Chapter 13

Matthew 5:6: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Describing the nature of spiritual hunger.

We are now come to the fourth step of blessedness: Blessed are they that hunger. The words fall into two parts.

First, a duty implied: Blessed are they that hunger. Spiritual hunger is a blessed hunger.

Question 1: What is meant by hunger?

Answer: Hunger is put for desire (Isaiah 26:9). Spiritual hunger is the rational appetite whereby the soul pants after that which it apprehends most suitable and proportionable to itself.

Question 2: From where is this hunger?

Answer: Hunger is from a sense of want; he who spiritually hungers has a real sense of his own indigence — he wants righteousness.

Question 3: What is meant by righteousness?

Answer: There is a twofold righteousness.

First, of imputation. Second, of implantation.

First, a righteousness of imputation, that is, Christ's righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6: He shall be called the Lord our righteousness. This is as truly ours to justify as it is Christ's to bestow. By virtue of this righteousness God looks upon us as if we had never sinned (Numbers 23:21). This is a perfect righteousness (Colossians 2:10): You are complete in him. This does not only cover, but adorn. He who has this righteousness is equal to the most illustrious saints; the weakest believer is justified as much as the strongest. This is a Christian's triumph: when he is defiled in himself, he is undefiled in his head. In this blessed righteousness we shine brighter than the angels. This righteousness is worth hungering after.

Second, a righteousness of implantation; that is, inherent righteousness — the graces of the Spirit; holiness of heart and life, which Cajetan calls universal righteousness. This a pious soul hungers after.

This is a blessed hunger; bodily hunger cannot make a man so miserable as spiritual hunger makes him blessed. This evidences life; a dead man cannot hunger; hunger proceeds from life. The first thing the child does when it is born is to hunger after the breast. Spiritual hunger follows upon the new birth (1 Peter 2:2). Bernard in one of his Soliloquies comforts himself with this: that surely he had the truth of grace in him, because he had in his heart a strong desire after God. It is happy when, though we do not have what we should, we desire what we have not. The appetite is as much from God as the food.

The inferences drawn from the proposition.

Use 1. See here at what a low price God sets heavenly things; it is but hungering and thirsting. Isaiah 55:1: Everyone that thirsts, come to the waters; buy without money. We are not bid to bring any merits, as the papists would; nor to bring a sum of money to purchase righteousness. All that is required is to bring an appetite. Christ has fulfilled all righteousness; we are only to hunger and thirst after righteousness. This is equitable and reasonable. God requires not rivers of oil, but sighs and tears; the invitation of the gospel is free. If a friend invites guests to his table, he does not expect them to bring money to pay for their dinner; only come with an appetite. So says God: It is not penance, pilgrimage, or self-righteousness I require; only bring a stomach — hunger and thirst after righteousness. God might have set Christ and salvation at a higher price; but he has much beaten down the price. Now as this shows the sweetness of God's nature — he is not a hard master — so it shows the inexcusableness of those who perish under the gospel. What apology can any man make at the day of judgment, when God shall ask: Friend, why did you not embrace Christ? I set Christ and grace at a low rate; if you had but hungered after righteousness, you might have had it, but you slighted Christ. You had such low thoughts of righteousness that you would not hunger after it. How do you think to escape who have neglected so great salvation? The easier the terms of the gospel are, the sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy of who unworthily refuse such an offer.

Second, it shows us a true character of a godly man — he hungers and thirsts after spiritual things. Isaiah 26:9; Psalm 73:25. A true saint is carried upon the wing of desire; it is the very constitution of a gracious soul to thirst after God. Psalm 42:2. In the word preached, now he is full of desire; these are some of the pantings of his soul: Lord, you have led me into your courts; let me have your sweet presence, that your glory may fill the temple! This is your limning house; will you draw some sacred lineaments of grace upon my soul, that I may be more assimilated and changed into the likeness of my dear Savior? In prayer, how is the soul filled with passionate longings after Christ! Prayer is expressed by groans unutterable (Romans 8:26). The heart sends up whole volleys of sighs to heaven: Lord, one beam of your love, one drop of your blood!

Containing a reprehension of such as do not hunger after righteousness.

Use 2. It reproves such as have none of this spiritual hunger; they have no ardent desires; the edge of their affections is blunted. Honey is not sweet to those who are sick of a fever and have their tongues embittered with bile. So those who are soul-sick, and in the gall of bitterness, find no sweetness in God or religion. Sin tastes sweeter to them; they have no spiritual hunger. That men have not this hunger after righteousness appears by these seven demonstrations.

First, they never felt any emptiness; they are full of their own righteousness (Romans 10:3). Now the full stomach loathes the honeycomb. This was Laodicea's disease; she was full, and had no appetite for Christ's gold or eye salve (Revelation 3:17). When men are filled with pride, this flatulent disorder hinders holy longings, as when the stomach is full of wind, it spoils the appetite. None are so empty of grace as those who think they are full; he has most need of righteousness who least feels he needs it.

Second, that men do not hunger after righteousness appears because they can manage well enough without it. If they have oil in the cruse, with the world coming in, they are well content. Grace is a commodity that is least missed. You shall hear men complain they want health, they want trade, but never complain they want righteousness. If men miss a meal or two, they think themselves half undone; but they can stay away from ordinances, which are the conduits of grace. Do they hunger after righteousness, who are satisfied without it? And who desire to be excused from feeding upon the gospel-banquet? Surely he has no appetite who begs to be excused from eating (Luke 14:18).

Third, it is a sign they have none of this spiritual hunger, who desire rather sleep than food; they are more drowsy than hungry. Some there are who come to the word that they may get a nap, to whom I may say as Christ did to Peter (Mark 14:37): Could you not watch one hour? It is strange to see a man asleep at his meal. Others there are who have a deep sleep fallen upon them; they are asleep in security, and they hate a soul-awakening ministry. While they sleep, their damnation slumbers not (1 Peter 2:3).

Fourth, it appears men have no spiritual hunger, because they refuse their food. Christ and grace are offered, indeed pressed upon them, but they put away salvation from them, as the froward child pushes away the breast (Psalm 81:11; Acts 13:46). Such are the fanatics and enthusiasts who put away the blessed ordinances and pretend to revelations. That is a strange revelation, that tells a man he may live without food. These prefer husks before manna; they live upon airy notions, being fed by the prince of the air.

