God First

Matthew 6:25–34 NIV

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Introduction

I’ve always been humored by how much God is honored by athletes and celebrities at awards shows or after an athlete wins a big game.

I have to tame my cynicism because I know that there are Christian athletes or Christian celebrities who are very genuine about their faith and they live this life. But how many times have you seen someone win an award for a song that is not just tasteless, but incongruent with the scriptures, and the first thing out of their mouth is, “first I just want to thank god...”

Whoa, hang on there… I don’t think that song and God go together.

I don’t think God is up in heaven giving Michael and Gabriel a hi-five over your grammy.

I’ve seen Christians just swallow that; hook line and sinker!

One athlete made one of these professions right after winning a football game and a friend of mine who didn’t know anything about that athlete and the controversy surrounding him said, “oh I like him! he’s a Christian!”

I had to then educate my friend that the athlete had a lot of controversy surrounding him for taking improper benefits… maybe not something Jesus would have done.

Application

I think you can relate to my cynicism. You wonder if the person who made the profession that God is first in their life, is really putting God first in their life.

Are the words coming out of their mouth, matching up with the life the person is living.

And as we kick start this series, The Blessed Life, today I want to dive into this passage of scripture and into other parts of the Bible to understand what it really means to put God first.

Text

Matthew 5-7 is the well known passage of scripture called the Sermon on the Mount. Why is it called that? Because Jesus is giving a sermon on a mountain.

Stick with me for more mind blowing Biblical revelation.

Now some foundational stuff that you need to get here is that we are reading from the Gospel of Matthew. There are four different Gospels in the New Testament with four different authors and each author has a different primary audience. Matthew wrote his gospel to the Jews who had converted to or were considering converting to Christianity. He wants to talk to this very specific people group.

In his address to this group of people, he records Jesus giving them “His message.”

What I mean by that is Jesus was a Rabbi, or a teacher, and every Rabbi would critically teach what we call the Old Testament scriptures to their audience. And like preachers of today, Rabbi’s had their own way of presenting the teachings of the Old Testament.

Jesus steps onto the scene and he is teaching with power and authority that no one has ever seen before.

John 3:1–2 NIV

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Now this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone becuase if we had to give Jesus a title to match his understanding of the Old Testament we would call him a prodigy.

Let’s rewind and go back to the time that Jesus was 12 years old and he is in the process of becoming a Rabbi. As part of that process young men would sit in the courts of the temple and ask questions to the older more mature teachers of the law. Check out what happens when we get a snap shot of Jesus in the temple when he is just twelve years old.

Luke 2:46–47 NIV

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

So I want for you to get this…

Jesus is a 12 year old prodigy of the scriptures, and when he is old enough to begin teaching the scriptures for himself as a Rabbi, he blows everyone away. No one could teach like Jesus.

So crowds gathered...

And when they gathered, Jesus didn’t just teach in a way that they have never heard before, but he also starts to heal the sick. He starts to cast demons out of people. He is opening blind eyes, people with skin conditions are being healed, people who were thought to be dead were being raise back to life. I mean, Jesus is doing it.

And now word is spreading that he may not just be a great teacher, but he may be the long awaited Messiah that the Jews were expecting to come and who would bring freedom to their nation. The Jews were under the rule of Rome and they so desperately wanted to be free from Rome that their expectation was that the Messiah would come and free them.

So as Jesus is growing in popularity and as crowds are beginning to follow him and hang on every word of his teaching, he gives this Sermon on the Mount.

The Game Changer

Now this sermon is a game changer. And we know it to be a game changer becuase we have hindsight. We see his teaching, and then we can fast forward to his death and resurrection. Then we can fast forward to his last 40 days here on earth and we can piece together the puzzles of his sermon that people who were there can’t put together.

So give his audience some grace becuase what they were hearing in real time, we now hear in past tense.

So what I need to teach to you today, and what Jesus was teaching back then, was that Jesus was preaching about the Kingdom of Heaven.

