Turn to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. I have one verse of Scripture. Verse 33. I said last week I
wanted to come back to this. I want to say a little more about
verse 33. I can't express how important
what our Lord gives us in verse 33, how important it is to do
just as He said. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Now, our Lord, as we looked at
last week, has told us what not to seek, what not to set our
hearts upon, to be taken up with, to be anxious over. He told us
in the previous verses not to be taken up with what you're
going to eat, drink, or wear. In other words, this life. Don't let this life consume you. It can, it can. Don't let it
consume you. Don't let it get a hold of your
heart. Solomon said, son, give me thine
heart. Don't let it grab a hold of you.
And don't be anxious and worrisome about this life. We know that all things are of
God, that ought to settle us down, you think? That ought to
settle us down. But now here in verse 33, he
tells us what to seek after, what to set our hearts upon. And let us remember this, the
one telling us this is the one who came from heaven. This is
our God. This is our Savior, our Redeemer,
our King, our all in all. He's the one preaching here.
And I was thinking this morning, as I was in my study, and I was
reading this again, and I thought, this is fresh. It's as if it
were given for the first time to us every time we read it.
Every time we read it, the Word of God is never old-fashioned. It's not old-fashioned. It is
always relevant. And every time I read it, it's
as reading it for the first time. You know, the only difference,
I thought this morning, the only difference between this morning,
reading this message, this sermon he gave on the Mount, The only
difference is they could physically see Him. We can't physically
see Him. But it's His Word, it's His message,
and it's new. It's just like giving it for
the first time right now. I thought God's Word is new every day.
To me it is. To us it is. You and I grow old. Now listen, you and I are growing
old. The Word of God never grows old. It never grows old. It's like
fresh, fresh every morning. Now notice here what we are told
to do, what he tells us to set our hearts on, to go after, to
be taken up with. He says, seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. Now we know this, the kingdom
of God is a spiritual kingdom. It's a spiritual kingdom. And
to seek the kingdom of God, you have to first seek the king.
There's no kingdom without a king. So if we're gonna seek the kingdom
of God, we must seek the king. And who is the king? God said,
I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Who
is this king of glory? It says over in the psalm. Who
is the king of glory? It says the Lord of hosts. Well,
who's the Lord of hosts? Jesus Christ. So in seeking the
kingdom of God, setting our hearts on the kingdom of God and going
after it, it's going after the king. It's going after the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the righteousness that he
speaks of here is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without
righteousness, no man's gonna see God. No one's gonna be accepted of
God apart from righteousness. And the righteousness that we
are to seek after is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
His righteousness. Look over in Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Look in verse three. Well, let me read verse one and
two first. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them
record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge, not according to the scriptures.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, God's absolute
righteousness. God is a righteous God. And because
of this ignorance, they go about to establish their own righteousness,
and they've not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
That's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Now
turn over to Philippians chapter 3. Over here in Philippians chapter
3, Paul said in verse 8 of Philippians 3, Yea, doubtless, and I count
all things but lost, For the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ."
In verse 9 of Philippians 3. And be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. That's the righteousness we seek
after. That's the righteousness we seek to know more of, to know
more of it by experience, to know it. And he tells us to seek
ye the kingdom of God first and his righteousness. Well, what
is it to seek the kingdom of God? What is it to seek? Well,
it's to go after, it's to go after. It's to make it your goal,
it's to make it your one aim in life. My one aim in life is
to be found in Christ, is to know God, is that not our one
aim? Is to know God, is to have fellowship with God in Christ? That's our one aim in life. That's
it, that's it. After he now read Psalm 27. This,
he said, I have one desire. I have one desire, one craving
desire, and that will I seek after. Seek after. I will go after it. I will diligently
pursue it. In Greek, this word seek here,
seek ye first, they said it has to do with the commentary I've
read. It said it has to do with beating the bushes when they
used to hunt, and they bird hunt, and this is what the Greek means
then. They beat the bushes to get the
birds to fly out of it. And then they would gather the
birds, get them, and put them in their bag. I said, that's
what I had to do. In other words, you get in the
word of God, and you read the word of God, you search the scriptures. You search the scriptures for
what? To find Christ. Not that I might
be able to quote him, but that I might find Christ. The Lord
said, you search the scriptures, and then you think you have eternal
life, but there they would testify of me. Let's never read the scriptures
and miss Christ. You've missed the whole purpose
of the word of God, if you miss Christ. And when are we to seek
it? When are we to seek the kingdom
of God and his righteousness? First, first, Before anything else, early. Remember now thy creator in the
days of thy youth. Early. Seek him early. You younger people, seek him
now. And seek him early. And seek
to know him who made you. And before everything else, before
all else, early. Early in the morning, seek him.
