Hungering

Hungering

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6).

In the first three Beatitudes we are called upon to witness the heart exercises of one who has been awakened by the Spirit of God. First, there is a sense of need, a realization of my nothingness and emptiness. Second, there is a judging of self, a consciousness of my guilt and sorrowing over my lost condition. Third, there ia an end of seeking to justify myself before God, an abandonment of all pretenses to personal merit, a taking of my place in the dust before God. Here, in the fourth, the eye of the soul is turned away from self to Another; there is a longing after that which I know I have not got, and which I am conscious I urgently need.

There has been much needlessquibbling as to the precise import of the word "righteousness" in our present text. The best way to ascertain its significance is to go back to the Old Testament scriptures where this term is used, and then turn on these the fuller light furnished by the New Testament Epistles.

"You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it" (Isaiah 45:8). The first half of this verse refers, in figurative language, to the advent of Christ to this earth, the second half to His resurrection, when He was "raised again for our justification." "Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are are from righteousness. I am bringing My righteousness near, itis not far away; and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel" (Isaiah 46:12-14). "My righteousness draws near speedily, My salvation is on the way, and My arm will bring justice to the nations." (Isaiah 51:5). "My salvation is close at hand and My righteousness will soon be revealed" (Isaiah 56:1). "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). These passages make it clear that God's righteousness is synonymous with God's salvation.

The above Scriptures are unfolded in the Epistle to the Romans where the Gospel receives its fullest exposition. In 1:16, 17, we are told "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last." In 3:22, 24 we read, "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all those who believe, for there is no difference; For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." In 5:19 the blessed declaration is made, "for as by one man's disobedience many wre made (legally constituted) sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made (legally constituted) righteous." While in 10:4, we learn, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes."

The sinner is destitute of righteousness, for "there is none righteous, no not one." God has therefore provided in Christ a perfect righteousness for each and all of His people. This righteousness, this satisfying of all the demands of God's holy law against us, was wrought out by our Substitute and Surety. This righteousness is now imputed - legally placed to the account of the believing sinner. Just as the sins of God's people were all transferred to Christ - so His righteousness is placed upon them (2 Corinthians 5:21). Such is a brief summary of the teaching of Scripture on this vital and blessed subject of "Righteousness."

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.A" Hungering and thirsting express vehement desire, of which the soul is acutely conscious. First, the Holy Spirit brings before the heart the holy requirements of God. He reveals to us His perfect standard, which He can never lower. He reminds us that "unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Second, the trembling soul, conscious of its own abject poverty, realizing his utter inability to measure up to God's requirements, sees no help in SELF. This is a painful discovery, which causes him to mourn and groan. Have you done so?

Third, the Holy Spirit now creates in the heart a deep "hungering and thirst," which causes the convicted sinner to look for relief and seek a supply outside of himself. The eye is now directed to Christ, "The Lord our Righteousness." (Jeremiah 23:6).

Like the previous ones, this attitude begins before conversion, but is perpetuated in the saved sinner. There is a repeated exercise of this grace, felt at varying intervals. The one who longed to be saved by Christ, now yearns to be made like Him. Looked at in its widest aspect, this hungering and thirsting refers to that panting of the renewed heart after God (Psalm 42:1), that yearning for a closer walk with Him, that longing for more perfect conformity to the image of His Son. It tells of those aspirations of the new nature for Divine blessing which alone can strengthen, sustain and satisfy.

"Blessed are those who DO hunger and thirst." Do you, dear reader? Or are you content with your attainments, and satisfied with your condition? Hungering and thirsting
 after righteousness has ever been the experience of God's saints. "They shall be filled." Like the first part of our text, this also has a double fulfillment - an initial and a continuous. When God creates a hunger and thirst in a soul it is that He may satisfy them. When the poor sinner is made to feel his need of Christ, it is that he may be drawn to and led to embrace Him. 

"They shall be filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with Divine blessing to which no sorrow is added. Filled with praise and thanksgiving. Filled with that which this poor world can neither give nor take away. Filled by the goodness and mercy of God, until their cup runs over. And yet, all that is enjoyed now is but a little foretaste of what God has prepared for those who love Him. In the Day to come we shall be "filled with Divine holiness, for we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). Then shall we be done with sin forever; then shall we hunger no more, neither thirst anymore" (Revelation 7:16).

