Antidote to Anxiety Luke 12:22-34

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November 29, 2023 - Morning Worship Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, California Message "Antidote to Anxiety" Luke 12:22-34

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I'm thankful to be here after this Thanksgiving week, and as believers,
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I think every day should be Thanksgiving Day, you know, in our hearts, with gratitude, because if we didn't have gratitude for the
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Lord that gave us the very essence of life, we'd have a problem.
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But God has illumined all we know through his word and through the
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Holy Spirit, so it's a good day to be together and to be thankful and grateful to one another, and grateful to this church and the legacy of people that brought this church to this point over the last 70 years or so.
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So, to those that are at home, we want to say hello to you, and we know that you,
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Lord willing, would like to be here but aren't able to be, but we miss you and pray the
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Lord be with you in your quiet times. For announcements, the
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Missionary of the Month is Steve and Joyce Louis, and you can read up more about them. There's no
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Bible study this week, that's Wednesday the 29th, and there will not be men's breakfast study on Saturday, December 2nd, as normally, it's the first Saturday of the month, so no men's breakfast, okay?
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On the 2nd. Got it. Done. I like that. Oh, darn.
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The next leadership board meeting is on the 6th at 6, you'll see a trend here,
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December 6th at 6 o 'clock. The biblical counseling is December 9th at 9, so you got 6 and 6, you got 9 and 9, we're doing good here.
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Women's tea, the annual Christmas tea, is on December 9th at 10 o 'clock, so right after the biblical counseling, so ladies, please mark your calendars for that.
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That's December 9th at 10, and Bible study, next study will be Wednesday the 13th at 5 .30,
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it's going through the book of Ruth. So, and all are welcome to that as well.
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So, I think that's it for announcements. I just wanted to share a short verse, you know, the centrality of God's work, this is where it begins and ends, right here.
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It's not in my mind or in my heart, but it's right here in God's word. This is what we live by, this is why we gather, this is why, how we know how we are to live, and in Psalm 19,
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I'm going to read verses 7 through 11 briefly and you just listen. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
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The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the
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Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the
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Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.
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Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Isn't that a beautiful picture of God's word?
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And really, it's showing the completeness of the scripture. We need nothing else except this right here, and that's why we gather together, to come together and worship together.
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So, please join with me. Lord God, we thank you that we can come together, gather around your word,
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Father, to grow us personally, Father, to convert and to change those hearts that have not accepted you,
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Father, that they might hear your word today and be changed to know you, to love you, to walk with you,
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Father. God, may you be pleased with our offerings of praise today, that, Lord, we have much to be thankful for,
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Lord, that we are given much, Father, and may our hearts always overflow of your mercies and your grace.
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God, we pray that you would bless our time, that our voices would be sweet to you, that we'd be a sweet aroma,
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Father, that you would bless the pastor, as he shares with us, Lord, from your word.
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God, we pray for those that aren't here today, that are hurting, that are healing, that are just not able to be here,
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Lord. We pray that you would strengthen them spiritually, that you would strengthen them physically, Father, and that they would be in your care,
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Lord. We know that you are the Lord over all things, and you care for them just as you care for the birds and the sparrows,
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Lord. Father, we thank you for your goodness. God, bless us this day. Lord, may we honor you, may we give you glory in all that we do,
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Father, and be with us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. So if you would join with me, please stand as we begin to sing
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Christmas hymns. It is almost that time of year, and what a blessed time and opportunity to be a testimony.
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We can be a testimony every day, all year long, but now we have a special time where people will listen when they don't normally listen, because it's in front of them all over the place, but we can bring the context to it.
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What is the meaning of it? That's what we need to bring to this season, not just the colors and the lights and they're beautiful, but bring the essence of why we rejoice this
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Christmas season. Today I'm going to be reading
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Philippians 4, 4 through 8. Rejoice in the
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Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
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The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
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And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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Thank the Lord for his word. Please turn with me to Luke chapter 12 verses 22 through 34.
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Luke chapter 12 verses 22 through 34.
