Seek Ye First The Kingdom of God

Introduction: The Problem of Sinful Anxiety and God's Cure

0:03 For three or four weeks now, we have been in this last section of Matthew 6, beginning with verse 25 and continuing down through verse 34, in which our Lord deals with the problem of sinful anxiety, concern about the necessities of life, a concern from which even his children are not exempt. Now, I would remind you by way of introduction and review that these are instructions for the children of God, those who have come as naked, helpless, hopeless sinners to Jesus Christ, and have found in him mercy, have received him as Savior and Lord, and according to John 1.12, having received him, they have been made the children of God. This is not a word of instruction for those outside of this. This is not a saving relationship with Christ, but this is the instruction of the Lord for those who are his children.

1:06 Now, in dealing with the causes and cure of sinful anxiety, our Lord three times commands us, Be not anxious. The King James translation, Take no thought, is a weak one for us in our day. It would give the impression that we're just to go willy-nilly without any concern. But that's not what our Lord is dealing with.

1:27 The word means, Be not anxious. That gnawing anxiety that puts a worm in every delight of life and clouds the face of our God. It is this which our Lord is forbidding in his children. And then he gives us the reasons for this sinful anxiety.

1:45 He tells us the only reason a child of God would be worried about bread and about food and clothing is because he forgets his worth before God. Looking at the birds, the Lord says, and the flowers, God cares for them. How much more will he take care of you who are his children? Then we saw that when we are sinfully anxious, it's because we've forgotten how futile this anxiety is.

2:11 Who, by taking thought, the Lord says, can add one measure to his life by being anxious. Fretting about your bills? Never paid them.

2:22 Fretting about the necessities of life? Never met them. The Lord says, How stupid. Then the next time you begin to fret, sit yourself down and tell yourself that you're playing the part of a fool.

2:31 And no one likes to deliberately play the part of a fool unless he is a fool. Now, if we want to qualify for that, why then let's sit around and fret. Otherwise, the Lord said, it's absolute folly. And then we looked last week at the third basic reason for this sinful anxiety.

2:48 It's a failure to believe God. The last part of verse 30. O ye of little faith. And unbelief is a terrible thing because it's a distrust of the character of God.

2:59 It misunderstands the salvation of God and questions the validity of the promises of God. Now we come to really the climax of the teaching of this section as we consider together verse 33 of Matthew 6. Having dealt with what we might call the problem in its negative sense, how we're to face sinful anxiety, our Lord now gives us some direction in verse 33. In a positive.

Precept Announced: Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness

3:29 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. As we look at this text, I see in the text, first of all, a precept announced. Secondly, a promise annexed or attached to the precept. And then a principle amplified.

3:55 First of all, then, a precept announced. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Now what is a precept?

4:05 Webster defines it as a commandment or a direction meant as a rule of action. Our Lord is giving us a precept. This comes not as a suggestion, but it comes in the imperative. It is a command.

4:21 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. If you're a child of God, you love the Lord. And if you love him, you want to please him. And if you want to please him, then you want to know what he commands.

4:37 For Jesus said, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. The commandments of the Lord are love's eyes, as we said last week. And in the heart of everyone who's born of God, there is a basic desire to please him. You don't have to be convinced you ought to please him.

4:56 You need to be shown how you may please him. If you're a baby, you ought to be convinced you ought to please him. If your basic longing in life is not to please the Lord Jesus, then you're simply not a Christian. For a Christian is one who, having come as a naked, helpless sinner and found in the Lord Jesus his all in all, has this response of love.

5:16 It's a reflex action that longs to honor him by a life of obedience. And so as we come to this precept, the love in our hearts as the children of God responds to it. We long to respond. And if we're earnest about the blessing of God, then we'll be sincere and earnest about this precept.

5:37 For we read in Acts 5.32, God gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey him. Do you want a greater measure of the Spirit's work in your life? Do you long for a greater and more abundant outpouring of the Spirit of God upon your life and upon your service?

5:55 Then here's how it comes in the pathway of obedience. So let's look now at the precept. What are we to do? Well, our Lord says, whatever we're to do is bound up in the little word seek.

The Contrast in Seeking: God's Kingdom vs. Worldly Things

6:07 But seek ye the kingdom of God. Now notice, there is a contrast. He says in verse 32, after all these things do the Gentiles seek, but ye are to seek something else. It's as though our Lord is answering the question of someone who says, now wait a minute.

