As I was meditating on the best way to begin this message, I remembered of an email which I had received. Blaise Ingoglia has a website called “Government Gone Wild”. In the clip which was sent to me, he says that ten of the most common searches on the internet involve one form or other of “what must I do to qualify for” some sort of government funding. He says that 41% of all births in this country and 60% of all long-term elderly care are government funded. Then, in between that government paid birth and death, somewhere between one third and one half of all Americans get food stamps, subsidies or other forms of government money. I’m not referring to Social Security, to which the recipient has contributed, but to government hand-outs.
As I was rereading our scripture and its context, it occurred to me that what our Lord was saying is completely opposed to the reality that we have in our society. As in verse 32, the Gentiles around us are “seeking” for food, drinks, clothing and other temporal necessities. And many of them are “seeking” these things directly from the “kingdom” in which they live – the government of the United States of America. In doing so, whether true or not, they are implying that they are not citizens of the Kingdom of God. The fact that Jesus was giving this instruction to His disciples, indicates that even Christians can divert their attentions, affections and associations from the Kingdom of God to the kingdoms of the Gentiles.
This will not be a fancy outline, but I hope that it will be adequate for us to grasp the meaning of this verse.
What is it that we are exhorted to do?
We are to “seek.” To seek something is to look with a desire to find – it is to look for something specific and important. The average person may visit a garden to smell the flowers or to see the beauty. But the botanist may go into that same garden looking for one specific blossom, fragrance, pest or plant. Someone might look with general interest on a vegetable garden, but the housewife goes out to that same garden “seeking” the tomato she needs for supper. You and I are commanded to seek in order to find the kingdom of God and His righteousness. But I am not convinced that the average Christian is living in obedience to this injunction of the Saviour.
I say, “we are commanded to seek.” This is where most sermonic references to this verse go astray – many of mine included. Remember that Christ Jesus was speaking to His disciples, not to people who were still spiritually dead. This is not an exhortation to seek salvation and God’s imputed righteousness. Rather, you, as a child of God, are to be constantly seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are commanded to “seek” that Kingdom with the intention and desire of finding it.
Again, what is that we are to seek?
By starting with the second point, I think that it will help us to better grasp the first. We are to seek for God’s righteousness. When Saul of Tarsus was converted – regenerated – he was not seeking the righteousness of God. It might be argued that he wasn’t looking for salvation at all – which was certainly true. But generally speaking, even those who are yearning for salvation are not seeking God’s righteousness. It would be instant and eternal death for a lost man to find divine holiness and perfection. “Thou canst not see my face (or my righteousness): for there shall no man see me, and live.” The holy God graciously spared Saul’s life, but the man was blinded. Once the sinner is born again, and once he begins to understand what it entails, only then may he begin to seek the righteousness of God.
Seeking God’s kingdom, in this context, is no more a desire for salvation than seeking for His righteousness. It is a desire for – a yearning for – a practical implementation of God’s rule and righteousness. One aspect of the kingdom of God which we will see during the Lord’s Millennial reign (the thousand year rule on earth) will be an absolutely holy and perfect rule. There will be no toleration for sin; there will be no corruption, no fraud, no bribes, no failure. That is the kind of kingdom for which we are to seek to find today, even before the return of the King. I don’t believe that the Lord is telling us to look for it in the State of Washington or in Washington D.C. And there is no indication here that we are to implement its precepts in order to facilitate the Lord’s return. We are not post-millennialists. We don’t believe that by setting up the Kingdom of God, we will entice the Lord to return. Nevertheless, you and I are exhorted to seek for certain aspects of that Kingdom today.
What our Master is teaching us is to look for and to implement the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in our own personal lives. He wants us to want God’s rule and God’s holiness as we walk through our day-to-day lives. And isn’t this what Christ has been teaching us throughout this sermon? “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.” “No man can serve two masters.” “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall ear, or what ye shall drink.” “For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.” But “your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Who is the king of your life, and by what principles is your life governed? Whose will is first sought when decisions are to be made? Is it what you want, or what the Saviour wants? Are your feelings supposed to be the first consideration in the activities of your life? I know that most of you have learned to lay your preferences aside for the sake of your family. But is the sake of your family supposed to be your absolutely first priority? Would Adoniram Judson have gone to Burma, if family considerations were put first in his life? Whose money sits in your wallet and in the bank account with your name on it? Into what country do permit your mind to wander when it wants a little vacation? Does your musical taste come from the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of the Gentiles? This verse can be applied to the things and the ways that we eat and care for our bodies. This verse applies to our politics. It should apply to our occupations, our hobbies, our entertainment, our recreations.
