Stricken, spitten, unafflicted,
see him dying on the tree. ? Tears of Christ, why, man rejected
? ? Yes, my soul, tears he tested ? ? Tears of long-expected profit
? ? Nay, men saw yet, nay, men swore ? ? My history now unspoken
? Tears are true and faithful words. Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
was there ever grief like his? Friends through fear his cause
disowning, foes insulting, his disgrace Many hands were raised to wound
him. None would enter, both to save. But the deepest from the pierced
him was a spear that just escaped. He who thinketh sin but lightly,
nor suppose the evil way, he may view his nature lightly,
his guilt may escalate. But the sacrifice of joy, See who bears the awful load. Tis the Word, the Lord's Almighty,
Son of Man and Son of God. Here we have a firm foundation. Here the refuge of the Lord. Christ, the rock of our salvation. ? Is the name of which we boast
? ? Lamb of God, your sinners for dead ? ? Sacrifice to you
and support you ? ? None shall ever be compounded ? ? You alone
in them, Lord, have built ? None shall ever be confounded
who have their hope built on Him. I want you to turn in your Bibles,
first of all, this morning to Matthew 6. Matthew chapter 6. I'm going to read this verse
to you in the beginning. This is a command. It's not an
elective. It's a command of God. It's in verse 33. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you. The command is to seek. And yet we know that only those
that appears to hear, only those that God gives a heart
of faith and a heart to obey him, only they heed. such a thing. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. The kingdom of God. When we look at the kingdom of
God, we are immediately confronted
with the God of the kingdom. The God of the kingdom, God as
He is. And God as He is, does like He
will, does according to His own will, the Bible says, And therefore, we have the kingdom
of God. Hold your place there and look
with me in Mark's gospel. In Mark's gospel, he says in verse 11, Unto you it is given to know
the mystery of the kingdom of God. But unto them which are
without, all these things are done in parables." He had spoken
some parables. And nobody understood what he
said until he caused these disciples to understand what he says. And he says, unto you it is given, but unto them it's not. And so we're brought immediately
to know that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace. It's a kingdom of sovereign grace. It's a kingdom that must be revealed. Listen to what he says in Matthew
11. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, For so it seemed
good in thy sight, all things are delivered unto me of my father,
and no man knoweth the son, but the father, neither knoweth any
man the father, save the son, and he to whomsoever the son
will reveal him. This kingdom is known only by
divine revelation. He says in Ephesians 1, wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence having made known unto us the
mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself." And of course, we remember the
words that he spoke to Peter. When Peter confessed, he said,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. How do you
know that, Peter? Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father. which is in heaven."
Whatever anybody knows about the kingdom of God, these mysteries
of the kingdom, the things of God's grace in Christ, they know
it because God revealed it to him. And we also see how much
of a gift it is, it is, he says, given to some. It is a gift that God gives and
also it involves knowledge. There are some that make little
of knowledge, but knowledge is essential to faith. He says it's
given to you to know there in Mark 11. given to you to know. And he says in speaking of these
mysteries, it only means the things that heretofore were not
revealed. Some people read mystery just
like they would in the secular world. They read it to believe
something that you cannot understand. but it simply means that which
must necessarily be revealed. It's not naturally known to us,
and that's why the gospel is called news. It's news to dead
sinners. It's news to the natural man. And we have these things made
known to us or revealed to us because of God's mercy. Look over in John chapter 3. In John chapter 3, the Lord speaking
to Nicodemus said in verse 3, Jesus answered and said unto
him, Barely, barely, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
or born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The Spirit of God must do a work
in us. He must give us eyes to see,
enable us to see the things of God's kingdom. Look in verse
5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He can neither enter, he cannot
see the kingdom of God apart from the work of God's Spirit.
Look at what Paul says also in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and
verse 6, he says, how be it we speak wisdom among them that
are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes
of this world that are come to naught, but we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the foundation, before the world, unto our glory. This is a wisdom of God that
has to do with His people. A wisdom in Christ who is the
wisdom of God. But he says, which none of the
princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I hath not seen nor e'er heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. God hath revealed them unto us
by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him,
even so The things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God."
In other words, if I write a book You may read the book, but you
don't know what really I meant or is the meaning of the book.
