Matthew chapter 6. The Lord is still instructing
His disciples. And that's His disciples in every
age. Right now, He's instructing us. Last week, our Lord dealt with this matter of giving of public prayer, praying, fasting,
self-denial, how to do it, that we were to be and are to
be sincere in worship. And here in verse 19 through
the rest of this chapter, he really tells us how to live
day-to-day. how to live every day. I titled
the message, The Lord Will Provide, and that is taught throughout
Scripture. And we learn this as believers
by experience. The Lord will provide. He'll
take care of His own. Now, what our Lord has to say
here in these verses is totally contrary to what the world thinks. It's totally contrary to what
you are taught in schools and other places. It's just totally
contrary to this world. Everything about God is opposite
of men and this life and this world. The spirit of the world says
You need to gather and put up all that you can. Save all that
you can. I heard Henry say one time in
a message, get all you can, can all you save, and then sit on
the can. That's the attitude. That's the
attitude of this world. That's the spirit of this world.
Everything God has given us, He's given us to use. You know, when He gave the children
of Israel manna, He gave it to them every morning. They were
not to keep it till the next morning. It would breed worms,
it would stink. But they were to use it, to eat
it, to use it for what God gave it for, and then trust Him. Trust Him for the next day. I know, I know, unbelievers,
this is an uneasy message. For an unbeliever, it's just
like, but, but, no. The Lord just says, trust me.
In the disciples' prayer, where he taught them to pray, he said,
give us our daily bread. Just trust me. I'll take care
of it. Now, it would be alright to lay
up all that you can lay up and do all you can for yourself if
this were it. If this was it, like an animal. You know, an animal dies and
that's it. But we have a life to live here and an eternity
to spend. There's a life to live and an
eternity to spend and those who are in Christ by faith are instructed
by the Lord. how to walk through this life.
Our Lord, our God, is teaching this lesson. This is not my opinion. This is not how I think it will
be. This is the Lord. This is God of Heaven who has
come down, taken upon Him flesh, bone by bone, flesh by flesh,
and He's instructing us. This is how you live. This is
how you walk through this life. I think another good title for
this would be A Cure for Anxiety. That might be the best title
to put on, A Cure for Anxiety. You would think the richer a
nation becomes, that the less anxious the people would be,
wouldn't you? But it seems the more prosperous a nation or a
home is, the more anxious that home becomes. The more anxious
the people become in it. You would think it would be the
opposite, but it's not. Because it's just a proven thing that
the more you get, the more you want. Solomon said this, and he ought
to know, the rich man's riches will not let him sleep. It will
not let him sleep. Now, let's look at this, and
let's listen to this as from our Lord. He's the one giving. Now he says to his disciples,
this is to believers because the world's not going to pay
any attention to it because it's so opposite of what the world
thinks and the way it operates. Lay not up for yourselves treasures
where? Up on earth. Where moth and rust doth corrupt
and where thieves break through and steal. And what he's saying
is don't give yourselves, don't let your life be consumed, your
heart be consumed, your affections, because he's talking about your
affections here. Don't let your affections and
your heart be consumed with laying up for yourselves. I got to take
care of me first. I got to. You know, that's the
attitude of the world. Worldliness is one of the greatest
dangers that besets a man's soul. Paul said this, Demas hath forsaken
me. Why? What's the reason? Having loved this present world. He left the gospel. He got a
hold of it. He got a hold of it. And it starts
out so innocent. Does it not seem right to take
care of yourself first, to lay it for yourself, to pursue your
own happiness? Doesn't that just seem right?
Spurgeon said this, on this shore many a ship have made shipwreck
to all eternity. It just only seems the right
thing to do. Listen to these scriptures in Luke 12, 15. and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesses. That doesn't describe my life. My life's not in those things.
A believer's life is in Christ, not in the things he possesses
in this life. Luke 8, in that which fell among
thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and are choked
with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit
to perfection. Let us not lay up, this is what
our Lord is teaching, let us not lay up treasures on earth
and forget to lay up or to seek the heavenly treasures first. First things first. We'll see
this down in verse 34 or 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. And all these other things will
be added. Who knows what God will add? I tell you what, He
can add a whole lot more than I can add, if He's pleased to
do so. He can sure do that. Time and men are waiting to take
them away. Moth? Just a little thing. Just a little
moth can create such problems. Take it away. Destroy. Rust? I deal with that in business. Because I deal with materials.