Let that be our heart's desire when we get out of bed in the
morning, is to seek the Lord. Bless me this day. Guide my steps. What did David say in Psalm 21?
Make my pathway plain because of those who are observing me,
watching me. Make it plain, Lord. And why are we to seek these
things first? Why is he telling us to seek
these things above all else? You know, he's not telling, now
he's not, you know, in this sermon on the Mount, he's not condemned
making money. He's not condemned riches. Here's
what he's condemned. Setting them above him. Setting these things above seeking
after him. That's why he's condemning, seeking
that. But why are we to seek him first? Here's why. It's the highest pursuit possible. Whatever you and I ever pursue
in this life, whatever we ever have pursued or are pursuing,
it can't even be compared to Christ. It cannot be compared
to pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God and his righteousness. There's no comparison. It's the
highest pursuit. It is the highest aim. It's the
highest aim. And I think of what he's saying
here, aim for that. Aim for knowing Christ. Paul
said, I owe that I might know Him. Aim at it. You're not gonna hit anything
if you don't aim at it. You gotta aim at it. Aim at knowing
Him. Aim at knowing more of His love.
Aim at knowing more of His person. Aim at being acquainted with
Him. Listen. I do not want a working knowledge
of Christ, a working knowledge of the gospel, and not know Him. Now, you can be instructed, you
can sit under the gospel, you can be taught, and you can have
a working knowledge of Jesus Christ. You can have a working
knowledge of the gospel and completely miss Him. Completely miss Him. You can know all kinds of things
about Him. but never have that real intimate communion with
Him. I don't want that just to work
in knowledge, I want Him. Have you seen Him? The lady said
in the Song of Solomon, have you seen Him whom my soul loveth?
Have you seen Him? Tell me where He is. Tell me about Him. This matter of salvation is a
real living union. It's a real intimate communion
between the sinner and the Savior. Why are we to seek Him first,
or seek these things first, and Him first? Well, as I said, it's
the highest pursuit, it's the highest aim. Another reason why,
He's into it. He said to. Now if the Lord said
do something, do it. He said to. And then it's of the utmost importance. There's nothing in my life that's
more important than my relationship to Jesus Christ, period. Not
even with my wife, my family. My relationship with Christ exceeds
all that. It does now. And then why? It's the wisest
thing to do. It's just wisdom to seek the
Lord. It's wisdom. And then it's the only thing
that will last when all else fails. Would you instruct your children
to seek after something that you know in a year, six months
to a year is gonna be gone. Would you instruct them to go
to college and get an education in an area that you know within
a year or two it's gonna be obsolete and gone over with? No, no. To seek the Lord is the wisest
thing to do because all else will fail. Turn over to Psalm
145. Psalm 145. Let me see if I wrote that down, yeah. In verse 13, thy kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom. And in the margin, it's a kingdom
of all ages. It's an everlasting kingdom,
and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Now let me read
you something here out of Daniel, because I've already got it marked.
In Daniel chapter 7, over in, let's see, Daniel 7, in verse
14, let me read to you out of verse 14. And there was given
him, well let me go to verse 13. I saw in the night visions,
and behold, one like the Son of Man, came with the clouds
of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him
near before him. And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed. It's an everlasting kingdom.
It's a kingdom that's not going to be destroyed, but the kingdom
of this world is going to be destroyed. And then it also says
here in verse 27 of that same chapter. And the kingdom and
dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high.
It's a kingdom we can't lose, whose kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom. And all dominions shall serve and obey Him. That's why you seek first and
foremost, and before anything else, the kingdom of God and
His righteousness. All else will fail. And then
another reason to seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness
is it will keep your aim above this earth. And you will not
be disappointed. You will not be disappointed. Now, where do we seek this kingdom?
