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Matthew 5:6

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In 2007, there were 923 million hungry people in the world.

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In 2007, there were 923 million hungry people in the world.◦ But, the world produces enough food to feed twice the

world‟s population.

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◦ One person dies every second from hunger.

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◦ One person dies every second from hunger.

◦ Between 2001 & 2004, 58% of all deaths worldwide were from hunger.

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Food & water are two of men‟s most basic needs.

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Food & water are two of men‟s most basic needs.◦ A man can live about 40 days without water & about a

week without water.

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week without water.

◦ But, man also needs the sustenance that only God can provide.

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week without water.


◦ Scripture compares God‟s Word to food for the soul.

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week without water.



“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4, ESV).

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week without water.



Mt 4:4.

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Pt 2:2, ESV).

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Jesus provides food that endures to eternal life.

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Jesus provides food that endures to eternal life.

“Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (Jn 6:27, ESV).

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Jesus has promised true & lasting water.

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Jesus has promised true & lasting water.◦ “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will

never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14, ESV).

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Jesus has promised true & lasting water.◦ Jn 4:14.

◦ “Jesus stood up and cried out, „If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink‟” (Jn 7:37, ESV).

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This fourth Beatitude speaks of the food & drink that only God can provide.

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This fourth Beatitude speaks of the food & drink that only God can provide.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mt 5:6, ESV).

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Hunger & thirst are signs of life.

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Hunger & thirst are signs of a normal, healthy life.

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Hunger & thirst are signs of a normal, healthy life.◦ The loss of appetite generally signifies that something is

wrong physically.

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wrong physically.

◦ We need a normal, healthy yearning for God.

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wrong physically.


“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Ps 42:1, ESV).

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wrong physically.


Ps 42:1.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps 63:1, ESV).

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The hunger & thirst of which Jesus speaks involves extreme urgency.

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The hunger & thirst of which Jesus speaks involves extreme urgency.◦ The word for “hunger” means “to be famished, to crave

after.”

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The hunger & thirst of which Jesus speaks involves extreme urgency.◦ The word for “hunger” means “to be famished, to crave

after.”

◦ The word for “thirst” means “to long earnestly.”

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Many of those in Palestine were well-acquainted with hunger & thirst.

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Many of those in Palestine were well-acquainted with hunger & thirst.◦ One could hardly feed a family well on a daily salary of

15 cents.

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Many of those in Palestine were well-acquainted with hunger & thirst.◦ One could hardly feed a family well on a daily salary of

15 cents.

◦ In Palestine, one was never far from actual starvation.

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Righteousness refers to “integrity, virtue, purity of life, uprightness.”

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Righteousness refers to “integrity, virtue, purity of life, uprightness.”◦ The Christian in this Beatitude longs for a life of holiness

before God.

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before God.

◦ We must live lives of holiness before God.

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before God.


In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes & Pharisees (Mt 5:20).

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before God.


Mt 5:20.

“Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning” (1 Cor 15:34, ESV).

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before God.


Mt 5:20.

1 Cor 15:34.

“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Tm 6:11, ESV).

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The hunger & thirst here are for totalrighteousness.

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The hunger & thirst here are for totalrighteousness.◦ This can only be understood from the Greek grammar.

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Usually, in Greek, verbs of hunger & thirst are used with “of.”

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Usually, in Greek, verbs of hunger & thirst are used with “of.” The meaning is a desire for a part of the whole.

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Usually, in Greek, verbs of hunger & thirst are used with “of.” The meaning is a desire for a part of the whole.

However, in this verse, the verbs are used to mean a desire for the whole thing.

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Those who long for righteousness shall be filled with righteousness.

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Those who long for righteousness shall be filled with righteousness.◦ The word for “filled” was used of the fattening of

animals.

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Those who long for righteousness shall be filled with righteousness.◦ The word for “filled” was used of the fattening of

animals.

◦ For the Christian, however, the more righteousness he receives, the more righteousness he wants.

