[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] Go with me to Matthew chapter 6, and we're going to read from verse 24 down to the end of the chapter. And the title of the message is, What's Next? Let's look at what the Bible says.
[0:25] No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
[0:38] Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
[0:50] Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap. Nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his statue?
[1:04] And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
[1:18] Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast in the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? O ye of little faith, therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat?
[1:33] Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
[1:45] But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
[1:57] Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Thereof. God, again, I ask you to bless these young people and bless these parents. And Lord, I just ask you to grab a hold of those hearts of these young people right now and help them to focus on this passage of scripture and this message and know that this is your word talking to them and telling them what to do.
[2:20] And I pray, God, you'd help them to see it and help it to be real in their hearts. And I'll give you all the praise and honor and glory for what you do. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Well, one stage of your life is now over and behind you.
[2:33] You step out today into adult life. The transition may be slow, but you're still more responsible every day for your own decisions. What you decide to do today will greatly affect the rest of your life.
[2:46] Your parents are probably a little scared, just to be honest with you, a little worried. You're leaving home. You're starting to make more decisions. You might sneak off and sin and feel like you can because you're an adult now.
[2:57] You might think you'll walk away from the God of your parents and of your church. You may be very proud of the fact that you can make more of your own decisions now. I want to share with you some biblical things you need to consider.
[3:12] My message will be blunt and in your face, but I doubt you can deny that I will simply be saying exactly what this passage says. You are an adult, so live life right.
[3:25] Follow what your parents taught you. This church, your youth group and leaders, those that have discipled you, have tried to prepare you for this day. More than that, live out the life that God has put in you.
[3:39] So as an adult, sit still and listen to me. Think through what God has said. This is it. No more putting off those adult decisions. It's your time now.
[3:51] Take your Bible and go with me to Matthew 6, 24. Just work your way through this passage with me. Matthew 26. Matthew 6, 24. Number one, you have to decide now.
[4:03] Number one, you have to decide now. Verse 34, the Bible says, You're stepping out into adult life.
[4:20] You'll soon be making your own choices. There'll be pressure put on you to try and walk in two worlds. That's impossible. You must choose who and what you will serve with your life.
[4:32] You can choose money and material goods, but you'll have to hate God to do that. Let me read the verse to make sure you see that. The Bible says in verse 24, No man can serve two masters.
[4:45] No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other. Hate the one, love the other. Or else he'll hold on to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon or money, material things.
[5:00] You have to choose. You must choose who and what you will serve with your life. You can choose money and material goods, but that means you hate God. You'll have to hold on to your money and things more than anything else.
[5:14] You'll have to despise God and the things of God. When there are opportunities to choose, you will choose your money, your job, your security over God. You will think in terms of this world and what's important instead of that world and what's important.
[5:31] But God is calling on you to choose him above all else. God is calling on you to choose him above all else. He wants you to realize that no matter how many people think they can balance God and money, that they can't.
[5:47] This choice may not seem clear to you, but it's clear to God. He says you can't choose. He says you will choose how you feel about him by this choice.
[6:01] Read the verse for me one more time. He says you choose how you feel about him by this choice. The Bible says in Matthew 6 and verse 24, That's a pretty clear passage of scripture.
[6:30] That's a pretty clear passage of scripture. By the way, Jesus isn't talking to preachers. He isn't talking to missionaries. This is a sermon on the mount. He's talking to people. And most of y'all are people.
[6:43] Amen. He's talking to you. He's talking to me. And he said, you must choose. Number two, everything in this world will try to get you to think about the wrong things. You're an adult now.
[6:54] I so well remember when I graduated. Everybody was sad. They were leaving home, leaving their school. I was so excited. Number one, I was glad school was over.
[7:04] Glory to God. Four more years in college, but I was glad school was over. Unlike you kids that just loved to study, that wasn't me. Then I spent my whole life studying. But I mean, in those days, I couldn't wait.
