But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
43 sermons cite this verse
… sense of scarcity, fear, anxiety, worried about, am I going to have enough? And he says this, but seek first. Everybody say first. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. We're starting a series today called First Things First. Before I forget, next week, the incredible Torin Wells is going to be with us, bringing God's word. So you will want to be here for that. I think we have to ask ourselves, what does he mean by the kingdom? Seek first the kingdom. 126 times in just the four gospels, Jesus addresses the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. Do you think it's important that we try to understand what he's trying to tell us? moment you decide to become a disciple of the way, a follower of Jesus, you now come under a king and his kingdom. And the reason he has to be so redundant about what that means is because the way the kingdom operates is directly opposed to the patterns, the values, and the practices of the world in which we live. And today we're going to look at a story in the New Testament, a parable, in fact, that Jesus told to help us understand how the kingdom works and how he has called us to operate within it. Because here's the thing, if you follow Jesus, we have to bring our relationships, our disciplines, our habits, our marriage, our ambition, our money under a king. …
… but I promise you it does. Matthew chapter 6, verse 33 from the English Standard Version, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. You may be seated in God's presence. I want to put a tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers. I want to talk about I'm in my bag. I'm in my bag. Inflation, no chance to increase finance. Bills pile up sky high. These are sounds of stress and nightmarish notes of anxiety in these picturesque lyrics from the mind of Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye, the cool crooner in the socially conscious song, inner city blues, make me want to holler, was singing for those attacked by anxiety because their outgo exceeded their income. Shook, stressed. Do you feel the anxiety? J. Cole transparently testifies about the earthquake rattling his own mental health. I got thoughts, can't control, got me down, got me low, rest my mind, rest my soul. …
… Matthew 6, 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, not your own, his. And all these things shall be added to you. That verse 13 in Proverbs chapter 3 goes on is the man, look at this, who gains. Gains understanding. The word understanding is a powerful word and we need it so much today. By the way, the word understanding is almost inseparable from that great word discernment, but it means having the knowledge of discernment, to have the skill to see what is not readily seen, skillful insight, supernatural. God says, I'm going to give you, listen, you want to be happy? Here's how you're happy. It's not going It's not going to be this moment or that moment. It's who you know. How many people? I've said this a thousand times. How many people? How do people? So many people get jobs. How did you get that job? Oh, I knew the owner's son. Have you noticed this stuff? How did you get that job? …
… will we drink? What will we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. But your heavenly father knows all your needs. This is the big verse. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Wow. Point number one, if you're taking notes, the believer should not worry. The believer should not worry. Jesus was not saying a Christian should not think about or be concerned with the needs of their life, including housing, food, and clothing. Because the fact is, elsewhere in Scripture, we're told to plan for the future. We're told to work hard. We're told to save our money. Jesus is saying, don't worry about these things. Don't worry, he says in verse 25, about everyday life. A better translation would be, stop having anxiety about this. It's one thing to think about it. It's another thing to have constant anxiety about it. Listen, worry is not a virtue. …
… This is the big verse. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Wow. Now, point number one, if you're taking notes, the believer should not worry. The believer should not worry. Jesus was not saying a Christian should not think about or be concerned with the needs of their life, including housing, food, and clothing. Because the fact is, elsewhere in Scripture, we're told to plan for the future. We're told to work hard. We're told to save our money. Jesus was just saying, don't worry about these things. Don't worry, he says in verse 25, about everyday life. A better translation would be, stop having anxiety about this. It's one thing to think about it. It's another thing to have constant anxiety about it. Listen, worry is not a virtue. Let me take it a step further. Worry can actually be a sin. …
