We're in Matthew chapter six, and we're going to be reading verses thirty-three and thirty-four. And before we go into Matthew chapter seven, we'll have a look in the next two weeks at the birth of our blessed Lord, dealing with the unique person of our Lord Jesus Christ. But here we have a command of the Lord to the people of God. And our Lord is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. And he says in verse thirty three, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. 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. Now let us look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, in the name of thy dear Son, we bow before you. We realize that we're all interested in accumulating things. All of us are given to anxiety at one time or another. And we thank you that you bring us into situations. You permit us to get ourselves into situations where we have to look to thee. We have to come to thee. And we have to experience what it means to seek first thy kingdom and realize how interested you are in every detail of our lives. We thank you for each one who is here this morning. We pray, O God, that each one may recognize the greatness of thy person and the glory of thy work. Give us something from yourself now. May we hear thy voice speaking unto us in this hour. Deliver us from anything that would detract. Come our hearts in thy presence and help us to have genuine dealings with thee for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. I believe that the verses before us are two of the verses that deal more with practical holiness than we're given to... experience as we read them casually. We are all acquainted and familiar with these verses. We've heard them often, especially the last two Lord's days right here in this place. The thirty-third verse, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, is a command from our Lord, and it has to do with priority in our lives. Those who give priority to the kingdom of God and his righteousness are never the loser, neither in this world or in the heavenly kingdom to come. A great example of this is Jacob. Jacob had a very colorful experience. He was a rogue. He was a cheat. He stole his brother's birthright. He didn't exactly steal it. He just made a bargain for it, and he got it for a mess of pottage. But more than that, he lied at time and again. But God is called the God of Jacob. God is called the mighty God of Jacob. And God is called the God of Jacob because he's a God of the man of the one whose name he changes. And it was Jacob, the rogue and the cheat, whose name became Israel, a prince with God. And that's what God is doing in the world by the new birth. He's taking people who are nothing, and he's making them children of God by implanting into them the divine nature when they are born of God. And Jacob becomes a beautiful illustration of what it means to be blessed of God. Jacob comes to the end of his life, a hundred thirty years of age. He stands before Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the king. And the scripture says, and I want you to get this, that Jacob blessed Pharaoh. The word of God says that the less are blessed by the greater. If you would have looked at that scene, you would have certainly thought that that wrinkled old man standing before the king wasn't the greater of the two. But in the estimate of God he was. Why? He was God's child. That's what made the difference. And Spurgeon, in commenting on this text, he says if God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Our text here deals with God's kingdom and also with the far-reaching effects of God's kingdom. We who are fundamental in Bible doctrine, by that I mean we believe the doctrines of Holy Scripture. We take the Scriptures to be at face value. We believe in the inspiration of Scripture. We believe in the truth of the virgin birth. The vicarious atonement of our Blessed Lord, His victorious resurrection, His coming again. We believe the fundamentals of the Word of God. We who are fundamentalists, we also take seriously First John, chapter five, verse thirteen. that says, These things have I spoken unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life. We believe that it is possible for a person to be sure now that they are in Christ. The Word of God here is a command to us. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. So the first thing we want to deal with this morning is this, how can I know that God's righteousness has been imputed unto me? How can I know? First John, chapter five, thirteen says, These things have I written unto you that believe that ye may know. If I am to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then how can I know if his righteousness has been imputed to my account so that I have a righteous standing before a holy God? It doesn't matter what people think about me, what does God think? That is a final analysis. What does God think? Now you may be shocked if you had to walk in my shoes sometimes because sometimes we get put on the spot as preachers. Sometimes we are called into the room of someone who is expected to or expecting to depart this life pretty soon. And we find that people who have been singing Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine for a number of years, when they're really faced with the issue, aren't sure that he is. How can I know? that God's righteousness has been imputed to me. And just taking first John five, thirteen and quoting it doesn't mean anything. Really it doesn't. For it has a lot of meaning to it. He says, these things have I spoken unto you that believe on the Son of God that ye may know, well what are the things that were spoken? It tells me I may know that I have eternal life. Now what are the things, you see? So we come to our text. Our text says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. How may I know that God's righteousness has been imputed to my account? Oh, let me tell you very simply this morning. Imputed righteousness is known by imparted righteousness. In other words, justification... Imputed righteousness is never separated from sanctification, imparted righteousness. They both arise from the new birth. When I have been regenerated by God, by that we mean, I've been brought to life in Christ. That's what birth is. And I'll tell you, when