Metal. I did, let's see. Friday, I worked
on 20 shafts. I came in, went in yesterday,
and they were rusted. Every one of them was rusted.
I thought, now I've got to polish every one of those shafts. Overnight,
rusted. Sorry, set in. And thieves? Robbers? Now, naturally, you
think of men. Somebody breaking into your house,
stealing what you have. Stealing what you've laid up.
But you know, there's a lot of thieves. The Great Depression
stole all those riches. Death. Death. Comes in and takes you away. Takes you away from all that's
laid up. A lot of thieves. And this world is full of thieves. Ready to take away all those
riches. That you worked so hard for. You work so hard for it,
and they've just gone. Gone. Many things taken away.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. Let your desires and your efforts go after heavenly
things. That's the way of saying it.
Let that be first. Let that be first. Be heavenly minded. Paul says this in Colossians
3, verse 1 and 2, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek, go
after, run after, pursue those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection, and this is what he's talking
about in these two verses, your affection. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of this earth. You and I are leaving this place.
And not one thing is going with us of this world. And that's
a good thing. That's a good thing. Because
trouble would come with it. Trouble would come with it. Wisdom
itself tells us to seek such sure possessions. I believe the
treasures in heaven are spiritual. He's talking here about spiritual
treasures. And the sense is this. Seek those heavenly treasures
which are in Christ. Seek those things that God has
given us in Christ. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, justification, peace with God, love, joy, hope. Seek those things. Let that be
your first priority. Let it be your first priority.
Let it be our business to seek these things so that we'll not
be found wanting in that day like those five foolish virgins
who took no oil for their lamp. I don't want to be found like that.
But let us seek those treasures which time and men cannot destroy. For where your treasure is, see
this is why our Lord is saying this, because where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. That's where your heart
is. That's where your heart is. Where do you count as your treasure?
What do you treasure most? What do you treasure most? Well,
that's where your heart is. Here is the motive for keeping
our desires above the things of this world. Where your treasure
is, your heart is. Our hearts will go in the direction.
Just like a magnet. Just like a magnet. Our hearts
will go in the direction of that which we count most precious.
What is most precious to you? This is what our Lord is teaching.
That's what has your heart. And we'll conduct our lives We
will conduct our lives around that which we esteem to be our
treasures. That's what we'll conduct our
lives around. If our treasures are of this earth, then we'll
live after the world and not after Christ. We'll pursue that.
We will lay out ourselves to pursue it. We will seek the things
of this life and not the things of Christ. If Christ is our treasure, if
you have found the pearl of great price and He's the treasure,
if He is the treasure, that which we highly esteem above everything
else, then our hearts will go after Him. Our hearts and our
affection will be set on Him. And we won't be taken up with these
other things. I'm not saying we won't be interested
in things in this life, but our hearts, our affection will be
absorbed in Him. And our life will be conducted
around the gospel. Everything we do, if your affections
are set upon Him, everything you do will be around His gospel,
around His church, His body. It's His body. It will be around
Him. Be around Him. And they will be holy affections.
They will be God honoring affections. And you will not come to shame.
You won't be disappointed when it's over. Where your treasure is, where
is your treasure? Where is it? I could just name
off a lot of things, but where is it? Our treasure. I pray God it's seated at His
right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our treasure. In Him, we
have everything. Everything's been given to us
in Him. Now he gives us an illustration
here. He says in verse 22, the light of the body is the eye.
Therefore, if an eye be single, That is, that we're single here
means motive, purpose, love. If it's single, if your motive
and your purpose and your love to Christ is pure, then your
walk will be that way. Your walk will be that way. If
our eye is good, then our walk will be straight. We will not
stumble if something's in the path. We'll not walk into the
door. It'll be straight. Your life will be godly. It'll
be a godly life. It will be. And you don't have
to give a bunch of rules and regulations. It'll be right.
Because your eye is single. Your motive and your purpose
is for God's glory. Your Father's glory. And you'll
walk that way. You don't have to whip people
in line who love God. Rebels have to. The whip is for
rebels. If the eye of the soul is fixed
on Christ, then shall we walk in a way that's pleasing to God.
We'll walk by faith in Him, believe in His promises, not tossed to
and fro with every wind of doctrine, but settled established in Him. Not taken up with anxiety, anxious. The Lord will provide. I was looking at this message
this morning. In my study, it's quiet. I turn the fan on, shut
the door. Always had my fan on. And I just
looked at this. And then I went in the bedroom
to get dressed when the news was on, and it got on the economy,
and it was going downhill. And I told Vicki, I said, man,
I said, if we could turn the TV off for one week, I said,
I'd like to do it one week. I said, I'd get up in the morning,
and I'd just go to work, and I'd buy what I needed to buy,
spend what I needed to spend. I said, it would just move right
on. But I said, you watch this, and it'll scare you to death.