… Jesus said on one occasion, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And what he meant was, I'm here and wherever I am, that's what the kingdom of God is. So when we're told in Matthew 6.33 to seek first the kingdom of God in his righteousness, that means put Christ first, Put the will of God first. Have Jesus rule and reign in your life. Sometimes we confuse man's kingdom with God's kingdom. We get very worked up about politics. Having said that, every Christian should register and vote, and vote biblically. I think it's irresponsible for Christians to not vote. It's so important. but having said that, even if your candidate does not win, the kingdom of God marches on. We can't forget that. His kingdom is more powerful than the democratic kingdom. His kingdom is more powerful than the republican kingdom. His kingdom is more powerful than any kingdom. And in the end, he will reign. Your kingdom come, your will be done. So it's a prayer for God's kingdom in my life. …
… You've got to remember where it all happened because once you know where, then who will step in and do what only God can do and make a way in your life. Seek first the kingdom of God and God's justice and all these things will be added unto you. bring the whole tithe into God's storehouse. Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord. I'll open up the windows of heaven, pour you out a blessing, and you won't have enough room to receive it. There's a prescription for your deliverance that's rooted, here it is, in the fact that you've been pushed into new possibilities. But this is my last thing, and I'm done. I love the text because the text finally tells me this, and that is God after pushing you, God after prescribing for you says just make sure you have the presence that gives you power that makes a difference. Here's what gets me. At the beginning when they say, we're cramped we need to go to the Jordan Elisha can we go build he said yes will you go with us you didn't get that etymologically the name Elisha means God is my salvation and when you really break it down it's God is my freer the one who delivers me, the one who liberates me, the one who sets me free. …
… and make a way in your life. Seek first the kingdom of God and God's justice and all these things will be added unto you. Bring the whole tithe into God's storehouse. Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord. I'll open up the windows of heaven, pour you out a blessing, and you won't have enough room to receive it. There's a prescription for your deliverance that's rooted, here it is, in the fact that you've been pushed. into new possibilities but that's this is my last thing and I'm done I love the text because the text finally tells me this and that is God after pushing you God after prescribing for you says just make sure you have the presence that gives you power that makes a difference here's what get to me at the beginning when they say this we're cramped we need to go to the Jordan Elisha can we go build he said yes will you go with us you didn't get that etymologically the name Elisha means God is my salvation and when you really break it down it's God is my freer. …
… We want to make sure that we put God first. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, the Bible says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All these other things shall be added to you. it matters people I want to end with this Mark chapter 12 verse 41 Mark 12 41 Mark 12 41 says now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money in the treasury Jesus took the boys to the temple and they're watching and picture this in your mind. You know what a trumpet looks like, right? Take a trumpet and stand it upside down so that it's standing upright and that the base or the large part is on the bottom and the top is the little opening. The coffers were built like that. They're made of bronze. And that's how you gave. And they had it done that way, I think, to amplify the sound to be quite honest with you. Jesus takes the disciples on a field trip and says well he's going to say it in a moment but notice Jesus is watching how they give. …
… Keep that same energy. And seek first the kingdom of God. And God's justice and all these things will be added unto you. Keep that same energy. I've made up my mind. I'm going to keep that energy. If I can help somebody as I pass along. If I can cheer somebody with a word or song. If I can show somebody that's traveling wrong in my living. then my living was not being there because I'm going to keep that same energy hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah listen let's pray God thank you for your word thank you for your energy thank you for calling us for such a time as this. You know the times we're in? The fact that so many are hurting and need to be blessed by how you use us. Right now, may we recommit ourselves to a life of giving, a life of service, a life of advocating and standing in solidarity with those who are suffering oh god i pray your blessings now upon someone in the house who is stalled god they've stalled and some stuff is broken insides they've stalled and they need your healing. …
… yeah I'm all in but he's not listening apparently so talk to him about something that he wants to talk about that may sound silly to you but it's a different way of phrasing seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added it is so easy in this Christian life to turn the affection towards the things that are added and not on the king and his kingdom. This issue of breakthrough, here in your presence is fullness of joy. I'm going to make, this will just be silly. Say you need a car. And so you pray hard, you work hard, you finally were able to get that car. And it's a good thing just because it happened in your life and it was a goal and the Lord honored it. But there are some times where the Lord actually works a work in us where he releases, in this case, provision in such a way that it actually happened in the context of discovering the presence of God. …