[7:17] But everybody and everything is going to try to get you to choose and think about the wrong things. That's what Jesus said. Look at Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25. He said, I don't want you to think about your life.
[7:30] Look at what he said, verse 25. Therefore, I say unto you, Jesus talk. He says, take no thought for your life. What you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on, is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment?
[7:45] You should underline in verse 25. Every one of you young people should underline, take no thought for your life. It doesn't say take a little thought for your life. It doesn't say think more about Jesus than you do your life.
[7:59] The word of God says, take no thought for your life. Hey, young people, how about this one? Guess what that means in the original language? It means take no thought for your life.
[8:11] It means I don't want you thinking about your life. He commanded them not to think about food, drink, clothing, and housing. He wanted them to know that life was more than food and clothes.
[8:23] The words are no thought, not some thought. Actually, what regular people think about was not to even enter their minds. Regular people think about all those things.
[8:35] He said, I don't want you all thinking about that. He wanted people to know that he was first and foremost. The only one that deserved our attention. Not pastors, people.
[8:46] This is a sermon on the mount. He's talking to a multitude, a crowd, regular people. Those that would listen to him and follow him would be totally different than those that chose to despise him.
[8:58] Remember that you will express your opinion about him, but what you think about. That's what the passage is saying. You'll express your opinion about what you think about him, but what you think about.
[9:11] It's either him or money and material goods. He was reminding them that God took care of the birds. Those that loved Jesus were much more important to God.
[9:21] Look at Matthew 6, 26. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
[9:33] Are you not much better than they? The truth is that if you focus on you, then you'll be limited to what you can do. Jesus said, you can focus on me, or you can focus on junk.
[9:46] If you focus on me, I've got great things I can do. You focus on you, you're limited to what you can do. And then he said, and you can't make yourself taller. You can't make yourself taller. I could, you can't.
[9:57] Verse 27. Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? The truth is that you can't make that big of a difference, even in your own life.
[10:09] God can, however, take care of you. God can be responsible for you. And you can be responsible for yourself.
[10:22] God can be responsible, or you can be responsible. Why would you even think about clothing, he says. Look at verse 28. I'm just reading the Bible.
[10:34] The Bible says in verse 28, and why take ye thought for raiment? Why are y'all thinking about clothes? Every girl said, obviously we think about clothes. Obviously shopping is important to us.
[10:45] He said, why are y'all thinking about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spend. Do you not see how God takes care of his own?
[10:56] He takes care of plants and animals. He can take care of you. Isn't it true that the reason you'll be thinking of you is that you don't trust him to do so?
[11:07] Right now you're standing at the very beginning of your life. You're just about to launch out. You're going to college. I heard your big plans. You got all these things you're going to do. And he said to you, well, are you going to think about me, or are you going to think about that other junk?
[11:21] And he said, if you think about that other junk, it's because you don't really trust me. He didn't say that. Well, let's read Matthew 630 and see if he said that. Matthew 630, he said, Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast in the oven, shall he not much more clothe you?
[11:39] Shall he not much more clothe you? O ye of little faith. He said, okay, so you're worried about the clothes because you don't trust me.
[11:50] You're worried about the money because you don't trust me. You're worried about all this stuff because you don't trust me. Isn't the reason that you and all of those around you want to focus on you is because you don't really trust God?
[12:04] Could it be true that when you can't trust God, you can trust money and material goods? You do know that in the Bible, it's a lot easier for a poor guy to get saved than it is for a rich guy.
[12:16] It's like getting a camel through the eye of a needle. You get a rich guy saved because his money is his God. Wouldn't that education, that job, that security you can get for yourself better serve you if you just put Jesus first?
[12:33] Verse 31. Jesus said, take no thought. He went from no thought, why do you think, to no thought again. Look at verse 31.
[12:45] Therefore, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? He said, I started off saying to y'all, you got to choose. It's me or that other stuff.
[12:57] Then he said, take no thought. Then he said, why do you take thought? Now he said, take no thought. Notice how the discussion moved. Don't lose focus.
