Matthew 5:1-6: “Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount: The Beattitudes Having To Do With The
Internal State Of The Heart And Mind”
by
1.
INTRO: This chapter begins the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest
preacher who ever preached
1.1.
The sermon has come to be
known as the ‘Sermon On the Mount’ because Matthew and Luke both tell us that
Jesus went up to a mountain, sat down, and began to teach. There is a hill in Galilee called ‘
1.2.
The purpose of the ‘Sermon
On The Mount’ is:
1.2.1. I personally grew up in a very liberal denomination, and the liberal
scholars of that domination (as well as many other liberal scholars) recognized
that the Sermon On The Mountain was the all-time classic teaching ever given,
and as a result of this and their liberal beliefs, the only sermon the
preachers in that denomination wanted to preach was the Sermon On The
Mount. This then became “their gospel
message” each Sunday morning, namely, that we should do our best to try and
keep the Sermon On The Mount, and God would take care of the rest
1.2.1.1.However, what the liberals don’t recognize is that the Sermon On The
Mount actually raised the standard of the Old Testament Mosaic Law to the “nth
degree” and made the making of ourselves righteous in God’s sight on the basic
of our own works just that much more impossible to accomplish
1.2.1.1.1.In the Sermon On The Mount, we see that Jesus teaches us that true
righteousness is righteousness on the internal as well as the external of our
lives, and that the breaking of all of God’s commandments can be done by the
state of our heart and our thoughts.
These are examples Jesus gives us:
1.2.1.1.1.1.If a man is angry with his brother or calls him a fool, he has murdered
him (Matt. 5:22)
1.2.1.1.1.2.If a man looks on a woman to lust after her, he has already committed
adultery with her (Matt. 5:28)
1.2.1.1.2.The Sermon On The Mount itself doesn’t contain the gospel message of
Christ dying for our sins and our acceptance of His work on the cross which is
necessary to change our lives and to empower us to be able to keep its demands,
thus its purpose for the New Testament Covenant is similar to the purpose of
the Mosaic law in the Old Testament Covenant, it represents the higher law and
principles upon which the New Covenant is based.
1.2.2. This sermon has been called ‘the manifesto of the King’ (of course we
also know that it is Matthew’s purpose in his gospel to present to us Jesus as
the Messiah, King of the Jews), and as such it contains the principles or laws
of “the Kingdom” and the “Kingdom Person” in Christ’s Kingdom
1.2.2.1.To the non-believer, the message convicts of sin for it reveals his
inability to keep God’s laws, and when Jesus teaches that unless a person’s
righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20), the group who
represented the ones who were most zealous of all in attempting to be
law-keepers (who were in reality hypocrites and evil men), it reveals that a
person cannot be accepted before God based upon his own righteousness
1.2.2.2.To the believer, the message reveals principles of conduct and
attitudes of heart by which he is to live, and that by living in this manner
through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in his life, how that he will be
continually made to become more like Christ Himself (who personally embodied
each of these principles and laws)
1.2.2.2.1.If a person does not have these ‘be-attitudes’ in his life in some
measure, then it is questionable that he is a true believer in Christ, for
these attitutes should be the normal experience for the believer
1.2.2.3.Since this sermon of Jesus occurs so early in the Lord’s ministry and
the gospel of Matthew, and because of what it teaches, I would go further and
say that the sermon includes the “FIRST” principles of the Kingdom and the
Kingdom Person, for without applying these principles in one’s life no
spiritual progress will ever be made
1.2.2.4.In the liberal denomination in which I grew up, the clergy seemed to
think that merely studying and learning these principles was all that mattered,
and there was a satisfaction that they seemed to enjoy with that knowledge,
however what really matters in regard to these principles and laws of the
Kingdom and the Kingdom Person is whether or not we are “LIVING” them
1.3.
