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You had the reading there in Matthew 6 and Matthew 6 is such a great chapter. There's so many great doctrines in this chapter. But I want to just bring your attention to probably the most important thing that you need to be thinking about as a believer. It says there in Matthew 6 33, but seek ye first. Seek ye first. This is the very first thing that you need to be seeking for as a believer. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Now one thing that some people miss from this verse, very famous verse, is there are two things here that we need to seek. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Two things, the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. So the title for the sermon this morning is His Kingdom and His Righteousness. His Kingdom and His Righteousness. Now let's start there in verse number 30. Jesus Christ says these words, Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you or ye of little faith? So we begin with this teaching about clothing. We know that this is an essential to our lives. We need to be able to put on some clothes. And so God is telling us that or Jesus Christ telling us that, you know, when it comes to our clothing, that is God's business. He'll make sure that we always have what we need to be able to clothe ourselves. It continues in verse number 31. Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or whether we've all 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. So the Gentile is just a reference to the nations, right? Like all people of all nations, when it comes to the very basics of life, we all seek to be clothed, we all seek to drink water, we all seek to have our stomachs filled with food. But God says, you know, even though this is kind of like a priority to people's lives, this doesn't really need to be a priority in our lives, because God knows that we have need of these things. God will make sure he provides these things for us. And it's a great promise. It's a great promise. I'm glad you're all clothed this morning. There'd be a problem if there was someone unclothed. I know God's taking care of your needs there. In fact, you know, here in Australia, a lot of clothes just gets thrown into like the clothing bin, you know, for charity and things like that for people that need. You know, you can pretty much walk into an op shop and find a t-shirt for like $2. Like you'll be okay when it comes to clothing here in Australia. But then we also have the food that we love to eat. And God says he'll take of those things, but take care of those things. But there's a condition attached to this. There is a way that God will take care of our needs. He says this in verse number 33. But this is what we're to do instead. But seek ye first the King of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Oh, okay. So the way that I get my clothing and my needs, my basic needs, my food, my drink taken care of, if I prioritize God's kingdom first and his righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you. Verse number 34, take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. All right. So God promises us that he's going to take care of our daily needs as long as we put his kingdom and his righteousness first. So there are two elements here that I want to talk about, his kingdom and his righteousness. But really a second title for this sermon, I suppose, is having the right balance in your Christian life. And I talk about this a lot. You guys probably know, like I'm always talking about balance, being balanced as a Christian. And there's a reason why I bring this up a lot. It's not something I've really thought about, you know, as a believer, growing up in church, attend different churches. It's not something I really ever thought about until I became a pastor. And of course, as a pastor, I get to have a lot of conversations and people open up about, you know, deeper things or things they're seeking for. I suppose more so than the average, you know, brother in the Lord, you know, sharing things like people share some things that are much more deeper, I suppose, on their personal level. And it surprised me how many times I find people that are just unbalanced in life. Now, some people don't like the idea of balance. But let me explain to you, there is a biblical balance and there is an unbiblical balance. Now, some people don't like the term balance because they think of the wrong kind of balance. Balance is not one foot in righteousness and another foot in unrighteousness or sinfulness or wickedness. That is not being balanced, all right? When we talk about being balanced, we talk about not stumbling, right? Not being unstable. Balance allows us to stand strong and not fall over. That's what balance. But some people think when you say balance, you mean one foot in sin and one foot in righteousness. That's not balanced. That's how you're definitely going to stumble. We're living that way, right? Balance is not one foot in heavenly places and one foot as a friend to this world. That's not being balanced. You're contradictive is what you are. You're very unbalanced if that's how you live your life. Balance is not one foot loving God and the other foot loving money. The love of money or the love of riches. That is not being balanced, okay? So when people don't like the term balance, they think that's what I mean by that. I don't mean that at all. I don't mean that at all. There is a biblical balance and I'll just read to you from Proverbs 16 11. The Bible says a just weight and balance are the Lord's. All the weights of the bag are his work. Now, of course, the illustration here is a balance. You know, in the old days, if you were to buy a kilo of bananas or something, there would be a balance with a weight of one kilo, for example. And you put your one kilo of bananas. And as long as it's balanced, all right, I'm purchasing one kilo of bananas. And of course, that's important. It's important that we don't rip people off. We don't take advantage of people. But that we are balanced, not only in our trade, but that we're balanced in our Christian life. You know, a just weight and balance are the Lord's. The Lord wants us to be balanced as Christians when we live our life. You know, when Job was going through the sufferings that he went through, all the losses that he suffered with, when he went through that, and his friends were, you know, telling him, oh, you're not right with God. You know, the reason you've lost everything, the reason your kids died, the reason you're sick in the flesh is because of your weakness against God. You've