you were told that there were 158 uses of katharos in the OT (the LXX) and that a majority of these uses were in the book of Leviticus (33x) describing ceremonially "clean" versus unclean? Why might Jesus have spoken of purity of heart to his audience? What had they been taught by the legalistic Pharisees? (cf Mt 23:25-28)

 

The Pharisees specialized in purity of the external! Jesus turns the tables on his audience and calls for an internal cleanness or purity!

 

Now let's look at seeing God...

20/20 Spiritual Vision

 

What does "see" mean as it pertains to seeing God?
First, what did Paul teach about seeing God in (1Ti 6:16)?

We can't physically see God now

With our human physical eyes

So clearly Jesus is speaking figuratively

Of Spiritual Vision
(cf John 1:18, 4:24, 5:37, 6:46, Col 1:15, 1Ti 1:17, 1Jo 4:12, Ex 33:20, Deut 4:12, Job 23:8-9)

Since God is Spirit (Jo 4:24), no man has ever seen God in His essence, His Spirit-being

 

Remember however that Jesus declared...

"from now on you know Him and have seen Him"

"he who has seen Me has seen the Father"
(John 14:7, 9)

 

How then can we see God?
What does Paul teach in
Romans 1:20 that helps us understand how we can see God in this present life?

Paul uses the same root verb twice in Romans 1:20 to explain one way we "see" God:

 

Paul declares...
that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

 

"See" means to gaze at with wide-open eyes,
as at something remarkable.

 

Note: Greek for "understanding" (noieo) denotes clear perception, full understanding, and careful consideration. We gain insight into His invisible attributes.

 

What does seeing equate with in this passage?

Seeing ~ Understanding

Paul is referring to God in nature
(natural revelation, cf Ps 19:1-2)

 

How else can we
see
(understand) God today?

His Word
(Special revelation)

 
What did you learn about the verb tense ("shall see"?
(this is a difficult question without knowledge of Greek)

Future continuous tense

Middle Voice (reflexive = themselves)

Note: "They" is emphatic as in the other beatitudes which means they (the pure in heart) and they alone.

 

In other words it could be paraphrased:
“They (and they alone)
shall be continually seeing God
(with the "eyes of their understanding")
for themselves.


As believers know and follow God more,
they "see" Him (Who He is)
at deeper level
and will one day see Him face-to-face


Let's look at two Psalms
What do we learn about a pure heart David who was a man after God's own heart

 

Psalm 15

Walks with integrity
Works righteousness
Speaks truth in his heart

Does not slander

Does no evil to neighbor

Does not reproach a friend

Despises a reprobate

Honors those who fear the Lord
Keeps his promises
Does not charge interest

Does not take a bribe against the innocent

Psalm 24:1-6
Who will see God?

 

He who has clean hands (right deeds) (cf mercy)

Pure heart (right motives or focus)

Not lifted soul to falsehood (vain idols)

Not sworn deceitfully (swear in order to deceive)

Poor in spirit can bring us into salvation so that we become possessors of the Kingdom of Heaven. This beatitude ("be attitude") is to be be our continual state (i.e., reflecting continual dependence on Christ).

Naturally, our spiritual destitution gives us an awareness of the magnitude of our failure to please God by our continually independent spirit, which leads us to mourn our sin, for which God provides the blessing of His comfort in the form of forgiveness.

Then, having come to Him poor in spirit and having laid aside that independent, prideful spirit, realizing how it grieves the Father's heart (cf Ezek 6:9), we submit our will in meekness to our Lord Jesus, accepting that whatever pleases Him pleases us. For this He gives us the very earth we once foolishly tried to gain in our own strength.

Now, born of His Spirit, we hunger and thirst for His righteousness, ever more craving and finding Jesus to be the deepest satisfaction of our innermost being. We find that Jesus Alone satisfies. And as we feast on "the Bread of Life" and the "Living Water" found only in Christ, His Spirit transforms us from glory to glory (2Cor 3:18), and so it is only natural that as we become more and more like Him...

Mercy that He gives to us cannot help but flow from our lives to those in need around us, believers and unbelievers alike. And as this river of mercy flows by the Spirit's power from our innermost being, more and more we experience His great mercies as fresh and new every morning (Lam 3:22-23).

