Seek First His Kingdom

Transcript

GRM 513
1/7/1997
Seeking First His Kingdom
Matthew 6:19-33
Gil Rugh

Do you think God doesn’t have, I don’t know what to say, common sense? Doesn’t know? I mean this came up back in chapter 6:8 where people prayed with vain repetition. You don’t have to just repeat it again and again to God. He knows what you have need before you ask Him, verse 8 said. We have an all-knowing heavenly Father. He knows what to provide for me. He knows how to provide for me. He knows when to provide for me. So, don’t be like the unbelievers. Now, the pressure for us is the world around us, constantly presses in on us. You see the advertisements on television, you read them in the magazines, you see the news. All of this keeps telling us how insecure we are. How tenuous things are. I mean, the stock market is going to come down, just be sure it’s going to come down. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. It really doesn’t matter. What do you mean it doesn’t matter? You know how much I’ve got in the stock market? Well, it still doesn’t matter, does it? A kind of approach. It doesn’t mean you don’t plan. You plan, but you don’t worry. It’s a nice way to be able to live your life, isn’t it? Free from the worries and cares that besiege the world.

So, verse 33, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. There summarizes what we’ve been talking about. It goes all the way back to what He was saying in the beginning of verse 19 and following. That singleness of focus, singleness of purpose, seek first His kingdom and his righteousness. Now He’s talking to these Jews, about the kingdom that He came to offer. That was to be the focal point of their lives, and the righteousness that God required of those who would be part of that kingdom. But, we as God’s people even today have the same spiritual focus. Ultimately we look forward to the kingdom that He will establish on the earth. We look forward to the treasure that we have stored in heaven. The righteousness that He provides for us, as we talked about in the study of Philippians 3 this morning. That’s the focal point of our lives. And you know what? God provides for these other things. Does that mean I can be lazy then? Call in tomorrow and say, I’m not coming back to work. Why aren’t you coming back to work? Oh, my God provides for me. Well, if you do that, don’t call me for a handout. One of the ways God provides is, He gives us jobs, He gives us healthy bodies. He enables us to make wealth.

Turn back to Deuteronomy 8. Here with Israel, the nation Israel. God prepared them for the land that He had given them. Note verse, oh, break in here, verse 1 talks about all the commandments that I am commanding you. Today you shall be careful to do, that you may live, multiply, go in, possess the land which the Lord swore to give to you. You shall remember the way which the Lord your God led you through the wilderness. The forty years, how He humbled you in verse 3, how He fed you with manna, so that you would learn to depend upon God. You note verse 3, “He humbled you, let you be hungry, fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did you fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” Quoted by Christ in His temptation by Satan. Now they’ll learn that their provision ultimately comes from God.

So, you’re now going to come into an abundance. Land flowing with milk and honey, but don’t let your attention get diverted. God is still the provider for you. He goes on to talk about how He provided their clothing through those years and He was disciplining them. Now, verse 7, “the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,” a land that has prosperity and abundance. Verse 10, “When you have eaten and are satisfied,” you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten, you’re satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply.” Verse 14, “then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Led you through the wilderness, and all the trials of the wilderness. Who fed you, who provided your drink? Verse 17, “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, my power, the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Then a warning, if you do forget the Lord.

You see the trials in the wilderness formed their own danger for Israel in their walk with God. But the blessings of the promised land would form their own sets of danger, for God’s people as well. And I’m not sure what is the greatest danger. Studies would say that Christianity suffers more at the hands of wealth than it does at the hands of poverty. By that I mean, Christianity usually does not flourish in prosperity the way that it does in want because there’s something about ever present wants that reminds us that we need the Lord. If the Lord doesn’t provide for me, I am without resources. But there is an independence that comes with wealth. That’s why we like wealth. We’d like to have enough money so we didn’t have to work. We’d work if we wanted to work to have enough money to know that if we retired, we could maintain our lifestyle until life is over. We like that independence. But the danger of that is it breeds an independence from our God. We become consumed and focused with our prosperity. The very thing warned to Israel here, is what happened to Israel. In their prosperity, they forgot God. They forgot it was God that provided. So, when we’re back in Matthew 6:33, seek first His kingdom, His righteousness, all these things will be added to you. He’ll make provision. Now, I want my life to be built around what God has set before me. Now, everything flows out of that. But that means I have to be a godly man, a godly provider for my home and there are other things. I wouldn’t be a man who had his goal fixed on being what God has called him to be if I didn’t do the responsibilities that God said. Paul writes in another letter, him who doesn’t work, does not eat. Sometimes God provides but He would provide by work. The danger is, Israel would get confused and say what? I’ve done this by the work of my own hands. You forget who gave you the power to make wealth. Why are we in a country where you work hard, you may work very hard, but you have enough to buy a nice house, to have a car, to have more food than you need. Somebody else, in another part of the world works every bit as hard or harder than you do, and can barely eke out a living day by day, why? God has done it that way. What a travesty that the blessings would divert me from my God.

