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Well, good morning, Calvary. I'm excited to share with you from God's Word. We're in a series on the kingdom of God. And last week, Pastor Marty talked about the posture of the kingdom of God. Talked about the fact that it's an inside-out kingdom. That when we talk about the kingdom of God, we're talking about our inner being, our spirit, our attitudes, our emotions, all of these things, and then how that plays out into the external world. Today I want to focus on another word, priority. We're going to find that not only is the kingdom of God inside out, it's also very often upside down. We're going to talk about what that means. I was a kid in the era that the playground equipment was actually very hazardous. Who remembers the seesaw? You sat on one end of that, and if your friend really was unhappy with you, they would just bail and you would crash to the remember that? Kids that never grew up with those because the government outlawed them for safety purposes, apparently. We had this thing called monkey bars. Remember who remembers monkey bars? The idea was you hang on them and you swing and you climb from one end to the other like you're training to be on the next American Ninja Warrior. But what I would do is I would hook my feet up in there, and then I would hang down upside down. Who else has done it? Oh yeah, I got some friends in the some other strange people in the audience. That's great. But here was the funny thing. When you're hanging there looking out at the world and you are inverted, what does the rest of the world look like to you? It looks like everything is upside down. There is an actual upside-downness to the kingdom of God, and Jesus often contrasts earthly priorities versus kingdom principles. And so we're going to dig into it a little bit today. Keep that upside-downness in your mind. But another thing I want you to keep in mind as we go through this is what takes place earlier in Matthew chapter 6. We're going to be in the latter half of chapter 6. But in the earlier part, he gives us the prayer. This is how you should pray. And we all know the prayer. Our Father in heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil or the evil one. I just want to point out a couple of things from that prayer to keep in mind as we read the next part of Matthew 6. Notice that it begins with a Father in heaven. Because in a kingdom there's only one king. Notice that it connects his kingdom coming to his will being done. Notice it recognizes God as the source of all provision and daily need, and it also recognizes there's temptation because there is a tempter or an evil one. And keeping that in mind, let's read chapter 6, beginning in verse 19. Do not, thereby say do not, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up, say store up, for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money, or mammon. Therefore I tell you, don't 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 don't sow or reap or store away in barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? And can any 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 don't labor or spin, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow was thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? You of little faith. So don't 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. The word of the Lord. As we process what Jesus is saying here, we're gonna focus on that latter part. Seek first the kingdom, and all this will be added. But notice, he said, all these things that we want added are things after which the pagans already run. Those who serve other gods or know God, but those who do not serve the living God have to run after all of these things. Because when you run from the king, you have to run after things. What will we eat? Now, in first century context, this wasn't the conversation that we have today. Today we have so many restaurants, it can be sometimes hard to choose. In fact, if you've ever, husbands, if you've ever been in this situation where you're driving and you're like, hey, what would you like to eat? And your wife says, I don't care, you pick. All right, let's let's go grab pizza. I don't want pizza. Well, what do you want? I don't care, you pick. Okay. Um, how about Mexican? I don't want Mexican right now. If you would just tell me what it is that you don't want, we would be okay. But but our one of our biggest questions is where are we gonna go eat after service? Is it gonna be loose or is it gonna be Giordano's? And you got this whole big, but in the first century, that wasn't their concern. This is an agrarian culture. When they're talking about worrying about what they'll eat, listen, if there's not a harvest you don't eat. They're talking about starvation. They're talking about will my daily needs be met? Will daily bread come in? Am I gonna go without food today or tomorrow or this week? How am I going to be provided for? And that's why Jesus says, why, which one of you by worrying can add even an hour to your life? Don't worry about how you're going to be sustained. And I know we don't worry too much in this country about food, although there still is food poverty in areas, but primarily that's not a concern. However, we are still very consumed with thinking about our health. We are still very consumed with thinking about our bodies and our well-being. In fact, healthcare in this country is a five trillion dollar industry. The average American over the course of their life will spend $350,000 to $700,000 on medical care alone. And then fitness, going to the gym. An average of $1,500 to $2,000 per year for the average American. The beauty industry, thank