THE BEATITUDES
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 5:6 , ISAIAH 11:1-10
OCTOBER 14, 1990
It was the Rolling Stones who made popular the song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” Those words accurately describe the human predicament in this world. The Bible tells us Satan is the ruler of this world, and Satan does not offer satisfaction.
Perhaps you have heard of Tantalus. Tantalus was the king of Lydia in Greek mythology and the son of Zeus. Because he offended the gods, he was banished to hades forever and made to stand eternally in a river with the water up to his chin. Above his head was the branch of a tree growing from the bank. The branch was laden with fruit. Whenever Tantalus was thirsty, he would try to drink of the water by lowering his chin to drink. But when he would lower his chin, the water would descend so that it was always just below his lips, and he could not drink. Whenever he was hungry, he would reach up for the luscious fruit on the tree limb above him; but no matter how high he reached, the fruit would always ascend just out of his reach so that for all eternity his hunger and thirst were never satisfaction. We get our English word tantalize from Tantalus, this Greek mythological character.
Satan, however, is the ultimate tantalizer. He loves to tease. He loves to entice, and he never satisfies. That is why we live in a world where people give themselves to materialism; they seek more and more things but are never satisfied. People give themselves to hedonism that they might experience more and more pleasure, but they are never satisfied. People give themselves to ascensionism to attain more power and prominence, but they are never satisfied. The Bible tells us the only way that people will be satisfied is through righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
This morning I would like us to examine the subject of righteousness. This word biblically has two meanings. First of all, the word righteousness when applied to society refers to social justice. In the Greek the word for righteousness is the word dikaiosune. It comes from the word díkaia, which means equal, just, and fair. The word dikaiosune was applied to society in the sense of social justice—a just society, a society where people were equal under the law, a society where people treated each other with fairness, a society where evil was always punished and good was always rewarded, a society where people honored the Lord and honored each other. A just society, righteous.
In 722 BC, Sargon II and the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. They took 27,290 Jews from the region of Samaria and deported them to Babylon. Then they imported foreigners into the region of Samaria. The Jews who remained in Samaria began to intermarry with these foreigners, producing offspring of mixed blood. This offspring came to be called Samaritans. For the full-blooded, pure-blooded Jews in Jerusalem, the Samaritans were viewed as half breeds. They were treated as half human. The Samaritans had tainted Jewish blood, and it was the Samaritans who had tainted the Jewish religion. The Jews hated the Samaritans. You can imagine how the Jewish leaders responded when our Lord Jesus Christ told the story of the good Samaritan because the bad guys in this story were the priest and the Levite of Israel. The hero was a half-breed Samaritan.
Two weeks ago, Dick Schultz shared with you regarding the woman at the well. Jacob’s well was near Sychar near Shechem. She was a Samaritan. You recall how she marveled that Jesus Christ, a Jew by blood, would actually converse with her because the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. You recall how the disciples marveled when they returned from shopping and saw their favorite rabbi talking in public with a woman because it was against rabbinic law for a Jewish rabbi to converse with a woman. But Jesus loved to break down walls of prejudice in society. Jesus wanted the Jewish nation to know they were not a just society. They were not a righteous society.
Do you long for a just society? Do you long to see a righteous society? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Throughout history individuals have often dreamed of a just society. You have heard of the lost continent of Atlantis. The Atlantis myth became well known through the Greek philosopher Plato 2400 years ago.
It was Plato who wrote of Atlantis, and he described Atlantis as a lost island or perhaps a lost continent laden with flowers and trees somewhere beyond the pillars of Hercules, beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, out in the vast Atlantic. Plato said that once there had been this perfect society. A society where men and women were equal under the law. A society where the government ruled in righteousness and in peace. A perfect world. Plato said that the capital of Atlantis consisted of concentric circles alternating between land and water, connected by bridges and tunnels. In the center of that capital city was a temple made of ivory, silver, and gold. Ultimately, the society fell into depravity and sin. Judged by the gods and through volcanic eruption, Atlantis was cast down into the sea 11,000 years ago.