And then I thought this, and I just went over this. I said,
the Lord will provide. This is a cure for anxiety for
His people. Now it says here in verse 23,
but if thine eye be evil, your motive and your purpose, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, How great is that darkness? If my eye is
bad, if I have bad eyes, then my whole walk is going to be
bad. It's like you're talking about that preacher you're dealing
with. He's got bad eyes. The light that's in him is darkness. If the light of the body is the
eye, therefore, if thine eye is single, if it's pure, if it's
good, if it's right, you're going to be kind. You're going to love
one another. Your walk is going to be after
godliness. You're not going to be a mean person. It's not going
to happen. You're not going to live that way. But, he says here,
if thine eye is evil, it doesn't say here if thine eye is dark,
does it? He calls it what it is, evil. If it's evil, if it's bad, your
whole walk is going to be bad. Your attitude, your spirit, it's
going to be bad. You know, light only enters the
body by one gate, that's the eye gate. And if that's bad,
your whole walk is bad. My whole walk is bad. It's the
light in me, do you understand me? If the understanding in me
is darkness, then what a mistake my whole life will end up being.
What a tragedy. What a tragedy. Spurgeon, I believe
it was Spurgeon, said this, if my faith is presumption, and
my hope just wishful thinking, and my prayer formality, then
how great is that darkness. If the light in you or in me
does not lead us to see our darkness and see that Jesus Christ is
all in all, how great is that darkness? If the light in me
and in you does not lead us to see Christ as our wisdom, our
righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption, then it's
nothing but great darkness, and it is what he called it, evil. Now he says here in verse 24, no man, don't even try it, no
man can serve two masters. See, he's giving singleness of
purpose here all the way through this. No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, else he will
hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
mammon. Am I not supposed to go to work?
Am I not supposed to? Yes. Yes. Yes. But whose business is it really?
Who really owns that business? I used to say, I'm in business
for myself. Well, that was my problem. I
learned that was my problem. I'm in business for myself. Every
business belongs to God. Does it not say he owns a cattle
on a thousand hills? He may put rebels in running it, but it's
his. It's his. Everything, the earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof, and they who dwell therein, it's
all his. So when I go to work, when a
believer goes to work, we work as what? As unto the Lord. It's
a difference. It's a difference. You might
like the job. You might start to like the job when you realize
It's His, and we work as unto Him. But what our Lord is doing here,
He's forbidding division of aim. He's forbidding division of aim. I put that right out by that
verse. God forbids division of aim. No man can give his whole heart
to God and his whole heart to pursuing the things of this world.
Can't be done. Can't be done. And the Lord's
not going to settle for half a heart. I wouldn't want my wife to half-heartedly
love me. That would be bad. It's the whole heart. God said,
you love me with your whole heart. Love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart, soul, and mind. The whole heart. A believer cannot
serve this world and serve God. In going to work and doing a
good job, we serve God. We serve Him. We're serving Him.
