I love thy church, O God. Turn back now to Matthew 6 with
me. Matthew 6, read again, verses
31-33. 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." He said in Luke 12, all the nations of the
earth seek after these things. But your heavenly Father, Noah,
that you have need of all these things, seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. shall be added unto you. The
Lord has said this three times. Take no thought. Take no thought.
Take no thought. He's certainly not telling us
to give no thought whatsoever for providing for your home and
family and so forth. What He's doing is He's gently
reproving and rebuking His disciples. That's who He's talking to. And
us. of thinking only of these things and worrying about all
these things. He's rebuking them and us and
reproving. That's what preachers are supposed
to do first. And exhort with all long-suffering. But he's
doing that because of our tendency to just think about the things
of this world. That's worldliness. and worry,
which is unbelief. Two things he's addressing here.
And throughout this sermon on the mount, he's reassuring every
believer that your heavenly Father, he says this over and over again,
that your heavenly Father cares for you so much more than you
can possibly imagine. And you don't need to worry.
Now, who in here doesn't need this? Worldliness, always thinking
about the things of this world. When we sing that song, things
that are higher, things that are nobler, these ought to be
on our minds and hearts. And who doesn't need that? Worldliness
is not necessarily owning things or even finding things, but it's
always thinking about things and pursuing things. And before
anybody in here thinks about anybody else, Don't you dare. Because the next chapter he says,
judge not. Judge not. Don't behold the moat
in your brother's eye when you've got a log in your own. So starting
with me and all of us, we need this, what our Lord said. It's
vital. He said it three times. Stop
taking so many thoughts about the things of this life and this
world. And then he tells us to seek
first the kingdom of God, that there's something so infinitely
greater, far surpassing. More excellent. It ought to take
up our time and our thoughts and our care. Something that
eye hadn't seen, ear hadn't heard, hadn't entered into the heart
of man, the thing. So he says, seek first, set your
mind, your thoughts on these things, your hearts, your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth. But since our Lord
knows our frame, that we're flesh, He's the one that said that.
That which is flesh is flesh. He said the Spirit is willing.
What He gave is willing. Spirit. But the flesh is weak. And He deals with us in our frame. And little children, He's talking
to us like the Father would His children. Gently, but firmly
rebuking and reproving. Verse 19 in chapter 6, He says,
He says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth. Treasure. Don't treasure anything. A treasure is something that
you think is of great value. We looked at this Sunday. Something
you think is of great value to you. And really, there's nothing
on this earth beside this gospel. And it's not a thing, is it?
But there's nothing on this earth that's of any lasting value. Nothing can give us happiness
or peace or contentment. It's called the deceitfulness
of riches. It deceives us, promises us things
that it can't give, and Satan's behind it. Our Lord says, don't
treasure these things. Don't think that these things
are of any lasting value. Verse 21. He says where your
treasure is, that is where your heart will be also. Whatever
you treasure is what you care about, is what you worry about,
that's what you think about. And he says in verse 22, the
light of the body is the eye. If your eye is single, the whole
body is full of light. In other words, if you have your
eye set on one thing, and what is that one thing? Everybody
in here knows. David said it, didn't he? He
said, One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I
seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
my days. Behold the beauty of the Lord,
and inquire into his temple. He's talking about the kingdom
of God. He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He had his
eye on Christ. And like Paul said, I press toward
the mark with the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.
He had his mind set, his heart set, and he tells us the same
thing. If our eye is set on the only one of value, the pearl
of great price, then our whole person is full of light. We'll
see things as they really are. We'll see things as they really
are, temporal. the kingdom of God as it really
is. Eternal. We'll see Christ's greater
treasure. We'll esteem Christ's greater
treasure than all the riches of Egypt if He makes our eyes
see Him. So that's what he's saying. In
verse 24. Now, here's where we begin tonight. He says, You cannot
serve two masters. Either you hate the one and love
the other, or else you hold to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and man. It can't be done. Now, again,
we can live in this world and have the things of this world
and not live for the world and for the things of the world.
We can serve in whatever capacity we're in, in our jobs, in our
homes, in our families, without being totally given to and live
for those things. A servant, you see, is one who
works for his master. He's owned by that master, employed
by that master. He lives to serve that master. He lives to serve that master.