Fifth, it is a sign they have none of this spiritual hunger, who delight more in the garnishing of the dish than in the food. These are they who look more after elegance and novelty in preaching than solid matter. It argues either a wanton palate or a surfeited stomach to feed on salads and trifles, neglecting wholesome food. 1 Timothy 6:3-4: If any man consent not to wholesome words, he is proud, knowing nothing. The plainest truth has its beauty. They have no spiritual hunger who desire only to feast their fancy. Of such the prophet speaks (Ezekiel 33:32): You are to them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. If a man were invited to a feast, and there being music at the feast, he so listened to the music that he did not mind his food — you would say, Surely he is not hungry. So when men are for jingling words, and prefer gallantry of speech to spirituality of matter, it is a sign they have surfeited stomachs and itching ears.

Sixth, they evidence little hunger after righteousness who prefer other things before it — their profits and recreations. If a boy, when he should be at dinner, is playing in the street, it is a sign he has no appetite to his meal. Were he hungry, he would not prefer his play before his food. So when men prefer vain things which cannot profit, before the blood of Christ and the grace of the Spirit, it is a sign they have no palate or stomach for heavenly things.

Seventh, it is a sign men have no spiritual hunger when they are more for disputes in religion than for practice. Robert Gallus thought he saw in a dream a great feast, and some were biting on hard stones. When men feed only on hard questions and controversies — like some of the schoolmen's endless distinctions, as whether one may partake with him who has not the work of grace in his heart, whether one ought not to separate from a church in case of mal-administration, what is to be thought of infant baptism, and so on — when these niceties and criticisms in religion take up men's heads, while they neglect faith and holiness, they are picking bones and not feeding on the meat. Skeptics in religion have hot brains but cold hearts. Did men hunger and thirst after righteousness, they would propound to themselves such questions as these: How shall we do to be saved? How shall we make our calling and election sure? How shall we mortify our corruptions? But such as ravel out their time in fruitless and litigious disputes — I call heaven to witness — are strangers to this text; they do not hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Containing a reproof of those who hunger, but not after righteousness.

Second, it reproves those who, instead of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, thirst after riches. This is the thirst of covetous men; they desire mammon, not manna. Amos 2:7: That pant after the dust of the earth. This is the disease most are sick of — an immoderate appetite after the world. But these things will no more satisfy than drink will quench the thirst of a man with dropsy. Covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Too many Protestants set up the idol of gold in the temple of their hearts. This sin of covetousness is the most hardly rooted out; commonly when other sins leave men, this sin remains. Wantonness is the sin of youth; worldliness is the sin of old age.

Third, it reproves those who hunger and thirst after unrighteousness; here I shall indict three sorts of persons.

First, it reproves such as thirst after others' lands and possessions; this the Scripture calls a mighty sin (Amos 5:12). Thus Ahab thirsted after Naboth's vineyard. This is a hungry age we live in; we have a great deal of this hungering and thirsting, which has made so many state-thieves. Men have fleeced others to feather themselves. What a brave challenge did Samuel make (1 Samuel 12:3): Behold, here I am; witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whose hand have I received any bribe from? Few that have been in power can say thus: Whose ox have we taken? Goods unjustly gotten seldom go to the third heir. Read the plunderer's curse (Isaiah 33:1): Woe to you that spoil, and you were not spoiled; when you shall cease to spoil, you shall be spoiled. Ahab paid dearly for the vineyard, when the devil carried away his soul and the dogs licked his blood (1 Kings 21:19). He that lives on plunder dies a fool (Jeremiah 17:11): He that gets riches, and not by right, at his end shall be a fool.

Second, it reproves such as hunger and thirst after revenge; this is a devilish thirst. Though it were more Christian and safe to smother an injury, yet our nature is prone to this disease of revenge. We have the sting of the bee, not the honey. Malice, having broken the bars of reason, grows savage. Heathens will rise up against Christians who have stopped the vein of revengeful passion when it has begun to vent. I have read of Phocion, who being wrongfully condemned to die, desired that his son might not remember the injuries which the Athenians had done to him, nor revenge his blood.

Third, it reproves such as hunger and thirst to satisfy their impure lusts. Sinners are said to sin with greediness (Ephesians 4:19). So Amnon was sick until he had defiled Tamar's chastity. Never does a hungry man come with more eagerness to his food than a wicked man comes to his sin. And when Satan sees men have such an appetite, commonly he will provide a dish they love; he will set the forbidden tree before them. They that thirst to commit sin shall thirst as Lazarus did in hell for a drop of water to cool their tongue.

Showing the signs of spiritual hunger.

Use 3. Let us put ourselves upon a trial whether we hunger and thirst after righteousness; I shall give you five signs by which you may judge of this hunger.

First, hunger is a painful thing. Esau, when he returned from hunting, was almost dead with hunger (Genesis 25:32). And Psalm 107:5: Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. So a man that hungers after righteousness is in anguish of soul, and ready to faint away for it. He finds a want of Christ and grace; he is distressed and in pain until his spiritual hunger is stilled and allayed.

Second, hunger is satisfied with nothing but food. Bring a hungry man flowers, music, tell him pleasant stories — nothing will content him but food. Shall I die for thirst? said Samson (Judges 15:18). So a man that hungers and thirsts after righteousness says, Give me Christ, or I die. Lord, what will you give me, seeing I go Christless? What though I have gifts, wealth, honor and esteem in the world? All is nothing without Christ. Show me the Lord, and it suffices. Let me have Christ to clothe me, Christ to feed me, Christ to intercede for me. While the soul is Christless, it is restless; nothing but the water-springs of Christ's blood can quench its thirst.

Third, hunger wrestles with difficulties, and makes an adventure for food; we say hunger breaks through stone walls (Genesis 42:1-2). The soul that spiritually hungers is resolved: Christ it must have, grace it must have. And to use Basil's expression, the hungry soul is almost distracted until it enjoys the thing it hungers after.

Fourth, a hungry man falls to his meal with an appetite; you need not make an oration to a hungry man and persuade him to eat. So he who hungers after righteousness feeds eagerly on an ordinance. Jeremiah 15:16: Your words were found, and I ate them. In the Sacrament he feeds with appetite upon the body and blood of the Lord. God loves to see us feed hungrily on the bread of life.

