“Heavenly Happiness” GVCC Annual Retreat

Matthew 5
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, June 25, 1995
Copyright © 1995, P. G. Mathew

Introduction:

Our problem is our self. It is demanding. It wants to be worshipped and adored. Our self says, “Say nice things about me.” That’s the problem, isn’t it? It is unyielding and unbending. John Newton called himself a “wretch,” but I think that is too nice a word. Isn’t that the problem? Paul said, Consider yourselves to be dead (Romans 6:11). It is supposed to be dead, but it is very alive. It wants to be massaged and cared for and worshipped and adored. It cannot take a slight from anybody.

So we say, “It is me, it is me, it is me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” You see? It is so bad. Every day we are sinners, saved by grace, but there is that hideous self. It is unbending. It is a wretchedness that is still in us. Paul speaks about it in the seventh chapter of Romans and asks, “Who will deliver me?” So we are dragging around this wretched thing, you know. It is in us and it comes out like a viper, ready to strike, whenever I am not worshipped or smiled at. Self thinks it is the king to be obeyed, worshipped and adored.

Heavenly Father, we pray that you help us this morning to learn what it means to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Heavenly Father, have mercy upon us. We are very conscious of our sinfulness, of our wanting to be king. This wretchedness is still with us, O God. Help us to be very conscious of it, that we may take all possible measures against such self-affirmation, that we may worship your Son Jesus Christ, the true King of kings and Lord of lords. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Heavenly Happiness

Now, we want to cover the subject of “Heavenly Happiness,” otherwise known as hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Turn to Matthew 5, where you find the beatitudes. It is good to read the first two verses: “Now when he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him. . .” It is important to note first that this sermon is not primarily addressed to unbelievers. It is primarily addressed to disciples. That is a key to understanding of the Sermon on the Mount. So it says “And he began to teach them” – that is, the disciples – and then we are given nine beatitudes. We’ll be speaking from verse 6, but we want to set the context. So let’s look at these first few beatitudes.

First Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in spirit, for they will see God.” Now how can we become pure in spirit? It is impossible for an unbeliever on his own to become pure in spirit, because that means the elimination of sin. It is impossible for a sinner to make himself pure. God sent his Son Jesus Christ to do that work. But the first beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” They are spiritually poor.

The unbeliever is rich spiritually. He has no need for Jesus Christ. He is righteous. He is rich. Therefore, he refuses to come to Jesus Christ. He is like the Pharisee who parades his righteousness before God. But the truth is that we are poor, and therefore, Christ who was rich became poor that we might be made rich in him. So we must be poor in spirit. We must realize that spiritual need, like the publican who would not even look up to heaven. He beat his breast and said, Have mercy upon me, a sinner. He who does that is spiritually poor.

God sends the rich away empty-handed (Luke 1:35). The rich will receive nothing from God, but God blesses the poor and makes them rich and full. Spiritual poverty is the attitude of a disciple in whom God has taken the initiative to work salvation into. Without God taking that initiative, we will not recognize our poverty. Thank God that he has taken that initiative and that we sense our spiritual poverty!

“Blessed are those who mourn.” Those who mourn are mourning because of sin. They mourn. They are not arrogant. They are not proud. They are not displaying their strength. They are weeping as they begin to realize their own sinfulness. You see? Let me say again, unless God works in our life, we will not see our own sinfulness. We will see the sinfulness of everybody else. But the problem, whether it is the preacher or somebody else, is that we are sinners. And that arrogant sinfulness is reprehensible in the sight of God. It is so odious in the presence of God.

When we come under the influence of the Spirit of God, what do we begin to do? Mourn, as though somebody died. We mourn, as we see our rottenness, our self-assertion, our pretension that we are kings, when, in fact, we are sinners. May God help us to discover our sin and weep before God, that God may forgive us!

“Blessed are the meek.” The meek are those who are under authority. The meek person is that person who realizes that God is almighty, and that therefore he is a creature, a finite sinful creature, who must stand under God’s sovereignty and authority. That’s what meekness is. The Bible says Moses was the meekest person who ever lived – except one time (in Numbers 20 he became arrogant and failed to sanctify God in the presence of the people). Meekness is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as the Spirit of God makes us realize that we are not the King of kings and Lord of lords. We are finite creatures created to serve the only true God. So meekness is having the attitude of a servant.

Then we are told, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled,” and this will be our text. So as we study this scripture, we must understand two things about this section of scripture: first, it is addressed to disciples; and second, these attitudes cannot be our attitudes unless God has taken the initiative to work these things into us.