That's that person's life. He wakes up in the morning. A
servant, to be a servant, you wake up in the morning thinking
about the day's tasks. for your Master. Okay? You wake up thinking about what
you're going to do that day for the Master, and on through the
day, your whole thoughts are concerned with that service. And you go to bed at night, and
you wake up the next day and do the same thing. He says you
can't serve and live for this world. For me to live, Paul said, is
Christ. I told you about the tradesman, the plumber. Somebody asked him what he did
for a living. He said, well, I'm a plumber to meet expenses,
but Christ is my life. Paul said, oh, that I might win
Christ and be found in Him. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear. So our Lord says you can't do
it. You can't give your all to have
Everything that this world promises, you have to give yourself. You
have to totally give yourself to it. Does this do away with
all ambition and hard work and so forth? No. But our Lord is
warning us. He's telling us you can't do
it. You can't serve God and mammon because you'll either love one
and despise the other. And here's the thing about it.
The more we love the kingdom of God, the less the appeal this
world has for us. That's just a fact. And the opposite
is true. A person that's in love with
this world and the things of this world will eventually leave
what he seemed or she seemed to love. You can't serve God
and men. You can't serve God and men. In verse 25, now he 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? Is not life, true life, more
than food and drink? It's got to be. All those things
go out in the draft. It doesn't matter how good the
food is, the drink is, it's going out in the draft. You can't keep
it. You can't keep it for, if you're like me, if you've got
a good constitution, you can't keep it any time at all. And
then clothes, he said, remember up there he said, the slightest
little thing, we looked at this Sunday, like a moth will ruin
the finest garment on earth, rust, Whatever brand new, whatever
you have, time is going to ruin it. It's just a matter of time. And thieves, you don't know when
it's going to be taken from you. So don't treasure it. Isn't life
more than that? Here's what our Lord said, He
that hath the Son hath life. Christ is the treasure. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God, it doesn't matter how much of
this stuff he has, he doesn't have life. It's not life if it
ends. It's not really good if the sadness
upon losing it is worse than the joy of having it. Is it? And it's so temporal, it's so
fleeting. Like a soap bubble. So one who only thinks of food
and pleasure is no better really than a dog. Isn't life more than
that? Our Lord proved that, didn't
He? He came down here and He said, The Son of Man hath not
where to lay His head. Had one suit of clothes and depended
on His Father for every meal. Was He happy? We don't know half of it. Was
he at peace? So where your treasure is, that's
what you worry about, isn't it? It's where your heart is, where
your concerns are. Whatever, who and whatever we
treasure is what we'll be so very worried about. And that's
what he reproves us of next, is worrying so much about everything. Verse 26, he says, the fowls
of the air, they don't plant. They sow not. Neither do they
reap. They don't gather a harvest.
They don't have barns. They don't have storehouses. But your heavenly Father feeds
them all. How many birds are there? You ever watch the starlings,
a big flock of starlings come in and land in your tree? How
many are there in just one little flock? The fish of the sea. How many fish are there in the
sea? He says, your Heavenly Father
feeds them all. Every last one of them. Every
insignificant minnow and tadpole. I like to feed the birds. And
I get joy in feeding them. But sometimes I forget to feed
them. And I think, oh no, what are
they going to eat? Well, you know. God fed them long before I did,
and He'll continue to feed them. In fact, my feeder has been empty
for quite some time. I'm quite sure every one of them
is being cared for. The Lord said so. So who feeds
us? Every single person on this earth.
Everything. God opens His hand, and everyone
receives from His hand. Who feeds us? Who feeds us? Our jobs? No. The Lord doesn't. I love that song, His Eye is
on the Sparrow. So I know He watches me. And
our Lord said that in Luke's Gospel. I was going to have you
read that, but I won't for the sake of time. He said, there's
not one sparrow that falls to the ground without your Heavenly
Father. A bird in the forest cannot fall
unless God wills it. He said, the very hairs of your
head are number. He said, aren't you worth more than many's hair?
Are your children worth more than the bird? Certainly. And then verse 27,
he says, which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit under
his stature? Believe me, if I could have added
a cubit to my stature, I would have. I remember being taken up with
it when I was young and playing sports and all. I wanted to be
bigger with it. I had nothing I could do about it. They call
it genes, don't they? They call it DNA. It's God's
way. He's determined everything about
us. And Luke's Gospel says, if you can't do that which is least,
why are you taking thought for anything else? If you can't add
one inch to your height, If you can't add one thing, why be careful? And I think that he's certainly
in the context of food telling us, you're not going to add one
day to your life of being so food conscious. That's very appropriate
in this day and time. They're all back to the earth
now. They're all gone green. We're
full of gangrene where we are. We're going to die of something,
and we can't add one day, not one hour. Our days are appointed. It's set with God. He must certainly
be alluding to that. Verse 28 and 29, he certainly
is talking about vanity here. Why do you take thought for rain?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not,
neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you, even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them." I just have to think he's talking
about our pride in clothing and so forth. Anyone in here like
clothing? Anyone ever look in the mirror
as you walk by? Can you not look in the mirror,
is what I should ask as you walk by? You know, here's the thing about
it. Adam and Eve, before they fell, they were naked. They didn't
need clothes. Clothes would have taken away
from their beauty. They were at one with God. They were close to their Lord.
