In Elaine's offertory medley, you heard, I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender. That indeed is the desire that describes one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. We consider that beatitude, Matthew 5, verse 6, this morning, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. And in connection with that, we read from James chapter 2, beginning at verse 14 through verse 26. James 2. Hear now the Word of God, beginning at verse 14 of James chapter 2. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. if one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and well fed. But does nothing about his physical needs. What good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. May God add His blessing this morning to the reading and consideration of His Word. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, this past week I met a gentleman. His name is John. I'm not making it up. It really is John. Common name. And in the course of our conversation, it didn't take long and it became clear to me that he is a Christian. And it was clear by his demeanor. It was clear by the things that he did. The way he acted. it was clear by the things that he said for example he couldn't keep from talking about his last 34 years of life a little over half of his life from the time that he had been converted by the grace of God he couldn't keep from talking about what God had done for him what Jesus Christ had done for him not only in his salvation but throughout those 34 years he couldn't keep from talking about how his life had changed he couldn't keep from talking about that joy that is his still today. And as well, what was so amazing to him as he recounted his story to me was that within a week of his conversion, not only did his thoughts and his actions and his language change, but he noticed that the language and the jokes and the actions of his co-workers changed when they were around him. Now, he was not taking credit for this. He was praising God for this. But indeed, his new faith being demonstrated was clearly visible. This man is a visible example of the kingdom character that Jesus says will belong to the kingdom citizen by the grace of God. And especially hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The kingdom citizen, the believer, is one who is justified by faith. And therefore, he is one who has the confidence that because of the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, he has the confidence that all of his sins are forgiven and that he is in, right now at this very moment, He is in a right relationship with God that God sees him for the sake of Christ's righteousness and accepts him, will hear him as he prays, cares for him and loves him all and only because of Jesus Christ. That's a fact that is true of the believer right this moment. But therefore, as a kingdom citizen, as Jesus is teaching us, He is one then who is poor in spirit as he recognizes the righteousness of Jesus Christ by which he is acceptable to God. He also then recognizes why he needs that righteousness. He recognizes his own sinfulness. He is poor in spirit as we considered. Spiritually bankrupt before God. He knows that he has nothing with which to plead for God's favor, to earn it, to request it. And he mourns. He mourns because of sin, especially his own sin, and because he knows how that offends God, the sin that he still struggles with, and he is meek. He trusts God in all circumstances of life, and by the grace of God, demonstrates that trust in God, that dependence on God in all things. And all of these kingdom characteristics that we have considered so far, they are a part of a transformed heart. They are a part of new life of faith in Jesus Christ, and they then also lead to this beatitude which is before us this morning. This beatitude which we might say is a test for every believer. A test, as it were, of a true heart transformation. This beatitude is concerned with the believer's expression of the Christian life. Each one of us who truly believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is to possess this, will possess this kingdom craving. Every person who graciously is brought to faith in Jesus Christ experiences an amazing change. Paul says it is a change from death to life. Indeed, amazing. And conversion, we know, with repentance and faith includes a new way of thinking, a new way of feeling, a new way of willing, a spiritual U-turn, as it were. Solomon in Proverbs 16, verse 17 says, "...the highway of the upright turns aside from evil." Notice, he doesn't say it runs alongside of evil. It turns aside, away from evil. The road of new life in Jesus Christ follows a powerful craving. And Jesus describes, first of all, its character. And He describes it with an analogy that we can all understand. Even the boys and girls here this morning, the young ones, can understand this analogy. Analogy as he talks about a fundamental and physical need of hungering and thirsting. We can identify, can't we boys and girls, with being hungry and being thirsty? Because we can identify with food and drink for the bodies. We can identify with growling stomachs and dry mouths. Yet I suspect that very few of us, except for maybe a few of us who I know lived in the Netherlands and especially at the time of World War II when food was scarce and maybe went for a few days without a bite to eat or at least without anything substantive. Except for maybe you, I suspect that very few of us can really identify with the kind of hunger and thirst even physically that Jesus is talking about here. He's talking about a hunger and thirst, a craving that is so intense, it is so deep, it continues until it is satisfied. It hurts. It is painful. like an achy stomach from a lack of food. It is a craving so intense as if one's very life depends on having that craving, the object of that craving, having it satisfied as if one cannot live without it. It's a craving so deep that one is reduced to, for example, if they get lost up in the mountains and their food and drink runs out and they go for a few days and they become reduced to eating bugs or whatever they can find that might provide some satisfaction. It's the kind of craving that it's all that you can