Overcoming Anxiety and Worry (2) Pastor Jason Austin November 17, 2024

Occasional Epistles, Legalism, and the Problem of Anxiety

Morning we started a new reading in the New Testament. Leo will come and read 4th Galatians chapter 1. There are different, you know, the epistles in the New Testament are sometimes described as occasional epistles.

In other words, there was an occasion that motivated the human writer to pen the scriptures, obviously all inspired and overseen by God. And so there are books in the New Testament that address the error of antinomianism, loose living, like the epistle to Jude, the Gospel of Matthew, for example, 1st Peter perhaps.

But there are books that address the error of legalism, the second major threat to the nature of grace, and of course the epistle to the Galatians addresses the problem of legalism. And so Leo will come and read this chapter for us and then pray for us and then Pastor Jason will come and bring forth God's Word to us.

Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead, and all the brothers who are with me to the churches of Galatia. Grace to you and peace from God our Father in the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God, or am I trying to please man? If I was still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.

For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born has called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles.

I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him 15 days.

I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. And what I am writing to you before God, I do not lie. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

They only were hearing it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy, and they glorified God because of me. Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, come before you very humble that you should allow such a sinner as I to understand portions of your word.

May you enable our faithful pastor Jason, by your Holy Spirit, to come up here and preach the gospel of God's grace in your son Jesus Christ with power, and may it have your effect on our people. May it sanctify and edify the saints for the week of toil ahead, and we know where your gospel is faithfully preached.

It causes some to be hardened, therefore damned. It's a hard saying, but let thy will be done. Oh Lord, may you give Jason clarity of mind, thought, and word as he preaches Jesus's sermon on the mount to his people, and.

It's in his name do I pray. Amen. Please turn with me to the book of Matthew. This.

The Command Not to Be Anxious in Matthew 6

Morning we continue our study on anxiety and on how to overcome anxiety. Matthew 6 verses 25 through 34. Let's look at the text together. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so close the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. In this passage, no less than three times, the Lord Jesus Christ repeats to his disciples the same command, do not be anxious.

Last week we examined verse 25, the command stated, and verses 26 through 29, the case for the command. By way of reminder, the command stated in verse 25 is, do not be anxious. In other words, do not be worried or express concern or be troubled with cares.

Do not be distracted or divided in thought. Do not allow your mind to be drawn in many different directions. These are all manifestations of anxiety. Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

Because life is more than food. Life is more than clothing. After the command was stated in verse 25, the Lord Jesus Christ then made his case against the sin of anxiety. Verses 26 through 30. In verse 26, the folly of anxiety is shown in observing the birds of the air.

In verse 27, the folly of anxiety is shown by its inability to accomplish anything positive or productive. By being anxious, you cannot add a cubit to your stature. You can't add 18 inches to your stature, nor can you add an hour to your lifespan.

Anxiety does not accomplish or achieve anything that is helpful or anything that is beneficial. In verses 28 through 30, the folly of anxiety is shown by considering the lilies of the field. In each one of these examples, there is an argument from lesser to greater.

In these arguments, the Lord Jesus Christ revealed the great cost, the great value, the great worth of his children. If the Lord God feeds the birds of the air, the lesser. If the Lord God clothes the lilies of the field, the lesser.

Then will he not much more do so for you, the greater. Are you not of more value than they? Yes, you are. You are a vastly more value than they. Thus, do not be anxious. This morning, we continue our study on anxiety by looking and examining the root cause of anxiety.

Verse 30. And then, Lord willing, next time, which is in two weeks, we'll include with verses 31 and 32, the command restated. Verse 33, the cure for anxiety. And verse 34, a summarizing conclusion that wraps up all of these instructions.

What is the cause of anxiety? What is the root cause of anxiety? Why are we so easily prone to this sin? Look at Matthew 6 verse 30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

The root cause of anxiety is little faith. The root cause of anxiety is a lack of faith in the Lord God. It's a lack of trust in the Lord God. Anxiety is the fruit of a doubting and unbelieving heart.

Anxiety is the fruit sin of a doubting and unbelieving heart. A heart that possesses little faith. What's the difference between a root sin and a fruit sin? Well, the fruit does not produce the root. The root is what produces the fruit.

A root sin will produce a fruit sin. Root sins are often the unseen sins or the breeder sins that work behind the scenes. Root sins, the hidden sins, are the source of the fruit sins, the visible sins.

