Seek First the Kingdom of God
Matthew 6:19-34
Disclaimer: This sermon was prepared by personal study and Sermon Central contributions.
Introduction-
This is a very familiar verse. There are some verses that jump off the page to us.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
No one can serve two masters.
Seek first the Kingdom of God.
Each one of these can and have been a sermon in themselves.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. What things?
Blessings of God? yes
Material things that we need? yes
The blessing of not worrying? Yes
For some that would be answer to prayer.
But what else?
We didn’t take the time to read all of chapter 6- but it is not a coincidence it comes after chapter 5 “Blessed are those” Scriptures of the Beattitudes. He gives us direction for helping others. He gives us direction for prayer, even gives us the model prayer of Jesus. Tells us two times in the chapter that what we do for man, we will have a reward. But He also tells us that we should do it in private or we will lose our blessings. Tells us that if we really want to get a close relationship with God- Be praying, that fasting, the giving up of our body needs is a new and exciting way to worship and communicate with God. It is not a coincidence that it is sandwiched between chapter 7 of judging others, and the important verse of asking, seeking, knocking.
Because if you will get the principal of Seeking God First- all these things will be added unto you.
Seeking and putting God first is not easy.
It is not the normal thing to do. Putting God first is a discipline.
Society sometimes get intrigue by God, but , most are not seeking God, they are expecting God to do the work.
We don’t like disciplines. We don’t want to be told No, WAIT, STOP, GIVE IT A CHANCE, SHARE, CHANGE.
It is a conscience decision that no matter what we go through or have, we will seek God first.
The sign outside, it is not profound or catchy.
The answer to the problem- Seek God first.
This is a simple truth that we do not do. When all else fails, ask God. No Beg God, for Him to make it right.
Fasting is the abstaining from food for spiritual purposes.
Take the time that you would have been eating and spend it with God in prayer. Some cannot do that because of some health issues, but we can all sacrifice our time and seek God’s purpose for our lives..
Storing up treasures in heaven instead of the u-haul mentallity here is putting priorities right.
It is not wrong to have things. It is wrong for things to have you.
Illustration-(SC)
E. Stanley Jones:
“If you don’t make up your mind, then your unmade mind will unmake you. God can do anything for the man who has made up his mind; He can do little or nothing for the double minded.”
Where am I going with this?
Some people life’s are miserable because of what they know to do but they will not do it.
God has spoken to you about some things and you just refuse to change. He has tried to give you direction.
Life is short- stop hating someone.
Make peace with your past, so it won’t mess up your future.
You don’t have to win every argument.
No one is in charge of your happiness except you. Stop blaming others.
Don’t compare yourself to anyone else because you do not know the journey they have been on.
God has told you these things.
He has said if you will seek me first before you make these mistakes. I will be there for you.
Society pushes God back and keeps Him at a distance. So if we are not careful, we can, and will do the same thing.
They call wrong right, and right wrong.
Facts don’t cease to exist because we ignore them.
We use to say the pledge of allegiance with the term “One Nation under God”, now it is criminal to put God in our schools.
God told Israel and He is telling us. Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”.
It is our responsibility to put God first. Even when the world says that it is wrong. We know what is right.
Why is it when we do our own thing- contrary to God’s word. We get upset at God when our life falls apart.
Seeking God first does not mean we will not make mistakes.
It does not mean we are perfect.
It means we are trying to put our priorities right. God is first
We either try to live like Atlas, and feel like we have the whole world on our shoulders, or we put God first and surrender our lives to Christ.
Question:
How do we do that?
If God only pointed out our sins and flaws but never told us how to fix it- how could we get it right?
How do we seek God first?
How do we seek the Kingdom of God when the noise of the world keeps telling us that we deserve all these things.?
I. It is a choice You must make a decision from today, that you are not in charge. God is.
Proverbs 23:5-
:Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings, and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
It means that from today that what you have or will have belongs to the Lord- you are just managing it.
You have to take the grip test.
Are you willing to let go of the things The Lord wants to take away from you.
Do you have a opened or close hand?
Illustration-(SC)
once upon a time a little boy was walking to Sunday school. His mother had given him two quarters -one for candy and the other for the offering. And wouldn’t you know, as he dawdled on his way, he tripped and fell. One of the quarters in his chubby little hand slipped out, rolled down the sidewalk, fell over the curb and went kerplunk into the sewer. The boy got up, looked up into heaven, and said, well God, there goes your quarter.
It cannot always be God’s quarter that goes down the drain.
Illustration-
Inscription found at the American West museum in Deadwood, South Dakota.
I have lost my gun. I have lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I’ve got all the gold I can carry.
Here me I need to eat. I work a lot of hours. There are some wants I would enjoy for my family.
What I am saying is, that we must make a decision to discipline ourselves and lay up treasures in heaven more than what we can have now.
We want to look at the rich and say they are greedy and materialistic. That is wrong.
It is also wrong to keep up with the Jones and live above your means and level of income.
It is wrong to grade materialism on a sliding scale. There wrong, but what I do is okay.
II. It is a decision and choice that God will be a part of your decision making.
Not coming to God after you have made bad choices and have not listened to what God was telling you.
Not listening to godly wisdom and advice from others God has put in your path, because you knew better.
Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth, rust destroy, thieves break in and steal.
In Jesus day there were silo’s and warehouses. Mice, rats, insects, destroyed and spoiled the harvest.
3John 1:2-
“Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospereth”
You get it. It is not wrong to have things.
God desires to give and provide for you, but as your soul prospereth, not to the health of your relationship with God.
God will continue to get your attention concerning your relationship with Him.
III. It is a choice to express generosity to others.
Every time we do something for others, we are storing up treasures.
We are storing up rewards. What is in our hearts will be reflected by our actions.(Good or bad) Now we cannot do things just because we know there is a reward. That would be the Pharisee mentality.
Peter calls our treasures deposits. We are depositing into the bank of heaven, good deeds, generosity, kind words, encouragement.
It may not seem like you are doing a lot, but God records it all.
Peter says that “ an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you. (1Peter3:1)
If we learn to hold onto the things of God tightly, and the things of the world loosely, God is able to use us for Kingdom work.
You start storing things up here, so that when we get to heaven we can see what God did with our deposit. I guarantee that God doesn’t lose on our investments. It will all pay dividends.
Closing:
The mentality of the world is acquire all the material things you want, then if you have time, seek God.
Illustration-
I have never been in the military, but I understand the concept of a point man. The point man in maneuvers is responsible for the company. His job is to spot the enemy before the enemy sees the company. It is a honorable position. He has the weight of the whole company on his shoulders. He is looking for land mines, and other dangers.
Get this When you let God be your point man, He leads you through the hostile territory of life. He points out the land mines, the snares, the traps. He leads you around them.
When you do it on your own, your don’t see the snipers that get you.
God tells us we are to be different. He expects us to be different. He will get our attention when we stray away.
He is also a rewarder for those that serve Him.
Those that have the heartbeat of God and desire to store up and see people blessed by us taking part in their lives.
To get an inheritance, we have to be in the family. To pass on the inheritance for others, there has to be a relationship with the Lord and with them.
Altar call;
Where He leads me I will follow is the best way to store up and deposit into heaven.
God is willing to assume full responsibility for a life yielded to Him.
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