Turn to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. I've been
reading this Sermon on the Mount several times over the last two
or three days. I've read it, I don't know, three,
four, five times. The first time I read it this
past week, it got my attention that the one giving it is the God of heaven and earth.
Almighty God took upon Him flesh. He came into this world and preached
this sermon. So if you want to read the greatest
sermon ever preached, here it is. And I thought to myself,
if there's any sermon that I ought to listen to and memorize, I
mean memorize it, it's this one. It's this one. And it just struck me in verse
33. As I was reading this sermon,
I wasn't looking for any particular message or verse or anything.
I was just reading it. I just wanted to read it. And
verse 33 just jumped out at me. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness and all
these things. shall be added to you, given to you." I titled this
message, First Things First. Ever have anybody say that to
you? I've said that so many times. I've been out of the shop over
the years, going to work, and I say, all right guys, first
things first this morning. This is what we're going to do.
And I'd say, first things first. And it would be in the order
of importance. You do first things, in the order
of importance, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and on. Here is the most important thing
that we can do. This is the first thing. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now in this
chapter, our Lord condemns worry, fretting over these earthly things. What are we going to eat? I probably call Vicki, if she's
out at the shop, I call her and say, what are you cooking today?
What are you fixing this evening? What are we going to eat? And
that's about two o'clock, I probably call her. And I'm already thinking,
she goes, I don't know, I'm busy. And I'm thinking, I wish you
would think about what you're going to eat. What are you going to eat? I
mean, it's on my mind every day. And our Lord, you know, and that's,
we get hungry, but it's not something that should worry us. What are we going to eat? What
are we going to drink? What are we going to wear? Where
are we going to live? Our Lord is teaching, God now
has come into this world And He's teaching us. He's teaching
His disciples. We ought to be up on the edge
of our seats. God is speaking. God is instructing His disciples. And He's saying, don't live out
your life in worry and in fretting. I know people that call themselves,
they claim to believe the gospel. And I know some people that they
worry themselves to death. They're always, it's this and
that. I've talked to them. I know a man that was always
worried. I mean, he always thought he would die young. He was a
young man. Well, he's an old man now. Worried
for nothing. Absolutely worried for nothing. And 99.9% of all of it is for
nothing. Because our Lord says this, Which
of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?
Anxious thought, worrisome thought, Can you add one day to your life
by an anxious, worrisome thought? No. It's a miserable day for
you and you make everybody around you miserable. You don't. And our Lord condemns it. He
condemns worry and anxiety. He condemns it. And then He commends. He turns
around and He commends. Care, much care over spiritual things,
over the kingdom of God, over righteousness, over salvation, over Christ,
knowing Him, growing in grace and knowledge of Him. Give much
care to that. Give much thought to that. We are directed by our Lord Here,
the first thing to seek, to go after. He's saying, you're going
to go after something? Speaking to His disciples, here's
what you go after. I'm going to give you something
to go after. And then I'm going to give you a promise. You go
after this, I'm going to promise you this will happen. He gives
us a promise. Whatever is first in our hearts,
whatever is first with us is what we will seek. You just mark
it down. Whatever is first with a person.
He says over here in verse 21 of chapter 6. For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. I heard a psychologist
the other night say this. Whatever a man thinks about all
day is what he becomes. It's what he becomes. What you
think about, what your mind is set on. And I thought, boy, that's
a good statement. Whatever your mind is set upon
all the time, that's what you end up becoming. He tells us in Colossians 3 to
do what? Set your mind on things above. I thought, boy, that guy probably
doesn't know what he just said. He knows it in the natural realm,
but not in the spiritual realm. And our Lord, in directing us
to seek the Kingdom of God first, never said anything. And I thought
about this today. Nowhere in the Word of God are
we commanded or encouraged to seek the riches of this life,
are we? I don't know of any place. He
says to Jeremiah, seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. That's what he
said to Jeremiah. Seek them not. I was telling
this to Jeremy the other day. We were talking about the shop.
He's running the shop out there now and stuff. And we were talking
about business and he was talking about growing it. And I said,
but let me tell you this. The Word of God does say, labor
not to be rich. Labor to do a good job. Do that. Labor to give good service. Do
that. But don't set your heart on being
rich. Just set it on doing a good job.