Enveloped by His abundant mercies, which remind us that we no longer have hearts of stone but of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 11:19-20, cf Deut 30:6, Jeremiah 31:34, 32:39-40, 2Cor 3:2-3, 5:17, Gal 6:15), there comes the knowledge that my heart must be pure if I would see Him more and more. My hunger and thirst for righteousness has revealed this to me. The greater the purity of my heart, the more intimately I will know Him, for there will be less and less to dim my spiritual vision.

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

 

 

Sermon on the Mount
Notes to Supplement Discussion Questions

Matthew 5:6
Hunger and thirst for righteousness

You are what you eat! So this beatitude is a test of our spiritual walk.

What is your spiritual "diet'?  Jesus has set the table and given us the "appetite stimulant" in the form of His indwelling Holy Spirit.  The main course is Christ's righteousness lived out in everyday life. The requirement is a continual poverty of spirit, a sense of our own inability to live this supernatural life (cf Mt 5:3) and a "desperate passion" like a deer thirsting for the water brooks (Ps 42:1-2, cf Isa 55:1-2).

How is your spiritual appetite? Appetite is defined as any of the instinctive desires necessary to keep up organic life. It is an inherent craving, passion, hunger, desire, yearning. The soul has an appetite (cf Ps 42:1-2, 107:9). The counterfeit method of "satisfying" our soul hunger and thirst is to do it the world's way, like the bumper sticker that reads "He who dies with the most toys wins!" Wrong! As Augustine said (paraphrased) our souls were made for God and nothing but God filling them will bring earthly and eternal satisfaction.

The one who gets a taste of God's righteousness, paradoxically will continue to hunger and thirst for that righteousness. We read a parallel thought in this secular quote "The appetite grows by eating" (François Rabelais Gargantua) That's the counterfeit but the authentic is Jesus' beatitude in Mt 5:6, which presents the same spiritual dynamic - he who "tastes" will desire more!

The origin of "appetite" is interesting - it is from the Latin from appetere which means to strive after, to desire ardently. What are you striving for? What is it that you ardently, even urgently desire? Is it self righteousness like the Pharisees? Is it the transient, temporally satisfying, treasures of this world? (cf 1Jo 2:17, Hebrews 11:24-25)? Is it the spiritual water (John 4:10,13-14) and bread (John 6:26-27, 32-33, 35-40) that alone quenches and at the same time creates a hunger and thirst for more?

Appetite describes one’s desire or longing for something so that it stays on the mind, and consumes the thoughts until satisfied. We can have healthy appetites that enhance our lives. Or we can have destructive appetites that drive us away from God's righteousness, and can destroy every relationship. As Pastor Phil Newton states...

"You can be sure of this: those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are Christians; and those who don’t, are not Christians. Your appetite reveals your heart."

The beatitude in Mt 5:6 rules out half hearted religion because hungering and thirsting is the only description Jesus gives of those who are truly citizens of His Kingdom. Do you remember what it was like when you first believed in Jesus? How was your appetite for Him? You could not get enough could you? He was your every thought, your every desire. But perhaps as time passed, sins crept in and lessened your longing for His presence. Has this happened in your life beloved citizen of the Kingdom? (cf Rev 2:4-5) Then go to the living waters of His Word and beg Him to create in your heart an earnest desire to seek Him, a soul that is desperately thirsting and yearning for Him as if you are in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Read and pray Psalm 63:1, cf Ps 139:23-24, 51:10) Remember though, if you possess absolutely no desire to hunger and thirst for Christ and His righteous Life being lived out practically in and through you, then please consider performing an honest check up of the state of your soul. This is not a  judgmental but a merciful, kind appeal. And frankly, ultimately, only you really know whether you possess this inner longing for righteous living.

There are few things more important then our spiritual appetite - you are what you eat beloved (cf Job 23:12, Deut 8:3)

James 1:21 helps us understand how we can cultivate our spiritual appetites for righteousness (and for holy things) - putting aside all wickedness and all that remains of filthiness and in humility (meekness) receiving the Word implanted which is able to save our souls.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne (The impact of Robert Murray McCheyne) knew this desperate hungering for righteousness, crying out

“Oh God, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be!”