God for cosmetics. Just under $3,000 per person annually. Clothing, that's a $400 billion industry in this country alone. And in the same year, the average American will give $300 to their church. Now I'm not a great mathematician, but if tithe is one tenth, that means you made $3,000 that year. I wonder if we are putting the kingdom first over our own bodies and well-being. See, nothing, there's nothing wrong with taking care of yourself. There's nothing wrong with having nice things. But Jesus is asking us to question our priorities. Because where your treasure is, your heart will be also. What are you valuing above everything else? Seeking first the kingdom doesn't mean praying 24-7 without eating, sleeping, or drinking. That's not what it is. It's easy for you pastors to talk about seeking the kingdom, and that's all you do. Listen, do you know how hard it is to truly seek the kingdom of God when everything when all of your study is prepared for somebody else? Be careful judging somebody else. Be careful. We all think we could run the Bears organization better than they can. We all think we could we could choose the right play better than that quarterback. Listen, just be careful when you judge someone else's servant. Because it's to their master they give account. And here's the reality: our challenges are all unique, but we all have the same challenge. Will we put the kingdom of God first in our life over everything else in our life? Because when we do, when we seek Him first, we remove all anxiety, we remove the worry, we remove the striving. We remove the daily waking up with the attitude of God, I get mine. To waking up saying, give us this day our daily bread. God, you're able to meet any need that I have today. Seeking first the kingdom returns us to the original created order. There is a God. He is creator and he is delegator of authority. And we are just stewards of all that He has entrusted to our care. When we recognize that order, then we get things back in the priority that God has for them, and then we can live them out in a way that's real and leads to blessing and leads to life. Because the truth is Christian spirituality is trading our sin-twisted tendencies for his supremacy in every aspect of our life. Your Christian life is not separated or segmented from the rest of your life. It is that from which everything else is being impacted. It's that which flows into and through everything else in your life. And the truth is, as Christ's followers, we are strangers in this world. We are travelers passing through to a greater reality. We're not even here for our own benefit. It would be better for me to be in his presence. Why am I here? Because there's someone else who hasn't heard. What the world deems to be wise, God's word says is foolishness. And the word of God and the wisdom of God is foolishness to those who run after the things of this world. The reality is the world is turned upside down. But the solution is as simple as it is profound. Turn around. The Bible word for that is repent. And when we return to the king, we reverse the curse, we deal with the sin and the separation. And instead of having everything we're running after slip from our grasp, we have everything that we release return to us in abundance, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Ever feel like your world is out of control? Your kids? Your spouse? Ever feel like if people would just do what you say, things would be better? If they just did what I told them to, everything would be alright. Listen, we have a constant drive for control. We have a desire to direct our own life. But Matthew 16 warns us that whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever will lose their life for my sake will find it. It's the proverbial hamster wheel. It's the rat race, we call it, the carrot on the stick that you never get to, because in everything we're pursuing, we're losing our very souls. And the solution is quite simple. If we would just lay it all down at his feet, everything we're striving for, everything we're seeking to gain. If we would just quit striving and start dwelling in his presence, we can find a life that is truly living. Because we've never been more alive than we were in the garden when we walked in fellowship with our God, unhindered, uninhibited. We had rule over everything. He said, Here it is, rule over these things. We had dominion, kingdom. We had righteousness, presence, and right alignment with our God. And yet, desiring to seize more, we lost it all. But there is hope. John writes in his revelation that the Jesus who had came and gave his life not only is now the ruler over all kings of the earth, but he is the one who loved us, washed us from our sins, and has made us now kings and priests to his God and Father. And that he has all glory, power, and dominion now and forever. And he is giving us that dominion back. When we release the control to him, he actually gives us rule back over our life. It's in trying to take control that we lose the ability to be rulers of our own life. Because here's the reality: you don't reject a king like we did in Eden and then strut back into his presence with your head held high. That's a good way to lose your head. Unless, unless that king sent his one and only son to die in your place and take your penalty ahead of time. And if that's the case, then the only reasonable and right response is to return to his presence, bow down in worship and gratitude. Because trying to control our own lives, ruled by our own desires and for our own benefit brings us ultimate loss. Actually removes us from the very thing we seek. But surrendering to the King, living according to his command, and