Alright, let's go back to Matthew
6. We're going to look at those verses that we just read, but
specifically the text is verse 33. We're going to begin with
that. Let's read Matthew 6, verse 33. says, But seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you. Now I want to recognize first
that it's the Lord who said that to us. the God that cannot lie. He said, Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. What things is He talking about?
Well, we're going to take a look at them in just a moment. But
I can tell you this, if we don't have the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, All these things are worthless. This life is about all these
things. You know, we go through school
and get a job and start to get some things. And that's the whole
motivation in life. But if we don't have the Kingdom
of God and His righteousness, All these things are absolutely
useless. Absolutely useless. Matthew 16,
26 says, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world? Now there's a couple of famous
men who have almost gained the whole world. Donald Trump is one of them.
And you could add a couple more to his list. Now, what is a man
profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own
soul? We can't take any of these things
with us when we go. It says, Or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul? It says, Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. First, before you do anything
else, seek the kingdom of God. Thy
kingdom come, Lord, the kingdom of God. Seek to be in the kingdom
of God and seek His righteousness. What does that mean? It means
seek the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord our righteousness. Seek
to be found in Him and seek to be given His righteousness. Before
we ask to be given anything else, and we do, we ask for a lot of
things. But before we ask to be given
anything else, let's beg for the blood and righteousness of
Christ. That's what we need. The blood and righteousness of
Christ. If we can remember that, it'll put this whole life into
perspective. It really will. If I lose everything I own, let
me not lose thy blood and righteousness. Let me not lose that. His blood
is what covers my sin. And His righteousness is what
earned my way into His kingdom. Seek it first. It is the one
thing needful. Now go with me to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 and let's look at verse
4. It says, one thing have I desired. One thing. Have I desired of the Lord, that
will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in His temple. I want to say, I believe
with all my heart, that's my desire. I really think it is. I really do. There are some things
I want in this life. But when all this is burned up,
I want to be in the house of the Lord forever, inquiring in
His temple and beholding the beauty of the Lord. the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. That's it. Our text, he says,
do it first. First. First thing in life. Now as our children get older,
I want to tell them this over and over and over. If the Lord
allows me to stand behind this little oak pulpit, For however
long these kids grow, I want to tell them this over and over
and over. Lamentations 3.2 says, it is
good for a man, or a woman, that he bear the yoke in his youth. First thing. First thing. We go to college and we make
a plan and we get a degree. First thing, Ecclesiastes, you don't have
to turn, Ecclesiastes 12 says this. Remember now that creator
in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the
years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. We have our children here. They're
here. There may come a day when they
don't want to be here anymore. I don't have any pleasure in
it. Break my heart. Break my heart. Seek ye first,
first thing, the kingdom of God and His righteousness. First
thing. First thing in the morning. First thing in the morning. First
thing each day, I pray the Lord would give us all a desire to
seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Us. First thing. It would help our day. It would
help our day. First thing in my heart, when something comes my way,
especially when it's not going my way, Lord, cause me first thing in
my heart to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I really want to do that. I pray
the Lord would cause me to do that. Cause me to seek the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. Now, if we'll do that, we'll
have no reason to worry or fear. None. Zero. If I can remember
that my Redeemer has paid my debt to the God who provides
all things, He's given me all things, I'm indebted to Him. And my Redeemer has paid the
price for all things. And He's prepared a place for
me in that kingdom for all eternity. The kingdom wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Well, I really don't have anything
else to worry about then, do I? There's really nothing else
to worry about. Nothing. Do you believe when we get to
heaven? Now think about this. Do you
believe when we get to heaven and we're there? that we'll have to earn our own
way day by day. Do you believe when we get there
that He'll provide for us everything we need at all times? Do you
believe that? Well, right now, are we the sons
of God? Right now. Verse 33 in our text says, Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Seek His glory. Seek His honor. Seek His will. And all these things shall be
added to you. Alright, what things? Let's go
back to verse 25. Matthew 6 verse 25, he says, Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life." That's a pretty bold statement.