[13:08] Wanting things is a form of idolatry. Covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians chapter 3.
[13:19] You have to choose what and who you will serve. Third thing I want you to notice, found in verse 32. Look at verse 32. Get the context of all these things.
[13:32] The Bible says in verse 32. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things.
[13:43] That word Gentile here is like the word pagan. Lost people. They all want the same things. Put that in context. We're not one of those who do not believe God.
[13:54] When he says, after all these things do the Gentiles seek. That's an insulting word. That's a word for those that are godless in this context.
[14:04] That's a word for the pagans. And we're not pagans. We know God. You do not want to think like someone that is of this world and doesn't know God. You don't want to think like that.
[14:16] Your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. Look at the verse behind my head here on the wall or in your Bible. Matthew 6, 32. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.
[14:29] But your heavenly father knows you have need of all these things. You should align all these things, all these things. Two times in the same verse. You should put a circle around the word need.
[14:40] God knows you need these things. God is not asking you to not have these things. He's saying that you are, he's not saying that you're never to have them or whatever.
[14:53] He's saying I want you just to not seek after those things. He's making it clear I will provide those things. I will provide those things. Verse 33.
[15:06] If you get your priorities right, he'll provide those things. Verse 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
[15:18] Now if you got verse 32 and verse 33 in front of you right there in your Bible, there's three times all these things. The Gentiles and lost people, they're looking for all these things. God knows you need all these things.
[15:30] And God says I'll provide all these things. Lost people, lost people looking for these things. You do need all these things, but I'd rather provide these things than have you chase these things.
[15:41] He wants to add them to a life that's dedicated to him and his causes. He wants you to love him and hold on to him while you hate and despise the things that get this world's attention.
[15:53] In all honesty, he's calling on everybody in Matthew chapter 6 and saying everybody in the world wants all that stuff. I just want some people to just want me. Everybody wants that.
[16:04] I just want some to just want me. Yes, you'll be different. Yes, you'll be kind of weird. Yes, you'll march to the beat of a different drummer. I know what you need, but I want you to want me.
[16:17] I want you to want me. He knows what you have need of. He just wants you to know he's God. And he comes first. He doesn't even want you to have to worry about tomorrow.
[16:28] Look at Matthew chapter 6 and verse 34. The Bible says, take therefore no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
[16:39] Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Underline, there's another one of those take no thoughts. He said, take no thought. Why do you take thought? Take no thought. Now he said, I don't even want you thinking about tomorrow.
[16:53] He said, because I'll see to it that that stuff gets taken care of. See, he's the God of now. His name is the great I am. I am that I am.
[17:05] Guess who he was yesterday? I am. Guess who he is today? I am. Guess who he is tomorrow? I am. I am. He gives daily bread. He meets your needs as you need them.
[17:18] He will take care of you today. And tomorrow when he gets here, he'll just take care of that too. He said, I am. Look at Matthew 6, 33 again, would you?
[17:30] But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. So I'm going to give you the fourth thing. Here's the whole message.
[17:41] What's next? What's your next step? What's your next step? A long time ago, I was 17, and I graduated from high school.
[17:54] A long time ago. And the verse that we're about to read has been my North Star for whatever it amounts to, 42 or three years.
[18:06] It has been the verse I use to make every major decision in my life. If you were to ask me, what are you going to do about this? I'd say, I don't know.
[18:17] Let me think about it. And then I would go to Matthew 6, 33. I've been coming here a long time. Over the years, I have signed my Bible. And America, for lots of young people, you go to the, there's certain churches that just got this custom where all the preachers signed their Bible.
[18:33] My Bible signed, W.L.C. Gardner, Peru, Matthew 6, 33. I've signed my name to Bibles all over the place. I've signed letters, Matthew 6, 33.
[18:45] This is the verse for me. Would you read it with me? Matt, come on, teenagers, listen to me. You're a graduate and you're an adult, so act like it. Matthew 6, 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
[19:04] Decide now that every decision you will make will be made around this thought. Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
[19:15] I want to do what God wants me to do. That should be how you think. How many of you agree with that? Say amen. I want to do what God wants me to do.