And likewise, it is with God who has written this book. We don't know what he's saying
unless the Spirit of God reveal it to us. All right, look at
that next verse. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
I do believe that is one of the most important verses in the
Bible. In other words, where we have
the Spirit of God working and the Spirit of God revealing in
the hearts of men, we have the Spirit of God who in the Lord
Jesus Christ reveals to us not what we're to do, Not all these different things
that men say, but he reveals to us the things that God has
freely given to us. That's why it's not only news,
but it's good news because God has given to helpless, hopeless
sinners some good news, and it is the good news that they, by
their doing, could never have gained it, but it's good news
because He gives it to them. Everything that God gives to
his people, he gives in a gift. And all of these mysteries that
Paul and others speak about, they are given to God's elect,
and they have to do with the kingdom of God. They're made
known by the gospel. In Luke 16, it says, the law
and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom
of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. In Mark 1 it says something like
this. Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom. the gospel of the kingdom, and
saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand, repent ye, and believe the gospel. The gospel of the kingdom. And in Luke 7, we read these
words. He says, For I say unto you,
among those that are born of woman, there is not a greater
prophet than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than he. What do you mean by that? He's
greater in understanding. He's greater than in revelation. In other words, Paul, in that
sense, is greater than John the Baptist was because God opened
his eyes and gave him more understanding and a revelation of the gospel
of the kingdom. And so important and so vital
and so necessary to our souls is this kingdom of God to be
sought and valued above all things, he said, seek ye first. The kingdom of God. And if you'll notice in what
he says here, This kingdom is to be sought and valued above
all things, and it has to do with righteousness. It has to do with righteousness. His righteousness. Seek ye first. the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That is what he says about righteousness
and not what we think about righteousness or call righteousness because
he said this, and it ought to teach us a lot. He said, accept your righteousness. exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you'll perish." Well, who were the scribes
and the Pharisees? They were, in their day, the
high standard of religious moral people. They were the people
who knew and thought they kept the law. They were the people
who claimed to be the most proficient in the scriptures, the most knowledgeable
in the scriptures. Their claim was that they knew
God and they were the people of God. But he said, accept your righteousness. Exceed their righteousness, you'll
perish. And the reason is because all
creature righteousness, all that anybody does, all and everything
that anybody does, especially to put themselves in a good standing
with God, all those that they imagine do righteously, he said,
all our righteousness is ours. are as filthy rags. All our dress that we dress up
before God, all that we present before God, we might say the
image of ourselves that we present before God, all of them are just
filthy rags. And this kingdom, as we read
about it in the scripture, this is the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and His righteousness has to do with the righteousness
that He gives in Christ the King. Hebrews 1 and verse 8. But unto the Son, he saith."
God said to the Son. God the Father says to the Son,
Thy throne, O God. That's an amazing thing, God
talking to God. In these three persons of the
Godhead, we can have and do see God talking to God. Here it is,
God the Father saying to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. There's a throne. And Christ
sits on the throne of this kingdom because of what he's done and
because of who he is. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. A scepter is that thing that
a king holds. It was a thing that a Hosierus
lifted up to Esther and said, go or come, and every king. And on that scepter always was
inscribed something about that king and his kingdom. And the father says to the son,
thy throne, O God, is forever. You rule and you reign and your
God is equal with me and your throne is forever and a scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of your throne. And God in sovereign grace has
given us, if we be one of his people, enlightened by the Spirit,
born of the Spirit, taught by the Spirit, he's given us to
know that as unrighteous sinners, we are to submit ourselves to
the righteousness of God in Christ. Now Paul said this concerning
his own people. He said, my prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. I don't think that people view
the true gospel preacher and true believers as those who are
genuinely concerned about the souls of men. But we are the
ones most concerned. My heart's desire and prayer
to God for all about me and for everyone I'm concerned with and
