Worry - The Respectable Sin - Part 3

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. We are back to Daily Radio. It's all so self -serving.

For a while, I thought the Daily Radio was not.

Oh, I didn't mean to do that. For a while, it was more like this.

Let's mix these two together. Or let's just put that on the background.

You can email me, email me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. If there's any complaints, info at the

Pactum. Hey, the

Pactum conference is coming up in October. I hope you've registered. I get to go to the

Pactum and speak because I'm the brother, see? Nepotism. But I guess if I actually can give a message, and hopefully

I can. I'm not as smart as who's there this year? Dennis Johnson?

Fesko? Is Perkins there again? Pat and me. I think if we had to rate them, how would we rate them?

Well, I don't know who'd be at the top. I think Harrison would probably say

Fesko's above him and Dennis Johnson's above him. Uh, Fesko would probably say

Dennis Johnson is above him. Uh, Dennis Johnson's humble, so he'd probably say everybody's above him.

Uh, Pat would say everybody's above him, and I would say everybody's above me. Okay, I'm above Pat.

It's okay if Pat thinks he's above me. Oh, anyway, thanks for bearing with me in these down months where I was pretty much ready to wrap it up, and now we're ready to ramp it up.

So, I'm feeling much better now. I don't drink, but I wake up with hangovers.

How is that? As Iggy Pop would say, no fun.

Today's part three on the sin, respectable sin, as some call it, of worry, anxiousness.

Of course, you know I'm an antinomian and don't care about obedience, so today is just all theoretical.

It's for the other guy. So, before I talk about worry, part three,

I do want to address that whole thing. I think that the term hyper -Calvinist is used by people often not in a historical way, in a historical way.

What do I mean by that? Well, historically, if you want to study what hyper -Calvinism is, you would see things like hyper -Calvinists would not pray, right?

Because God's going to do whatever he wants anyway. No need for evangelism, because God will call those unregenerate elect to himself.

No love of God to the non -elect. That type of thing where you think, historically, this is what hyper -Calvinism is.

But modernly, since people don't know history, they're historical, atheological as well, they say, well, if you're just more

Calvinistic than I am, then you're a hyper -Calvinist. So, it's almost like a small h in hyper.

If historical hyper -Calvinism is a capital H, then this is, well, you're just more

Calvinistic than I am. So, you know,

I'm a four -point Calvinist, you're a five -point, therefore, you're a hyper -Calvinist.

Or I'm a five -point Calvinist, but you're even more aggressive about your beliefs of the five points, and so you're a hyper -Calvinist.

So, in a similar fashion, I think the same thing happens with antinomian and neonoman or gnome.

Remember, nom, N -O -M, is law, so neonomism is new law, gnomism is a law -heavy person, and then antinome is against the law.

So, when I get accused of antinomianism, that is a charge that's a very fierce charge, ferocious charge, a grave charge.

And is it true? Now, if you think, well, Mike focuses more on gratitude, gospel motivation,

Christ for pardon, Christ for power. Let's stay away from anything that is preparation for faith, things that you have to do before faith, things that are antecedent to faith.

Do you have to forsake sin in order to come to Christ type of thing? Since my emphasis is

Christ dies for the ungodly, and that you do not have to forsake sin in order to come to Christ, but when you do come to Christ, you will forsake sin.

It is inevitable, and if you don't, then it's going to show it's a false faith. But people are like, well, he,

Mike, focuses on grace, gospel truths, duplex gratia more than I do, therefore

Mike is an antinomian. And so, if you think historically, what is an antinomian?

And there's many ways we could go down this route, but I do not deny the validity of the moral law.

I do not deny that the law is for believers' third use, that it guides, it directs.

I do not deny that when God justifies, He sanctifies. I do not deny that monergistic sanctification means that we're responding to God first by faith, and that faith manifests itself, or evidences itself, in killing sin, mortification, and living to righteousness,

Titus chapter 2, vivification. I believe that. I believe that we ought to be holy because God is holy.

