Nature of hungering and thirsting after righteousness

1. 1
The Nature of
Spiritual
HUNGER
Oyewole O. Sarumi |PhD|

2. Scriptures:
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, For they shall be filled.
Matthew 5:6
New Living Translation
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for
justice, for they will be satisfied.

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

4. Introduction
u We are examining the fourth step of
blessedness in the beatitude: ‘Blessed are
they that hunger'.
u These words are in two parts:
– A duty implied
– A promise annexed.
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5. u A duty implied: Blessed are they that
hunger'.
u Spiritual hunger is a blessed hunger.
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6. What is meant by hunger?
u Hunger is put for desire (Isaiah 26:9).
Spiritual hunger is the rational appetite
whereby the soul pants after that which it
apprehends most suitable and proportional
to itself.
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7. Whence is this hunger?
u Hunger is from the sense of want. He who
spiritually hungers, has a real sense of his
own indigence. He wants righteousness.
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8. What is meant by righteousness?
u There is a twofold righteousness:
– ….of imputation;
– ….of implantation.
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9. 1. Righteousness of Imputation,
u A righteousness of imputation is Christ's
righteousness. He shall be called the Lord
our righteousness' (Jeremiah 23:6).
u This is as truly ours to justify, as it is
Christ's to bestow.
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10. u By virtue of this righteousness God looks
upon us as if we had never sinned (Numbers
23:21).
u This is a perfect righteousness. Ye are
complete in him' (Colossians 2:10).
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11. 2. Righteousness of Implantation:
u A righteousness of implantation: that is,
inherent righteousness, namely, the graces of
the Spirit, holiness of heart and life, which
Cajetan calls universal righteousness'.
u This a pious soul hungers after. This is a
blessed hunger.
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12. u Bodily hunger cannot make a man so
miserable as spiritual hunger makes him
blessed. This evidences life.
u A dead man cannot hunger. Hunger
proceeds from life. The first thing the child
does when it is born, is to hunger after the
breast. Spiritual hunger follows upon the
new birth (1 Peter 2:2).
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13. The Appetite & Food are from
God
u 1. Check out at what a low price God sets
heavenly things. It is but hungering and
thirsting. ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters, buy without money' (Isaiah
55:1).
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14. u 2. It shows us a true character of a godly
man. He hungers and thirsts after spiritual
things (Isaiah 26:9; Psalm 73:25). A true
saint is carried upon the wing of desire. It is
the very temper and constitution of a
gracious soul to thirst after God (Psalm
42:2).
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15. Those who doesn’t hunger after
Righteousness
u That men do not have this hunger after
righteousness' appears by these seven
demonstrations:
1. They never felt any emptiness. They are full of their
own righteousness (Romans 10:3). Now the full
stomach loathes the honeycomb'. This was Laodicea's
disease. She was full and had no stomach either to
Christ's gold or eye-salve (Revelation 3:17).
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16. u 2. That men do not hunger after
righteousness appears because they can
make a shift well enough to be without it.
Grace is a commodity men never missed.
– Do they hunger after righteousness who are satisfied
without it? Nay, who desire to be excused from feeding
upon the gospel banquet (Luke 14:18). Sure he has no
appetite, who entreats to be excused from eating.
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17. u 3. It is a sign they have none of this spiritual
hunger, who desire rather sleep than food.
They are more drowsy than hungry.
– Some there are who come to the Word that they
may get a nap, to whom I may say as Christ did
to Peter, Couldest thou not watch one hour?'
(Mark 14:37).
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18. u 4. It appears that men have no spiritual
hunger because they refuse their food.
Christ and grace are offered, nay, pressed
upon them, but they put away salvation
from them as the froward child puts away
the breast (Psalm 81:11; Acts 13:46).
– Such are your fanatics and enthusiasts who put
away the blessed ordinances and pretend to
revelations.
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19. u 5. It is a sign they have none of this spiritual
hunger who delight more in the garnishing
of the dish than in food. These are they who
look more after elegance and notion in
preaching than solid matter.
– It argues either a wanton palate or a surfeited stomach
to feed on salads and fancy dishes, neglecting
wholesome food. If any man consent not to wholesome
words, he is proud, knowing nothing . .' (1 Tim. 6:3, 4).
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20. u 6. They evidence little hunger after
righteousness that prefer other things before
it, namely, their profits and recreations.
– If a boy when he should be at dinner is playing in the street, it is a
sign that he has no appetite to his meat. Were he hungry he would
not prefer his play before his food. So when men prefer vain things
which cannot profit' before the blood of Christ and the grace of the
Spirit, it is a sign they have no palate or stomach to heavenly
things.
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21. u 7. It is a sign men have no spiritual hunger
when they are more for disputes in religion
than practice.
u When men feed only on hard questions and
controversies (1 Timothy 6:3,4), they are
strangers to this text. ‘They do not hunger
and thirst after righteousness’.
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22. The Word reproves those who
hunger and thirst…
