Sunday Morning Sermon Series - Pastor Josiah Shipley (Date: 09/05/2021)

Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military styles.

It wasn't the type of people. Return with me, if you will, back to Matthew chapter 6, please.

Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 24. Matthew 6, beginning in verse 24.

Yeah, thank you. Or throw it. Thanks, buddy.

Alright, Jeff, we ready here? The title of this sermon is

The Answer to Anxiety, A Sovereign God. We are in Matthew chapter 6, and this is smack dab in the middle of the

Sermon on the Mount. Now you may have heard of this before, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 through Matthew 7.

And what we have here is the greatest sermon ever preached. And it was preached by the greatest preacher to ever live,

Jesus Christ. And at the end of it, zero people get saved. At the end of it, it says the crowds were astonished, but there were no conversions.

If that tells us anything, ladies and gentlemen, is that our evangelism is nothing more than obedience. The results of that come from God.

And if Jesus Christ can preach three chapters and have no conversions, and then be glorified by God, then our evangelism and teaching, ladies and gentlemen, our service to each other, should not be weighed by the results of it, but rather the obedience that comes from it.

Anxiety. Is it a sin to be anxious? No. Is it a sin to be fearful?

In and of itself, no. For there can be no courage if there's not some level of fear. There can be no faith if there's not some level of doubt.

And as I've said before, and this is but a side note, if you have been taught to not question the

Bible, let me disabuse you of that now. The only person that can ever read the

Bible and not have questions is the Holy Spirit, because He wrote it. If you read the Bible and have no questions, you didn't read it.

It was written by God, using 40 different writers over 1 ,500 years in four different languages.

You will have questions. See, I believe that we should question the Bible, if by question we simply mean question, and seek to find the answers knowing that God said everyone who seeks

Him with his whole heart will find Him. The answer to anxiety is a sovereign

God. When Ava was younger, and even still now, my three -year -old,

I would put her on top of the fridge. I've told you this before. I never got upset with her for being afraid.

Where she failed is when she allowed that fear to keep her from obeying my command. So when

I say, Ava, jump, she obeys in spite of her fear. Anxiety in and of itself is not sinful.

How you choose to respond to it may or may not be. Let's look, not at my words, but at Jesus' answer to anxiety here.

We're going to read this passage again, Matthew 6, 24 -34. Hear the word of God. No one can serve two masters.

He'll either hate one and love the other, or he'll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both

God and money. Therefore, don't be anxious about your life, what you'll eat, what you'll drink, or about your body, what you'll put on.

Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air.

They neither sow nor reap or gather in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

They neither twirl nor spin, yet I tell you Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes, that's going to be a key word later.

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which alive today, and the tomorrow stone in the oven, how much more will

He not clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, don't be anxious, saying, what will we eat, drink, or wear?

The Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But, instead of that, remember the

Bible is not just a bunch of do -nots. It tells you what to do instead. Instead of that, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you.

Five times here, Jesus tells us not to be anxious. Well, what is anxiousness?

What is anxiety? Jeff, help me. Got it.

Anxiety. Feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

Who in here has ever struggled with anxiety? Exactly. Some of us worse than others.

But I tell you, as I've said many times, and yes, Sunday night crew, you're about to hear it again, so long as we actually mean the word struggle, there is no shame in that.

What does the word struggle mean? If my Sunday night crew does not get this, I'm going to quit.

What does struggle mean? To violently resist. To violently resist.

You know what the Arabic word for that is? Jihad. The point being, that is the idea of struggle.

That's the idea of struggle. When a young man comes to me and says, I am struggling with pornography, that's not a shameful thing, so long as he actually means struggle.

If he is violently resisting against it, there's no shame in that. The shame is those who are not struggling.

There's no shame in struggling with anxiety, so long as we all have the same definition of struggle that Jesus had, and that is to actively fight against.

What does the book of Hebrews tell us? You have not struggled to the point of yet shedding blood.

There's no shame in struggle, that's actually a command of the Bible. So if you're actually putting up a fight, you're actually obeying what

God said to do. The answer to anxiety is a sovereign God.

The definition of sovereignty is this, it is the will of God coming to be without permission or aid from anyone or anything.

He doesn't need anyone's help. We have nothing to offer Him. Nothing. In His plan for evangelism,

He chooses to use the church. Not because He needs their help, but that is the method He chooses to use.

And when the church does not do their job, He can use a rock, He can use a dream,

He can use a vision, He can use whatever He wants, but His will will be accomplished. And He doesn't need anyone's help doing it.