~A. W. Pink~

Heaven # 4

Heaven # 4

The contemplation of the Divine glory will be associated with a beautiful feeling of dependence on the Divine character. Heaven will be a dependent state as well as earth. And the saints exalted there will cherish no proud and haughty feelings, but, as they stand around the throne, and contemplate the blessedness of God, will be sensible that their existence and their happiness depend on the power and love of their gracious Lord. Everything they posses will be recognized as proceeding from Him. Their only safety even there, will be felt to consist in the immutability of His character, and the truth of His promises.

Faith, in its sublimest exercise, as a spirit of trust and confidence in the Divine Being - will be no stranger to the mind of glorified spirits, whether men or angels. Springing out of the contemplation of Divine power, and purity, and love, and from a sense of dependence, will be the warmth of grateful affection.

God will be loved, supremely loved. The obligations to reverence, and adore, and praise Him, will be felt in their infinite extent and force. The stream of affection that flows from the Divine mind to theirs, will be returned, though comparatively but in a faint current, still will be returned as the grateful son renders the tribute of love to the father, whose heart gushes forth in streams of unutterable tenderness.

Love is the spring of active service. It does not slumber as a dormant principle in the Heaven, any more than on earth.Love ever prompts to exertion. Palpable proofs of love's sincerity will forever be manifested.

We can form no conception of Heaven more unworthy, the subject, than to suppose all this will end, and Heaven be a world of inaction. Heaven is a state of repose - yet a state of activity. The saints rest from the toils and labors of earth, they escape the storms that trouble this lower atmosphere, and disturb the ocean of human life; but they are to occupy spheres of nobler usefulness, and discharge with zeal acts of more dignified service!

What can be so delightful as to have an intimate acquaintance with the Deity, to know all that created minds can know of His nature and attributes, to bask in the sunshine of His favor, to see His uncreated glory shining forth in the mild luster of parental love, and embodying all the wonders of redemption. To see Jesus, not as the man of sorrows, but as the Son of God, combining a nature that is divine with that which is human, and thus bringing man into near relationship to the Deity; and raising him even above angels, whose nature the Eternal would never condescend to assume.

To cherish a sense of dependence upon God, allied with a feeling of perfect satisfaction, leaving no desires unfulfilled, no needs unsupplied. To have a principle of holy love burning on the altar of the heart, whose fire will be fed by perpetual communications, and fanned by the breath of the Holy Spirit - never declining, never growing dim, but always shining with luster, and glowing with warmth, never diverted from its object by conflicting affections, but always ascending upwards to God as supreme.

To be continually engaged in the service of our Heavenly Father, to join with angels in meditating on His glory, singing His praise and discharging His commands, to serve Him day and night in His temple, without weariness and without end!

Thus to behold Him, thus to rely on Him, thus to love Him, thus to serve Him - this is the summit of bliss, and the crown of glory; and this is the hope laid up for us in Heaven!

~John Stroughton~

Heaven! # 3

Heaven! # 3

We are taught in revelation to believe there is a threefold distinction in the Godhead, which, under the economy of redemption, is denominated the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We learn from Scripture to contemplate Jehovah in a threefold relationship to man: as the Father sending His only begotten Son, as the Son acting the part of the mediator between us and our offended Maker, as the Spirit sanctifying the hearts of His people. Though these special offices have an especial bearing on the present state of things, the personal distinction in the Deity must be considered as essential and eternal.

We therefore conclude that in the manifestation of the Divine glory hereafter, this mysterious distinction will be maintained. That the mediatorial office of Jesus Christ as now exercised, will not continue after the resurrection - that His peculiar government as now carried on will expire, we are taught by the apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians: "Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father."

The Saviour now, as the High Priest, within the veil, making intercession for His people, is the object of contemplation to the saints in a separate state. In the actual description of such an office, we are led to believe He will not appear to the view of the redeemed after the resurrection. His work will be complete. No mediator between sinners and an offended Maker will be any longer necessary; the glories of Jehovah will shine with a fatherly luster on the hearts of the redeemed and "God shall be all in all."

But still we are warranted to expect that, in the display of the Divine glory, Immanuel, as the great agent of redemption, as the Saviour of His people, will be distinctly presented to their view. They will "see Jesus." For this He prayed in the days of the flesh: "Father, I will that those who You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."

The chief vision of Deity, perhaps, will ever be the vision of the glory of Christ; upon Him, as the Redeemer of the lost, the saints will love to meditate. All their happiness, they will ascribe to Him. As they gaze on the glories of their eternal habitation, and eat of the fruit of life, and drink of the streams which make glad the city of God, as they enjoy converse with angels, and each other, as they advance in knowledge, and purity, and joy, and become more and more assimilated to the Divine image - they will attribute all to the blood of the Lamb.