u The Word reproves them who hunger and
thirst after unrighteousness.
u Here we indict three sorts of persons:
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23. u 1. It reproves such as thirst after other
men's lands and possessions. This the
Scripture calls a mighty sin' (Amos 5:12).
Thus Ahab thirsted after Naboth's vineyard.
– This is an hungry age wherein we live. We have
a great deal of this hungering and thirsting,
which has made so many state-thieves. Men
have fleeced others to feather themselves.
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24. u 2. It reproves such as hunger and thirst after
revenge. This is a devilish thirst. Though it
were more Christian and safe to smother an
injury, yet our nature is prone to this disease
of revenge.
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25. u 3. It reproves such as hunger and thirst to
satisfy their impure lusts. Sinners are said to
sin with greediness' (Ephesians 4:19). So
Amnon was sick till he had defiled Tamar's
chastity (2 Samuel 13).
– Never does an hungry man come with more
eagerness to his food than a wicked man does
to his sin.
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26. Five Signs to know if you are
hungry and thirsty….
u Let us put ourselves upon a trial whether we
hunger and thirst after righteousness.
u There are five signs by which you may
judge of this hunger.
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27. 1. Hunger is a painful thing.
u Esau, when he was returning from hunting,
was almost dead with hunger (Genesis
25:32). Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them' (Psalm 107:5).
– So a man that hungers after righteousness is in anguish
of soul and ready to faint away for it. He finds a want
of Christ and grace. He is distressed and in pain till he
has his spiritual hunger stilled and allayed.
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28. 2. Hunger is satisfied with
nothing but food.
u Bring an hungry man flowers, music; tell
him pleasant stories; nothing will content
him but food. Shall I die for thirst?' says
Samson (Judges 15:18).
– So a man that hungers and thirsts after
righteousness says, Give me Christ or I die.
Lord, what wilt thou give me seeing I go
Christless?
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29. 3. Hunger wrestles with difficulties
and makes an adventure for food.
u We say hunger breaks through stone walls
(cf. Genesis 42:1, 2). The soul that
spiritually hungers is resolved; Christ it
must have; grace it must have.
– And to use Basil's expression, the hungry soul is almost
distracted till it enjoys the thing it hungers after.
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30. 4. An hungry man falls to his
meat with an appetite.
u You need not make an oration to an hungry
man and persuade him to eat. So he who
hungers after righteousness feeds eagerly on
an ordinance. Thy words were found, and I
did eat them' (Jeremiah 15:16).
– In the sacrament he feeds with appetite upon
the body and blood of the Lord. God loves to
see us feed hungrily on the bread of life.
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31. 5. An hungry man tastes
sweetness in his meat.
u So he that hungers after righteousness relishes
a sweetness in heavenly things. Christ is to
him all marrow, yea the quintessence of
delights. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord
is gracious' (1 Peter 2:3).
– He that spiritually hungers tastes the promises sweet, nay tastes a
reproof sweet. To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet' (Proverbs
27:7). A bitter reproof is sweet. He can feed upon the myrrh of the
gospel as well as the honey.
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32. Persuading Men to Hunger…
u To persuade men to hunger after this
righteousness, consider two things:
u 1 Unless we hunger after righteousness we cannot obtain
it. God will never throw away his blessings upon them that
do not desire them.
u 2 If we do not thirst here we shall thirst when it is too late.
If we do not thirst as David did My soul thirsteth for God'
(Psalm 42:2) we shall thirst as Richman did for a drop of
water (Luke 16:24).
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33. Some helps to spiritual hunger.
u 1. Avoid those things which will hinder
your appetite: While Israel fed with delight
upon garlic and onions, they never hungered
after manna.
– The soul cannot be carried to two extremes at once. As
the eye cannot look intent on heaven and earth at once,
so a man cannot at the same instant hunger excessively
after the world, and after righteousness!
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34. u 2. Do all that may provoke spiritual appetite.
There are two things that provoke appetite.
– Exercise: A man by walking and stirring gets a stomach to his meat.
So by the exercise of holy duties the spiritual appetite is increased. Exercise
thyself unto godliness' (1 Timothy 4:7). Many have left off closet prayer.
– Affliction. God often gives us this sauce to sharpen our hunger
after grace. Reuben found mandrakes in the field' (Genesis 30:14). Penury is
the sauce which cures the surfeit of plenty. In sickness people hunger more
after righteousness than in health.
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35. Conclusion
u The ongoing revelation of God's nature
increases our hunger for Him, and we begin
to understand why the psalmist declared,
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is
none upon earth that I desire besides You. My
flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of
my heart and my portion forever" (Ps. 73:25-26).
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36. u Can you identify with the psalmist's
sentiments? Are you one who desires
nothing on Earth besides God, who will not
be satisfied with just a taste of Him?
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37. u We must press in to know God, to
experience Him. It's not enough to have just
one touch or visitation. That would be like
surviving the rest of our lives on only one
meal!
u We need to develop a lifestyle of "tasting
and seeing that He is good.“ [Psa. 34:8]
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