[19:25] I will not think about anything without making sure he's the first and the last of my thoughts. God. First thing I think about.
[19:37] Last thing I think about. Where am I going to go to school? God. Who am I going to marry? God. Where am I going to live? God. What am I going to do? God. You say nobody thinks like that. I know. We're a different group of people, aren't we?
[19:49] We think of him. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I will dedicate my life to whatever can be done to further his kingdom and his causes.
[20:02] I will dedicate my life to whatever can be done to further his kingdom and his causes. I will not be a part-time Christian. I will not be a part-time Christian and a part-time servant of God.
[20:19] I will not despise, hate, or hold on to things when I have God loving me. Because in his own words, Jesus talking, he said, you're either going to hold on to this world and love this world and hate me and despise me, or you're going to hold on to me and love me and hate this world and despise this world.
[20:41] I will make it clear to myself, my family, and the world that God is everything in my life. You do not have to be a missionary or a full-time Christian worker.
[20:55] Did you hear me? That's all. Austin Garter said that. But you do have to put Jesus first. If you're a Christian, it's Christian.
[21:08] Christ-en. It's Jesus first. You do have to put Jesus first. There is no room for part-time Christians anywhere in the scriptures.
[21:23] You're about to make big decisions, and soon it won't be what mama says and what daddy says. It'll be what the Lord wants or what you want, and I hope you'll make your mind up.
[21:33] I will serve Jesus. I've had hundreds and hundreds of opportunities over my life like every other adult that has any age, but I've had to make my mind up.
[21:46] What's Jesus want? What's Jesus want? How can I best bring honor to his name? How can I best glorify him? Whatever you do with your life, you should be consumed with getting the gospel to the world.
[22:02] You might say, now, come on. You said we didn't have to be mysterious. Would you read Matthew 6.33 with me? Matthew 6.33 says, Seek ye first the what?
[22:13] Kingdom of God. That means the place where he rules. Seek where God is king. Make sure we build God's kingdom and his righteousness.
[22:25] So I want to seek first the things of God and what makes God big. You should be consumed with that. Your life should be making a difference.
[22:37] You should say, no matter what I'm going to do with my life, I know I'll seek him first. Every wife ought to be seeking him first. Every husband ought to be seeking him first.
[22:48] You should say, I will seek his kingdom. I will seek his righteousness. I will use my life to make a complete difference in the world by the grace of God.
[23:00] You must decide that your life is not yours to live, but his to be lived for his glory. I challenge you to make this verse a guiding light in your life and all of your decisions.
[23:16] If Jesus lets you live, you're 17 or 18 years old, you've got 50 or 60 years to live. 50 puts you at 68, 67. 60 puts you at 78, 70, 70.
[23:28] You might live 70 or 80 years. How are you going to make decisions? You're going to do like everybody else? Are you going to let CNN make your decisions? Are you going to let Fox News make your decisions?
[23:40] Are you going to let whoever pays your paycheck make your decisions? Are you going to let your wife make your decisions? Are you going to let your parents make your decisions? Hey, it's time to put on your big boy britches.
[23:50] You just moved out of toddler school. I give you a verse. I give you a verse to anchor your life to. Would you read out loud with me Matthew 6, 33.
[24:02] Everybody together. Would you do that? Are you ready? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
[24:15] One more time. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. I don't have time to go into all these things being added.
[24:30] But he'll add the girl to you. He'll add the guy to you. He'll add the marriage to you. He'll add every other thing. This week, a young man said, you know, you're pretty well off.
[24:43] I said, of course I am. The son of a king. The brother of Jesus. Amen. How do you expect me to be poor? Amen. You know, God's been blessing me over and over.