… Did Elijah pray for food? No. He obeyed the Lord, and the Lord gave him food. Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. If you seek the kingdom, the things get thrown in. If you seek the things, you miss the kingdom. Elijah doesn't pray for God to feed him. You know what? If he had prayed for God to feed him, he wouldn't have prayed for God to do it like this. Look, you will drink from the brook. I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there. Verse 5 is the important one. It says, So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine east of the Jordan and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook." From the ravens. Hey, Lord, thank you for this encouragement that you are going to feed me in the famine. Oh, I appreciate it so much. God, I'm just grateful for you. I'm just grateful for you. But Lord, it sounded like you said ravens. And you and I both know that ravens are forbidden in Leviticus chapter 11, where it says that, you know, the ravens are unclean birds. And so Lord, I appreciate you offering to feed me, but I'm going to need you do it some way other than the raven. See, ravens are unclean birds, and I don't touch unclean birds. And so, Lord, I appreciate …
… So we start with God. We seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. and all these other things will be added unto us. And why do we do it on Sunday, not Saturday, as the traditional Sabbath was throughout all of Jewish history? Well, I don't know. Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday, so we decided that was a good day to worship him. On day one, we start by saying, thank you for rising from the dead. Now, all week long, helped there to be many resurrections from the little crucifixions that we face all week long. And John couldn't get to a gathering of God's people because he was in a cave on an island. So you know what he did? He had some church all by his lonesome, and Jesus liked it so much, he went ahead and showed up in that cave and gave him the book of Revelation for his trouble. Hello, somebody. So what am I trying to get you to see? …
… Because we didn't seek him first. You know, the scripture says to seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these other things will be added unto you. And so it's not just materialistic things, but it's discernment. It's wisdom. It's, you know, the knowledge and understanding that we need to be able to make decisions every single day. And so when we are not seeking Christ and asking him first, then we will allow the opinions of others to dictate our actions. And that is what, again, part of the transformation and being self-aware is supposed to do to say, God, I need to seek you in every area first. Before I make this decision, if I need to go here, God, what do you say? Right. And do you do I have peace about this in my spirit? Do I have clarity? Right. In this decision. And if I don't feel peace and if I don't feel you with me or any kind of answer. …
… but to be your first choice seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things will be added unto you God been watching you all week on Instagram all week on TikTok all week on Netflix all week in the text thread all week in somebody's end he said when you gonna make some time for me you've just been in here an hour and you're already looking at your watch trying to figure out when you're going to get out of here. I came, I know it sounds crazy, I came to give God some attention. To let him know he's the first thing on my mind. In him I live, in him I move, in him I have my baby. I came to tell God I got a crush on him. I love him more than anything. he's more than life to me when my mother and father forsake me then the Lord will lift me up
… He gives us a solution. He says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. And of course he's working all things out for the good. But look, if you want to boil down prophecy, if prophecy means anything, and it does, it means there's a future. We are headed into the future. Jesus has taken control of the future. Hence, the future is in really good hands. And that means you as well as his son or daughter. We are in his arms, and he doesn't fumble any of us. It's like he's got this. Okay, write this down here taking notes. Number three, there's the fear that actually paralyzes our movement, taking ground in God's will in our lives. It kind of undermines the go for it. Paul wrote, Timothy, God has not given us the spirit of fear, of timidity, or kind of the deer in the headlight existence where I'm paralyzed to move forward, but he's given us power and love and a sound mind. …
