The First Priority Principle
Series: Stewardship
Chuck Sligh
February 22, 2015
TEXT: Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
INTRODUCTION
I’m sure you’ve heard sage advice to, Always put first things first. That’s an important principle in every area of life.
Illus. – Several years ago when I was pastoring in Wiesbaden, I was driving home from Frankfurt when my car started heating up. So I pulled over and opened the hood to see what might be the problem—coolant level—check; hoses—check; everything else I could think of—check.
Fortunately, a German pulled over and in broken English said he was a mechanic and proceeded to look at my car to see what was the matter. After checking a few things, he checked the oil—which was bone dry! He looked at me and said, “Da ist no öl in your car. You must FIRST put öl in it.”
Yes, it’s important to make sure you put first things first.
Illus. – Pastor Haddon Robinson points out that one old recipe for rabbit stew started out with this injunction: First catch the rabbit. – Well, yeah, I guess if you want rabbit stew, you’d better get you a rabbit first!
Putting first things first also involves prioritizing.
Illus. – A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck.
Where’s Harry? he was asked.
“Harry had a stroke of some kind. He’s a couple of miles back up the trail.”
You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?
Well, said the hunter, I figured no one was going to steal Harry.
I’ll leave you to decide whether or not this hunter put the right thing first. – I guess it depends on how avid a hunter you are! You know, there are some things that ought to be FIRST in priority. In fact, life is filled with prioritizing our lives. We’re all extremely busy, so we have to make choices. We must choose what is of first priority and do those before lesser things.
In our text this morning, we find Jesus preaching His famous Sermon on the Mount. In the previous verses, he said, Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t get all in a kink about where you’re going to get your food and clothing. God will take care of you.
Look at what He said in verses 31-32: Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Then he adds this in verse 33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Do you see what He’s saying? He’s saying, FIRST seek God and His kingdom, and THEN you can be sure God will take care of your needs.
Several times Jesus begins His teaching of a particular subject with the word, first. The word first, by simple definition, means that which is foremost. This is the very thought Jesus had in mind when He told His followers to Seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.
Jesus was teaching what I call, The First Priority Principle. This is not the only place in God’s Word we find the First Priority Principle. In fact, it weaves its way throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. Let’s look at some other places in the Bible where we find the First Priority Principle, and then see how we personally can apply the principle to our lives:
I. FIRST, NOTE THE FIRST PRIORITY PRINCIPLE IN THE STORY OF ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW WOMAN OF ZERAPHATH IN 1 KINGS 17:9-16.
Turn to 1 Kings 17 and let’s begin at verse 9: Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
At this stage in Elijah’s life, Israel was in the midst of a great drought and famine. God told him to go to a widow woman in a Gentile village for sustenance.
Now that was a strange command. The LAST person able to feed and take care of a preacher was a widow. Widows were invariably deeply poverty stricken. They were usually the first to run out of food in a famine.
Now look at verse 10: So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. – So Elijah goes to the village, and asks the first woman he sees for water and food.
Now notice the desperate straits she was in verse 12: And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
This woman was on her last leg! She was EXTREMELY poor—at the point of starvation. She fully expected that this would be her last meal before starving to death.
Now look at Elijah’s response to her in verse 13: And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: [Now here’s the First Priority Principle:] …but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
Here’s what he was saying to her: Lady, God sent me here. You put God’s man FIRST and get me some food FIRST, and you have the promise of the God of Israel that you’ll have all the meal and oil you need to feed you and your son until this drought and famine are over with. He taught her the First Priority Principle: Seek God FIRST and His kingdom FIRST—and God will take care of you; God will bless you.
Well, that was a great test for this woman. She’s about to starve and this prophet says, Take care of God’s man FIRST and God’s things FIRST, and God will take care of you in this famine.
Now that took FAITH on her part—but she did what millions of believers in God have done down through the ages: she put God to the test and found that God kept His end of the deal and took care of her needs.
Look at verse 15: And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. (Note the blessings that followed obedience to the First Priority Principle:) 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
In other words, the meal and oil became self-generating. They never ran out for the entire duration of the famine! This woman followed the First Priority Principle and God blessed her above measure in the midst of an extraordinary drought and famine.
II. SECOND, THE FIRST PRIORITY PRINCIPLE IS FOUND IN GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING GIVING.
Turn with me to Proverbs 3:9 – Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase
Now note first of all that the writer of Proverbs says that one way we honor the Lord is by our giving. In other words, giving God tithes and offerings is an act of WORSHIP. We’re not only doing our duty when we give to God, but we’re HONORING Him—the only one worthy of all honor and glory.
Then the writer of Proverbs here gives the First Priority Principle when he tells us to give God our substance and the firstfruits of all our increase.
What is our substance and the first fruits of all our increase?
1) Giving the Lord our substance was shorthand in Jewish terminology for THE TITHE.
In the Old Testament, actual money was rarely given for tithes because money was not the primary means of barter. Most Israelites were farmers, and each year they were to take ten percent of the increase of their products and give it to the Lord. If they harvested 1,000 bushels of barley, they gave 100 bushels of it to the Lord where it was stored in a storehouse for Temple use. If they were herdsmen or craftsmen, then whatever was the full amount of their increase, they were to tithe ten percent of it, whether it be lambs or calves or actual money. The tithe—their substance—was given at the END of the harvest by farmers, at the END of the lambing season by a shepherd, and at the END of a sale by a craftsman.
2) The FIRSTFRUITS, though, were given at the beginning of the harvest.