done wrong, Job. Well, Job responds in Job 31 6. He says, let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know my integrity. He goes, all right, well, I mean, what you guys are saying, what you're accusing me of is not a just balance. This is an unjust balance, which is an abomination to the Lord. I need to be judged by a balanced weight, sorry, a just balance, which of course is God's judgment upon his life. God is the one who can judge in a balanced way. And when he talks about him being balanced, he says that God may know my integrity. So when we talk about balance in a biblical manner, we're talking about the Christian's integrity. Okay. Like having one foot in sin and one foot in the righteousness is not being, you're not having integrity, right? Saying that you love God, but you love money, that's not integrity. You're showing yourself to be a hypocrite. You're showing yourself to be contradictory. And so there is a biblical balance when it comes to our lives. All right. Now, the reason balance is important, and again, I'm focusing here on the kingdom and his righteousness. I want to, because it surprised me how many times I have to kind of talk about this. And so I'm hoping instead of when someone asks me a question, or I find that they're kind of not balanced in the Christian life, I'm hoping this is the sermon that I point people to, right? So I hope you understand why I'm preaching this here this morning. But if you can come with me to Matthew 7, come with me to Matthew 7 and verse number 26, please. Matthew 7 and verse number 26. Matthew 7. You're there in Matthew 6, so just come with me one page across or one chapter across. Matthew 7 and verse number 26. Jesus Christ says these words, And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. You see, this is someone that is unbalanced. They build their house on the sand. And of course, when the waters come, the sand gives way and the house collapses. Well, Jesus Christ explains that this is what an unbalanced person is, is that he hears the word, but he doesn't do it. All right, so if you come to church and you hear God's word, but you go home and you don't do it, you're also unbalanced. You understand? You're also unbalanced. Oh, but I went to church. Oh, that's good. It's good you went to church. I heard the sermon. I paid attention. Good, you paid attention. Great, but did you do the sermon? Did you put into practice certain points? Did you make some changes in your life? No, I didn't. Well, you're not balanced. And you're someone that is building your house upon the sand. And when the troubles come, when the storms come, when the cyclone, was it Albert or Alfred? Alfred, when that comes, great will be the fall of it because we haven't built ourselves on the rock of God's word. And so Christian balance, biblical balance is important. Otherwise your life will always fall apart. Will always collapse under the pressures of problems and difficulties that may come in our lives. Let me give you some other examples of what I mean by balance as well. Well, you know, I like people that are very zealous, very fired up for God. I never want to zap anyone's fire. Never, never, never, never. All right. But sometimes due to zeal, people can be unbalanced in the Christian life. Or they're very extreme in one way, okay? But they forget some of the more important things or some of the other elements that gives the right stability and balance in life. The example that Jesus Christ just gave, that is perfect example. But I went to church, but I heard the preaching. I heard the word. Yeah, but you didn't do it. Like, yeah, it's good that you did those things, but you're missing out some other things that need to go along with that to make you balanced and strong and steadfast upon God's word. You know, sometimes certain doctrines can be out of balance. For example, let me give you a very clear example of this, which is something that I had to go through some years ago. But what about the doctrine of the Trinity? The very nature of God, who he is. You know, we can read in the Bible that there is one God. Amen. There is one God. And yet the Bible also tells us this one God is manifest, has manifest or revealed himself in three persons. And so the right balance would be, well, there's one God, all right? That there is no other being as he is. He is the only one. He is the almighty. He is the creator. There is only one God. But we can't neglect the fact that one God is three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. So that would be a balanced view. One God, three persons, the Trinity. You know, that's pretty much a foundational doctrine of Christianity. But here's what happens when you become unbalanced. Oh, three persons. Hmm. Well, I guess maybe there's two gods or three gods, right? Like the Mormons teach. There is the almighty God and Jesus is some lesser God. All right. There's multiple gods, polytheists. No, you're unbalanced. You've gone one way too far, right? Or, you know, that one God. Well, yeah, so the polytheistic or you go, because you're unbalanced on the three or you get unbalanced on the one. You say, well, there's only one. And so Jesus is not just a son, but Jesus is the Father and Jesus is the Holy Spirit. And now instead of polytheism, now you're teaching oneness or modalism. But modalism and polytheism, both heretical teachings, both damnable heresies, because you couldn't stay balanced on something, a doctrine that is so important to understand. There is one God. There is no other one like him. And that one God is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Jesus is not the Father. Jesus is the Son. Jesus is the Son of the Father. The Son is not the Father. The Father is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Son. Before you know it, if that's, you know, you take the view that Jesus is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. You're going to start teaching stupid things, like the Holy Spirit died on the cross for your sins. Or that God the Father was born of Mary. Now you start teaching heretical doctrines because you were unbalanced in your understanding of the scriptures. So that's an example that, you know, that I can give you that is real. There are people that believe in multiple gods. They believe in modalism or oneness. And they've taken elements that are kind of, you know, they're looking at verses that are true. One God and, you know, these three are one. They're taking the three, but they're going too far one way or the other. And they're not staying balanced in doctrine. But let me tell you about the common error that I come across since