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Then he said to his disciples, Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on.
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Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn.
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And God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature?
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If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow.
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They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
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If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will you clothe you,
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O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
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For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.
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But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your
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Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms.
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Provide yourselves money bags, which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.
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For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray.
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Father, we come before you knowing that it is the correct view of who you are and what you do that helps us to be free of anxiety.
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There's nothing that we can consume, there's nothing that we can do apart from you and your word that we can be freed from our anxious soul.
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Help us to find peace in knowing that you are so faithful and you want the best for us.
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Help us to clearly see you and your truth today. And may your word renew our minds so that our hearts may be transformed.
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In Jesus' name, Amen. Last week, Jesus warned his disciples of the danger of the devotion to wealth.
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This week, he follows the same thread of teaching to show what his disciples must focus on instead of possessions.
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While last week's lesson was to put off any devotion to wealth, this week
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Jesus teaches what we must put on, what they must devote themselves to.
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The first eight verses focus on Jesus' disciples' need to not worry, why they need to not worry, even though they're not pursuing possessions.
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After all, this is important because everyone else is concerned with what to eat, how to dress, and what to drink.
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Everyone else, of course, is pursuing possessions. Yet, Jesus told them previously, do not be concerned with those.
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So the question is, what then must the disciples of Christ find security in, if not possessions?
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And this week, Jesus tells them they must find security in a person rather than in things.
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And not just any person, but God himself. And the last half of the verses show us, if they are not pursuing the possessions, what must they pursue instead?
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And that's the kingdom of God. This passage is very, very important to us, mainly because culturally, we are the most anxious that anyone's ever been in human history.
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People are on pharmaceutical drugs to not feel anxious.
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People devote themselves to substances, activities, relationships, to find peace.
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Today's passage, Jesus does not prescribe any of those. He prescribes the right view of who
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God is and what he's doing. Because in the end, activities, substances, pharmaceuticals, they may help you not focus on things that worry you, but ultimately, they just numb your brain.
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They get you to focus on something else. However, Jesus here tells us, rather than numbing your brain and really not being able to focus on anything, focus on God.
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Focus on who God is, and what he's done, and what he's doing in all of creation to find peace, to find freedom from anxiety.
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And then verses 29 through 34 revisit why we need to not worry and what we need to pursue instead, which is the kingdom of God.
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And why this is important is because oftentimes we find ourselves seeking someone else's kingdom.
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I was just talking to someone right before this, and his son is praying for clarity on what to do with his life to serve ministry, and even choosing what seminary to go to in order to be educated.
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How many of us would surrender our future to God's hand to find out where God would have me serve next?
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It's a scary prayer, but that's what it looks like to seek the kingdom of God first.
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Oftentimes we want to give God a multiple choice question. Is it A, B, C, D?
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You want me in Sacramento, San Francisco, Tennessee, or Texas? And God's answer is none of those.
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Oftentimes it's not even an alphabet answer, but that's what it looks like to seek first the kingdom of God because it's his kingdom.
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He doesn't have to abide by your A, B, C, Ds. So the main point of this text is, because our gracious heavenly father faithfully provides for all of our needs, we pursue his kingdom without worry.
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Because our gracious heavenly father faithfully provides for all of our needs, we pursue his kingdom without worry.
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First, we do not worry about physical provisions because our gracious heavenly father will faithfully provide them.
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Verses 22 through 28, we do not worry about physical provisions because our gracious heavenly father will faithfully provide them.
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Jesus starts with a broad command regarding our relationship with possessions.
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Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on.
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Do not worry about your life, which starts broadly.
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Life can consist of so many things. It starts to specify into two examples, what you will eat, what you will dress.
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And many of us will understand the security that we might find in food. After all, the grocery bills are high.
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And we do need food to survive. However, the concern for clothing may sound odd.
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It's not like we need to buy the most expensive clothes or the trendiest clothes to fit in. Especially here, you don't really need to dress up in any way.
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However, in ancient Israel, clothes were expensive.