In these first seven
“be-attitudes”, as they have come to be known, one of the big misconceptions
about them is that many don’t realize that what Jesus is saying is that the
person who manifests these characteristics is ‘ALREADY’ blessed, and that the
respective blessing that he is receiving is based upon his having the
characteristic in his life
1.3.1. The blessing received then for each be-attitude is not something that
will be given in heaven, as in a reward for instance, but rather its a present
possession
1.3.1.1.There will be rewards and blessings given in heaven for believers who
live each of the characteristics however, and these will be full and complete
in their scope
1.4.
For each of these
“be-attitudes”, there is a worldly or carnal way that people have tried to
interpret them, however the Sermon On The Mount represents principles and
promises that relate only to Christians
1.4.1. When understood properly, these principles make no sense for
non-Christians
1.5.
This word translated
“blessed” in these be-attitudes has been taught to mean “happy”, however it
means far more than the frivolous joy that the people of this world experience
in their revelry in sin, rather it is a happiness that is deep-rooted in a
contentment and satisfaction that is manifested as the fruits of the spirit
1.5.1. Each of these be-attitudes was spoken by Christ in the Greek “present
tense” which indicates continuous action, or continually being in that state
1.5.1.1.Thus, a one-time or sometimes experience will not suffice, for it is
the person who continually displays one of the attitudes who is reaping the
respective blessing
1.6.
The first four of the
be-attitudes deal with attitudes that the Christian ought to have which are
completely internal, and thus they are matters of the heart and mind, while the
last four involve external expressions that occur in our minds and hearts but
also in our relationships with people
1.7.
Each of the be-attitudes was
spoken in strategic order of their importances by our Lord
1.8.
As revolutionary as these
precepts in the Sermon On The Mount were when Jesus gave them, all of these
principles mentioned by Jesus are found represented somewhere in the Old
Testament writings, and as such we should have expected God’s Messiah to preach
this sermon
1.9.
Those whom the writers of
the New Testament epistles called of “the world”, which represents those of this
present world around us which are really in rebellion against God, do not value
these characteristics of the Kingdom Person, and in fact, they tend to magnify
to greatness heros who have opposite characteristics of these exalted by Christ
1.9.1. Therefore, in living these characteristics, the Christian finds that
his life is constantly much like that of the spawning salmon who is swimming
upstream against all of the currents and obstacles
1.9.2. Those who are in the world cannot conceive how that any kind of ‘blessedness’
could ever occur through having any of these characteristics of the Kingdom
Person
1.9.3. As I mentioned before, Christ personified each of these kingdom
characteristics perfectly, and when He came on the scene the Jews were anticipating
and expecting their Messiah to come at that time, however they were expecting
Him to come and to be the one who would deliver them from the oppression of
Rome and set up Israel to rule over the world, as their scriptures prophesied
He would do. However, in His first
advent their Messiah came to become the “King of Men’s Hearts”, not the “King
of the World”, and as such the Jews rejected their Messiah because of His
having the characteristics listed in this sermon and preaching the attitudes of
the Kingdom and the Kingdom Person
1.9.3.1.The Jews really believed that since they were God’s special people that
their Messiah would come and pat them on the back and exalt them over the earth
1.9.3.2.The majority of the Jews in Jesus’ day were not in the least concerned
or interested in “internal holiness”, they were content to have their religion
minimally consist only in external formalism and ritual
1.9.3.3.The Jews crucified Jesus in large extent because He manifested these
characteristics
1.10. In this first part of chapter 5 we will look at what I believe are the
most key principles in the sermon (they are given first after all), the four
be-attitudes which deal with internal attitudes of the kingdom person
2.
VS 5:1-3 - 5:1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on
the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening
His mouth He began to teach them, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
- Jesus pronounces those who are
‘poor in spirit’ to be ‘blessed’
2.1.
It has been a
subject of debate as to whether or not Jesus preached this message to His
disciples along with the multitudes or just to his disciples, as well as to
whether or not He preached this message often or just once
2.2.
Jesus went up to
the top of a mountain and then sat down to teach, sitting being the manner of
the scribes and teachers of His time, as well as His preference
2.3.
Jesus teaches
here that those who are “poor in spirit” will be blessed, but what does it mean
to be “poor in spirit?”