think about. It controls you. It drives one to pursue the object of that craving. Maybe some other comparisons that would help us if you've never truly been physically hungry in that way is the hunger and thirst that one might have for a job, a position. You've trained for it. you've submitted your resume, you've interviewed for it, and you're just waiting. And you need it. That's all you can think about. Or young people, you've tried out for the team, you've tried out for the choir, the musical, and you really want to be in it. That's all you can think about. Or getting into a certain college. Or if you've ever been separated for a time from one you love. Like a long distance dating relationship. and you just can't get your mind off of that One. You hunger and thirst to be with that One. Again, whatever that craving might be for, it's not content. It is so intense and it is not content until that hunger and thirst is satisfied. We have an illustration from the psalmist in Psalm 42. As the deer pants for streams of water, as if there is no water and the deer is looking for it and life depends on it. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? The psalmist, for whatever reason, had been separated from Jerusalem, from the temple where God dwelt with His presence. Maybe he was being carried off to captivity far away. At the last possible vantage point, He's looking back and he gets one last glimpse of the mountains of Jerusalem and knows that that's where God's presence is. And he is separated from God's presence and knows that his life depends on that presence with God and he desires it so intently. And that's the kind of intense desire that Jesus is talking about. But also we are to understand as he describes this character, it describes an ongoing need. Now, with physical hunger and thirst, our appetites come back every day for the boys and girls, sometimes several times a day. I am hungry. We just had lunch. But I'm hungry. I'm going to die. See, we know that that satisfaction that food gives is temporary. It goes away after a while. And the craving returns. And this is where the analogy with physical food and physical hunger and thirst breaks down because more than that, Jesus is talking about a hunger and thirst that never goes away as you and I are in this life. It's always there for the child of God. And not only that, it always increases. It becomes greater. Now, this is not a bad craving like some sort of an ungodly discontentment, but it's a good craving, especially as it grows. It is good because of its content in the second place. That content is righteousness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Who desire to surrender all. Now what is Jesus talking about here when He's talking about righteousness? Now I happen to agree with those who say that Jesus most likely is not talking here in this instance about His perfect righteousness. Many commentators want to include that and we'll see that it has a part to be sure. But I think he is not talking about his perfect righteousness, that righteousness that is imputed. It is freely credited to you and me, to our account before God. It is credited to us through justification by faith. That righteousness which is the only basis upon which God accepts us. That usage is common with Paul, especially in the book of Romans. When He talks about righteousness, He's talking about it most often in the context of justification. But Jesus is talking here to believers. He's talking to kingdom citizens. He's talking to those who already are justified by faith. Those who are right with God because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And when He says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, I believe He is talking here about the righteousness of sanctification, that which is produced in the believer by the Holy Spirit. And I believe that, for example, because in Matthew's Gospel, especially here in the Sermon on the Mount, the righteousness, when that word righteousness is used, it refers to that actual kind of righteousness that expresses itself in thoughts, in words, and actions. Jesus teaches. It is a righteousness that will draw persecution. Chapter 5, verse 10. Therefore, it is seen by those who do the persecuting. It is a righteousness, he says in 5, verse 20, that is to surpass the righteousness of the scribes, of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. It is a righteousness, he makes clear in chapter 6, verse 1, that will be demonstrated. Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. And also in chapter 6, verse 33, it is a righteousness that is to be sought. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Notice Jesus does not say, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for happiness, as most of the world does, or for success, or for possessions. No. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. and all these things will be added unto you. Yet it is also a righteousness, you see, that cannot and will not exist apart from the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is ours in justification. Instead, it is evidence of having true faith as James says, faith without works is dead. It is evidence of new life in Jesus Christ by faith we know that the believer is given confidence of a new standing a new status before God in justification he says not guilty you were guilty but now you're not guilty because of Jesus Christ yet it doesn't end there for you and me that new life that regeneration being born again that new life includes the fact that the blinders are removed from you and me that new life includes a proper and a clear vision that not only of Christ's perfect righteousness which I need but also then of my sinful condition the reason that I need Christ's righteousness and therefore that new life like Paul says like Paul now I want to do good but I don't often I still do what's evil but the believer wants to. The believer craves this righteousness from inside out. To be righteous before God out of gratitude for all that He has done through Jesus Christ. To be in our very being the very way that God sees us in Christ. That's the believer's heart's desire. To be free from the practice of sin. The believer knows as we sing