Fifth, a hungry man tastes sweetness in his food; so he that hungers after righteousness relishes a sweetness in heavenly things. Christ is to him all marrow, the very essence of delights. 1 Peter 2:3: If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. He that spiritually hungers tastes the promises sweet; indeed, tastes a reproof sweet. To the hungry every bitter thing is sweet (Proverbs 27:7). A bitter reproof is sweet; he can feed upon the myrrh of the gospel as well as the honey. By these signs we may judge of ourselves whether we hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Comfort to such as do hunger — wherein is shown the difference between true and false hunger.

Use 4. It may serve to comfort the hearts of those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness. I doubt not that it is the grief of many a good heart that he cannot be more holy, that he cannot serve God better. Blessed are they that hunger. Though you have not so much righteousness as you would, yet you are blessed, because you hunger after it. Desire is the best discovery of a Christian. Actions may be counterfeit; a man may do a good action for a bad end, as Jehu did. Actions may be compulsory; a man may be forced to do that which is good, but not to will that which is good. Therefore we are to cherish good desires, and to bless God for them. Oftentimes a child of God has nothing to show for himself but desires (Nehemiah 1:11): Your servants who desire to fear your name. These hungerings after righteousness proceed from love; a man does not desire that which he does not love. If you did not love Christ, you could not hunger after him.

Objection 1: If my hunger were right, then I could take comfort in it; but I fear it is counterfeit — hypocrites have their desires.

Answer: That I may better settle a doubting Christian, I shall show the difference between true and false desires, spiritual hunger and carnal.

First, the hypocrite does not desire grace for itself; he desires grace only as a bridge to lead him over to heaven. He does not so much thirst after grace as glory. He does not so much desire the way of righteousness as the crown of righteousness. His desire is not to be made like Christ, but to reign with Christ. This was Balaam's desire (Numbers 23:10): Let me die the death of the righteous. Such desires as these are found among the damned; this is the hypocrite's hunger. But a child of God desires grace for itself, and Christ for himself. To a believer, not only heaven is precious, but Christ is precious (1 Peter 2:7).

Second, the hypocrite's desire is conditional; he would have heaven and his sins too — heaven and his pride, heaven and his covetousness. The young man in the gospel would have had heaven, provided he might keep his earthly possessions. Many a man would have Christ, but there is some sin he must not be uncivil to, but gratify. This is the hypocrite's hunger. But true desire is absolute. The soul says, Give me Christ on any terms. Let God propose what articles he will, I will subscribe to them. Would he have me deny myself? Would he have me mortify sin? I am content to do anything, so I may have Christ. Hypocrites would have Christ, but they are loath to part with a lust for him; they are like a man who would have a lease, but is loath to pay the fee.

Third, hypocrites' desires are mere desires; they are lazy and sluggish. When one urged Lipsius to the study of virtue, he said, My mind is inclined to it. Proverbs 21:25: The desire of the lazy person kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. Many stand like the man in the fable, crying, Help, Hercules, when his wagon stuck in the mud, when he should rather have put his shoulder to the wheel. Men would be saved, but they will take no pains. Does he desire water who will not let down the bucket into the well? But true desire is quickened into endeavor. Isaiah 26:9: With my soul I have desired you in the night; with my spirit within me I will seek you early. It is the violent who take heaven by force (Matthew 12:11). The love-sick spouse, though she was wounded and her veil taken away, yet follows after Christ (Song of Solomon 5:7). Desire is the weight of the soul, which sets it going. As the eagle which desires its prey makes haste to it (Job 39, last verse) — the eagle has sharpness of sight to discover its prey, and swiftness of wing to fly to it — so the soul that hungers after righteousness is carried swiftly to it in the use of all holy ordinances.

Fourth, the hypocrite's desires are cheap; he would have spiritual things, but he will be at no cost for them. He cares not how much money he parts with for his lusts; he has money to spend upon a drunken companion, but has no money to part with for the maintaining of God's ordinances. Hypocrites cry up religion, but cry down the maintenance of ministers. But true desires are costly. David would not offer burnt offerings without cost (1 Chronicles 21:24). A hungry man will give anything for food, as fell out in the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:25). That man never hungered after Christ who thinks much of parting with a little silver for the pearl of great price.

Fifth, hypocrites' desires are flashy and transient; they are quickly gone, like the wind that stays not long in one place, or like a hot fit which is soon over. While the hypocrite is under legal terror or in affliction, he has some good desires, but the hot fit is soon over. His goodness, like a fiery comet, soon spends and evaporates. But true desire is constant. It is observable that the Greek word in the text is in the participle: Blessed are they that are hungering. Though they have righteousness, yet they are still hungering after more. The hypocrite's desire is like the motion of a watch that soon runs down. The desire of a godly man is like the beating of the pulse, which lasts as long as life (Psalm 119:20): My soul breaks for the longing that it has to your judgments. And that we might not think this pang of desire would soon be over, he adds, at all times. David's desire after God was not a high color in a fit, but the constant complexion of his soul. In the temple the fire was not to go out by night (Leviticus 6:13): The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar. There was, says Cyril, a mystery in it, to show that we must ever be burning in holy affections and desires.

Sixth, hypocrites' desires are unseasonable; they are not well timed. They put off their hungering after righteousness until it is too late. They are like the foolish virgins who came knocking when the door was shut (Matthew 25:10). In time of health and prosperity the stream of the affections ran another way; it was sin the hypocrite desired, not righteousness. When he is dying and can keep his sins no longer, now he would have grace as a passport to carry him to heaven. This is the hypocrite's fault: his faith was too early, and his desires are too late. His faith began to bud in the morning of his infancy — he believed ever since he could remember — but his desires after Christ do not begin to put forth until the evening of old age. He sends forth his desires when his last breath is going forth, as if a man should desire a pardon after the sentence is passed. These deathbed desires are suspicious. But true desires are timely and seasonable; a gracious heart seeks first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). David's thirst after God was early (Psalm 63:1). The wise virgins got their oil beforehand before the bridegroom came. Thus we see the difference between true and false hunger. They who can find this true hunger are blessed, and may take comfort in it.