Divine Benediction

My first point about heavenly happiness is the divine benediction. In Greek, the first word in each beatitude is makarioi, which means blessed. Now that word means “a pronouncement of blessing.” In her Magnificat the mother of our Lord Jesus said, “‘From now on all generations will call me blessed.'” It is the same word. So it is not that I call myself blessed, but it has to be a pronouncement upon me by someone else. It is someone recognizing the fact that you have come into this state of blessedness.

For example, I am sure the people in the world would say that President Clinton is a blessed man, because he has the top job in the entire world. Or think of somebody who finally got an Olympic medal. I am sure that people would say that this person is a blessed person, that he arrived at a state of blessedness as the world defines it. But you cannot go around and pronounce yourself to be blessed, you know. It doesn’t mean anything unless someone else says it.

But in this verse we are speaking about divine benediction. It is not people calling you blessed. It is God pronouncing this benediction upon certain people. St. Peter refers to this in 1 Peter 4:14, where he says this: “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are” – what? “blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Of course, the world will not call you blessed. They have an incapacity to recognize this high state of blessing. Their eyes are blinded. They may mock you. They may persecute you. They would say, You are the most flunkiest people in the world. But when they insult you and persecute you, you are blessed, because it is simply the truth that because you are blessed by God, the world will do this. So whenever the world insults you and hates you, you must understand that we are blessed. And not only that, you understand the “Spirit of glory and of God is resting upon you.” Oh, that’s a wonderful condition to be in, brothers and sisters. So this is not speaking of the people of the world pronouncing blessing. It is our God pronouncing benediction upon a certain people.

This is different from our definition of a blessed and a good life – the life of a person who “made it.” If someone has several homes and several cars, we say he has arrived and is living a good life. But God’s blessing has nothing to do with such a definition. Here is a divine benediction that proceeds from the mouth of God, coming to certain people and resting upon them. God says, “Happy are you,” not in an emotional sense only, but in the divine sense. The pinnacle of happiness, the highest possible definition you can give to happiness is in this word “blessed.” It is a condition of pure pleasure as defined by God.

The people of this world go after the pleasures of sin for a season, but God’s happiness is pure pleasure that lasts forever and ever. It is the condition of greatest joy and greatest possible inner happiness which arises from our fellowship with God. Man was created to fellowship with God, and in Genesis 3 we read that God came down in the cool of the day to fellowship with Adam. That was life. That was the good life. That was blessedness. That was joy inexpressible, and it continued until sin came into the world.

This blessing, this happiness, is the exact opposite of being cursed. If you want to know what being blessed is, find out what being cursed is. Cursed are people who are sent away, disfellowshipped, and cast away from God. That’s what hell is all about. Hell contains cursed people who are prevented from this beatific vision, from experiencing this highest possible joy a human being can experience.

Turn with me to Matthew 25:21. PGM Here we see a man who doubled his talents. He was given five and he traded them and got ten. Listen to what Jesus says in verse 21: “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.'” And then he says, “‘Come and share your master’s happiness.'” Look at verse 34: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of my Father. Take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'” This, then, is pure ecstasy, pure divine happiness. It is all prepared. It is all made ready. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and it is all made ready for you. In fact, we have already entered into it, and in a measure those who love God are now experiencing it.

Teenagers, don’t look for the excitement this world offers, like Asian dogs looking for fecal matter. I have seen such dogs. They don’t have any owners, and what do they eat? They eat fecal matter. That is what I see among people who have no understanding. They go after the pleasures for a season, looking for that fecal matter. But if you are born of God, you’ve been ushered into the kingdom of God, and even now you are experiencing something – a foretaste of this divine happiness prepared for you from the creation of the world. Think about that!

In Numbers 6 we are given the Aaronic benediction. “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Tell Aaron and his sons this is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”‘” Let me tell you, this benediction is the turning of God’s face toward you and his fellowshipping with you. Sin separated you from God but our Savior brought us near. Nearer we cannot be, now that his face is turned in favor toward us.

Oh, this is the amazing fellowship the three Persons of the Trinity experience. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word was with God – pros ton theon -means that the second Person was in fellowship with the Father. The Holy Spirit is also in fellowship with the Father and the Son. There is tremendous fellowship and love within the three Persons in one Godhead.

Now, I don’t know whether you understand anything of what I am trying to say about this happiness. Joy is not in things. People think that joy is in things and therefore you work hard and make more money so you can have more things. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 5:10. It says, “Whoever loves money never has money enough.” Did you find that out? Are you finding that out? It’s an amazing statement right here. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. There are only two gods. One is the true living God and the other is money, mammon. So herein Ecclesiastes we read this: “Whoever loves money never has money enough,” and then we are told, “Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” Finally it says, “This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them.” In other words, as goods increase, consumption increases. It is an abyss, a bottomless abyss. There is no satisfaction. There is no happiness. It is chasing the rainbow. That’s what it says.

