May I please God to bless us
this evening as we conclude our meditation in the sixth chapter
of the Gospel of Matthew. Of course it forms part of what
we term the Sermon on the Mount. And the last verses we'll read
this evening are from verse 31. 31 to 34. Therefore 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. Your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. 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 we must, I'm sure, be very conscious
that as we've thought upon these last half of this chapter and
of the words that the Lord spoke on that wonderful occasion how
he really sets before those people who of course were principally
Jews hence the reason why he makes reference to the Gentiles
as well and they of course had heard the Gospel preached and
they had had the Old Testament which spoke so clearly of the
Gospel and of the coming of the great and glorious Messiah and
yet how hard-hearted and stubborn they were and misbelieving And
yet, here we have these gracious words of the Saviour, setting
before them and setting before the Church of God down through
the ages, and before us today, really the analogy of time things
and eternal things. And so often, we find ourselves
bogged down with time things. And yet, if we really ponder
these, surely we recognise that eternal things are far, far more
important. We commenced the reading this
evening on that 19th verse where the Lord says, Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and thieves break through and steal. But and lay out for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your hearts be also." Very clear words, very
important words, and yet we need to be reminded of them so, so
often. Because as we live in this world,
and especially today, the materialism is very strong and very great,
And yet the Lord graciously gives to us these words of warning
and these words of encouragement. And this 31st verse commences
with this statement, therefore. Obviously it's referring to that
which has gone previously. We meditated last week. upon
the greatness of God and how he gives us that wonderful illustration
of Solomon in his glory. It didn't compare with the lilies
of the field which God has made and how gloriously they are to
see and how wonderfully they grow. And so having said that
before the people and before us tonight, he comes and says,
therefore, you've heard what I've said. now take heed therefore
take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink
or wherewithal shall we be clothed for after all these things the
Gentiles seek and of course it's very easy to become taken up
with such things as this they of course form really the part
of our natural life We all need to eat, we all need to drink,
we all need to be clothed, but we should not go out of our way
to spend time and energy in pursuing these avenues to the detriment
of seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Now the tendency is because of our sinful nature is to put in
the background the great issues concerning our soul and the things
of eternity. And so we should be very thankful
that we have before us in these verses such clear statements
and clear direction as to how we should act and how we should
think and what we should say. And so we're told, therefore
take no thought And of course, it doesn't mean exactly no thought,
but no unreasonable thought. We mustn't concentrate on just
the things of our natural life. For your heavenly Father knoweth
the need of all these things. Well, he does, doesn't he? And
it's wonderful to think of that. And it's a great blessing if
you and I are favoured with true prayer, to pray to our God in
faith. Remember last week we spoke of
our year of little faith and we need true faith to be able
to pray to God that he will supply all these natural needs and he's
promised to do so and it may not be perhaps in the affluent
way that we may want or expect but nonetheless there will be
a provision and there has been a provision down through the
ages because our Heavenly Father Just you think how naturally
fathers look after their children, don't they? I'm sure those of
us who are fathers were very concerned for our children. They're
looked after well, and they are fed, and they do have drink,
and they are clothed. Well, when you think that we
have a Heavenly Father who is so much greater and so much better
than any of us, and He is the Great One who knows all about
us. He knows what we need before
we ask. That doesn't mean to say we're
not to ask, we are to ask. And we are to be thankful. But
he knows our every need. Sometimes we almost act as though
he doesn't know. He does know. And he will provide. And therefore may we have that
humble faith to believe he will. And the cast are all our care
upon him. You know, the apostle Peter, beautifully sets it before us
in the first epistle in the fifth chapter he tells us casting all
your care upon him and we may say well why shouldn't we do
that he tells us for he careth for you now what a humbling thought
that is to think that almighty God the one who created the whole
universe is constantly mindful, every one of us, in our every
need, nothing is lacking. And may we therefore come relying
upon our God, confident in our God, that he will supply all