… justice in the Geneva Bible that the King James translators translated righteousness. Okay, I'm going to help you. So seek first the kingdom of God and his justice. It's different than seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, because if you're not careful you'll make righteousness personal okay blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice that's how the geneva bible translates the greek word there but the king james and subsequent english translations followed king james's lead and they translated it righteousness now after her class I couldn't help but run with this because you know this this is a we're gonna have a conversation DA why would they why would King James have his translators not use the word justice but instead righteousness King James well yeah because just well for me like if I were to define justice, I would say justice is protecting the sacredness of humanity, right? So if you go to Matthew 5 where you find that, and this is my New Testament, you know, I love my New Testament professor, I forgot his name. Oh man, I know you're talking about Warren Carter. …
… And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Look at the birds and flowers. when we were up in Sedona there was this state park we found and we go into the state park and they have this little theater in their visitor center there was supposed to be an introduction to the state park so we thought this is cool, give some history and see some of those grand pictures well we got in there and the video was not an introduction to the state park the video was a monologue on hummingbirds in the state park and it was the driest, most boring video. I mean, we sat there, and first our job was just kind of on the ground. I thought we were going to see grand pictures instead. This is the red-billed hummingbird, and it does that, and the guy just totally monologue. And so we're sitting there for a while, and it just goes, there's this hummingbird, and then there's this hummingbird, and then there's this hummingbird, and it was just like one after another. …
… trying to learn. What Paul means here by seek is more what the prophets talked about, or the psalmist, that is, or think about Jesus. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." That language of seeking is the seeking that puts God first. It's the seeking that has worship of the true and living God as our ultimate priority. That's what he means. There is no natural person who seeks after God in that way. And there's no one who does good. Again, you may think even in the Bible, Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. He gets converted, but he was a God-fearer and he seemed to be a decent man. You may think about your next-door neighbor, very friendly, they don't know Christ. All of that is true. By God's common grace, we can have moral decency on a surface level. What Paul is talking about here is that absolute good, the truest, deepest, ultimate good, that what you're doing comes from the right heart, it's the right thing, and you have the right aim, the sort of deed that God would say, that is praiseworthy before me. Paul says, absolutely. There's no one out there, your nicest neighbor, as friendly as you might be this morning as a non-Christian, and all the charities that you give to. It's better than punching your neighbor in the face. …
… and your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom, the rule and reign of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So do not be anxious about tomorrow because tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew chapter 6 Jesus assumes that in this life we will have anxiety both the healthy, cautious care kind and the unhealthy, worrisome variety Jesus knows that for a long time now we've been trying to drive ourselves on corrupted software speeding toward a dead end that will destroy us Our God-given warning systems have been decalibrated. But even functioning well, the warning lights won't tell you where to go. They may help or hinder you on the way, but they won't tell you which destination to seek. They won't tell you how to get there, and they cannot tell you who owns the car. That information has to come from elsewhere. Jesus. He is more than your soul mechanic. He said things that only the owner has the right to say. …
… give as he's given to you, and forgive as he's forgiven you. And seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then believe that all these other things will be added unto you as well when you put him first. I know it's hard. I know the hurt is real. I know his grace is present and his healing is real as well. I pray you experience that healing in a way that only he can bring. So Holy Spirit, do a work today. Broken friendships, broken relationships, broken family relationships, and broken marriages. Do healing work. I'm gonna ask a specific question. We're gonna pray a specific prayer. This is not for everyone, but it is for some of you. I don't want you to hesitate. I don't want you to hold back. I want you just to raise your hand. I want you to step into it if it's you. I wonder how many of you wanna take back what the enemy has stolen relationally. It could be a friendship, it could be with a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a friend, someone in church, someone in life group. …
