TITLE: First Things First

TEXT: Matthew 23:25-28

PROPOSITION: Jesus demands that we put the right things first in our lives.

QUESTION: What?

KEY WORD: Priorities

READING: Same

INTRODUCTION:

1. Our lives get out of sync. We lose direction. We forget what is really important.

2. We make a dollar and lose our marriage. We get busy with the urgent and forsake the important.

3. Jesus gives us some help to identify some firsts.

1. First your Brother, Then your gift. Matt. 5:23-24

A. Discord among brothers = paralyzed, powerless

B. Reconciliation is Demanded.

C. No Christian can be right with God and wrong with a brother in Christ.

D. "First be reconciled..."

2. First the Spiritual, Then the Temporal. Matt. 6:33

A. Often quoted - - Seldom understood.

B. God knows our temporal needs. Phil. 4:19

C. We MUST put the church ahead of:

Ballgames, Company, Work, Trips, Eating

3. First Judge yourself, Then you Brother. Matt. 7:3

A. We are blind to our faults.

B. Clearly see the faults of others.

C. Better to mend and restore (Gal. 6:1) than to criticize.

4. First Christ's wants, Then Your wants. Matt. 8:21-22

A. Let me bury my father.

B. "Follow me. Let the dead (spiritually) bury the dead (physically).

C. Self-centered. Solve my problems first.

5. First the Inside, Then the Outside. Matt. 23:25-28

A. Christian <> reformed life.

B. Christian = Inwardly cleansed life.

C. Not profession - But possession.