The answer to anxiety is reckoning, that's sovereignty. We could go all over the Bible for this, but I'd point you to the simplest sentence in the

Bible on this. Psalm 115 .3 Our God is in heaven and does all that He pleases.

What does all mean? Our God is in heaven and does whatever

He pleases. Join that with Romans 5 that says,

God demonstrates, present tense, His own love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You know what that means? It pleased Him to die for you. That's what that means.

If He does all that He pleases, and while we were still sinners,

He died for us, that means it pleases Him to be a Savior. That's part of His nature. It's who

He is. What is more impactful in our lives, church?

A feeling, or the sovereign creator of the universe? What impacts our lives more?

This sermon is not here to say that there's no place, of course, for medication or anything like that.

I am no psychologist, no psychiatrist, and there's some of you I would be afraid to see if you were unmedicated.

But, this sermon is also not a note against doctors. A doctor wrote more of the

New Testament than anyone else. And no, that was not Paul. By the way, he wrote more letters, but by word count,

Luke wrote more words than the New Testament. And he was a doctor, a physician, Paul calls him.

He was a doctor. Luke is the longest book of the Bible. Acts, which is really just Luke part 2, is the second longest.

And yes, Jake, Bill, I checked, even if Paul wrote

Hebrews, Luke still got them by about 50 words. So yes, Luke is the most prolific

New Testament writer. And he was a doctor. This sermon is not a statement about medication or doctors.

It's a statement of this, that I make you a promise according to the Bible, the only way to lasting peace is submission to the blessed and only

Sovereign, which is Jesus Christ. And that continued progression in that obedience will show

Him more love and honor than anything else. This is the love of God that we keep

His commandments. Notice again, it does not say this is the love of God that we raise our hands the highest in worship, that we sing the loudest, that we give the most.

No, this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. But you know, the beauty of that is the more you grow to love

God and hate your sins, the more you realize the last part of that verse, that His commandments are not burdensome.

The more sanctified you become, the more you will love the things of God and hate the things of your old man.

That is the point of progressive sanctification. Consider truth.

This is our answer to anxiety. A sovereign God. The first thing we must do is consider truth.

Verse 24 again. No one can serve two masters who either hate one and love the other or who be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money. There is but one Lord and it's Jesus. If you want to recognize who the

Lord of your life is, ask yourself who you obey the most. Self or God?

Who do you obey the most? For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.

If you read here, it says, look at the birds of the air. Verse 26. They don't sow or reap or gather in the barns, and yet your heavenly

Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? A couple things here. First off, please recognize this is not a statement that God does not care for animals, as He does very much.

But the point is to show how much more He cares for those created in His image. Human beings.

Please don't recognize this as an excuse for laziness. That misses the point. Birds are not idle.

They work. A lot. Read Proverbs 19 to see what the

Bible says about the lazy person and what should happen to them. It's not a point of laziness.

The point is that what? The bird is focused on that which he can control and not that which he can't.

I'm going to say that again. The ravens are focused on that which they can control and not that which they can't.

They leave that in the hands of their Creator. Look at the birds of the air.

They neither sow nor reap or gather in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Fretting about things outside of your control produces nothing but wasted time and energy.

Look at verse 27. Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?

The answer, of course, is no one. When we consider truth, Jesus' answer here is not a five -step plan.

It's recognizing the created order, and it's recognizing who is in control of it.

Not only to consider truth, but to recognize God is in control. Let's read verse 28 through 30 again.

Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they neither grow nor toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will

He clothe you, O you of little faith? For those of you who don't know,

I work here part -time. My full -time job, I work at Evergreen UV. I work there Tuesdays through Fridays. And we make

UV lights for disinfection, like the ones you see in this room. If you don't know, these blue lights, and by the way, you're not actually looking at the light.

That is a reflection off the metal. These blue lights right here, okay, I can't say the word kill or eradicate, but I can say, they neutralize viruses and bacteria at a very high percentage.

Like 15 Whitenights work there. Donovan designs things like this. Ashley sells them.

Ricky, Jeremiah, Hayden make them. Mercedes and Jordan and Amy and Brittany and others assemble them, and then

Christy ships them. And I am the manager. I tell all of them to do it, and I get the credit for it. So that is my job there.

At Evergreen, it is universally understood by everyone that I am the funniest person that works there.

I have a video on my phone of Jordan saying this, and I thought about playing it today, but I didn't.

I feel that I am funny, but in reality, that feeling is not objective.

It is subjective to my opinion. Yes, yes, yes.