But praise God! Our God has done something about our sin and so we are brought nearer to God. His face is shining toward us, smiling. He says, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” This is pure, genuine happiness.

This happiness is what we are created for – not to look for the fecal matter of consumer goods, and work harder and harder to get them. Let me give an illustration. Here sits a man who is pretty good, I am told, in his field. He could go and make a lot of money somewhere else if he wants to. But he loves God, and he said, You know, this job I have here probably doesn’t give much money. But he chose on his own to stay. Isn’t that true? Why. Life is more than making a lot of money. And we have another man who was offered over $120,000 to work for one company, but he on his own chose to work for $60,000 or $70,000 with another company to stay in this area. The reason is his interest in God.

Life is not consumer goods. May God help us to realize that. It is not getting a lot of consumer goods. Life is personal relationship, first and foremost with Almighty God, that his face may be turned toward us, and that he looks upon us with favor and love. And secondarily, life is relationship with one another. That is what it is all about.

Divine Demand

The second point we want to speak about is the divine demand. There is a demand put upon us in Matthew 5:6. What is that demand? We are told to hunger and thirst. It is a present active participle, meaning it is an ongoing, continuous hungering and thirsting. We see this in normal human life. We hunger and thirst every day, isn’t that true? We hunger and thirst for physical provision. And so also we are told that to hunger and thirst for spiritual provision. It is an ongoing process. It is not something that is satisfied in an instant. And it is not just a superficial hunger. This is deep, long hunger which cannot be satisfied with anything other than God himself.

I don’t know whether we have such hunger this morning. I just don’t know. I think many of us will be satisfied with a nice car. Many of us will be satisfied with some goods. Or we say, You know, life would be so happy if I could have a good sexual life in my marriage. Can you counsel me on this? I am sure we have to do a few things, but then my life will be – what? Very happy. Or we say, I will be very happy if only I could get a ticket so I could travel to some other part of the world.

So, I don’t know whether we are characterized by the hunger that Jesus Christ is speaking about in this sermon. Now, hunger is a sign of health, isn’t it? When your kid is hungry, you are happy. Why? Well, maybe you saw the kid when he was sick and didn’t want to eat anything. But now he is hungry, and that means he is fine. It means he is healthy. In the same way, whenever we see this kind of spiritual hungering and thirsting in the lives of people, then you don’t worry about their spiritual health.

I don’t know whether we are hungry like that. That happens when God pours out his Holy Spirit and causes the scales on our eyes to fall off, so that we may not be deceived by the illusions of this world, and we can begin to see God. Notice in Matthew 13:11, there is revelation of the fact that the stone is not just a stone, but what? It is a treasure hidden in the field. God has hidden this knowledge from the wise and prudent, and it is revealed to the infants. The wise and prudent only see the cosmos and things and money. But God has his own chosen people, his elect, and he causes the scales to fall from their eyes and gives them understanding into the real thing, which is God and his kingdom. If you are one of his elect, all of a sudden you are no longer hungry for all these other things. There comes a hunger and a desire and a thirst and a search for the things of God, and you do anything and everything to satisfy it.

In Luke 14:33 Jesus said, “‘In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.'” Everything! Everything! That’s hunger. And you will give up everything. Why? Because you have been given understanding into the real treasure. It will be the easiest thing in the world to give up everything. Abraham was told by the God of glory, “Get out of this country and leave your kindred and your father’s house.” And Abraham said, “Okay. Where do you want me to go?” And he went. It’s very simple, isn’t it? Moses’s eyes were opened as to what was real, and he “refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” He forsook everything. He got out.

Don’t call these people fools. They are the wisest people in the world. Fools are those who worship the creation, bowing down before it and working their hardest to make money so they can get more goods and experience more pleasures for a season. Christians are not fools. They are given revelation and understanding of the truth. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked. And Peter said, “‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'” Then Jesus said, “Flesh and blood did not tell you this. My Father revealed this to you.” So these people have hunger – hunger and thirst that cannot be satisfied by anything this world has to offer.

What does it mean to hunger? Oh, there is hunger for provision. We experience that every day. You know, a little infant will cry and cry and cry. You could show him a video, but he will still cry. Isn’t that true? You could tell him stories, but he will still cry. But if you give him milk, he will be happy. Nothing will satisfy the infant unless he is given that provision of milk.

There is hunger for position. Isn’t that true? People have goals, and they work hard for the attainment of them. People like that are inspirational to everybody else. They are disciplined. They have a goal and they focus upon it. They continually go toward it and make every kind of sacrifice to attain it.