you look at a baby that's just been born, and you see the mystery of life, you just stand in amazement at the wonders of God that all our Lord said except the man be born again born into the kingdom of God's dear son born into the family of God except the man be born again he cannot see the kingdom he cannot enter the kingdom and we're told to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness now imparted righteousness is different from imputed righteousness, as I mentioned two weeks ago. Imputed righteousness is God legally declaring me righteous before God. The work of Christ is imputed to my account so that I stand before God as righteous as Christ is. Not because I say so, but because God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And when I trusted him as Lord and Savior. God says, that person is righteous. Romans four, verse five, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. Abraham received how? He believed God, and God counted it to him for righteousness. And those words counted it to him is imputed. And that day that I believed, That day that I simply believed that Christ died for me. That he took my place in death on Calvary's cross. And when he arose from the dead, he arose because God had no more sin than Phil Bombarders to lay on him. They were all laid on Christ. All my sins were laid upon him, we sing. Jesus bore them on the tree. God who knew them laid them on him. And believing I'm free. Now how can I know that that righteousness is imputed to me? That I have that standing before God. I know it by imparted righteousness. That means that God not only declares me righteous, but He plants within us the righteous principle. It is called the divine nature. And therefore, we not only have a perfect standing before God, which is justification. I'm justified by God, but now there's a principle within, and that principle produces holiness in the life, and that is what is called in Scripture sanctification. Sanctification. That process whereby we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus. And it's a continual thing throughout life. We don't only seek the kingdom of God and then find it and say, oh, thank God, and I'm saved. I'm set forever. No, we seek the kingdom of God every day, and we seek it first. This is priority in the believer's life. I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter four and verse twenty-four. In Ephesians four, Paul is addressing the church at Ephesus. And he has an awful lot of good things to say for them. And in chapter four, he's giving instruction to the Ephesian believers. And in verse twenty four, he sells us these words. And it's a command. He says, that ye put on. In verse twenty four, the new man, which after God, is created in righteousness, and through holiness. Now this is sanctification. You see the principle is within and now since the principle is within and the thought of putting on here is like putting on a garment, a robe of righteousness, it becomes part of our being as a child of God. It becomes part of the walk of the child of God. You see that Which we put on. The new man. Is created. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus. That's what regeneration is. Regeneration is bringing into being. That which was not before. You see. That's creation. If any man be in Christ. He is a new creation. Now then. When we think of the new birth. You see. And we think of this. the new birth is the very nature of Christ communicated to the soul. And it's a principle whose character is righteousness and true holiness. And that's how I know that imputed righteousness is to my account. And that's what first John five thirteen is about. For in the first epistle of John we read, He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous that's how we know it I'll never forget a man in the hospital to whom I had preached for years he was near the end and I was out of town and when I got home my wife told me someone's waiting for you in the hospital when I got to his room his wife stepped outside She said, I want you to talk to my husband. And I did. Now, though, he got well after that, but his real problem was, how can I really know that I'm saved? That was his real problem. His problem was assurance. And you see, God wants you and me to have assurance. And this matter of having assurance is what really brings peace to the heart. And I'll never forget his wife after that man died. I'll never forget. She said, you know, from that day on that you visited him in the hospital, he never doubted one more time. He was completely satisfied that God had saved him. Everyone that doeth righteousness is born of God we read in first John chapter two and verse twenty nine this is in contrast you see we're to put on the new man who is created in righteousness and through holiness in contrast to the corrupt flesh which is nothing but sin and wickedness now this is a in our text in Matthew six This is a kingdom of God which you and I are commanded to seek. By nature, apart from the new birth, we're all outside the kingdom. We're all outside the kingdom by nature. We are destitute of the favor of God. This is why we're bidden to seek God's kingdom and His righteousness. Now the question comes up, how do we seek the kingdom of God? It's a logical question. And you need to pay a little more attention to it than you may be given to. How do we seek the kingdom of God? Well, no. First of all, if I'm going to seek the kingdom of God, I better go to the place where I can find the kingdom. That's logical. I better go to the place where the kingdom of God can be found. Now, the kingdom of God is not found everywhere. It is not found everywhere, but only where God is pleased to manifest and reveal the same to the children of men. This is what the old Puritans exhorted when you read old Puritan writings and they talk about seeking the means of grace. If you want to be saved, go where you can hear the gospel is really what we're trying to say. I have to go where the kingdom of God is, you see. And when you have found the kingdom of God, when you found it, you have to enter it. You see, our Lord said, now get this verse, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. You see, friends, it's possible to know all about Christ. It's possible to know all about that door that's in front of me. I may be able to describe it, to describe the grain of the wood, the door handle, the knob, and everything, the hinges, and everything about it. And it's possible to know all about Christ, how he was born, where he lived, all the historical facts about him, the fact that he died, the fact that he arose from the dead. It's possible to know all those facts, just as it's possible to know all about the door. Our Lord said, I am the door. And when he speaks of the door, he speaks of entrance. Entrance into the kingdom. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. And it's not simply knowledge about this. It's doing something about it. And this is one of the problems that I have today. And I'm saying this kindly. I don't mean to hurt anybody. We have such a knowledge what we don't do. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. We know what the scripture says. But have we entered in? Let me turn it away from the doctrine of salvation for a moment. You know when people profess to be saved today, instead of them coming and saying, you know, the next step in the Christian life should be baptism. They don't do it. Usually you have to say, now don't you think it's time if you should be baptized, if you're really saved? That seeking should be in the part of the individual. Has the Lord really done a work in the life? You expect obedience to the commands of Scripture. Seek ye first the kingdom of God in His righteousness. We want to be in the kingdom. Nobody wants to be lost. Everybody wants to go to heaven when they die. But you see, we've got to get down to business with this thing. Before the Lord. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now it's possible to know all about the door and be in the wrong side of it. Have you entered in? Have you entered in? Now Christ told the Pharisees, in Luke chapter eleven and verse twenty, he told them the kingdom of God has come upon you. They knew that the kingdom was there because the miracles that he performed and everything about his life and his ministry bespoke the kingdom of God. They knew it was there, but he also said to these same Pharisees in Matthew twenty three, verse thirteen, you don't go in yourselves. And you hinder others from entering in. You know, one of the most amazing things when it comes to obeying the simple commandments of God, we like to get somebody else to agree with us and do the same thing that we do. Then we find ourselves comfortable. And what we're doing is we're measuring each other by ourselves. And in so doing, we're not wise. So says the word of God. Seek ye first. You see, except a man be born again, he cannot enter, and he cannot see it. What is regeneration? What is being born again? It's a renewal of the soul. It's a rectifying of its faculties. It's a work of grace. And when it's begun, it's continued throughout the whole process. of sanctification. It is the image of God renewed in the soul, in righteousness and true holiness. And that kingdom of grace is entered the moment a person is born of God. And the kingdom of glory is entered when a believer arrives at heaven or in heaven from earth. Heaven is the upper compartment. of the kingdom of grace. They're not two kingdoms. We're in the heavenly kingdom, you see. We're in the lower section of the heavenly kingdom. And it's in this kingdom where God reigns supreme over the spirits of just men made perfect. Paul, when he wrote to his son Timothy, he said in Second Timothy chapter four in verse eighteen, the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. You see, Paul was sure of it. The psalmist said in the fifteenth psalm, Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Psalm fifteen and verse two. And in that same verse he answers the question. He says, He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. He speaks a truth in His heart. You see, seek ye first the kingdom of God. How do we do it? We first of all make the glory of God, and our own spiritual blessing, our chief concern. Our spiritual blessing, our walk with the Lord. Now, seeking first the kingdom of God does never mean the neglect of temporal duties and responsibilities. We all have our responsibilities in life. God knows this. God knows this. But it simply means put first things first. That's what it means. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Seek them first in time. For we have the promise. They that seek me early. So find me. We must seek him first in time. And then... We seek for an enlargement of His kingdom by praying for God's blessing upon His word. Seek first the kingdom of God. In other words, divine priorities. Now, what are the results of seeking the kingdom? There's some blessed results. For our text here in verse thirty-three says, And all these things shall be added unto you. You know, to make that mean something to us, we have to ask ourselves questions. And one of the questions is this. If I'm genuinely concerned about the things of God, will God not be concerned about the things of me, about my things? What are my needs? What am I concerned? Well, if I'm concerned about God's concerns, He'll be concerned about mine. How do I know? Well, first, if God is leading me to heaven, He certainly will not deny me the things that I need on earth along the way. See, the context of Matthew six thirty-three is, don't give thought for what are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? What are we going to wear? What kind of a house am I going to live in? God's going to provide those things along the way. He's leading us to where? He's leading us to glory. That's where we're going. And without assurance that I'm on my way to heaven, He's certainly going to take care of me along the way. Romans eight, verse thirty-two and verse thirty-one. Verse thirty-one says, What shall we then say to these things if God before us Who can be against us? God is ever for the child of God. Those who are in the kingdom, one thing about it, God's for you. The next verse says, He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, shall I not also with him, freely give us all things. He is concerned for us. How do I know? Psalm eighty four eleven says, For the Lord God is a son in shield. He will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. The Lord is a sun and shield. He will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold. When God saved us, He gave us grace. But all that He gives grace, He also gives glory. He's a sun and a shield for His people. He will not withhold the things that we need on the road to glory. You see, the Lord God is the Son in shield. He will give grace and glory. By the way, the eighty-fourth psalm is a psalm that's written for the sons of Korah. And if you know, go back to Numbers chapter sixteen and you learn who the sons of Korah were. Korah was a wicked man. And he said... nasty things about God's order in the Aaronic priesthood. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed the household of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They went down alive to the pit. You talk about the earthquake in San Francisco. I thought about when I saw the pictures on TV that said it took their tents right along down. They went down alive into the pit. But the sons of Korah saw the wickedness of their father and they separated from them. And they became the doorkeepers of the house of God. And that's why the eighty-fourth Psalm begins with those words, How am you, boy, thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts, my soul longeth ye even fainteth for the house of the Lord. And then in that Psalm he says, I would rather be a doorkeeper than in the house of God, then dwell in the tents of wickedness. That's where Korah, Jetham, and Abarim dwelt. They went down alive to the pit. But the sons of Korah were spared, and David looked at them, and he said, O ha amiable are the tabernacles of the Lord. The Lord is a son and shield to his own. He will give grace. He protected the sons of Korah while he judged the parents. He will give grace. but he will also give glory. And the one who has received of God's grace will also be a partaker of the glory. God will not withhold the things that we need on the way to glory. Seek first the kingdom of God. Oh, to be in that kingdom means I need the new birth. It becomes mine in reality when I simply believe the message of the Savior. What's the other result? Well, four things in closing from verse thirty-four. Our Lord says, Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought, for the things of itself, sufficient unto the dead, is the evil thereof. I'd like to say four things about this text. Our God says, Therefore, don't worry. On the road to glory, God wants me to live without worrying. Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. Why should not? Four things first. I don't want to be wasting my last hours on earth fretting over a tomorrow that I may never see. That's the first reason. I don't want to waste my last hours on earth fretting over a tomorrow I may never see. Our Lord says, don't worry about tomorrow. There's a second reason. If I'm preserved till tomorrow, Then I'll be right there with tomorrow's God. For God is the God of tomorrow as well as today. There's a third reason, and that is this. It will do me no good to worry anyway, because worrying will never empty tomorrow of its trials. Our Lord says, don't worry. And finally, I need to deal with what needs to be dealt with today. I must leave the future with God. Have you dealt with what needs to be dealt with today? Our Lord says, Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now, today is the day of salvation, never tomorrow. And when God says, seek ye first. The first thing in your agenda should be, I want to be in the kingdom. I want to be born of God. I want to be in the kingdom. Are you in? Are you in? See, that's the most important. To put an end to this, I'd like to read one of the hymns in the hymn book. We won't sing it. We've never sung it here. And I don't believe in springing surprises on someone else. But it's a great hymn. Four hundred fifty three in your hymn book. If I'm going to read the four stanzas, then we'll have prayer. The man that I considered the greatest preacher that I listened to, the Presbyterian, Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse from Philadelphia. A mighty preacher. A man I love to listen to, expound the Scriptures. When he awoke in the morning, he sang this hymn. I'd love to sing it, but my wife wouldn't appreciate it, because people that listen to me sing usually don't appreciate it. But you look at the words, I want you to read the words with me as I read them. When morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries, May Jesus Christ be praised. Alike at work or prayer. To Jesus I repair. May Jesus Christ be praised. Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find. May Jesus Christ be praised. Or fades my earthly bliss. My comfort still is this. May Jesus Christ be praised. In heaven's eternal bliss, The loveliest strain is this. May Jesus Christ be praised. The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear. May Jesus Christ be praised. Be this while life is mine, my canticle divine. May Jesus Christ be praised. Be this eternal song through all the ages long. May Jesus Christ. Pick you first. Pick you first. Then all these things shall be added unto you. In closing one question, do you have priority straight? Are the first things first? It's that simple. It doesn't matter where you work, what you work. It's Christ and his kingdom first. That's the key. Now let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this time. All we thank you for these verses that are so clear and forceful and necessary to us. And we ask you to search our hearts whether we have truly trusted thee, whether this is reality to thee, to us, or that we may rejoice as we awake in the morning and as we think of living a day in thy presence, of praising thy name, of magnifying thee with a song, for this shall praise thee more than a bullock that has horns and hoofs. So we ask you, O God, to receive from us that praise and adoration because of our place in the kingdom, because of the place of the grace and the glory. that he's ours in Christ Jesus. Now take this word. Blessed to every heart. We commend each one of these to thee and to the word of thy grace, which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among all that are sanctified and bring them all to that heavenly kingdom, that kingdom of righteousness and joy through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.