He tells us to seek it. Where do we seek it? Well, you
can't put it on a GPS and find it. I promise you that. Can't
do that. We seek the kingdom of God in
his word, in his word. Because the kingdom of God is
spiritual, it's not physical. And to find the kingdom of God,
to find the righteousness of Christ, to know anything about
it, you're gonna have to get into the word of God. You're
not gonna find it anywhere else. You gotta get into the word of
God. Look over in Matthew 24. Let me get over there. In Matthew 24, in verse 14. Let me see if that's right. I might have wrote down the wrong
Scripture. Matthew 24, 14. And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations, Well, that's not the verse I wanted. But anyway, we
find it in, oh, here it is, Matthew 13. I can't read my own notes. I actually sat down and I wrote
about this time instead of typing them out, and I'm trying to read
my own writing. It's Matthew 13, 44. Matthew 13 in verse, 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven,
which is the kingdom of God, is likened to a treasure hid
in a field, the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for
joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath, and he buys
that field. It's like a treasure. The kingdom
of God is like a treasure. Christ is like a treasure. It
says like a treasure hid in a field. In the field here is the word
of God. Christ is hidden. You go back
to the Old Testament. He's hidden in the types and
the pictures. Have you ever sat someone preaching
the gospel and they go to a type in the Old Testament and you
realize, I haven't seen that before. I've never seen that
before. And there Christ is in that picture, that type. He's
hid right here in the word of God. If you're gonna find him,
you're gonna find him in the word of God. And it says, in
which a man hath found, he hides it for joy. Where's he hiding
it? In his heart. In his heart. And he goes and he sells all
that he has and he buys. Now you can write over that word,
buyeth, committed. He sells everything he has and
he is committed. He's committed to Christ. Lock,
stock and barrel. He's committed. So where do we
find it? We find it, first of all, in His Word. And then we
find it in the preaching of His Word. It's called the gospel
of His kingdom. The gospel we preach is called in the Scriptures
the gospel of the kingdom. It says that Christ came preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God. We find it in the gospel. And then we find it in prayer.
That's right, prayer. We say prayer. What did the Lord
tell us to pray? Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom
come. And brethren, when we pray, thy
kingdom come, we're praying with understanding. We're not just
saying some words. We understand that God's kingdom
is a spiritual kingdom. Christ is the king of that kingdom.
It's a kingdom of righteousness. And we pray, Lord, thy kingdom
come. We pray for the increase of God's kingdom. The prosperity
of God's kingdom. We pray for it. Where do we seek these things?
In our hearts. You know, set your heart on things
above, where Christ sits at God's right hand, not on things of
this earth. Seek Him with all your heart. And scripture teaches
that. Seek the Lord with all your heart. And how are we to seek Him? Diligently. Diligently, we are to seek the
Lord, we are to lay out ourselves to seeking Him. We are to lay
out ourselves to knowing Christ. We do it, you ever do anything
with real diligence, you just go at it, you go at it hard and
get it done? Seeking diligently, seeking with
purpose. You know, we're, this is, we are not seeking the kingdom
of God out of curiosity. This is not to be done out of
curiosity. It's to be done with purpose.
And what is that purpose? To find Him. To find Him. To know Him, to know more of
Him. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Study me. And it's to do it by faith. Believing. Believing you're gonna find Him.
I tell you what, you seek the Lord with all your heart. All
right, you're going to find him. The Lord promised that. He promised
that. And my prayer, my prayer is,
Lord, give me a heart to seek you with. Give me a heart, give me a true
heart of faith and repentance. Give me a true heart to seek
your face. Every day. Every day. Every day. How are we to seek Him? With
all the heart, with purpose, by faith, continually. Continue, not just this morning.
Throughout this day, tomorrow, the next time we come back, it's
continually, until He comes to take us home. Until He takes
us home. And I want to close with a promise. but seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. Let that be your aim. Let that
be your goal. Let that be your highest pursuit. And I'm convinced of this. If
we can truly seek the Lord, seek the kingdom of God, seek His
righteousness, seek Him with all the heart, if we can do that
first, everything that I have that the
Lord has given me, I can enjoy it to the fullest. And I can
enjoy it properly. If he's first, then everything
else falls in line where it ought to be. Everything takes its place.
And I can actually enjoy it the way I ought to enjoy it. But
when I put other things first, things that are not wrong, Things
that in themselves are not wrong, I can make them wrong. I can,
by setting my heart on them instead of Him. By letting them have
my life instead of Him. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and listen, here's a promise,
and all these things shall be added unto you. All these things
that you need, all these things that are necessary, He said,
I'll give them to you. I'll add them to you. I'll add
them. What we have here is a promise
of care. David said, I have been young,
now I'm old. I've never seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. What he has promised us here
is this, God will provide. You set your heart. Here's what
we, you set your heart, your aim, your focus on knowing Christ. And he said, all these things
I'll add to you. I'll add to you. And it's a promise, it's a promise
now, which he will not break. He absolutely will not break
this promise. I pray that God give us a heart. I mean, and I mean this, give
us a heart to seek after Him, to know Him, to grow in grace
and in knowledge of Him first. First. He said, seek it first. And I promise you, He said, I
promise you, everything you need will be added along the way. Everything. Okay.