Labor not to be rich. Turn over to Colossians chapter
3. Listen to this. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. He never tells us to seek those
things on this earth. We are told to let those things
go. Use them as God gives them to
us, then let them go. Where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, set your affection, and over in the margin it says, Set, set. Don't just think about
once in a while. Set. Paul said to the Corinthians,
I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
crucified. Paul had set his mind when he
was going there not to know anything among them until they got this
issue with Jesus Christ and crucified selves. He says here, set your mind. Let that which dominates your
mind and your heart, that which draws you, set it on things above,
not on the things on the earth, for you're dead. You really are. In Christ, you're dead to this
world. The Apostle Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ. And I tell you what, even though
you and I may not be able to grasp the fullness of that, We
were really crucified with Christ. We were put to death in Christ
on the cross. You're dead to this life. You're
dead to sin. It has no more dominion over
you. And your life, your real life, that new life, that life
that is of God, is hid with Christ in God. Now set your mind. You know,
it's my responsibility here as a pastor to continue to set this
before us in preaching. Set your mind and follow after
Him and think upon Him. Think upon Him. This is to be our attitude. This
is to be Pilgrim's attitude. as he passes through this life.
We are looking for a city. Are you looking for a city? Which
has foundations. Whose builder and maker is God. The one giving us this sermon. The same one. While we pass through this life,
we do have to go through this life in order to get there. As
we pass through, our Lord says this, seek. Seek. Go after. You go after this. It doesn't
mean you ignore your job. It doesn't mean that at all.
It doesn't mean you ignore your family as far as taking care
of your family. Paul said a man that won't provide
for his family is worse than an infidel. But you go after this. It also
means this. See, commit to it. Commit to
this. This is not just something we
do on Wednesdays and Sundays. This is something we do from
the time we get up to the time we go to bed. Day in and day
out. You commit to this. To seek is,
make this your goal. Make it your goal. A man who has no goals is a man
who goes nowhere. If you don't have any goals,
where are you going? What's your purpose? A man has no goals is
a man who has no purpose. What's your existence for? He's saying this, go after this,
commit to this, make this your goal, give yourself to this daily. Let this be your one great desire. Turn over to Psalm 27. This is the King speaking, King
David speaking here. Psalm 27. And this is a man who has it all.
Look in Psalm 27, verse 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord. Now you know David had many activities
going on during the day. He's the king. He had a lot of
things coming on. Just a lot of activity, a lot
of responsibility laid on his shoulders. But David says, In the midst of all this, I have
one great desire. I have one great desire. One
thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, give
myself to, commit to, this is my aim, this is my goal, 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. David was ready to let all that
go. All his, you know, himself as
being a king. You know, these guys become presidents. They have to run a second term.
They can't let go. I mean, the pressure of the office,
you can see how they gray by the time they get out, but they
just can't let go of that. Just can't do it. Power. Thirst
for power. But David's saying, I got one
desire. I'm ready to let this go. Let
it roll. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. That's my one driving desire. But until I get there, I have
to take care of some things. I have responsibilities, but
my one great desire is to be with the Lord. Paul said, I have
a desire to what? To depart. I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ. He said, it's far better for
me to stay here with you, but my desire is to be there, is
to be there with Him. So he said, let's just be your
one desire. No one will seek after that which
they have no desire for. He won't do that. And listen,
he says, seek ye first. Let this be first, early in life. I thank God that I was a young
man when I heard the gospel. I would thank God at any age
that I heard the gospel, but I'm glad and thankful that I
heard it. I was between the age of 23, 24 years of age. I thank
God for that. And I say to all the young people
in here, You may hear this on the radio. Seek Him early in
life. Seek Him early. Remember now
thy Creator in the days of thy youth before the evil days come
not, before you start looking like this. Before those days
come not. Right, Gary? Seek Him early. Seek Him early. Listen. Seek Him first thing
in the morning when you get out of bed. Let that be first. Before anything
else, he says, let this be first. Nothing is to rival or hinder
our relationship to Christ, our seeking Christ. If there is, get rid of it. Get
rid of it. He's to be first before family.
He's to be first before health. He's to be first before wealth.
He's to be first. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. That has everything to do with Jesus Christ. You can't
seek a kingdom without seeking the King. And if you're going
to seek His righteousness, it's His righteousness, the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it has everything to do with
Him. What are we to seek? The kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now, what is it to seek the kingdom
of God and His righteousness? Turn over to Matthew 13. Let's
see an example of it. Let's see an example. Really, a couple of examples
here. In verse 44, Matthew 13. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is likened to treasure hid in a field, the which, when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy," not regret, for joy thereof,
goeth and selleth all that he hath, and he buys that field. This treasure that's hid in this
field is spoken of here. is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the treasure. He's the pearl,
which is the next parable after that. He's the treasure. In Him are hid all the treasures,
isn't it? The wisdom of God. Everything
that God has for us is in Him. He's the treasure. He's it. It's a great price. There's nothing
like you. There's nothing, there's nothing
and no one to be compared to Jesus Christ. God said, this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Do you know anyone
else that God said that about? Has God spoken from heaven and
said that about anyone else? Oh, this is my son. He's the treasure. It's hid in
a field. This treasure's hid in a field.