being a pastor. And I don't know if it's because I become a pastor of a certain circle of believers that this is a scenario. Or if this is something that is an issue amongst the larger portion of Christianity. I'm not sure because all I can say is that all I can talk about are the experiences that I've dealt with interacting with people. Well, this is the common error that I come across. If the Bible says that I must set his kingdom first, I want to put God's kingdom first in my life. And so what I'm going to do, pastor, I'm going to quit my job. I'm going to quit my job, you know, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job, whatever I have. And I'm going to commit myself to full time ministry. I'm going to commit myself to full time preaching the gospel, because I'm going to put God's kingdom first. And God promises me that I'm going to be clothed, I'm going to have food, and I'm going to have my drink necessary for my life. It's surprise. I don't know. Maybe that's you. Maybe you're thinking that this morning. I'm going to quit my job and go full time into just winning souls and everything is going to be taken care of me. You know, and look, it's not just like it's easier for single men to say such things, because they only have themselves to take care of. But sometimes married men, and sometimes married men with children will say something similar. Well, instead of working my 9 to 5 job, surely if I just go soloing all the days of my life, that God's going to take care of my family and kids. Now, let me ask you, is that being balanced? Is that understanding this passage in the proper way? Or is that an extreme unbalanced view in life? I want you to think about that just in your own mind. Is it balanced or is it being extreme? Now, there are reasons why people take that view. All right. If you can come with me quickly, come with me to Luke 18. Come with me to Luke 18. Luke 18 verse number 28. Luke 18, please. Luke 18. Let me give you where some people draw this idea from. All right. So in Luke 18, we have the ministry of Jesus Christ when he walked this earth. And he had disciples following after him. And then of course, from those disciples, he selected 12 that would become his apostles. And in Luke 18, Luke 18 verse number 28, it says here, Then Peter said, I want you to notice who said it, Peter. Then Peter said, lo, we have left all and followed thee. So we know Peter was a fisherman. And when Jesus came and asked him to follow him, we know that he gave up on the nets, right? He gave up on the fishing and became a fisher of men. Well, Peter says, lo, we have left all and followed thee. And so what I'm trying to say is these people that have that view, I'm just going to give up my full-time job. I'm going to give up working and just go into soul-winning ministry. They're taking it from this idea. Verse 129, And he said unto them, verily I say unto you, there is no man that have left house or parents or brethren or wife or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and in the world to come life everlasting. So Christ says, whatever you give up for the kingdom of God's sake, you're going to receive in return in abundance more. In fact, another passage of the Bible says 100 fold. Okay, more. Okay. That's a great return on your investment if you give yourself to the kingdom of God. And because Jesus Christ spoke there of parents, wives, and children, then people take that philosophy, ah, then I can give up on my job because I was looking after my wife and kids. I can now prioritize God's kingdom. All right. And they'll be fine. They'll be taken care of. They'll be just fine. I'm giving up on my wife. I'm giving up on my kids. I'm going to go and serve the Lord full-time and God's going to make sure they have everything that needs to be taken care of. Is that a balanced view? Now that's, those words are there, but how do we understand this, these words? You see, when it comes to Christ ministry on this earth, we don't have a lot of detail. We have some flashes here and there. We don't have a lot of detail of exactly how every disciple or apostle followed after Christ in terms of what is it that they left? How long did they leave it for? You know, uh, we don't have a lot of those details. We just, we have a, uh, a general, uh, view of it. I'll show you some of the passages in a moment, but some will say, well, I'll just neglect that part of my life, taking care of my family and get into full-time soul winning. And of course, it's all going to be taken care of only to find that it doesn't take care of their family needs. Okay. No need to find that. Hold on. Now I don't have the income. Now I don't have the ability to pay my bills. Now I don't have the ability to pay my rent or my mortgage, et cetera, et cetera. How is the Lord that I've given myself fully to your kingdom? And you know, these things are not being taken care of because it's not just His kingdom that you've got to prioritize, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. What do you mean pastor Kevin? Well, the Bible says, in fact, come with me, come with me to first Timothy, come with me to first Timothy chapter five, first Timothy chapter five, please. First Timothy chapter five. You need balance. You need both. His kingdom. Yes. Priority and His righteousness. What is righteousness? Now, obviously when it comes to our lives as believers, there are two things that we need to be mindful of. Our position before God. We know that. You're saved. All your sins have been paid for in the blood of Jesus Christ. You stand in Christ's righteousness. The new man never sins even when his flesh sins. The new man within us, the spirit that's been born in the spirit never sins. And so we stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When you die and go to heaven, if you've trusted Christ as your savior, God the Father will not reject you because you will stand in. You are as righteous as Christ is righteous. Okay. But we also have our walk. And in our walk, we get our feet dirty. In our walk, we commit sin. In our walk, we mess up and stumble and fall. And we can be unrighteous. You know what? God wants us to walk after righteousness, of course. But righteousness is essentially to do that which is right. Just in case you get confused that churchy word, righteousness. Just do what is right. If you do what is right, then you're fulfilling righteousness right there. Okay. In your walk. So when you get to a passage like 1 Timothy 5. And 1 Timothy, remember, it's a pastoral epistle. Paul is telling Timothy, Pastor Timothy, what to preach to his church. What you need to emphasize. What needs to be important. In 1 Peter 5, verse 8, it says, but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house, he have denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. If a man does not provide for his own, for his own family, if the family goes without their needs being met, that man has denied the faith is worse than an infidel. An infidel is an unbeliever. So a believer out of who should be looking after their own more than the other. The believer or the unbeliever. The believer, obviously. This is something that God instructs Timothy, you need to teach your church this. Men, we need to provide for our own. Okay. So what is the right thing to do? What is righteousness? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. What is the righteous thing to do if you're a family man with a wife and kids to make sure their needs are being met? Oh, I'm going to quit my job. That's what God wants you to do to provide for your own. That's the righteous thing to do. In fact, one of the 10 commandments about honoring the Sabbath day says, six days shalt thou labour. We don't even labour six days in Australia. We do five days and usually we're okay. Okay. But one of the commandments of God, one of his pieces of righteousness, of his righteous living, is labour. Men need to labour, to provide for their own. And if you don't provide for your own, you're worse than an unbeliever. You've denied the faith. Oh, but I thought I could just give up on my job and go soul winning full time and you'll take care of it, God. Yeah, you're prioritizing his kingdom, but you're unbalanced. You also have to prioritize his righteousness. You have to do what is right. You see, sometimes people take this view that, well, I know I'm a horrible husband. I know I'm a disaster of a father, but at least I go soul winning. So God's all right with me. I mean, go soul winning. Of course you should. But you're unbalanced if you think being a failure of a Christian is all justified because you win souls. It's wrong. Just like, well, if I go to church and I hear God's word, but I don't do it. Well, not doing it is not justified because you went to church. All right. You're unbalanced when you have this kind of mindset. I don't know. I mean, there's so many examples that I can't even think about them right now, but these are the things that kind of come up. People have this fire and the zeal to do something great. And I don't want to zap that zeal, but you're forgetting some other things that are also important. Like all the commandments we have in the Bible, of course, does not save you. Those commandments don't save you, but it's the righteousness by which God wants us to walk. You know, putting his kingdom first and his right, whatever it is. How we act as brethren in church, how we serve one another, how we work in our workplace, how we treat our wives and our children, our families, our neighbors, how we love our neighbors. You know, all of these aspects of life, every dynamic that you come across in life, you ought to be focusing on righteousness. See, you're prioritizing certain things, but you're forgetting that both these things are important. His kingdom and his righteousness is important in your life to make sure your bare necessities are being taken care of. Can you come with me to Mark 15? Mark 15. Mark 15, please. Mark 15. So, if the New Testament says we're not to, we're to provide for our own, okay, we're to labor and provide for our own, we're to work, you know, six days, shut that label, whatever it is, right? And then we have another passage where God says, if you, you know, you've left parents and wife and houses, you know, well, how do we understand this? You know, when the disciples got up and followed Jesus, did they just neglect their families? Did they just say, all right, honey, I'm not going to see you for a few, you know, three years or so, right? That's it, you know, just fend for yourself. Don't worry, you've been taken care of because I'm with Jesus, so it's all good, you know? Now, what I want you to recall, Peter's a good example, Peter's the one that asked the question, is that early in the ministry of Christ, now, if you read your, you know, if you know the story of the life of Christ, you know that he quite often would travel, his primary ministry was in Galilee, but Christ would travel into Judea, where Jerusalem was, of course, and he would travel through Samaria, in order to get through Samaria to Judea, you need, sorry, Galilee to Judea, you have to go through Samaria. Christ was constantly traveling between, you know, in his ministry. So when, let's say Peter, for example, is with his wife in Galilee, and then they travel down to say Samaria, Judea, and then they travel back to Galilee, do you think Peter did not go and see his wife? You think he just, oh, I'm in the area, but you know, I've left her though, right? It's all been taken care of. No, because early in the ministry of Christ, we have the example where Jesus walked into Peter's house and healed Peter's mother-in-law, meaning Peter's wife was there, right? It's not this complete neglection of the family that took place, is what I want you to understand. Number one, they're constantly going back, all right, to seeing the places that they've, you know, come from. And logically, if your wife is still at home and your kids are home, you would expect you'd pop in and say hello, right? Oh, your mom's sick? All right, let's get Jesus to come and see her and heal her or something like that, right? Like we already see that example there in the Bible. Secondly, if you can come with me to, sorry, I got you to turn there, right? Mark 15, did I tell you to turn there? I did, right? Look at Mark 15, verse number 40. And this is after Christ was crucified. He's on the cross and he's been crucified. The Bible says in Mark 15, 40. Mark 15, 40. There were also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses and Salome, look at verse 41, who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him and ministered unto him and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that there were women also, even the mother of James the Less and Joses, Salome, Salome in the book of Matthew appears to be the wife of Zebedee. You know who the sons of Zebedee are? James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Well, their mother also came along with them on their journeys in the ministry. And it says here that verse 41, who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him and ministered unto him. They also served in the ministry. They helped take care of the needs of Jesus and the disciples. And