our natural needs. But, he then comes and tells
us, having explained that, our Heavenly Father will supply,
he then says, but, but, seek ye first. the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you." Now, left to ourselves, we seek other things first, don't
we? We seek the things of time first. We seem to forget the great issues
of the Kingdom of God, recognising that soon we shall pass out of
time into eternity, and then it won't have mattered, will
it? what we were so desperately keen to have in regards to natural
things and food and drink and clothes, because they would all
be left behind. But our souls will be in eternity. And what a blessing, therefore,
if the Lord has given us grace to seek first the Kingdom of
God, Put first things first. Yes, it's so easy to find ourselves
relying on our own strength and looking to find things which
will just satisfy our natural life and turning away from the
great important things of God. Well, the Lord when he was addressing
The people in the 10th chapter of Luke and the very last verse
he speaks about Mary. You remember the little account
about Martha and Mary? It's very instructive really
because Martha was engaged in many, many things. They were
lawful things but she hadn't put first things first. And that's
really the situation. And the Lord comes and he tells
her, He says, Martha was cumbered about with much serving and came
to him and said, Lord, does thou not care that my sister has left
me to serve alone? And bid her, therefore, that
she help me. Now we think that's quite reasonable,
wouldn't you? What does the Lord say? And Jesus answered and said
unto her, Martha, Martha, Thou art careful and troubled about
many things, but one thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen
that good part that shall not be taken away from her." And
how good it will be if you and I remember constantly that great
truth that one thing is needful. And what is that one thing? That
one thing is really the personal knowledge that the Lord Jesus
Christ has died upon the cross of Calvary to take away all our
sins. And therefore, to have that trust
in him that he will clothe us with his righteousness. His righteousness. That means
we cannot rely on our own righteousness. We cannot pat ourselves on the
back and say, well, you've done that well, and that must count
for good. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. And so the Lord comes and tells
the people so very clearly, but seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. Well, may we take heed to that
every day, every day, that we may be really concerned to live
a life in accordance with the Word of God. Not in accordance
with our own projection, our own understanding, but to realise
the simplicity and the fullness and the directness of the Lord's
Word to us. Because there are words of wonderful
love to His Church, Because if you and I are given that grace
to do just this, we'll find, as the Lord says, and all these
things shall be added unto you, we shall not lack any good thing. And the great blessing will be
this, we shall have peace in our hearts. We should have that
comfortable peace, knowing that the Lord has enabled us to set
first things first, the things of God, that they are the priority
in our life, and believe in all these other things which have
crowded in and may have crowded out the things of God, so that
we find ourselves destitute and perhaps lean, as we mentioned
on Tuesday, where the Prophet said, my leanness, my leanness. Well, perhaps it's because we've
been concerned about all the things of our life, rather than
putting first things first. Well, what a blessing for us,
isn't it, to know that the Lord has given us such words as this. And therefore, he concludes with
this verse not the end of course of the sermon but this part he
says take therefore having told you all this having told you
what you should seek he now says take therefore no thought for
the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself you know we do get very worked up don't we about the
things of the morrow It may be mountains before us. Well, let
us come, remembering what I read in Peter, casting all your care
upon him, for he careth for you. My friends, if you and I are
able to do that, it will bring peace. And it's the peace of
God which passes all understanding, because we've committed our way
unto him. who is able to do for each one
of us far more, exceeding abundantly, than we can ask or even think.
We have a great God. How often we limit our God. But
may we recognize the greatness of our God, and therefore be
able to come in prayer, as we read in Hebrews, boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may find help in time of need. 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. Not tomorrow, not a week ahead,
not a year ahead. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. Well, can we say the Lord has
not provided today? You know, you have those occasions,
don't we? Those wonderful occasions in history where people ran out
of virtually everything. The house was bare, no bread
and nothing at all, and yet the Lord provided in a wondrous way. Well, we have a great God. Let
us not forget it, and let us commit our way unto the Lord.
Trust also in Him, that He will bring it to pass.