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Remember, they did not have factories to mass produce T -shirts. Whatever color you want, it's under $10, if you look at the right places.
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However, in one sense, in ancient Israel, they had to hand make all the clothes.
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And what that meant was, they wore their wealth. Clothing was important to them.
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That's why even in the parable of the Good Samaritan in the previous chapter, the robbers stripped him.
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Not because they wanted to humiliate him in any way, it's just that his clothes were part of his wealth.
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Even just a hundred years ago, a handmade suit, a bespoke suit, not factory made, would have cost an ounce of gold coin, which nowadays is around $2 ,000.
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And nowadays, if you do want to get a handmade suit for a special occasion, it still is around $2 ,000 or probably more.
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That was the norm for most of human history. Clothing was important.
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It was your wealth. And with this command of do not be anxious about those things,
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Jesus encompasses everything a person would be worried about related to their possession.
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And regarding these things, his followers, surprisingly, need not to worry.
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They must not worry. It's a command. And verse 23 gives us the first reason why we do not worry about these things.
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Life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Now this is a rather reassuring reason.
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There is more to life than what you eat and the clothes you wear.
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Even nowadays, there is a tremendous pressure to eat the right thing and wear the right clothes.
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It's 2023, you must wear this. People judge you based upon what you wear, how you present yourself.
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That's kind of your worth. But to Jesus, he says that's not what life is about.
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In another sense, you're more than just a number on your W -2. You're more than just your tax bracket.
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You're more than even the salary that you make. And your net worth does not say anything about who you are.
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Because life is more than food and what you eat and wear. Your value is independent of what you have saved and what you earn.
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That's what Jesus is saying. What you eat, what you dress, do not depend on who you are.
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That weight is off your shoulders. You don't have to fit a certain mold.
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You don't have to look a certain way. Your job is not to please a certain person. Because life is more than what you eat and body more than what you wear.
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A great reason. And Jesus illustrates this concept in the next verse. Consider the ravens.
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For they neither sow nor reap, which they have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them.
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Of how much more value are you than the birds? The storehouse and the barn language is a direct contrast to what the rich men did in the parable right before this.
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He was concerned with building new storehouses and barns to shore up his wealth.
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But Jesus gives an example of part of his creation that does not.
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And those are the ravens. This is the only place in the New Testament the ravens are mentioned.
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However, when we take a look at the Old Testament, we know what kind of birds the ravens were.
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In Leviticus 11 15, we're told that the ravens are unclean and detestable among the
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Jews. Every raven of any kind, not just any raven, just specific one, every raven.
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Why? Because they're scavengers. They consume blood. They consume dead things.
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And for God's people who worship the God of life must be distanced from unclean living things that consume dead things.
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That's precisely what made the ravens detestable. They consume blood. In fact, they were so unclean when
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Israel became really corrupt and wicked during the prophet Elijah's time.
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God ironically uses the ravens to feed
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Elijah. Right? It's a visible depiction of Israel's moral impurity.
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God's mouthpiece, the prophet Elijah, was better off being fed by these scavenging birds rather than depending on Israel.
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Talk about wickedness there. The same beak that pecked at the dead things, those beaks are feeding the prophet of God.
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And Elijah is better off. These are the ravens. Now the reason why
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God brings, Jesus brings up this illustration is that God, despite their uncleanness, graciously takes care of them.
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God tenderly feeds each raven. After all, they're not saving up food.
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They're not sowing nor reaping. They don't do what humans do to make their ends meet.
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They just rely on God. The punchline comes at the end.
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Of how much more value are you than the birds? Even these unclean birds, these detestable birds, they don't gather food nor store them because God feeds them.
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The focus is not on the goodness of the ravens, but rather on the goodness of God. Now God will take care of these dirty birds, despite being of no use whatsoever to Israel, God's people, right?
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They're not meat to eat. They're not sacrificed. They have no use directly to God's people.
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Yet God takes care of them. How much more will God take care of you?