Can you all say that, the Kingdom of Heaven?

Now I need for you to buckle up and get this teaching that I am about to unpack for you. If you don’t get the basics of the Kingdom of Heaven you are going to always read your Bible with the wrong lens.

Imagine if you put on glasses with the wrong prescription and tried to read something. How would that go for you? Not too good! Why? Because you don’t have the right lenses on.

And that’s why people don’t know how to make God first in their life - they are misapplying verses to their life and they are upset that they are not seeing what they are expecting to see.

The Kingdom of Heaven

Where we often make a mistake as we approach the scriptures is we don’t have the correct understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven. You see all of us are in this world, living in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the County of San Diego, and we are now gathered in the City of Vista. This is our natural location.

But something happens spiritually when we make Jesus the Lord of our life. Though we continue to live in our cities, and in our states, and in our countries, our citizenship changes. We are no longer citizens of this world, but we become citizens of heaven. It is a supernatural moment when receive Jesus as our Lord and savior when we cease to be of this world, and now we join with Jesus in his Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, where he is our King, and we are His people.

John 8:23 NIV

But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

Did you catch it? Jesus is telling them that although you see me here standing before you, this world is not my home. And when you decide to follow Jesus, likewise this world is no longer your home either.

Jesus said this about his disciples, and he says the same about you when you make a decision to follow Jesus.

John 17:16 NIV

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

And so throughout the ministry of Jesus, and here in the Sermon on the Mount, he is teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven. And this teaching is hard for them to hear and it is hard for them to understand, because His kingdom is invisible; enter said, it is spiritual. It cannot be seen, and it doesn’t involve overthrowing the Roman occupation as some would hope.

Listen to the words of Jesus at his arrest.

John 18:36 NIV

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

And so what is the Kingdom of Heaven then if it isn’t a physical location where the followers of Jesus overcome their enemies?

That’s where I have good news for you Lighthouse...

The Kingdom of Heaven is the place where King Jesus has defeated your greatest enemy.

Your greatest enemy is not the opposite of your political party

Your greatest enemy is not a person who does not share your values

Your greatest enemy is not a person who does not share your world view

Your greatest enemy is not the IRS, although it feels like every April

Your greatest enemy, and the one who Jesus has already defeated is Satan.

He is the fallen angel who let pride enter into his heart and he is now after God’s creation, and that would be you. And his mission is to lead as many people as he can into a life of bondage and destruction and then eventually to their death.

But the good news, the Gospel, informs us that death has already been defeated. The price of sin has already been paid. There is not a fight that awaits the follower of Jesus; that fight has already been fought, and it has already been won. Jesus is the King of Kings, and He is the Lord of Lords. And the Kingdom of Heaven is for all those who have put their faith in Jesus, and they have pledged their allegiance to Jesus, and they have overcome this world because of the blood of Jesus that was shed for them.

Listen to me Lighthouse, this is the Kingdom of Heaven.

And if you did not know any of what I just shared with you, it is for two reasons.

The enemy doesn’t want you know about the Kingdom of Heaven.

We have become so distracted by the world that we can see, that we forget about the Kingdom that we cannot see.

Seek First The Kingdom

And this is why Jesus says here in Matthew 6:33 that we need to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven.

Say that with me, say seek first.

When Jesus said that to his audience then they were so preoccupied with a physical Kingdom here on earth. Let me say that differently, they were so preoccupied with building something temporary , and Jesus was trying to shift their focus to building something eternal .

This desire to build something great for themselves here on earth was so strong that even after Jesus’ crucifixion, and his eventual resurrection, many of his followers still did not understand the Kingdom.

Look at what one person asked Jesus who was right about to ascend to heaven.

Acts 1:6 NIV

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

There’s no such thing as a dumb question, but this certainly tests that theory…

Jesus just made a mockery of death, the grave, and hell, and this crowd just wanted to know if Israel was going to come out of Roman occupation.