Did you notice when I just said the words, I am funny, people started laughing though. I didn't even have to tell a joke. That's what happened.

Jordan is still laughing about it. It's called what? I still produce the humor.

That's subjective. God's standard is not.

God is still sovereign whether you feel like it or not. Whether you feel close to Him or not.

Whether you have heard His Word or not. He is still sovereign. Your feeling cannot dethrone

Yahweh. He is God. And just like He doesn't need us, which by the way shows how much

He really loves us because we have nothing to offer Him. How you feel about Him doesn't change who

He is. I can feel that I am six foot six, but objectively, no

NBA teams are calling me. Though I can still play very well as Dalton Wilson and Jake Brewer can tell you as they have never beaten me.

I got a grammar question for you nerds in here. Yes, where are the nerds?

There they are. Is Miss Karina here? Okay, good. Hunter Wilson will be happy because she has the grammar hammer.

Always ready, didn't she? God clothed versus God clothes.

Some of your Bibles may say God dressed or God dresses. What is the difference between those two phrases?

Even Pastor Jeff knows. Go ahead Pastor Jeff. The tense. One is past tense, one is present.

Which one does the Scripture say? Read it again, verse 30. Your eyes should be at verse 30 right now.

What does it say? He clothes. It's actually present perfect.

Yes, yes, here's the nerd. Hold on, here we go, go ahead. Because it is continuous.

The point being, thank you Mike, thank you nerd. Speaking of nerds, me and Ben had a

Lord of the Rings trivia competition yesterday. He did win, but he did cheat. You cheated.

He asked me how many arrows was Boromir shot with. That's not a fair question.

Mike doesn't even know. Now look, Ashley. Hey, look here.

He clothes is what the Scripture says. He clothes the lilies of the field.

Guys, when you read the Bible, read it like you would any other book, but do not read it like you would any other book.

Read it like you would any other book, and that God decided to write a book. He didn't use cave art.

He didn't download it on an MP3 player. He decided to write a book. That book has language inside of it.

Language has verbs and prepositions and nouns. They mean things objectively.

But don't read it like you would any other book in the sense that though it has 40 writers, it has one author, the

Holy Spirit. And I know that because when I read Genesis, it says the same thing that Isaiah does.

When I read Isaiah, it says the same thing that 1 Peter does. And they're separated by 1 ,500 years on three different continents of people of different ethnicities and language and writing styles and education, but it says the same thing.

That can't just happen. Have you ever noticed of every other would -be religion, how does it always start?

One person gets a revelation from God that only he can interpret.

That only he can read. And that you just must trust him that this is what

God said. How do we have the Word of God? Forty different writers, three continents, four languages, and it all says the same thing.

That can't just happen. You see, there's never been a single entity that had the

Bible and its power to control it. It was written by regular people and buried in the sand. It was copied and given to the quote -unquote lay people.

It's never been in the control of any one individual or entity. When I read the

Bible, I read it in one sense like I would any other book. And I read and I'm sitting here, and guys,

I don't have any fancy method. I sit here and I write it out. And I don't read three chapters a day because I can't retain that much.

I'd rather read three words. And I get here and I write down God so clothes.

And when I write that little s at the end of the word, that tells me something. That's please stay with me. Why is that so important?

If it said God clothed, then we would all say yeah, He said let there be, and it was created.

And the process of how they grow was set forth in motion by God and He was hands off from them.

What does it take for a flower to grow? Well, sunlight, activating, photosynthesis, water, bees if they want to be healthy, butterflies, definitely a nutritious soil.

Photosynthesis, ladies and gentlemen, is an act of God. The reason the rain falls and the sun rises is an act of God.

See, the reason the earth rotates on its axis is an act of God. The Bible does not say, please don't miss this analogy that He clothed.

It says He clothes. Right now, active, present, continuous.

He is the one clothing the lilies of the field. He is the one feeding the ravens. Not just allowing it to happen,

He's actively doing it right this second. And if God is doing that much for a flower, what is

Jesus' argument? How much more will He not clothe you,

O you of little faith? See, He's actively doing those things now.

But what does He say? Are you not of more value than they? Going back to this, this is not a statement of God not caring for the rest of His creation.

What it is is a statement of how much He cares for the one created in His image. What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

God loves all of His creation. During the drought in Job, God says

He heard the lions crying out for Him. But only one of His creation does it say

He made in His image. Only one is able to know Him intimately and love

Him deeply. And just as God is triune, so we are a trichotomy of body, mind, and soul.

And we are the creation that can have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. More on that in a moment.