6:29 You mean I'm not to be anxious about food? And clothing? And raiment? And life?

6:33 And its sustenance? Well, that would make me some kind of a stoic. If I don't have to worry about food and bills and clothing, what in the world will I have to do in life? Do I sit back and just sort of relax and have no interest and no involvement?

6:49 The Lord said no. He said the Gentiles, those that are not exposed to the revelation of truth, the unconverted nations, their lives are wrapped up in seeking things, our Lord says you're not to be like them, but your life is to be wrapped up and involved in seeking something far more noble and far more lofty. We're not to be neutral in this, as the world is involved in its quest for things, so we are to be equally zealous in our quest for something else, something higher, something more noble. And so our Lord does not in any way encourage us to be passive, to be stoics, to all hold up in a monastery somewhere.

7:34 No, all of our faculties are to be employed in pursuing something else. All right, what are we to pursue? Two things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God.

7:49 Now, what did our Lord mean by the kingdom of God? Well, it's basically a contrast. He said the nations of unrepentant, unregenerate, unsaved men are seeking the kingdom of God. Seeking the kingdom of God.

8:01 Seeking the kingdom of God. Seeking that which is tied into this life, to the realm of this world where Satan is in control and where the flesh is the basis and where the realm of sense is the primary concern. But you're not to be concerned with that kingdom, the kingdom of this world and its lust and its passions and its problems. But he says your concern is to be with the kingdom of God.

8:28 The things that pertain to his rule and his reign, in your own heart and life, in the lives of those about you, and ultimately unto the ends of the earth. In other words, the Lord is saying, if you're going to be concerned about anything, if you're going to be seeking something, let it not be the mundane things of bread and clothing and food, but let it be the eternal things that pertain to my rule and reign and my kingdom. There is a contrast in this seeking. The kingdom of God is a kingdom, where God is central.

9:03 The kingdom of this world is a kingdom, where things and men are central. The kingdom of God is that kingdom, where that which is spiritual is central. This world is a kingdom, where the things that are physical are central. So there's the contrast between the centrality of God and the centrality of men.

9:23 The centrality of things spiritual and things physical, of things eternal, things temporal, things heavenly, things earthly. And the Lord, the Lord says it's this kingdom which has spiritual goals and eternal verities and eternal values. This kingdom that is heavenly, this is the thing that is to occupy our interest in our pursuits.

9:51 Paul gives us a wonderful commentary on this in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 18.

10:00 He says in this wonderful verse, while we look not, not on the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen.

10:13 There are things that are not seen. Well, you say, if I can't see it, it's not a thing. No, not so with Paul. He said there are things, tangible things, but you don't see them with the eyes.

10:25 But Paul says, I look not on the things that are seen, that's this life, but on the things that are not seen. Why? He gives us the answer. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Defining 'His Righteousness': Imparted Righteousness

10:42 The kingdom of God, the knowledge of God, the service of God, the righteousness of God, these things, Paul says, are eternal. We're to seek them. And then the second thing we're to seek, His righteousness. Now the word righteousness, as many of you are aware, is used in two senses in the scripture.

11:02 There is that imputed righteousness. That's the righteousness. That's the righteousness which God gives to guilty sinners who, confessing themselves to be lost and undone and naked, plead nothing but the mercy of God in Christ, and God puts to their account the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus. That's the whole teaching of the first five chapters of the book of Romans.

11:28 That you and I have no righteousness with which we can stand before God. But that God has provided a righteousness in the same way, that the tailor or the clothing store makes up a jacket, a suit, and I go and put it on, so the Lord Jesus offers to sinners the robe of His own righteousness, which is put on by faith and faith alone. Now that's not the righteousness spoken of here, but the second righteousness is the one spoken of here, which is imparted righteousness. That rightness of life, of heart, and of conduct, which God works, works in us by the power of the Spirit.

12:10 Nobody can have imparted righteousness until he has imputed righteousness. Until I've come to God as a guilty sinner, pleading nothing but mercy, and have looked to Christ alone for salvation, I cannot be a holy man or a holy woman. But having received the righteousness of Christ as a gift from God, at the same time the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in my heart to enable me, to begin to live a righteous life. Not in order to be accepted before God, but because I have been accepted before God.