Objection 2: But my hunger after righteousness is so weak that I fear it is not true.

Answer, first: Though the pulse beats but weakly, it shows there is life. That weak desires should not be discouraged, there is a promise made to them (Matthew 12:20): A bruised reed he will not break. A reed is a weak thing, but especially when it is bruised; yet this bruised reed shall not be broken, but like Aaron's dry rod, bud and blossom. In case of weakness, look to Christ your high priest; he is merciful, therefore will bear with your infirmities; he is mighty, therefore will help them.

Answer, second: If your desires after righteousness seem to be weak and languid, yet a Christian may sometimes take a measure of his spiritual estate as well by the judgment as by the affections. What is it that you esteem most in your judgment? Is it Christ and grace? This is a good evidence for heaven. It was a sign that Paul bore entire love to Christ, because he esteemed this pearl above all; he counted other things but rubbish, that he might gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Objection 3: A child of God says, That which much clouds my comfort is, I have not that hunger which once I had. There was a time when I hungered after the Sabbath, because then the manna fell; I called the Sabbath a delight. I remember the time when I hungered after the body and blood of the Lord. I came to a Sacrament as a hungry man to a feast. But now it is otherwise with me; I have not those hungerings as formerly.

Answer: It is indeed an ill sign for a man to lose his appetite. But though it is a sign of the decay of grace to lose the spiritual appetite, yet it is a sign of the truth of grace to bewail the loss. It is sad to lose our first love, but it is happy when we mourn for the loss of our first love.

Answer, second: If you have not that appetite after heavenly things as formerly, yet be not discouraged, for in the use of means you may recover your appetite. The ordinances are for the recovering of the appetite when it is lost. In other cases feeding takes away the appetite, but here, feeding on an ordinance begets an appetite.

Containing a persuasion to spiritual hunger.

Use 5. It exhorts us all to labor after this spiritual hunger. Hunger less after the world, and more after righteousness. Say concerning spiritual things, Lord, evermore give me this bread; feed me with this angels' food. That manna is most to be hungered after which will not only preserve life, but prevent death (John 6:50). That is most desirable which is most durable. Riches are not forever (Proverbs 27:24), but righteousness is forever (Proverbs 8:18). The beauty of holiness never fades; the robe of righteousness never wears out. Hunger after that righteousness which delivers from death (Proverbs 10:2). This is the righteousness which God himself is in love with (Proverbs 15:9): He loves him that follows after righteousness. All men are ambitious of the king's favor — but what is a prince's smile but a transient beatitude? This sunshine of his royal countenance soon masks itself with a cloud of displeasure. But you who are endued with righteousness are God's favorite, and how sweet is his smile (Psalm 63:3): Your loving-kindness is better than life.

Containing an excitation to spiritual hunger.

To persuade men to hunger after this righteousness, consider two things.

First, unless we hunger after righteousness, we cannot obtain it. God will never throw away his blessings upon those who do not desire them. If a king shall say to a rebel, Do but desire a pardon, and you shall have it — if through pride and stubbornness he disdains to sue out his pardon, he justly deserves to die. God has set spiritual blessings at a low rate: Do but hunger, and you shall have righteousness. But if we refuse to come up to these terms, there is no righteousness to be had for us. God will stop the current of his mercy, and set open the sluice of his indignation.

Second, if we do not thirst here, we shall thirst when it is too late. If we do not thirst as David did (Psalm 42:2): My soul thirsts for God — we shall thirst as the rich man did in hell for a drop of water (Luke 16:24). Those who thirst not for righteousness shall be in perpetual hunger and thirst; they shall thirst for mercy, but no mercy to be had. Heat increases thirst; when men shall burn in hell and be scorched with the flames of God's wrath, this heat will increase their thirst for mercy, but there will be nothing to allay their thirst. Is it not better to thirst for righteousness while it is to be had, than to thirst for mercy when there is none to be had? Sinners, the time is shortly coming when the drawbridge of mercy will be quite pulled up.

I shall next briefly prescribe some helps to spiritual hunger.

First, avoid those things which will hinder your appetite. Windy things: when the stomach is full of wind, a man has little appetite to his food. So when one is puffed up with a windy opinion of his own righteousness, he will not hunger after Christ's righteousness. He who is puffed up with pride, thinking he has grace enough already, will not hunger after more. These windy vapors spoil the stomach. Second, sweet things destroy the appetite; so by feeding immoderately upon the sweet, luscious delights of the world, we lose our appetite to Christ and grace. You never knew a man surfeit himself upon the world and be sick with love to Christ. While Israel fed with delight upon garlic and onions, they never hungered after manna. The soul cannot be carried to two extremes at once; as the eye cannot look intently on heaven and earth at once, so a man cannot at the same instant hunger excessively after the world and after righteousness. The earth puts out the fire; the love of earthly things will quench the desire for spiritual things (1 John 2:15). Love not the world; the sin is not in the having, but in the loving.

Second, do all that may provoke a spiritual appetite. There are two things that provoke appetite. First, exercise; a man by walking and stirring gets an appetite to his meal. So by the exercise of holy duties the spiritual appetite is increased (1 Timothy 4:7): Exercise yourself to godliness. Many have left off closet prayer; they hear the word but seldom, and for want of exercise they have lost their appetite for religion.

Second, sauce; sauce whets and sharpens the appetite. There is a twofold sauce that provokes holy appetite. First, the bitter herbs of repentance; he that tastes the gall and vinegar in sin, hungers after the body and blood of the Lord. Second, affliction; God often gives us this sauce to sharpen our hunger after grace. Reuben found mandrakes in the field (Genesis 30:14); the mandrakes are a plant of a very strong savor, and among their virtues they are chiefly medicinal for those who have weak, bad stomachs. Afflictions may be compared to these mandrakes, which sharpen men's desires after that spiritual food which in time of prosperity they began to loathe. Penury is the sauce which cures the surfeit of plenty. In sickness people hunger more after righteousness than in health. The full stomach loathes the honeycomb. Christians when well-fed despise the rich cordials of the gospel. I wish we do not slight those truths now which would taste sweet in a prison. How precious was a leaf of the Bible in Queen Mary's days! The wise God sees it good sometimes to give us the sharp sauce of affliction, to make us feed more hungrily upon the bread of life. And so much for the first part of the text: Blessed are they that hunger.