Flip over to Matthew chapter 10 if you will. Matthew chapter 10. Beginning in verse 26.

So have no fear of them. By the way, when you read the Bible and you come across a sentence like that, stop.

If you don't know who the them is, do not continue reading. If you don't know who's talking and who they're talking to, do not continue reading.

The them is those who are going to persecute Jesus' followers. The ones who are going to persecute them.

You can see that in verse 23. Have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that's not going to be revealed.

One of my favorite lines that ever comes out of Jesus' mouth. Nothing that is covered will not be revealed.

Verse 26. Or hidden that will not be known. I've said this before, but it bears repeating one more time.

Deuteronomy 29 verse 29 says, The secret things belong to the Lord, but that which He has revealed belongs to man.

And yet, Revelation 15 verse 3 and 4 says this, that one day, all

His righteous acts will be revealed. Now what does all mean?

One day, we will be able to look back and all heaven and earth, physical and spiritual, will witness the exact symphony that God has been writing and conducting this whole time.

And the Bible says in Philippians 2 that all the universe, physical and spiritual, will bow the knee to Jesus.

And Revelation 15 says, and they will all agree that was the just, righteous, merciful, and good thing to do, even if they didn't understand it in the time.

That if everyone at the brink of blasphemy would say, yeah, if I was

God, that's how I would have done it. Your job is not to understand the things that God has in secret now, but to trust and obey that which

He has revealed and believe He has a plan even if you can't see it right now. Our job is to trust that in every circumstance

He has a plan, and that includes the one you are thinking of right now. And that in every circumstance,

God is in control. That is Jesus' answer to anxiety.

Trust is believing and thus acting that something outside of your control is true regardless of how you feel.

Again, trust is believing and thus acting that something outside of your control is true regardless of how you feel about it.

Continue reading Matthew 10 verse 27. For I tell you in the dark, you say it malight.

What you hear whispered, proclaim it on the housetops. Do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.

Rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

And yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's consent. But even the hairs on your head are numbered.

Fear not therefore, for you have more value than many sparrows. Notice in verse 29, it's not simply saying that He knows when a sparrow falls.

By the way, sparrow falling, euphemism for dying, yes? So think about this for a moment.

Two sparrows sold for a penny. Not one of them anywhere on planet

Earth ever dies apart from His consent. Think about that. Not one bird.

What we would call a random meaningless event of some bird dying in some forest somewhere on the planet and no one saw it.

Not one falls to the ground without His consent. But even the hairs on your head are numbered.

Notice it doesn't say that He knows the number. Each one are numbered. Death does not have the final say.

Yahweh does. Not even death gets the final say.

God does. And if that's true of a bird, how much more for His children?

Even in the midst of evil and sorrow, God's plan will win out every single time.

On the screen you are seeing what is probably going to be my next tattoo. It's my favorite verse in the entire

Bible. As for you, stop. What should you know?

Who's speaking and who they're talking to, yes? This is Joseph. Remember the little colored coat?

This is Joseph at the end of it all. Fourteen years after his brothers sold him into slavery.

Two Ishmaelites, by the way. The enemy. This is

Joseph speaking and he says this, As for you, you meant evil against me.

But God meant it for good. We have the same event.

There are two plans here. Notice neither are reacting. God is not reacting.

The brother's not reacting. Two planned events. Remember it was premeditated kidnapping on Joseph's brother's parts, yes?

And what they meant for evil, what they intended and planned for evil, God has always intended and planned for good.

Do you know why you can find Israel on a map today? See, there was a famine in the whole world.

They should have starved. They should have all died. There were only 70 of them.

Do you know why they survived? Do you know why the Israelites are in Egypt at the beginning of Exodus?

They went there willingly. Because Egypt was the only place in the known world that had a food storage.

You know who was put in charge of that food storage? Joseph, the brother they had sold into slavery, who had earned and found favor with God and earned the trust of Pharaoh, was taken out of prison and put in a position of power.

So let me ask you a question. Joseph was sold into slavery.

The results of that were him rising to power and supplying a pagan nation with food that was used to feed the people of God.

Do you see the point yet? What his brothers meant for evil, God had always meant for good.

The reason at the beginning of Exodus the Israelites are there is because they walked there because they were about to starve.

But there was a guy there named Joseph that they had sold into slavery 14 years earlier that was in power because he found favor with God and had stored up the food.

And they lived what they had always intended for evil.

God had never intended for evil, but His plan was for good. Man's plan of evil. God's plan of good.

God's plan wins out every single time. Every time. The Romans, Pilate, the

Jews, Herod, all meant the crucifixion of Jesus for evil, but God meant it for good.

