A Bridal Relationship - Part 2 — Zac Poonen

Jesus’ Teaching on Seeking in the Sermon on the Mount

When Jesus began his ministry, sorry, when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, the first sermon in the New Testament, that's the longest sermon, he speaks there also about seeking. And I want you to turn to that.

The Worldly Pursuit of Material Things

The first time that word seek comes in the New Testament, in connection with what we were just considering. Jesus said in verse 32, the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. Gentiles means non-Christians in today's language.

People who don't know the Lord, who don't know the Bible. The non-Christians, the people in the world, let's say the people in the world, eagerly seek for some things. And when we say non-Christians, it's not exactly a right word, because 90 of Christians are also Gentiles.

They're not really disciples of Jesus Christ. They eagerly seek. What do the worldly people eagerly seek? See, everybody in the world is seeking for something, and we can ask ourselves, what do the people in the world eagerly seek for?

Because Jesus spoke about it. All these things the Gentiles eagerly seek for. Here he spoke about, verse 31, about food and clothing. And we can certainly say that those people in the world eagerly seek for rich food and rich clothing.

It's a big thing for them. Maybe women more than men, they're never satisfied with the number of clothes they have. They always go, wherever they go, they want to go shopping and buying, even though they've got plenty.

And food. You know, wherever money comes, you find a multiplying of all types of restaurants, because that's what they want. Food and clothing shops. All these things the Gentiles eagerly seek, and that's not all.

In order to get those things, they need money. So you have to first seek for money before you can go to all those fancy restaurants and buy all that fancy clothing. So they are seeking out for money. And very often to get money, you need a position or power.

Then you make money. You know, be a politician or some big shot. And so they seek for position and honor and money. All these things the Gentiles seek. What about us who are supposed to be disciples? And the Lord asks us a very searching question today.

Seeking First the Kingdom of God

If He were to stand before you today and you're standing before Him, stripped of all the religious outward pretense, and He asks you, what are you seeking down in the depth of your heart? What are you seeking?

He said, this is what you should be seeking, verse 33. This is what Christians, disciples should be seeking. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all the other things that you need will be added to you.

He will add to you exactly how much you need. See, I've discovered that through the years, I have really, God is my witness, I've really tried to live by verse 33 for many, many years now. And I've discovered that God regulates how much I get.

That's very good because if I have too little, I may be thinking all the time about it. If I have too much, I may be lavish. And also, He knows when to give us. See, I'll tell you, one of the great fears I have these days is of young people earning such a fantastic amount of money.

They don't know how to spend it. I'll tell you honestly, I'm so thankful that when I was a young person, I did not earn the type of money a lot of young people are earning today. I mean, if you're really spiritual and wholehearted, it can't touch you.

Learning Contentment in Prosperity and Poverty

You know, like the Apostle Paul said, I know how to be rich and I know how to be poor. I know how to abound in prosperity and I know how to get along with very little. But you've got to get to Paul's level to be able to say that.

Not everybody can handle that. Most people tend to seek God when they have need, when they have some type of pressure and they tend to be more careful. Isn't it true that when we get more money, we tend to be more careless with money?

It doesn't mean much to us. So I'm really scared when I see the way a lot of young people are earning today. But if we leave it to God, if I seek God's kingdom first and His righteousness, that's the passion of my heart.

Deep Communion With God

In other words, the deep within me calls out unto the deep of God. Let me show you that verse in case you don't know where it is. It's in Psalm 42 and verse 7. Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls.

You know, so something within me calls out to God in response to His call for me. And so I have a very deep connection with God. If I'm seeking what He has told me to seek, seek His kingdom first and His righteousness.

And it's obvious from these passages that I should not be seeking those things which the Gentiles are seeking. But the Lord knows that I need them. He said that here very clearly. Your heavenly father, verse 32, knows that you need these things.

Trusting God as a Heavenly Father

Why do the Gentiles seek them? Because they have no heavenly father. I mean, think if here are two, say, eight-year-old children, two eight-year-old boys. One has a very rich father and the other is an orphan.

Father and mother are both dead. The one who is an orphan, he has to go seeking for so many things. He has to seek for a place to stay. He's got to seek for food. He's got to find a job. At the age of eight.

But the one who's got a rich father and mother, his father knows what he needs. And his father provides. That's the contrast here in verse 32. The people of the world are orphans. They don't have anybody to care for them.

So they have to go seeking. You know, you see these small boys going picking up things from the garbage bin and going here and seeking for food and seeking for something or the other. That's a picture of the world.

Of everybody in the world. They're seeking, seeking, seeking. And in the midst of it is the child of God. He's got a rich father in heaven. His father, your father knows that you need those things, which these people are seeking for.

Your father knows that you need those things. That orphan has to go seeking for it. But this person is not an orphan. And it's in such situations that we really discover whether our knowledge of God as a father is only theory, only a ritual where we say, Father.

In fact, most Christians don't even pray to the Father. Jesus said, when you pray, say, Our Father in heaven. Most Christians don't even pray to the Father. I'm not saying it's wrong to pray to Jesus.

You can pray Lord Jesus, that's fine. But it probably indicates that you don't know the Father. You know, the Bible doesn't teach that Jesus is our father. Jesus said, My father and your father. And supposing your father died and you had a good elder brother, very good elder brother.

It's not the same as having a father. I'll tell you that. You can have a very good elder brother who cares for you, but it's not the same as having a father.