THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Text: Matthew 6:33INTRO:•Can you say you are pursuing peace, joy, quietness?•Did you get what you were pursuing?•If we are just honest enough to admit, peace, joy, quietness, always seem to elude our grasp.

• It is because we have been deceived that those qualities can be acquired through the things we possessed.

AIM:• For us to know the fruit of

righteousness, and by knowing we become sincere of our pursuit for it.

I. ACTUAL LIFE OF MANY CHRISTIANS TODAY

• Our real life doesn’t coincide with our knowledge with God and His promises.

• Psalm 73:1 A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God [is] good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart.

• Psalm 73:2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped.

• Psalm 73:3 For I [was] envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

• It is His promise that all these shall be added

• Many of us live beyond our means, spending more than we earn

• We buy expensive gadgets, designer clothes we can’t afford for the sake of keeping up or showing up

• NEED, AFFORDABLE, WANTS budget

• The reason for all this is we are obsessed with things.

• Water is a thing, food is thing, clothing is a thing, house is a thing, money is a thing.

• Pursuit of things destroys us. • Our obsession with things is a

hunger we will never satisfy.

• As long as we pursue thing we will never know true peace, joy, and contentment.

• To be delivered from our slavery with things, we must be pursuing the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

II. THE FIRST FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS SATISFACTION

• Mat 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (ESV).

• Unlike the hunger for things in which we will never be satisfied.

• The more we get hungry, the more satisfaction.

• The more we get things, the hungrier we become.

• Take note, “who hunger” not hungry• It’s on going hunger for

righteousness not just for a moment.• We just need to exchange our

hunger for things with the hunger for righteousness.

• He desired to fill the earth with His glory.

• Numbers 14:21 "but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD—

• Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

• To extend the supernatural realms into the natural realms.

• To extend the invisible to the visible world.

• Eden was the touch of heaven on earth.

• Eden was the replica of heaven.III. THE CULTURE OF EDEN• Psalm 115:16 The heaven, [even]

the heavens, [are] the LORD's;• In essence, God decided to fill the

earth with the culture of heaven But the earth He has given to the children of men.

• In other words God was reigning the heavens and the earth but on earth He reigns indirectly through man.

• Earth was man’s territory.• Eden shared a common language of

heaven. They understand clearly and converse with God.

• 1Cr 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

• Eden shared the laws and constitution of heaven.

• Eden and heaven shared common values and norms.

• When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

• Basically, He came for this purpose:• To destroy the works of the enemy-I

John 3:8• Because He is a king-John 18:37• To restore the ruler ship of mankind

on earth

• For the Kingdom of heaven to come once again on earth.

• Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• To re-establish the kingdom of heaven on earth.

IV. MANKIND’S FIRST DUTIES:• Gen 1:28 Then God blessed them, and

God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,

and over every living thing that moves on the earth."1. Be fruitful 2. Multiply3. Replenish the earth

-Add a new stock or supply-To fill or make complete

4. To subdue the it (to conquer or take control)

5. Have dominion or rule over the earth.

V. •Seeking involves taking the time to consider, to meditate in an effort to understand•Some things require deep thought and analysis before they become comprehensible. •It takes a lot of time for us to understand the kingdom by reading, meditating, memorizing it if necessary.•Desire is what drives us to seek something.•SEEKING involves passion.

• What makes us get up out of bed?• What is our motivation in working?• What are the inclinations of our

hearts?• To SEEK the kingdom involves

diligence and diligence involves discipline.

• Discipline may mean turning off the TV so as to study God’s Word.

• It may mean, no FACEBOOK, for us to be able to study God’s Word or pray

• It may mean rearranging our schedule to have more time to pray

• It may mean sorting out our schedule/priorities so are not “TOO TIRED” to gather with other believers for worship.

• Seeking the kingdom is not an accident, it is planned.

• SEEKING the kingdom means to be preoccupied with it.

• We should be thinking of it all day, everyday.

• We should evaluate every decision in light of how it will affect our pursuit of the Kingdom.

