The Cure For Anxiety - [Matthew 6:25-34]

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Well, there was a young couple who were newlyweds. Therefore, they were excited.
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They had just come off their honeymoon and looking forward to their first year of marriage. And the husband realized early on in their marriage that his wife had a propensity to worry.
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But it manifested itself in this manner. The first couple of nights after their honeymoon, as they're getting ready for bed, about to shut the lights, she nudges him.
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Sweetie, I think I hear someone at the door. Can you please get up and check?
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Sure, honey. I can do that. Gets up and checks. Windows are locked.
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Front door is locked. Everything is secure. Comes back to bed. Second night, same thing again.
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He's thinking to himself, what happened to the honeymoon? He gets up again.
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And this continued for weeks and months. Got to the point where he thought, maybe I should get a baseball bat just to protect my bride.
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Six months later, he hears a sound. So he gets up without her nudging him.
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And she says, what are you doing? He says, I actually think there's somebody at the front door. He walks downstairs and sees a burglar trying to open up the front door lock.
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And before the burglar can even do that, he opens the door for him. The burglar looks at him in astonishment.
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And the husband says, welcome. Come on in. My wife has been waiting for you.
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Worry. It is said that there are two things that are certain in life, death and taxes.
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I would say three things, maybe. Death, taxes, and worry.
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I was recently talking with a close family member who is going through a stressful time.
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And they wanted me to come up with a nutrition program for them so that it would relieve their stress.
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I was helping a customer on my job who, young lady, you can tell by the look on her face, she was deeply disturbed and anxious and perturbed and stressed.
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Now, worry can bring along some physical maladies. But at its root, anxiety is not a physical problem.
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At its root, anxiety is not a medical problem. At its root, as we will see today from the lips of our
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Lord, anxiety is a spiritual problem. You cannot cure anxiety if you don't understand its root problem.
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And because it is a spiritual problem, the cure for anxiety is to be biblically motivated.
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And that is what we're going to look at this morning. Turn with me, if you will, in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 25 to the end of the chapter.
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Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 25. The Gospel of Matthew records five major discourses of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. And this one, known as the Sermon on the
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Mount, is the first of those five major discourses. And we have here the
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Prince of Preachers, as it were, the Lord Jesus Christ, giving as many consider, including myself, the greatest sermon ever given, the
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Sermon on the Mount. And we delve in on verse 25. Follow along as I read.
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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.
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Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air.
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They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
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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?
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And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
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They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
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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,
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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?
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For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly
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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.
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Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
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Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew presents
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Jesus in a unique way. His emphasis is on the royalty of Jesus.
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He presents our Lord as King Jesus. And if you look with me at the response to the end of the
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Sermon on the Mount, turn with me to the end, Matthew chapter 7, verses 28 and 29.
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The Sermon on the Mount spans chapters 5 through 7. And at the end, Matthew records, beginning in verse 28 of chapter 7, when
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Jesus finished these sayings, watch the response, the crowds were astonished at his teaching.
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Why? For he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as the scribes.
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This is the authority of the King, the authority that was given to him by the
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Father. So what we have before us here as we study this text within the scope of the
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Sermon on the Mount, we have the King's proclamation. The King who is sovereign, who rules,
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King Jesus, is speaking. So it would behoove us to listen to his words.
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And as he speaks these words that we are studying, you will notice that he uses questions over and over again in our text, five questions to be exact.
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Verse 25, excuse me, the second part, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
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Verse 26, the second part, are you not of more value than they? Verse 27, and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to a span of life?
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Verse 28, and why are you anxious about clothing? 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,
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O you of little faith? He's asking questions rhetorically because Christ here in his teaching is trying to reason with his audience.
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He wants to use logic, as it were. He wants to make us think about the things he asks us to ponder.
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Now, it's interesting. If you were to study in the full scope of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ begins in chapter 5 with the
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Beatitudes. Blessed are those. Then he goes on in chapter 5 to expound the law.
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In chapter 6, he talks about prayer and fasting and giving. And he finishes in a crescendo in chapter 7, talking about the true road, the narrow gate that leads to eternal life versus the broad road that leads to destruction.
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He talks about the two trees. The bad tree can only bear bad fruit. The good tree can only bear good fruit.
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He talks about the two who build on a foundation, the foolish man who did not obey the words of Christ and the wise man who did.
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What a spiritual, deep sermon. Yet in the midst of all that, the king talks about anxiety.