that the power of canceled sin is broken. It's broken. And the believer knows, as Paul teaches in Romans 6, that he is no longer a slave to it. Yet, the struggle is still there. We do sin. And the kingdom citizen desires to be free from the pollution of sin. Boys and girls, pollution is gross. It messes up whatever it touches. Sin has a pollution that messes up our very being and that pollution causes me to desire sin. That pollution not only affects my actions and the words that are produced from me, but it also affects my thoughts. It affects what's inside. The sad truth is we do sometimes desire the sinful path of coveting or lust or revenge and at times give in even if in subtle ways. Yet this kingdom craving for righteousness, this new desire that we are given by the grace of God causes an internal struggle so that the kingdom citizen actually fights sin empowered by the Holy Spirit and fights its desire and not only craves righteousness of heart and mind, but also craves to demonstrate, to exercise, to practice righteousness. The kingdom citizen longs to be positively holy. He desires wisdom for godly living, as Reverend Overman beautifully reminded us last week Sunday. The craving includes that the child of God delights in God's law as a rule of gratitude. That is his rule for holy living. He craves that which is pleasing to God from the heart. Not like the Pharisees. It must exceed the Pharisees. Pharisees didn't care. They were just doing things to check them off their list. But the kingdom citizen craves from the heart that which is pleasing to God, which means then striving. Striving in life to live as a child of God, being devoted to His will, actively obeying Him in our relationships and in our work ethic, in our worship, in our thoughts and words and actions in all of life. I surrender all. The kingdom citizen desires to offer that life, as Paul says, as a living sacrifice to God, which is holy and acceptable to Him, and the only kind that is, is a righteous life. That's the believer's desire, following the pattern of Jesus Christ. Remember, His righteousness makes us right with God, and therefore there is no better pattern to follow. And we are given that pattern as well in Scripture. For example, we see there his positive obedience to God. We see his kindness and his compassion displayed to others. We see his reaction to his enemies. You see, the more that the kingdom citizen understands his righteousness before God and his acceptance with God only because of Jesus Christ, then the more intense, you see, it's called growth by the Holy Spirit. and the more intense then is his hunger and thirst for righteousness to be righteous before God you see the more that the believer is satisfied with Jesus Christ what I mean is the more he understands what he has in Christ Jesus the less as he looks at himself the less he is satisfied with himself especially as he sins and falls short of the glory of God Yet even then, it is Christ's righteousness alone that keeps the kingdom's citizen from discouragement and hopelessness. And the Holy Spirit drives the child of God to a more intense hungering and thirsting for righteousness, to be righteous from a sincere heart, to be righteous in life, to practice it. And therefore, having the confidence of our Lord's Word concerning its completion in the third place or its accomplishment. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. They're using that food analogy. They're going to be fed. Not just a snack, but a full course meal. They're going to be filled up. There's no more room. They will be satisfied. And its completion, beloved, is by grace alone. Kingdom citizens hunger and thirst for righteousness throughout this life because they are not yet righteous. They do not yet have it in all of its fullness and completion. And you and I can't make ourselves that way. Jesus says they will be filled. It's passive. It's something that is done to them. They will be made righteous by the grace of God alone. And it is guaranteed. Paul says in Romans chapter 8, In those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified. Now, what we have there is an abbreviated list of what we call the order of salvation. And it doesn't include every step as we normally list them in our Reformed theology. It doesn't say sanctification, but it's there. Those whom God justifies, the Holy Spirit is busy sanctifying. Cleansing. That's the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. Delivering more and more from the pollution and the power of sin. More and more renewing you and I in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in preparation for our glorification in heaven. You see, we live with a beautiful promise. That promise is in Philippians 1, verse 6. Being confident of this, Paul says, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. That completion is by grace alone. It is guaranteed and it is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. You see, beloved, sanctification is an ongoing process. Once He starts, He never stops, not even for a moment. The Holy Spirit is working in us and with us because we have been given those new desires and He is the one who strengthens and encourages and helps us to more and more put off the old nature with its sinful desires and to put on the new man, to practice what we read in Colossians 3. That is the way of life. Putting off the old man. Putting on the new man. That is the way of life for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. We have to admit that from our perspective, the progress may seem slow at times. It does for me. Maybe it does for you. But even though it may be slow, or seem like it's slow to you and me, the Holy Spirit blesses you and I to see that progress in our lives. Even if it's to help us see it in a negative sort of way. In the sense that the more that I recognize my sin, the more that I hate it, the more I am sorry for it, the more I desire to flee from it. That's progress. But He also blesses us to see it in a positive sense. That those things that we used to give in to before, He now gives us strength to resist. And beloved, that's the promise of God that whatever vices, whatever besetting sins, whatever sinful habits you may