Take no thought for your life. What you shall eat or what you
shall drink nor yet for your body, which you shall put on,
is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment." How
are we going to get by? Our Lord says, don't even think
about it. Don't even think about it. Now
does that mean don't go to work? Neglect the responsibilities
that the Lord has given us in this life? No. He said, work
while there's 12 hours in a day, right? He said, a man who will
not provide for his family is worse than an infidel. Go to
work. What he's saying is, he's actually
commanding it. This is not a suggestion. It's
a command. You and I are not to worry over
it. We are not to fret over it. We're not to be anxious over
it because that's unbelief. That's what it is. It's unbelief.
When we do that, what we're saying is, I don't really believe that
God is going to do or He can do what He says He's going to
do. We are commanded to believe. Commanded. He's saying, you go to work like
I told you to go to work every day. and leave all the result
to me." Men, we have not provided one day for our families. All
we're doing is going to work. The Lord has sent the result.
That's all we're doing is going to work. You just go to work
and take no thought for your life. Verse 25 says, Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall
drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on is not
the life more than meat and the body than raiment." More than
meat and raiment. Turn back a couple of pages to
Matthew 4. In verse 4, He said, He answered
and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That's
how we're to live. Seek ye first my every word,
and I'll supply the bread as you need it. Alright, well His
Word says in our text, verse 25, Take no thought for your
life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet
for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more
than meat, and the body 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 you not much
better than they? He says, consider the birds. I sit here and I look out of
my window, you know, we have the church squirrel. That little
guy, he got on my nerves so bad when I first got here. He gets
up in the ductwork and he runs along the ductwork and it's loud,
and I bang on the walls at him, I couldn't think. I like him
now. He'll sit in the window and get
a nut. We'll look at each other. There's
a rabbit that lives somewhere around here. I don't know really
what he's eating. There's no garden, I don't think,
around here. The birds fly in. They've been here every day since
I've been here. Every day. Consider the birds. They don't sow. They don't reap. They don't gather into barns.
That's what we do, isn't it? Well, I've got a business idea,
but it's going to take some working capital. And I've got to put
in the time in. I've got to pay my dues. And then I'm going to reap the
benefits. And you know what I'm going to do with that? I'm going
to put it in the stock market. And I'm never going to sell that
stock, and it's going to do me no good my whole life, and I'm
going to leave it to my kids, and they didn't earn it, so they're
going to spend it all in a couple of years, and then it's going
to be gone, and it was pointless. But that's what we do. You see these birds, they swoop
down to the ground, they pick up a worm. I thought, how do
they know? You know, worms in the ground.
I mean, how do they know that worms will be right there? How can
they see it? Well, God put the worm there
where the bird was going to be. He on purpose provided for that
bird. He said, are you not much better
than they? Now this could be one of my favorite
things in the Scripture, along with everything else in the Scripture.
Go to Matthew 17. Matthew 17, verse 24. And when they were
come to Capernaum, They that received tribute money,
that means took up the taxes, came to Peter and said, Doth
not your master pay tribute? He said, Yes. Peter didn't know. Yeah, yeah, he pays it. And when
he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest
thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth
take custom or tribute? Of their own children or of strangers? Who are they taxing? Their own
kids or strangers? Verse 26, Peter said unto him,
Of strangers Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Alright, now what he means so
far is, this is my earth. That tax money is my money. That
tax collector is my tax collector, and you don't owe a dime. Verse
27, Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to
the sea, and cast and hook. Peter, I want you to go fishing.