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Pastor MacArthur in his book, Anxious for Nothing, puts it well. Christians who worry believe
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God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into his kingdom, and give them eternal life.
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But they just don't think he can get them through the next couple of days. That's pretty ridiculous,
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MacArthur continues. We can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe him for the lesser one.
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Close quote. Now, of course, as we read this, you will have noticed that Christ is talking about worrying and anxiety over food and clothing and what they will eat and drink and wear.
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Because back in those times, in biblical times, that was an issue for the people of the day. So don't think to yourself, well,
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I don't worry about those things, so I can close off my ears. Because the New Testament is, we're very clear from the pen of the
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Apostle Paul in Philippians 4, do not be anxious about anything. So let's look at the cure for anxiety from the words of King Jesus.
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10 biblical reasons why you are not to be anxious. Reason number one, very simply, because anxiety is sin.
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Reason number two, because anxiety is sin. In its simplest form, by definition, sin is direct disobedience to the commands of God, is it not?
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Notice with me in the text how many times Jesus gives this command. Verse 25, therefore,
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I tell you, do not be anxious. Verse 31, therefore, do not be anxious.
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Verse 34, therefore, do not be anxious.
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He's commanding us, do not be anxious. Three times.
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What's interesting, though, Christ, as the master teacher, as the king who is proclaiming here his sermon, in verse 25, the tense of the
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Greek verb that is used, he's saying literally this. If you're worrying already, stop worrying.
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But in verse 31, he uses a different tense in the Greek, which means literally, don't start worrying.
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So he's got all of it covered. Christ is saying to us this morning, if you are anxious, stop being anxious.
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If you're not worrying about anything, don't start. What does the
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Greek term to be anxious truly mean? It means literally to divide or to distract.
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It divides our hearts so that we don't have an undivided attention to the things of the Lord, and it distracts us from the things of the
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Lord. Let's look at an illustration of understanding what this term to be anxious means.
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Turn with me a couple of Gospels over to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 38.
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This is a great illustration to understand what it means to be anxious, that it means to divide and to distract.
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Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 38. Now, as they went on their way,
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Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called
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Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving.
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And she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
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Tell her then to help me. Interesting, she's commanding the king.
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Verse 41, but the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious.
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There's that word that Christ used in Matthew 6 that we're studying. He uses it here. You are anxious.
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You are distracted. You are divided and troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary.
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Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
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Christ is saying, if you're distracted, stop being distracted.
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If you haven't gotten distracted, don't start. It's in the imperative. It is a command.
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And any command, any imperative in the New Testament, we obey not because we have to, because God, Jesus the
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King, is using a strong arm routine. No, it is because out of love for what he has done on our behalf, out of gratitude for what he has done.
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That is the pure motive of obedience. So the first reason Christ says not to be anxious, because he commands it.
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This morning, are you living in disobedience to this command? Are you anxious?
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Are you worried? What are you worried about? What distracts you?
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What divides your heart? Obey him out of love for him.
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Second reason we are not to be anxious, because you cannot serve two masters.
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You are not to be anxious, Christ says here, because secondly, you cannot serve two masters.
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Notice how verse 25 begins. Therefore, right? What is the therefore, therefore? It forces us to look at the previous context.
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Look at verse 24, if you will, with me. No one can serve two masters.
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Actually, literally in the Greek, it's the Greek verb form of the term doulos, which means slave.
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So Christ is saying here, no one can be enslaved to two masters. And he explains why.
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Continues verse 24, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
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You cannot serve God and money. So the
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King, King Jesus is proclaiming to us, don't be anxious, because you cannot serve two masters.
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This verse 24 is really the hinge that opens up the door into our section that we're studying.
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And it's the hinge closes the door in the previous section. Look further at the context with me in verse 19.
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Jesus says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.
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For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
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Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Anxious, anxiety will divide, will distract you.
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It's the hinge, because on the one hand, when you serve money, you lay up for yourself treasures on earth.
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But if you're anxious, you will not be able to be serving God, your master.
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You are a slave if God has redeemed you through the blood of Christ. Christ the
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King is your master. Therefore, because of that, do not be anxious.
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When you worry, you forfeit the privileged relationship you have as a slave to your master.
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Reason number three why we are not to worry, as outlined by King Jesus. Because there is more to this life than food and clothing.
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There is more to this life than food and clothing. Verse 25, therefore,
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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.