2.3.1. Let me first say what being ‘poor in spirit’ is not:
2.3.1.1.It is not “physical poverty” that is mentioned by
Jesus, but that poverty that comes from inside, from the heart, “poverty of
spirit”
2.3.1.1.1.Liberal teachers have tried to make Jesus’ teaching
here to say that ALL poor people are ‘blessed’, and they have even translated
this verse, “Blessed in spirit are the poor”, however this is not what Jesus
said nor what He meant
2.3.1.1.2.Even though God’s people often end up being poor in
regards to the goods of this world, “physical poverty” in and of itself does
not produce righteousness nor righteous living, and there are many who are
physical poor who aren’t under God’s favor.
It is poverty of ‘spirit’ that Christ exalts
2.3.1.1.3.As I mentioned before, there are those who debase
themselves, those who make a vow of physical poverty, and those who try to live
an ascetic life who are not really “poor in spirit” as Jesus teaches it, for
the person who is “poor in spirit” realizes his need for Jesus as His savior,
and because of his true humilty before God he knows that his God is great and
worthy of all praise and glory, and so as such he wants to do all that he can
to proclaim God’s greatness and salvation available through Jesus to the world
2.3.1.1.4.Being separated from this sinful world does not
produce righteousness for sin dwells within us and thus the ascetic does not
escape sin by living an ascetic life
2.3.1.1.4.1.The ascetic person’s heart can be just as full of lust
as any of our hearts are
2.3.1.1.4.2.Besides, God wants to use us in winning the people of
this world to Him
2.3.1.1.4.2.1.He wants us to be in the world though not of the world
2.3.2. This word translated as ‘poor’ here gives us a clue as
to what ‘poor in spirit’ means, for it has the following entry in Strong’s
Greek Dictionary: “4434 ptochos {
pto-khos’} from ptosso, to crouch, akin to 4422 and the alternate of 4098; TDNT
- 6:885,969; adj AV - poor 30, beggar 2, poor man 1, beggarly 1;
34 GK - 4777 { ptwcov" }
1) reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms
2) destitute of wealth, influence, position,
honour
2a) lowly,
afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches
2b) helpless,
powerless to accomplish an end
2c) poor,
needy
3)
lacking in
anything
a.
3a) as respects their spirit
i.
3a1) destitute of
wealth of learning and intellectual culture which the schools afford (men of
this class most readily give themselves up to Christ’s teaching and prove them
selves fitted to lay hold of the heavenly treasure)”
2.3.2.1.There is a milder word for poverty that could have
been used here by Jesus, however He used the word that means the most abject
poverty that reduces one to the status of a beggar
2.3.2.1.1.The person who realizes he is a total and complete
beggar in regards to his spiritual condition will then be blessed
2.3.3. Looking at some examples in scripture of people who
were ‘poor in spirit’ will help us to understand what this phrase means:
2.3.3.1.Tax-gatherers were the most despised of all people to
the Jewish people, however the Tax-gatherer in the story recounted in Luke
18:10-14 was a man who qualifies as one who was ‘poor in spirit’, “10 “Two
men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a
tax-gatherer. 11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I
thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or
even like this tax-gatherer. 12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that
I get.’ 13 “But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even
unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying,
‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 “I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be
humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.””
2.3.3.2.In the seventh chapter of the book of Romans, we see
that throughout that chapter Paul wrote in the “present tense” about his own
inadequacy and inability in and of himself to keep God’s laws, he wrote in Rom.
7:18-24, “18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my
flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19
For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do
not wish. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the
one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that
evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur
with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a
prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am!
Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
2.3.3.3.Jesus exemplified being ‘poor in spirit’ in that He
never exalted Himself, but rather the Father, and He always spoke and did those
things that the Lord wanted Him to do
2.3.4. To be ‘poor
in spirit’ is to realize your complete and utter unworthiness and spiritual
bankruptness before the Lord, and thus to realize that you need the Lord’s
righteousness to clothe your unrighteousness, the Lord’s power and might to be
able to be in any way pleasing to the Lord, and the Lord’s provision to supply
everything that you need in all areas of your life
2.4.