12:47 Now it's in this second sense that the Lord Jesus said we are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness. We are to be seeking conformity of heart and life to the revealed will of God. Jesus said you want to seek something? Then seek the cultivation, the cultivation of your heart instead of the covering of your body.

The Balance of Seeking: Kingdom and Righteousness Together

13:11 Make likeness to Christ your pursuit instead of living in ease. Make the eating and drinking of things eternal your main occupation instead of the eating and drinking of that which is temporal. So if we are to summarize these two things, what we as God's people are to seek, we are to seek the kingdom of God which we could call the prosperity, prosperity of His work and we are to seek His righteousness which we could call likeness to Himself. We are to seek the prosperity of the work of God and conformity to the character of God.

13:51 And it's wonderful how the Lord puts these two together.

13:56 If you merely seek the work of God and not to be like God, you become one of these shallow activists and the church is filled with them running around hither and yon doing this, doing this, doing this and doing that. They've got no time to pray. They've got no time to seek the face of God. They've got no time to ask God to search their hearts.

14:17 They've got no time to examine themselves. They've got no time to read the Word and let God show them their sin. They're all the time seeking the kingdom. They're going to go out, pass out tracts, witness, go to this meeting, go to that meeting, all the time doing, doing, doing, doing, doing.

14:33 They're seeking His kingdom. But they're not seeking righteousness. And because of it, what happens? They're reproached.

14:39 They're reproached. Riesinger said, I'll never forget it. He said, I could do God a service if I could just get some people to shut up. Some people are all the time talking about the Lord, but when they open their mouths, their lives betray them.

14:50 They're seeking His kingdom, but they're not seeking righteousness. And so it becomes a shallow activism. But now what about the people the other way? They say, oh yes, with all my heart, what I want to be is a holy man or a holy woman.

15:04 But there's no desire to extend the kingdom. They never witness, never testify, never pray for missions. All they're concerned about is picking over their own heart and their own life. What happens to them?

15:14 They get what I would call spiritual dry rot. Spiritual dry rot. So often picking over their own heart, seeking righteousness, that they never get involved in the work of the kingdom. Now the Lord said we're to seek both. Isn't that a wonderful balance?

15:29 Seek first His kingdom. Seek to extend His work. But continually seek His righteousness. Seek to be conformed to His will and to His purpose. Now having seen what we're to seek, how are we to seek it? Notice this one key little word. But seek ye first.

The Priority of Seeking: 'Seek Ye First'

15:50 Just one little word, but it makes all the difference in the world. What are we to seek? His kingdom. His righteousness. The extension of His work. Conformity to His character. And we're to seek it as the dominating concern of life.

16:06 We're not to just pursue what we want in terms of our flesh appetites. And then when we're done, blow the smoke of our dissipated energies in the face of God and then seek His kingdom. He said no. You're to seek above all else. First in order of importance, in order of time, in order of energy. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now may I apply this precept very briefly. First of all to those among us this morning who are not the children of God.

Application of the Precept: To the Unsaved, Saved, and Deceived

16:43 You've never seen yourself hopelessly undone in need of a Savior and thrown yourself at the mercy of God in Christ. There's a directive for you this morning in this text. You're not yet in the kingdom of God. You're not yet covered by the righteousness of Christ. What is God saying to you from this text? Well listen. If He tells His own children who are in the kingdom and who are covered by His righteousness, if He tells them make this your primary concern, make this your primary concern, even though you're in the kingdom and you're covered by my righteousness, how much more is He issuing a plea to those of you who are not yet in the kingdom? Who are not yet covered by the righteousness of Christ. He's telling you, seek first the kingdom of God. This idea that when I'm all done dissipating my time and energy with work and family and fun and sports and the rest, then when I have convenient time, I'll think about my soul and God and heaven and hell. Listen, that's the quickest way to land straight in hell.

17:48 Is to put the concerns of the soul second to anything else. And multitudes will sink down into hell, not because they've thumbed their nose at God and the church and the Bible and the cross.

18:04 They'll sink down into hell with these words on their lips. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

18:16 It's the fall. It's football season. I can't spend Sunday afternoon with an open Bible, seeking God, asking Him to show Himself to me. It's football season. I've got to spend every Sunday afternoon for that 10 or 12 weeks watching the Bears or the Colts or the Giants or the Jets. Tomorrow. And then lo and behold it's into the springtime and well, it's baseball season. I can't spend Sunday afternoons.