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Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
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Penetrating question from the Lord to help us to think, to reason what he is saying here.
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He's using a classical argument from the greater to the lesser.
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Is not our life more than the food that we eat and more than the clothing that we put on?
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In his classic work studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martin Lloyd -Jones explains it well.
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He says, quote, what does our Lord mean by this? The argument is a very profound and powerful one and how prone we are to forget it.
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He says, in effect, take this life of yours about which you are tending to worry and become anxious.
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How have you got it? Where has it come from? And the answer, of course, is that it is a gift of God.
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Man does not create life. Man does not give being to himself. Not one of us ever decided to come into this world.
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And the very fact that we are alive at this moment is entirely because God willed and God decided it.
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Life itself is a gift, a gift from God. So the argument which our Lord uses is this.
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If God has given you the gift of life, the greater gift, do you think he is now suddenly going to deny himself in his own methods and not see to it that life is sustained and enabled to continue?
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Close quote. Common argument used in teaching.
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Christ is saying here, the King, you have life given by God, physical life.
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And he'll get to the other argument later about eternal life. But you've been giving life, physical life, by the creator, by your heavenly father.
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How foolish to think that he's not gonna sustain the life that he gave you. The apostle
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Paul used the same argument from the greater to the lesser in Romans 8 .32 when he said, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us more things?
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If you are anxious, if you have worry in your life, even today, you're saying that there isn't more to this life.
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But Christ says there is. Reason number four, we are not to be anxious.
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Because you are more valuable to your heavenly father than the birds.
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Because you are more valuable to your heavenly father than the birds. Verse 26, look at the birds of the air.
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They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them.
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And here's the question again. Are you not of more value than they?
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Answer, of course you are. Jesus says, look, observe, ponder, think about this, consider this, the birds of the air neither sow nor reap.
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Now Jesus is not teaching against work. It is clear from both
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Testaments, the Old Testament specifically in the book of Proverbs talks about being diligent and not having lazy hands.
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And even the apostle Paul said, those who are not willing to work in 2 Thessalonians 3, let them not eat.
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That is not Jesus' point here. If you look at the birds, they go about their business, getting food for their young ones, building their nests.
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Christ is saying, these are the birds, creatures that God created who do not have a soul as humans.
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And yet you are more valuable to your heavenly father than they are. This is the opposite argument.
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This is the argument from the lesser birds of the air to the greater, to those created in the image of God.
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Later on in the book of Matthew, Christ highlights this again in Matthew 10. He says this, are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
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Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, but even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
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Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.
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Question, do the birds of the air, the sparrows, have a heavenly father in the sense that Jesus uses here?
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They have a creator, but not a heavenly father as we who have been redeemed.
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Notice Christ's transition in verse 26. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet their creator feeds them.
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No, yet your heavenly father feeds them. This is not unusual for King Jesus to be doing this in the
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Sermon on the Mount. This is the overall panoramic theme of the Sermon on the
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Mount, how we live under the realm of our heavenly father. Let me show you this through the Sermon on the
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Mount. Chapter five, if you will, verses 44 to 45. Remember, chapters five, six, and seven are all one sermon.
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In verse 44 of chapter five, Jesus says, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven.
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Chapter six, verse one, beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven.
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Chapter six, verse nine, pray then like this, our father in heaven.
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Chapter six, verse 14, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
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In chapter seven, verse 11, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
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The whole realm that Jesus is preaching here is under the realm of our heavenly father.
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And so he is saying in this account in verse 26, the birds of the air,
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God, their creator takes care of them, but you are of more value than they are because you have a heavenly father.
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So why be anxious? Did you know that the flowers and the birds speak to each other?
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Let me tell you what they say in this poem. Said the wildflower to the sparrow,
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I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so. Said the sparrow to the wildflower, friend,
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I think that it must be that they have no heavenly father, such as cares for you and me.
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By your worry, by your anxiety, you're by your action telling
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God, no, the Lord Jesus, the King who is speaking here is mistaken. I'm not more valuable than the birds of the air.
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But Christ says you are, therefore do not be anxious. Reason number five, why we're not to be anxious.
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It's taken from verse 27. Because you cannot extend your life because you cannot extend your life.
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Verse 27, which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
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Should I ask for a show of hands? Not only does it not extend our lives, our days are marked.