They didn't need clothes. They weren't even concerned about
their appearance at all. After the fall is when clothes
came. The Lord made clothing after
sin, and what clothing is, is a covering for sin. And yet man
is so ignorant, vain, that he's proud of what covers his sin,
what he shouldn't need in the first place. That's a rebuke for vain glory,
but he's talking about worrying also, worrying over food and
raiment. And he says that's unbelief.
He says in verse 30, if God so clothed the grass of the field,
which today is something so temporary, and He does it so beautifully,
so gloriously, but yet tomorrow is cast into the oven, These
flowers, you know, are so gorgeous. Nothing. No one compares. Not even Solomon, he said. And
yet, the beauty is fleeting. And shall he not much more clothe
you in this, oh, this hard yet gentle rebuke? Oh, ye of little
faith. Oh, ye of little faith. Oh my, does that strike you? Sometimes I wonder if I have
anything. It was Brother Jack Shanks said in his old Texas
drawl, I love it. Remember when he said, we don't
half believe in the sovereignty of God. Not even half. We don't trust Him for anything.
Hardly. At all. Until He makes us, brings
us to the point where we have to. He slew them and then they called
on Him. Didn't they trust Him? Listen, do you remember this
article in our bulletin recently? We have entirely too many fears
for a people to whom the Lord has said, Fear not. I am with
thee. Be not dismayed. I am thy God.
I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. We have far too many doubts and
fears concerning God's mercy, love and grace for a people to
whom the Lord has said, in that cometh to me, I will no wise
cast out. I give unto them eternal life,
they'll never perish. We spend entirely too much time
grumbling and complaining about our trials and troubles for a
people to whom the Lord has said, in the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. We
have entirely too much attachment to this world and this present
life for a people who are looking for a city, whose builder and
maker is God, who said, we know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were to dissolve, we'd have a building of God,
a house not made with hand, eternal in heaven. So we need this, don't
we? We need all this. And he says
here, shall he not clothe you, O ye of little faith? And oh,
I couldn't help but think about the clothing I need the most. You know, all the saints in glory
are going to be robed in white, the righteousness of the saints. Christ, oh, I want to be clothed
in that righteousness, don't you? I want to be found wearing
one of those robes someday, don't you? Well, he said, whoever trusts in his Son, whoever
trusts Christ, will have that robe. They'll have that robe.
They'll be there, covered. And then, verse 31, he says,
take no thought. Therefore, take no thought, saying,
what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? That's what the people of this
world are all they're taking up with. Verse 32, that's all
they're taking up with. money and possessions and earthly
comforts and security and fleshly security, carnal security. Ironically,
I read Martin Lloyd-Jones on this passage. I love that man.
I love his writing. I've read others. But ironically,
there was a national election going on when he wrote that.
And he said there, he said, why is everybody in this nation so
taken up? He said, don't be like the people
of this nation who all they seem to be concerned about is that
we have our jobs and our homes and these things. He said, don't
be like that, he said, the believers. Don't be like that. All this
is going to fail eventually. And we need one thing, one thing. Well, verse 32, he says, that's
what the world seeks after. And your heavenly Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. Your heavenly Father. Father knows best. He knows best. We have exactly what we need,
exactly what He purposed for us to have, and we always will
have. David said, I am I have been
old, I have been young, and now I am old, and I have never seen
the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread. So don't worry about these things.
Here is what we need to do. Here is what we need to give
most of our thoughts and concerns and cares to. The first fruits
of our thoughts and our day. Verse 33, Seek ye first the kingdom
of God. and His righteousness. And all
these things to be added to. These are just additions to what
we really need. Seek. Take each word at a time. Seek. Have you ever really sought
something? I mean looked for something.
That means to look for it. Until you find it. That's what
seek means. Have you ever done that? Seek. Our Lord said, the
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He
said when He left the ninety and nine to seek the one that
was lost, it says, when He found it. In other words, He didn't
quit looking until He found it. That's what it means to seek.