the reason we know this is true, you may recall the time in the ministry of Jesus, when the mother of James and John goes to Jesus and says, hey Jesus, when you go into a kingdom, can my son sit on your right hand and your left hand, can they be right close to you, Jesus Christ? She was there on the journey. Oh, but didn't they leave their parents? Well, hold on, if we start to look at the Bible as a whole, it seems like sometimes these family members came along on the journey. And it seems like at certain times they would pop into their homes and see their family members from time to time. There wasn't this complete neglect of the family. Oh, just quit the job, I'll just quit taking care of my family. It's all going to be taken care of if I just go full-time ministry past Kevin, continue soloing in all the days of my life. That's not even what happened in the ministry of Jesus Christ. So there is a balance to serve in the Lord. There is a proper balance to these things, but going one extreme or going the other extreme is crazy because you're going to stumble, you're going to fall, you're going to burn out and you may even deny the faith. Deny the faith and worse than an infidel. And the third thing, let me add one more third thing. Even if they left their families for a long period of time, it was only for three years. It wasn't for the rest of their lives. It was during the time that Christ was walking this earth. It's a short ministry, a three-year ministry. If you wanted to follow Christ, if you wanted to be in that ministry, you had to jump on board. If you said, oh, I'll just wait till I finish my apprenticeship, Jesus would be long and gone by then. You miss out, you want to get on and you want to serve Christ and walk with him, you better get on because that was a short-lived ministry and they would go from town to town, from place to place, and they weren't always in one location at one point in time. So where do we find the balance then? How is it that sometimes ministry will cause us to leave our houses and our parents and our wives and our children? Well, in many ways, I do this even today. I flew Thursday, preached at Blessed Up Baptist Church. I stayed in Sydney Friday, drove to Port Macquarie for the anniversary, Saturday soul winning there in Port Macquarie, Sunday preach there, came back Monday. All right, so let's say four full days where I was away from my family, away from my wife, away from my kids. I don't like it, you know, but yeah, you know, sometimes the ministry requires you to be present in other places or locations. And you know what, for those four days, I left my wife and I left my kids. But did I neglect them? Did I say, well, I'm just going to serve the Lord and it's all going to be okay with you? Of course, I'm still in touch with them. I'm still in contact with them, right? You know, in this day and age, it's easy to be able to travel and communicate and be in touch even if you're going to be away for a little bit of time. Every week that I travel to Blessed Up Baptist Church is more than a 24 hour period per week that I'm away from my family. You know, when we started this church, I left my house there in Sydney. I left my parents there in Sydney. I left my friends, I left my roots to come and start a church up here and to serve the Lord. But does that mean I just neglect my parents? Oh, they can just care for themselves. My dad's in his 80s now, just no. Because it's not just his kingdom first, it's his righteousness. And part of his righteousness is to honor mother and father. And so as my parents get elderly, I'm going to honor them. I'm going to make sure I'm there for them. If they need any help, if they need to get around, if they need help with documentation or whatever it is, whatever purposes, I'm going to try to be there and be a support to them. Even though I have, you know, ministry has caused me to leave them, but I haven't neglected them. See, and whatever it is that we've given up for the kingdom of God, for the kingdom of God will be multiplied for you in heaven. Great rewards, great riches in heaven. And I just want to serve the Lord. You know, I just want to put a smile on the Lord's face. But if I were to neglect my aging parents, if I were to neglect my wife and my kids, because I just got to go soul winning every day of my life, I'm not fulfilling his righteousness, am I? There are areas of my life that I'm not complete, I'm not balanced. So even in the examples of Jesus Christ, yeah, they did leave house. They did leave wives. What that's essentially saying is that when you get into full-time ministry, your life dynamics are going to be changed completely. Your priorities of life are going to be changed completely. That doesn't mean you neglect everything that you know you ought to do in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Can you come with me to Matthew 19? Come with me to Matthew 19. Can you come with me to Matthew 19? Come with me to Matthew 19. Matthew 19. You get into full-time ministry, it's going to change your life, honestly. It's so different. It's kind of scary. And you're stepping out in faith probably more so than you ever have before. It's kind of crazy, right? You leave a lot of that security of that full-time job, right? That Monday to Friday, you know you're going to get your paycheck at the end of the week and you're stepping out in faith and saying, Lord, with whatever resources I have, whatever it is I need to give up, whatever it is I need to do, Lord, you know, I'm ready to step up. But Lord, at the same time, I'm seeking your kingdom first, but I'm also seeking your righteousness first. See, if I stepped into this position as a pastor and my family is suffering. Now, of course there are challenges, don't get me wrong. Everyone has challenges, but I'm talking about like suffering. Their basic needs are not being met. I'm neglecting my kids, right? I'm being a horrible husband. I'm being a horrible father, whatever it is. Then I would say to you guys, guys, I'm not fulfilling the righteousness that I need to fulfill. It may appear that I'm putting God's kingdom first, but in many ways I'm not balanced. I need to make sure my kids have what they need. I need to make sure they've got their education, the food, the wisdom of God in their lives, to make sure they're being dealt with, looked after physically and spiritually and mentally. Make sure my wife has a life partner that we committed to till death do us part. You know, if I'm not fulfilling these very basic things, then I'm not really putting God's kingdom first or his righteousness. And so you've got to find that