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We will never be completely filled with righteousness in this life.

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We will never be completely filled with righteousness in this life.◦ No matter how hard we try, we shall sin.

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We will never be completely filled with righteousness in this life.◦ No matter how hard we try, we shall sin: “All wrongdoing

[i.e., unrighteousness] is sin” (1 Jn 5:17, ESV).

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◦ In heaven, we shall be completely filled with righteousness.

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“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat” (Rev 7:16, ESV).

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Rev 7:16.

Righteousness dwells in the new heaven & the new earth (2 Pt 3:13).

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How does he do so?

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He does so through Scripture.

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He does so through Scripture.◦ “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding

it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Ps 119:9-11, ESV).

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He does so through Scripture.◦ Ps 119:9-11.

◦ To the disciples, Jesus says: “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you” (Jn 15:3, ESV)—His words now reside in Scripture.

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The blood of Jesus makes me righteous.

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The blood of Jesus makes me righteous.◦ “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so

that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21, ESV).

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Only “in him” can we become the righteousness of God.

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Only “in him” can we become the righteousness of God.

“None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10, ESV).

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The blood of Jesus makes me righteous.◦ 2 Cor 5:21.

◦ Paul desired to “be found in [Christ], 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” (Phil 3:9, ESV).

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The blood of Jesus makes me righteous.◦ 2 Cor 5:21.

◦ Phil 3:9.

◦ “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet 2:24, ESV).

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There is only one way to get into Christ where I can be made righteous.

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There is only one way to get into Christ where I can be made righteous.◦ Only in Christ is there redemption through his blood: “In

him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7, ESV).

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There is only one way to get into Christ where I can be made righteous.◦ Only in Christ is there redemption through his blood: “In

him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7, ESV).

◦ “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27, ESV).

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We are so far from righteous.

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We are so far from righteous.◦ “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10, ESV).

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We are so far from righteous.◦ “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10, ESV).

◦ None by his own merits is perfect before God.

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Abraham found righteousness apart from

the Law.

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“We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (Rom 4:9b-12, ESV).

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The big issue in the Roman congregation was the relationship between Jew & Gentile.

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The big issue in the Roman congregation was the relationship between Jew & Gentile.

Paul stresses, therefore, that Abraham‟s righteousness came without circumcision.

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Some, of course, say that this verse teaches that man needs to do nothing to receive God‟s righteousness.

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Some, of course, say that this verse teaches that man needs to do nothing to receive God‟s righteousness.◦ That is a gross misuse of this passage.

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Some, of course, say that this verse teaches that man needs to do nothing to receive God‟s righteousness.◦ That is a gross misuse of this passage.

◦ Notice carefully what Paul writes at v 12: Abraham‟s righteousness apart from circumcision was “to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (ESV).

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Thus, in order to be made righteous, I need the faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

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Thus, in order to be made righteous, I need the faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.◦ What kind of faith did Abraham have?

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Thus, in order to be made righteous, I need the faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.◦ What kind of faith did Abraham have?

◦ “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was „counted to him as righteousness‟” (Rom 4:20-22, ESV).

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Abraham did not simply believe that God exists.

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Abraham did not simply believe that God exists.

Rather, he trusted God with his whole heart.

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Because Abraham trusted God, he did what God asked.

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Because Abraham trusted God, he did what God asked.◦ “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out

to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8, ESV).

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Because Abraham trusted God, he did what God asked.◦ Heb 11:8.

◦ “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, „Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.‟ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb 11:17-19, ESV).

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The faith of Abraham is far more than saying, “I believe God is.”

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The faith of Abraham is far more than saying, “I believe God is.”◦ The faith of Abraham is saying, “There is a God whom I

trust with my whole heart; therefore, I will do whatever he asks.”

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The faith of Abraham is far more than saying, “I believe God is.”◦ The faith of Abraham is saying, “There is a God whom I

trust with my whole heart; therefore, I will do whatever he asks.”

◦ Do you really have the faith of Abraham?

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