Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God ....

Matthew 6:33 (KJV), "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Matthew 6:33 is the clear teaching of Jesus Christ to all believers who serve God on this earth as His witnesses. This teaching focuses on the believer's relationship with his possessions. It is not a reference to the possessions he already had at the point of salvation, for that relationship is covered in Matthew 6:19-24. The teaching in Matthew 6:33 is about the future possessions that the believer does not own yet. That is why the verb used is "to seek." The believer does not have them but is now commanded by Christ to NOT seek after them anymore. All unbelievers naturally seek after these things. Materialism is everyone's obsession and also motivation. Multiple success stories have impressed many and rags to riches stories abound. But should believers be impressed as well?

Seek – The grammar and meaning of the word "seek" is a command from Christ to continuously seek for something that is hidden. It is not in plain sight to the seeker but he knows what he is seeking after and will not stop until he finds it. He knows what he is seeking after because Christ will state it to him clearly. It is not in man to know; they need Christ to reveal it to them.

Man's entire life is a life of seeking. They seek daily because they live in a world where their mortal flesh needs daily sustenance to live. Furthermore, whatever they have in terms of house, things in the house, food and clothing do not last. The second law of thermodynamics states that all things will degenerate or decay. Therefore, they need to seek after more stuff to replace their present stuff. As long as they are in this mortal flesh, they need to eat and drink to survive. The propensity to seek for more and more things drives the economy and the whole world. Christ is commanding all believers to get out of this rut. This vicious cycle will ruin the believer's life and testimony. He has a higher purpose now which is more than just finding food and water and a house to keep him safe and alive. He has seen into the realm of the spiritual which he was blind to before his salvation in Christ. Now that he knows there is life after death which is found only in Christ, that seeking food and water and all things material which are good only for this present life and are useless in the life after death, he has to stop seeking after these things.

He knows his time on earth is limited by death. He has already wasted time in the past of living the life of sin and carnality. Now that he is born again in Christ, he cannot go back to the old ways as if he is still dead in sin and living in sin. He has a God-given higher purpose which he did not know about or did not have before. He can now live for Christ. He can call himself a Christian which basically means a bearer of Christ's image everywhere he goes. He must now live in a way that will reflect the image of Christ which is what God teaches in the Bible. He cannot do this by seeking after material things. His seeking has to change. This change in what he seeks after will change his motive for seeking, as well as the manner in which he will seek. His desires and lifestyle of witness will all change. There is no stopping the transformation, for it is the transformation of the new man in Christ. That is why it is so important that the believer begins his life of witness on earth with the right kind of seeking!

So what is the right kind of seeking?

Seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness first -- On the earth, mammon is god and its lustre is getting brighter with every new invention of man to make this life a little more futuristic and comfortable. Advertisements abound throughout the internet promoting these new inventions to stir the many lusts within all humankind. Once the lust is fanned, the desire is so strong that they would even order in advance before the objects have been made. Even before the latest product is on the market, sellers today will entice buyers with their prototype. The prototype is marketed in the internet which appeals enticingly to the lust of the flesh and the eyes. On many occasions it has taken the world by storm. The conscience is seared and the feeling of doing wrong is dead. The whole man, body and soul, is consumed by this lust. Man spends precious time in this limited mortal life pursuing this fool's gold called mammon. They have been brainwashed into believing that mammon equals success and the good life to have for them and the family. They will do anything for mammon. But the believer is born again in Christ and has been given a new mind and heart. He must stop seeking after these material things.

God does not say to the believer to stop seeking. God commands the believer to change the object of his seeking. The believer is to redirect his passion and drive to seek after something better than mammon. God says to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness first. What is the difference between seeking God and seeking God's Kingdom? To seek God is to focus on having a relationship with God. When Christ commands to seek God's Kingdom, the emphasis is on the person's salvation. He is to make sure of his salvation in that he has entered into God's Kingdom (cf. Matt 5:20---"kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" are synonyms). This has been the thrust of Christ’s entire sermon after revealing the eight beatitudes. The emphasis is the same when Christ speaks of the narrow road and strait gate at the end of the sermon. The Christian is to make sure of his salvation while he lives on this earth. God has given more than sufficient evidence of a true believer in the NT which He did not choose to give to the people of Israel. Perhaps one of the main reasons is that the nation of Israel began with the presence of the Word of God when God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees. In the case of the local church witness, the make-up of all the Gentiles is one of a multi-heathenistic background founded on idolatry. It is impossible to get all of them with varied cultures and different languages to be God's witnesses if their salvation is uncertain and not enough information is revealed to them that will help them to make sure of their salvation.