… and to his staff, Matthew 6, 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things are gonna be added to you. And when his brother and his father died and he didn't know if they were believers, he says it was one verse that settled all questioning in his soul genesis 18 25 shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just this is his pattern when he is in pain he's going to a verse he's wanting to listen to the specific ways god's voice comes through in the words of a sentence, of a promise. And the result, he says, is I believed his promises. I poured out my soul before him. I could rise from my knees in peace. That was it again and again. So now real practically, here's a question. Maybe the biggest thing that keeps me morning by morning from meditating more like Mueller did is that I feel like I don't have time. i've i'm trying to read the whole bible i've got a bible plan i'm trying to pray for people in my life how am i going to slow down to sit with one verse out of the 31 000 like muller did how did he do it he's reading the bible twice a year or more how's he doing this too one of the answers is that he just spent a ton of time with the bible he was a man of one book in many ways but there's also this little glimpse that he gives in his journal that is fascinating …
Revelation 3.20. That's a good one. Psalm 24, verse 7 and 9. That's really great too. Matthew 6.33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you? Think of that. What about Luke 10, 9? And Jesus, and he sent them out and healed the sick there and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. That's amazing. He told them, go preach the gospel and tell them when you do the miracles, that's not the point. When they see the power of God by miracles, use that to tell them the kingdom of God is near you. Did you see that power? Yes, that's amazing. Okay, that's great. We got your attention. Listen up. The kingdom of God is near you. Why did he say near? Because they got to accept the kingdom. Right now, tonight, the kingdom of God is near you. If you're not a Christian tonight, the kingdom of God is near you. …
… It won't work. Matthew 6.33 says seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added to you pursue the things of God and then watch him bring alongside you your spouse that's how you meet him or her put God first and you're going to bump into somebody who's putting God first and that's a great way to start so remember this I want to leave you with this Titus 2.13 memorize it Make it part of your life. While we wait, I love that, while we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a verse. So be excited, live your life, glorify God, and you know those lizards that can have one eye this way and one eye over here? That's how the Christian should live. One eye up and one eye straight ahead. Okay? All right. That's a great question. Yes, over here. Hi, my name's Katrina, and I have a question. …
… father knows that you need them all. And then it gives us the instruction. It says, but seek first what? Say it with me. The kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. See, we have to choose kingdom over control. We got to choose his kingdom. We got to seek God's kingdom. So then what is the question? The question is, what's God's kingdom? What's his kingdom? Because it's different than our kingdom. It's different than the kingdoms of this world. See, what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is actually upside down. It flips everything. The kingdom of God tells us to serve others instead of ruling over them. The kingdom of God says being humble gets you lifted up. Being proud gets you knocked down. God's kingdom says that he blesses the poor and the weak, not just the rich and the powerful. His kingdom tells us love your enemies instead of hating them. His kingdom says, use spiritual power, not weapons and force. His kingdom tells us, lead by setting a good example, not by pushing people around. And his kingdom tells us, don't just store up treasures here. Store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. His kingdom is upside down. It's different. It's upside down. So when you pray, put your needs and your wants aside. Seek his kingdom and how you can be used to grow it here on earth. …
… So he says this in the end of that whole section on worry. He says, therefore, seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first God's rule, God's reign, God, trust in God, living for God, walking with God. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and his compassion and mercy. and all the other things will be added to you as well. So he's starting to give us a clue as to how we do this. I've been trying to teach you over the last few weeks a sort of pathway to overcoming fear with your faith. And part of it just starts with faith. So this is an acronym, fear. And so we start, fear begins with this one, face your fears with faith. That is with trust that things are gonna work out okay. It may not even be faith in God, just the trust that somehow usually things work out okay. And then as a Christian, you take that one step further and say, I trust that God is with me always. …