[24:55] I put him first. I try to be a giver. I try to do everything I think he wants me to do, and he just keeps pouring it on. That's what it says. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
[25:09] I have two more things to say to you, and I quit. There's a guy named Keith Shoemaker. He's one of the missionaries that we support. Keith's about six foot seven. And I knew Keith when he was single, and I knew his wife Rebecca when she was single, and I liked them both.
[25:25] I thought, man, they make a good couple. And Keith is already mad at me because any other good girl I saw, I was always telling him about her. And he told me one day, I don't need you to get me a woman.
[25:36] I'm going to seek God. If he wants me to get married, he'll get me a wife. And I talked to her. And I'm going to serve Jesus. She surrendered to be a missionary.
[25:47] She was on her way to Peru. And neither one of them cared about getting married. And then they met and fell in love. And they've been married now for 200 years and got a bunch of kids.
[25:58] And they're happy as they can be. And I can tell you, they've lived a life consumed with seeking him first. I had another young person in my ministry. He was a good kid.
[26:09] Very smart. Very smart. Came out of a preacher's home. But he decided he would seek first other things. Not because that's what his dad told him to do. Because that's what he told himself to do.
[26:22] And so he told me one day, he went into ministry. My buddy. He went into ministry. It was going to be a missionary. To England. Remember him very well. But instead of seeking first God, he told me one day, he said, I don't know if God's going to take care of these things I need.
[26:36] I've been wondering about that. I hadn't found the wife. He hadn't given me a wife. And so I'm going to get me a wife. I said, no, no, no, don't get your wife. Seek him first. The next thing you know, his life was off course and messed up.
[26:49] And he never did accomplish what God had for his life. I hope he's getting it right today. Seek him first. He's a good God. And he'll add things to you.
[27:01] He'll bless you. All these things shall be added. Decide now to put your life on the altar. And 100% at his disposal. And you can trust him to work out things in your life.
[27:15] Matthew 6.33 says, but seek first. Seek first, Austin. Austin. Seek first the kingdom of God. And God's righteousness.
[27:26] Jesus' glory. Jesus' righteousness. I'll take care of everything else. I want you to let that be the deciding factor in your life. Why don't you decide that instead of living for any of the other stuff, you'll put Jesus first.
[27:39] It'll work from now to the day you're dead. It'll work from now to the day you're laying in a bed dying of cancer. If all you know is this, man, I put him first. I seek him first. It'll work in your business.
[27:51] It'll work in the way you manage your money. It'll work in the way you raise your kids. Seek him first. Father in heaven, I love you. I thank you for the chance to serve you.
[28:01] And I pray that you would be honored and glorified. I pray you'd show your power. God, I thank you for these young people. God, they are adult men now. They're adult women now.
[28:11] They're stepping out. And Lord, though mom and dad will still exercise great influence over them, I pray, Lord, you'd help them to seek you first, to put you first. To let their lives count for you because they seek you first.
[28:23] I pray you'd let that happen. For your honor and glory. Help them, Lord. I pray you'd help parents to help their kids seek you first. I pray you'd help us as a church to put you first. I pray you'd help us to hold on to you and to love you and to hate and despise all that the materialism and the money could offer us and wait on you to give us whatever you'd have and trust you with that.
[28:46] God, do a work in our lives tonight. I will give you honor and glory and praise. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. Might be a good time to come find a place to pray and say, Lord, I'll put you first.
[28:57] Might not even be a bad idea for a young guy graduating or a young girl graduating to come and say, Lord, I'm going to honor you and put you first. Might not be a bad idea for a family to pray together and say, I'm going to put you first.
[29:08] We're going to put you first. Just tell him. You're stepping out. You're making man-sized decisions. You're making woman-sized decisions. Maybe families together would pray and say, Lord, I'll put the Lord first.
[29:21] Make sure God's number one in my life. I give you a chance right now to come and tell him you're first. You're number one. Come and talk to him and tell him that. Maybe a dad could pray with his son or a mom could pray with her daughter.
[29:34] Parents could pray. Grandparents could pray. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you.
[29:52] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[30:07] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.