The fruit is the outward manifestation of the root. Thus, anxiety is the outward manifestation of little faith. Little faith produces anxiety. Little faith is the source of anxiety. In the book of Numbers, in their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites came into the wilderness of Zin and the congregation made camp at Kadesh, but there was no water at Kadesh.

So all the congregation assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron to grumble and complain and quarrel. Moses and Aaron received their complaints. They left their presence. They proceeded to the entrance of the tent of the meeting where they fell on their faces before the Lord God.

There the Lord God instructed Moses, Numbers 20 verse 8, take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.

And Moses took the staff from before the Lord as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock and he said, here now you rebels shall we bring water for you out of this rock.

And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice and water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their livestock. What was the Lord God's command to Moses in verse 8?

Moses was commanded to take the staff, assemble the congregation, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. What was Moses response to the Lord God's command? Verse 9, Moses took the staff, gathered the assembly, rebuked the assembly, and then lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice and water came out abundantly.

Even though the results have been the same, the rock produced water for the congregation and their livestock, Moses disobeyed a clear and direct command from the Lord God. What was the fruit of Moses?

What was the fruit sin of Moses? The fruit sin of Moses, the outward expression of his disobedience, was striking the rock with his staff twice instead of speaking to the rock. But what was the root sin?

What was going on behind the scenes in Moses's heart? Why did Moses strike the rock with his staff rather than telling the rock to yield its waters as was commanded by the Lord God? Well the answer for that is in Numbers 20 verse 12.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe in me to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.

Moses had little faith. Moses did not believe in nor trust in him. You did not believe in me. Moses failed to uphold the Lord God as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel. In some manner, unbelief was lurking in the heart of Moses and his lack of trust in the Lord God, the root sin, resulted in his disobedience, his disobedience, the fruit sin, striking the rock rather than speaking to the rock.

The same distinction between root sins and fruit sins is also seen in the book of James. James 4 verses 1 to 4. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. What are the fruit sins that are mentioned in this passage?

There is desire or lust, murder, coveting, fighting, quarreling, adultery, and the love of the world. But what are the root sins that are mentioned in this passage? Selfishness, greed, and pride. Look again at James 4 to 2.

You desire and do not have selfishness, so you murder the fruit of selfishness. You covet and cannot obtain greed, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. Pride. You ask and you do not receive because you ask it wrongly to spend it on your passions.

The root sins of selfishness, greed, and pride are the source of the fruit sins. Desire, murder, coveting, fighting, quarreling, adultery, and the love of the world. The root sins are the producers of the fruit sins.

Beloved, in order for us to truly grow in our sanctification, in order for us to grow in our conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, for us to grow in holiness and righteousness and godliness, great care and great attention must be given to our root sins.

It is a waste of time to deal with our sin by singling out the fruit sins exclusively, because so long as the root is present, the fruit will continue to grow. So long as the root is alive, the fruit will thrive.

The Puritan Richard Baxter, in his sermon Directions for Hating Sin, recommends to make it your first and chiefest labor to kill sin at the root, to cleanse the heart which is the fountain, for out of the heart comes the evils of the life.

Know which are the master roots and bend your greatest care and industry to mortify or kill those sins. They are especially these that follow. Ignorance, unbelief, inconsiderateness, selfishness, pride, fleshliness, in pleasing a brutish appetite, lust or fantasy, senseless hard heartedness, and sleepiness in sin.

The only way to eradicate, eliminate, and mortify sin is to deal with its root. If you are successfully able to weed out and expunge the root sin, then there will be no more fruit sin. Beloved, the only way to eradicate, eliminate, and mortify the sin of anxiety is to deal with its root.

And the root sin of anxiety is little faith. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

By faith, a Christian believes to be true everything that is revealed in the Word of God, because the Word of God has the authority of the Lord God himself. In other words, Hebrews 11 1, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

In the London Baptist Confession of Faith, Article 14, Paragraph 2, by this faith, Christians believe to be true everything revealed in the Word, recognizing it as the authority of God himself. They also perceive that the Word is more excellent than every other writing and everything else in the world, because it displays the glory of God in his attributes, the excellence of Christ in his nature and offices, and the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit in his activities and operations.

So they are enabled to entrust their souls to the truth believed. They respond differently according to the content of each particular passage, obeying the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and the one to come, but the principal acts of saving faith focus directly on Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace.

Faith differs in degrees from one person to another. There are some who have great faith, there are some who have little faith, and there are some who are in between. And the rest, those outside of the kingdom of heaven, have no faith at all.

