welcome to session two of our series kingdom disciples heaven's representatives on earth in this session we want to deal with the primary concern of discipleship they stated clearly in Matthew 6:33 seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness you know all these things will be added to you God's primary concern is his kingdom God's kingdom is his rule and he wants his kingdom to be first God can do a lot of things but one of the things he can't do is be second North in his rule in second and when you learn to prioritize his rule and his standards you get the benefits of discipleship so let's find out what first really looks like what it looks like when his kingdom is front and center in your life my favorite place to go is New York City on vacation I love the glitz and the glitter and the all the cuisine is Broadway and just every kind of person from all around the world love to go to New York well my wife goes with me and we're on vacation she loves New York too particularly Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue aware all the fancy stores are and that's where her favorite story is sex Saks Fifth Avenue it's known for its display windows if you go there during Christmas time you will see magnificent displays that capture the attention of people gathered all around people line all the way around the building to see the displays during the normal year those display windows are filled with mannequins better known as dummies these are good-looking mannequins well-dressed mannequins in fact I saw a mannequin one day sitting in a Ferrari I mean they they do it up in Saks Fifth Avenue windows now the reason why they do this with the mannequins they make this display with the dummies it's because sex with Avenue knows that dummies like us walking up Fifth Avenue you see what they want their mannequin to achieve is to draw me off the street to draw us off the street into a kingdom called sex they want the ones they have put on display to be advertisement so that once drawn off the street there's floor after floor after floor after floor of so much more to offer God has Kingdom disciples who he wants to put on public display because of their identification in baptism to be an attraction to the kingdom of God God's concern is the advertisement of his kingdom oh yeah it starts with conversion but then it moves to kingdom rule and so the concept of being a kingdom disciple is to be a Christian a believer who is progressively participating in the process of learning what it is to live all of life under the lordship rulership kingship of Jesus Christ and so I want to give you now the master key to being a kingdom disciple if you get this key then you will be able to lock or unlock all the doors of your world and your life will learn about it later but it's called binding and loosing permitting or forbidding that is exercising kingdom authority what is this master key that will like my master kid at our church or at the urban alternative our national ministry that means that it unlocks every door because it's a master key if you do not understand or operate with the master key then you got to find individual keys and try to see what works where so I'm gonna give you the master key for every lock of your life every door of your circumstance Jesus preached a sermon it is the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who's ever preached Jesus Christ and you know it well it's called the Sermon on the Mount and as he proclaims the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 - Matthew chapter 7 he gives the master key to his kingdom message in Matthew 6:33 he simply says seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you most people today have smartphones and they usually have a password that will give you access to a whole world of information a whole world of data in this small phone once you use the right password you gain access to more than you could ever imagine because it houses the world in this device God in this one verse situated in this one sermon has given the master key the primary concern that you should have as a kingdom disciple to seek ye first the kingdom now we've already said the kingdom is God's divine rule the theme of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about one subject one of the reasons that people have trouble making sense of all the different things that the Bible is talking about is because they do not understand the one subject of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation the one subject of the Bible is the glory of God through the advancement of his kingdom that is the one subject although it is reflected in different ways in different times two different groups of people but it's about this rule of God this overarching program in history where God would express his rule through mankind before men in understanding that you are to seek pursue this kingdom you are pursuing is rule that's why we talk so much about the kingdom in our ministry the urban/alternative kingdom man kingdom woman raising kingdom kids kingdom marriage and now kingdom disciples because it's all about the rule of God God would call all the men together three times a year according to Exodus chapter 34 verses 23 and 24 he tell all of men leave the women and children home I just want all the males and and all the men and it uses three different Hebrew names for God Elohim Yahweh and Adonai and he says I want all the men to come under my roof under my rule and he says if I can get all the men to come under my roof and under my rule I'm gonna send you back to your family and send you back to your your homes and when I send you back you will be covered you will be protected and no nation will be able to take what you have because you've listened to the Lord your God when God created Adam he gave him instructions on how he was to rule Satan's job is to remove us from the pursuit of the kingdom once you're in the kingdom because you've accepted Christ he can't do anything about that but as long as you are going to heaven and you're no good for Earth he'll live with that because he knows there'll be no impact there'll be no influence there'll be no difference made the Bible is about pursuing this kingdom I used to be chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys my son has taken over that role since he finished his