But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Ver. 33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness] That as the end, this as the means; for grace is the way to glory, holiness to happiness. If men be not righteous there is no heaven to be had; as if they be, they shall have heaven and earth too: for godliness hath the promise of both lives; and godly men, in Scripture (Abraham, Job, David, others), were richer than any: and so men might be now if they would be as godly. The good God had furnished Constantine the Great with so many outward blessings, as scarcely any man dare ever have desired, saith St Austin. a He sought God's kingdom first, and therefore other things sought him: and so they would do us, did we but run the same method. Riches and honours, delights and pleasures, life and length of days, seed and posterity, are all entailed upon piety, Pro 3:16-17 Deuteronomy 28:1,14 Psalms 112:2,3. The wicked in the fulness of his sufficiency is in straits, Job 20:22, when the godly in the fulness of their straits are in all-sufficiency. Oh, who would not then turn spiritual purchaser, and with all his gettings get godliness? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," saith divinity (first, before anything else; and first, more than any other thing). Seek ye first the good things of the mind, saith philosophy, b Caetera aut aderunt, aut certe non oberunt. But our senseless over valuing of earthly things and under valuing of heavenly is that which maketh us so carkingly careful in the one, and so recklessly affected in the other. The lean kine eat up the fat, and it is nothing seen by them. The strength of the ground is so spent in nourishing weeds, tares, or grain of little worth, that the good wheat is pulled down, choked, or starved. Earthly mindedness sucketh the sap of grace from the heart, as the ivy doth from the oak, and maketh it unfruitful. Correct therefore this ill-humour, this choke-weed: cast away this clog, this thick clay, that makes us like that deceased woman in the Gospel, that being held of a spirit eighteen years, could not look up to heaven, Luke 13:11. And learn to covet spiritual things, labour for the meat that perisheth not. Lay hold upon eternal life, whatever you let go. Temporal things are, nec vera, nec vestra, mutable and momentary, mixed and infected with care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in losing. Besides, they are insufficient and unsatisfactory, and many times prove instruments of vice, and hindrances from heaven c Spiritual things, on the other side, are solid and substantial, serving to a life that is supernatural and supernal. They are also certain and durable, Nec prodi, nec perdi, nec eripi, nec surripi possunt. They are sound and sincere, a continual feast, without cessation or the least intermission, d they serve to, and satisfy the soul; as being the gain of earth and heaven, and of him that filleth both. Seek ye therefore first, &c. Our Saviour, in his prayer, gives us but one petition for temporals, five for spirituals, to teach us this lesson. Scipio went first to the capitol, and then to the senate, &c. Aristotle saith, first take care of divine things: that is the best policy. πρωτον περι θειων επιμελε. (Polit. vii. 8.)
And all these things shall be added unto you] They shall be cast in as a bonus, or as those small advantages to the main bargain; as pepper and pack thread is given where we buy spice and fruit; as a handful is cast into the sack of grain, or an inch of measure to an ell of cloth. These follow God's kingdom, as the blackguard do the court, or as all the revenue and retinue doth some great lady that one hath wedded. The night of Popery shall shame such as think much of the time that is spent with and for God; for in their superstitious zeal they were wont to say, Mass and meat hinders no man's thrift. It would be a great stay of mind, if the king should say to us for ourselves, the same that David did to Mephibosheth, "Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness," and "thou shalt surely eat bread at my table continually," 2 Samuel 9:7. Or if he should say to us for our children, as David did to Barzillai the Gileadite concerning Chimham: "Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee," 2 Samuel 19:38; hath not God said as much here as all this, and shall we not trust and serve him, cleave to him, and rest on him without fear or distraction?
a Bonus Deus Constant. mag. tantis terrenis implevit muneribus, quanta optare nullus auderet. Aug. Civ. Dei, 5. 25.
b Quaerite primum bona amimi. Cicero.
c Lucrum in arca facit damnum in conscientia. Aug.
d Ανηρ αγαθος πασαν ημεραν εορτην ηγειται. Diog. ap. Plut.