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It is appointed for man to die once. Our days are marked, but not only we can't affect the span of our life, the quantity of a life, but by being anxious, as you well know, affects the quality of our life.
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Yes, we can improve the quality of our life by not being anxious, but the quantity, it cannot be altered.
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We can exercise, eat well, do what we need to do. But Jesus is saying here, this is completely ridiculous to be anxious and think by that you can add a single hour to the span of your life.
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Reason number six, we're halfway there. Don't worry, don't be anxious,
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Jesus says, because anxiety reveals, this is a big one, as we will see in a moment, a lack of trusting
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God. Anxiety reveals a lack of trusting
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God. If I were to ask you, do you trust God? And you tell me, yes, but you are anxious, you just lied to me, according to the words of Christ.
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The two are diametrically opposed. They are mutually exclusive. Look, beginning in verse 28, this point takes us through verse 30.
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Question, why, Jesus says, are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
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They neither toil nor spin. He says, consider, again, ponder, think about what
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I'm saying, Jesus says. The flowers, the lilies of the field. And he doesn't end there, look at verse 29.
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Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
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Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like them. And you are anxious? It reveals a lack of trusting
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God, as you will see. In all his glory, we could spend hours on this, but just a little snippet, the book of 2
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Chronicles records a little bit of Solomon's glory. He had 1 ,400 chariots, 12 ,000 horsemen, and 4 ,000 stalls for those chariots and horsemen.
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Christ is saying, Solomon, in all his glory, and everything Solomon had, we know, was given by God himself, was not arrayed like these flowers.
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And here's the punchline for this point, verse 30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, it's temporal, will he not much more clothe you,
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O you of little faith? Notice he didn't say,
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O you of no faith, O you of little faith. Again, the argument, just as with the birds, here with the wildflowers, it's from the lesser to the greater.
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He clothes the grass of the field, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?
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Now, Christ is not saying that one has more faith than another. It's not how much faith you have, but it's the object of your faith.
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Of course, the charismatic charlatans and false teachers love to take this verse and twist it and say, no, it is how much faith you have.
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As we heard from our missionary friend last week, they were pushing him on his forehead and he resisted.
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Good for him. It's not how much faith you have. This is not a proof text for charismatics to say that, oh, this person was not healed physically because he didn't have enough faith.
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Jesus' point is not how much faith, but the object of your faith. Remember, it's under the realm of whom?
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Our heavenly Father. And he says that clearly in Matthew 17, verse 20, he defines little faith.
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Jesus himself, the king does. He said to them, because of your little faith, for truly
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I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, a grain of mustard seed, very small, it's not how much faith, but the object of your faith in your heavenly
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Father. This was a point that the Lord drove home to the disciples all the time.
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And it's a point that he needs to drive home to us. Anxiety is symptomatic of not trusting
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God. He did this constantly with the disciples. Remember when they were in the boat and Jesus was asleep on the stern on a pillow, the text says, that's how exhausted he was.
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And a storm arose. And Matthew records later in chapter eight, verse 26. He said to them, why are you so afraid, oh, you of little faith?
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When Peter started walking towards Jesus on the ocean in Matthew 14, this gospel writer records,
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Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him. Because remember Peter started to sink, saying to him, oh, you referring to Peter of little faith.
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Why did you doubt? Anxiety means
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I am not trusting God, my heavenly Father.
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Lloyd -Jones again, in studies in the Sermon on the Mount, quote, you see this powerful argument.
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The lilies of the field and the grass are transient. They do not last very long.
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You, however, are immortal. You are not only a creature of time, you belong to eternity.
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You not only have natural dignity and greatness, but you also have an eternal existence beyond death and the grave.
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When you realize that truth about yourself, can you believe that the
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God who has made you and destined you for that is going to neglect your body while you are in this life and in this world?
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Close quote. Do not be anxious. Why? Trust God, your heavenly
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Father. He is the only one who is worthy of our trust. Reason number seven, because anxiety, watch this, is uncharacteristic of a
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Christian because anxiety is uncharacteristic of a
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Christian. Verse 31, therefore, do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?
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Verse 32, for the Gentiles seek after all these things.
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The Jews were God's chosen people. They were the ones with the oracles of God, as it were, as the scripture says.
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The Gentiles, the Greek word ethni means literally multitudes, but in contrast to the
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Jews, they were not the ones who worship the one true God. These were the heathen, the pagan, who made images of God for themselves.