Matthew 5:6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness."

Describing the nature of spiritual hunger.

We come now to the fourth step of blessedness: blessed are those who hunger. The verse contains two main parts.

First, a duty implied: blessed are those who hunger. Spiritual hunger is a blessed hunger.

Question 1: What is meant by hunger?

Answer: Hunger stands for deep desire (Isaiah 26:9). Spiritual hunger is the soul's longing for what it senses it most deeply needs.

Question 2: Where does this hunger come from?

Answer: Hunger comes from a sense of need. The person who hungers spiritually has a real awareness of his own poverty — he knows he lacks righteousness.

Question 3: What is meant by righteousness?

Answer: There are two kinds of righteousness.

First, righteousness by imputation. Second, righteousness by implantation.

First, righteousness by imputation — that is, Christ's righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6: "He will be called, 'The Lord our righteousness.'" This righteousness is as truly ours to receive for justification as it is Christ's to give. Because of this righteousness, God looks on us as though we had never sinned (Numbers 23:21). It is a perfect righteousness (Colossians 2:10): "You have been made complete in Him." This righteousness does not merely cover us — it adorns us. The person who has this righteousness stands equal with the most celebrated saints. The weakest believer is just as fully justified as the strongest. This is the Christian's great comfort: even when he is defiled within himself, he is spotless in his Head. Clothed in this righteousness, we shine more brightly than the angels. This righteousness is well worth hungering for.

Second, righteousness by implantation — that is, the righteousness worked within us: the graces of the Spirit, holiness of heart and life, which Cajetan calls universal righteousness. This is what a devout soul also hungers after.

This is a blessed hunger. Physical hunger cannot make a person as miserable as spiritual hunger makes him blessed. Spiritual hunger is evidence of life. A dead person cannot hunger — hunger is a sign of life. The first thing a newborn child does is hunger for the breast. In the same way, spiritual hunger follows the new birth (1 Peter 2:2). Bernard, in one of his reflections, comforts himself with this thought: that he must truly have grace within him, because he had a strong and persistent longing for God. It is a great blessing when, though we do not yet have what we ought to have, we desire what we lack. The spiritual appetite itself is as much a gift from God as the food that satisfies it.

What can be drawn from this truth.

Use 1. Notice how low a price God sets on heavenly things. The requirement is simply to hunger and thirst. Isaiah 55:1: "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat." We are not asked to bring merit, as the Roman Catholics teach, nor to bring money to purchase righteousness. All that is required is an appetite. Christ has fulfilled all righteousness. Our part is simply to hunger and thirst after it. This is entirely reasonable and fair. God does not demand rivers of oil — He asks for sighs and tears. The invitation of the Gospel is free. When a friend invites guests to his table, he does not expect them to pay for their meal. He only asks that they come with an appetite. God says the same: I am not asking for penance, pilgrimage, or self-made righteousness. Just come with a hunger — thirst after righteousness. God could have set a far higher price on Christ and salvation, but He has brought the price down low. This shows the kindness of God's nature — He is no harsh taskmaster. But it also shows how inexcusable those are who perish under the Gospel. What defense will any person have on the day of judgment when God asks: Why did you not come to Christ? I made Christ and grace available at the lowest price. If you had simply hungered for righteousness, you could have had it — but you rejected Christ. You thought so little of righteousness that you would not even desire it. How will you escape, having neglected so great a salvation? The easier the terms of the Gospel, the greater the punishment deserved by those who carelessly refuse such an offer.

Second, this shows us a true mark of a godly person — he hungers and thirsts after spiritual things. Isaiah 26:9; Psalm 73:25. A true saint is carried along on wings of desire. It is the very nature of a gracious soul to thirst after God. Psalm 42:2. When hearing God's word preached, his soul is full of longing. He prays: Lord, You have brought me into Your courts — let me have Your presence, let Your glory fill this place! This is where You shape Your people — will You imprint on my soul the likeness of my dear Savior, transforming me more and more into His image? In prayer, how the soul fills with burning longing for Christ! Prayer itself is expressed as groans too deep for words (Romans 8:26). The heart sends whole volleys of sighs heavenward: Lord, one ray of Your love, one drop of Your blood!

A reproof for those who do not hunger after righteousness.

Use 2. This rebukes those who have none of this spiritual hunger — no deep desires, no passion for God, their appetite for Him entirely dulled. Honey is not sweet to a person sick with fever whose tongue is bitter with bile. Those who are soul-sick and living in spiritual bitterness find nothing sweet in God or in religion. Sin tastes sweeter to them. They have no spiritual hunger. That people lack this hunger for righteousness is evident from seven signs.

First, they have never felt any emptiness — they are full of their own righteousness (Romans 10:3). A full stomach has no appetite for even the finest food. This was Laodicea's condition — she was self-satisfied and had no appetite for Christ's gold or eye salve (Revelation 3:17). When people are filled with pride, this bloated condition kills holy longing — the way a stomach full of air kills the appetite for real food. No one is so empty of grace as those who think they are full. The person who needs righteousness most is usually the one who feels the least need for it.

Second, that people do not hunger for righteousness is evident because they manage perfectly well without it. As long as there is oil in the jar and the world keeps going, they are content. Grace is the one thing whose absence is least noticed. You hear people complain about poor health or a failing business, but you never hear them complain that they lack righteousness. Miss a meal or two and a person feels half ruined — yet these same people stay away from the means of grace, which are the channels through which righteousness flows. Do they hunger for righteousness, those who are satisfied without it? And who ask to be excused from feeding at the Gospel banquet? A person with no appetite is the one who begs to be excused from eating (Luke 14:18).

Third, a sign of no spiritual hunger is preferring sleep over food — being more drowsy than hungry. There are those who come to hear the word only to doze off, to whom one might say what Christ said to Peter (Mark 14:37): "Could you not keep watch for one hour?" It is a strange thing to see a man fall asleep at a meal. Others are sunk into a deeper sleep — the sleep of spiritual carelessness — and they actively resist a ministry that would awaken their souls. While they sleep, their condemnation is not sleeping (1 Peter 2:3).

