Bunbury
Wed pm
18/08/10
“Putting first things last”
Intro: *** A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of a buck.
"Where's Harry? His friends asked.
"Harry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail."
"You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?"
"Well," said the hunter, "I figured no one was going to steal Harry."
One of the problems facing this generation is that we are people that have developed a profound ability to embrace wrong priorities.
We have b/co people who habitually ignore the impt while concentrating on the inconsequential things of life.
There is an old saying that I can clearly remember my parents / employers / friends / family / various advisers saying to me ...... “Let’s put first things, first!”
But today we so often put first things last!
I want to preach a message called ‘Putting first things last’.
Text: Matthew 6:19-34 (NKJV) 19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
# 1. Life upside down & back the front!
A. Jesus is addressing people who have got life upside down & back the front!
a. The problem w/ life is that if we don’t live it God’s way we soon end up living it the wrong way.
i. This is exactly what is happening in our day & age..... we are living life the wrong way & can’t work out why it’s going so badly wrong.
ii. The Bible gives us an order in life & from that order we u/s that there are natural consequences.
iii. God says work comes first & then the rewards from our labours ......
Psalms 128:2 (GWT) 2 You will certainly eat what your own hands have provided. Blessings to you! May things go well for you!
iv. But Harvey Norman & the Good Guys have given us 48 months b/4 we even pay a cracker!
v. Equally as stupid is the priority of making money an end in itself .... some people at life’s end will realise they worked so hard for the good life that they never had time to live it!
b. We’re one of the first generations that have had the ability to turn night into day...... many cities around the world function 24/7.
*** Guy murdered @ 3:00am in the Northbridge nightspot on Saturday night. He was stabbed to death. A great tragedy for sure but the question that first springs to mind is ...... what was he doing in Northbridge at 3:00am?
Another man is right now fighting for his life in a coma in RPH because @ 3:15am Saturday night. He was involved in a brawl & was hit over the head w/ a concrete paver. He has serious head injuries & may not live. What was he doing out on the streets at that time.
Notice that you don’t hear to many stories about stabbing murders in broad daylight!
i. Many people these days struggle living a normal life simply b/c they want life to be one big ongoing party.
John 9:4 (NKJV) 4I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
ii. They want play games instead of working / movies / Off your face book / mobile phones / non stop entertainment / cafes 24/7
*** When I was a young man a coveted job was when you went off to work for some company as either an apprentice / trainee or worked in some kind of office job. Today one of the most coveted job’s for a young man is to work in a cafe serving coffee & waiting on pretty young ladies!!!
c. We want to ignore family & have happy homes / marriages!
i. In Psalms we get the pict of the perfect family setting .....
Psalms 128:3 (NKJV) 3Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants All around your table.
ii. Men can’t work out why their wives are always so mad w/ them when it comes to marriage & family.
iii. But the trouble here is that they want to ignore their wife / kids or at least spend precious little time on them & wonder why marriage & family is falling apart.
*** James Dobson in one of his books cites a survey that was done secretly by pinning a hidden microphone to the clothes of infants. The idea of the survey was to discover how much time fathers spend w/ their kids every day.
When interviewed the men claimed they spent 1 – 2 hours a day, some more conservatively 30 mins. But when the results of the recordings we analysed they discovered that the average man spent just 2 minutes / day interacting w/ their infants.
iv. Likewise women can’t work out why their husband is so cranky after a hard days work coming home to find you’ve done nothing all day!
v. The problem is that we are naturally good at getting life back the front & upside down!
B. This is a problem of priorities!
a. Jesus is saying in our text that if you want life to work for you ....... even as a Christian .... you’ve got to get your priorities right!
*** In Fiji there was a hardware store not far from where I lived. Whenever we were having an outdoor crusade I would have to get all kinds of things to set it up. But going in there & dealing w/ them was a very frustrating venture indeed! One of the principles of smart business is that if you have a customer standing in front of you & the phone rings you ignore the phone (who might not be a customer at all) & you serve the guy who is there to make a purchase! It’s common sense!!!
One day I’m in there to buy some hardware & while I’m at the counter the phone rings. The guy serving me picks it up & answers the enquiry. I wait & he begins to serve me again but the phone rings again! After answering that enquiry the guy serving me goes off to get something for me & while he’s away the phone rings again! This time I pick it up ...... the man on the other end says ..... is Rajesh there? No, I say, he’s not here & hang up! If this guy wasn’t going to get his priorities right I decided to help him do it!
i. Essentially in our text Jesus is dealing w/ people who have wrong priorities ....
19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, .......
ii. Heaven is our destination / what we leave behind here on earth is going to b/co charcoal!
24“No one can serve two masters; .....
iii. You can’t make wealth your priority if you’re going to be a Christian – wrong priority!
25“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.
iv. Wrong priorities ...... God is a God of miracles – He won’t let you end up naked / starving or dying of thirst He’s a God of miracles who promises to bless the obedient!
b. Jesus is saying if you’re putting all these things first then you’re thinking the way the unsaved think.
i. Our job is to make sure that we / our spouse / children / the people we are influencing can make it to heaven.