Look at it. Look for it. How do we seek the
Kingdom of God? What we're doing tonight. Right
here. It's a good sign. He'd like to
be here. Seek Him. A seeker. Seek it in His red
Word, His preached Word. We go after it. We ask for it
in the very next chapter. He says, ask. It will be given
to you. What? What you need. Just ask. Have not? Ask, and you shall
receive. Your Heavenly Father delights
to give those things that you ask for, the needful things.
Call, he says. Knock. Have you ever knocked?
And that's the next chapter. Have you ever knocked on a door?
Do you want it in? I mean, if you really want in. It's cold outside. It's dark. And you want in, you'll keep
knocking until somebody opens that door, won't you? Our Lord
gave that parable. He said, a man comes to his friend's
door and he keeps knocking and asking, and because he keeps
knocking and asking, he'll let him in. Knock. Seek. So he says, seek. Someone
who seeks first. First means do it And there aren't any of our young
people here tonight, but it means to seek first in life and early
on in life. Remember now thy Creator in the
days of thy youth, before the evil days come now, before you
get caught up in this world. It's such a miracle. The person the Lord saves is
a miracle of God's grace. But to take an older person who
has been set in the things of this world for a long period
of time and to totally change their mind and their hearts and
their desire, that's amazing. That is doubly amazing. Seek
first in the days of thy youth. Seek first the first part of
the day. You know, that's the best part
of the day. That's when you'll be at your sharpest. It's when your
thoughts are at their keenest after you first cup of coffee
that day. That's when your first thoughts ought to be. And often
those first thoughts determine the course of the day, don't
they? Whatever you set your mind on, your thoughts upon, is probably
what you're going to go after that day. Now, we all have jobs
to do. And we have to, whatever our
hand finds to do, we do it with all our might. But yet, he says,
give me your first fruits. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. And all this will be added to
you. First, the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God and
His righteousness? Not what? The who? It's a person. Kingdom of God and His righteousness
is a person. Christ is God's King. And His
Kingdom is the realm in which He reigns and rules. Well, here it is. In Solomon's
day, and the Scriptures gives a lot of space to talking about
Solomon. In Solomon's day, he reigned
40 years. At that time, it seems like all
it's talking about is Solomon in it. Solomon. It's all about
Solomon, his beauty. People of the world from the
east came to see Solomon. They came to hear the wisdom
of Solomon. The Queen of Sheba traveled a long way and she said,
she'll judge this generation. She came to hear that wisdom
of that man, to see his beauty and his glory and hear his voice,
and she went away from that place talking about Solomon. Well,
who does Solomon represent? Israel represents his kingdom.
Solomon represents Christ the King. And if we behold his glory,
the glory of the King, everything else will fade. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That's everything Christ is for
us. That's everything Christ has
for us. And that's all that Christ in
His character is. And you know, I love this verse
in Romans 14. It says, the kingdom of God is not
in meat and drink. We will eat and drink in the
kingdom. Our Lord said that. He said,
I won't eat, drink anymore of the cup until I sit down with
you in the kingdom. We will eat and we will drink.
And it's going to be the most wonderful food you've ever eaten
in your entire life. I know it will be. And the things
there that God has prepared, Streets of gold. And many and
I were beholding the sky when we were coming here. It was just
glorious. We hadn't seen nothing yet. And pleasures. There's nothing wrong with pleasure.
At His right hand are pleasures forevermore. But the kingdom
of God is not in things. Not in meat and drink, but he
said it's in righteousness. Here we go, John. We want to
dwell in a place where everybody in it is righteous. Everybody
in it is just like Jesus Christ. Man, oh man, I want to be that.
Only a righteous person would. Only a righteous person would
want to be where there's no sin. Does that give you any comfort? Only a righteous person desires
that. Wherein dwelleth righteousness
and peace. Peace. This earth is just violent and
just unstable and it's tossing in a tumultuous place, isn't
it? Peace. Eternal rest. And joy of the Holy Ghost. What's the joy of the Holy Ghost?
Well, to have you enjoy what you're hearing about tonight.
See, Christ said, The Holy Spirit will take the things of mine
and show them unto you. And that's what gives Christ-lovers
great joy. Righteousness and peace and joy
of the Holy Ghost. He talks about the kingdom. What time you got now, Mack?
My watch quit again. My watch quit back in the study.