I think that for
myself, that I had an advantage over a lot of people when I came to Christ
because of the fact that at that time my life had been so sinful and messed up,
and I was so needy spiritually, I didn’t have any hope in being able to take
care of things in my life myself
2.4.1. This being ‘poor in spirit’ is a hard concept to grasp
by a lot of people who have come to Christ as a child or when their life hadn’t
first been torn to shreds
2.4.2. Pride having a tendency to so quickly rise to the
surface in our lives, even when we have come to Christ when our lives is in
shreds, we can sometimes begin to think that we are basically good people and
able to take care of our own needs
2.5.
The promise to
those who are continually poor in spirit is that ‘theirs is the kingdom of
heaven’
2.5.1. This indicates that if you aren’t poor in spirit, then
you probably are not a Christian, and that if you stay in that state this is
evidence that you never were a true Christian
2.6.
As with each of
these be-attitudes, the Greek ‘present tense’ is used for ‘poor in spirit’,
which denotes “continuous action” and therefore indicates the state of
“constantly being poor in spirit”
2.6.1. This is not a one-time experience that produces a
state of blessedness, but rather the condition of being moment-by-moment ‘poor
in spirit’
2.7.
Those who are not
‘poor in spirit’ don’t realize their need for God, and they cannot please Him either,
for God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble
2.8.
Lastly, there are
some within the church today who are teaching and writing books about
self-esteem, etc., who are telling Christians that they need to realize just
how wonderful they really are, and that this will be healing for their lives,
however the scriptures teach that we are all ‘worms’ before the Lord, sinful
not beautiful or whatever. The scripture
also teaches though that in spite of our ‘worminess’ the Lord loves and values
each of us deeply beyond measure. This
is God’s grace revealed to us. However,
sadly many who read these books or listen to these teachers can’t understand or
appreciate God’s wonderful grace and love in their lives because you can’t
appreciate or understand it until you first understand your own unworthiness.
3.
VS 5:4 - “4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted” - Jesus pronounces those who ‘mourn’ to be ‘blessed’
3.1.
Again, we have to
ask ourselves just “what kind of mourning” it is which Jesus speaks of here?
3.1.1. What mourning is not:
3.1.1.1.As I mentioned before, this is not the carnal
experience of mourning which people experience, and there are many reasons for
which people mourn, both good and bad
3.1.1.1.1.People ‘mourn’ over any kind of loss that occurs in
their lives
3.1.1.1.2.People ‘mourn’ for lots of selfish reasons
3.1.2. The kind of mourning that is mentioned by Jesus here
as a be-attitude is the mourning that occurs for a variety of reasons as a
result of following and obeying the Lord in the midst of a world that is in
rebellion against Him
3.1.2.1.Christians sometimes ‘mourn’ because of the crushing
pressure of “tribulation” and the persecution which occurs as a result of
living in this sinful world and inside of a body marred by the effects of sin
3.1.2.2.Christians sometimes ‘mourn’ because of their own
sinfulness, and Paul called this true “godly sorrow” that brings repentence (2
Cor. 7:11)
3.1.2.3.Christians sometimes ‘mourn’ as Christ did over
3.1.3. This word translated ‘mourn’ in this verse has the
following entry in Strong’s Greek Dictionary: “3996 pentheo { pen-theh’-o} from
3997; TDNT - 6:40,825; v AV
- mourn 7, wail 2, bewail 1; 10 GK
- 4291 { penqevw } 1) to mourn 2) to mourn for, lament one”
3.2.
Examples of
mourning from the scriptures
3.2.1. Jeremiah the ‘weeping’ prophet who wrote the book of
Lamentations which has been such a blessing to God’s people through the ages
3.2.2. The Psalmists were always pouring out their heart to
the Lord expressing their sorrow and mourning
3.2.2.1.When I was a young Christian the first couple of years
of my spiritual walk I went through a very difficult transition from my old way
of life which had been so far from what a Christian should be, and just about
every night I would cry myself to sleep.
Then a friend told me to read the Psalms every day and go to the Psalms
when I was depressed or down for there is healing in them when the Psalmists
were pouring out their hearts to the Lord.