But to serve both with a love for, say, we love God, then we
say, oh, we love the world, and we pursue that. He says you can't
do it. Sooner or later, their interests are going to come into
conflict. And the danger in trying to get
gain to really pursuing it, to laying out yourself for it. I
mean, you lay out yourself for it. It takes the mastery. It takes the mastery of it. It gets a hold of you. It will
get a hold of you. Gain and godliness cannot both
be masters of our souls. Can't be. Here's what our Lord is teaching
us. We are to be so decided in our pursuit of Christ that all else becomes second
place. Everything else has to get in line. Scripture says this, and men
find this out every day. This is found out every minute
of every day. What shall it profit a man? If
he gains the whole world and he loses his own soul, that's
found out every day. What profit did I have if I lose my own soul? You cannot,
he says, our Lord says, you cannot serve God and mammon, because
you'll love the one, hate the other, or you'll cling to the
one and despise the other. There are no fence trailers here. It's either all committed to
Him or not. Therefore, after giving us these
instructions, after telling us these things, therefore I say
to you, take no thought for your life. Now you know, and we've
been taught, that means anxious, worrisome thought. Because a
wise man will give thought to what he's doing, to his job,
to his business. He'll give thought to that. He'll
give wise thought to it. But not anxious, worrisome, laying
awake at night, can't sleep. No, he says, take no anxious
thought for your life, your everyday life. What you shall eat, what
you shall drink, nor yet for your body. What you shall put
on is not the life Is not life, this stood out to me years ago
when I read this, is not life more than this? Is not life more
than working to buy food? Is not life more than working
to buy some clothes to put on? Is not life, what's life? Life is Christ. Is not the life more than me
and the body than Raymond? If we are to serve Christ in
His glory, then we have to cease from serving self. Remember this as we went through
this. He goes by the boat. The Lord
walks by, and He says to James and John, sons of Zebedee, in
the boat with their father, fishing. They've got their nets. They're
fishing. And He says, Come, follow Me. They left the boat, the father,
and the nest. They left everything. And they
followed him. Now he's saying to them, don't
worry about how you're going to live, how you're going to
be taken care of. You follow me. You be concerned
with me. I'll take care of you. I'll take
care of you. You follow me. And this is why he's saying,
don't be taken up with anxious thoughts. We must cease from
anxious care which leads to self-seeking and self-providing. That's what
it involves. We are not to be given over to
worry and worrying and anxious over all these earthly things
that are going on. These things will still go on
when you and I die. There'll still be the news. You know,
that's how the news makes their money. You know, it's ratings.
They have to get ratings or they're going up. Bad news sells. It
keeps you turning back. It's going to turn back on and
see what happens. See if it's going to go up or down. Anxious! A few years ago, I tried to play
around the stock market. Big mistake for me. I got into
buying and selling online. This has been about seven years
ago. And I lost. But I got to doing that, and
I was at work, you know, since I owned it, that I could slip
in the office and I checked that thing about every half an hour.
Every half an hour, every hour, I'm serious, I did that for two
months, and it about drove me nuts. I was buying sale, buying
sale, buying sale. I didn't do it on a big amount,
but it worried me to death. But finally, I just sold it,
shut it down, quit. I said, this is crazy. This is
absolutely consuming. Take no thought, he said, no
anxious, worrisome thought. Thought we may take, Spurgeon
said, Thought we may take, but not anxious, worrisome thought.
Our bodily wants are not to consume our minds. It's not to consume. I wish I would, and I do, I wish
when I was, especially when I was younger and even now, I wish
I was more concerned over that inner man than this outer man.
Or to be closed, to close him in Christ more than these threads. I'll tell you this, Christ always
fits a believer. I'm always buying new sizes of the house. I always
have to buy different sizes all the time. But Christ always fits. He fits us. He fits every believer. We never outgrow Him. We never
get too little. Don't take anxious thought. Don't
be so consumed with this body. Our life is more important than
food and clothing. And God who's given us life, He's going to close and feed
us. You close and feed your children, don't you? You close and feed
your children well. How much more our Father? Are
we better than He? Are we more gracious than He?
No. How much more our Father? We should give much more care
to hearing the gospel. than what we eat and drink and
wear. What we hear and believe is far more important than what
we eat and wear. That's true. Listen, I got this from somebody.
I know I did. God will not judge me by what I eat and wear. I
will not stand in judgment because of this suit I'm wearing today.
But He will judge me by what I hear and believe. Take heed how you hear. With
what measure you measure it with, it shall be measured to you again."
Now, our Lord gives us an illustration of His providential care of all
His creation, all of them. And He always takes the simplest
things, doesn't He? It's like when you teach children.
You know, we think we grow up and we know it all, but we don't
know much at all, do we? And He takes the simplest things
to teach His children. Behold the fowls of the air. Behold now. Learn a lesson here. Learn something here, child of
God. For they sow not. They don't
sow. They don't plow. Neither do they
reap. They don't hoard it up in barns
and all that. They don't gather into barns.
Yet your Heavenly Father Feeds them every day. He feedeth them
continually. Are you not much better than
they? I have written out here in my
Bible, then act like it. I wrote that out here by that verse.
Then act like it. Live like it. Act like it. Are
you not much better than they? Take notice of it. Behold, take
notice of what I'm saying here. The birds of the air, they don't
sow in order to eat tomorrow. He's not talking here about idleness.