Great faith enables you to wholly trust in the Word of God, which reveals the glory of God, the character of God, the attributes of God, the excellencies of Christ, and the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit, so that you are able to cast your soul completely upon the truth of God.

To possess little faith means that you do not wholly trust in the Word of God, which reveals the glory of God, the character of God, the attributes of God, the excellency of Christ, and the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit, so that you are unable to completely cast your soul upon the truth of God, because you doubt and you lack confidence in these things.

Faith is not just an acknowledgment or an agreement with the truth. Faith is a firm conviction to the truth. It is a total surrender to the truth, and total surrender to the truth of God will result in great faith and great trust in the Scriptures, the revealed Word of God.

The phrase, O you of little faith, is used by the Lord Jesus Christ four other times in the Scriptures, not counting the parallel passage in Luke. In Matthew chapter 8, the Lord Jesus Christ was with his disciples on a boat, and he was fast asleep.

There arose a great storm on the sea, so that their boat was being swamped by the waves. Matthew 8, and they went and woke him, saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?

Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, What sort of man is this, that even winds and seas obey him? In Matthew 14, the disciples were alone on a boat a long way off from the land, and the Lord Jesus Christ had stayed behind on the shore to dismiss the crowds and to spend some time alone on the mountain in prayer and solitude.

But in the fourth watch of the night, sometime between 3 and 6 a .m., he came to them, walking on the water. And Peter called out to him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, Come.

So Peter got out of the boat and walked out on the water, and he came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying, O you of little faith, why do you doubt?

In Matthew 16, again on a boat, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread for their journey across the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

And the disciples began discussing among themselves, saying, We haven't brought any bread. But Jesus, aware of this, said, O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the 5 ,000, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the 4 ,000, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. In every instance where this phrase, O you of little faith, was used, the disciples were very, either they were very anxious about what they were going to eat, they were anxious about their food, or about their physical safety.

They were anxious about their lives. The outward manifestation of their anxiety, the fruit, revealed the condition of the heart, the root, which was a lack of faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

O you of little faith, why do you doubt? O you of little faith, why are you afraid? Even though the disciples had been commanded not to be anxious, and even though they had with their own eyes experienced a multitude of great and powerful miracles that demonstrated the authority, the power, and the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the disciples still possessed little faith.

Beloved, the reason why anxiety is a sin is because anxiety, all forms of anxiety, stem from a lack of trust in the Lord God. Anxiety stems from a lack of trust in the character of the Lord God. It stems from a lack of trust in the authority and sufficiency of the Lord God and in his revealed word to us.

Our Heavenly Father does not want his children to be anxious for anything because it reflects our lack of faith and our lack of trust in him. It reflects our lack of faith and our lack of trust in his character, a lack of faith and a lack of trust in his word.

Anxiety Rejects the Faithfulness and Goodness of God

Let me give you a few more reasons as to why anxiety is so displeasing, insulting, and offensive to the Lord God. The first reason is that our anxiety rejects the faithfulness of the Lord God. In our anxious thoughts and in our anxious actions, we are actually striking a blow at the character of the Lord God.

Specifically, we're striking a blow at his faithfulness. Beloved, our God is a faithful and trustworthy God. Everything that the Lord God has promised to us will most assuredly come to pass. The Lord God is always reliable all of the time.

The Lord God does not fail, forget, or falter. The Lord God does not change. He does not disappoint. The Lord God will always deliver. One of the great passages that extols the faithfulness of the Lord God is Psalm 91.

Psalm 91. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked, because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge.

No evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. Beloved, the Lord God is your shelter, your refuge, your fortress. The Lord God will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.

The Lord God will deliver you from the deadly pestilence. The Lord God will cover you with his pinions. He will cover you with his wings. The Lord God's faithfulness to you is a shield and buckler. He will deliver you from the terror of the night.

He will deliver you from the arrow that flies by day. He will deliver you from the pestilence and from destruction. Beloved, no matter what evil may threaten you, no matter what evil may stalk you, you are always safe and secure in the shadow of the Almighty.

There is no threat, there is no danger, no anxiety, no matter how great, that is stronger than the Lord God's power to lift you up, sustain, protect, and prosper you. Even if a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you.

Rather, you will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. No evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent. In the last section of Psalm 91 verses 14 through 16, we're reminded of the great and unbreakable promises that belong to those who abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

These promises belong to those who continually place their faith and their trust in the Lord God. Now pay attention to the pronouns being used in these verses, me and I. These promises are spoken by the Lord God Himself.