There is a hunger for people. Suppose you fall in love. You make any kind of sacrifice to be with the other person. You may not have money to go to a big restaurant, but even McDonald’s will be sufficient as long as you are together. The issue is not food or drink. It is fellowship with that person. This is a real hunger. If your girlfriend is in Los Angeles, you will drive every weekend – to go where? To Los Angeles.

So we understand what it means to sacrifice, to hunger and to thirst. This is not some superficial little hunger. This is deep hunger. This is the type of hunger Jesus Christ experienced when he fasted for forty days. The Bible says he hungered. This is serious hunger. This is serious thirst that nothing in this world can satisfy. This is sustained hunger and sustained thirst. You experience great pain when you have that kind of hunger.

Look at the Song of Solomon, chapter 5, and let me read to you from verse 2: “I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: ‘Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.’ I have taken off my robe – must I put it on again? I have washed my feet – must I soil them again? My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him. I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock. I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart had gone out to him when he spoke. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls! O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you – if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.” I am faint with love.

Now, I don’t think that woman could be satisfied by the watchmen on the wall, or by anyone else. No one could satisfy this beloved except the lover of her soul. That is the type of hunger and thirst we are talking about.

Turn to Psalm 42, and let’s read a few verses. It says, “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?” Notice, this man is not hungering for money, or consumer goods, or even for other personal relationships. Here is a man who is hungering for God! It says “of the sons of Korah.” You know what happened to Korah (Numbers 16). But his sons were spared, and the sons of Korah are saved now. They are hungering and thirsting, and nothing in the world can satisfy them but God! They pray, “When can I come to you, O God?”

We ought to be ashamed of ourselves, because our hunger and thirst is so often conditioned by the things of this world. We need to “turn your eyes upon Jesus . . . and the things of this world will grow strangely dim,” but that requires revival. That requires the Holy Spirit coming upon us and causing the scales on the eyes of our understanding to fall. Our eyes need to opened and we need to begin to see and ask, ” When can I come to you, O God?” That is the hunger and thirst we are talking about.

Turn to Psalm 63, verse 1: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you. . .” The psalmist begins to feel pain in his own physical being! In verse 5 he says, “My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” In other words, he is not left longing and hungering and thirsting. He says, I will be satisfied with the richest of foods. And what is that food that satisfies? It is God himself. He said that. It is a longing for God.

Look at Deuteronomy 4:29. I believe this scripture inspired Daniel and his fellow believers in their captivity. What does it say? “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” And I am sure Daniel read this verse. He realized that because of the sin of the people, he had to go into captivity and suffer. Nevertheless, he said, I will seek him from this far place of Babylonia, and God will come to my aid. You see, this is the hunger for God.

Let me tell you, nothing else will satisfy this hunger and thirst. If you see a man hungering and thirsting after righteousness and you give him anything else in the world, what will he say? It is nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing! He is impatient with it. He will not be fascinated with it. The classic example is the temptation of Jesus Christ. He was offered everything this world could offer. What did he say? No deal. He said, it is written, it is written, it is written. He said, what I want is to fellowship with God. Isn’t that true? That was what he meant. To accept Satan’s offers would have cut off his fellowship with God. And he said, I understand that fellowship is the greatest blessing, the greatest benediction. So he easily, effortlessly, said what? No deal. When I see that attitude in a person, when I know that person is really hungering and thirsting after righteousness, then I know that that person is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Do you understand that?

Turn to Psalm 73:25. Here we read: “Whom have I in heaven but you?” You see, he said that because of a revelation. When you read the psalm, you see that initially he was envious and jealous. Why? Because the unbelievers were prospering. They were healthy. They were prosperous. They didn’t have any problems at all. And he almost said, “I am seeking God in vain.”

May God help us to be delivered from such myopia! No one will hunger and thirst unless the Holy Spirit does his work in us. But as this man went into the temple, he was given tremendous revelation into the kingdom of God, into ultimate reality, into the happiness that was prepared for him from the creation of the world. And then he said, Whom have I in heaven but you? And being with you, I desire nothing on earth. Now, “being with you” means fellowship with God. That means God’s face is turned toward us. “Being with you” – in love and relationship and fellowship. No sin coming between us. “Being with you,” enjoying this spiritual intimacy and fellowship. “Being with you!” What did he say? “And being with you, I desire nothing on earth.” I desire nothing on earth!

Oh, the people of this world would say, “Well, to be with God he said goodbye to $125,000 and got a $65,000 job. Let’s applaud him. Hey, let’s give him a hand.” Forget about that! He doesn’t need the hand. “Being with you I desire” – that word is delight. It means something that gives you great excitement. It is a word of emotion. In other words, that which gives me the greatest excitement is what? Being with you. “Being with you, I desire nothing on earth.” Hallelujah!

