A THEME VERSE FOR 2014

5 January 2014 Pastor John Hadley, Tay Street Baptist Church http://www.taystreetbaptist.org.nz Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Intro: I have heard some great sermons in my day. I heard R.G. Lee preach his great sermon, Payday Someday. I have heard Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preach several messages, any one of which could be considered great. I HAVE HEARD Warren Wiersbe, and M.R. DeHaan, and Dr. Robert Ketchum. I have heard many great preachers, but this passage is part of the greatest sermon ever preached. This is part of what is often called, The Sermon on the Mount. It is nearing the end of the message and Jesus forms his conclusion. This passage is one of PERSPECTIVE.. The Believer is to be a person who maintains a spiritual and eternal perspective. I. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. a. Mt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. b. Mt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. c. Therefore, we must be careful as we select our perspective, God and His Will, or Materialism and the World.; and build our treasures in the proper place. FACTORS OPPOSING AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. a. We live in a physical world, and spiritual values do not appear to be important. i. Food and drink seem to preoccupy our thoughts. ii. The things of this life are demanding. If you have a car, you have to maintain it. A house requires care. Clothing must be cleaned and pressed. b. Physical needs are very evident, while spiritual needs seem easily neglected. i. You can only see the material. ii. You cannot see the spiritual. c. Materialism is the driving force of the world, and spiritual concerns seem uncommon. d. Material matters press us daily, but spiritual values do not continually nag us. III. CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE.. a. What we think of as goals and priorities are really by-products of a proper perspective.. i. Food, clothing, housing, etc. are what we most often think of as highest priority. Its what we work for. ii. Jesus says that they are not to be highest, but subordinate to spiritual matters. b. Kingdom values are more important than temporal values. i. Eternal vs temporal. ii. Spiritual vs material. iii. Heaven vs now. iv. God vs ourselves. c. Why? Because eternal is greater than temporal; Spiritual last longer than material; Heaven is more valuable than now; and God is more important than we are!

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IV. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS OF AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE.. Choices we need to make, based upon this conclusion: a. Church involvement must be higher on my list of priorities. i. I once made a list of excuses people give for missing church. Family reunions; birthdays; visitors coming; etc. ii. Allowing the average family of four people I calculated that if you counted all of the excusable reasons, you could miss 29 Sundays a year not counting those for illness. iii. Church and your relationship here must have a higher priority in your life. It should be the center of your life. iv. The world doesnt think this way, and neither does the worldly Christian. b. The Bible and Prayer must have a greater place in your home and family. i. It is easy to fall into the trap of neglecting these two most important disciplines. ii. TV, sports, after school activities, all seek first place in our homes. iii. Dont let them crowd out God and His Word. c. Giving to God must have a greater part of my thinking. i. It must be first in our budget. ii. Surely a tithe should be the least we think about. iii. We must be continually alert to Gods leading in our offerings.

d. Gods will must be my first consideration at all times. e. I must be continually aware that the worlds perspective is wrong and God expects me to be different. f. And finally, I certainly want to be prepared to enter Heaven when my time on earth is ended. Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.