for his kingdom gives us back control and dominion. Jesus is the way back. Matthew 23 says, those who exalt themselves will be humbled, those who humble themselves will be exalted. You've never been exalted until the King of kings lifts you up. You can never lift yourself higher or gain for yourself more than he can give to you. Seek first the kingdom, and all these things will be added. James 4 says, why is there striving? Why is there battles within you? Isn't it your own lust, your desires you want and you can't have, so you covet. You desire and don't have, so you kill. You desire and don't have, so you steal. He says, all of these evils come from a desire that's misplaced. He says, Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of this world becomes an enemy of God. You're upside down. Or do you think that the scripture says without reason he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives more grace. That's why it says God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Submit then to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near. Wash your hands, purify your hearts, you double-minded. Change your laughter to mourning, your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. When we put God first, he lifts us up. The enemy, if he can't, if he can't destroy you, he'll at least distract you. If he can't take your priority, he'll offer you a misplaced priority. Keep you busy, but not effective. Successful in the wrong assignment. Having dominion over the things that are decaying. Choosing to see your chains as freedom and freedom in Christ as a chain. Keeping you from living your divine design. Albert Schweitzer, Dr. Albert Schweitzer says it this way: it's the tragedy is not that a man dies and lives and dies, but what dies in a man while he yet lives. What are you expending your life to gain? Are you running after the things pagans run after? Or are you seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Because the reality is only one can be king. There is only one king. The kingdom is never one priority among many. It is the priority that orders every other priority. Notice I said priority, not priorities. That's because the word priority comes from the word prior or first. There can only be one for my Highlander fans. In the end, there can be only one. Something has to be first, and only one thing can be first at any given moment. And God's command through his word is seek first the kingdom. Love the Lord your God with all. From the Greek word all. Everything. Your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Because if he isn't Lord of all, he isn't Lord at all. You don't have priorities. You're choosing a priority every moment. Change your language, change your life. What are you putting first in your pursuits? Because your spiritual life is your whole life. And its completion, its source, and its sustenance is Jesus Christ. Remember that part about if your eye is healthy, your whole body's full of light? Anybody have a translation that says if your eye is single? Now that don't mean going through the world like you're not married. That's not what it's talking about. It's saying if you have a singular focus, what James talks about, being double-minded. Don't be double-minded, be singular in your focus. Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness. When you seek first, you actually seek only. That's what it's talking about. Have one pursuit. Because when you try to pursue everything at once, listen, if everything is important, nothing is important. You don't have priorities. You're choosing a king. Every decision you make. At any given moment, I'm either serving the king of kings or I'm serving the king me. As a friend of mine, Pastor Larry says, King I me. King I, me, my. What king are you serving today? In your family, in your home, in your education, in your career. Who are you serving? You're serving someone. It's an illusion to think that we're actually not serving anyone, that we're choosing our own path. Because there's no place outside of God's kingdom where I can be king. I'm a created being. I exist in a world made by someone else. And I can either respond to him and relate to him as creator and as right king, rightful king, or I can pretend that I can create my own way and things are going to work out okay. But notice this that whole idea that we can choose our own way. Where did that originate? It came in a garden. And did we think it up ourselves? Or was there someone else there that said, Oh, if you will do that, then you will be like God. You will have rule over your own life. Notice this. That whole idea that we can choose our own way came from a serpent. Came from another source that didn't even originate within us. Remember the prayer? Don't lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Because ruling our own lives is an illusion. The very desire was prompted by a subversive thought from someone else that we came to then accept as our own. And the minute we bit that fruit, we bit into the biggest lie ever told. You can be like God if you'll do what I say. But then who were we really following? Are we now doing what we want? Or are we doing what he wanted for us? To reject what God wants for us. No man can serve two masters, but all men serve a master. We are not masters of our own domain. We are not the deciders of our own fate. If we are not serving the true king, then it's the deceiver that we are serving. And that's why it's called temptation, because it comes from outside of us. It requires us to run after it, run to an illusion while running away from all true provision. When we align our desire, our seeking, our pursuit after the lie, we