The field here is the Word of God. Where is it we find Christ?
Where is it we learn of Christ? His Word. His Word. And then it says it's hid. I say, what? It's hid in the pages
of this book. Now, it'll take God to reveal
Him to you. It was hid in the types of the
pictures in the Old Testament. It takes God to give a man eyes
to see, ears to hear Christ out of His Word. Look over Colossians chapter
1. Colossians chapter 1, it's hidden
in a field. It's a mystery. In verse 25, Whereof, Paul says, I made a
minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you to fulfill the word of God. Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, where was it hid? In the Passover land, the tabernacle,
the priesthood. A few could see it. Many didn't. If our gospel be
hid, it's hid to them that are lost. That's what it says, to
them that are lost. This man in this parable found
the treasure. He found the treasure. God revealed
it to him. You and I have found the treasure,
which is Christ. God revealed it to us out of
his word, out of the field. Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the
saints," you know it, it's not hid from you now, you know it,
"...to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles," and here it is, "...which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory." We have this treasure, we have
a field, and it's hidden, this field, and we have this man.
This man is a seeking sinner. He's heard about this treasure.
He's got to have this treasure. So he goes after it. He goes
looking for it. And he finds it. It may be that
he's coming here tonight. God has given him some interest,
and he's come in here, and he's listened, and he finds the treasure. He
finds the treasure. And when he finds it, what does
he do? It says here, he sells. Well, let's go back here. It
says, Matthew 13, verse 44, Again, the king of heaven is like unto
treasure hid in a field, to which, when a man hath found, he hides
it. And I tell you what, you know where
he hides it at? Turn over to, where do I write
that down? I just thought of it when I was
up here. Proverbs 2. Proverbs 2. It just came to my
thought of it when I was up here sitting down listening to Mike
sing. Proverbs 2. I'll show you where
this man, where he hides his treasure at. Verse 1. Thou wilt receive my words and
hide my commandments with thee." He hides it in his heart. Write these up on the table of
thine heart. Write them up on the table of
thine heart. He says in chapter 3, verse 1, My son, forget not
my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments. He hideth it in his heart, and
for joy. Remember that rich man that came
to our Lord, and what must I do to inherit eternal life? And
he quoted the commandments, and he said, I've kept all these.
He said, well, then go what? Sell all you have. Sell everything you have. And
you know what, I think Peter probably would have said, okay,
I'll do that. He probably wouldn't have had to have done it. He probably
wouldn't have had to have done it. But the Lord knows the heart. He knew exactly what this man
was going to do. And it's written for our learning.
He said, go sell all you have, give it to the poor. He didn't
say, go sell all you have, invest it, leave it in a bank account
somewhere, let it grow interest, and you come follow me. He might have done that. He might
have taken it and put it in an investment and let some guru
make some money on it and make him some money. Of course, he gave it away. That's
different. You give it to the poor and then
come and follow me. And it says he went away sorrowful.
Sorrowful, because he is very rich. This man, when he found
this great treasure, which is Christ, it says, and for joy, for joy thereof, he goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and he buys that field. He puts all
his eggs in one basket. I'm telling you, if Christ is
that basket, you don't need to diversify. If he's that basket, go sell all you have. And he
did it with joy. He did it with joy. There's nothing that can rival
Christ in our hearts. Absolutely nothing and no one
can rival Christ in our hearts. Seek ye first. But I know I have to give attention
to these things. I know I have to seek, do. I read this and I say this. I
talk to myself sometimes when I read. I thought, just do that,
John. Just do what he said. It has
a promise attached to it. He didn't just say, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then leave us to wonder.
What's going to happen? He actually gives us a promise.
I mean, He could have done that because He's to be trusted. But
He gives us a promise. The Lord will provide. I saw
that written on the board in there. The Lord will provide.
