Picking Your Priorities
Matthew 6:1-34
6 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Introduction: This passage of Scripture is generally referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount,” and it is the only chapter were Jesus is the only one speaking. It can be divided up into three segments. The first is vs 1-18 where Jesus warns His listeners about the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders in the areas of alms giving (giving to the poor), prayer and fasting. If I had time this morning I would share some teaching about this section. The second segment from vs 19-24 has three elements, two treasures, two eyes and two masters. Part three is about trusting God in Matthew 6:25 – 34 and deals with trusting God and it also has three elements and provides reasons for not being anxious (worried) and is where we will direct our attention this morning. As I focused my study on verse 33 it occurred to me that God has given each of us a wonderful gift. It is the gift of free will or free moral agency. When He created us He gave us the freedom to choose, to make our own choices. This is a gift that is greatly unappreciated by most of us. I want us to think about three areas of life where the choice of our priorities is critical.
I. Put Your Faith First
What do you put first in your life this morning?
“Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”t wo little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
”
extra stanza —
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee
British Missionary C. T. Studd 1950
a. Our time – Age and illness and death will teach you the value of time.
b. Our talent – We’ve all been gifted with talents and abilities by God. He has given them to us not to be used selfishly but for His glory. What are you doing with what He has given you?
c. Our treasure
The sovereign God of the universe has called us to be faithful stewards over what He has blessed us with. We are blessed to be a blessing.
A man had a dog named Simba. He named him Simba because he is the color of a lion and he has the personality of a lion.
One afternoon, he was really tired and he decided to take a quick nap with Simba.
Simba has a certain place on the bed beside him where he always laid. The man had laid something on the bed in Simbas place earlier not thinking when he was straightening things.
To a dog, if you put something of yours on their place it means they aren’t allowed there. That’s how dogs show other dogs what is theirs and where their territory is.
When the man moved what was in his place, Simba moved closer to him.
As he watched this, he thought "That’s how the Lord is!"
Any time we move what is in His rightful place in our hearts and lives, He will move into that area and fill it with His glorious self.
But any time we prefer our busy-ness, activities, sin or wrong relationships over Him, He will stay out.
Joshua declares, “Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
II. Put Your Family First
a. Your spouse - Ephesians 5:25-33 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
b. Your children – By the time that they are 18 you will have 936 opportunities (52x18) to lead your children to church. Every time you miss is one less time to put them under the sound of the teachings of the Gospel, worshipping God together with them and teaching them by example how to serve God and do His will.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
c. Your parents – Exodus 20:12 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Ephesians 6:1-3 6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
III. Put Your Future First – We all face three deadlines that affect our future.
ILL: It’s a sad day when people are offered the kingdom of heaven, but they don’t see its value. They set it aside as a common thing and go their way. Imagine going to an antique store and finding a priceless antique there. The seller has priced it as a common item. But it is worth many times more than the price being asked. It could be bought for pennies, but like many others, you passed it up. You thought it was as common as the other articles in the store. A few days later you read in the local news that someone has bought that item at the antique store. He paid the rock bottom price being asked. But unlike you, he perceived its value to be much greater than the asking price. He had it appraised by experts and learned it is worth millions of dollars. You look at the picture of that item in the news article. It is the one you picked up and examined a few days earlier. It was in your hand. It could have been yours. But you passed it up. If only you had perceived the true value of that treasure. You could have bought it and become rich.
Illustration given in sermon by Richard Tow entitled "Selling Out to God."
a. Death – It’s appointed once unto man to die. We are not going to get out of this world alive.
b. Second coming – Your chance to determine where you will spend eternity is over when the Lord returns. With Him comes the judgement.
c. The Holy Spirit – Genesis 6:3 God will not strive with man forever appears to mean that the Lord will not put up with our sinful disobedience indefinitely. We cannot come to God unless we are drawn to Him by His convicting Spirit. This conviction will not last indefinitely.
ILL: "God’s hardening is a consequence of our hardening our own hearts...God will harden none, damn none, unless they willfully reject His grace. Here is a sobering thought: If you enter eternity with a hard, impenitent heart, you have no one to blame but yourself."
Wm. Gurnall
"Rain Man" was the top moneymaking film of 1988, and also won the Oscar for Best Picture. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish wheeler-dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant, of whose existence Charlie was unaware. At first, Charlie is only focused on getting a bigger share of the inheritance, but over the course of the movie he grows to care more about his autistic brother Raymond. Raymond has inherited almost 3 million dollars, but has no understanding of what that means, and no real concept of money. Because of his autism, he only cares about minute things like apple juice and Cheetos and watching “The People’s Court” on TV. He has received an enormous inheritance, but doesn’t understand it, and doesn’t live like it.
How many of us live with a kind of spiritual autism? God has prepared for us an unimaginable inheritance and promises to provide for our every need; but even though we’ve heard that and say we believe that, why do we still spend so much of our time worrying about the apple juice, Cheetos, and TV shows in our lives?
Conclusion: What part of “seek ye first” do we not understand? We get to choose, we get to make the choices that affect our faith, our family and our future. There is one thing that we do not get to choose; we do not get to choose the consequences.
Someone wrote that, "Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences."
ILL: CONSEQUENCES FOR KARLA FAYE TUCKER
Karla Faye Tucker was convicted in 1983 for the murders of two people. While on death row in 1985, she picked up a Bible from the prison ministry program and prayed to receive Christ after reading it. On June 22, 1992, Tucker requested that her life be spared on the basis that she was under the influence of drugs at the time of the murder and was now a reformed person. She received great support from the conservative ranks in the US, and even the brother of one of her murder victims. On February 2, 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed, becoming the first woman to be executed in the US since 1984.
(From a sermon by Rick Boyne, The Consequences of Sin, 5/9/2011)