… That's a good chance to say amen right there. If you have your Bibles, you can open them to the book of Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. So powerful. What he just shared is exactly what I want to preach. I've never preached this message except in the 9 o'clock. and I pray the Lord quickens it now. Speak to these people like you spoke to me about it. In Jesus' name. God is not finished raising up people in this church. I love what he said that Zach said he was sitting out there contemplating starting the business. That's how God does it. You don't ever know how God is going to speak to you when you sit in God's house. Worshiping him. Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And these things, all these things will be added unto you. Therefore, do not worry. When you put God first and seek him first, you don't have to worry. God knows where you are. …
… Your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. I like that. He's saying, you know what? We got problems today. Why are we worrying about tomorrow? I've got stuff I'm trying to sort today. I don't need to worry about where are we going to eat? What are we going to wear? What are we going to do? No, where's it going to come from? No, I'm going to. What did it tell me? Jesus told me to do something here. He said, seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be taken care of. Let me just put it this way. Put it on the screen. God knows what I need before I ask. God already knows. God already knows what you need before you are never informing heaven on your needs. …
… What do you do? But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Oh, like this is worth a short side note here because that last part in this section of Matthew chapter six is a game changer in the battle against anxiety. Like God guarantees, don't miss what Jesus is saying here. God guarantees mercy today for challenges today. And God guarantees mercy tomorrow for challenges tomorrow. But God doesn't give mercy today for challenges tomorrow. No, today's mercies are designed for today's burdens. Tomorrow's mercies will be sufficient for tomorrow's burdens. And anxiety, worry so often comes when we are focused on tomorrow. Like we worry thinking, how am I gonna make it through the fall with my kids doing virtual school? How am I gonna make things work financially in August or September or October or November or December or next year? …
… as your pastor today, if you didn't know that there's a move of God happening around the world, that's not good. That means that you're living somewhere else, but in the seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. If you do not know there's revival breaking out around the world, that is not good. You don't need me to tell you that. And God is inviting us today into a relationship with Jesus that looks less like Luke 17. And one guy came back, and looks more like Acts 4 that we read last week, where it said, Every, everybody. everybody considered that their possessions weren't their own. Every single person at the church said, why because 60 days before Jesus died and rose again and two weeks ago the Holy Spirit came and blew our lives up Can I just remind us today that Jesus died and rose again? and he's given us his spirit today to blow our lives up in the very best way the last thing is just for us to say in Above and Beyond together, God, we want you. …
… Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Don't lay up for yourself treasures on earth where they can be stolen. Lay up treasures in heaven where they're going to be there forever. When you get there, you'll still have all the treasure that you lay up there. Turn the other cheek. Bless those who persecute you. All these things that he's taught. When he was finished, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. don't you want to be like that? Don't you want people to say that about you? She talks like she has authority, not like positional authority, not like anybody signed her up for some kind of special access code thing, but she just has it on her life. And that's what he's wanting for you. It says in Ephesians that at his resurrection, he's hoping our eyes will be opened to see this, to know that the power that raised him up or that's in us is the same as the mighty strength that he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead. …
Seek first, say it with me. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and his righteousness. doing what's right. And all these things will be added unto you. Can you raise your hands and can you worship God with me just a moment and thank him for his goodness? Can you thank him for everything that he has blessed you with? Can you thank him for his plan is great in your future? Can you thank him? I know some of you are giving and you're doing things and you think it doesn't make a difference, but I'm telling you, God sees every act of obedience and he says, I can trust them. I can trust them. I can trust them. and what a mighty God we serve when he blesses you when he favors you when he opens the windows of heaven it will astound you at his goodness I'm going to ask you to stand no one moving in and out and I just feel like we ought to take a moment if there's some young people here if there's some kids here this would be a good Sunday to come down to the altar and get some candy amen but because I made a mess up here but what about you What about you? …
