Seek First the Kingdom Why Whom How I. What are we seeking? A. Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. B. We need to seek God s kingdom and His righteousness 1) We need to diligently. 2) 2 Peter 1:3-4 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. a. God has given us all that we need for this life and for godliness. b. God has given us His kingdom and His righteousness. c. We receive it through the knowledge of Him. d. We get the knowledge of Him through the precious promises. e. The precious promises are the word of God. 1. But it is not just owning a bible that will allow us to receive the kingdom and His righteousness. 2. It is not just reading the Bible 3. Or studying the Bible 4. It is through faith that we receive them. 3) 2 Peter 1:5-11 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and a. We are made a new creation in Christ when we are born again. b. But we have to be diligent to put on the new man and take off the old man. 1. Colossians 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 2. This is not something that just happens by itself but we must put effort to do this. c. If we are not diligent to do this we are not secure in our salvation. d. We give diligence to add to our life we make our salvation secure. II. Why A. Jesus commands us to make disciples. 1) Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. a. Jesus gave us each the command to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations b. This is a command to every Christian.
c. When we are born again, God gives our life a new vision. That is to go and make disciples. d. We are not to stay in the old vision but we are to go and make disciples. 2) Making disciples should become the central focus of our lives. a. Mark 1:16-18 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 1. When Jesus called Simon and Andrew and told them Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 2. When Jesus calls us today He gives us the same command. 3. We need to respond as Simon and Andrew by following Jesus allowing Him to make us fishers of men B. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the power to carry out the command that God gave us 1) Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." a. When we receive the Holy Spirit we have power to witness and start making disciples. b. We do not have to reach a greater spiritual level. 2) Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." a. The person that believes can 1. Cast out demons 2. Speak in new tongues. 3. Receive protection from God while doing God s work 4. Heal the sick by laying hands on them. b. We do not have to wait. c. We need to give what we have been given. 3) Matthew 10:8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. C. We will be judged according to the works we do - telling others about Jesus. 1) 1 Corinthians 5:9-15 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. 12 For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. a. Knowing that we will be judged and the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. b. That means that we witness to them and persuade them to accept Christ.
c. We need to live for Christ since He died for us. d. To live for Christ is to witness to others about Him. D. People will be lost and judged if they do not accept Christ. 1) 1 Peter 4:17-18 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" a. People are lost with no hope without Christ. They will be judged. b. It is our job to tell them about Christ. 2) Romans 10:13-15 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" a. It is our job to tell people about Christ. b. They will be saved if they believe and confess Jesus as Lord. c. But for them to believe we have to tell them. d. To go tell them we have to be sent. e. Jesus has already sent us and empowered us f. Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." g. We do not need to be sent by man. We all have already been sent by God. III. Whom A. Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 1) We are to go to everyone a. We need to start where we are at. b. The people that you have more influence with will be the ones that you should start witnessing to. c. You do not need to wait for God to lead you to witness. d. We have already been commanded to witness. e. Acts 16:28-34 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. 1. When the jail keeper believed, he brought his testimony to his household and they also believed. 2. In the same way, the people that we already have relationship with are the ones we should start with. 3. Bring Jesus in to those relationships by telling them your experience with Jesus.
4. And then share with them the Gospel. (we plan to study sharing the Gospel next week.) 5. As the jail keeper brought his whole family to the Lord, you too can bring those around you to the Lord. a) Your family b) Friends c) Associates at work d) Neighbors e) The people you meet often. 2) Have every one close their eyes. a. Ask them to think about the people around them that do not yet know Jesus as Lord. b. Ask them to pray that God would point out those that are ready to receive their witness. c. Pray for the congregation that God would start to lay people on their hearts. d. Ask each person to write down 20 to 40 names of people that God has pointed out to them. IV. How A. Most of the time spiritual things do not come up in our conversations. 1) We need to bring it up 2) Sometime that seems hard for us. 3) One way to bring the situation around to spiritual things is to share your testimony of how you got saved. 4) Or share what God is doing in your life a recent miracle. B. Look for a person of peace 1) Luke 10:5-6 "But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6 "And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 2) God is working in people heart preparing them to receive your witness. 3) When you share with someone your testimony if they show interest then you can see that this is a person of peace and your should share with them the Gospel. 4) Your testimony is not the Gospel. 5) People can not get saved by your testimony alone 6) But it is a good tool to find our if they are ready to receive the gospel. 7) Example of people sent out a. The woman at the well John 4:39-42 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word. 42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." 1. So many people came to know Jesus because of this one woman s testimony. 2. She just told what she had experienced about Jesus. 3. They were brought in to relationship with God when they heard the word of God. b. Mark 5:19-20 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." 20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. c. Mark 7:31-33 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32 Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His
hand on him. 33 And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 1. The crazy man who was healed wanted to go with Jesus and learn more from Him. 2. But Jesus sent him home and told him "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." 3. The people of Decapolis were afraid of Jesus at first and asked Him to leave 4. But when the mad man who was healed told people his testimony then later when Jesus returned He was received by a multitude of people. 5. And they came to hear Jesus for themselves 6. In the same way your testimony will bring people to Christ. V. This week pray for all the people you have written on down your list. And others who do not know Jesus that come to your mind write them on the list and pray for them as well. A. That the devil would take his hands off their minds and would stop blinding them so they can see the light of the gospel 1) 2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. B. That the Holy Spirit will prepare their hearts to receive. 1) John 16:8-11 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. C. Send the angels to minister to them and prepare them to receive the word 1) Hebrew 1:13-14 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Have you been praying for the people on your list? Tell of how you see God working to prepare their hearts. Write out your testimony on a sheet of paper. Your life before Christ How you came to Christ Your life after coming to Christ. How God has set you free, Victory you have had since coming to Christ. Read your testimony out loud so you can hear it several times Break into pairs and share your testimony with another person help each other to make it flow better. Remove religious words that may not be understood by an unbeliever and help them to make it interesting and concise. BE A DOER OF THE WORD Let us prepare to witness to others about Jesus by preparing our testimony and praying for the people that we plan to share with.
SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE: Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."