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How much more, considering the fact that you matter to God more than these unclean birds?
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If these birds are not worried, if they don't lose their sleep at night, over food, why are you?
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At this point, Jesus expects an objection from the disciples. And he logically addresses a potential counter -argument from verses 25 through 26.
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And which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? This is a logical argument.
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And now some translations might have which of you, by worrying, can add one hour to your life. The discrepancy exists not by the textual variation, as in there are multiple texts that are different, but rather the interpretation of the text.
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The more direct translation is adding a cubit. Cubit is a length of measurement.
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About a foot and a half. So some translators view this as a metaphor for life.
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As in, this needs to be interpreted in terms of time. Right?
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So which of you, by worrying, can add one hour to your life? And the reason is, in multiple languages, even in English, the length can metaphorically be used to measure time.
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We do it all the time. Life is short. Well, how short?
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Two inches? No, it's metaphorical. The point is, it's a rhetorical question.
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It is not a question to see from the audience, oh, okay, which of you have sovereign control over your life?
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Even an hour? Rather, the answer to this rhetorical question is, you cannot, you do not have control over your life.
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Even an hour, or a cubit. Hence, in verse 26, he drives the point home.
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If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious about the rest? The point of these questions is that if you cannot control even an hour of your life, or some translation, a cubit of your life, well, you don't really have control over even that little bit.
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What makes you think that you can control the rest of it, your whole life? What's the point of worrying about the future if you can't control an hour?
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It also means, since you have no control over even the most minute part of your life, you must trust someone who does have control over every minute of your life.
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Again, the focus here shifts from us, our inability and our incapability, to God's ability and His control.
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And the next two verses illustrate God's compassionate care, using botanical metaphors.
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So first, he regards the lilies. Consider the lilies, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you, even
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Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. This metaphor highlights the superior splendor in which
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God dresses these flowers. God is not only capable of dressing, but when
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He does, He does it superbly. It's unmatched. Even the lilies look better than Solomon, who was the wealthiest king in the whole world.
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Under him, silver became like rocks. Even Solomon, with all his wealth, could not look nor emulate the beauty of God's creation.
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The next botanical metaphor is about grass. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will
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He clothe you, O you of little faith? From the lilies, Jesus moves onto the grass.
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And in the Old Testament, the grass represented things that do not last.
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The grass didn't last, right? It's temporary at best.
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This metaphor shows how God cares for even seemingly insignificant part of His creation.
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Similar to the ravens, the argument here is, how much more? If God would meticulously clothe every blade of grass that fades away soon after it sprouts, and in Sacramento, we don't need much example of that.
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Look outside after it rains. Look outside after a week, when it doesn't rain.
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There's a total difference in how the grass is arrayed. If God would meticulously clothe every blade of grass that doesn't last, how much more would
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God take care of His people who have eternal significance? It's about how
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God views you. And it's about correctly viewing how
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God views you. In the end, the best antidote to anxiety are the correct view of God and His character and the correct view of ourselves.
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This is because anxiety stems from fear of potentialities, fear of things that have not happened.
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What if I run out of money? What if I don't get paid tomorrow? What if I can't raise my kids right?
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They're all based upon things that have not happened, things that are not true, things that are not based upon reality.
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And how does Jesus fight them? Jesus fights these lies with truth.
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First, we worry because we have an insufficient view or an insufficient trust in who
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God is and what He does. We get anxious because we do not trust
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God's faithfulness. We get anxious because we do not trust
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God's goodness. We get anxious because we doubt His providence.
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We get anxious because we view ourselves as God's rather than God as God.
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For example, when we doubt God's goodness, we will naturally be anxious. How can you trust that deity who is not inherently good?
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It doesn't matter if he's omniscient. He may know what you need, but if he's not good, what's that to you?
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It doesn't matter if he's omnipotent, if he's the wealthiest man in the whole world, if he's the wealthiest being in the whole universe.