… So notice also, as long as you're in chapter 6, go over to verse 33. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, all the things you need. Again, this is a call to sanctification. Salvation advances the kingdom. Sanctification advances the kingdom. And then glorification advances the kingdom. As we think about Your kingdom come, we want to say with John in Revelation 22, 20, even so, come, Lord Jesus. Come as King of kings and Lord of lords. Come bring your glorious kingdom. So the kingdom advances through salvation, sanctification, and one day glorification. And John was praying at the end of Revelation, even so come Lord Jesus. I think probably more of us are praying for the second coming than in any other period in our lifetime. We don't see much good in the future. So this is how you pray, that God's name be hallowed, that His kingdom come. And thirdly, that His will be done, that His will be done. …
… and i i think it comes down to the issue of the heart once again it's it's all about heart if i start well here it is seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things the things you would normally concern yourself with those things would be taken care of Right? So here's the priority. It's all about heart. The priority is intact. What does he do? He rewards. He concerns himself with things so that we don't have to concern ourselves with those things. He's pruning, he's grooming, he's refining heart focus, values, what's important to us. The whole subject here on him rewarding us comes out of the subject of us wanting to please him. now I know that there are many who would as a doctrinal point would say well I'm already pleasing to the Lord yeah that's true but you don't get it there's there's more there's there's more listen everybody in this room has been given faith everyone's given a measure everyone has been given favor, a measure. Everyone has been given gifts, abilities. There are other things, authority, a resource, et cetera, but we'll take those three things. Everyone's been given a measure of faith. …
… But he said what? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these things will be added to you. These things don't even take on significance until you have your deepest needs met. What is He talking about when He's talking about green grass and still waters? Do you think He's just talking about having your bank account full? Oh no. Listen, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, and Psalm 24 are a trinity of Psalms. Now go back to Psalm 22 and look in verse 26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. What shall they eat? Well look in the rest of that verse. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Do you see that? That's the food. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Look if you will in verse 29. All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship. Do you see that? All that be fat. God wants healthy sheep. What does the green grass talk about? It's the green pasture of His Word. …
… He didn't say any of those were not important. But He said what? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these things will be added to you. These things don't even take on significance until you have your deepest needs met. You see, what is He talking about when He's talking about green grass and still waters? Do you think He's just talking about having your bank account full? Oh no. Listen, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, and Psalm 24 are a trinity of Psalms. Now go back to Psalm 22 and look in verse 26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. What shall they eat? Well look in the rest of that verse. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Do you see that? That's the food. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Look if you will in verse 29. All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship. Do you see that? all that be fat. God wants healthy sheep. …
… two masters he's talking about, he said, you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is just another word for things. And then Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. God will not work in second place. When you put God in second place that is idolatry, and that's the reason the Bible calls covetousness idolatry. We have in God we trust on our money, but we have me first written in the hearts. I heard about a man who loved gold. I mean he just loved it. He had an inordinate affection for gold. Finally he got a lot of gold. And he loved it. And so he put down a golden colored carpet, painted the walls parchment colored, got yellow drapes, got a gold colored bedspread. He bought him some yellow pajamas. Everything. He just loved gold. Everything was gold all around. But then he got sick. He came down with, would you believe? Yellow jaundice. You know what a yellow jaundice is? …