Because He holds fast to me in love, I will deliver Him. I will protect Him because He knows my name. When He calls to me, I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble. I will rescue Him and honor Him.

With long life, I will satisfy Him and show Him my salvation. To those who hold fast to the Lord God, there are seven promises which the Lord God will personally give. I will deliver Him. I will protect Him.

I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble. I will rescue Him. I will honor Him. I will satisfy Him. I will show Him my salvation. Now in light of these everlasting and unshakable promises, doesn't it seem unnecessary to be anxious about our lives?

In light of the Lord God, who is our shield, our shelter, our fortress, our deliverer, our refuge, doesn't it seem unnecessary to be anxious about our circumstances or the future or some aspect of the future?

It's interesting how quick we are to trust in the Lord God for our salvation. We trust in the Lord God for our justification, our forgiveness, our reconciliation, our sanctification. We trust in the Lord God for our eternal security and yet we anxiously fret about our earthly and temporal lives.

If the Lord God can save you from the penalty of sin, if the Lord God can save you from the power of sin, if the Lord God can deliver you from the kingdom of darkness and transfer you to the kingdom of His beloved Son and give you eternal life and give you a grand inheritance and guard it in heaven, then will He not also demonstrate His faithfulness by providing for your everyday needs, your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs?

George Mueller of Bristol was a great man of very great faith. His entire life and ministry was founded on the premise that the Lord God is faithful and that the Lord God will always provide. He once said that the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

Beloved, anxiety is an assertive and contemptuous declaration that your Heavenly Father is not faithful. It's a declaration that your Heavenly Father is not trustworthy. It's a proclamation that your Heavenly Father is unable to provide for or care for every one of your needs, which is an absolute affront and contradiction to the teaching of Scripture.

1 Thessalonians 5 .24, he who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Hebrews 10 .23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. Deuteronomy 7 .9, know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.

Beloved, the Lord our God is a faithful God. The Lord our God is able and willing to provide for all of your needs, your physical needs, your emotional needs, your mental needs, your spiritual needs. The Lord God is faithful.

He is reliable. He is steadfast. He is trustworthy. The Lord God has all the power. He's omnipotent. He's all powerful and the desire to fulfill every one of His promises to you. And He will surely do it because it is in His character to do it.

He is faithful. The second reason why our anxiety is particularly displeasing and offensive to God is because anxiety also rejects the goodness of God. God is good, very good. And God is the only one who can rightfully be called good.

No one is good except the Lord God alone. The Greek word translated good means inherently good or internally good. It means to be good to the very core, good to the bone. The term refers to that which is excellent in its character or constitution and beneficial or useful in its effect.

The Hebrew equivalent means to be pleasant, agreeable, valuable, benevolent, and kind. And as you begin to unpack these concepts that describe the goodness of God, there are two separate ideas that begin to surface.

One has to do with the Lord God Himself, His perfection, His character, His person. God is good. The other has to do with what He does by His actions or His kindness towards humanity. God does good. Both of these concepts are found in Psalm 119 .68.

You are good and do good. God Himself is the highest good. God Himself is the greatest good. And it is God Himself who is the author, the source, and the fountainhead of all other good. The goodness of God embraces all the other attributes of God.

God is good and the attributes of God are good. God cannot help but be good. The goodness of God is the golden thread that runs throughout all His other perfections, including His providence. Well, what is providence?

Providence refers to His oversight and His benevolent care over all of His creation. Providence is the means by which the Lord God accomplishes all of His holy will. The Lord God preserves and governs all of His creatures and all of their actions according to His providence.

Again, the 1689 London Baptist Confession, Article 5, Paragraph 1. God, the good creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom, upholds, directs, arranges, and governs all creatures and things from the greatest to the least by His perfectly wise and holy providence, to the purpose for which they were created.

He governs according to His infallible knowledge and the free and unchangeable counsel of His own will. His providence leads to the praise and glory of His wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.

In other words, the Lord God governs and the Lord God provides for the greatest and the least in order for them to fulfill the purpose for which they were created. The Lord God has not abandoned the world.

The Lord God has not abandoned you, but rather He works within creation to manage all things according to His immutable and unchangeable counsel. Isaiah 48, 6, 8. Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind, you transgressors.

Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.

Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country, I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. The counsel of the Lord will always stand. The purposes of the Lord God will always stand.