0200-1 God Father

MATTHEW 5:1-12
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation al-
so make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor.10:13).

d. The meek have peaceful souls. They carry whatever pressure and tension comes their way to Christ, and He
relieves it all.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt.11:28-30).

2. The earth is theirs eternally, that is, the new heavens and earth. An inheritance of eternal life and dominion is prom-
ised them, for they are joint-heirs with Christ.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if child-
ren, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we
may be also glorified together” (Ro.8:16-17).
“That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life”
(Tit.3:7).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mer-
cy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1
Pt.1:3-4; cp. 2 Pt.3:10-13).
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away” (Rev.21:1).

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(5:6) Hunger and Thirst: to have a starving spirit. It is real hunger and starvation of soul. It is a parched and dying
thirst. It is a starving spirit and a parched soul that craves after righteousness. But there is something more: righteous-
ness means all righteousness. The true believer is starved and parched for all righteousness. This is shown by the Greek, for
the verbs hunger and thirst are usually in what is called the Greek genitive case. This simply means that a person sometimes
feels a little hunger and a little thirst; therefore, he hungers and thirsts for a bit of something, for example, an apple or a glass
of juice. But in the beatitude, hunger and thirst are in the accusative case. This is most unusual. It means a hunger and a thirst
for the whole thing—for all righteousness, not for little tid-bits. This is significant: it means that the promise of a filled life is
conditional. A person must starve and thirst for all righteousness if he wishes to be filled with the fulness of life. Note several
significant points.
1. Who is blessed? The person who hungers and thirsts to be righteous and to do righteousness. To do righteousness is
not enough. To be righteous is not enough. Both are essestial in order to be blessed (see DEEPER STUDY # 5—Mt.5:6).

Thought 1. Many want just bits and pieces of righteousness—just enough to make them comfortable.

2. There are those who stress being righteous and neglect doing righteousness. This leads to two serious errors.
a. The error of false security. It causes a person to stress that he is saved and acceptable to God because he
has believed in Jesus Christ. But he neglects doing good. He does not live as he should, obeying God and
serving man.
b. The error of loose living. It allows a person to go out and do what he desires. He feels secure and
comfortable in his faith in Christ. He knows that wrong behavior may affect his fellowship with God and
other believers, but he thinks his behavior does not affect his salvation and acceptance with God.
The problem with this stress is that it is a false righteousness. Righteousness in the Bible means being righteous and doing
righteousness. The Bible knows nothing about being righteous without living righteously.
3. There are those who stress doing righteousness and neglect being righteous. This also leads to two serious errors.
a. The error of self-righteousness and legalism. It causes a person to stress that he is saved and acceptable to God
because he does good. He works, behaves morally, keeps certain rules and regulations, does the things a Chris-
tian should do, and obeys the main laws of God. But he neglects the basic law: the law of love and accep-
tance—that God loves him and accepts him not because he does good, but because he loves and trusts the righ-
teousness of Christ (see DEEPER STUDY # 5—Mt.5:6).
b. The error of being judgmental and censorious. A person who stresses that he is righteous (acceptable to God)
because he keeps certain laws often judges and censors others. He feels that rules and regulations can be kept
because he keeps them. Therefore, anyone who fails to keep them is judged, criticized, and censored.
The problem with this stress is that it, too, is a false righteousness. Again, righteousness in the Bible is both being righ-
teous and doing righteousness. The Bible knows nothing of being acceptable to God without being made righteous in Christ
Jesus (see DEEPER STUDY # 5—Mt.5:6; cp. 2 Cor.5:21. See DEEPER STUDY # 1,2—Ro.4:22 for more discussion.)
4. The answer to righteousness is not what most men think when they think of righteousness. When most men think of
righteousness, they think of doing good—doing good deeds, good works, and helping their fellow man. As man walks
through life, he faces appeal after appeal for help, and he helps. And he feels comfortable with himself because he has helped.
He feels his good deeds make him acceptable and righteous before God. But the Bible is not saying that men never do good;
it is saying that men are not righteous—not perfectly righteous within their hearts (see DEEPER STUDY # 5—Mt.5:6).
5. Christ does not say, “Blessed are the righteous,” for no one is righteous (Ro.3:10). He says, “Blessed are they who
hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Man is not righteous, not perfectly righteous. His chance to be righteous is gone. He
has already come short and missed the mark. He is already imperfect. Man has but one hope: that God will love him so much
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