The greatness of the work of redemption, its suitableness to display the Divine character and glory, its bearings on other ranks of beings beside men, its consequences flowing through the ages of eternity - will, no doubt, be unfolded to the minds of the redeemed. Fresh accessions of knowledge on this vast and interesting subject will perpetually be gained.

As an object of contemplation it will never tire, but shine fresh and ever-varying aspects of beauty. As a theme of praise, it will never lose its interest, but call forth forever the energy of perfect intellect, and the admiration of perfect love. But in thinking of Christ, let us never forget that, amidst all His Diving glory, He will ever be regarded, admired, and loved as our Divine Friend. Our Friend here - our Friend in Heaven - our Friend forevermore.

It is said of the intermediate life, "present with the Lord;" of the resurrection, "so shall we be ever with the Lord." Nothing helps us to think of Heaven, as does this revelation of the person, society, and friendship of Jesus there. We have many friends on earth - but none like Jesus. We will have many friends in Heaven - but none like Jesus. And we should say that there will be no other there, who will attract such reverent curiosity; to whom we shall be so irresistibly drawn, around whom we shall so eagerly gather, from whom we shall derive such knowledge, whose smile will give such joy.

~John Stoughton~

(continued with # 4)

Heaven # 2

Heaven # 2

We presume in Heaven we shall love and delight in some more than others. Special sympathies will link certain souls together. There are men described in the Bible, and in Church history, to whom our affections are peculiarly drawn forth. And why may not their society be ought hereafter above that of others? Is it idle speculation to suppose that fellowship with them may receive the highest zest, from the gratification of curiosity respecting their manner of life, opinions, achievements, trials, and history?

And will not those who have been friends here, be friends there? It is true that "they neither marry nor are given in marriage;" but these words of Christ plainly refer simply to the matrimonial bonds hereafter between those who have sustained the relationship on earth.

I see no reason why those who have been dearest friends on earth should not, when admitted to that happy state, continue to be so, with full knowledge and recollection of their former friendship. If a man is still to continue a social being, and capable of friendship, it seems contrary to all probability, that he should cast off of forget his former friends, who are partakers with him of the same exaltation. He will be changed, and so will they -

"That so before the judgment seat,
Though changed and glorified each face,
Not unremembered we may meet
For endless ages to embrace!"

There are some whom we fully expect to meet in heaven, who have been our fellow-laborers and sufferers in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. What a joy it will be to recognize those dear ones. There are some whom we hope to meet, though at present they give no signs which are decisive of their having the new life of the Spirit of God; but we look for the answer to our prayers, and the crown of our labors when we are gone, in their salvation and union with us in Life's realm of light - and what a joy it will be to meet them there!

There are others, respecting whom we have little or ho hope at all, who are living earthly, sordid, sensual lives, who seem to be rejecting holy influence; but, when the grass shall have grown some summers, and the winds whistled some winters over our grave - a sermon may strike them, a book arrest them a thought penetrate them, and awaken remembrances of truths they now labor to forget - they may turn to God after all. What joy to recognize them hereafter! to find them by our side - to say "And are you here? Thank God, indeed."

To meet in Heaven with friends and relatives who have gone before us, or who may be left behind us; to embrace some on the shores of immortality, like mariners escaped from shipwreck; to meet such as were part of ourselves, our children; "No traveler lost - a family in heaven" - this speaks to the deepest sensibilities of human nature; this brings before us an element of bliss enshrined among our dearest hopes.

The circulation of feelings that constitute on earth the soul of domestic happiness, and the secret of intimate friendship, is sometimes injurious in its influence by drawing away the heart from God. The lovely gourd under whose shadow we repose, may hide from us the beams of the Son of Righteousness. The friends with whom we take sweet counsel, may occasion us to forget our resting place. Sympathy and love may prove a snare. But in Heaven the affections will be balanced. Friends will be loved, but not supremely. God will be the chief object of regard, and gratitude, and praise: "Oh glorious state and coming time, wherein all evil shall be done away, and all good perfected! when the intensity of human affection shall no longer interfere with the bright serenity of holy love, but both be conjoined in one inexplicable bond! where myriads shall be loved as now we love our friends, and friends be loved as now we ought to love our God; and God be loved and admired and worshiped, and understood and delighted in, with a reverence and a rapture, an affinity and a comprehension, with human sentiment purified, and divine capacity superadded, more than ever saints conceived - more than ever angels knew!"