Oh, this has nothing to do with money and things and consumer goods. This is speaking about relationship with God. Are you understanding me? Yes, Jesus said, “Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these?” And what are these? They could be the rest of the disciples. They could be the fish. It could be your life in Galilee, being surrounded by familiar sights and people. “Do you love me more than these?” More than the earth? More than any other relationship? More than the fish? More than the boat? More than the location? More than anything else? Do you love me? That’s what discipleship is. Do you love me?

More than these. That is the question. Ask that question of yourselves. Ask, Do I love Jesus Christ more than these? He will not be satisfied with a love relationship in which you love him less than these. The first commandment is that you must love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Look at what St. Paul said in Philippians 3:10: “I want to know Christ.” He wrote this from a dungeon. It was cold and miserable. He was probably chained to soldiers. He was a Roman citizen. He was highborn and highly educated. He was probably pampered by his parents and had always experienced the best the world could offer. But here from the dungeon he said, I have one ambition. That’s all I have. What is that ambition? “I want to know Christ.” That means personal relationship. “I want to know Christ.” That is not just reading the Bible. “I want to know Christ.”

You know, there is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. Here is Paul saying, “This is my ambition: I want to know Christ.” Well, didn’t you meet him on the road to Damascus? “Oh, yes. Yes, I fell in love with him at that time, but I want to go on knowing all of him.” Here was a man who was an accomplished, successful man – an educated, high-born, Roman citizen. And if you asked him, “What do you want? What do you want, man?” he would say, “I want to know one thing. I want to know Christ, who apprehended me. I want to know him.” Oh, there is greater and greater and greater knowledge that we have not yet attained, and it will take all eternity. Even then we shall not attain. No creature shall attain the totality of who Christ is, but there shall be an increase of knowledge. That is love. So, like Paul, we have one ambition.

Divine Definition

The third point is divine definition. In other words, God has given a definition as to what you should hunger and thirst after. God understands what your greatest lack is. We don’t understand. We think our greatest lack is money, houses, things, the cosmos. God says, I will give you the definition of that which you hunger and thirst after, because I understand what you lack. Without this you cannot enjoy this.

So what is it? Look at soil number three. Remember soil number three? Oh, riches and pleasures came in and choked the seed. I am sure these so-called Christians thought, “What we really need is pleasure. What we really need is more money. Riches and pleasures.” Oh, that is diversion. We have to be very careful to be Christ-focused, because there are so many distractions, which are temptations that are directed against your soul. And all of a sudden after three kids we are only interested in the pursuit of pleasure and riches and maybe a little more money. What happened to you, brother? What happened, sister? You were running well. What happened? Somewhere along the line you took your attention away from Christ and you began to focus on something else.

Look at Mrs. Lot. She lived with Mr. Lot, isn’t that true? She knew judgment was going to fall. The angels had come. It was happening. Sulfur and the fire were coming down on the world. But she said, No deal. That’s amazing. And we are told by Jesus himself to watch out for that type of mentality. She turned back because her heart was in Sodom. You see, we turn to where our heart is, in that direction, and “she became a pillar of salt.”

Look at Esau. He had the birthright, which is the kingdom of God, but he easily sold it for a cup of soup. We need to watch out, brothers and sisters. It can happen. We are always tempted, especially after two kids. We are always tempted. You see, we think, “What more is there now? We had the two kids. And now let’s get the things and all that. Let’s begin to live a little – just enjoy ourselves some. We don’t have to change diapers or take care of all these things anymore – the PTA meetings and taking the kids there and taking them here. We couldn’t get out before, you know, but now we have arrived. Let’s begin to do something.” You see? And we easily sell the kingdom of God for a cup of soup, for this world’s pleasure.

Do you remember Demas? He appears three times in the New Testament – in the book of Colossians, in the letter of Philemon, and in 2 Timothy. Colossians 4:14 says, “Demas sends greetings.” There are no qualifying adjectives, such as “great” Demas, or “good” Demas, or “faithful” Demas. It simply says, “Demas sends greetings.” In Philemon 24 we are told about Demas and others who are “my fellow workers.” So we have the idea that Demas was not just a believer in a church, but that he was a minister of the word of God, of the kingdom of God. He preached about its fascination and about its ultimate reality. He was one of Paul’s fellow workers. But look at 2 Timothy 4:10. Here we are told, “Demas, having loved this present world. . .” Here is a description of Demas. You see, he had been preaching about the kingdom of God, about the coming age, which had already penetrated into this world through Jesus Christ, and how its full manifestation is still coming. That message is “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” and he was preaching it. But something happened to him, and Paul says that he “deserted me.” He abandoned him. Oh, but he didn’t just abandon Paul. What did he abandon? The kingdom of God. He abandoned God. And then the reason is given: “having loved this present age,” even though he was preaching for many years the glories of the coming age. If that can happen to a minister like Demas, it can happen to us. So please center your focus on Jesus Christ.