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If he's not good, that doesn't matter to you. And if you don't think
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God is kind and compassionate to take care of you when you need
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Him the most, all of a sudden it's up to you to take care of yourself. If you doubt that God is faithful, how can you trust
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His promises? The weight of the whole world falls upon your shoulders when you doubt who
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God is, as Scripture tells us. Hence, Jesus constantly returns to God's character and nature of His generosity, of His complete care.
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He does not lack in His care for His creation. Jesus fights those lies that we have in our head.
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I don't know if God will provide this time. I don't know if He cares. He fights them directly with the truth about God.
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But if God feeds the ravens when they don't work for that, wouldn't
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He feed you? If God is utterly compassionate to these unclean birds, do you think
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He forgot about you? Do you think He would now want to feed you? If God tenderly provides for these seemingly less significant parts of creation, how much more would
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God graciously provide for you? Second, Jesus emphasizes how much value
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His followers have. I think it often slips our mind how much worth every human being is, how worthy they are.
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Even if they're not saved, they have a tremendous worth because they're made in God's image.
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That's why we fight against abortion. That's why we fight against euthanasia.
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Every human being, regardless of their faith history, is worthy because they're made in God's image.
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It's dependent on who God is. Not only that,
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Jesus is talking about His followers, those who belong to Him, His flock,
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His brothers and sisters. God's people are His treasures.
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God's people are the ones He died for. God's people have inherent worth, again, not because of their good deeds and accomplishments, but because of Jesus' accomplishment on the cross.
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That's where they find their worth. And this is why
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Jesus constantly reminds His followers that they matter to God. Our value is not from ourselves, but from God alone.
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And the question, of course, that lingers is how much more would God take care of you who are more valuable than all of creation?
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The lie, of course, that we tell ourselves is, you know, I'm so bad. I'm really, really, really unworthy.
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God won't take care of me this time. That's the lie. But you think that it's being humble, but it's actually not.
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You're making yourself the special case in all of creation that God would just leave out.
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You're challenging His compassion. You're challenging His character. Oh, you're so bad, especially bad, that God would forget you.
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That's the lie that you tell yourself, or Satan tells you, or the world.
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But we must counter them with the truth. And Jesus' antidotes against anxiety are truths about God and ourselves according to Scripture.
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Only God's truth from His Word can effectively and permanently fight off anxiety.
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And for those of you who are struggling with anxiety, please come talk to me afterward.
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At Faith Bible Church, we use Scripture to renew our minds.
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We don't do psychology. We use the Bible to counsel one another in a discipleship setting.
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We rely on God. We rely on the divine counselor, not the human counselor.
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Now, what must Jesus' disciples seek instead? Because God provides the physical provisions, we can prioritize
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His eternal kingdom. Because God provides the physical provisions, we can prioritize
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His eternal kingdom. Before sharing what we must seek instead,
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Jesus reiterates what we must not seek in verse 29. And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
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Our pursuit is not the physical, but rather something else.
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Our minds must not be preoccupied with these things. Jesus gives us the reason in verse 30 for all these things the nations of the world seek after.
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And your Father knows that you need these things. The nations here mean people who are not
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God's people, right? Here, right now, in the early ministry of Jesus, the disciples are, of course,
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Jewish. And in ancient Israel, up to this point, really,
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God's people are ethnically tied to Israel. Yes, there are exceptions here and there.
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But how you knew that you belonged to God was that you were born into it.
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You're born a Jew. You worship the Lord. And what
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Jesus is saying, those people who don't worship the Lord, the nations, the
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Gentiles, their priorities are the physical. Eating, drinking, what they must dress.
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And that's because they don't, they precisely don't worship the God who compassionately provides.
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So, for you guys, for Jesus' disciples, you have to know that your
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Father knows what you need. If He knows what you need, wouldn't He compassionately provide for you as it has been established prior?
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If He knows it, then He'll do it. Because that's who He is. And knowing
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God's compassionate heart, we can be assured that He will indeed provide.
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So, what must God's people seek instead? But seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you.
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First, we must not take this verse out of context and use it as a magic spell, like a magic formula to get rich.