Turn over to 1 Timothy 6. Now, I’m not doing a full elaboration on this subject, you understand. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with wealth. The bible does not condemn wealth. The bible does warn about the dangers of wealth. That’s something we need to be aware of. Look in 1 Timothy 6, talking about false teachers and those who are trying to confuse believers. They think “that godliness is a means of gain,” at the end of verse 5. “Men of depraved minds, deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain,” 1 Timothy 6:5. In other words, they’re in it for what they get. “But godliness is actually a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” I can’t own my own home. I have to live in a small rented, dilapidated apartment. Will I be content? The danger is, I get accustomed to “the good life” and I can’t imagine going back. That’s the danger of my possessions. So, they begin to drive me because my life is built around being sure that I maintain what I have. I get caught in the trap that I didn’t intend to get in to.

Those who want to get rich, fall into temptation and a snare. And many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. Same thing, you know where your heart is, where your treasures, there your heart will be. Want to be rich? You’ll get into all kinds of problems. Believers get into all kinds of problems. And I know, I want to be rich so I can give more to the Lord. I come up with all these kinds of things. The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. It doesn’t say money is the root of evil, it says the love of money. Some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, pierced themselves with many griefs. Sad commentary, isn’t it? Some believers have wandered from the faith, pierced themselves with many griefs. Why? The love of money. They wanted more. This is not something new. So, here’s the apostle Paul, who saw suffered the loss of all things, but Demas couldn’t take it. Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. That’s one thing to admire the apostle Paul, it’s another thing to be willing to live as he did.

“Flee from these things, you man of God. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” Same basic concept that we’re talking about when, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things will be added unto you.” That’s the point.

Look at verse 17, “Instruct those who those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” Now note, he says, instruct those who are rich, to give it all away so that they can be poor. No, “instruct those who are rich not to be conceited or to fix their hope on those uncertain riches. But fix their hope on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” It’s not wrong to enjoy the things that God has given. I don’t have to take someone to my home and say, yeah, this is a very nice home we have, but I hate it. I don’t really like it. No, I do, I enjoy it. I appreciate God, who so abundantly provided. So, He’s given us richly all things to enjoy. Now, I have to be careful that I don’t consume them wrongly for myself. But there are here, those who are rich. The danger of riches is, that I become attached to them. That’s the danger, that’s the warning. And it may be, this may become a focus even when you’re not rich, you’re aware. A person may not have much, but have a great longing to have much, and its hard. A person may have much and not have much attachment to it. Which is warned here, what will change in my life if I wake up in the morning and everything is gone? My God is there, I have to trust Him to provide my food and clothing and a place to sleep and continue to serve Him. What will change?

You know, this is not the focus of our live. Men, the pressure comes in, not just in material things but this is the focus of Jesus talking about. What happens in other areas? We’re overwhelmed. I just can’t trust God. I can’t believe He would let that happen. I was reading Jimmy Carter’s testimony, some of you saw it in the paper. He almost lost this faith, he said when he lost the election in Georgia. I mean, I couldn’t understand that God wouldn’t cause me to win. Well, I’m not talking about whether Jimmy Carter is truly saved or not, but that kind of attitude.

Come back to Matthew 6. This area of worry, things and worry, this life, He just wants to summarize this for us. So, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Now, He doesn’t say, don’t plan for tomorrow, but He says, don’t worry about tomorrow. Now, if you’re not going to worry about tomorrow, that will make your list of worries pretty short. Because most of our worries have to do with our tomorrows, don’t they? We’ve talked about this before. Our worries have to do with our tomorrows. Here we are, comfortable, we have enough clothes, we have enough to eat to get us by today. Our kids are doing ok, relatively maybe today. Our worries are for tomorrow. A reminder, God is in charge of tomorrow, you can’t control tomorrow. I can’t control tomorrow. What is going to happen to this country tomorrow? I don’t know. What is going to happen to the world tomorrow? I don’t know. What is going to happen in my life tomorrow? I don’t know. So, do not worry about tomorrow. Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. Now, that’s a clear instruction of scripture. What does it mean? It means if I don’t listen to God, I sin. When I sin, I get into trouble. So, we have Christians who are consumed by worry. Then their life gets in a turmoil. Well, I say, here’s what scripture says, don’t worry about tomorrow. “Tomorrow will care for itself.” Well, that’s fatalism. No, because He’s already made clear here, we have sovereign God in control, who is working His loving purpose for His children. So, I have to take, “tomorrow will care for itself” in that context. God’s in charge. Don’t bother yourself about tomorrow. Make the plans you should, you can but don’t worry about it. You have enough food for today? You say, I don’t know where I’m going to get food tomorrow. Well, if there’s nothing you can plan for, or do today for it, go to sleep and get a good night’s rest and wake up in the morning excited to find out how God is going to provide.