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That's why even earlier in chapter six, when Christ teaches on prayer, he says in chapter six, verse seven of Matthew, when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the
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Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. The Gentiles refers to those who do not worship the true
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God. Anxiety is uncharacteristic of a Christian. Paul made this clear, this distinction between the
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Gentiles and those who know God. In first Thessalonians four, he said, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the
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Gentiles, who do not know God. Christ is saying here, if you know
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God, it is uncharacteristic of you to be anxious because it is this
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God who is your heavenly father of whom you are of more value than the birds and the lilies of the field.
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The question for us is if it is uncharacteristic for us as Christians to be anxious, would those in our life, family and friends be able to point to us and say, yes, this is not a characteristic of them.
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They don't worry, they're not anxious about the things of life like we are. That distinguishes us from those who are of the world, those who do not know
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God. Reason number eight, we are not to be anxious.
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Because your heavenly father knows your needs. Because your heavenly father knows your needs.
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The second part of verse 32 says, your heavenly father knows that you need them all.
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Look, our heavenly father knows our needs and he will provide for our needs. But you say, well,
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I don't think he does do that. Well, you can't mistake a need from a personal want and desire.
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God, your heavenly father knows your needs and your wants, but his only promise to meet your needs, not your wants necessarily.
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He will meet our needs. Why worry? He's our heavenly father. Couple of days ago on Thursday night,
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I had the privilege and opportunity to discuss with a good friend of mine with his high school son, the marvelous and glorious doctrine of election with an interesting discussion.
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And he asked the normal logical question that anyone would ask when they learn about the doctrine of election.
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And he asked, then why evangelize? I said, great question.
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That's a question all of us have asked. Then why evangelize? Because blessed are the feet of those who bring good news.
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God has ordained the end as well as the means. So when you talk about election, natural question is why evangelize?
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When we talk about here, as Jesus points out, that our heavenly father meets all our needs, the natural question would be, because earlier in chapter six, he taught about prayer.
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Why pray? Why bother to pray? Well, asking that question is a legitimate question, but to help us answer it in light of Jesus saying that our father knows our needs is first and foremost, a misunderstanding of prayer.
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If we were to go back earlier to chapter six, how does the Lord's prayer begin? Our father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name.
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Prayer is first and foremost worship. We don't simply worship when we sing from the hymn book, though that's a form of worship.
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We don't simply worship when we have special music, that's a form of worship, but worship encompasses our prayer life as Jesus taught earlier in Matthew six.
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So even though our father knows our needs, therefore we are not to be anxious. Why pray? Because prayer is to give him the honor, the praise, the glory that he deserves.
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And you know, when you pray like that, it'll completely change your perspective about the things you are worrying about.
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But prayer also is more than that. The Bible tells that we are to bring our requests to the Lord. But why do we do that?
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It's obviously not to increase the knowledge of him who is omniscient. It's not that God is sitting our father in heaven saying, ooh,
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I'm glad they pray because I would have no idea what's going on in their life. He is aware of everything.
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He is omniscient. That's why earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew six, verse eight, for your father knows what you need before you ask him.
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So the question still stands, why pray? Well, to give him praise and worship and to acknowledge that he knows all my needs.
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But notice this, it's not for God's sake. Prayer is not for the sake of God himself, our heavenly father.
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Prayer is for your sake, for my sake. Because when we pray with an attitude of praise and acknowledging what
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Jesus said here that he knows all my needs, by my prayer I'm showing my utter dependence upon my heavenly father.
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And when you pray in that way, praising him, focusing on worshiping for his attributes and acknowledging that he knows what
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I need as Jesus, the king said here, you will not be anxious. Reason number nine, because anxiety distracts you from your first priority.
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Because anxiety distracts you, remember that's what anxiety means to distract, from your first priority, verse 33, which is what?
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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
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Well, you say, wait, I'm seeking God's kingdom. Great, I'm seeking his righteousness, terrific.
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That's not the issue to Jesus. The issue to Jesus is that you're seeking those things first is that number one priority for you.
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But Jesus is not saying here, you know, just clear your mind, don't think of anything, don't be anxious at all.
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He's not telling us to just refrain from anxiety. He's telling us to replace it with something else. Notice because as we said earlier, the
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Gentiles, those who don't know God, what do they seek after? Verse 32, after all these things.
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But in contrast, we are to first seek his kingdom and his righteousness.