And… if we are being honest… we are like that crowd.

[slow down and pause]

We are just like that crowd...

The Distracted Church

It is said that if the enemy can’t get you to sin, then he’s going to work really hard to get you distracted.

An ineffective church is a distracted church.

An ineffective Christian is a Christian who forgot what Kingdom they belong to.

You see, just as Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven, he also opened our awareness to this world. He showed us a contrast between His kingdom and the kingdoms of this world.

The kingdoms of this world worship money.

The kingdoms of this world worship relative truth.

The kingdoms of this world worship creation more than they creator.

Jesus taught that in His kingdom, his people do not have to worry about where our food will come from, and where the clothes on our back will come from.

That’s kind of confusing, isn’t it?

What Jesus is saying is be careful of distractions. Your King is going to take care of everything you need.

“Oh but I want this, and I want that!”

And Jesus says watch out for those distractions… what begins as a desire for stuff, turns into the necessity of money to buy the stuff, and when you start to need money you will never have enough of money. Now, you are worshipping mammon.

Mammon is the spirit that tells you that it can provide to you what only God can provide you.

This is what Jesus is teaching on that mountain to his group of followers that day.

He is teaching them about the Kingdom of Heaven, and then he says to them, remember to seek first the Kingdom of God! If you do that, everything is going to fall into place!

Conclusion

Lighthouse, I have to be transparent with you this morning. This was one of the hardest messages that I have ever had to put together in recent memory.

Why is that? Because I really want to help you.

And I think there’s a lot of you who have heard this verse on the Kingdom of Heaven and you kind of get it when I say that we need to put God first.

Ok, Pastor Josh, that means I talk to Jesus first thing in the morning.

Ok, Pastor Josh, that means I have to get into a Bible reading plan.

Ok, Pastor Josh, that means I need to start tithing to my church.

I’m tracking with you Pastor Josh… these are the things that I need to do to put God first.

And the answer is No. Not if you look at it through the lens of these are the things that I have to do to put God first. If this is your approach to following Jesus, then we are just like the crowd on that day that asked, “Are you going to restore the Kingdom now?”

To put God first is to live in the awareness that Jesus is my King.

He is not a King who sent his best warrior to fight my enemy but he came himself and he personally fought against and conquered my enemy.

He welcomes me into His Kingdom. He calls me righteous, because nothing I have ever done or could ever do, could earn it.

He is working here on this earth to establish His kingdom and then he asks of me, “do you want to join me? do you want to make my name known here on this earth? do you want to partner with me and see Vista look like heaven? do you want to partner with me and see North County look like heaven? do you want to partner with me and see a revival in California?”

This is what it means to seek the Kingdom of Heaven first. Stop living and thinking so much about what is temporary and start working in and living for what is eternal. Stop being so consumed with your stuff, and start being consumed with what God is doing here on earth.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and watch your life change.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and watch your children change.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and watch your friends change.

Want to elevate your life? Well guess what, God wants that to.

Want to make a difference? Well guess what, God wants that to.

How are you going to do that? By seeking His Kingdom first.

You’re going to stop striving to make a name for yourself, and you are going to start making His name famous.

When you get this down Lighthouse, I am telling you. When you get this into your heart, then all the other disciplines I spoke to you about aren’t a duty. They are a delight.

Call

My hope and my prayer today is that you will make Jesus the Lord of you life. If you have never made him your Lord and your Savior, and today you want to do that. I’m going to give you a moment to respond and pray with you.

What we are going to do in the natural is say a prayer, but what is happening in the supernatural is God is welcoming you into his Kingdom. You don’t know this yet, but you are already loved by Him. And when he sees you, unlike some people around you, he doesn’t see the worst of you but he sees the best of you. He knows what you look like when you are free from sin. He knows what you look like when you are no longer held by addiction and destructive behavior. And today, he cannot wait to welcome you home.

[lead the prayer]