… I mean, it's got to get finished. Projects and things, but Jesus said in Matthew 6, VERSE 33, SEEK YOU FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU. THE BIBLE SAYS IN PSALM 127 AND VERSE 2, IT'S VEIN TO RISE UP EARLY, TO STAY UP LATE, TO EAT THE BREAD OF SORROWS. LET ME ASK YOU ANOTHER QUESTION. DO YOU DWELL ON FAILURE OR DO YOU SIMPLY LEARN FROM IT? THE PERFECTIONIST CAN'T LET GO OF HIS FAILURES. HE JUST CAN'T DO IT. HE, HE, HE HE FEELS THAT HE HAS TO PUNISH HIMSELF BECAUSE HE FAILED. AFTER ALL, GOD WILL NOT FORGIVE HIM. SO WHY SHOULD HE FORGIVE HIMSELF? BUT THE APOSTLE PAUL WHO SAID, I AM WHAT I AM BY THE GRACE OF GOD, HE SAID, I PERSECUTED THE CHURCH. I MADE HAVOC OF THE CHURCH, BUT I AM WHAT I AM BY THE GRACE OF GOD. HE WAS ABLE TO LET GO. HE SAID IN PHILIPPIANS 3 VERSE 13, BRETHREN, I COUNT NOT MYSELF TO HAVE APPREHENDED, BUT THIS ONE THING I DO FOR GETTING THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND AND REACHING FORTH UNTO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE PRESENT, I PRESS TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE." HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO LET GO OF THE PAST? YOU SAY, WHAT A FOOL I WAS, WHAT A FOOL I WAS. WHY DON'T YOU START SAYING, WHAT A FOOL I AM FOR SAYING, WHAT A FOOL I WAS? LEARN THIS, YOU CAN FAIL AND NOT …
… FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. WHEN ARE WE GONNA LEARN? MATTHEW SIX VERSE 33, BUT SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU. YOU SAY, WELL, PASTOR, A MAN'S GOT TO LIVE. NO, HE'S GOT TO DIE. AND AFTER HE DIES HE'S GOT TO FACE GOD. BUT THERE WAS SODOM, AND SODOM WAS SATAN'S MASTERPIECE. REMEMBER THE SCRIPTURE, FIRST JOHN TWO VERSE 16, FOR ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD, THE LUST OF THE FLESH AND THE LUST OF THE EYES AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE IS NOT OF THE FATHER BUT OF THE WORLD. THERE WAS THE LUST OF THE FLESH, SODOM WITH ITS PLEASURES. THERE WAS THE LUST OF THE EYES, SODOM WITH ITS POSSESSIONS. THERE WAS THE PRIDE OF LIFE, SODOM WITH ITS PHILOSOPHY. NOW LOT'S SIN IS NOT A SIN THAT ONLY THE RICH HAVE. YOU CAN BE POOR AND BE COVETOUS. YOU CAN BE IN A MEAGER SALARY AND BE COVETOUS. THIS OLD WORLD FLIRTED WITH LOT. HE WAS ENTICED. HE BECAME A FRIEND OF THE WORLD AND COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH GOD. THOSE SAME FORCES THAT WORKED ON LOT ARE WORKING ON YOU AND ME DAY BY DAY. …
… verse that we touched on last week, but, uh, did not have enough time, uh, to do it, uh, I think, proper justice. And we're going to look again in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I want to speak to you today on this subject, the incredible power of proper priorities. The incredible power of proper priorities. Our Lord here is speaking about priorities. He's telling us what to put first. And he says, seek ye first the kingdom of God. Now if ever, ever a message were needed, this one is in this generation, in this day, in this age, and in this place. Ours is a nation and ours is a city of vanishing values and therefore pathetic priorities. …
… LORD SAYS IS THAT YOU NEED TO GET YOUR FOCUS BACK. LOOK AGAIN, IF YOU WILL, IN THIS PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE NOW IN MATTHEW CHAPTER SIX AND VERSE 33, BUT SEEK YE FIRST, FIRST, FIRST, THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS, FOOD, FASHION, FITNESS, FUTURE, BE ADDED TO YOU. JUST seek God first. You know what many of us do? We try to put things first and God second. Now we don't exclude God. We don't exclude God, but we just try to, to kind of add God in. You know, as, for many people, living the Christian life is, is doing the best we can with God's help. That's what many of us do, the best we can with God's help. But THAT ISN'T THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. OUR LORD DOES NOT WANT A PLACE IN YOUR LIFE. HE DOESN'T WANT PROMINENCE IN YOUR LIFE. HE DEMANDS, DESERVES PREEMINENCE. SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED UNTO YOU. …
… Mammon is just another word for things. And then Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. God will not work in second place. When you put God in second place, that is idolatry. And that's the reason the Bible calls covetousness idolatry. We have, in God we trust on our money, but we have me first written in our hearts. Let me give you a verse that proves beyond the shadow of any doubt that covetousness is idolatry. Colossians 3 verse 5. Mortify, that means put to death, therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Now remember, covetousness is a very deceitful thing. Many of us would not say that we're covetous. But covetousness, according to Paul here in this passage to Timothy, is like an octopus. It just wraps its tentacles around you and drags you down. …
… are we, going out there parading our righteousness and exhibiting this attitude of being holier than and thou, or everybody else. No, no, no, no. It was Jesus who said, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you. Priority number one, protoss, not first in a list of temporal things, but first in terms of importance is the pursuit of the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It's the same Jesus who said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will no wise enter the kingdom of God. And yet we know that all of our righteousness is this filthy rags. This whole epistle has been written to show that the only way we can stand before God is if we're clothed not in our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ, which we receive by faith. And since we have His righteousness by faith, why would we bother seeking our own? because justification is not the end of the Christian life, it's the beginning. …