• Our every thought, word, motive, and action is “KINGDOM FIRST”.

II. KINGDOM FIRST• What does it mean?• Principal thing, the first thing above

and before and beyond all other things.

• More important to us than anything else.

• Placing the greatest value of all the Kingdom and stand ready to sacrifice anything and everything.

• Mat 13:44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

• Mat 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,

• Mat 13:46 "who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

• First means we are resolved the Kingdom of God as our primary interest.

• Kingdom first does not mean first among many but “FIRST and ONLY”

• Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

• Seeking the kingdom FIRST means considering the interest of the kingdom before making decisions.

• Who are you going to marry?• Which school will your children go?• What job we accept?• How we spend our money?• Is our decision in line with the

kingdom?

• When compromises arise do we seek first the kingdom?

• When boss ask something dishonest at work?

• When BF/GF wanted immoral relationships?

• When we pay our taxes?• Do we ask if our decisions are

pleasing to God?• Our problem is we set aside the

kingdom of God to avoid offending someone or putting human relationships at stake.

• Developing the habit of considering the Kingdom first will help us avoid a lot of mistakes and bad decisions.

III. THE OBJECT TO SEEK FOR: THE KINGDOM OF GOD

• What is the Kingdom?• God’s government/authority.• It is His rulership and dominion over

heaven and earth.• It refers to His jurisdiction and

executed will over all His creation.• KING-DOMAIN(Territory)

• Seeking the Kingdom means seeking first His ownership over ourselves and everything we have in life.

• Illustration: Daughter who wanted to go for a date with her BF.

• Kingdom also means to have influence over territory.

• His influence should be extended over the entire world of our private life, our business life, our marriage life, our relationships, our sexual life, our everything.

• It means we are under the administration of heaven.

• This means that God the King becomes our reference point for everything.

• His will becomes our will.• His way becomes our way.• His interest becomes our interest.• His society becomes our society.• His friend becomes our friend.• His enemy becomes our enemy.• Influence also means IMPACT.• In Kenya, the impact of British

colonization is so great.

• They drive on the left side of the road. Same traffic signs.

• They have round about not corner.• They are used to wear suit even on a

regular day. • Contrary to the Philippines which

was impacted by the Americans. • Because of this impact we can tell

which kingdom we are in by the way we live.

• Mat 7:20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

• Our lives should manifest the fruit, the INFLUENCE of the kingdom of God for the world to be able to say we belong to the kingdom of God.

• John 15:19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

• Phil 2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,

among whom you shine as lights in the world,•To sum it up: the KINGDOM OF GOD is•The governing influence of a king over his territory (domain), impacting it with his personal will, purpose and intent, producing a culture, values, morals and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desire and nature for his citizens.

IV. THE INSEPARABLE HALF OR OUR PURSUIT: HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS•God’s kingdom cannot be separated from His Righteousness•A kingdom always reflects the nature and character of the king•God is righteous and therefore His kingdom is righteous.•Psalm 15:1 A Psalm of David. LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? • Psalm 15:2 He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;

• Rom 3:10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;

• Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

• Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

• Rom 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

• But it doesn’t we are not going to obey.

• Righteous is a legal term• It means “RIGHT POSITIONING”• To be in correct alignment with the

ruling standard.• It means we do not violate the law of

the ruling government.• A righteous person is in right

standing with authority, even with fellowship with authority.

• A righteous person is he who conforms his life in every way possible because he is under the kingdom.

• Illustration: Nagkapalit ng mukha.• God has committed Himself to you

because you now are in right relationship with Him.

• To be righteous means you are legal, lawful, in synchrony with the government.

• Full of rights, here we more understand why He said “AND ALL THESE SHALL BE ADDED UNTO US”

CHALLENGE:•Is the kingdom of God our pursuit?•Are we seeking it diligently?•Are we representing a culture of the kingdom of heaven?•Are we in right position with God?CONCLUSION:•Mat 6:33 But seek first his

kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as

well.