# 2. Putting first things last.
A. The critical mistake that we have a habit of making is putting the first things in life last!
*** Letter Coral got from another pastor’s wife one day. She was writing my wife a note in a card telling her what was happening in life for her. At the end of the note she concluded by saying ..... “Well, the baby is in his high chair, his dirty nappy needs changing, he’s got food all over his face, the house looks like a hurricane hit it & there are dishes in the sink so ........ I think I’ll go do some cross stitching!”
a. We have a habit of putting first things last.
i. Human nature tends towards the insignificant ..... it’s the kingdom that puts right priorities into our thinking.
ii. The real / impt / essential / critical things that we ought to pay attention to we habitually put last on the list.
*** There’s a story of two paddleboats that left Memphis about the same time, travelling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they travelled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail's pace of the other.
Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.
One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fuelled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.
iii. God has entrusted us w/ a precious cargo in life called salvation ..... I wonder how many times we sacrifice it just so we can ‘win’ in life???
32For after all these things the Gentiles seek.
iv. Our human nature steers us towards majoring in the all the minors of life...... giving priority to the temporal while we ignore the eternal!
b. Our text tells us that God knows your needs .......
32 ........For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
i. God is not disconnected from your daily needs / essentials & He promises to meet them.
B. Life is always going to be out of order if we put the last things first!
*** In Berlin art gallery is a painting by German painter Adolf Menzel (1815-1905). Only partially finished. Intended to show Fredrick the Great speaking with some of his generals. Menzel painted generals and background, left king until last. Put outline of Fredrick in charcoal, but died prior to finishing.
Many Christians come to end of life without ever having put Christ into his proper place – centre stage.
So many Christians are frustrated b/c they haven’t put Christ centre stage – the additives
a. What’s centre stage in your life right now?
i. If we were able to open a hatch in your skull right now & look into your mind at the way you have prioritised life – what would we see?
ii. What kind of things have taken priority in your life, what things are you giving first place to?
*** One of the disadvantages of technology is that not only does technology allow us to save time (which is a good thing) ...... we are the first generation that are having to deal w/ technology that allows us to waste time!!! Years ago mothers / wives had to wash by hand / sew / cook / clean house / bath the kids prepare lunches. They didn’t have hours a day to spend on ‘Off your facebook’ or texting on the mobile phone / gadgets etc.
b. What kind of priority do you give to your r/s w/ Jesus – the One who has promised to give you eternal life?
i. If you want to be a Christian, much less a disciple – you’re going to have to pray / read your Bible / witness / come to church / tithe / live righteously.
*** The love dare (Fireproof) has b/co very popular in Christian circles. But let me give you another aspect of the love dare ........ I dare you to begin taking notice of how much time you spend on computer games / Off your facebook / txt messages / TV / DVD’s ...... keep a log of the time you spend, write it down. Then keep a journal of how much time you spend in prayer .....to the minute! / reading your Bible / coming to church / reading Christian development books / evangelising / outreaching.
If you are spending half as much time in your leisure activities as you are in your r/s w/ Jesus you have already determined what you love most!
ii. Right priorities are only made by making the right sacrifices!
# 3. Putting first things first!
A. Putting first things first means putting Jesus Christ & the kingdom @ the forefront of your life & thinking.
a. That’s not my conclusion .... that’s the conclusion Jesus draws in our text!
33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, ......
*** There is a recipe for a rabbit stew that begins w/ the words "First catch the rabbit."
i. Here’s a recipe that begins w/ the right priority – if you’re going to cook a rabbit stew, you’ve got to have a rabbit to begin w/!
ii. The recipe for life ....... if you’re going to put together a successful life then put the One who designed life at the forefront of your life!
b. A successful life is one that has a focus on the next life, right now.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NKJV) 18while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
i. Fix your focus on the things that are going to make a difference to you in eternity.
ii. To do this you are going to have to take control over your carnal nature like Jesus says ......
Mark 3:27 (NKJV) 27No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
iii. The strong man that has to be bound here is your own flesh / carnal nature.
c. Here’s the impt thing we need to get a hold of tonight .... this is something that every one of us can do.
33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, ......
i. Jesus is telling us to do something that every one of us can do by simply making a decision of the will.
*** For years I’ve been getting emails from airlines b/c I was constantly buying flights for different trips. Sometimes one would come through w/ some sensational deal but every time to get the deal you had to do something else to get it ...... buy another flight / travel at this time etc. Many times I simply couldn’t take advantage of the deal.
ii. But ....... this is w/i your reach, you can do it, you can achieve it right now!
33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, ......
B. Think about what God promises to add.
a. God says if you do it my way ...... I’ll add to you what you give up.
33 ......and all these things shall be added to you.
i. All what things? ...... the things we would otherwise give our energies / priority in life to.
ii. Jesus says that if you’ll make the kingdom of God the priority of your life ....... life will work!
iii. Seeking God & His kingdom first is essentially a step of faith but God says when we take that step of faith He’ll ‘add’ what we’ve given up.
*** A guy here in the south west back in 1988 was working for a company that contracts to Alcoa to extract a bi-product from the aluminium manufacturing process from their waste ponds. The idea is that they somehow extract this metal substance from the waste pond. But get this ..... this precious metal they extracted back then was worth $50,000 / kg on the market!
Now of course everyone wants the job of extracting the metal from the waste product but ....... the fact is that you only get the precious metal out of the waste ponds by first processing thousands of tons of bauxite.
iv. People want blessing but they don’t to live an obedient life to get the blessings.
v. This is what life’s like God says ..... put first things first & I’ll add everything else you need.
33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