Some historians believe that the Atlantis myth is based on historical fact. Some historians believe that the Atlantis myth grew out of the ancient Minoan civilization because the ancient Minoan civilization had been devastated by volcanic eruption when Santorini exploded and buried the Minoan civilization under a hundred feet of volcanic ash. Other historians point out that the Minoan civilization was not beyond the pillars of Hercules. It was not in the Atlantic. It was in the Mediterranean, and the Minoan civilization was not destroyed 11,000 years ago. It was destroyed 3,500 years ago. The Minoan civilization was never a just society. It was never a society where government ruled in righteousness and peace and where all were equal under the law. There are many historians today who believe that Atlantis was simply the dream of Plato. He dreamed of a just society, of a righteous world, and he expressed this through the Atlantis myth. It is similar to the Tibetans today who dream of Shamballa, a mythical land somewhere between the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas, a land of righteousness.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge dreamed of Xanadu. It was James Hilton, in his novel Lost Horizon, who dreamed of Shangri-La. Throughout history people have dreamed of utopia, longing for a just society. The Bible says that one day there shall come a just society, a society where all people are indeed equal, a society that is governed in righteousness and peace. However, that society will only come through our Lord Jesus Christ when He comes at the consummation in power and great glory and rules the heaven above and the earth beneath.
How badly do you want that society? Do you hunger and thirst for it? The state of Hawaii has a motto. The official motto is “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” Our ancestors in America, the founders of this nation, agreed with that. They sought to establish a just and righteous society. They wanted a society where all were equal under the law. They wanted a society where evil was always punished and good was always rewarded. They wanted a righteous society. They sought to establish a just society, but they failed.
It would be naive to think that America is a righteous society or any other nation in this age of the world. We no longer have slavery in America, but it would be naive to think that racial prejudice has been eradicated from our land. It would be naive to think that justice is always served through our criminal justice system. It would be naive to think that our nation is growing in moral and ethical righteousness. In fact, we live in a nation where we are too preoccupied with rights and not concerned enough with wrongs. We live in a nation where gays and lesbians insist that it is their right to have equal treatment under the law and equal opportunity for employment in every strata of society. We live in a society where reporters insist it is their right to have access to each other’s locker rooms following athletic events. We live in a society where artists insist it is their right to have unrestricted freedom of artistic expression, even if that expression borders on the pornographic. We live in a society where people who believe in prochoice insist it is their right to abort babies whenever, wherever, and for whatever reason they please. .
God warns us that when we ignore wrongs, when rights are never righteous, when freedom is unrestricted true liberty is lost and is replaced with license and licentiousness. Here we are as Christians living in a fallen society, and the call of Christ upon those of us who believe in Christ is to seek to make this society a better place. The call of Christ upon those of us who believe in Christ is to seek to make this society and this world a more righteous place, yet always understanding that ultimately the just society will come only through Jesus Christ at the consummation when our Lord Jesus Christ returns in power and great glory and the kingdoms of this world belong to Him.
“He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:3b-10). “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Do you long to see a just society?
Finally, and secondly, this word righteousness has a very different meaning. When it is applied socially, it refers to the just society; but when it is applied individually, this word righteousness refers to personal holiness. Do you long for personal holiness? Do you hunger and thirst to be sinless? Do you long to be unstained by sin and to stand holy before God?
The word sterilization in medicine and in bacteriology refers to the killing of germs. Germ killing or sterilization is necessary to stop infection and the spreading of disease. Doctors and dentists sterilize their instruments before allowing those instruments to touch the human body. Bandages are sterilized before they are packaged. Sometimes germ killing or sterilization is done through fire. Sometimes it is done through steam or heated air. Sometimes it is done through special chemicals. Many viruses, in particular the AIDS virus, can be killed, can be, sterilized by any temperature greater than 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Other viruses, so-called slow viruses, are more difficult to sterilize.
Biblically, sanctification is like sterilization. Sterilization refers to the removal of germs from the body, and sanctification refers to the removal of sin from the soul. When all sin is removed, a person is holy, a person is sanctified, sterilized, righteous. The Bible says that unless a person has been sterilized, unless a person has been sanctified, unless all sin has been removed from a person’s soul, unless that person is holy, that person will never have fellowship with the holy God and walk through the pearly gates.