Every time. What is our conclusion?

We see that all here. We consider truth. We know

God is in control, so what's the conclusion? The conclusion is verse 31. Look at the word, therefore.

That is a statement letting you know the conclusion of what you have just read. The therefore is there for this.

To conclude, fear not. After everything

I've just said, fear not. Because why? You are of more value than many sparrows.

Jesus has gone on about how much He cares for birds. And His summary statement is what?

You don't have to be afraid because you're worth more than many sparrows. The point is not that God does not care for the rest of His creation, but that He cares for the one created in His image more than all.

But Christian, there's even a step beyond that. See, God has a love for all human beings on this planet because they are created in His image.

By the way, that is what makes abortion so horrible. And no, by the way, this is not a pastor talking about politics.

For abortion is not a political issue, it's a God issue. Your tax rate is a political issue.

School choice is a political issue. How long a president is allowed to be president is a political issue.

Abortion is a God issue. And we have been lulled to sleep by that. They have created all humans in the

Imagi Dei, the image of God. But Christian, there's a further step than that.

When I was a public school teacher, I cared for all of my students. I really did.

I had 191 students my last year I taught. 191. But I'm going to be honest with you,

I love my two children far more. And maybe that's wrong for me to say, that's just the truth.

1 John 3 says, Look at how great a love the Father has allowed us to own, us, that we should be called the children of God. Image bearers of God, listen to me.

If you want to experience the full love of God, it is found in the Savior, Jesus Christ. We are called the children of God, not because we were born that way.

There are no natural children. Because we have been adopted into that family. Because we've been adopted into that family.

And that love is the greatest love of all. And we finish in Matthew 6, verse 31 through 34.

Therefore, don't be anxious, saying, What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things.

Your Heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first. Then and only then, will the rest be taken care of, and we find peace.

You can tell I was a school teacher. We had our grammar question, now we have our math question. Everyone look at the screen. Math time, here we go.

Pastor Jeff? This one's not for you. We have a math question here. By the way, for those of you who put those math problems on Facebook and then never say the answer,

I hate you. But for the rest of you, look here. Two times three plus four.

Ten? Why? Please excuse my dear

Aunt Sally, or Pimdos, or whatever it's called. It's please excuse my dear Aunt Sally, that's what it's called.

What are we supposed to do? What has to happen first? You multiply first. If you do not multiply first, will you ever get the right answer?

That was an easy analogy, wasn't it? But seek first, both chronologically and in importance.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto you.

If it is not sought of God first, the answer will always be wrong, and it will never lead to peace.

For Philippians says He is the God of peace, and He is the only source of it. Isaiah 26 too says,

He keeps him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on Him, for it is trusting in Him.

But seek first, in order and importance, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then,

Jesus says, all these things will be added to you. Seek first God, and then all these things will be added unto you.

Any other order will not result in the right answer. So how do we seek

Him? Through His Word. I'm going to ask the music people to come up as I finish.

Romans 15 verse 4. I believe we're going over this Wednesday night, are we not brother Jeff? Romans 15 verse 4.

Romans 15 verse 4. Put that back up there Jeff, would you? That's okay, I'll read it. Romans 15 verse 4.

And it says this, For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the

Scriptures, we might have hope. God is the God of endurance and hope and encouragement.

And you know how He delivers that? Through His Word. And you know who He intends to deliver

His Word? His people. God is the God of peace. And the primary method

He chose to show that peace to a lost and dying world is through His church, through His children.

And then He says this, Blessed are you, for when

I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, and when I was sick, you visited me.

Some of them sat around and said, Jesus, when did we ever see you in any of those ways? And what did

Jesus say? If you have done it for each other, you have done it to me.

The world will know and I want you to think about this, the unbeliever will know if you really are a

Christian, think, think, think. The world will know you are my disciples not by your sermons or your songs, but by the way you love each other.

An unbeliever can tell a real from a fake Christian by the way they love each other. Ladies and gentlemen, the answer to anxiety is a sovereign

God. And that sovereign God has decreed that the primary way

He would deliver His Word and His message of peace is through His church. That's how

He decided to do it. Therefore, you are God's instrument to deliver that to each other.

And what I tell you is this, peace can only be found through God. And He has decided to make you the primary megaphone to let everyone else know that.

As we do this imitation, reflect on where you are with God. Consider truth.

Recognize He is in control. And in conclusion, recognize that you are the method that He wants that message delivered to the other people in this room.

Will you stand with me? If God is calling you to action now, come!