become the servants of the deceiver. And the deception is to think that we're following our own way. As long as he can keep you thinking he doesn't exist and he isn't influencing things, he can win. As long as he can think, keep you thinking those desires don't originate from him, he can keep you from crying out, deliver me, oh God. He can keep you from turning around and saying, Forgive me, oh God, and returning in repentance. That greed isn't from you. You weren't designed for that. It's a lie from the enemy to believe that God can't provide for you enough. That lust isn't from you. It's a lie to believe that there's something more fulfilling that God's withholding that you can achieve for yourself. That what you want is better than what God can provide. That hatred isn't from you. It's a lie to believe another's suffering will bring you relief from your pain. That's not your design. It's misaligned. You were made to worship the Creator, not his creation. You were made to bow not to lies. You were made to bow to the one and only God, the one and only one deserving and worthy of all praise. Our allegiance, our surrender, and every time we ignore, we reject, and we deny God, we aren't free from worship. We're worshiping the serpent. We haven't become kings, just the servants of the wrong kingdom. The deceiver has no kingdom to offer you. He can't even make you a ruler of anything. He can't even make you serve him. You have to choose to do that. God can and he won't. He asks you to choose him. Choose to believe the lie that you're not following his idea but your own, and you'll stay stuck. But the minute you say, Search me, O God, and know me, see if there's any wicked way in me, lead me in the way that's everlasting. Because I was not made for this. I was made to worship. I was made to serve the King of kings. I was made to be a prince and a princess, a ruler, a child of the living God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I'm a kingdom kid. And when you realize that, it'll shift everything. Change your language, change your life. But yet we still often think that what God says is wrong really isn't that bad, that our way is better than his, and the best life is one outside the path that he's given to us in his word. But Proverbs 16 tells us that there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end is death and destruction. We obey the one often who only comes to kill, steal, and destroy. But the king that we walked away from to pursue our own kingdom. He sent his one and only son to be the way, the truth, and the life. And he says, Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden and tired of striving and tired of running and tired of pursuing all these things you will never obtain, and I will give you rest. In my kingdom, my presence, there is fullness of joy. At my right hand are pleasures forevermore. When we return to the king through Christ, we invite his kingdom to come, his word and way to rule our life, and he restores us as priests and kings, gives us dominion over death, hell, and the grave, breaks the chains, breaks the addictions, breaks the illusions of sin and bondage, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Jeremiah 29 says, You will seek me and find me when you search for me with your whole heart. What changes when we begin to seek first the kingdom in every aspect of our life? In my marriage. What if I even stopped using the word my marriage? Say, God, in this marriage that you have blessed me. Because she's not my wife, she's your daughter. She's a child of the king. What if we changed it? Change your language, change your life? What if we stopped saying my kids? I know some of you are ready to say that right now. Not my kids. These are your kids, or baby's kids, or somebody's kids, they're not my kids. Yes, I'm from the 80s. I apologize. But what if we stop seeing these things as ours to possess or try to control and places God has placed us to worship him and serve him? What if Jesus was the center of our parenting? If our highest goal was to create an environment in which those kids could come to know him as their God, as their creator, as the one who designed them on purpose and for a purpose. What if? What if we stop saying my job to say your mission field? Change your language, change your life. I don't have to go to work. I get to go to work because God's given me an opportunity and a place to make a kingdom difference. How am I working as unto the Lord and not for myself or for someone else's business? How do I quit just trying to get my peace and start seeking after his provisions so I can be generous and a blessing to others? Or how about this one? My money. Even spouses, you ever have like my money, you know, her money, his money? That becomes an issue at some point, doesn't it? You're gonna have to work that out. I realized a while back, I don't have a car. My wife has cars. I don't have a house. My wife has a house, right? Like when you realize this, it's freeing, honestly. It's very, very liberating. What if it was not your money? What if it was God's unlimited supply of which He entrusts you a portion to manage as a kingdom investment? Change your language, change your life. What am I holding on to that doesn't belong to me? Malachi chapter 3, we often talk about this passage, talks about the tithe, but it's not about tithing. The issue is the heart. He starts out this way, he says, I the Lord don't do not change, and that's why you are not destroyed. Thank God for his mercy. Thank God for his patience. He says, Since the time of your ancestors, you've turned away. You're upside down. You've not kept my decrees, but return to me, repent, and I will return to