18:42 You see? Oh, I don't need to go to church and hear the word. Beautiful day. I've worked hard all week. I've got to go out on the golf course. And then fall comes and it's hunting season. Well, I ought to put the concerns of my soul first, but I sure would like to get my buck this year. See what happens? See what happens?

18:58 And the devil is landing people in hell not by getting them to thumb their nose at Christ and the gospel, but by seeking the salvation of their souls as a secondary issue instead of a primary issue. That's the word God has for those of you this morning not yet in the kingdom. It's seek first His kingdom. Put the matter of your relationship to Jesus Christ at the top of the list of priorities so that when you're done the day with its necessary labor to provide for husband and wife and children and you have the evening before you and it's either some TV program or get alone and seek the face of God and read the word of God. You're going to put this first. Why? Because you value your soul as much as God does. That's the word of direction that God has for you if you're outside of Christ.

19:52 But God has an exhortation to the saved here today. As you and I rise and face each day, what are we going to seek? When you go off to work, man, what do you seek? You ladies who work, what are you going to seek?

20:06 Are you going to seek Thursday when your paycheck comes or Friday when your paycheck comes? Is that what you're going to seek? Or are you going to seek first the kingdom? As you go off to work, is it, Lord, give me opportunities to speak for you today? Help me to live to your glory. Help me to be a little pointer to someone thundering, blind, stumbling soul. Help my life to radiate something of the reality of Christ. Lord, make me a bar. Make me a little bit of sandpaper in that wicked shop where everybody's foul-mouthed and the filthy jokes pour like water from the mouths of people. Lord, by my presence, make me a little bit of sandpaper. Make me salt. Make me a light. That's seeking first the kingdom. Oh, yes, you go and you work. But you're not just putting in your eight hours for the sake of eight hours, for the sake of forty, for the sake of a paycheck, for the sake of food and clothing. The Lord says no. If you live that

21:00 way, you know what's going to happen? You'll find yourself fretting. You'll find yourself fretting. Even though you're putting in your eight hours, you'll say, well, boy, I know at the end of the week, forty hours means so much pay, and I see this need coming and this, and even though you're doing all you can, you'll fret and you'll fuss. And what happens?

21:18 You walk by men and women day after day outside of Jesus Christ, and they never hear from your lips. The message of His grace. So the Lord is telling us as Christians, this is a word of directive for the Christian as well, that at work, in the circumstances of life, you ladies at home, when you face another day of diapers, dirty dishes, grumpy husbands,

21:43 scrapping kids, what are you going to seek? Oh, you say, if I can seek just to keep a little piece in the family, keep a pile of dishes from collecting a mile high on the cabinet, why, I think I've done pretty well. Oh, listen, if you're seeking first the kingdom, you'll be looking for every opportunity to build a principle into the life of that child by example or by instruction. You'll buy up those opportunities even though it means letting the pile get a mile and a half. If there's a problem the child has, you let the pile of dishes sit while you sit down and counsel and guide and instruct that youngster. Why? You're seeking not just bread on the table and clothes on its back, but you're seeking the kingdom of God in the life of that child. So you take time to instruct them. You take time to teach

22:31 them. See? And if it means you've got to be embarrassed when the salesman comes and finds your living room a little untidy, who cares? You're seeking first the kingdom.

22:42 You're seeking first the kingdom. See it? Don't make that as an excuse for laziness. Sit around and watch these soap operas.

22:50 Good article in Today's Power. You ought to read that. I was a slave. It looks like it ought to be good. I was a slave to the soap opera.

22:57 But I'm talking about a mother. Now, who sees beyond the dishes and the diapers, she's seeking first the kingdom. What a wonderful way to be delivered from the fretfulness. Well, how are we going to make ends meet to buy little Johnny his next jacket? Oh, listen.

23:12 If your heart's rather concerned, how can I instruct him so that by the Spirit he'll come to know the Savior? Well, if you can trust God for the salvation of his soul, it'll be an easy thing to trust him for a jacket for his back. Won't it? Sure it will. The Lord said, you want to get cured of anxious care as a mother? This is how you do it. You get involved in seeking first the kingdom of God.

23:37 And then there is not only a directive here for the unsaved, an exhortation to the saved, but this is an exposing word to those who are deceived about their relationship to God.