When the harvest began to come in, they brought the first part of the harvest—which is always THE VERY BEST of the harvest—and gave it to the Lord. Nowhere did God specify an amount or percentage to be given of the firstfruits. That was left to each individual’s discretion. This is what we call an offering, which is something given to the Lord voluntarily outside of consideration of the full harvest to come.
The First Priority Principle is seen in both types of giving.—
God was to be given FIRST the BEST of the harvest at the START of the harvest and at the END, before an Israelite paid his creditors or bartered for supplies and personal items, he was FIRST to bring his tithes and freewill offerings to the storehouse and give to the Lord.
In our mind, giving 10% or more of our income equals a subtraction. Humanly speaking, 100% minus 10% equals 90%, right?—WRONG!
God says in Isaiah 55:8-9 – …my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
In God’s economy, 100% minus 10% to God equals 100% PLUS. That’s the First Priority Principle Equation: 100% – 10% to God = 100%+.
How do I know that?—Look at the very next verse: Proverbs 3:10: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
This is the Old Testament version of Matthew 6:33 – …seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [i.e., all your physical needs] shall be added unto you.
Or put another way, 100% minus 10% to God equals 100% PLUS. Now to give 10 % (or more) of your income to God requires faith that God will make 90% equal 100% PLUS.
So here’s what God is saying: Put God first, and God WILL bless you. Follow the First Priority Principle, and God will meet your needs! You have God’s Word on that—and God never lies.
III. THIRD, THE FIRST PRIORITY PRINCIPLE IS SEEN IN THE BOOK OF HAGGAI WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE NEGLECTED TO FINISH REBUILDING THE TEMPLE.
Turn to Haggai 1. (Haggai is the third-to-¬the-last book in the Old Testament.)
While you’re turning to Haggai 1, let me give you a little historical perspective so you’ll understand what’s happening in this book. In 536 BC, 50,000 Jews returned to the Israel after being in exile for many years. With Ezra as their leader, they arrived in Jerusalem and immediately rebuilt the altar and started the sacrifices again.
A year later, in 535 BC, the foundation for a new temple was laid over the ruins of Solomon’s temple that had been destroyed by the Chaldeans when the Jews were in captivity in Babylon.
But shortly after laying the foundation, there was considerable opposition, and the work stopped. However, the people certainly didn’t neglect the building of their own houses! The fact that they finished their houses before finishing God’s house displeased the Lord. After sixteen more years of neglect, God brought a drought and a famine to awaken these selfish people and encourage them to finish God’s temple.
Now look at Haggai 1:6 – Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Wow!—What a description—he who earns wages, puts his money in a bag with holes. Do you ever feel that no matter how much you earn, it’s like pouring your money into a bag with holes? A lot of people’s finances are like that because they put themselves and their own needs and wants before the Lord. God withholds His blessing when people do that.
Well, what was their solution?—The First Priority Principle. God said, Put ME and MY HOUSE first, and I will bless you.
Look at Haggai 1:7 – Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Well, a man named Zerubbabel got all stirred up and in turn stirred up the people to put GOD first and finish God’s house—even before finishing their own houses. The result was that in 520 BC, the temple was finally completed.
Now look at Haggai 2:18-19 and note that even though their seed was still in the barn and as yet unplanted and their fruit tress had not even started budding, God promised He would bless them for putting Him FIRST even before their xown needs: Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it. 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
And folks, that’s the promise of the First Priority Principle: Put God first in every area of your life and God will bless you more than you can imagine. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
IV. LET’S LOOK NOW AT APPLICATIONS OF THE FIRST PRIORITY PRINCIPLE
How should you put the First Priority Principle into practice in your life?
1) Number 1: Put God first IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE by giving him the first part of your day.
Your devotional and prayer time doesn’t have to be long or drawn out.
The important thing is that you take the time to put God FIRST by spending some quality time with Him. Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
2) Second, put God first IN YOUR CHURCH ATTENDANCE.
If anything comes before the Lord in an area in which He has given you a clear command, you are sinning. God has clearly commanded us to gather together for worship and fellowship and the preaching of God’s Word. But if you easily put other things on Sunday before the gathering together with God’s people, you’re being disobedient. Whatever you put first tells you what is your priority. Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
3) Finally, put God first IN YOUR GIVING by giving God a tithe on your income, as well as your firstfruits—i.e., offerings above the tithe.
You know what—You cannot out-give God! Isn’t it interesting that you’ve never heard anyone say, Well I gave to God and it impoverished me? I’ve never heard that in my life, and I’ve been around Christians for 60 years.
But I have met MANY people who have said, I didn’t know how we would get by giving God not only a tithe, but also offerings above the tithe, but we started doing it by faith, and somehow we not only got by on less than 90%, but we seemed to actually be BETTER off. I’ve been in Christian churches 60 of the 62 years of my life and have heard scores, if not hundreds of such testimonies.
You see, the First Priority Principle Equation I gave you earlier IS true: 100% minus 10% given back to God equals 100% OR MORE of our needs.
CONCLUSION
Paul said in Philippians 1:21 – For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Let me ask you a question: What makes you tick? You see, what makes you tick is what’s really first place in your life.
Is CHRIST what makes you tick as in Paul’s life, or is it something or someone else? What would you substitute for the word Christ here if you were totally honest? Would it be?…For me to live is my job? Money? Possessions? My spouse? My children? Pleasure? Fun? Popularity and recognition? The army? Sports?
God help you to put GOD and HIS kingdom FIRST. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