I had no idea. The Kingdom of Heaven. Our Lord
came preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. He came preaching the
Kingdom of Heaven. He left the Kingdom and came down to this
cesspool. He left the riches of His glory
and His Kingdom to come down to this lowly, despicable place
where everybody is all taken up with... And the Lord said, this place
is a... It's because of the present evil
world. It's an evil place. We sang that song, look how we
grovel here below. I told you about, and every day
I go out there to look at my little worm farm. I'm glad I
bought those worms because I get a fresh illustration every time
I do that. And probably all of you would
do well probably to buy some worms and take care of them. It reminds you of yourself. It
reminds you of this world. But I was out there the other
day feeding those worms and they're in darkness. They love darkness.
They don't like light. They're groveling creatures.
They're feeding on dead things. They won't eat life. They only
eat decaying matter. I open the lid and I take my
garden fork and I'll toss those worms up and down and I just
shake their whole world. And not one of them seems to
notice me. There's not one of them yet.
They say, Not one of them yet. Not one
of them yet has thanked me for feeding them. They would die.
I'm the one feeding them. Not one of them has thanked me
yet. Not one of them seems to notice I'm there. I shake their
whole world, and I turn them inside out. I take some of them away. I've
been taking some of them away somewhere else. And they don't
seem to be concerned. Not one of them yet is saying,
holy, wait a minute, where are they going? Am I next? Pretty good illustration of that.
The Lord looked down from heaven to see if there were any, on
the sons of men, to see if there were any that He didn't understand. Any that He didn't seek after
God. He said, there's none. And the Lord came into this light,
came into this world. Here is condemnation. Men love
darkness rather than light. Look how we grovel here below.
Well, what's it going to take to change? Well, it's going to
take a change, yes. For a worm to think on things
above. Our minds, our hearts, our natures
have to be changed. You know, our Lord became a worm.
Psalm 22 says He became a worm. I'm a worm and no man. He came
down here to reveal the Kingdom. He said, this isn't it. Listen to me. This isn't it. This is not life. We wouldn't have a clue unless
He told us. Reveal the kingdom. Shed light in our darkness. And
some day He's coming back to take us. Pour worms. He's going
to give us wings. Transport us from this kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of light. What was I? How could I have
thought on all that? And then lastly, I love this.
Oh, how I need this. Don't worry about tomorrow. Does anybody need this? Not worse
than me, you don't. Take no thoughts for tomorrow. No thought. Worry. Concern. There may be no tomorrow. Right? We don't know that there will
be a tomorrow. We have today. We have today. It's an old Latin saying. I kind of like it. Carpe diem.
Use the day. What the Lord has given us. Today
is the day. Enjoy it now. Three kinds of
troubles people have. Past troubles, you keep reliving
that. But it's past. Present troubles,
well, we've got to face them. We've got to live in them. And
then troubles we expect to have. And often that's the worst kind
of worry of all, worrying about things that haven't happened
yet. It is. And so the Lord says, take no
thought for tomorrow. Why can't we wake up every morning
It was just a little bit of faith. A little bit of joy. I have food. I have raiment.
I have a roof over my head. The Lord said, your sins are
gone. Boy, it's a good day, isn't it?
He says he's coming tomorrow or today. He's at the door. And
it's all good. It's all good. That's the way he lived. And
we can by His grace. He gives us grace. We seek His
face. We seek first. We set our eye. We have our eye single. We'll
shed light on everything. The Lord's goodness, temporal
life, and our interest in that kingdom. So, seek His face. Call upon Him. Read His promises.
Seek first the Kingdom of God, His Christ, His righteousness,
all these things. Nothing to these things, but
He'll give you everything you need. Don't have to worry about
a thing. Don't worry about a thing. Now,
remind me of this tomorrow, okay? All right, stand with me. Our Lord, Your Word is our only
source of comfort. when your Holy Spirit takes it
and applies it. That's why we ask for Him. He's
the Comforter. Only when the Comforter comforts
us through the Word, through the promises, by showing us Christ,
by showing us our Heavenly Father, only then will we be comforted.
So, O Lord, we ask for Your Holy Spirit. Lead us and guide us.
Direct our thoughts, our affection. Set them on things above. Let
our eye be single. We need light. We need understanding.
Let us not grovel and worry. Let us not murmur or complain.
Be a thankful people, a joyful people, and look forward to Thy
coming. And be a servant in Thy kingdom,
Lord. We want to serve Thee and Thy church, Thy people, while
there is a day and a time. Time is short. on so much more
than ourselves, we pray. Lord, grant it. Grant these things.
We know these are things You've taught us to ask for and that
You will grant them that enable us to pray for them always. And
it's in Christ's name we've met here tonight. Amen.