NFL step and and now he's he's now the chaplain and when I was chaplain I was chaplain doing the Roger Staubach Tony Dorsett Drew Pearson era and I would go out and I would literally work out with the team okay this was a way of me living my dream and so I would go and I would what literally workout so Roger Staubach sin practice would throw me passes as they got in the passing line and I would just be having a great time out there that's Chapel another team asked chaplain I learned some of the plays as chaplain I learned some of the plays and one particular play was what we call a fly pattern a fly pattern is where the quarterback receives the ball he backs up and the receiver one straight down the field seeking to outrun the defender and he hurls it in the air in order to score a touchdown in one play it's called a fly pattern to score a touchdown in one play but many times many times the defense the other team is what we call blitzing blitz the play now blitz for you non football people is where the linebacker or defensive back pauses waits and then tries to come in quickly to tackle the quarterback before he has a chance to throw the ball to score a touchdown in one play well God called a kingdom play and he called the kingdom play to Israel and Israel would be his kingdom community through which he would reach the whole world they were to be lights to the whole world the problem is Satan blitz the play he came in and he got the Jewish leaders to reject Jesus Christ to say crucify him so that they did not get the kingdom that Jesus came to offer all through the Gospels Jesus says I have come to preach the kingdom of God the kingdom of God is at hand I'm right in your midst let's get this Kingdom thing working where I'm ruling on behalf of my father over a whole earth through Israel but Satan blitz the play but when I was working out with the Cowboys they had alternative scheme if a blitz occurred if a blitz occurred there was what they called a waggle now a waggle is where the halfback peels off to the side so that if the quarterback gets in trouble because the enemy has blitz the play he becomes an alternative option to the original signal called so when Roger Staubach saw he did not have time to throw the touchdown in one play because this blitz this other team was getting ready to tackle him he would turn to the side and shuttle the pass over to the halfback who had just peeled off to the side as another option but the option was to accomplish the same goal the first goal was a touchdown to the receiver but because of the blitz the goal now was a touchdown through the running back well God called a kingdom touchdown pass to Israel Satan bits blitz the play but God had a waggle what God did was he called the church into being and the church would be the new mechanism through which he would express his kingdom rule in history until such time he renewed it with his people Israel so you are God's waggle you and I making the Church of Jesus Christ when he said he'd hand the kingdom over to another group of people that's you and I so you and I are God's waggle we are his official representatives to represent his presence his person and his authority in history he says I want you to seek or pursue My Kingdom seek the kingdom pursue the kingdom and pursue the righteousness of the kingdom the righteousness are the standards by which the kingdom operates the rules by which the kingdom works God's kingdom does not often follow the rules of the culture God's kingdom does not often follow the rules of popular opinion God's kingdom does not often follow the rules of what society views it as views as acceptable in fact you and I are living in a day when the rules are changing at warp speed when things that we have cherished are being either rejected or redefined the tragedy is when Christians are adopting the rules of the opposing teams in the culture and not the standards that emanate from God let me say this clearly God has spoken and he has not stuttered there are two answers to every question God's answer and everybody else's and everybody else is wrong when they disagree with God and that's why the key word in this phrase is the word first seek ye first the kingdom of God and let me say it again cuz some you didn't hear me first there are certain things God can't do I know we're used to saying God can do everything but let me tell you some things God can't do God can't sin okay he cannot commit a sin he can bear our sin but he cannot commit a sin because he's perfect in all of his ways the Bible says God cannot sin so that's something God can't do let me tell you something else God can't do he can't be second it can't be second he must be first all through the Bible you see this word first bring me the firstfruits return to your first love that Jesus Christ might have first place in everything when Jesus was talking to folks he wanted to follow in discipleship and they said well I got to go back and bury my father first Jesus says no you first pursue this kingdom you first pursue the kingdom of God the reason why we're not experiencing more of God's Authority is that a second third fourth fifth six seven eight nine ten he's not first and it can't be second I'll sure I have no other God before me I must be first first in your priorities first in your passions and most importantly first in your decisions many people many Christians come to God because nothing else has worked and he is the last resort they have not sought him first in their decisions a lot of people are baseball fans I'm not a baseball guy okay it moves a little bit too slow for me yeah it moves a little bit too slow for me but baseball is America's sporting and you know it's a lot of people just love baseball now in baseball when you hit the ball you got to go to first base if you miss first base the fact that you touch second third and home plate is irrelevant because they will throw you out because the whole deal is you got a touch first-base first for all the other bases to matter the other bases don't matter if you miss first he says I want you to seek first the rule of God that simple shifting of priority to say God you're thinking on a matter will be my first thing I go to my first perspective to try to understand my first action to take shifts how God can relate to you because now it is clear God is not just one number