And take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast
opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, that take
and give unto them for me and thee." I want you to go fishing,
and there's a fish that was born by another fish who knows where,
and it swam who knows where, and I want you to go out and
cast a line, and I'm going to cause that fish to swim to your
hook, and at some point, I caused somebody who knows when to throw
some money into the ocean. And I made that fish eat the
money. And when it comes up, you open that fish's mouth, and
now look at this. If you have a center margin,
verse 24, he said, he asked, does your, they needed tribute
money. And what they wanted was 1S3D. I don't know what that means,
but that's how much money they owed, 1S3D. Now in verse 27, he said, Thou
shalt find a piece of money, and in my margin it says that
money is in value of 2S6D. They each owed 1S3D. Well, there's a piece of money
in that fish's mouth that's worth exactly 2S3D. I want you to go pay tribute
for you and me. Just what we need. No more, no
less. Just what we need. We say, yeah, well, you know,
that was a miracle he did for Peter one time. Oh, we of little faith. He does that for his people all
the time. I can give you my own personal
experiences and you have your own personal experiences when
something happened and you're like, that's amazing. That's
just amazing. I needed that much money and
there it is. It's amazing. We don't know it at this present
time, but if we could see all of His provisions to us and how
He does it, we would never worry again. Period. We would never worry about all
these things. Now our text, back in Matthew
6, verse 27 says this, Which of you, by taking thought, can
add one cubit unto his stature? Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one inch to your height? That cubit is 18 inches, but
that's what he means. Do you have any say over how
tall you are? So it is with your things. You know, we think we can take
thought and add to our bank account, right? Our Lord says it's impossible. It's impossible. Only I add. If you think it, I gave you the
mind. If you do it, I gave you the
strength. I gave you the ability. If it's
successful, I gave you the increase. So take no thought for it. Don't
be anxious over it. Just rest. Just rest. I've given you exactly what's
good for you. Now this is a good lesson for
us to learn. I've given you exactly what's
good for you. The reason you don't have more
is because it wouldn't be good for you. Isn't that something? Don't worry over what you're
going to eat. Don't worry over what you're going to become.
And verse 28 says, Why take ye thought for raiment, clothes? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. Now, spiritually
speaking, he's saying, feed on the Word of God. You're being
conformed to the image of Christ. And you're robed in the righteousness
of Christ. That's what he's saying. Your
food is taken care of. You don't have any say over your
stature, what you're going to become. And take no thought for
what you're robed in. So because of all that, physically
speaking, verse 28, he says, Why take ye thought for raiment?
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 clothe 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! Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we
drink? or Wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek." What he's saying is, the Gentiles
is the world. unbelievers. That's all they're
concerned about. He said, don't, don't worry about
it. Don't worry about it. He says
right here in verse 32, for your heavenly father knoweth that
you have need of these things. He's not saying do without these
things. What he's saying is your heavenly
father knows that you have need of them. Verse 80 said, Be not
ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what
things you have need of before you ask Him." He already knows
what you have need of. But here's the commandment to
us. Verse 33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. Now, my center
margin has four portions of Scripture. that will be added to those who
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I have
a center reference and it's got four scriptures right here. I
want to look at them quickly and then we'll close, okay? My
first one is 1 Kings 3. Go to 1 Kings 3. This is a wonderful example for
us. 1 Kings 3 verse 1 says, Solomon
made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's
daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had
made an end of building his own house in the house of the Lord
and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed
in high places because there was no house built unto the name
of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking
in the statutes of David his father. Only he sacrificed and
burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to
sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. A thousand
burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. Now verse 5
says, In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.
The Lord came to him and appeared to him. And God said, Ask what
I shall give thee. Ask me what I shall give thee.
