Top Priority for the New Year - 2016

            

Scripture Text

Matthew 6:33

      Intro: In this one verse of scripture Jesus tells us what the key to a successful year and life is. But what is Jesus talking about when He tells disciples of His to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness? When we do what Jesus commands in this verse we will have all our needs met.

I. Seek first God’s kingdom. (Matt. 6:33a)

 a. Seek first means it must have the priority over all else in our lives.

  Seek means to go in search or quest of. Seeking God’s kingdom starts with a new birth. Jesus said” you must be born again.” (John 3:3) John 3:16 (NKJV)  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus tells us how to be born again. After we enter the kingdom through the salvation that Christ gives us we are to seek to live our lives in submission to God’s will for each of us.

II. What is God’s kingdom?

  a. It is basically where God as King rules over all that belongs to Him. It’s where He has supreme authority over those in His kingdom. We are His servants, Christ purchased us.

b. The kingdom of God Romans 14:17 (NKJV) is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:18 (NKJV)  For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

  In God’s kingdom there is always perfect righteousness; a place where God’s will is always done. In God’s kingdom there is Peace, the kind that Jesus gives. (John 14:7) In God’s kingdom there is His perfect peace and we to allow His peace to rule in our hearts. (Col. 3:15) In God’s kingdom there is Joy. Christian joy is no mere gaiety that knows no gloom, but is the result of the triumph of faith over adverse and trying circumstances, which, instead of hindering, actually enhance it. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit! God’s kingdom within believers brings assurance, confidence, and security in the love and care of God. It means to know that God will take care of us no matter the problem or circumstance. It means to be absolutely assured of victory through Christ. to know that God will allow nothing to overcome or defeat us.

III. Where is God’s kingdom at this time? Luke 17:20-21 (NKJV)
²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
²¹ nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."

a. Until Jesus returns and sets up God’s kingdom here on earth, His kingdom is now in the hearts and lives of His people that have been born again and have been purchased by the blood of Christ. We Christians are to allow God’s will to be done in all that we think, say, and do here on this earth. We do not question His authority over us nor do we argue with Him. We are to pray for His kingdom to come and his will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. (Matt. 6:10)

IV. We are to seek God’s righteousness. (Matt. 6:33b)

 a. Righteousness means to be in a right relationship to God.  God’s righteousness comes from faith in Jesus Christ as (2 Cor. 5:21). Because Jesus has made us the righteousness of God The believer is to work out the righteousness that is characteristic of God’s kingdom. Seeking the kingdom of God involves a continued hungering and thirsting after righteousness. (Matt.5:6)

      Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

 We must also positively seek holiness in righteous living as a part of our daily lives. The continual seeking for God’s righteousness through His word is similar to that of the seeking face of God. A true believer is never falsely content with what he has in Christ, but is continually seeking to know Him better so he can be empowered to live for Him.

  So, as we: “Keep seeking the kingdom of God by meditating on His word” and speaking it over our lives. God’s word changes us and shapes our lives into His perfect will for us. When our priority is spiritual, God will take care of the material things we need, for where God guides, He provides.

     This is God’s “social security” program. The believer’s responsibility is to live for the          Lord as He commands in His word, trusting God for the future with unshakable confidence    that He will provide. We are called to live one day at a time: tomorrow can worry about its own things. We simply trust God our Father to do exactly what He said He would do each day of our lives that remain on this earth.

    Conclusion: Because God the Father has already declared followers of Jesus Christ fully righteous - fully holy - in Christ ... God expects us to live in daily righteous obedience to His word, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  If we "miss the mark", there is forgiveness and restoration, though God's discipline may be experienced in the process.  Yet God still expects His children to ever diligently keep striving to walk in righteous obedience to Him, no matter how many times they "miss the mark." As we heed His words He made a promise that He would meet all of needs and we would never be without as long as we seek His way of life and His rule in our hearts.

Invitation: You can never be completely successful in this life or the one to come unless you have entered God’s kingdom by being born again through faith in the shed blood of Jesus on the Cross as payment for your sins against a Holy God. This coming year may you seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness all year long and you will be successful!