Mat 5:6, Joh 4:13-14, Rev 22:17 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 6. Blessed are they that hunger , etc. Hunger and thirst, here, are expressive of strong desire. Nothing would better express the strong desire which we ought to feel to obtain righteousness, than hunger and thirst. No wants are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply as these. They occur daily; and when long continued, as in case of those shipwrecked, and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands, with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. An ardent desire for anything is often represented in the Scriptures by hunger and thirst, . A desire for the blessings of pardon and peace; a deep sense of sin, and want, and wretchedness, is also represented by thirsting, . Those that are perishing for want of righteousness; that feel that they are lost sinners, and strongly desire to be holy, shall be filled. Never was there a desire to be holy , which God was not willing to gratify. And the gospel of Christ has made provision to satisfy all who truly desire to be holy. See . (b) "for they shall be filled"

Matthew 5:6

Verse 6. Blessed are they that hunger, etc. Hunger and thirst, here, are expressive of strong desire. Nothing would better express the strong desire which we ought to feel to obtain righteousness, than hunger and thirst. No wants are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply as these. They occur daily; and when long continued, as in case of those shipwrecked, and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands, with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. An ardent desire for anything is often represented in the Scriptures by hunger and thirst, Ps 42:1,2, 63:1,2. A desire for the blessings of pardon and peace; a deep sense of sin, and want, and wretchedness, is also represented by thirsting, Is 55:1,2. Those that are perishing for want of righteousness; that feel that they are lost sinners, and strongly desire to be holy, shall be filled. Never was there a desire to be holy, which God was not willing to gratify. And the gospel of Christ has made provision to satisfy all who truly desire to be holy. See Is 55:1-13, 65:13, Jn 4:14, 6:35, 7:37,38, Ps 17:15.

(b) "for they shall be filled" Ps 34:19, Is 65:13

John 4:13-14

Verse 13. Shall thirst again. Jesus did not directly answer her question, or say that he was greater than Jacob, but he gave her an answer by which she might infer that he was. He did not despise or undervalue Jacob or his gifts; but, however great might be the value of that well, the water could not altogether remove thirst. Verse 14. The water that I shall give him. Jesus here refers, without doubt, to his own teaching, his grace, his spirit, and to the benefits which come into the soul that embraces his gospel. It is a striking image, and especially in Eastern countries, where there are vast deserts, and often a great want of water. The soul by nature is like such a desert, or like a traveller wandering through such a desert. It is thirsting for happiness, and seeking it everywhere, and finds it not. It looks in all directions and tries all objects, but in vain. Nothing meets its desires. Though a sinner seeks for joy in wealth and pleasures, yet he is not satisfied. He still thirsts for more, and seeks still for happiness in some new enjoyment. To such a weary and unsatisfied sinner the grace of Christ is as cold waters to a thirsty soul.

Shall never thirst. He shall be satisfied with this, and will not have a sense of want, a distressing feeling that it is not adapted to him. He who drinks this will not wish to seek for happiness in other objects. Satisfied with the grace of Christ, he will not desire the pleasures and amusements of this world. And this will be for ever--in this world and the world to come. Whosoever drinketh of this--all who partake of the gospel--shall be for ever satisfied with its pure and rich joys.

Shall be in him. The grace of Christ shall be in his heart; or the principles of religion shall abide with him.

A well of water. There shall be a constant supply, an unfailing fountain; or religion shall live constantly with him.

Springing up. This is a beautiful image. It shall bubble or spring up like a fountain. It is not like a stagnant pool--not like a deep well, but like an ever-living fountain, that flows at all seasons of the year, in heat and cold, and in all external circumstances of weather, whether foul or fair, wet or dry. So religion always lives; and, amid all changes of external circumstances--in heat and cold, hunger and thirst, prosperity and adversity, life, persecution, contempt, or death--it still lives on, and refreshes and cheers the soul.

Into everlasting life. It is not temporary, like the supply of our natural wants; it is not changing in its nature; it is not like a natural fountain or spring of water, to play a while and then die away, as all natural springs will at the end of the world. It is eternal in its nature and supply, and will continue to live on for ever. We may learn here--

1st. That the Christian has a never-failing source of consolation adapted to all times and circumstances.