This was a great comfort to me and it can be to you also.
3.2.3. There were many martyrs both in Old and New Testament
times, and thus many of God’s people experienced a great deal of this mourning
3.2.4. Jesus Himself was prophesied in Isaiah 53:3 as being
‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’, and He exemplified this
be-attitude more than any of us for He lived His life perfectly obedient to the
Lord which caused many more opportunities for mourning than we experience
3.3.
The promise given
to those who continually ‘mourn’ because of following and obeying the Lord is
that ‘they shall be comforted’
3.3.1. The people of this world do not know “real comfort”,
for there is none for them when they are separate from the Lord
3.3.1.1.The people of this world mourn in despair for they
cannot experience the comfort which God gives
3.3.2. There is a huge blessing for us as Christians in our
mourning and that occurs because we experience God’s comfort as a result
3.3.2.1.Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 1:3-6 that God was the “God of
all comfort” and that He comforts us in all of our afflictions so that we can then
in turn comfort others with the comfort with which we have received, “3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of ALL comfort; 4 who comforts us in ALL our affliction so that
we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with
which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ
are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is ABUNDANT through Christ. 6
But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are
comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring
of the same sufferings which we also suffer”
3.3.3. There is also the tremendous promise given to us as
Christians that one day that the Lord Himself shall personally wipe away every
tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:4) (primarily with all of these be-attitudes, the
possessor of the respective characteristic is already possessing the blessing)
3.4.
Lastly, there are
people in the church today who are teaching a prosperity gospel, saying that
God’s people who have ‘real’ faith will never suffer or have any lack, being
blessed with riches etc. However, the
scriptures teach that in this world we will suffer persecution and have trials
which God uses to purify us, and that we are called to share in the sufferings
of Christ. Sadly, I believe that because
these teachers deny these kind of difficult experiences are to happen to those
with ‘real’ faith, they are robbing Christians of the wonderful experience of
having God’s comfort in the midst of all of their difficulties and trials.
4.
VS 5:5 - “5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit
the earth” - Jesus pronounces those who are ‘gentle’, or as other translations have
it, ‘meek’, to be ‘blessed’
4.1.
What does Jesus
mean here by this word ‘meek’?
4.1.1. What ‘meak’ does not mean:
4.1.1.1.It does not mean “weakness”, for merely having
physical, emotional, or spiritual weakness is not in and of itself a virture
that God would exalt
4.1.2. Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this word translated as ‘meek’: “4239
praus { prah-ooce’} apparently a primary word; TDNT - 6:645,929; adj AV - meek
3; 3 GK - 4558 { prau?" } 1) mildness
of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness Meekness toward God is that
disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and
therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly
relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice.
Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries
they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will
deliver His elect in His time. (Is. 41:17, Lu. 18:1-8) Gentleness or meekness
is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and
control over the situation. The gentle
person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not
of the human will. (Gal. 5:23)”
4.1.2.1.This word translated as ‘meek’ was used of horses when
they had been broken and then could be ridden by men, and thus the idea to be
conveyed by the word is “strength under constraint”
4.1.2.1.1.The best example of how this word was used in Jesus
day I’ve ever heard comes from pastor Don McClure speaking of the movie, “Ben
Hur”. In the movie, there is this
tremendous chariot race, and each of these chariots are being driven by these
tremendously powerful and athletic horses who are so finely trained that they
instantly respond to the slightest gesture on their reins. These horses would have been called “meek” in
that day.
4.1.2.1.2.Someone once said that meekness means “strength under
control”, and I believe that this conveys the idea here
4.1.2.1.3.In Jesus’ day any sign of meekness was considered to
be weakness, and thus it was despised for men were seen as being honorable when
they were strong and powerful manly men
4.2.
Examples of
meekness in the scriptures
4.2.1. Joseph stands out to me as the greatest example of
someone who was meek. For, after his
brothers had sold him to slavery in Egypt and then many years of his consistent
and diligent stewardship in Pharoah’s house had led to his becoming the number
two man over the entire world, when his brothers came to buy grain during the
famine he did not bring them any harm though they certainly deserved it, nor
did he hold in any bitterness. He knew
that everything had happened in his life according to God’s plan in his life,
and thus he was now able to spare the lives of God’s people during this famine.