have, whatever you may be struggling with to that end, the Holy Spirit promises to strengthen and to help you to overcome it and to replace it with righteousness. Just ask, He says. You see, it's a part of working out, living out our salvation, as Paul says in Philippians 2. He says, Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. You cannot fail in the end because it is God who is doing it. You see, and in this way, in all of these things then, the Holy Spirit increases our hunger and thirst for righteousness. The more He cleanses and renews us, the more that we desire it because we can see, He opens our eyes more and more to see that we have a long way to go. But He works powerfully helping us to know if we truly are hungering and thirsting. How can you know? You see, on the one hand, the kingdom citizen finds absolutely no satisfaction in himself or herself before God. Because his eyes are open to see the need for the righteousness, the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. The child of God, again, is poor in spirit and knows that he or she is spiritually bankrupt. And that one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness then, negatively speaking, we might say, avoids, strives to avoid anything that opposes true righteousness. Now, the world promotes unrighteousness. We could talk about this for days. It's before our eyes, wherever we look, it's out there. The temptation is there, And sadly, sometimes we do give in to that temptation. The believer, by the illumination of the Spirit, is to have his eyes open, to be discerning, to seek wisdom. Beloved, we know. We know what is opposed to God and His righteousness in this life. Even the children know what is bad, what is sinful. We know the difference between what is right and what is wrong in the sight of God. And those who hunger and thirst for righteousness strive empowered by the Holy Spirit to avoid that which promotes unrighteousness and to promote that which dulls our spiritual appetite like a late snack before it ruins a good meal. Hobbies, for example, that are not sinful in themselves, but somehow seem to take up more and more of our time and energy and dull our spiritual appetite. Or the fact that we're not shocked anymore. We've talked about this before. We're not shocked by the language that we hear on the television or out on the street. We're not shocked by the visible demonstrations of homosexuality or adultery. Living in sin? But the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness desires to be shocked. And positively speaking, seeks that which promotes and encourages me toward righteousness. And the means that the Holy Spirit uses like godly friends or worship with God's people under the word preached, God has promised through the means of grace, through the preaching of His word and the partaking of the sacraments to nourish our faith, to strengthen us in our faith, to encourage us in our walk with the Lord in our Christian life. And those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, beloved, desire that preaching of the Word with God's people. And they avoid skipping it at all costs. And those who hunger and thirst for it also seek being in God's Word regularly and constantly. Isn't it true that we always seem to find time for the things that we crave? Isn't it true that we always seem to find time or make time for the things that we desire most? What is it that you crave? The Holy Spirit gives us confidence, you see, that though we will never be completely filled, though we will never be perfectly righteous in this life, He will complete it as He ushers us into the glory of heaven. In Revelation chapter 7, we read about the great multitude whose robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb. And it says there, never again will they hunger and thirst. God's people look forward to that day when we will never again hunger and thirst because it means it will be complete. And that's our confidence because Jesus Christ has promised in Ephesians 6 to make her holy, His bride, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word and to present her to Himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Those who trust in Christ alone by faith enjoy His perfect righteousness in the sight of God. They have hope of eternal salvation only because of His righteousness. Those who do not trust Him do not have that hope. But it is real for all who humble themselves before Him. And those who have it by the grace of God are empowered by the Holy Spirit out of gratitude to hunger and thirst to be wholly righteous in their very being inside and out. And that hunger and thirst for righteousness is the believer's driving force for life on this side of glory. At all times, in all things, it is evidence of true faith in Jesus Christ. Beloved, what do you crave most? We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. And though our best works in this life are stained with sin, yet our comfort is that we will stand before God one day because of His work in us, not as we are in ourselves today, not still hungering and thirsting because of a lack, but in Christ Jesus, we will be made perfectly righteous to live in God's holy presence with Him forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we do thank You for the blessed gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and for that new life that desires to be like Him and also for your gift of the Holy Spirit who is busy and active renewing your people each one of us little by little, day by day molding and making us after your will and Father we thank you that you've given to us the promise too that we will be cleansed that one day in Your presence not only will we look where You see us in Christ Jesus, but we will be as You see us, perfectly righteous in Him because of Your blessed work. Father, help us in this life. As we walk day by day, there are so many influences and temptations out there. We pray for the strength that only You can give. That indeed in all that we think and say and do, we would honor and serve you more and more day by day, rejoicing in your work so powerful in our hearts and lives. Father, thank you for hearing our prayer. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.