23:48 You see, there are many people who claim themselves Christians who only seek God in order to get things from him. If they're sick, they'll call on God for help. If they're in trouble, they'll call on God for temporal needs. And they say, well, I must be a Christian because God meets my needs. That's no proof you're a Christian. Simply because in financial or physical need you call on God and he undertakes. That's no proof you're a Christian. Can I demonstrate that from the Bible?

24:16 I believe I can. I read in Psalm 104 and verse 27 that these all wait for thee, thou givest them food in due season. Who's he talking about? He's talking about the animals. It says God gives the animals their food in due season. He tells us in Psalm 147 and verse 9 that the ravens cry and God hears them and feeds them. Would anyone here claim the ravens are saved simply because in their need they cry and God feeds them? No.

24:48 Beloved, listen to me this morning. I've been concerned as a pastor when I have talked with people, when you talk to them about the Lord, their only talk, the only thing they can say about the goodness of God is how he's answered prayer for material and physical needs. You never hear them talk about his kingdom and his righteousness. And when they pray, they can pray give us daily bread, but they never pray hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

25:19 If you sit here this morning and you know what it is to call upon God for things, but you don't know what it is to call on him for the extension of his kingdom in your own heart and in those about you, what it is to call on him for a greater measure of holiness, and likeness to Christ, if you don't know what it is to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, but only his things. You're just one of the Gentiles. For after all these things do they seek. The only difference is they go to their pagan gods to get them, and you come to someone whom you say is the God of the Bible. But our Lord says seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and these things shall be added. So we move from the principle, from the precept, to the promise, that God annexes or attaches to this precept. If we will seek first the kingdom of God, what promise is there? And again, I don't want to read anything into the text that isn't there, but it's as though someone said, alright Lord, I can see the reasonableness of this business of seeking first the kingdom of God, but I still have to have bread on my table.

Promise Annexed: 'All These Things Shall Be Added Unto You'

26:28 And he says, oh the Lord says, alright, if you're still so foolish as to need an answer, I'll give it to you. If you'll seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, here's the promise, these things shall be added unto you. Now notice first of all the subject of the promise. What is the Lord promising?

26:45 He said these things. What are the things? Bread, food, clothing, the necessities of life. He's dealing with the things that get us all anxious and all concerned.

26:58 Now here's a promise about those things. Now what is the substance of the promise? Here it is. These things shall be added unto you. They shall be thrown in as a bonus. Some of you in the summertime you buy corn from a certain place and you ask for a dozen, they throw in an extra one or two. Now that's the picture here. The Lord says if you seek the main thing, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, these things about which you're wearing are just incidentals, and I'll throw them in. It's like going down to a store and making a purchase. Say someone had a lot of money and didn't know what to do with it, and they wanted to impress their wife, so they go down to a jewelry store and they buy a thousand dollars diamond brooch of some kind. Well, you know the man at the store will always throw in a package to, something to put it in and wrap it up and put some string on it, and if he can give you the diamond, it's no problem for him to give you the brown paper and string. Now that's the picture here. If we

27:52 seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, this is the thing of value, then all these little mundane things shall be thrown in alongside. They shall be added unto us. So the subject of the promise, this matter of things, the substance, they shall be added. Now notice the scope of the promise. How many of these things shall be added unto you?

28:16 All these things. All these things. Now you can't get much broader than that, can you? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, everything that's necessary to sustain your life to the glory of God, in keeping with his work and will, all these things shall be added. And notice the certainty of the promise. These things shall be added. The same form is used when God makes a prediction. When he says that the Lord Jesus shall so come in like manner, God uses the future tense and when God uses a future tense it's as sure as if it had come to pass. And so he uses that tense here. All these things shall be added unto you. The absolute certainty of the promise. The promise of God. Now how

29:09 could the Lord speak in simpler and yet more broad terms than he has here? The subject of the promise, these things about which we worry. The substance, they shall be added. The scope of the promise, all shall be added.

29:25 The certainty, they shall be added unto you. Now may we apply this promise briefly in several ways. It's speaking of our temporal needs. If we seek first the kingdom, these things shall be added.

Illustration of the Promise: The Widow of Zarephath

29:39 Will you turn to 1 Kings for a wonderful illustration of this from the Old Testament. 1 Kings chapter 18. It's chapter 17, I'm sorry.

