John Lloyd - The Sermon On The Mount - Seeking His Kingdom First
/Seeking God First: A Study on the Sermon of the Mount
Seeking God’s Kingdom First Matthew 6:22-34
August 5, 2018
Pastor John Lloyd
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expresses His desire for us to live for Him in an upside down world. This greatest sermon ever given, is uplifting, yet challenges us to live a life with Jesus that is far better than any other! It is our prayer that you will be encouraged and challenged by studying and applying this great sermon to your life. Small groups are also available throughout the week to further discuss and put into practice the lessons taught from the Sermon on the Mount.
Today’s Passage: Matthew 6:22-34
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
How do we seek God’s kingdom first in our everyday lives?
Big Idea: Seeking His Kingdom first transforms my vision, values, concerns and ambitions.
I. Treasuring His treasures transforms my vision.
Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
“We need to have spiritual vision, if our spiritual perspective is correctly adjusted, then our life is filled with purpose and drive. Our vision can be clouded by materialism, we lose our sense of values, then our whole life is in darkness and we cannot see where we are going. Covetousness causes us to lose our vision.” E. Stanley Jones
Acts 26:19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,”
Acts 26:17-19
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Revelation 5:12
I do not cling to these things. They do not become the center of my life and existence. I do not live for them or dwell upon them constantly in my mind; they do not absorb my life. On the contrary, I hold them loosely. I am not governed by them; rather do I govern them; and as I do this I am steadily securing, and safely laying up for myself, “treasures in heaven.” Hughes
Lord, Give me a heavenly vision of what you treasure. May my heart, soul and vision be on what you treasure. May your Vision be mine!
II. Seeking His Kingdom first changes my concerns.
“Therefore” is used three times: Matthew 6:25, 31, 34
Trinity of cares: What shall we eat? What shall we drink? we wear?
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Ignorant worry – Do not know enough
Knowledgeable worry – Know too much
Rich worry – Afraid of losing what they have.
Poor worry – Do not have enough.
Old worry – Because they are facing death.
Young worry – Because they are facing life.
Anxious/worry – means to be distracted and consumed by the cares of this world.
Philippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
“No person ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a person can bear.” George Macdonald
I Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Make God’s Concerns my concerns
III. Seeking His Kingdom first changes my ambitions.
Matthew 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“If worrying is dominating my life, then I am really behaving like those who do not know God.” D. Martyn Lloyd Jones
Mt. 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
“Worrying does not enable you to escape evil. It makes you unfit to cope with it.” Kent Hughes
Mt. 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Instead of worrying, seek! When seeking, trust!
Our Heavenly Father can be trusted with every detail of our lives.
Growth Group questions for August 5th
Icebreaker: Share something that brings anxious thoughts to you. What do you do to help deal with these thoughts?
1. Read Matthew 6:22-34. Summarize in your own words what you hear Jesus saying. Ask God to speak to your heart and how these verses can be applied to your life.
2. Read Matthew 6:22-24. Discuss how money is a horrible master. Why is debt such a difficult master? What would you share with a new follower of Jesus about God and money?
3. Read Matthew 6:25-30. Reflect on this passage. What are they doing that is wrong? What examples does Jesus give them to help them? How do these principles help you with your concerns?
4. Why does worrying about material things cause us to live like those who do not know God? Why is worry incompatible with the Christian faith? We are free from worry but not free from trouble and trials.
40% worry about things that will never happen.
30% worry about things that have already happened.
12% worry about unfounded criticism.
10% worry about our health.
8% worry about actual problems.
5. Read Matthew 6:31-33, Philippians 4:6-8. In both passages, what are they doing that is wrong? What are they commanded to do? What does seeking God and His righteousness mean to you?
6. Read Matthew 6:34, James 4:14. How do these verses put tomorrow in a godly perspective?