Matthew 6:25-34 Pursue Holiness

Matthew 6:25-34 Pursue Holiness

I am not a holy man, A good man I hope but not Holy, 1 John 1:8 tells us “that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We will never be Holy, until the day you meet Jesus face to face in heaven. Yet Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to “Seek first the Kingdom of God” More than food, water, clothing or shelter, we are to seek the Kingdom of God. We are called to pursue holiness.

But if we are honest our pursuit of holiness is a frustrating endeavor. We think we have the holy living thing all worked out and then we sin and it all falls apart. Sometimes pursuing holiness is like trying to herd a group of cats. So why pursue holiness at all? Why not as 1 Corinthians 15:21 says “eat and drink for tomorrow we die” Jesus pays the price of our sin, so why not party on and make the most of it?

Today I want to look at why pursue holiness. What promise except frustration is there for us in pursuing holiness?

Our passage we started with Matthew 6:25-34 says if we “seek first the kingdom of God, all these things will be added unto you.” Notice Jesus did not say obtain, He said seek, pursue the Kingdom of God. As we pursue holiness the other things will take care of themselves. When we get the first priority right the others will fall in line. But if you fail in the first priority the rest will never be taken care of no matter how much you have to eat, drink, how well you dress and no matter where you live.

1 John 1:5-7 says “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

If we walk in darkness, the oppose of pursuing holiness, there are things we will be lacking.

Truth, The only way to know what is true is to walk in the light, pursue holiness. All around the world there are people living in deception, like cattle in the stock yard thinking they are safe. We can see it in places like North Korea, where their leader passes himself off as God, living in luxury while the people starve.

Truth even evades us in the United Sates, people’s minds are feed fake news, and fake science, many people no longer know who or what to believe. But in pursuing holiness you will know the truth, the real truth.

Another thing is fellowship with God and with each other. 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?   What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?   What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,”

When we stop pursuing holiness our fellowship with other believers falls apart. Our support group our source of encouragement fails us and we are alone. The people of the world do not accept us fully because they know we do not belong. The people of God cannot have fellowship because we no longer seek the same things. We become miserable people to be around.

1 John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

If we walk in darkness not only is our fellowship with other Christians hindered but so is our fellowship with God. “we do not walk in truth.” “What part can God have with evil?” none.

If we pursue holiness, we have this promise. “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Though I know I never will be a Holy Man, I will pursue holiness. Though I will not achieve it apart from Christ forgiveness I will seek it. For the blessing comes from seeking. The good things of life, the truth of God and all the rest will come as a result of the pursuit for holiness.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”