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Luke, the gospel writer records it this way in chapter 12 of his gospel. The words of Jesus, and do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
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Instead, seek his kingdom and all these things will be added to you. Christ is telling us again to logically think as he's reasoning with us here.
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What are you anxious about? It's robbing you and distracting you from your first priority to seek my kingdom and my righteousness.
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It's the idea of the apostle Paul in Colossians 3, to set your heart not on things of the earth, but on things above, on heavenly things.
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That's the idea Jesus is talking about. Notice it is the kingdom of God. It is his righteousness, not the things of the world, but the things of God.
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The Greek term for seek, very simply, it's a command again. We are not to be anxious, a command, but in contrast, we are to seek.
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And you say, well, I've sought once. No, the present tense in the
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Greek tells us that this is not something we do one time and we're done with it. It's a continuous seeking.
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Keep on seeking, Jesus says, the kingdom of God. Keep on seeking his righteousness.
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Well, you might ask yourself, how do I know what I'm really seeking? Let me give you a litmus test, some questions.
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You seek that which you go after. What are you going after? You seek that which you are committed to.
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What are you committed to? You seek that which you devote your time, your energy, your resources to pursue this thing with a passion.
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What are you pursuing today with a passion? That's what you're seeking. Are you going after the kingdom of God or does anxiety have a grip on you?
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Are you committed to his righteousness or are you weighed down by worry? Are you devoting your time, energy, and resources to his kingdom and his righteousness or are you in disobedience, anxious about these things?
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What are we to seek? Two things, his kingdom. We seek first his kingdom for those who have already been born into the kingdom of God by the
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Holy Spirit, who because of the spiritual birth, because he has caused us to be born again, we are in the kingdom of God.
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So what does it mean to seek his kingdom? When Jesus talks about the kingdom in Matthew 6 earlier, when he talks about and teaches about prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
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The kingdom, Vasilios, has to do with the king. Matthew presents Jesus as the king. It's to seek after those things in my life where it allows
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King Jesus to sovereignly rule in my life. It means to advance his kingdom, to be diligent in telling others the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ and how they can enter into the kingdom of God.
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But it doesn't end there. It's to also seek his righteousness. But it begins, of course, first with those who have come to God and realized there is no self -righteousness in themselves.
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Those who have trusted in Christ in his perfect righteousness. So to seek his righteousness for those of us who have been credited with the righteousness of Christ, it means to be like Christ, is to be righteous as he is in practical, holy, everyday living.
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This is our sanctification, is to be righteous and holy as he, because we have imputed righteousness, is to practice this righteousness.
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This is the whole theme of Jesus. If you look at the beginning of the chapter, verse one, notice what he says.
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Beware of what? Practicing your righteousness before other people.
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And then he talks about fasting and prayer and giving. So to seek his righteousness is to seek, to practice righteousness, not for the sake of men, but for the sake of your heavenly father who will reward you.
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And last but not least, reason number 10, why we are not to be anxious is found in our last verse, verse 34.
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Because each day has enough trouble of its own. Because each day has enough trouble of its own.
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Verse 34, therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, about the future, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
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Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Would anybody object to that?
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That each day has enough trouble of its own? Is Jesus just stating the obvious?
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Or he wants us to think by his questions, to reason logically.
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What he is saying does make sense. The future is the future.
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Our heavenly father has our future in his hands. And when we read the whole book, we know what the future is.
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The Lord will return. So why be anxious for tomorrow?
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Each day has enough trouble of its own. But all these reasons and biblical motivations that Jesus outlines and lays out for us here in Matthew chapter six are completely meaningless unless you begin with the very beginning of the
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Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter five, verse three. The very first words out of the lips of King Jesus.
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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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My question to you is, are you poor in spirit? To be poor in spirit simply means that you acknowledge in brokenness, and as we heard this morning, in contrition, that you are spiritually bankrupt before God.
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And that because of your spiritual bankruptcy, you deserve God's just punishment for your sins.
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And because of your spiritual bankruptcy, there is nothing that you can do or offer to a holy God that will please him.
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So you need to come alone to Jesus Christ, completely broken over your sin and contrition and spiritually bankrupt and flee and embrace
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King Jesus so that he becomes your Lord and master and savior. Let's pray.
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Amen. Father, we thank you for the truth of your word, for the truth of our
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King Jesus, for his penetrating words. Father, may your Holy Spirit lay it upon our hearts and convict those as you see fit.