6. God's righteousness is itself the very spirit of His own Kingdom. Christ does not here tell us merely to seek righteous- ness, though elsewhere we are thus bidden ; but to seek God's righteousness. Any righteousness which is of our own making, which we try to gain by standing aloof from Him, is worth nothing at all. His righteousness does not merely mean righteous- ness like His, but His own very righteousness. We must receive Himself into our hearts, and then His righteousness will spring up within us and overflow all our doings.
And we receive God into our hearts by receiving Christ. Christ is all His followers are to be; in Him the righteousness of the Kingdom is incarnate. From henceforth the righteous man is the Christ-like man. The standard of human life is no longer a code but a character; for the gospel does not put us into subjection to fresh laws ; it calls us to " the study of a living Person, and the following of a living Mind." And when to Jesus we bring the old question, " Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? " He does not now repeat the commandments, but He says, " If thou wouldst be perfect, follow Me, learn of Me, do as I have done to you, love as I have loved you."
*[J " Unselfed and inchristed " is the phrase that has been em- ployed to set forth the great transaction of spiritual renewal ; and observe how the Apostle encourages us to serve a writ of ejection on the old tenant, our evil self, and to bring in a new occupant of the premises : " That ye put off concerning the former conversa- tion the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; . . . and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." No betterment or reforma- tion of the depraved tenant, who is also in hopeless arrears with his landlord, but a peremptory order to move out ! Moreover, the
G. Jackson, The Teaching of Jesus, 129.
166 THE FIRST THINGS FIRST
Christian is considered to have done this very thing — evicted his former self, and set its goods and chattels out upon the sidewalk. " Seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds ; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." So vividly and strongly did this conception take hold of Martin Luther that he used to say, " When any one comes and knocks at the door of my heart and asks, ' Who lives here ? ' I reply, ' Martin Luther used to, but he has moved out, and Jesus Christ now lives here.' " '
II.
The Kingdom First.
" Seek ye first." It is interesting to note that the word trans- lated " seek " in the text has for one of its meanings, if not for its primary significance, " to beat the covers for birds." It is the sportsman's method of seeking. How does a sportsman seek ? Many readers of these words will know from experience what it means in the way of work, even under the most favourable condi- tions, for a sportsman to fill his bag — how he must be prepared to wade swamps, climb uplands, push through brake and brier, watch, wait, wriggle, and in fact do everything but fail, for no sportsman worthy of the name cares to come back with an empty bag. If, however, he is to succeed, his whole soul must be in his quest. Hand and eye and ear must all be working in concert. For note it is " birds under cover " to which the word relates, and, that being so, the bird is up only for a brief moment, and must be taken as it flies. What a startling suggestion is this — the Kingdom of God like a bird on the wing ! It is a passing thing — here now, and to-day within present sight and range ; but it is speeding past, and we must take it as it flies lest to-morrow it should be " under cover," and " these things be hid from our eyes."
1. First — that is now, and without further procrastination, if the fresh dawn of existence is no longer mine. It is suicidal to persist through another hour in filching from my soul its proper patrimony. My times are uncertain ; my health is brittle ; hardening and ossifying influences are incessant in their action;
1 A. J. Gordon: A Biography, 100.
ST. MATTHEW vi. 33 167
God is free to take His departure. Is it not the folly of follies to stand in jeopardy for one instant more ? First — that is, when I rise in the beginning of each day. If I have sought and found the Kingdom's gold and crystal and pearl and gem, let me renew acquaintance with them every morning. To them, and to the Lord who makes and keeps them my own, let me return, when mind is clear and thought is vigorous and weariness is far away. So they will gleam into warmer loveliness and greater worth.