Matthew

Every word of God contains a revelation and a commandment. Whenever God speaks by any of His voices, it is first to tell us some truth which we did not know before, and second to bid us something which we have not been doing. Every word of God includes these two. Truth and duty are alway wedded. There is no truth which has not its corresponding duty. and there is no duty which has no corresponding truth. We often try and separate them. We want to learn truth as though there were not duties attached. Or we try and do duties as if there were no guidelines of truth to follow. When every truth is rounded into its duty, and every duty is depends on its truth, then we shall have a clearness and consistency and permanence of moral life which we can hardly dream of.

If man is to truly live he must satisfy his deeper cravings first.

Nine elements of SEEKING:
1. Desire = If we have no desire, we will not seek.
2. Time = Seeking requires time.
3. Effort = Seeking is a work discipline.
4. Determination = Seeking is not a one time event.
5. Direction = We must seek things above.
6. A Goal = We must seek the kingdom of God.
7. A Decision = Only you can make the decision.
8. Sacrifice = We must let go of what we are holding on to, in order to seek.
9. Reward = God promises us prosperity.
We must making seek the Kingdom of God, a priority. It must come, FIRST, above everything else.
Where there is a Kingdom, there must be:
1. A King
2. The King must rule with both authority and power. Jesus demonstrated both.
3. There must be subjects submitted to the rule of the King. This is where we enter through faith and obedience.
And the benefits?: There is food, shelter, and clothing, peace of mind, prosperity, and health.

"Repent" is the first call of the Gospel. Repentance is the primary condition for the possibility to receive the Kingdom of God. The Russian word "repent" is insufficient to render the original notion; "metanoi´te" of the authentic text means change your way of thinking, your attitude to life and your entire system of values.

This call for repentance supposes that another life is possible and realizable in the world; a life, different than that which people live, groaning under its burden. Delusion, love for self, malice and chaotic stream of low instincts are not unbreakable chains. Better, noble and holy volitions exist along with them in a man, at least in a latent and potential form: love of the truth, compassion, fraternity, vague longing for righteousness. If one would not lose them but let them open and blossom, then one's inner world will glow with heavenly light; the life will change beyond recognition: peace, righteousness and charity will dwell in one's heart, replacing vicious and shameful desires.

It has already been said that, in today's conditions, the Kingdom of God is not as much realized in outward social improvements as in the inward betterment it makes in people. The Kingdom of God is especially close to those oppressed by this world of vulgarity and cruelty, languished under their own sins and imperfections, gasping in the surrounding atmosphere of lies and untruth, and longing for the triumph of good and truth.

Should some one have thirst for spiritual renewal, the Kingdom of God will come for him. Should a nation have this thirst, then the Kingdom of God will come for this nation. But for him who is self-satisfied and happy about the existing world, who cannot understand and ridicules the longing for the ideal, who is not worried by falsehood and lawbreaking, who despises purity and unselfishness, who dreams of riches and pursues the worldly joys and bodily pleasures, for him the Kingdom of God is a strange and unwanted teaching.

The Kingdom of God is not to triumph in this world. It is the "strait gate and narrow way" that few can find. It is not a completed "building" but one under construction. But still it is a fairly real thing that has been fulfilling in the world since the day the Savior came to earth. It always grows and spreads out, attracts and absorbs spiritually sensitive people from all walks of society, all nations and all stages of development. It is an organization (association) of individuals, thoughts, powers, writings, outward transformations and occurrences, guided by God and developed by the invisible power of His grace. The Kingdom of God is a new, righteous life, built upon the faith in the Savior and acceptance of His teaching.

The injunction "seek ye first" means at least three things. First, seeking God's kingdom and righteousness must be our first business in point of time: we must allow nothing else to take precedence before it. Second, we must regard nothing as of greater importance, or of equal importance, than seeking God's kingdom. Third, "seek ye first" implies that Christianity is to be the great business of our future life. The Christian faith is always to be considered as of the first importance to be attended to, and to be the first concern of life.

Until we seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness, nothing else we do can be acceptable to God. As long as we neglect this great salvation, as long as we have not secured our justification by faith in Christ, as long as we are not interest- ed in the kingdom of God by actually embracing it and receiving its laws into our heart, we can do nothing acceptable to God. Until we have done this, we cannot fulfill any requirement of God and He cannot accept anything else we do--for "whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Whatever does not imply faith in us is sin; therefore, if we neglect salvation in Christ as of primary importance, nothing that we do can be acceptable to God. People may have all the outward forms of morality and goodness, but if they have neglected the kingdom of God and His righteousness, whatever else they do, God will not accept them. He will not and cannot accept us if we are putting last what He has put first, and that first which He has put last. God re- quires us to put this first, and if we do not put things in the order which He has commanded, if we do not make this the great business of life, the first business of our lives, nothing else that we do is acceptable to God.

Since seeking His righteousness is the most important business to us, it should claim our first attention. What can compare with its importance to us as individuals? If we secure an interest in the kingdom of God, if we become subjects of His government, whatever else we fail to secure is unimportant. Whatever else we fail to secure we shall hardly regret in the future. But if we do not secure this, whatever else we secure will only increase our responsibility and our guilt. People ought to understand this: nothing is of any real importance to us unless it is connected with God's kingdom, and shall enable us to obey more effectually His command.

Now, if we regard anything as more important than our relationship with God in His kingdom, we entirely pervert things. God's kingdom is most important to ourselves and to our families; most important to all who stand in any relation to us and have any claims upon us. Who does not understand and believe this?

Suppose a man neglects God and Christianity for the sake of his family. Does he thereby really benefit his family? No indeed! The real and best interests of his family require that he should pay his first and chief attention to this great re- quirement of God. Who can doubt this? No man really and truly benefitted his family by neglecting to obey God. Such a thing never was and never can be. By neglecting to put Christ first and make Christian faith his first duty, who can tell how much the family may have to suffer from his negligence?

Putting God's kingdom first is most important to a person's creditors. If a man disobeys God, His curse is upon him, and upon all that he does and has. But if he obeys God, he may expect a blessing upon his business; and if a man endeavors to please God, he is sure to be an honest man. If a man owes me money, and that man tries to obey and please God, I have reason to believe that he will be enabled to pay me sooner than if he did not regard the commands of God at all. Therefore, even if I were a selfish man, I should say to my debtor, "Whatever else you do, don't neglect to obey God--don't neglect your duty to Him."