Fourth, a sign that people have no spiritual hunger is that they push away their food. Christ and grace are offered — pressed upon them — yet they turn salvation away, like a stubborn child pushing away the breast (Psalm 81:11; Acts 13:46). This is true of enthusiasts who reject the appointed means of grace and claim instead to live by private revelations. But it is a strange kind of revelation that tells a man he can live without food. These people choose husks over manna and feed on empty notions, sustained by the prince of the air.

Fifth, a sign of no spiritual hunger is caring more about how the dish is decorated than about the food itself. These are people who care more about elegance and novelty in preaching than about solid truth. It reflects either a spoiled palate or an overfed stomach to pick at garnishes and trifles while ignoring wholesome food. 1 Timothy 6:3-4: "If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words... he is conceited and understands nothing." The plainest truth has its own beauty. Those who only want to delight their imagination have no real spiritual hunger. The prophet described such people (Ezekiel 33:32): "You are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument." If a man were invited to a feast and there was music playing, and he was so absorbed in the music that he barely touched his food — you would say he clearly is not hungry. When people seek clever wordplay and prefer polished style over spiritual substance, it is a clear sign they have overfed stomachs and itching ears.

Sixth, those who consistently prefer other things over righteousness — their business, their leisure — show little hunger for it. If a boy who should be at dinner is out playing in the street, it is clear he has no appetite. If he were hungry, he would not choose play over food. In the same way, when people prefer empty pursuits to the blood of Christ and the grace of the Spirit, it is a sign they have no taste or appetite for heavenly things.

Seventh, a sign of no spiritual hunger is caring more about religious debates than about putting faith into practice. Robert Gallus once dreamed of a great feast where some of the guests were gnawing on hard stones. When people feed only on hard theological questions and endless controversies — the kind of distinctions some scholars endlessly argue, such as whether one may have fellowship with someone who lacks the work of grace, whether one must separate from a church over poor administration, or what to think of infant baptism, and so on — when these fine points crowd out faith and holiness, people are chewing bones instead of eating meat. Skeptics in religion have heated minds but cold hearts. If people truly hungered for righteousness, they would ask themselves questions like: How can I be saved? How can I confirm my calling and election? How can I put sin to death? But those who waste their time in fruitless and argumentative disputes — I say plainly — are strangers to this text. They do not hunger and thirst after righteousness.

A reproof for those who hunger, but not after righteousness.

Second, this rebukes those who, instead of hungering for righteousness, thirst after wealth. This is the thirst of the greedy — they want money, not manna. Amos 2:7: "They pant after the very dust of the earth." This is the disease most people suffer from — an excessive craving for worldly things. But wealth will no more satisfy the soul than a drink of water satisfies someone with dropsy. Greed is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Too many Protestants have set up the idol of gold in the temple of their hearts. The sin of greed is among the hardest to uproot. Typically, when other sins leave a person, this one stays. Lust tends to be the sin of youth; love of money tends to be the sin of old age.

Third, this rebukes those who hunger and thirst after unrighteousness. Three kinds of people fall under this charge.

First, it rebukes those who thirst after other people's land and possessions — which Scripture calls a grievous sin (Amos 5:12). Ahab was a prime example, thirsting after Naboth's vineyard. We live in a hungry age. There is no shortage of this kind of craving, which has produced many who steal through positions of power. People have stripped others bare to enrich themselves. What a bold challenge Samuel made before all Israel (1 Samuel 12:3): "Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe?" Few who have held power can say the same. Wealth gained by plunder rarely lasts to the third generation. Read the plunderer's curse (Isaiah 33:1): "Woe to you, O destroyer... when you cease to destroy, you will be destroyed." Ahab paid dearly for that vineyard when the devil carried his soul away and dogs licked up his blood (1 Kings 21:19). He who builds his wealth on injustice ends a fool (Jeremiah 17:11): "He who makes a fortune, but unjustly, in the midst of his days it will forsake him."

Second, it rebukes those who hunger and thirst for revenge — a diabolical thirst. Though it would be more Christian and far safer to absorb an injury quietly, our fallen nature is prone to this craving for revenge. We have the bee's sting but not its honey. Malice, once it breaks past reason's restraint, turns savage. Even pagans have at times put Christians to shame in curbing the impulse for revenge when it began to rise. I have read of Phocion, who was unjustly condemned to death and asked his son not to remember the wrongs the Athenians had done him, nor to avenge his blood.

Third, it rebukes those who hunger and thirst to satisfy their sinful desires. Sinners are said to pursue sin with greediness (Ephesians 4:19). Amnon was lovesick until he had violated Tamar's purity. No hungry man comes to food with more eagerness than a wicked person comes to his sin. When Satan sees a person with such an appetite, he is quick to serve the dish they crave — he sets the forbidden fruit before them. Those who thirst to commit sin will one day thirst as Lazarus did in hell — for a single drop of water to cool their tongue.

Signs of genuine spiritual hunger.

Use 3. Let us examine ourselves: do we truly hunger and thirst after righteousness? Here are five signs by which you can test this hunger.

First, hunger is painful. Esau returned from hunting nearly dying of hunger (Genesis 25:32). Psalm 107:5: "They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them." In the same way, a person who hungers for righteousness is in real anguish of soul — almost faint with the longing. He feels the absence of Christ and grace deeply, and he is in distress until that spiritual hunger is satisfied.

Second, hunger is satisfied by nothing but food. Bring a hungry man flowers, play him music, tell him entertaining stories — nothing will content him but food. "Will You let me die of thirst?" cried Samson (Judges 15:18). In the same way, the person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness says: Give me Christ, or I die. Lord, what does anything matter if I have no Christ? What good are gifts, wealth, honor, and the world's approval? It is all nothing without Christ. Show me the Lord, and that is enough. Give me Christ to clothe me, Christ to feed me, Christ to intercede for me. While the soul lacks Christ, it finds no rest. Nothing but the living water of Christ's blood can quench its thirst.

Third, hunger pushes through difficulty and goes out in search of food. As the saying goes, hunger breaks through stone walls (Genesis 42:1-2). The soul that hungers spiritually is resolved: it must have Christ, it must have grace. As Basil put it, the hungry soul is almost beside itself until it receives what it longs for.

