Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing (2)

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Title: Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

The Central Idea of the Text (CIT) - Matthew's purpose for writing these verses is connected to Jesus' teaching of kingdom principles of His Sermon on the Mount. The purpose of the text is for the disciple to desire the spiritual knowledge that God will take care of the physical.

Introduction

THERE IS NOTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD! How many of us here today really believe this statement? How many of us really believe this declaration? We spend so much energy on small stuff. We spend God’s energy on things that don’t really matter. We spend so much time on the non-essential things in life. Can I even say, that we spend so much time on the past, that we cannot move forward to our future?

I. God Knows What We Need-Better Than We Do (31-32)

A. (31) Therefore (3767) (NAS = "then") indicates that Jesus is drawing a conclusion based on the preceding truth that in view of the fact that God provides for the basic needs of the birds and the flowers, and then even more so for His own sons and daughters, we have no need to worry. Worry over the essentials of life has no place in the believer's life - God will provide for our needs (but not our "greeds").

B. If you are going to worry about it, don’t pray about it. And, if you are going to pray about it, don’t worry about it.

C. Jesus taught the disciples to pray earlier, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

1. Literally teaching us that God would supply our needs, and that He would supply them everyday!

2. When we receive this in our spirit and minds we are on our way to “spiritual breakthrough!”

D. Gentiles/Heathens - are considered strangers to the promises of God’s covenant, and to the hopes of his glory. “It was the general character of the heathen, that they prayed to their gods, and laboured themselves, for no blessings but the temporal ones here mentioned...and that because they were in a great measure - ignorant of God’s goodness, had erred fundamentally in their notions of religion, and had no certain hope of a future state.”

E. See, non-believers don’t have to worry about such things. Illustrations about worry:

1. The devil would have us continually crossing streams that do not exist.

2. Worrying is paying interest on troubles that may never come due!

3. Worry is carrying a burden God never intended us to bear.

4. Worry is like a rocking chair; it will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere.

5. The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything.

II. We must decide what will have priority (1st place) in our lives. (33a)

A. First thing is to SEEK God’s KINGdom AND God’s righteousness.

B. To Seek-"getting to the bottom of a matter."

1. The present tense usually denotes continuous kind of action. It shows 'action in progress' or 'a state of persistence.

2. The imperative mood is a command or instruction given to the hearer, charging the hearer to carry out or perform a certain action.

3. Active voice indicates that the subject is the performer of the action of the verb. If the subject of the sentence is executing the action, then the verb is referred to as being in the active voice. For example: "But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." () "...you" is the subject of the sentence and is the one that is performing the action of the verb; therefore the verb is said to be in the "Active Voice".

C. To Seek - "getting to the bottom of the matter." The bottom of the matter is Kingdom business. (See-KING - you can’t spell ‘SEE-KING without SEE & KING’)

1. God’s Kingdom - kingship, sovereignty, authority, rule

2. God’s Righteousness - refers to what is deemed right by the Lord - HIS WAY OF DOING THINGS!

3. Note this - what we seek is not only God’s Kingdom OR only God’s righteousness; but (both) God’s Kingdom AND God’s righteousness!

a) To seek ONLY God is RELIGION.

b) To seek ONLY God’s righteousness, or God’s way of doing things, is SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

c) But to seek God AND God’s righteousness is RELATIONSHIP!

III. God will take care of Us (33b)

A. All (3956) (pas) means all without exception and in context all "these things", the things we "need" (not greed) to live this life for the glory of our Father Who art in heaven.

B. Added (4369) (prostithemi from prós = to or besides + títhemi = put) means to add something to an existing quantity.

1. We have food and clothing for today but God will add necessary essentials in the future as the need arises.

2. When our priority is spiritual, God will take care of the material, for where God guides, He provides.

Conclusion

● (read it)

● List of the 5 basic human survival needs (brighthub.com):

○ Water - “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." ()

○ Food - “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger…” ()

○ Shelter - “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress…” ()

○ Sleep - “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” ()

○ Oxygen - “Medical science tells us that when the brain waves stop the human body is dead. However, when a person drowns and stops breathing, what is it that revives them through resuscitation? It is the return of oxygen to the brain … oxygen that is carried to the brain in the blood. In the New Testament we read that without the shedding of blood by our Savior, Jesus, we could not have eternal life.