God himself gives definition for your hunger because he knows what you are lacking. You lack righteousness. Your problem is sin – its guilt, its pollution, its power, its presence. Sin separates you from God. It prevents you from enjoying this pinnacle of divine ecstasy.

So God says, What you hunger for is righteousness. It is not the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, who thought they were righteous and looked down upon everybody else. That attitude is reprehensible and odious in the sight of God. It’s pure nonsense and arrogance. You and I are affected by it, and we all occasionally indulge in it. Our self-righteousness stinks in the presence of God. When people glory in their health, in their wealth, in their position, in their grades, in their power, in their achievement, in their accomplishments, as though they did it without God, it stinks. The truth is, we did all that by common grace.

And so the righteousness we hunger for is not self-righteousness. Our problem is sin, and all our righteousness is like what? Filthy rags. Would you bring that before Almighty God? So he says our big problem is what lack of true righteousness. And I want you to hunger and thirst for it, because without it, you cannot enjoy the blessing, the happiness, of the Master.

As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, this not only speaking about justification. That is part of it, but it is also speaking about sanctification. It is also speaking about the absolute removal of sin from us. May God help us to look upon sin the way God looks on it, so that we will do everything to get rid of it.

Of course, this righteousness is a gift. No one, by hungering and thirsting, can attain to it. After all the hungering and after all the thirsting, we have to simply lift our hands toward God. Why? To receive the free righteousness of Jesus Christ. And this is what happens in justification. God imputes Christ’s righteousness, his irreproachable righteousness, into us. That is wonderful! Not only that, he also works in us in such a way that he deals with the penalty of sin, the power of sin, the pollution of sin, and even the presence of sin. It is God’s divine purpose to deal with every vestige of sin in us, isn’t that true? That’s wonderful. That’s the precondition for the beatific vision for this pinnacle of divine happiness.

So, God is going to do it, and he is doing it. Look at this man. I enjoy listening to his prayers. Something is happening to this man, and other people, also. They love God. What is happening is that God is taking care of our hunger and thirst by giving us righteousness, by sanctifying us. Righteousness is a condition in which one can enjoy fellowship with God. This is pure heavenly happiness. This is divine ecstasy, and God says you have to have this!

Divine Guarantee

The fourth point is the divine guarantee. What does God guarantee? “‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.'” That’s a divine guarantee. Isn’t that wonderful? This is not chasing the rainbow. Even now God has given us a foretaste of it. Hallelujah! The engagement ring is already on my hand, and the wedding feast is coming. Isn’t that wonderful? It is here, man. The day is coming when there will be a wedding feast. “‘They shall be filled.'”

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” You know, I used to hear my father getting up early, and as he prayed, he would speak and praise and laugh. He was having fun. Why? He was having fellowship with God. There is a fun – a God-intended, God-designed, God-created fun. In 1 Peter 2:1 it says, “Like newborn babes, desire” – what? “the sincere milk of the word.” What is it? It is experiencing God, tasting and seeing him. Have such a thirst! Desire it!

When Jesus Christ went through Samaria, he sat on the well and met with this woman and offered himself. He said, Drink. Drink from what I give to you. Look at John 4:10. “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew. . .'” – if you knew. That’s revelation, isn’t it? You cannot arrive at that on your own. God’s revelation causes the misunderstanding scales of our eyes to drop. “‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'” Look at verse 13: “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.'” My father is with the Lord, and he told me, “Don’t go after money.” Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water [this world] will thirst again.” My father didn’t even have much money, but he said, “I know that. You’ll sell your soul if you go after money.” But Jesus said, “‘Whoever drinks the water I give,'” which is himself, “‘will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'” In John 7:37-38 Jesus said, “‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'” That’s being filled, isn’t it? Such people are happy people. They are not downcast. They are not looking at the world, like the writer of Psalm 73 and like Demas. They are not complaining and murmuring, saying, “Well, I served God in vain. I shouldn’t have started in this way at all.”

The true Christian is filled to overflowing with divine happiness, with the gift God has for you. And what is that gift? It is God himself. We are used to getting a wrapped gift and opening it up and looking at it. And we don’t care about our father, but we want his gift. We are focused on the gift. So we open it up and start playing with it. But here God says, “I have a gift for you. It is myself.” Praise you, O God!