This means that the believer has to make sure of his salvation in that he will surely enter into God's Kingdom even as he shares the gospel with sinners and encourage other believers to mature in the faith. He makes sure of his salvation in seeking after righteousness. To seek God's Kingdom first is the same as seeking after righteousness. The reason is that everyone who enters into the kingdom of God is characterised by righteousness. Righteousness is defined by God and not man. Man's definition is subjective and has no absolute standard and varies from person to person. All man are disqualified from setting this standard of righteousness because all are born into this world in sin. God's standard of holiness is found in the Ten Commandments. No sinner can even come close to this standard. The Ten Commandments were given by God to let all man know that they are not only sinners but are great sinners, totally depraved. Breaking just one of the Ten Commandments is the same as breaking all. This is God's absolute standard that all believers must have before they are accorded the righteousness that God asks every believer to first seek.

Every believer is given this righteousness at the point of true salvation. This is a gift from God. This righteousness is known as the righteousness of the law. Romans 8:3-4 says (KJV), "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."This righteousness is given permanently and will never be taken away from the believer. If the sin of the believer can cause God to take this righteousness from the believer, then the believer will have a serious problem and Christ's work of salvation on the cross is weak and incomplete. Thank God this is not the case. Once the sinner truly accepts Christ with all his heart and in all sincerity after he has been presented with the gospel of Christ according to the Scriptures, he is thoroughly and completely born again. Christ will instantly baptize him with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will live in him forever. He will never lose his salvation. This is clearly assured by the apostle Paul through inspiration in Romans 8:38-39 (KJV), "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is the relationship the believer has with God that is invisible to the naked eye. This righteousness within him avails him the assurance of salvation. Theologians call it the "positional relationship" that every believer has with God through Christ.

However, the believer is a witness. This internal righteousness must be seen outwardly in the form of his life of witness that points people to Christ. This means that the believer’s external righteousness must reflect the internal righteousness he knows he has received from God in Christ. Hence, the injunction is to live a life led by the Spirit; he will always do what is right according to Holy Scriptures. Romans 8:10-14 (KJV), "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

The ones who call themselves Christians but lie and deceive others cannot be believers in reality. They might think that they are but they are deluding themselves. The Bible makes it very clear that liars will not enter the Kingdom of God but will find themselves in the Lake of Fire. Revelation 21:8 (KJV), "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." [emphasis added] And also Revelation 22:14-15 (KJV), "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." [emphasis added]

God is not teaching believers that they will not fall into sin. Believers will sin in their minds, mouth, heart and deeds. But there is a world of difference between them and sinners. The true believer will repent of his sin immediately and ask God for forgiveness with all his heart. He will not be defensive and explain away his sins or try to justify them. The one who seeks righteousness will not want sin near him and definitely not in him. He will thank the person who rebukes him because he knows the person cares enough to point out his sin and at the risk of being scolded and mocked. The true believer will want the inward righteousness to be seen outwardly by his life of holiness.

This is what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness!

All things will be added – This does not mean that the believer will starve to death. God will take care of all His children according to the measure of their faith. If God provides them with one dollar, then they must trust God to live with one dollar. If God provides them with one hundred or one thousand dollars, then they must learn by faith to live with what God has given. God’s children do not murmur or complain. Their main and only focus is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and trust God daily to add to them what He knows is best for their faith and witness. To God’s children, godliness with contentment is great gain. This is real riches, bearing a godly witness for Christ and walking by faith all the days of their lives.

Christians ought to know that mammon is fool’s gold! It is utter foolishness to seek after it. The reality of their faith is being tested daily. Christians are not to fret and seek after these things like the world. As true believers, they must seek after God. Today, "God or gold" is the litmus test of the sincerity of their faith. If Christians clamour around like headless chickens, and cannot sleep or eat, and are worried sick over the weakness of the economy AS IF GOD IS NOT IN CONTROL AND UNABLE TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF HIS CHILDREN, then they have failed God. Their faith is either so weak that it is crumbling, or worse still their faith is found to be false and they did not possess genuine faith in the first place!

From the beginning, God Almighty who created all things in heaven and on earth knew what all His children would need to be the best witnesses for Him. God owns all the cattle on the thousand hills. He will surely provide for His children. But Christians must trust Him and must not worry. The world will worry sick over what is happening on this earth because their god is mammon. Matthew 6:31-32 reassures all believers to "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." The formula for trust is extremely simple for Christians but impossible for the unbelievers. It is clearly taught by Christ in Matthew 6:33.

It is now up to all believers to obey or not to obey. Your salvation depends on it as your obedience to this truth is evidence that you are born again in Christ!

Conclusion -- Christians are to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness. This is not an option. It is an evidence of the believer’s faith and trust in God. Without this faith our lives would not be pleasing in His sight. In other words, seeking God’s Kingdom first in what we do is the ONLY way to live the life that pleases God. There is no other way. It is not living by our own will and ways but God’s. It is not a syncretistic seeking where the earthly and heavenly are blended together, where the Christian attempts to have heaven on earth via materialism. This is the diabolical deception of Satan. Any Christian who thinks this way is fooling himself, and if he teaches others to live this way, he is a deceiver. May God give light to all His children in these last days, that all will seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness all the days of their lives till Christ returns. Amen.