connected with is that they might be saved. But I know, just like
Paul did, that they are by nature going about to establish their
own righteousness. They're going about to do things
that they think will make God put them in good standing, and
accept them, and honor them, and bless them, and take them
to heaven. But Paul said, my fear is that they have not submitted
themselves to the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We like them. As a matter of
fact, we love them. We pray for them. We admit to
the fact that they are morally good people. We also, if we're
honest, oftentimes think that they're morally better and more
upright and more zealous and more faithful to what they believe,
even that we are. But they've not submitted to
the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. They've not bowed to
the king and received the only righteousness by which the kingdom
is entered. The kingdom is entered through
the crucified Christ. The kingdom is entered through
the cross. The basis of anybody being a
subject, a person in this kingdom, is the dying of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look over in 2 Corinthians chapter
5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse
21. In other words, as ambassadors
of Christ, we beseech men to be reconciled to God in his purpose
and his power for this one reason. For he hath made him to be sin
for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him." Now, the only righteousness that
there is in this world, or any world, is the righteousness of
God in Jesus Christ. And He says, if you notice, He
has made Him all these things, all that is involved in the cross,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I've had this verse on my mind
for a long time as far as preaching it where I'm supposed to preach
on the weekend. But if you notice here, it does
not say that we're made the righteousness of God by him. It says that we
are made the righteousness of God in him. by God viewing us
in the Lord Jesus Christ, by putting us in this vital grace
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom is entered and received
through the crucified Christ. And to show it can no way be
of any works or anything of us personally, all we have to do
is take a look at the dying thief. Here is a man that has absolutely
nothing to recommend him to God. Here is a man who is in a position
that he cannot do anything. He is facing imminent, almost
instant death on a cross. And there's another thief too. And we must necessarily conclude
that the other thief, to him, it was not given to understand
the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But to this thief, it absolutely
was. And he entered the kingdom because
He looked at the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting his work that he
was accomplishing that very minute, he said, Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. You know what the Lord said? Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise." In other words, His King, the
one He acknowledged to be His King and His Savior, was hanging on the cross next
to Him. And instead of being crowned
with golden crowns and jewels and all such things as that,
he was crowned with a crown of thorns. And instead of having a scepter
of glorious gold and precious stones and all that, he was handed
to him a reed for a scepter. Instead of having a fashionable,
famous, wonderful robe, he had a robe that was taken from him. But God gave him an understanding. God gave him faith. God gave
him a revelation whereby he, looking at this man, looking
at this state he was in, looking at him dying, being crucified,
looking at him and knowing that as he was, he would be raised
again, he said, Lord, King, King of righteousness, King of
peace, remember me when you come into
your kingdom. There's not any question about
it. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And he acknowledges for us and
he acknowledges the truth that we're taught when we're revealed
about this, that this kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. You got all that? I heard some
this week talking about what I call A chart religion. You know, that's when men are
so smart they make a chart about this and that and the other and
when and where the Lord's coming back and all. I call it chart
religion. No matter that God says no man
knows the hour or the time, they can make a chart. They can predict
a date. But he said, my kingdom is not
of this world. Meaning it's not of this world's
kind of kingdoms. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. And Paul says in Romans 14, another
precious verse of scripture, Romans 14 and verse 17, he says,
for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. That just does away with all
the health and wealth and prosperity gospels of our age. That just does away with all
the promises of happiness and joy without trial or anything
like that that we read about. He says the kingdom of God is
not meat and drink. Well, what is it? Number one. Righteousness. It's about righteousness. It's
about the righteousness of Christ that he gives to his people.
The righteousness of God that he imputes to us, in other words,
that he reckons to us and charges to our account and standing. And then secondly. Is peace. That's a divine order there.