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Oh, just pursue ministry and you'll be set for life. Just do the
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Christian -ese things and God will give you a consistent salary. It can easily become that.
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And you know what? Prosperity gospel, so -called preachers, that's what they do.
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Just give more and God will give more back to you, right?
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I can't promise that because that's not what this verse is saying. What this verse is saying, it is because God will provide everything that you need, you can focus on God's kingdom.
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The physical lack will not be an obstacle for you to pursuing God's kingdom.
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Now, what is God's kingdom? God's kingdom is the reality of God's rule and reign in this world.
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Because we're not seeking the world's business, sustenance, clothing, we can pursue after God's business.
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And for us, it's the gospel and the biblical discipleship. It's His will and His plan.
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His future for us and His desires. We can seek
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God's kingdom without worrying because God will provide all the things that we need.
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And knowing what kind of hardship pursuing God's kingdom will entail in this wicked world,
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Jesus reassures His disciples, Do not fear, little foe, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
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The command to not fear is not because the world will be kind to them. Oftentimes, Christians mistake that and foolishly believe that the world can be their friend.
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No, it's dependent on the certainty of God's promises and His plans for His kingdom.
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God is delighted to give His kingdom to Jesus' disciples. God's desire is for His children to inherit
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His kingdom. Even though we're just a little flock, we're weak, we're fragile, we don't have anything going for us,
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God will fulfill what He has promised to His people. That's why we don't fear.
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Our confidence isn't centered around on what we are able to do.
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It's centered around who God is. Our security does not come from us, but from Him.
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And this reality transforms how we live our lives now. Sell what you have and give alms.
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Provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old. A treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.
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Knowing God's faithful provision means we can pursue His kingdom generously.
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Jesus calls for a financial pursuit through charity.
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Notice that alms are actually given to the poor. And the point is that when you know that God will provide for every need that you have, you can actually give to those who cannot repay.
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If you want to get rich and make interest, you don't loan to the poor. You loan to those who can.
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But what Jesus is saying, because you know that God will provide for you, you don't have to hold on to what you have, but generously give to who need.
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When you pursue God's kingdom, the focus is rather on God and others rather than on yourself.
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And what's the reason? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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In the end, what you pursue is what you value. What you go after is what you desire deep inside your heart.
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For followers of Jesus, our treasure is God's kingdom and not the earthly kingdom, because that is what we value the most deeply inside.
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And this is a crucial application to knowing God will provide all things that we need.
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Only when we trust and understand that our Heavenly Father will take care of us in every possible way, we can confidently pursue
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His kingdom. And I do want to clarify what
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God's kingdom is. And this is because the kingdom language is often so misused and abused.
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And many try to manipulate it so that you give to their organization by saying that their ministry is doing some kingdom work.
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The first and foremost thing that you need to know about God's kingdom is that His kingdom centers around the
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King. And this King is King Jesus. Any kingdom work that does not mention
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Jesus nor not focus on Jesus is not
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God's kingdom. It may be someone else's kingdom, but it ain't
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God's kingdom. A kingdom without the true King is not
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God's kingdom. It's as simple as that. Second, God's kingdom is focused on the accomplishment of this
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King, Jesus, to make you His. Think about this.
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There was no possible way for sinners like us to enter His kingdom.
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In fact, the Bible tells us that we all actually start out not as neutral, but as His enemies.
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We were all rebels. We were all traitors. In order for this
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King to make you His, Jesus, the King Himself, took on your sin and all its record, bore it on the cross, faced the punishment that you deserve.
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He faced the punishment of the traitors and He rose from the dead.
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The punishment is paid for. It doesn't linger over you anymore. And that's why you can be part of His kingdom.
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This King took you under His wings through His own death. God's kingdom is open for you only because of the gospel.
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And if a Christian organization advertises to further God's kingdom and the gospel is not shared, that is a huge red flag.
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You can feed the poor, and that is noble. But if the gospel is not shared, they're just a couple of meals away from facing the judgment.