Verse 6, And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant
David my father great mercy, according as he walked before
thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with
thee. And thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that
thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this
day. And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king
instead of David my father, and I am but a little child. I know
not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst
of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people that cannot
be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an
understanding heart, To judge thy people that I may discern
between good and bad, for who's able to judge this thy so great
a people?" What he said is, I'm a child and I need wisdom. I'm made the king now and this
is what I ask for, wisdom. Verse 10 says, And the speech
pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. And God
said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not
asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for
thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked
for thyself understanding to discern judgment, behold, I have
done according to thy words, Lo, I have given thee a wise
and understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before
thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. He
said, I'm going to give you this wisdom. I'm going to make you
the wisest man ever. There's not going to be any as
wise before you and none after you. Verse 13 says, And I have
also given thee that which thou hast not asked. both riches and
honor, so that there shall not be any among the lilies like
unto thee in thy days. And if thou wilt walk in my ways
and keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk,
then I will lengthen thy days. And Solomon awoke and behold,
it was a dream." Wisdom. Wisdom. The Scripture says, Get wisdom. With all thy getting, get wisdom. How does it come? By seeking
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Christ is
wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. Desire it above everything else
in this world. It will bring peace. It will
bring peace to us. Lord, I desire wisdom as a husband. I need wisdom as a wife. I need wisdom to be a father
or a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a friend,
an employer, an employee, a believer, a follower, a servant. Seek the kingdom of God and His
righteousness and wisdom will be added to you. Alright, now
go to Psalm 37. The next reference is Psalm 37
verse 25. It says, I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
Physical bread, spiritual bread. You know what it's like to be
without the gospel? It's got to be the worst thing
in life. It has to be the worst thing in life. Spiritual bread,
spiritual food. If every decision we make is
for the good of our spiritual bread, the Lord will never allow
us to do without physical bread. Sometimes we think we might have
to give something up for the sake of the gospel. We don't.
It may appear that way at first, but we don't. When decisions
need to be made concerning our jobs, our families, our homes,
seek ye first the kingdom of God. Seek His will. Seek His
Word. Seek His worship. And all these
things will be taken care of. It'll all be taken care of. Alright,
here's the third reference. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, look at verse
23. It says, And Jesus looked round
about, and saith unto His disciples, How hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples were
astonished at His words. But Jesus answereth again, and
said unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust
in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out
of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus,
looking upon them, saith, With men it is impossible, but not
with God. For with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto
him, Lo, we have left all. All right, now listen to this.
This is so good. We have left all and have followed
thee. And Jesus answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for my sake and the Gospels. But he shall receive
an hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters,
and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and
in the world to come, eternal life." That's what the Lord said. A hundredfold. Now, believers have houses everywhere. You have no idea how many houses
you have. You let another believer know that you're coming into
town and see what happens. My house is your house. Seriously. You need a place to stay? You're
staying at my house. I lost my mother in November
2000. In the gospel, in the kingdom
of God, I have so many mothers. I really do. I have ladies who
have taken care of me ever since that day. I've never had a brother. You
fellows know what it's like to be brothers. I have so many brothers
that I'm closer to than blood brothers could ever be. Sisters,
I have it all. I really have it all. If I go
broke, and I'm kicked out of my house, and I'm on the streets
begging for food, and a group of believers finds out about
it, you watch and see what happens. Isn't that wonderful? Those who are committed to the
gospel, they freely give as it's been given to them. Alright, the last reference and
I'll close. 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy 4, look at verse 8. It says, For bodily exercise
profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is
to come. We go to great lengths for bodily
exercise. We join the Y. We make ourselves
miserable by cutting out certain foods. We get up extra early
to go running. We go to great lengths for bodily
exercise. And the reason we do that is
because we're considering our latter end on this earth. I've
actually thought I need to start moving. Rigor mortis is going
to start sitting in. I just sit in that room all day
every day. I'm considering my latter end. We make time for
it. We read about it. Have you heard
about the New Diet? You've got to read this book.
We study it. If we would do that for godliness, if we would seek the Kingdom
of God as hard as we seek these vain things that we seek, It
says, bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and
of that which is to come. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness and eternal life shall be added to
you. Boy, that's profitable. Before
we seek health, let's seek the Lord. Before we seek knowledge,
let's seek the Lord. Before we seek money, let's seek
the treasure of heaven. Before we seek a husband or a
wife, let's seek the Lord. If it ever comes down between
an earthly thing and the kingdom of heaven, let's let the earthly
thing go. It's just a thing. That's all
it is. It's just a thing. We have eternal things at stake. The text says, Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. 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 may not
have tomorrow. This may be it. This may be it. Today is the day of salvation.
Let's just rest in today. All right, stand together with
me.