4.2.2. Jesus was ‘THE’ example of one who was meek
4.2.2.1.Though He could have defended and justified Himself to
Pontius Pilate, because of His meekness and obedience to the Lord He did not do
so. Though he could have called down at
any time twelve legions of angels to His defense, because of His meekness and
obedience to the Lord He chose not to do so.
4.2.2.2.In 1 Peter 2:21-24, Peter wrote about how Christ
displayed meekness in His life, “21 For you have been called for this
purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to
follow in His steps, 22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His
mouth; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while
suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges
righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed”
4.3.
The promise that
is made to those who are constantly manifesting godly meekness is that ‘they
shall inherit the earth’, and these are some ways in which I can see that being
fulfilled
4.3.1. There is the promise made to us as Christians that
eventually Christ will return and reclaim the earth and that the saints shall
reign over the earth during Christ’s Millenial Reign when God begins to reverse
the earth’s curse
4.3.2. There is also a sense from scripture in which the
saints are possessing the earth even now, hence Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 6:10 that
though we as Christians may not have any possessions, yet there is a sense in
which we are “possessing all things”, “10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things”
4.3.3. Though He allows evil to reign in our lives for awhile
according to His purposes, He is the one who brings promotion, and He will
exalt the humble in the earth, and thus they will be made to inherit the earth
5.
VS 5:6 - “6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” - Jesus pronounces those who ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’
to be ‘blessed’
5.1.
What does Jesus mean
by the phrase ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness?’
5.1.1. Hunger and thirst represent two of the most basic
physical needs and desires that a person has, plus these are needs that a
person experiences each and every day of his life
5.1.2. In a similar way to this phrasing here, in 1 Peter
2:1-3, Peter writes that we as Christians are to “long” for the pure milk of
the Word, “1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy
and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the
word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the
kindness of the Lord”, and he wrote this because of what “great longing or
desire” for something produces
5.1.2.1.We as people end up finding the time to do the things
that we really desire to do, for that is our priority
5.1.2.2.When that godly desire for the things of God is in our
lives, because of His nature God cannot but fill it
5.1.3. The ‘Righteousness’ spoken here includes as least four
aspects as I see it
5.1.3.1.The “imputed righteousness” of Christ given to us who
place our faith in Christ and what He in His true righteousness obtained for
sinners upon the cross of
5.1.3.2.The “righteousness” of trying to walk in a way that
pleases the Lord and brings Him glory in our lives
5.1.3.3.Taking a stand in this world for the “causes of
righteousness”
5.1.3.4.The Lord will reveal more of Himself to us, and He is
righteous plus He is our righteousness
5.2.
The Psalms (as
well as the rest of the Bible) are full of this kind of longing and hunger for
God
5.2.1. Psalms 42:1-3, “1 As the deer pants for the water
brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the
living God; When shall I come and appear before God?”
5.2.2. Psalm 119:131, “131 I opened my mouth wide and
panted, For I longed for Thy commandments”
5.3.
The promise that
will be fulfilled to the one who continually hungers and thirsts for
righteousness is that he ‘will be satisfied’
5.3.1. God will give the person the very thing for which they
are longing and yearning, “righteousness”
5.3.2. Sadly, many who call themselves Christians want the
Lord in their life, however they also want to hold onto the things of this
world, for their hearts are divided.
They miss out on this blessing because their hunger and thirst for God
really isn’t that great
5.3.2.1.What really matters is where our love for the Lord
ranks in relation to all of the other loves of our lives.
5.3.2.2.We must not allow anything else to come between Him
being number one in our life?
5.3.3. The deeply-filling satisfaction that is produced by
hungering and thirsting for righteousness actually causes the Christian to
continually hunger and thirst for more and more
5.4.
Actually,
spiritual maturity is not based upon physical years, nor years since
conversion, but rather upon the depth to which one hungers and thirsts for
righteousness