you. And you say, How are we to return? And then he says, Will a man rob God? Well, how are we robbing God? He says, By holding on to the tithe. Because I've said that that first tenth is holy. Listen, if you're robbing God to take care of you, you're also robbing him of the opportunity to take care of you. And between you and him, who do you think is better able to take care of you? Not saying we shouldn't have nice things. Just recognize who our source is. Put him first. Honor his word, his ways, and see if all these things won't be added to you. Put the kingdom of God first. Because what rules your heart directs your life. Let's put this all together. As we wrap it up, Jesus said, where your treasure is, your heart is also. Then he said, you can't serve two masters, only one. But notice how he says it. You will either love the one and hate the other. Despise the one. Serve the other. He puts serving in the category of loving and hating. Because we serve what we love. We serve what we desire. Follow your pursuits to discover your heart. If you want to know where your heart is, there's two places you can look your checkbook and your calendar. Where do you spend your money? Where do you spend your time? Because where you spend you, that's where your heart is, where your treasure is. And you have no greater treasure than your time. It's of limited supply. Are you gonna spend all your time making money to take care of a body that's destined for a grave? Are you gonna spend your time and your money investing in a kingdom that's eternal and will last forever? Follow your pursuits and you'll find your heart. The Hebrew rabbis have a concept that we don't really know our own motivations. That's also why David prays, search me and know me, see if there's any wicked way in me. We think our intentions are good. Scripture tells us every man's way is right in his own eyes. We think our intentions are good, but do we really know what's motivating us? Because that desire may not even be from you, it may be from the enemy, the tempter, who would lead you astray. But do this humble yourself before the Lord. Turn to him, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And when you return to your king, you reverse the curse, you restore dominion, and everything that you were losing by pursuing is now added to you simply by releasing. What if Christ was the heart of your life? What does that look like for him to be the center of your home? What does it look like? What if? What if Jesus was the center of your business? The center of your career, the center of your education, your pursuits? What if? What if Jesus was the center, really was the center of this church? What if we came prayed up, read up, ready to be built up and sent out on mission? What if? What if our purpose was found in Him? What if we started every day with the realization that if we're breathing, it's to make a difference for somebody else and not just to enjoy it ourselves or to make it through? What if we lived as though eternity for someone else was on the line today? What if we realized God was already at work everywhere and in everyone to whom he sent us, and that we are simply his ambassadors? We are the children of the king, the princes and the princesses representing our Father, a part of the Missio Dei, God's work in this world. What if? My question today is pretty simple. What are we seeking? What are we pursuing? What are we running after? Because you're either running after the king or you're running after the things. And here's the really good news Jesus is king. He is king, and he will reign. Revelation of 71, 15 says, the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. He will reign forever and ever. He will reign because he is the rightful king. Nothing we do in this life will change that ultimate end. Because every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord. The question is: when your knee bows, will it be forced out of submission to something you've run from your whole life? Or will you simply assume the position that you take every day in the presence of a holy God? Will you be bowing to the one you've bowed to every moment of your life to say, Father, I this isn't mine, it's yours. Father, I can't do this, but you can. Your strength is is is made great in my weakness. Or will it be a will it be an opposition? You've resisted him, resisted and resisted him until the day of reckoning arrives. And there's no more opportunity to bow of your own will. But you'll be forced to realize there is a creator. There is a God. There is a king. The question is, is he my king? Reject the king, lose everything. Serve the one and only king. Inherit the kingdom. Have you invited his authority over your life? Have you invited his kingdom? That's a weird word, I know. Kingdom. We don't think about kingdoms. We're not Saudi Arabians. I get it. But the reality is you're living under the rule of some authority. You're either trusting your own mind and thoughts, which I've already proven to you you don't know the origin of half the time. We all have thoughts. We're like, where'd that come from? You're either following you or you're following the one who gave you life on purpose and for a purpose. My challenge today is simple. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added. Or keep seeking after all these things and in the end end up with nothing. You're serving someone, either someone with nothing to offer you but an illusion that ends in destruction, or you're serving the one who alone offers life that is truly living. And when you gain him, when your eye is single, when you seek him with all your heart, you find him. And when you get him, you get everything.