29:56 1 Kings chapter 17 and verse 8. And the word of the Lord came unto him, speaking of Elijah the prophet, saying arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I've commanded a widow woman to sustain me. So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering of sticks. And he called unto her and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, it's a good southern word, fetch, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruise. And behold, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go in, dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. Now get the picture. Here's a poor

30:50 widow woman, no widow's compensation in that day, no social security, none of this. Here's a widow, and she's had it. She says, I've got one little bit of meal left, a little bit of oil, going to get a few sticks, bake a cake, and it's going to be our last meal. We're on death row, just like they bring in the last meal to a fellow before they put him in the chair.

31:13 This is what she says. We're on death row, this is our last meal, and we've had it. Now the prophet says something almost cruel. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not, but go and do as thou hast said.

31:28 But make me thereof a little cake, what's the next word? First, and bring it to me, and after, make for thee and thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither the crews of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain on the earth. And she went and did, according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house did eat many days, and the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the crews of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord. Now we read that, and that's a pretty little story. But can you feel for this story? Can you enter in and feel it?

32:12 You mothers, put yourself in her place.

32:16 Here you are, your little child, and you, going to have your last meal together, and along comes some guy dressed in a hairy skin that looks like a messenger of God, and he says, now look, take what you've got for your little child and you, and give it to me. First, first, I'm the prophet of God. I'm the messenger of God, and God's purposes in speaking to His people hinge on me. Seek first His kingdom.

32:47 Alright, she says, if I give it to you, what do you give me in return? He says, I give you a word. Yeah, that's alright, but I don't feed my hungry boy with a word. All he gave her was a word. He says, thus saith the Lord, I'll give you a word in exchange for your last bit of food. And here's the word. If you'll seek first the kingdom, these things will be added. Now, what did this woman have to do?

33:10 Get it. Here's what she had to do. She had to be willing to give up what she could see and hold and touch and taste with her mouth in exchange for a word. A word of promise.

33:28 There's the issue. Now, you mothers, put yourself in her place. At least you can see the little bit of meal left. At least you could taste the little bit of oil left.

33:38 At least you can understand how this made into a cake would somehow meet the gnawing hunger of your little boy. And to give up that, your last thing that stands between you and poverty and death, to give it up for a word,

33:54 put yourself in her place, mothers. What would you do?

33:59 Listen. When she was willing to seek first the kingdom of God and cast her future and the future of her family and her son on the word of God, what happened? These things were added in an abundance that she never would have known if she stingily had clinged to what she then possessed. Oh, you say, but God never asked me to do that, does he? Listen. Listen.

34:25 I want to see how practical this is. The Lord says, seek first the kingdom. When you get your paycheck, the Lord's tent ought to come out of that before anything else is touched for any other need. Oh, but if I give that, that's just what we allotted for Junior's winter snowsuit. I can't send my little boy out into the cold winter with last year's snowsuit. It's threadbare and thin and he'll freeze to death. And the only way I can possibly see is to cut back on the Lord's portion, the tent that belongs to him. And the only way I can see, God says, give me first.

35:07 Yes, but Lord, what do you give in exchange? My word. Yeah, but Lord, I can't clothe my little boy with a word. Yeah, God says, but I can. See how the Lord comes? He says, give me first. And what happens? Come on, be honest.

35:23 That's what happens.

35:26 We say, Lord, I'll give to you after I've taken care of my boy, my daughter, my back, my belly, my family. God comes to us and says, give me first. And every time you and I are under financial pressure, where do we normally cut back or are we tempted to cut back first? In the Lord's portion, that which is going directly to the extension of his kingdom. Why do we do it?

35:52 It's because we don't believe his word.

35:57 Come on now, be honest. Isn't that true?

36:03 God says, seek first and these things shall be added. And as God met the need of that widow in a way that was supernatural, so I believe we as God's people rob ourselves of the thrill of the supernatural every time we seek the kingdom of God second and put our own interests first. When we cut back on what belongs to God simply because we can't see how ends will meet. That's the thrill of the life of faith.

36:33 If this woman could look into her cupboard and see that she had enough meal for the next so many months until the drought was ended and enough of the rest. And Elijah said, give me first. There would have been no life of faith. There would have been no perpetual miracle.

36:47 But because she was willing to step out and exchange what she could see for the promise of God, she lived and her family lived in a perpetual miracle. I'm convinced we'd see that as God's people. If we would determine as the heads of our home, we men and we women would say, regardless of what straits we're in, regardless of what circumstances, the Lord is going to get his portion and I'm confident that if I seek first his kingdom, everything else will be added. And then you step out to prove God.