2nd. That religion has its seat in the heart, and that it should constantly live there.

3rd. That it sheds its blessings on a world of sin, and is manifest by a continual life of piety, like a constant flowing spring.

4th. That its end is everlasting life. It will continue for ever; and whosoever drinks of this shall never thirst, but his piety shall be in his heart a pure fountain springing up to eternal joy.

(g) "whosoever drinketh" Jn 6:35,58 (h) "I shall give him" Jn 17:2,3, Rom 6:23 (i) "in him a well" Jn 7:38

Revelation of John 22:17

Verse 17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. That is, come to the Saviour; come and partake of the blessings of the gospel; come and be saved. The construction demands this interpretation, as the latter part of the verse shows. The design of this whole verse is, evidently, to show the freeness of the offers of the gospel; to condense in a summary manner all the invitations of mercy to mankind; and to leave on the mind at the close of the book a deep impression of the ample provision which has been made for the salvation of a fallen race. Nothing, it is clear, could be more appropriate at the close of this book, and at the close of the whole volume of revealed truth, than to announce, in the most clear and attracting form, that salvation is free to all, and that whosoever will may be saved.

The Spirit. The Holy Spirit. He intreats all to come. This he does

(a) in all the recorded invitations in the Bible--for it is by the inspiration of that Spirit that these invitations are recorded;

(b) by all his influences on the understandings, the consciences, and the hearts of men;

(c) by all the proclamations of mercy made by the preaching of the gospel, and by the appeal which friend makes to friend, and neighbour to neighbour, and stranger to stranger--for all these are methods in which the Spirit invites men to come to the Saviour.

And the bride. The church. Rev 21:2, Rev 21:9. That is, the church invites all to come and be saved. This it does

(a) by its ministers, whose main business it is to extend this invitation to mankind;

(b) by its ordinances--constantly setting forth the freeness of the gospel;

(d) by all its efforts to do good in the world;

(e) by the example of those who are brought into the church--showing that all, whatever may have been their former character, may be saved; and

(f) by the direct appeals of its individual members. Thus a Christian parent invites his children; a brother invites a sister, and a sister invites a brother; a neighbour invites his neighbour, and a stranger a stranger; the master invites his servant, and the servant his master. The church on earth and the church in heaven unite in the invitation, saying, Come. The living father, pastor, friend, invites--and the voice of the departed father, pastor, friend, now in heaven, is heard re-echoing the invitation. The once-loved mother that has gone to the skies still invites her children to come; and the sweet-smiling babe that has been taken up to the Saviour stretches out its arms from heaven, and says to its mother--Come.

Say, Come. That is, come to the Saviour; come into the church; come to heaven.

And let him that heareth say, Come. Whoever hears the gospel, let him go and invite others to come, Nothing could more strikingly set forth the freeness of the invitation of the gospel than this. The authority to make the invitation is not limited to the ministers of religion; it is not even confined to those who accept it themselves. All persons, even though they should not accept of it, are authorized to tell others that they may be saved. One impenitent sinner may go and tell another impenitent sinner that if he will he may find mercy and enter heaven. How could the offer of salvation be made more freely to mankind?

And let him that is athirst come. Whoever desires salvation, as the weary pilgrim desires a cooling fountain to allay his thirst, let him come as freely to the gospel as that thirsty man would stoop down at the fountain and drink. Isa 55:1. Compare Barnes on "Mt 5:6"; Jn 7:37; Rev 21:6.

And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Rev 21:6. Every one that is disposed to come, that has any sincere wish to be saved, is assured that he may live. No matter how unworthy he is; no matter what his past life has been; no matter how old or how young, how rich or how poor; no matter whether sick or well, a freeman or a slave; no matter whether educated or ignorant; no matter whether clothed in purple or in rags--riding in state or laid at the gate of a rich man full of sores, the invitation is freely made to all to come and be saved. With what more appropriate truth could a revelation from heaven be closed?

(a) "bride" Rev 21:2,9 (b) "Come" Isa 2:5 (c) "And let him" Rev 21:6