He promised that. We'll get to that in a minute. If I have Christ, if we have Christ, Do we not
have it all? Do we not have true riches? Do
we not have true riches? We do not add Christ to our riches. He is our riches. Look over in
Ephesians 3. Ephesians chapter 3. Let me see where I want to read
here, where I want to pick up. Let's look in verse 17. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." And that's not what I wanted
to read. But it was good. Wasn't it good? I'm glad I read
it. What I wanted to read is in verse
8. Unto me, who am last and the
least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable. There's what I wanted to read.
The unsearchable riches of Christ. You take any person in this world. I watched a thing on TV last
night, Lifestyle of the Fabulously Rich. I mean, they were stupid
rich. They was in the billion, billions. But you know what? It can be counted. They can still
count it. It's unsearchable. Unsearchable. You can take Bill
Gates and Warren Buffett, put all their billions together,
and you can still count it. There is no counting. There is
absolutely no searching of the riches of Christ. It's unsearchable. That's what
he calls it there, the unsearchable riches of Christ. In Him we have
justification, sanctification, wisdom, righteousness, forgiveness,
pardon, You name it, whatever we need before God, we have it
in Him. And I tell you what, we truly only scratch the surface
of knowing Him. Just scratch the surface. This man, when he had found Him,
he sowed with joy, he sowed all he had, and he bought that field. and hid it in his heart. Scripture says all things
are yours in Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse
21 through 23. All things are yours in Christ. I'm rich. You are rich. And what I have now in this life
I have, by the wisdom of my father, if I could handle more, he'd
probably give me more. I can handle, I'm handling just what
he gives me. If he gave me more, it'd ruin
me. Like you said, Dale, puffed my
head up. Christ is first. Seek ye first
every day. Look at that next in verse 45. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, the best
pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl
of great price, this merchant man went and sold all that he
had ever made. When he found this one pearl
of great price, he went and sold all that he had and he bought it. It became the first thing
to him. It became the first thing to that man who went into that
field and found that treasure. And I go back to chapter 6 and
I'll close. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you. And I tell you this, if God adds it, there'll be no
sorrow trying to take care of it. I believe that. I believe that. I believe you
won't break your neck, kill yourself trying to pay for it if God adds
it. If we add it, we pay a whole
lot We pay a whole lot for it. Here's a promise. This is a promise
that God himself came to earth and gave us. You don't live a life of worry,
fretting. You trust me, and all that you
need will be taken care of. He goes back here and he says,
Behold the fowl, verse 26. Look at the animal life. Every
now and then I look at a bird flying and I think, my soul.
A bird flies and he don't have a debt to pay. He don't have
a light bill to pay for nothing. And he flies, he can fly. I have
to put $50 in my truck for the last maybe a week. You can drive around. And this
bird just freely flies. And all this intelligence in
this room costs us a fortune to go from here to there, doesn't
it? That bird just flies over there. Behold the fowls of the air.
They sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than they? And our Lord lived
what he said. He didn't have a pillow. He said, no son, a man has no
place to lay his head. He didn't have a pantry. He depended on
God the Father to feed him every day. Every day. Are you not much better than
they? Which of you, by taking thought, can ask a cubit to your
stature? And why take ye thought for rain? Consider the lilies
of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spin. And I said to you that even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. What are you fretting about?
You're much more important, you're worth more than a sparrow. God has promised to supply all
our needs. And he says here in verse 34,
take therefore no thought, anxious worrisome thought for tomorrow,
the morrow, Well, tomorrow shall take thought for the things of
itself, sufficient unto the days, the evil thereof. Just take care
of what's going on today. You know, if you really take
care of what's going on today, tomorrow will probably be a better
day. That's right. You know, if I mow my grass today,
I don't have to worry about tomorrow, do I? Mowing it tomorrow, I've
done it today. I mowed it today. So, if you
take care of just today's That's low on grass. If you take care
of that, you don't have to do it tomorrow. Don't worry about
tomorrow. There'll be thousands and thousands of people who won't
be here tomorrow. There's seven billion people
on this earth. I don't know what the percentage is of people dying
every day. It's got to be way up there in
the thousands. Thousands and thousands of people
are worrying about tomorrow and it's never going to come. It
may not come for some of us. It may not. That's why our Lord said it's
just so undercoming. It's so undercoming of you as
God's children to worry and pray. And this is not advice He's given
us. This is a command. He said do
this. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added
to you. Your Heavenly Father, He said, knows what you need.
You don't care what we want. What's that matter? You really
don't care about what your children want. What matters is what they
need, doesn't it? You just let times get hard,
and you'll just worry about their needs. How much more our Heavenly Father?
How much more?