Further Illustrations of the Promise and the Principle

37:21 Beloved, I know it's true, not only because it's here, but because time after time after time we've proven it so. For some of you here who could testify to this, this is not only true in terms of our temporal needs, it's true of our physical needs. You read about it in Isaiah 58 where God says, if you'll draw out your soul to those in need, you seek the kingdom of God. God will never be deader to us.

37:48 This is true of Solomon when he came to the kingdom and God says, now ask something. What did Solomon pray for? He said, Lord, I want one thing. I want wisdom.

37:56 That I may be able to govern this people. And God says, because you haven't asked riches and might and all the rest, you've asked the one thing needful. You've asked for something spiritual. I'll give you that and in giving you that, I'll give you all else.

Principle Amplified: Positive Involvement in Righteousness as Deliverance from Sin

38:10 These are wonderful illustrations of this truth. Now I hurriedly move to the third area of our consideration this morning. Having looked at the precept, having considered the promise, let's look at the principle that's involved in this text. The whole text is the amplifying of a basic principle, and here it is. Will you listen carefully?

38:33 In telling us that the way of deliverance from sinful anxiety is to seek the Lord and His kingdom. Our Lord is telling us this, that the way of deliverance from sin is the way of positive involvement in righteousness. Would I be delivered from anxiety about things? Then the way of deliverance is found in getting so involved in that which is eternal that I can't be bothered about that which is temporal, and lo and behold, in seeking the eternal, the temporal is added.

39:08 That's the principle. And we find that principle throughout the entire Word of God. We read in Philippians 4, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ finally. Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are lovely, true, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Paul says it's not enough to pray and commit your anxious care to the Lord, but then he says set your mind positively on the things that are virtuous and holy and just and right and become so involved in this that you have no time for this. We find the same principle in 2 Timothy 2.22. Paul says, flee youthful lust, but follow after righteousness, peace, godliness, faith, etc.

40:03 You see, an idle mind is the devil's workshop, and idle hands are his willing tools.

40:11 An idle mind is the devil's workshop, and idle hands are his willing tools. You young people, do you want to be kept from the sins that are sucking into shame and ruin so many of your fellow young people?

40:28 In the area of your social life, do you want to be kept pure? How do you do it? You get so involved in seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you won't have time to be sitting around in a parked car taking liberties with your body and some girl's body that you have no business taking. You get so busy seeking to win classmates to Jesus Christ, you won't have time for that.

40:50 That's what the Lord is saying here. Some of you have a problem finding that you go to bed with a guilty conscience because you've watched things on the TV that you ought not, and you know that you've defiled your mind, certain things. You saw a good program, and that's all you're meant to look at, and you sat there long as you should, and you go to bed with a condemned conscience. How are you going to get over it?

41:10 Well, tomorrow night, pick up a book and get lost in a good missionary biography, and you'll go to bed with a good conscience that God has spoken to your heart, see? Not enough to turn from, but turn to. Now, how do we get delivered from sin? How do we get delivered from sinful anxiety about food and clothing and life and health? Get so involved in the extension of the kingdom of God, and being a holy man or holy woman, you won't have time. I'm convinced that a lot of people who have chronic illnesses, their problem is they sit around focusing on their problems. And every time they get one little twitch in the back of the neck or one little twang in the toe, they're going to sit and analyze it and go to the doctor and have a series of tests. Well, if they weren't sick, they sure would be by the time they're done.

41:55 You can talk to yourself in anything.

41:58 But if you get so involved in the extension of His kingdom and the needs of others, you don't have time, and lo and behold, as you're poured out for others, you stop and say, what happened? I had a pain in my neck. Where's it gone? It's gone.

42:12 It's a principle, dear ones. It operates in the realm of the physical. How many of you have testified this about prayer meeting night? You felt no more like coming to prayer meeting than having a batch of chickens or something.

42:24 I mean, you just had no desire, whatever. But you came. And what happened? And you prayed and you pled with God for His kingdom, for the missionaries, for the unsaved, for the services on the Lord's day.

42:35 And lo and behold, as you're going out the door, you said, hey, what happened? I came in here with a headache and I go out feeling like a million dollars. What happened? Seek first the kingdom.