balance. And everyone's life is different. Everyone's family is different. Everyone's family is different sizes. But look at Matthew 19, that idea of I just give up on everything and get into ministry. Is that something God wants us to do? Well, in a very small minority, yes. Matthew 19 11, and he said unto them, all men cannot receive this same, save they to whom it is given. This saying that we're about to look at is something only some can receive, some men. Not all men can receive the same, save the day to whom it is given. This is something God gives to certain men. Until this day, I've not yet met one of these men, which says in verse number 12, for there are some eunuchs which are so born from their mother's womb. And there are some eunuchs which were made the eunuchs of men. And there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Pastor, is there somebody that can give themselves wholly to God's kingdom and desire to be a eunuch as it were? A eunuch is a man who is unable to obviously fulfill his obligations, you know, as a husband, or obligations of becoming a father. So you're neglecting family, you're neglecting wife, you're neglecting kid, like not that you're neglecting a wife you have, but you're not going to give yourself into marriage. You have no desire to be physically intimate with a woman. You have no desire to have children to procreate. If God has given you that ability, then you can receive it. And your whole life can be completely given for the kingdom of heaven, let's say kingdom of heaven's sake. You don't have to prioritize anything else, it's just you. Take care of myself, focus on myself and put God's kingdom first. And I'm going to the Fiji's and the Philippines full-time pastor, you know, can you help support me a little bit as a church? Yeah, probably. But I've not yet come across this person. It's quite interesting because when I come across someone that says, pastor, I want to give up on all that I do. I'm going to quit my job. I'm sure it's all going to be taken care of. And I'm going to give myself fully to the kingdom of heaven's sake. I'm like, are you a eunuch? Maybe you are. But if you're married, you're not. I can tell you that if you're married or not. But, and I say, do you have a desire to get married one day? Do you have a desire to have a companion life? To procreate? To have the physical intimacy that should be in marriage? Oh yeah, then it's not for you. You need to get a job. All right, you need to prepare yourself for your future, for your family. You need to fill all righteousness not neglecting the kingdom. You can still focus on the kingdom of God, but you're not the eunuch. And so you got people that actually do want to get married one day, that do want that physical intimacy one day, but they also want to live the life of eunuch. No, you're not balanced. You're one or the other. Come with me to another passage. I want to show this further. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. See, a lot of the zeal, a lot of that desire comes from looking at the example of Paul, the apostle in the New Testament. And boy, Paul is an exciting figure to look at and study and to learn from. Of course. Okay, and there's a lot of good patterns by which we can pattern ourselves as a church. Paul started many New Testament churches. He's a great example. He was able to do much things for God. But you know, Paul was not married. Paul did not have children. Paul would not qualify as a pastor, according to the qualifications of a bishop found in Timothy and Titus. But he could serve as an apostle. And he says these words in 1 Corinthians 7, 32. 1 Corinthians 7, 32. But I would, but I would have you without carefulness. So he goes, he's talking to people. He says, look, I would love it if you didn't have to care for a lot of things. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. And he's talking about his own situation. He's an unmarried man. His focus in life is just to please the Lord. His focus in life is not, can I buy a house? Do I need to take care of a wife and kids? That's not his focus in life. His focus is just to please the Lord. And then he says in verse 33, but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. Aren't I to please the Lord? Of course, but you please the Lord by pleasing your wife. Of course, if you're married, you have other priorities in your life, other things of importance. You can't just give it all up and think it's all going to work out. You're not balanced if that's your approach. Verse number 34, there is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. It operates the same way for a woman. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy, both in body and in spirit, but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Oh, I'm just going to give it all up. Give up my family. It's all going to be taken care of. It's all fine. No, you're married. If you're putting God's kingdom first and his righteousness, his righteousness is that you take care of your wife and for the woman that is married. The righteousness that you ought to do, the right thing for you to do is to make sure that you please your husband. Husbands belong to their wives and wives belong to their husbands. And guess what? As a pastor, in order to be a pastor, I had to fulfill the qualifications of being a married man to one wife, having faithful children. So what does that mean? Does that mean I give up on everything and only focus on, I don't know, churchy business? No, no, I've got to make sure I please my wife as well. I've got to make sure I take care of my family. Could you imagine being a pastor and being worse than an infidel? Worse than an unbeliever because I don't provide for my own. What kind of pastor would that be? It's like, what? You can't take care of your own family and you're trying to take care of the house of the Lord? You know, the very training grounds to take care of the house of the Lord is that you can take care of your own house first and that you do a good job at that job. Not that you just have a wife and kids, but that you have a happy marriage, that you have faithful children that are obedient to mom and dad, all right? And so I want to make sure that people have this right balance and like there's so many areas of life. I'm just giving you the one that I come across the most. There's so many other areas of life that I just want to serve the Lord here, but yeah, but you've got these other things that you've got to do, but that's not so important. That's not God's kingdom, but it's His righteousness is what it is. God wants you to be righteous. God wants you to keep