Fourth, a hungry person sits down to eat with a real appetite — no one needs to coax him. In the same way, a person who hungers for righteousness feeds eagerly on the means of grace. Jeremiah 15:16: "Your words were found and I ate them." At the Lord's Supper, he feeds with genuine hunger on the body and blood of Christ. God delights to see us feed hungrily on the bread of life.

Fifth, a hungry person actually tastes the sweetness of food. In the same way, the person who hungers after righteousness finds real delight in heavenly things. To him, Christ is all richness — the very essence of all pleasure. 1 Peter 2:3: "If you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." The one who truly hungers finds the promises sweet. He can even taste sweetness in a reproof. To the hungry, even bitter things are pleasant (Proverbs 27:7). A sharp reproof becomes something sweet. He can feed on the myrrh of the Gospel as well as the honey. By these signs we can judge whether we truly hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Comfort for those who do hunger — and the difference between true and false hunger.

Use 4. This truth brings comfort to those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness. I have no doubt that many a sincere heart is grieved that it cannot be holier, cannot serve God better. Blessed are those who hunger. Even if you do not have as much righteousness as you desire, you are blessed — because you hunger for it. Desire is the clearest evidence of genuine Christian life. Actions can be faked. A person can perform a good deed for a bad reason, as Jehu did. Actions can also be forced. A person may be compelled to do what is right but cannot be forced to want it. This is why we should treasure our holy desires and thank God for them. Often a child of God has nothing else to show before God but his longings (Nehemiah 1:11): "Your servants who delight to revere Your name." These hungers after righteousness arise from love. A person does not desire what he does not love. If you did not love Christ, you could not hunger for Him.

Objection 1: If my hunger were genuine, I could take comfort in it — but I fear it is counterfeit. Even hypocrites have their desires.

Answer: To better settle a doubting Christian, let me show the difference between true and false desire — between spiritual hunger and merely natural longing.

First, the hypocrite does not desire grace for its own sake. He desires grace only as a bridge to carry him over to heaven. He does not truly thirst for grace so much as for glory. He desires not the way of righteousness so much as the crown of righteousness. His desire is not to become like Christ but to reign with Christ. This was Balaam's desire (Numbers 23:10): "Let me die the death of the upright." Desires like these are found even among the damned. This is the hypocrite's version of hunger. But a child of God desires grace for itself and Christ for Himself. To a true believer, not only is heaven precious — Christ Himself is precious (1 Peter 2:7).

Second, the hypocrite's desire is conditional. He wants heaven and his sins too — heaven and his pride, heaven and his greed. The young man in the Gospel would have had heaven, provided he could keep his wealth. Many want Christ but cling to some sin they refuse to give up. This is the hypocrite's hunger. But true desire is unconditional. The soul says: Give me Christ on any terms. Let God set whatever conditions He will — I will agree to them. Does He require self-denial? Does He require putting sin to death? I am willing to do whatever it takes, as long as I have Christ. Hypocrites want Christ but are unwilling to give up a single sin for Him — like someone who wants a lease but refuses to pay the fee.

Third, hypocrites' desires are bare wishes — lazy and sluggish, nothing more. When someone urged Lipsius to pursue virtue, he said, "My mind is inclined to it." Proverbs 21:25: "The desire of the lazy man puts him to death, for his hands refuse to work." Many are like the man in the fable who stood beside his wagon stuck in the mud, crying out "Help, Hercules!" — when he should have put his own shoulder to the wheel. People want to be saved but will put in no effort. Does a man truly want water if he will not lower the bucket into the well? But genuine desire moves a person to action. Isaiah 26:9: "At night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently." It is the forceful who take heaven by force (Matthew 11:12). The lovesick bride in the Song of Songs, though wounded and stripped of her veil, still presses after Christ (Song of Solomon 5:7). Desire is the weight of the soul that sets it in motion. As the eagle that spots its prey swoops toward it without delay (Job 39:29) — sharp-eyed to spot it, swift-winged to reach it — so the soul that hungers for righteousness rushes toward it through every holy means of grace.

Fourth, the hypocrite's desires are cheap — he wants spiritual things but is unwilling to pay any cost for them. He has no trouble spending money on sinful pleasures or a night with drinking companions, but he resists giving anything for the support of God's work. Hypocrites talk up religion but talk down the financial support of ministers. But genuine desires are costly. David refused to offer burnt offerings that cost him nothing (1 Chronicles 21:24). A truly hungry man will give everything he has for food, as happened during the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:25). A person who grudges spending a little money on the pearl of great price has never truly hungered for Christ.

Fifth, the hypocrite's desires are intense but short-lived — quickly gone, like a gust of wind that does not stay, or a fever that soon breaks. When the hypocrite is under fear of judgment or in the middle of suffering, he feels some good desires — but the fever soon passes. His goodness, like a bright comet, quickly burns itself out. But true desire is steady. It is worth noting that the Greek word in this verse is a present participle: blessed are those who are hungering. Even those who already have righteousness are still hungering for more. The hypocrite's desire is like a watch that soon runs down. The godly person's desire is like a steady heartbeat — it lasts as long as life itself (Psalm 119:20): "My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times." To make clear that this longing was no passing mood, the psalmist adds: at all times. David's desire for God was not a temporary flush of emotion — it was the constant state of his soul. In the tabernacle the altar fire was never allowed to go out (Leviticus 6:13): "Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar." There was, says Cyril, a mystery in this — to show that we must always be burning with holy longing and desire.

Sixth, the hypocrite's desires are poorly timed — they come too late. He postpones his hunger for righteousness until it is too late. He is like the foolish virgins who came knocking after the door was shut (Matthew 25:10). During health and prosperity, his affections ran in a different direction entirely — it was sin he craved, not righteousness. When he is dying and can hold onto his sins no longer, now he wants grace as a travel pass to heaven. This is the hypocrite's problem: his faith came too early and his desires came too late. He said he believed from childhood — ever since he could remember — but his real longing for Christ doesn't emerge until the final evening of old age. He sends out his desires with his dying breath, like a man asking for a pardon after the sentence has already been carried out. Deathbed desires like these are suspect. But genuine desire is timely — a gracious heart seeks God's kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). David's thirst for God was early in the day (Psalm 63:1). The wise virgins obtained their oil before the bridegroom arrived. So we have seen the difference between true and false hunger. Those who find genuine hunger within themselves are blessed and may take real comfort in it.