Turn to Isaiah 65. There we see a grand revelation of what is going to happen and what is beginning to happen. God is going to make a distinction between those who love him and those who hate him; between those who worship the true and living God, and those who worship the cosmos, the creation, the idols. Beginning with verse 13, we are told: “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘My servants will eat'” and that’s a metaphor for this glorious fellowship with God – “‘My servants will eat, but you will go hungry.'” You see, this is the time for hungering and thirsting. “‘My servants will eat but you will go hungry.'” This is the eschatological banquet. This is the wedding feast. This is what we are destined for. Notice, he says, “my servants.” They are not the arrogant. They are not the self-asserting. They are the meek and the poor in spirit. They are the ones who mourn. They are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness. God says, They are “my servants,” those who acknowledge the lordship of God, and delight in hearing and doing what the Lord says. My servants.

Jesus Christ was the Servant par excellence, and we ought to be imitating him. “‘My servants will eat.'” That’s divine guarantee, “‘but you will go hungry; my servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit. You will leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse.'” This is amazing, isn’t it?

From the beginning God has created for us this divine guarantee, that we will be filled. Filled with what? Filled with righteousness! Filled with God! Look at 1 Peter 1:5-8. Here you see people who were experiencing great trials and troubles and problems, “who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” That is the grand eschatological celebration. Verse 6: “In this you greatly rejoice.” Now, these are people who never saw Jesus Christ. These are saints scattered all over, who heard the gospel, and who were regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And here Peter says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief and all kinds of troubles.”

Look at verse 8: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are” – what? “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” He is speaking about our life now. Can you imagine what our joy will be when we see him face to face? It is inexpressible now! I don’t know what word we will use when we get to heaven. Words fail to describe this divine happiness.

Turn to John14, beginning with verse 20: “‘On that day you will realize'” – now listen to this – “‘that I am in my Father and you are in me, and I am in you.'” That is being filled, isn’t it? It is disappointing for many people, because he is not talking about things. He is speaking about personal relationship, which in turn produces such indescribable divine joy. “‘On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.'” That’s something that’s happening now.

You know, when we are shown a brand-new car and given the keys, and someone says, “This is a gift,” what happens? There is some excitement, isn’t there? It is exactly what you wanted. Someone found that out by secret research, and finally they gave it to us, and this is the revelation. Oh, what joy! But that is not what is Jesus is speaking about here. He is speaking about God showing himself to us.

Moses wanted to see God, but he didn’t get to see anything except the back part. But Jesus is saying, “‘I too will love him and show myself to him.'” That will be the thrill of our souls. It is what we are created for – to see him! And he will show himself to us in such a way that will thrill every fiber of our being. We will be filled to overflowing. You cannot see God and have certain parts not filled. That’s why it said, “Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” And if certain parts of your life are not filled, you had better look to him again.

Verse 23 says: “‘If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him and we will come to him'” – that is, Father, Son and the Holy Ghost, “‘and make our home with him.'” Now I don’t know exactly what all that means, but let me tell you, it is the highest possible experience we can have, and it will keep you in joy indescribable and inexpressible.

Isn’t that wonderful? In John 15:11 Jesus says this: “‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full.'” That’s what a Christian is – filled to overflowing. He is continually thirsting and continually being filled to overflowing. No wonder Christians are the light of the world. They are not the depressed of the world. They are the light of the world.

Do you want this divine happiness? Make up your mind. It is greater than your relationship with your children. It is greater than your relationship with your husband, with your wife, or with other friends. It is infinitely greater. This is divine happiness, for which we are created. Satan seduced our first parents and turned them away from realizing it, but God’s will will be done. He has a church, and that church is experiencing it.

So if you want this divine happiness, here are some points for practical application:

You must stop every known sin that you are indulging in. That is the first step you must take. Sin is simply an attraction of this world. It is a deception. You are sinning because there is pleasure in it, but it is fool’s gold. It is foolishness. It turns you away from the path of joy. So the first thing I say to you is to stop at immediately. This includes dealing with your hideous self, that filthy, arrogant, touchy thing. You know what I am talking about – that touchy thing, that “sensitive” nature. I’ve been a pastor for a long time, and I hear this, “You know, I am very sensitive.” Why don’t you just die? Then it will go away. I haven’t seen any corpses “feeling” great.
Stop all activity that dulls you spiritually. There are certain things which are not sins in themselves, but they don’t do anything beneficial for you, spiritually. Suppose you watch the O. J. Simpson trial every day. Unless you are interested in law, how does it benefit you? Let’s acknowledge that we spend so much time on things like that. These things don’t edify you. I don’t think God is going to give you an examination as to how that trial went. So you need to stop activities which don’t contribute anything spiritually, and actually may make you somewhat dull.
Be where righteousness is found. Place yourself there. There are certain places righteousness can be found. Look at blind Bartimaeus. He heard that Jesus Christ was coming a certain way and he asked people to place him in that way. When he began to hear the noise of the crowd, he started crying out, ” Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me!” The crowd said, “Shut up!” but this man was hungering and thirsting, and nobody could quench it. No one could shut him down, and he cried all the more. And Jesus stopped and called him, and he was taken care of instantly. So you need to place yourself where righteousness can be found. Or look at Zacchaeus in Luke 19. I am sure he was a rich man and so he would eat. He was probably heavy and short. But there was a hunger created within him by God himself and when he heard that Jesus Christ was coming, he began to run ahead of all the people so he could climb the sycamore-fig tree. Now wouldn’t it be strange to see this heavy-set, short, older man wearing all his loose clothes, running and climbing a tree? Why did he do that? He was expressing hunger and thirst. That’s what it is. And Jesus stopped right by the tree and said, “‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.'” And now, because there is revelation, all of a sudden Zacchaeus was quite ready to give up everything. What did he say? “‘Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor'” – he just gave it away. And “‘if I have cheated anybody out of anything I will pay [him] back'” how many times? Four times. I am sure that would have wiped him out. But he discovered the treasure, the pearl of great price. Once you get that revelation, you will be so ready to give up everything that hinders you. So, the third point is to place yourself where righteousness is. Go to church. If that is where the gospel is preached, be there. Be wherever you can be, where God is proclaimed and declared and appreciated and enjoyed. Be there. The greatest party on earth is when the saints of God get together to fellowship.
Be with people who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Make up your mind with whom you really want to fellowship. Don’t fellowship with those who are not there or here. They are wishy-washy. They are the Demases of the world. They have one leg in the kingdom and the other in the world. They haven’t made up their minds yet. They will never help you. Make up your mind to fellowship with people who are talking about spiritual things. “Iron sharpeneth iron.”
Read the Bible. Turn off that television stupidity, and get into the Bible. Begin to read it. Desire earnestly the sincere milk of the word, like an infant that hungers for it. You don’t have to have so many books on how to raise kids. The one book you need is to get into the Bible. It will tell you what to do. I am tired of people saying, “Teach me how to raise kids,” when they don’t want to love God enough to seek him who may have something to say to you about how to take care of your kids. Read the Bible! Get to know Christ, the Lover of our souls. He is found there. That is what the Book is for.
Pray earnestly. Pray with a passion, as this man does. When he prays, there is a passion about him. You don’t hear him praying in a sleepy manner. Why can’t you pray with passion? To do so means you have to believe in the Almighty God who is there to hear our prayers.
Read biographies of God’s saints. Check with the Banner of Truth trust or other such publishing houses. They produce these things, because nobody else wants to sell them. Read about how people in the history of the church loved God and gave themselves to God; how they prayed to God, three, four and five hours at a time; how they read the Bible and experienced in a measure this inexpressible joy. No one is going to pray or read the word of God unless that person experiences something within his soul, isn’t that true?

Do these things, and you will experience divine happiness. Do these things, so that one day God will say concerning you, “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'” Satan tried to do whatever he could to keep us out, but it didn’t work. God’s sovereign purpose did work, and is working. He wants to give us himself, until our every fiber and every molecule in our being is saturated with the inexpressible joy of God, of which Jesus said is, “My joy.” “My joy may be in you and your joy shall be full.”

God wants us to get rid of our self – that hideous, demanding, wretched self. He sent his Son to solve that problem. You cannot do it yourself, but he sent his Son. He did everything to take care of it. And so let us ask God to forgive us all our sins. He has something for us. As he said to the Samaritan woman, “If only you knew the gift of God” – the gift of God. And for those who are enlightened by God, it is easy to forsake all, including that stubbornness and that touchy, sensitive self that is always looking for a massage and benediction from everybody but God. Let’s do it today!

Heavenly Father, we pray that you forgive us all our sins. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Enable us, O Lord, today by faith to by faith to think of your Son, who became incarnate. He who was rich became poor, that we might become rich – rich in fellowship with God. May we think of his death on the cross, of his burial and his resurrection. May we think of him who is seated on the right hand of God the Father, ruling and reigning. He is the Sovereign Lord. Not even a molecule in his cosmos is outside of his control. He rules and he reigns, and he is coming again to make war with those who will not submit to him. But he is coming again to save us and to lead us into that full, inexpressible joy. Thank you, Lord, for forgiving all our sins and making us worthy to partake of your body and blood. In Jesus’ name. Amen.