You know what I want to take out of my life? I want to take the risk out. Bottom line is, I don’t want to walk by faith. I say that to you as an honest admission. Bottom line is, I really don’t want to walk by faith, I mean I want to, but I don’t want to. To just have God, can I go that way? Will that be enough? Well you know, even to say, don’t you think, you know, He said I’ll never leave you or forsake you. Each day has enough trouble of its own. So, don’t worry about tomorrow.

One of the blessings that we have as believers, is to live worry free lives. We have a God who cares. We plan, we try to be faithful, we draw upon His grace to do what He says we should do, and we leave it in His hands. You know, it’s so simple. And yet, the pictures out there for us with our children. You know, I don’t want them worried when I little children. I don’t want them worried. You know, you don’t want your little children worried about whether their going to have clothes to ware tomorrow, to go out. You’ll do whatever is necessary. You don’t want them worried about whether they’re going to have enough to eat tomorrow. I mean, and wouldn’t it be ultimately foolishness? I mean, sometimes we go through tight times. But here is a parent of infinite resources who loves his child with true deep love, and that child sitting there, fretting and worrying and fearful about what he’ll eat and wear and how to be cared for tomorrow. I mean, that father could say, I have the resources to provide for you abundantly everyday of your life. I could give you far more than I give you, but that wouldn’t be good for you now. I give you what is right and fitting for you at this point in your life. Just because you have a million dollars, doesn’t mean that you’re going to give 500,000 to your seven-year-old tomorrow. Ultimately it may be the desire and the light of your heart to give everything to them at the proper time. That’s the way our God is. He has, He’s God! Ultimately He’s going to bestow on me the riches of the glory of heaven itself. Now, I’m in a process of training and maturing. He gives me what is necessary. And for some people, sometimes in their walk, it seems like it’s touch and go. Like Israel in the wilderness, you know, gathering up manna for today and tomorrow it will be there. Boy, I sure hate this, just have His word on that. That’s how we’re called to walk, a worry-free life. As I begin the new year, I say Gil, is this going to be a worry-free year for you? It doesn’t mean there won’t be a proper concern. This particular word for worry is used in a proper sense. Paul said he had the worry of the churches in a proper sense of concern. But worry that causes me to fret and to be fearful, my desire for this coming year, I desire to live a worry-free life. Not just about myself, but about my family, my children, my grandchildren, the church. I see that my God is sovereign, I can trust Him.

Turn back to Jeremiah as we wrap this up. Jeremiah 9. A number of places we could go, you could jot down Ecclesiastes 2, and read about Solomon’s experience with acquiring all that he could acquire as a king. When it got all said and done, he said it was nothing, it was worthless, the proper perspective. Jeremiah 9:23, “Thus says the Lord, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts, boast of this, that he understands and knows Me. That I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth. For I delight in these things, declares the Lord.” I will go to bed tonight and not worry about tomorrow. I can go to bed and glory in the fact that I know the Lord of heaven. I know Him who exercises lovingkindness and justice and righteousness on the earth. He’s my God. He’s the one who cares for me and protects me and provides for me. I can look forward to tomorrow and another day with Him, to see how He cares for me, provides, protects and keeps me as His child.

Don’t store for yourself treasures on the earth, store them up in heaven. Our God, He’s able to provide for us. You have little, you have much, find your confidence, security, in Him, He’ll provide everything we need. Don’t worry about tomorrow, everyday has enough trouble of its own. God, tomorrow will take care of itself, because our God is sovereign.

Let’s pray together. Lord, simple truths, yet how easily our attention is diverted from You to the circumstances of life, to the possible things that could go wrong, to the dangers of the road ahead. Lord, if we’re honest, we all have that tendency to want to find the certain part of our security in the things that we can see, we can touch. And indeed, is a life of faith that trusts You each day for that day. Lord what a blessing it is, that as Your children Your desire for us is to lead worry free lives. You desire for us to trust You and enjoy Your blessing, Your provisions, Your care each day. Lord, I pray that this simplicity of these truths will not be ignored by us. That we will look at our lives, what is the focus of our lives? What fills our minds? Are they really set on things above or on things of this earth? Do we have concerns about the future? Are we worried about having enough? Lord, may we be encouraged by the reminder of Your gracious loving care, to let those things go. To not allow the world to shape our thinking and our conduct, but rather to enjoy the fullness of the blessings that You have provided, to be satisfied that we have treasure in heaven. That we have a God who will provide everything necessary for life, until we are called into the fullness of what’s provided for us in glory. We praise You in Christ’s name. Amen.