your vows, your commitments. All right, I've given examples like this before. If you, I don't know, you sign a job contract and the job contract says, you know, when you're going to resign from employment, you need to give a month's notice. And you're like, I don't care about a month's notice. I'm going out. That's it. I'm going to go serve the Lord. No, you fulfill all righteousness. You made a commitment. You sign that paperwork. You say you're going to give a month's notice. Give you a month's notice. You're not fulfilling all righteousness here. There's so many examples that I like. Honestly, there's so many things, you know, I want you to think about what I'm trying to say. I'm trying to think of the principle at least. Maybe the whole, I quit everything and just go into full time. This is not you. I know that's not, but here's a lot of people that want to do that or have said things like that. But maybe there are other areas in your life that you realize, hold on, am I being balanced here? I'm so sure I'm just going to serve the Lord. Yeah, but what are you giving up? The things that God's asking you to do though. Are you in balance in your walk? Are you putting His kingdom first and His righteousness? It's impossible to put His kingdom first without the righteousness. It's impossible to do all the righteousness without putting His kingdom first. These two things must come together in order for you to be a balanced Christian and for God to ensure that He takes care of your most basic needs. Can you come with me to Luke 13? Luke 13. I hope this sermon makes sense. I hope I'm trying to be as clear as I can here and it's not causing any confusion. I'm all for, someone says, asked, I want to get into full-time ministry one day. Great, great. But you've got to be righteous in all areas of your life. Luke 13, please, Luke 13. So if we're to put God's kingdom first, for example, we want to understand what God's kingdom is. And in Luke 13, Jesus Christ gives these stories here, these parables, I guess you could call them. Luke 13, 18. Luke 13, 18. Then said He, then said Jesus, unto what is the kingdom of God like? And where unto shall I resemble it? So Jesus says, all right, how do I explain the kingdom of God to my disciples? How can I resemble it? How can I help them understand this with illustrations? He says in verse number 19, it is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and cast into his garden and it grew and waxed a great tree and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. Let me help you understand that. There are three aspects to this kingdom. There's the seed. There's the tree. There's the branches where the birds lodge themselves or make nests. Verse number 20, and again he said, where unto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven or kind of like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened. Oh, three. Like three measures, like three kilograms of flour, which takes three kilograms of flour, for example, and adds some yeast to it and it all becomes whole. So even though there is an element of three, yet it's still one whole kingdom as it were. Just like the seed, the seed gets thrown. Can't see the seed, but it grows into a tree. That tree eventually has its branches and the birds come and lodge themselves into those branches. There's an element of three always in the kingdom of God. You know, this probably has something to do with the Trinity as well. I think it does to some extent. But this is how God explains the kingdom of God. Now come with me to Luke 17. Come with me to Luke 17. You're in Luke 13. Come with me to Luke 17. There are three elements, three phases, if you want to call that, to the kingdom of God. Is the kingdom of God present today, March, 2025? Is it present with us today, this kingdom of God? Well, it kind of depends on how you view the kingdom of God. If, you know, some people say, well, the kingdom is when Christ rules for a thousand years and that is his kingdom, of course. But is that kingdom present today though? Is Christ physically and literally ruling on this earth today? No, he's not. But even though that's not taking place, let me assure you the kingdom of God is present with us here in 2025. What it says here in Luke 17, Luke 17 verse number 20, and when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say lo here or lo there, for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Oh, the kingdom of God is within you. Is the kingdom of God present in 2025? Of course it is. If you're saved, it's within you. It's like that mustard seed. Once when it gets sown, you can't even see it. It's there inside of you. Okay. And the one that dwells within you, of course, is the Holy Spirit of God. All right. So if I'm to put God's kingdom first, well, let's think about that. If God's kingdom is within me, the new man, the Holy Ghost that dwells within me, I'm to walk in the spirit, then what are we prioritizing in that phase of God's kingdom as it were? We're prioritizing our walk with God, right? We're prioritizing our testimony. Our righteousness, the fruit of the spirit within us, what God is trying to make us into, allowing God to take us and prune us and become the Christians that he wants us to be. The changes need to take place here in my heart, in my mind, how I think, how I behave, how I treat people, the dynamics of life that I have to deal with. Well, yeah, I'm going to prioritize that. You know what? Instead of criticizing everybody else for their wrong, I'm going to start looking at myself, start focusing on the wrongs that I have, get that fixed up in Christ Jesus, because the kingdom is within me. Well, we also know that one day Christ is going to return and he's going to rule on this earth for a thousand years. And that thousand years is going to be awesome. We're going to rule and reign with Christ, a perfect government under the laws of God, all nations under Christ. How good is that? How good is that? So I want to prioritize that as well. How would that become a priority for me? How can I put that first in my life? Well, I can turn around and say, you know what? On this earth sometimes there are good governments, sometimes there are wicked governments, sometimes there are righteous kings and sometimes there are unrighteous kings and society is always like this, good and bad. And hopefully in the United States, things have turned a corner. Looks like things are getting better a little bit. I hope so, I don't know. But if I'm putting God's kingdom first, then I know that no earthly government will ever bring the righteousness of God on this earth. I cannot have my hopes and dreams and my ambitions in princes and politicians and men of authority. They're going to fail me. Sometimes there's good, sometimes there's bad. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Boundaries change and there are wars and you know, the hopeful peace, maybe there'll be times of peace that are short-lived. Ever since I've been born, there's always been a war somewhere. There's always been someone fighting from one nation to another nation or just within their own nation, people killing themselves. So my hope for peace is not going to be really on this earth. I know that one day there's going to be 1,000 years of peace under Christ Jesus. And so my hope for a godly and righteous government will come with Christ. And I'm not going to worry about the affairs of man all that much. I'm going to just keep serving the Lord. I'm going to focus on His righteousness regardless of how wicked this world is or how righteous this world becomes. You know, it's not going to change how I live my life for Christ Jesus. So that's another way that you can put God's kingdom first is thinking about the 1,000 year reign of Christ. And then, you know, you realize, oh, these politicians, these presidents, these prime ministers are just men and they're just sinners and they're probably not going to do the best for us in the long run. But anyway, I'm looking forward to the coming of Christ. And then you can read it in your own time. In 1 Corinthians 15, 24, at the end of the 1,000 years, you need to turn there in your own time, read it. When Christ gives the kingdom to the Father, when all authority is put on the Christ, He hands the kingdom to the Father. And at the end of the 1,000 years, the Father creates a new heaven and a new earth. Now it's all under the Heavenly Father. The first phase of the kingdom is within us the Holy Spirit. The second phase is Christ on this earth. The third phase is the Father who creates a new heaven and a new earth. So we can turn to a passage like 2 Peter. Come with me to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3, please. 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 11. You see this first earth and this first heaven is not going to last forever. Okay? And in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse number 11, it says, Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? So how should we behave? How should we conduct ourselves? Should we give out our attention and focus on amassing great wealth on this earth? All of it's going to get dissolved. All of it's going to burn. All of it. Your favorite car, your favorite house, your favorite possessions, all the things you're nostalgic about. One day it's all going to be burnt up. It's all going to dissolve. So what kind of person should we be in light of that? Should we give our hearts to the riches and the wealth of this earth? No, it's all going to burn. It's not going to last forever, is it? It says in verse number 12, Looking for and hasten unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. God, we're going to lose it all. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Ah, that's better. I'm going to make sure I prioritize the things that hold eternal value wherein dwelleth righteousness. I'm going to put God's kingdom first and his righteousness. And as much as I need to live on this earth, my heart and my attention are not on carnal things, but on eternal things. The third phase of the kingdom is the new heaven, new earth. Like the birds that lodge into the branches, that new heaven, new earth will have a heavenly Jerusalem where the saints of God will lodge themselves into that city, that heavenly city. And God wants us to put all these things first and his righteousness. When we understand that, then the way we conduct ourselves, the way we live in our lives, will be a lot more balanced and less extreme. Okay. Now, one more passage, please. One more passage. Come with me to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. Let's talk about his righteousness very quickly, just to touch upon it. In Ephesians 5, verse number 8. Ephesians 5, verse number 8. Like I said, we have our position, which is always righteous in Christ Jesus, but we have our walk and we're not always right. We mess up when we walk in our Lord. We can break fellowship. If we walk in darkness, we know all those passages. We need to confess our sins before him. But Ephesians 5, verse 8, it says, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. So notice that's your position. Ye are light in the Lord. That's your position, but then you'll walk. So because you're in that light, walk as children of light. There's two elements, your position and your walk. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. There it is. How do we determine if we're walking in righteousness? We need to prove if it's acceptable in the Lord. I'm going to give up on my wife and kids and I'm not going to provide for them. Is that acceptable unto the Lord though? Have you understood the passages properly? Have you looked at the Bible as a whole or you're taking a very extreme view at this point in time and forgetting the righteousness? Is it proven with God? Whatever decision of life you need to take, prove it. God, what do you have to say about this? Oh God, you're in favour. Oh God, you command such, therefore I know it's righteous and I'm going to walk in your righteousness. I'm putting first your kingdom God and your righteousness. Oh, but what is righteous? It's stopping me from serving his kingdom. No, it can't be. These two must go together. It's not, they're not mutually exclusive. Is that right? They come together. All right, so brethren, my title for the sermon is His Kingdom and His Righteousness. And I just get so concerned because there's people that are zealous and on fire for God and want to do the right thing. They want to do the right thing, but you do what is right. That's what it means to do the right thing. You know, you don't neglect everything and just chase one thing. It's all. Oh, I just give myself wholly to sermons. Pastor, I listen to 100 sermons per week. Do you do them? You're not balanced. How do you even remember 100 sermons a week? I can't even do like, if you just gave me one sermon a week, do all of one sermon every single week, that's even hard to do. So it's a line upon line, precepts upon precepts, here a little, there a little. That's how we grow. That's how we stay stable, balanced, right? Without taking these extreme views. All right, brethren, I hope that kind of makes sense. I hope that's helpful for you this morning. Let's end in a word of prayer.