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You can clothe the poor, and that is great. But without the gospel, it's not the kingdom work.
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What's the point of clothing them if they're going to be clothed in their shame and guilt before the throne of Christ?
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That's not kingdom work. No kingdom work can be done without the gospel.
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You cannot pursue God's kingdom without the gospel. What this means is we do need to diligently pray and ask where to give.
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It doesn't have to be just money. I mean time, effort, your service, your gifts, spiritual gifts, and how to give that would further the kingdom of God.
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When Lauren and I receive support letters from missionaries or various mission organizations, one of the first questions when we have the chance to ask is what is the gospel?
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If they cannot give a clear answer to this question, they have no business going abroad nor serving as missionaries here.
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If they cannot share the gospel with us, we have no faith that they will share the gospel with others.
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For us, our main heavenly investment in our lives right now is actually this church because we have found this church to have been entrusted with the gospel and have faithfully stewarded the gospel for the last 75 years.
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If we didn't believe so, we would not be in Sacramento. We believe that this church pursues
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God's kingdom in Sacramento despite the hardship and darkness that surround this city.
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And you may not be sure of it, and that's okay. It's for you to research.
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You need to ask questions. You need to find out more. Don't just take my word.
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Take the time to investigate what this church does and what this church teaches.
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Look into the type of people this church has produced.
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Listen on various Bible studies and sermons to see if we have the correct gospel.
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And if so, God convinces you that this church is furthering
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God's kingdom here in Sacramento. Pray and ask how you can give, not just financially, but how you can serve, how you can be a gift to this church and build upon His kingdom.
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And of course, I do have to remind you, investing in God's kingdom is not just financial. It's with time.
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It's with effort, energy, and your life. I know some of you physically labor to keep this church running.
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I've even heard last week that some of you did that, carrying heavy, heavy load to make this building where we worship the true
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God look presentable. That is kingdom work because it allows this church to continue preaching the gospel.
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But on a daily basis, we do need to consider how we spend our time. Is your mind getting renewed by the washing of God's word or is your mind getting corrupted by the filth of this world?
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Are you discipled by a more mature believer or discipling a newer believer?
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Or is church just something that you slot for Sunday mornings because you can invest your time in God's kingdom?
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And it may not be directly related to this church, and that's okay. But the question is, is it investing in what
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God has planned for you, for this city, for this nation?
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And only you and God can answer that. We must be diligent in researching how and where we invest everything for God's kingdom.
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Don't just give just because they say they're Christians. Don't just volunteer because they're serving the poor.
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Don't just give because they're using Christianese words, right? Like Jesus, kingdom, gospel, right?
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Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses use the same words. Discern who and how these groups are truly furthering
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God's kingdom. Discern what activities and what you put into your mind are furthering
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God's kingdom in your own personal life. How is it representing Christ well when
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I do this or say this or listen to this? After all,
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God's kingdom is your main investment that will last. You may have your 401k,
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Roth IRA, and pensions, savings, annuities, properties, physical gold, silver, but only thing that will last is
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God's kingdom. This is an investment that is untouched by the recession that's probably here.
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This is an investment with guaranteed returns of multiple fold. And this is an investment you must choose wisely.
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It's an eternal investment. And I have yet to meet anyone who starved to death or went totally bankrupt because they've pursued
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God's kingdom above all else. But I have met plenty, even in their old age, well provided for and have no regret of their service and sacrifice to further
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God's kingdom. Father, we are thankful that we have the opportunity to invest in your kingdom with everything we have which is given from you.
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Help us to be wise fund managers. Help us to be generous and discerning.
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Help us to not hold on to things that make us anxious.
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Help us to not hold on to things to avoid anxiety. But we would hold on to you in whom there can be no anxiety.
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Help us to find peace in your son Jesus Christ because he is the prince of peace who has reconciled us to you through his own sacrifice.
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Change our hearts to joyfully invest in your kingdom, whatever that may look like. And help us to delight in it, get excited about it, as Jesus is.