There is nothing that will more affect your total worldview and behavior than an unflagging passion and desire to be holy like Jesus Christ. Do you desire to be like Christ? Does this burn in your heart? Does it affect the day to day decisions you make, the relationships you enter, the way you use your resources, the way you use your time, the things you do for recreation, the way you approach your education and vocation? This passion works itself out in right (righteous) living, the only life that will give genuine satisfaction, but paradoxically the very life that will leave you panting and thirsting for more of Jesus, in Whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found (Col 2:3), in Whom is your very life (Col 3:4), in whom you find everything necessary for life and godliness. (2Peter 1:3-4) (Play the midi All in All, pray the lyrics from the depths of your soul. Or play one of my favorite choruses Do You Not Know?/All in All)

John Stott speaks of the necessity for believers to continually hunger and continually thirst, writing that...

"Even the promise of Jesus that whoever drinks of the waters He gives 'will never thirst' is fulfilled only if we keep drinking. Beware of those who claim to have attained, and who look to past experiences rather than to future development! Like all the qualities included in the beatitudes, hunger and thirst are perpetual characteristics of the disciples of Jesus, as perpetual as poverty of spirit, meekness and mourning. Not till we reach heaven will we 'hunger no more, neither thirst any more,' for only then will Christ our Shepherd lead us 'to springs of living water'" (Stott, J: The Message of the Sermon on the Mount)

Pastor Ray Pritchard gives a superb analysis of what Jesus means by righteousness by examining the Jesus other uses of the same word in this sermon...

In Matthew 5:10 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.” That’s the eighth and final beatitude. When you take the fourth and eighth beatitudes together, you get something like this: We are to hunger and thirst after a kind of life that will cause some people to persecute us for our faith. So righteousness is a lifestyle that distinguishes us as true Christians and invites opposition from the world.

The second use comes from Matthew 5:20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The Pharisees had concocted a religious system built around attendance at the temple. It involved intricate rules and regulations and meant following precepts and traditions. It was very professional and very routine. It was like wearing cheap perfume that you splash on to make yourself smell good. It’s not really a part of you and it can’t cover the odor underneath. True righteousness starts in the heart and changes a person from the inside out.

Matthew 6:1 gives us the third use of this word: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” The Pharisees loved to pray in public--loudly! They loved to dress up in their religious garb and throw their offering in the metal container so people could hear the coins rattle. They would sacrifice anything to win the praise of others. Their religion was built around the praise of men. And they still thought God would reward them. But it was cotton-candy religion. It looked good but there wasn’t any substance there. Like Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, there was nothing there. By contrast, true disciples seek a righteousness that doesn’t need to be seen by others, but only by God.

Most of us already know the last verse by heart: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). This touches the priorities of life. What is it that you are seeking in life? Fame? Fortune? Career advancement? A good salary? A secure future? A happy retirement? A marriage partner? The fulfillment of your dreams? As good as those things may be, they aren’t the most important things in life. Put God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness first. When you do, everything else you need will be given to you. Seeking “his righteousness” means letting his Word set the standard for your life. It means seeking to do that which is pleasing to him.

Put these four passages together and what do you have?

We are to hunger and thirst after . . .

A. A truly Christian lifestyle (Mt 5:10)
B. That changes us from the inside out (Mt 5:20)
C. So that we no longer seek the praise of men (Mt 6:1)
B. But causes us to seek God’s approval above everything else. (Mt 6:33)

If You Want It, You Can Have It

If you want righteousness, you can have it. Let me go out on a limb and make a bold statement. Whatever you want in the spiritual realm, you can have if you want it badly enough. I don’t think we appreciate the importance of that truth. Most of us are about as close to God to now as we want to be. We have about as much joy as we want, about as much peace as we want. For the most part, you are where you are right now because that’s where you want to be. If you were hungry for something better from God, you could have it.

If you want it, you can have a close walk with God.
If you want it, you can have a better marriage.
If you want to, you can do God’s will.
If you want to, you can grow spiritually.
If you want to, you can become a man of God or a woman of God.
If you want to, you can change deeply-ingrained habits.
If you want to, you can break destructive patterns of behavior....