42:43 These things should be added. Isn't that what happens? It's a principle that follows all the way through the Christian life. So may the Lord help us as His people to take seriously this precept. Seek first the kingdom. Don't blow the smoke of dissipated energies and of depleted pocketbooks. Don't blow the smoke of that in the face of God. Let us seek first the kingdom in the employment of our time, of our thought, of our energies, of our money, of our gifts, of our talents. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and then let's prove His promise. What a promise. These things should be thrown in alongside. They shall be added unto us. Let's prove them.

Call to Prove God's Promise and Personal Testimony

43:27 Do you know that Matthew 6.33 is true? How do you know it's true? You say it's in the Bible. Now that's wonderful. But now can you say I know it's true because I've proved it. Can you stand this morning and say, Pastor, I know it's true not only because it's there, but I've had some widow's experiences. I've had some of those experiences of that widow where I was tempted to say, Lord, I can't give my portion to you first. I can't get involved in this thing relative to your kingdom because if I do, then I'm going to suffer here or my family's going to suffer there. And in the midst of that temptation, the Lord won the victory and you said, alright, Lord, I'm going to give you a portion first. And you did it. And lo and behold, from a source completely unexpected, God met your needs. Can you stand this morning and say, I know that verse is true. If you can't and you're a Christian, I feel sorry for you. You're missing one of the greatest thrills, the legitimate thrills of Christian experience. To have a perpetual miracle of God supplying from sources completely unknown. I wish I could share

44:29 something that just recently, so wonderfully, the Lord proved this truth to us again. But it would look like we were boasting. I can't share the details, but how wonderfully God proved this principle. See, first the king.

44:44 Maybe I will do it. Then I'll close. I'll be done. Alright?

44:49 When we made this plan that when I went away for a week at a time, that we the church would give my salary to Bill Franklin. He's not here, so I can say this this morning.

45:00 He's supplying in the pulpit and for being available for counseling. I said that I didn't feel it was right for me to receive any salary when I'm away. Up till now, the men have just refused. They said, no, what you do with it's your business, but we want to give it to you. And I said, no, it's not right. It's not right for me to be getting a salary from where I am preaching elsewhere and also from here. And the time came and the opportunity seemed to be of God to go out to Illinois. And this is just a new work, a struggling work. And so the pastor there, who's a friend of mine, said, what arrangements will we make for Lanchley? I said, well, Gene, if your church can take care of my plane ticket, I said, God will take care of my bread. I said, that's all right. I don't expect anything for the week of ministry. He said, all right.

45:42 So we did. You know, to cut down on the details, God so wonderfully undertook that from several other unexpected sources, things worked out that what I received above my plane ticket was exactly what I would have received had I received my check from here.

46:04 Now, what was the Lord showing? He was showing this principle. Seat first, my kingdom. The Lord wanted to do something in the hearts of men out there in this little church. And they couldn't afford to pay a man what they normally would to bring him in for a week. And the Lord helped us to just say, all right, he'll take care of our bread. He'll take care of our plane ticket. And God proved this afresh, so wonderfully that he is true to his word. And beloved, I believe this is part of our testimony. It's not just passing out a tract and telling people what the Lord's done to save our soul. But what a wonderful thing when you can go into that work companion, that neighbor, and say, listen, listen, let me tell you what my God's done. And we can declare to him his greatness. To them, his greatness.

46:46 Proving his word. The precept is clear, the promise is sure, and the principle is valid. Let us be involved in seeking first his kingdom. And if you're here this morning and not in that kingdom, you're here this morning not covered with his righteousness, then I plead with you to plead to Christ. Fall upon your face before him and plead for mercy. Ask him to show you how much you need him. And how willing he is to meet you. Let us bow together in prayer.

47:24 Lord, again we're grateful for the wonderful way that you have condescended to meet us in the areas of our need. Lord, we think of that woman. How she had nothing but your word. But Lord, in having your word, she had you. This was far more stable than that little handful of meal that would have been gone in an hour. To have the living God as he comes in the promise. Oh Father, we're so slow to learn. Help us as a people to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness.

48:03 Wherein we've cut corners because of unbelief. We've not given to you your due in time. In our gifts, Lord, speak to us. Oh, make us a body of people who are continually proving the truth of this passage.

48:19 Make us those who can say we know it's true, not only because it's in the book, but because we've seen it in our experience. Oh God, help us. Seal your word to our hearts and bring blessing and profit to everyone. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.