among many he is your priority and why shouldn't he be given who he is if he's the king if you found out that the president wanted to meet with you regardless of your political persuasion a lot of things would adjust a lot of preparation would change because the head of states wanted to meet with you if he called you and said I'm in your town and I want to meet with you right away I'm sure schedules would adjust I'm sure schedules were changed why because the head of state has said I need to meet if we do that if we do this for a human potentate president a head of state how much more should our response to Jesus Christ not be first and not be at the top of the list and if we could get Christians to put God in the front of the line rather than in the middle or the back of the line they would see much more of God at work in their life if they would approach what God says about a subject first and not what their neighbors say not even what their mates say not even how they feel let me give you an illustration the world fell into sin because Adam disobeyed God Adam is the one blamed for the fall of the human race not Eve Adam sorry man Adam Adam is blamed we talk about what Adam did the ate of the forbidden fruit but we don't often talk about why Adam did it what led Adam to rebel against God is he chose his wife over God his emotional attachment to Eve see Eve ate the fruit he brought the fruit to him so he has a decision to make will my love for my wife trump Mike obedience first to God so God wants to be first even over our emotions and our relationships so this thing first is no small thing he says seek ye first his rule his kingdom and his standards his righteousness and then he comes with a kingdom promise because this whole sermon is about the kingdom he comes with a kingdom promise and all these things will be added to you this whole passage in Matthew 6 starts off with an instruction to not worry okay don't be anxious what you shall eat what you shall drink the clothes that you wear he says you've never seen a bird with it also no you never seen a bird bleeding because this is worried you don't see you know you don't see flowers unclothed he says nature understands God better than Christians because he's talking to his disciples he says innate nature understands how this works okay you know the Bible says God feeds the birds right but you've never seen a bird sitting on a branch with its beak open waiting for worms to drop from heaven they go worm hunting but the point is they assume that God has a worm so they go get what has been provided what he says is learn a lesson from nature learn a lesson from the from from the kingdom of animals and birds and flowers he says aren't you more valuable than they and then it comes to this Kingdom message he leads into it by saying look you're happily father already knows you need these things so this is not an information-gathering situation this is a priority situation seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things what things the things that God has pre-planned for your life for you to experience and have only as a Kingdom disciple a visible verbal full-time representative of Jesus Christ can you expect to receive all that God has determined for you to have because you're operating under his rule when you buy an appliance they give you a warranty the warranty says for this period of time we have you covered if something's not working out call us and we will respond because this is our product and we want to look good with our customers and we will make the provision so that this product is working for you but will what they will not warranty is abusing the product you take a hammer and start slamming it and pick it up and start throwing it down you've negated the warranty because you've misused the product see a lot of people call on God to fix broken stuff in their life a lot of cultures call on God when they can't fix what's happening in their environment and then they wonder why they're not hearing from heaven when the answer is you Domestos the product you've not sought first the kingdom of God you just want him to fix up your mess up but you have not handled the product of his kingdom the way he has prescribed by means of his righteousness is standard and therefore it shouldn't surprise you that all these things aren't coming together because you are destroying what I've asked you to represent you're not representing me well all these things will be added to you and when all these things are added to you guess what he says he will remove from you weary he says I will take away your weary you won't have to worry anymore why because I got your back you know when I was growing up in Baltimore Maryland a lot of times we didn't have food and because my father didn't get work he was a longshoreman he loaded and unloaded ships and if the ship didn't come in or his group wasn't called he wouldn't work and sometimes that were going for days weeks and months but I never went to bed worried my congregation knows and people who have heard us on the radio know I don't eat fish I don't eat fish of any kind and the reason I don't eat fish is because when my father didn't have work he went fishing to feed the family and the fish he caught was herring herring a little fish with a billion bones and all of them are small so when my father didn't have work we had herring for breakfast herring for lunch and herring for dinner with some herring thrown in for dessert we had more fish so I don't eat fish today because I've never recovered from Harry but still I never went to bed worried cuz my eating the next day was daddy's problem and I know daddy had me covered and so even though things weren't going well it would be daddy's responsibility to make sure his family had something to eat God says if you operate in my kingdom under my rule according to my standards then what I will do is I will cover you because you put me first if you accept Christ you're in the kingdom but now he's not talking about being in it he's talking about operating under it that's why he attaches his righteousness to the kingdom it's not just being in it because you're saved it's being under it because his standards rule may you take the master key unlock the doors of every area of your life and go to sleep at night knowing that your daddy the king is coming you you