There can't be peace without righteousness. There can't be
peace without the peace of God given as a gift. There can't
be peace without Christ making peace by the blood of his cross. There has to be peace made with
God in the matter of our sin. Righteousness has to be established
and it's established by the king. And so the next thing is peace. I remember when I was a little
boy riding along in the mountains. I don't know why I was always
in the mountains, but they had a granite cross. And on that sign it said, make
peace with God. But a sinner can't make peace
with God. A sinner can't pay for her sins. Divide us from God and make us
to be at war with God. We can't do that. And that's
why the gospel is good news. It's the news of a peace made
with God. It's righteousness and the righteousness
of Christ, the righteous work that he accomplished, and it's
peace and it's joy in the Holy Ghost. Joy in the Holy Ghost. Why doesn't it just say joy,
period? Well, because everybody's got
their own idea about what joy is. This is joy in the Holy Ghost,
joy in the Holy Spirit, joy produced by the Holy Spirit, which is
the fruit of the Spirit, and it has to do with Christ. Christ said when he's come, he'll
take the things of mine and show them to you. And when he shows them to you,
you'll rejoice in it. You'll have joy in it. You'll
have trials, you'll have troubles, you'll have all this other kind
of things, but in light of what the Spirit of God reveals, we'll
have true and lasting and eternal joy. Because Christ said, When he
was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should
come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not
with observation. Neither shall they say, lo here
or lo there. For behold, the kingdom of God
is within you, among you. It's already here, but you have
no part in it. Because the kingdom of God is
where the king is. And actually, it is in the king
himself and where he is enthroned upon the heart of every humbled,
conquered sinner. He's the King. God-given faith in a person beholds
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the King, our King,
and the King of everything. King of salvation, King of providence,
King of righteousness, King of peace, We know it's not in some future
kingdom. It is eternal and has always
been, because God has set His Christ, His King, on His holy
hill, the psalmist said, and declared, Thy throne, O God,
is forever. Yet it will be. It will be manifested
in a future time in a way everybody will know, some to their torments
eternally, some to their even greater joy that he is the king
of righteousness. God puts us by His grace in this
kingdom, and He gives us to know that this kingdom is the kingdom
of His Son. Paul writes in Colossians, giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet or fit to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into
the kingdom of his dear Son. The kingdom of his dear Son. And when you open the book of
Revelations, and you see the final victory
that has just followed every other victory of Christ before, it says, These shall make war
with the Lamb. And the Lamb shall overcome them. Why? For he is the Lord of lords
and King of kings. And they that are with him are
called, chosen, and faithful. We trust the King. for salvation. We trust Him also for everything
else. Turn back over to Matthew 6. I want to read you the context
in which this was said. Verse 19. Lay not up for yourself treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also. The light of the body is
the eye. If therefore thine eye be single,
the whole body shall be full of light." In other words, if
you have the single eye of faith looking to Christ and the things
of God in Christ, the whole body shall be full of light. But if
thine eye be evil, The whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot serve the things of
this world, the glory of this world, the religions of this
world, the people of this world. You can't do anything. serving what he calls here mammon. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall
drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. But isn't that what most of us
think about, worry about, concerned about, next meal, next piece
of clothing, next thing, thing, thing? Is not your life more than meat
and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air,
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they? Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit to his stature? All the wording you did last
week. maybe I should say all the worrying that we did last
week, did not change one thing. All the thinking on the things
of this life, of this world, did not change one thing. I always think verse 27 is the
real killer verse. It kills the notion of free will. Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit to a statue? You can't, by your thinking or
your willing or doing anything, you can't add an inch to your
height? You can't even deduct 20 pounds
from your waste. How in the world are you going
to be by willing determining what your soul is saved by and
where you'll spend eternity? And why take ye thought of Raymond? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spin. And yet I say unto you that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore? If God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? That's that old problem of unbelief
creeping in again. Take no thought. Take no thought, saying, what
shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. God knows we have to
have something to eat. He knows we have to have something
to drink. He knows that we have to wear
something, but seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. You'll have enough to drink,
enough to eat, enough to wear. Might not be the fashion you've
become accustomed to. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things itself. sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof." Instead of worrying about all
these things, and I am, I'm not talking down to you, I'm not
pointing the finger at you, I'm pointing at me too. Instead of worrying about all
these future things, He said, there's enough evil
today. There's enough to think about today. But instead of worrying
about them, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. It says that Mary, she was, she
was cumbered, weighted down with much serving. So many examples. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all these things. That's a good title for a sermon. All these things. We've all got
them. All these things. They need eternity. They'll be burned. all these things in relationships,
all these things. And God will add to you what
is important. Our Father, we thank you this
morning for your grace, the grace that makes us, in Jesus Christ, to be in the kingdom of grace. Help us to look outside of ourself,
even away from ourself and the things of this life, and look
to Christ. Look to the King. Trust His righteousness. Seek Him first and know that
we have a promise that is sure that all we need will be added
to us. Bless again those that are sick.
Bless, we pray, those who will hear this message on a CD or
through the internet. We pray for your people. wherever
they are and whoever they are. And we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.