Objection 2: But my hunger for righteousness is so weak that I am afraid it is not genuine.

First answer: A faint pulse still shows that life is present. So that weak desires would not be discouraged, there is a promise made to them (Matthew 12:20): "A bruised reed He will not break." A reed is already a fragile thing — when it is bruised, even more so. Yet this bruised reed will not be snapped off. Like Aaron's dry rod, it will bud and bloom. When you feel weak, look to Christ your high priest — He is merciful, so He will bear with your frailties; He is mighty, so He will strengthen them.

Second answer: When your desires feel weak and faint, a Christian can also gauge his spiritual health by his settled convictions, not just his feelings. What do you value most in your considered judgment? Is it Christ and grace? That is strong evidence of a real claim on heaven. Paul showed the depth of his love for Christ by the value he placed on Him — counting everything else as rubbish compared to gaining Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Objection 3: A child of God says: What troubles my comfort most is that I do not have the hunger I once had. There was a time when I longed for the Lord's Day, because that was when the manna fell — I called it a delight. I remember when I hungered for the body and blood of the Lord. I came to the Lord's Supper the way a starving man comes to a banquet. But it is not the same now. The old hunger is gone.

Answer: It is indeed a bad sign to lose one's spiritual appetite. But while a fading appetite is a sign of declining grace, grieving over that loss is a sign of genuine grace. It is sorrowful to lose your first love — but it is a good sign when you mourn the loss of it.

Second answer: Even if your appetite for heavenly things is not what it once was, do not give up — through the faithful use of the means of grace, the appetite can return. The ordinances of God are precisely for recovering a lost appetite. In ordinary life, eating too much deadens the appetite. But in the spiritual life, feeding on the word and sacraments actually creates more appetite.

An appeal to pursue spiritual hunger.

Use 5. This calls all of us to pursue spiritual hunger. Hunger less for the world, and more for righteousness. Say of spiritual things: Lord, give me this bread always — feed me with this food of angels. The manna most worth hungering after is what not only sustains life but prevents death (John 6:50). What is most enduring is most worth desiring. Riches do not last (Proverbs 27:24), but righteousness lasts forever (Proverbs 8:18). The beauty of holiness never fades. The robe of righteousness never wears out. Hunger after the righteousness that delivers from death (Proverbs 10:2). This is the righteousness that God Himself loves (Proverbs 15:9): "He loves one who pursues righteousness." Everyone wants the favor of a king — but what is a prince's smile but a fleeting pleasure? His royal approval can quickly cloud over into displeasure. But you who are clothed in righteousness are God's beloved — and how precious is His smile (Psalm 63:3): "Your lovingkindness is better than life."

Stirring up spiritual hunger.

To move people toward hungering for this righteousness, consider two things.

First, without hungering for righteousness, we cannot obtain it. God will never give His blessings to those who have no desire for them. If a king says to a rebel, Simply ask for a pardon and you will have it — and the rebel, out of pride and stubbornness, refuses to ask — he justly deserves to die. God has made spiritual blessings available at the lowest possible cost: simply hunger, and you will have righteousness. But if we refuse even this, there is no righteousness to be had. God will dam up the river of mercy and open the floodgate of His judgment.

Second, if we do not thirst now, we will thirst when it is too late. If we do not thirst as David did (Psalm 42:2): "My soul thirsts for God" — we will thirst as the rich man did in hell for a single drop of water (Luke 16:24). Those who do not thirst for righteousness now will be in an unending state of hunger and thirst later. They will cry for mercy, but there will be none to be had. Heat increases thirst. When people burn in hell under the flames of God's wrath, the heat will intensify their craving for mercy — and there will be nothing to relieve it. Is it not better to thirst for righteousness while it can still be obtained, than to thirst for mercy when there is none left? Sinners, the time is coming quickly when the drawbridge of mercy will be pulled up permanently.

Let me briefly offer some practical helps for developing spiritual hunger.

First, avoid the things that kill your spiritual appetite. Air in the stomach: when the stomach is bloated with gas, there is no appetite for food. In the same way, when a person is puffed up with a high opinion of his own righteousness, he will have no hunger for Christ's righteousness. A person who thinks he already has enough grace will not hunger for more. These bloated spiritual opinions kill the appetite. Second, sweets also destroy appetite. When we feed excessively on the rich pleasures of the world, we lose our hunger for Christ and grace. No one was ever so full of worldly pleasure that he became lovesick for Christ. While Israel feasted on the garlic and onions of Egypt, they had no craving for manna. The soul cannot be pulled in two opposite directions at once. Just as the eye cannot look intently at heaven and earth at the same moment, a person cannot at the same time hunger excessively for the world and for righteousness. Earth puts out fire. Love of worldly things will quench the desire for spiritual things (1 John 2:15). Do not love the world. The sin is not in having it but in loving it.

Second, do whatever will stimulate your spiritual appetite. Two things in ordinary life build appetite. First, exercise. A person who walks and moves around builds up an appetite for a meal. In the same way, the exercise of holy duties increases the spiritual appetite (1 Timothy 4:7): "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." Many people have given up private prayer, rarely hear the word, and through lack of spiritual exercise have lost their appetite for God.

Second, a sharp sauce — a good sauce whets and sharpens the appetite. Two things serve as this sharpening sauce for the spiritual appetite. First, the bitter herbs of repentance. The person who has truly tasted the gall and vinegar of sin hungers for the body and blood of the Lord. Second, affliction. God often sends this sharp sauce to whet our hunger for grace. Reuben found mandrakes in the field (Genesis 30:14). The mandrake plant has a very strong fragrance and was especially prized as a remedy for weak stomachs. Afflictions can be compared to these mandrakes — they sharpen a person's hunger for spiritual nourishment that had grown stale during times of ease. Need is the sauce that cures the sickness of too much plenty. In sickness people hunger for righteousness more than they do in health. The full stomach has no appetite for the finest food. When Christians are well-fed and comfortable, they tend to neglect the rich comfort of the Gospel. I fear we may be taking lightly today the truths that would taste sweet in a prison cell. How precious a single page of the Bible was in the days of Queen Mary! In His wisdom, God sometimes provides the sharp sauce of affliction to make us feed more hungrily on the bread of life. And so much for the first part of this verse: Blessed are those who hunger.