You will never live in heaven, you will never have eternal life unless you are righteous, unless you have been sterilized. The problem is we all sin. We are all tainted by this disease of sin. We are all infected. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “None are righteous. No not one” (Romans 3:9). This word righteous, this word díkaia comes from the word meaning rule or law. Whenever a human being transgresses the law of God, that human being sins. In order to be righteous, you have to conform in every way to every detail of the law of God. The problem is that it is not possible. Not one of us can live in total conformity to the law of God and, thereby, earn righteousness and merit holiness.
But the law was never meant to make us holy. The law is like a plumbline. You can use a plumbline to check whether a wall is crooked or straight. The plumbline will show you that the wall is crooked, but the plumbline cannot make the wall straight. The plumbline is not meant to make the wall straight. That is how the law is. The law can show us that we are crooked. The law can show us that we are sinful. The law can show us that we are not righteous. But the law was never meant to make us righteous. It is not able to make us righteous. But if we hunger and thirst after righteousness, there is a way.
If we hunger and thirst to be holy, there is a way. The Bible says the only way is through Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He alone fulfilled the law in every thought and every action. He lived in perfect conformity to the law of God. Utterly holy, He came into our world, and He became one of us. He lived the life we were meant to live. When He went to Calvary’s cross, He took your place on the cross. He took my place on the cross. The Bible says an amazing thing, and this is the core of the gospel. If we will believe in Jesus Christ, if we will receive Him and accept Him as Lord of our life, as the Savior from sin, in that moment, we come under the umbrella of the cross. The righteousness, the holiness of the Son of God, is imputed to us; God the Father begins to view us through the holiness of His Son.
When you look through red glass, everything looks red. When you look through green glass, everything looks green. So it is when the Father looks at you through His Son Jesus Christ, you look white. You look utterly holy. This is the promise given to all who believe, to all who have faith. If you have faith enough to embrace Christ as Lord, to make a commitment to live for Christ as Lord and to trust Christ as your Savior from sin, this promise is given. You will be sterilized, sanctified, washed white as snow, every sin forgiven—past, present and future. You will have fellowship with the living God. You will enter the pearly gates, and you will have life everlasting. We want to give you that opportunity this morning to have eternal life, to be sterilized and sanctified.
Dwight David Eisenhower (and with this we will close) was one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of the United States military. He was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and later the Supreme Commander of NATO Forces. Ultimately, he became the 34th president of the United States. He was the only U.S. president to be baptized while in office. While president of the United States, he received Christian baptism by confession of faith at Washington Cathedral. The leaders of one hundred nations came to see Dwight David Eisenhower baptized. But in that moment he was baptized, he was not sterilized; he was not sanctified. In that moment he was not made holy because Dwight David Eisenhower by his own confession had believed in Christ years before. He had asked Christ to be Lord of his life and his Savior from sin years before. If his testimony is true, the moment he believed, the moment he invited Christ to be his Lord and Savior, in that moment he was washed inwardly. In that moment he was sterilized. In that moment he was sanctified. In that moment he was made holy.
You can have that moment today. You can be baptized internally today. Later you can receive water baptism as the public confession of your faith, but today you can be sanctified. Every sin can be washed away if you have faith enough, despite your doubt, to make a commitment to live your life for Jesus Christ as Lord and to trust Him as your Savior from all sin.
As we conclude this morning, we are going to give you a chance to do that. I recognize that there are many people here who do believe already. Some of you accepted Christ years ago. Some accepted Christ months ago. Perhaps you are not taking sin seriously enough in your life. Maybe you know that Christ has forgiven your sin—past, present and future. You have been sterilized and sanctified. You have been declared holy in the courtroom of heaven, and the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you. But you are not taking sin seriously now. You say, “Let grace abound. I will sin all the more.” (Romans 6:1).
If that is your attitude, Christ warns you. One day you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You will suffer loss of reward. Christ calls us to holiness. So while we are declared righteous in the courtroom of heaven as Christians, we are called to seek righteousness in our actions on earth. If you are not taking sin seriously, we want to give you an opportunity this morning to commit your life anew to Jesus Christ, to honor Him head to toe, to be His son or daughter, to have the fullness of His power and joy in your life as you live day by day.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6). Let us close in a word of prayer.