You know that. I'm confident of this. Every
child of God here knows exactly what he's saying. They do not sow in order to eat
tomorrow. They don't gather or store up
their provisions for the future. Not one bird out there is worried
about this economy. Not one. This morning, they were
still singing. You watch the news, you won't
sing. You won't sing, I guarantee you,
you won't sing. My dad, he watches that CNN like
it's, like it's, just wears mom out. She does, she gets so tired
of that. But he watches that CNN and he'll
tell me this and that. I said, forget it. I don't even want to hear about
it. Forget it. But these birds, they don't,
He says they don't gather in the barns, they don't store up,
they don't lay up scared that they're not going to make it
if they don't have a certain amount. No. They are free from fret. Wouldn't
you really love to be free from fret and worry and anxiety? Wouldn't
you like to just get to that point? In Christ you can get there. These birds just do what they
were created to do. They just trust God for it. However they
get up and they just go do what they were made to do. Now why
can we not trust Him to feed and clothe and take care of us?
This is what He's saying, take care of us. This is what it's
all about, take care of you. He's called His disciples away
from their occupations. The bank, the guy there with
the bank, said, don't sell that building. He said, don't sell
that building. It'll make you a great retirement.
The realtor said, don't sell this building. He said, I have
someone that wants to just lease it now. The same people that
turned it down are back in the picture. He said, don't sell
that building. And the banker said this. He
said, I know how you feel. He said, I know you have this
church. He said, you know, that can go away in two, three, four
years. That's the world. What the disciples said, what
Zebedee, what Zebedee said, John, you know, this may not last very
long. You know, you need this occupation
here. You need to take care of these
things. No, we just trust Him to provide.
He will provide, I'm telling you. He'll provide. I worked
for four companies. Three of them went out of business.
Three of them went out of business. And every time they went out
of business, I did better the next time. The one time that
I lost my job and I thought I was going to file bankruptcy, I ended
up not owing anybody a year later. Only God can do that. I learned. I have learned. that He will
provide. He will. He will provide. God
who has made us, God who has given us His Son will take care
of us on the way home. He'll do it. He says, are you
not much better than they? The birds. You have the Spirit
of God in you. You have the divine nature of
God born in you. Are you not much better than
they? He's speaking here to believers now, because he says, You're
Heavenly Father. He's speaking to believers. It says here in verse 27, Besides,
now which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature?
Can you add one cubit? And really what he's saying is,
can you add one hour to your life? Can you? Can you add one cubit to your
stat? Can you add an hour to your life? Can you add anything
to your height? If you could, I would. I wouldn't have to stand
on this thing. I mean, I can worry myself silly, and it's
not going to change. I'm getting shorter. The doctor
told me, he said, do you realize you're getting shorter? I said,
thanks. I realized that years ago. You can't do it. Here's a way
of saying it. By all the anxious thought and
worry, you cannot change your circumstances. You cannot change
your life. You can't change it by anxious
worry and thought. Those kind of things don't change
anything. I tell you this, if you can change
God, you might change things, but God has determined all things. He's bringing all things to pass.
He's purposed all things. We know this by the Word of God.
Everything that comes into our life comes into our life on purpose.
And worry and anxiousness is not going to change that. And that's why our Lord is saying
don't be given to this anxious, worrisome thought. And especially,
and I think of the disciples there at His feet, in three years
He's going to be crucified. He's going to be out of sight.
You know what Peter did when that
happened? I go fishing. He was going to go back to his
occupation. Well, he's gone. I'm going to
go back. No. No going back. No going back. This is one time, I've always
felt like you'd ever burn bridges. Especially in business, you don't
burn bridges. But this is one time you burn bridges. You don't
go back. You're not going back. In children
of Israel, you didn't go back, you go forward. And why take
ye thoughtful raiment, clothing? Consider the lilies of the field.
You see, he dealt with the birds and being fed, now he's going
to deal with the clothing. Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spend. Don't give yourself over to being
anxious of what you're going to wear. I mean, our closets are full. But
when he was speaking to his disciples, they did not have a full closet.
They were going to follow him and they left everything. He
said, don't you worry about what you're going to wear. Look at
those lilies out there in the field. Look how beautiful they
are. Look at them. Look at the lilies of the field.
And it's out in the field. He didn't say look at the lilies
out in Mrs. So-and-so's garden. She fertilized
and planted. Out there in the field where
no one plows, no one fertilizes but God. So look out there in
the field. And look how beautiful they are.