In the Bible the manifestation of the Divine presence and glory is exhibited as the mainspring of celestial bliss. The psalmist in contemplating the subject exclaims, "In Your presence is fullness of joy, and at Your right hand pleasures for evermore!" Paul represents the glory of God as the principal object of the believer's hope. Of the manner in which the Divine Being will reveal Himself to the saints after the resurrection, it is impossible to conceive. Doubtless there will be methods of communication employed suited to their perfect nature, methods at once spiritual, distinct, and impressive. Is it not reasonable to suppose that, introduced to the immediate presence of God - imperfections of the Divine glory will be received, such as even the Bible could never impart? May not the apostle have had this thought in his mind when he says, "We shall know, even as we are known!" And did not John entertain a kindred idea when he employed the astonishing expression, "We shall see Him as He is!"

~John Stoughton~

(continued with # 3)

Heaven! # 1

Heaven! # 1

Heaven is represented in the New Testament as a social state. Jesus speaks of it as His Father's house, where there "are many mansions." Paul alludes to "the family of Heaven," and to "the innumerable company, the spirits of the just made perfect, and the assembly of the church of the first-born." John brings before us an immense multitude, redeemed out of every nation, kindred, people, and tongue; constituting, with the angelic hosts, the community of the skies.

Man is formed for social life. Unfitted for the solitude of the desert - his energies expand, his character improves, his joys are multiplied and heightened in society. The distinguishing principles of human nature will no doubt be preserved in Heaven, and social tendencies will there find perpetual and undisturbed sources of gratification.

Some people conceive of Heaven as the furthest possible removed from earth - as affording a contrast to it in every respect. But does not the Scripture revelation of the future, under all kinds of images drawn from the present life, rather lead us to believe, that hereafter our condition will resemble what it is now, so far as that can be consistently with perfect holiness and perfect bliss? Is not this, too, most in harmony with the beautiful belief, that the eternal life of the Christian is one only spent in different worlds and under different conditions? Is it not also most rational and probable in itself? And certainly it is a view most calculated to interest our minds, and to attach our thoughts to the subject.

Some have a habit of representing Heaven in a way which, though they may think it very grand and sublime, is very uninviting to human creatures. Vast as must be the difference, in many respects, between the glorified condition of the saints and everything they have experienced here - yet I doubt whether there may not be more resemblance between the two states - the earthly and the heavenly - then some suppose.

Sins and infirmities will, of course, be excluded from the better world - the enjoyments and perfections of sincere Christians will be immensely heightened - but, if we look on the brightest and purest spots of human nature, and human life as it is here, we may be led to form, I think, reasonable conjectures as to some things that will be hereafter.

The society of Heaven will comprehend at least the myriads of the redeemed. All the excellent of the earth will form one family. Bearing in mind the intellectual and moral nature of the redeemed in glory, we see at once that the fellowship of Heaven must be perfect. How sublime and holy will be their converse, wedded to each other in the ties of an indissoluble affection; and freed from those trifling and frivolous affairs which here obtain and even require so much attention, and bring so much annoyance. In Heaven, no obstruction to the enjoyment of friendship will arise from dissimilarity of views or from petulance of temper. Angry controversies can never disturb harmony, nor can indifference try love, nor can suspicion shake confidence.

Extensive as the community will be, no one in his excursions through those happy regions, will ever meet an individual whose heart will not be the mirror of his own holy heart, and whose feelings will not flow in the same direction.

Man here on earth, may be alone in society, cut off from communion when surrounded by a multitude, through his alienation from all their tastes and habits. But there, in whatever circle the redeemed saint may move, whether conversing with fellow-creatures or with angels, he will find them friends and brethren, engaged in kindred employments, and embued with the same spirit.

Looking at what seems an indestructible principle in our social nature - that is, the strong affinity we feel to some in preference to others - we cannot but think there will be special friendships formed and enjoyed hereafter. Surely, in that world of innumerale inhabitants, every one will not be known and loved alike. The idea of a sort of perfected socialism hereafter - a cosmopolitan kind of existence, in which all fellow-beings will seem the same to each - a society on the basis of an indistinguishing universal philanthropy, is certainly very repellant, even to the most loving hearts and the best of men in the present world. And we see no ground for it, either in reason or in Scripture.

~John Stoughton~

(continued with # 2)