What Christ Jesus was saying differs little from what Paul was saying in I Corinthians 6 – “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
The next major question in regard to this verse is:
HOW are we to seek this Kingdom and righteousness?
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Oh, how angry the Lord should be at all of us. Angry at us for our disobedience and disrespect. “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” When was the last time that you sought the Lord first in anything? As Christians we know that we should seek the Lord’s will in the things that we do. And as Christians, especially when it comes to major decisions, we will take time to pray – “Lord, show me thy will. Lord, if what I am contemplating is not according to your will, please stop me.” But think about it – Doesn’t that prayer indicate that we’ve already thought about the question, and perhaps even made our preliminary choice? Is the Lord telling us to “seek him first” in reference to time? Perhaps, but perhaps not.
More likely, He is referring to “first” in several other ways. First in preference and priority. His will is to be sought above your own will and that of the wife and children. As in doctrine, just because the government may try to dictate church policy, the kingdom of men does not supercede the kingdom of the Lord. For example, society may say that homosexuality should have an accepted place amongst us, but in the Kingdom of God that is not the case, and God’s Kingdom comes first.
And the divine kingdom should be first in our earnestness and zeal. The constitution of God’s kingdom is spelled out in the Word of God. But most Christians – poor disciples that we are – don’t search the scriptures as we should. Like my flower garden illustration, we faithfully visit and generally smell the wonderful aroma of Word of God, but we aren’t there to study the details of each and every flower. We attend 1, 2 or 3 preaching services, and we listen to what is said, but it’s in a general sort of way. Why is it that our attendance at the ten o’clock Bible-study hour is so slipshod and paltry? Isn’t that proof that we are not “seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness?”
How are we to obey the Lord’s command in this verse? We must seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness through prayer. But are we as prayerful as Christ and this verse require? “Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Isn’t this attitude and prayer a part of “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness?”
We must seek the kingdom of God through Bible study followed by the personal implementation of the precepts that we find there. What did David say to son Solomon shortly before his death? “Keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.” Doesn’t what the Lord said to Joshua run parallel to what Christ is telling us here? “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” There is only one kingdom capable of lasting more than a few generations – Christ’s kingdom. There is only one way to have good success and to prosper in all that we do “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”
And why should we make this search?
As I have just implied – “For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” But that is perhaps the lowest of reasons. We should do it because the Lord has told us to do it. Perhaps that is the highest of reasons. Remember that obedience is a part of our worship.
But then somewhere in between is another reason to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” In the adult Bible class this morning, we heard Adonijah, come to Solomon through Bathsheba, asking permission to marry the widow of king David. Bathsheba may, or may not, have seen Adonijah’s intent, but wise Solomon saw it immediately. It was another first step toward usurping the kingdom away from Solomon, the type of Christ. By seeking the wife of David, Adonijah was proving his disloyalty.
And what is the context of Matthew 6:33 in Jesus’ sermon on the Mount? “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? Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
Adonijah was not a good subject in the kingdom of Solomon; he was not a true citizen. He was seeking his own kingdom, and he gave evidence of his treason. When the professing children of God seek the things of the kingdom of this world, at the very least, they destroy the testimony of their Heavenly citizenship. And perhaps they are only professing citizens Heaven. We are to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” in order to declare to our neighbors that “this world is not our home. We’re just a passin’ through.” The Gentiles seek for secular, temporary (temporal) things, but we are to seek God’s will and righteousness.
Examine your life, your goals, and the way that you direct your life. Do you exhibit evidence of Heavenly citizenship? Does your life contain any exhortation or rebuke towards our secular and wicked world? There should be a marked difference between the Christian and his neighbor – between us and them. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”