And look how they grow. They grow by the provisions that
God gives. And they are as pretty as can
be. Pretty, beautiful. They grow by the nourishment
that God gives them. They grow by the rain that God
sends down from heaven. And they do grow. And they are
beautiful. And they are clothed with the
garment that God gives them. Now how foolish is it for us
to worry about what we're going to wear? And yet, he said, I say unto
you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. Solomon in all his splendor and
wealth can't be compared to the beauty of the lily. Now, I know
this. God has to give you different
eyes to see that. Because the world looks at Solomon
in all his splendor, and they look at that lily, they say,
I'll take what Solomon has. But the believer, he sees the
beauty of God in creation. He sees God's handiwork in that
lily. And the Lord said Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like that lily out there in the
field. Now if God can do that to a lily, what can he do for
me and you? If he has clothed us in the righteousness
of his Son, He has done that. Don't you think He'll take care
of our clothes on our back? He will. He will. Wherefore,
if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe
you, O ye of little faith? He knew their hearts. He knew
their hearts. He knew their anxiousness. He
knows our hearts. And he says, oh, you little,
here's the problem, little faith. Now, little faith is, as one
writer said, little faith is not to be condemned, it saves
two, but it's not to be commended. It's little faith. And we shouldn't
have little faith in God, in a great God. Not at all. Therefore,
take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? No anxious thought
and worry. What are we going to eat today? What are we going
to drink today? And wherewithal shall we be clothed,
seeing that God will take care of our needs? And don't fret. Don't worry about it. He says,
I'll take care of you. Trust me. Follow me. Set your
affections on me and follow me, and these things will be taken
care of. And don't be like the world, for after all these things
the Gentiles seek. They set their life after these
things. This is all they have. For your Heavenly Father knows
you have needed these things. You parents, you know exactly
what your children need. You know what they need. You
know what time they need to eat. You know what clothes they need
to wear. You know. Our Heavenly Father knows what
we need before we even ask Him. He knows that. He knows that the body needs
food. He knows it needs food. He knows it needs clothing, so
we trust Him for it. We trust Him to save our souls
from sin. Do you really? Do you really
trust Him to save your soul from sin? We trust Him to save us
from the curse of the law. We trust Him to cover us in the
righteousness of His Son. We trust Him to cleanse us from
our sins. Why is it so hard to trust Him
for something to eat and wear? That's inconsistent, isn't it?
That shows a real flaw in our understanding. If He can take
care of the weightier matters, these small matters are no challenge. Leave your temporal wants with
the Lord. That's what I say. Leave your temporal wants with
me. And follow me. You follow the one thing needful.
What is the one thing needful? Christ. Christ. Christ. You do that. And how
do you do that? Verse 33. Must seek ye first
the kingdom of God. You can't seek the kingdom of
God without seeking the King. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be
all that you need. All these things that we need to go through this
life, to make a joyful life, He said, I'll add them to you.
No good thing will the Lord withhold from them who trust Him. No good
thing. That's what it says. If we seek
Him first, our affections are on Him first, our heart is set
upon Him first, the rest will follow. It will follow. I'd like to do this one time
before I die. Just one time before I die, I'd like to just get up
in the morning and just trust Him, seek Him first, and let
the day go by. One time. If I lived to be 80
or 90, just one time, somewhere along the way, I'd like to be
able to do that one time. Just seek Him first, trust Him first,
and let the day just... What a good day that'd be. That'd
be a good day, wouldn't it? Seek Him first and these things
shall be added. Seek His kingdom. Seek His righteousness. Let this
be our goal, to be found in Him. Paul said to be found in Him,
not in my own righteousness. And all these things will be
added. Verse 33 sums up all that he's
saying. If you miss Him, If you miss Him, if you set your affections
on these things, if you do that, no matter what else you have,
it's all in vain. It's an all loss. It's a total
loss. Think, therefore, no thought
for tomorrow. Don't be worried about it. You said it in the
message. It may not come. Tomorrow doesn't
even exist. The only thing that exists is
right now. Tomorrow doesn't say you just
be, you know what, I don't have to explain it to you, you know.
You have to explain to rebels. But a believer understands because
the Holy Spirit reveals the truth. You understand what he said,
I understand what he said, and you do too. But take no anxious
thoughts for tomorrow. Tomorrow doesn't even exist yet.
Some people, many people will die today, and they'll not see
tomorrow. We are to ask for our daily bread
and if tomorrow brings sorrow with it, we'll seek his face
and he'll give grace that's sufficient. One writer said this. This is
good. Anxiety is evil. It's evil. But anxiety about things that
have not yet happened, that's without excuse. That's without
excuse. Worried about things that haven't
even happened. There is no excuse for that.