I love thy church, O God. Turn back now to Matthew 6 with
me. Matthew 6, read again, verses
31-33. Take no thought, 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 knoweth
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. But 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. The 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 could 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. Then he tells
us to seek first the Kingdom of God, that there's something
so infinitely greater, far surpassing, more excellent, that it ought
to take up our time, our thoughts, our care, Something that I hadn't
seen, the 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 a father would his children. Gently, but firmly
rebuking and reproving. Verse 19 in chapter 6, 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. It's 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 a 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. We'll see
the kingdom of God as it really is, eternal. We'll see Christ. Greater treasure. We'll esteem
Christ's greater treasure than all the riches of Egypt, if He
makes our eyes see. 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 mammon. 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 and God. You can't do it. For me to live, Paul said, is
crying. 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. 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 appeal this
world has for us. That's just a fact. And the opposite
is true. Persons that's in love with this
world and the things of this world will eventually leave what
he's seen or she's seen to love. You can't serve God and men.
You can't serve God and men. Now verse 25, it 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. It's not the life more than meat
and the body than raiment. It's not life, true life, more
than food and drink. It's got to be. All those things
go out in a 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, 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 because 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. So clean, 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? Where your treasure is, that's
what you worry about, isn't it? That's where your heart is, where
your concerns are. Who and whatever we treasure
is what we'll be so very worried about. And that's what he reproves
us up 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? Have
you ever watched 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's been empty
for quite some time. I'm quite sure every one of them
will be carried 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 head
in the 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 the many
sparrows? 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 unto
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, Freddie.
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 he can't add one thing, why be careful? And I think that he's certainly
in context of food, telling us, you're not going to add one day
in 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
going to die 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 raiment?
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 these." 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. than 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. Then they trusted 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, Him 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 hands, 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. 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 have been old,
I have been young, and now I am old, I have never seen the righteous
forsaken or his seed-bedding reared. 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, things to be added to. These are just additions to what
we really need. Seek ye first. 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. I tell you, 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, He said, 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? That's what we're doing tonight.
Right here. It's a good sign. He'd like to
be here. Seeking. 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? The way you need it. Just ask. Have not? Ask and you
shall receive. Your Heavenly Father delights
to give those things that you ask for, the needful thing. 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? Have you? 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 good. 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, before you get
caught up in this world. It's such a miracle. Well, every
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've
first cupped 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 a first fruit. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God. First, the Kingdom of God. What
is the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? It's a person. The 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, doesn't it? In Solomon's day, he reigned
40 years. When you read 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 he 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 any more 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
says it's in righteousness. Here we go, John. We're going
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 and tumultuous place, isn't it? Peace, eternal rest, and joy
of the Holy Ghost. What's the joy of the Holy Ghost,
huh? 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, fond of these earthly tolietes. 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. 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 light. They only eat decaying matter. That's man. I opened the lid. And I'll take my garden fork
and I'll toss those worms up and down and I'll just shake
their whole world. And not one of them seems to
notice me. There's not one of them yet.
They say, hey, 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. They don't seem
to be concerned. Not one of them yet has said,
wait a minute, where are they going? Am I next? Pretty good illustration of it.
The Lord looked down from heaven to see if there were any, on
the sons of man, to see if there were any that he could understand. Any that he could 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, that's going
to take a change in us. 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 poor 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, don't. Take no thought 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. There's a Latin saying, I kind
of like it, carpe diem. Use the day. What the Lord's
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. And so, the Lord says, take no
thought for tomorrow. Why can't we wake up every morning
with just a little bit of faith? A little bit of joy. I have food. I have rain. 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. 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.
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 to 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. grubble
and worry and 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. We spend it 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. But enable us to pray for them always. And it's in Christ's
name we've met here tonight. Amen.