I believe that we ought to strive, and to press on, and to work, kapia 'o, and to sweat, and to toil, to live godly lives.

Now, I think it is not just Christ for us, justification, but Christ in us, and we're able to do that by Christ being in us.

He physically left and gave us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And therefore, holy living is important.

But I'm accused of antinomianism because what I don't want people to do is to say, well,

I'm not living a holy enough life, therefore I can't be a Christian. Or specifically, other pastors and preachers, or guys on the circuit that have seven messages and travel the world with, they tend to say, well, how can you live like that and call yourself a

Christian? And I would say, along with Whitehorse Inn, Rod Rosenblatt, in the day Christ died for the sins of Christians too.

That does not make me historically an antinomian. And even this part three on don't worry because worry is a sin, repent, run from it, stop making excuses, trust in the

Lord who cares for you, consider, reflect, look, trust, believe.

Do those sound like laws to you? Yes, they are. Do those sound like a desire for obedience and godly living?

Yes, they are. Yes, they do. No one in their right mind can listen to no -compromise radio and listen to the sermons, more importantly, from Bethlehem Bible Church pulpit, and go, there's no desire for holiness, there's no call for action, there's no desire to keep the law, there's no imperatives, commands, subjunctive verbs.

No, you're going to see law, gospel, you're going to see, if you want grammar, indicative, imperative, you're going to see covenant of works, covenant of grace type of categories.

But because I don't focus on the law as much as you do, I'm an antinomian? Well, if you're a neonoman, if you're a nomist, well, compared to you,

I am an antinomian, because I'm anti -nomist. I'm not anti -nomian,

I'm an anti -neonomist. See how confusing this all gets? I believe that the evidence and fruit of the

Spirit of God dwelling in you, I believe that the evidence and fruit of a man or a woman or a young person justified by faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone, there will inevitably be fruit.

There will inevitably be evidences. But they are only fruit and evidences, and some of them are not even action fruits, they are attitude fruits.

So, when it comes to these calls today, here's one more show that I say to you, in light of what

I've said the last two shows and in 18 years, and last Sunday from the pulpit, it is sinful to call third use of the law duplex gratia, mero, guilt, grace, gratitude,

Christ for pardon, Christ for power, responding to God's sanctifying work with faith, leading to mortification and vivification, to call that antinomianism, you're

A, wrong, and B, sinful. You ought to stop that. You have to stop saying, you know what, if somebody's not—my particular view of, do you have to submit to Jesus in order to come to Christ?

Do you have to make Him Lord in order to come to Christ? Do you have to surrender every area in order to come to Christ?

If I don't believe those things, and I say it a different way because categories matter, then don't call me an antinomian.

I think you're a neonoman, neonomian. But see how we're just digressing.

If only Kirk could talk to Spock properly. Remember he was trying to get

Spock all mad? Just snap out of it. Worry.

Jesus says to the disciples in Luke chapter 12, don't be anxious for anything. So if you are, you're worrying, and so therefore you ought to stop it.

You ought to repent. Here's the law from the hand of Christ, and what's good for you and what gives

God glory is for you not to worry. Instead, trust. And He says, I want you to look at the birds.

Consider the birds. Not any birds, but a dirty bird, a raven, a scoundrel, a scavenger, a bird low on the totem pole of birds.

And just begin to think. Instead of dwelling on self and driving inwardly and consumed with thoughts and worries, now you begin to think outwardly.

You look out, you see, you observe. God provides, God cares. There's a worm, there's a nut, there's a this, there's a thing for the nest, how they fly.

They are not like the fool in the parable just prior to that. They're not storing up things, bigger barns, bigger nests, and all that stuff.

God cares. And if a human on earth feeds their dogs, don't you think they'll feed their children?

If you have a bird in a cage and you feed that bird, do you think you'd feed anyone else?

And the answer is, yeah, you feed your children, of course, and any neighborhood kid that was in there as well.

Jesus said, I want you to consider. That's the same verb that's found in Hebrews chapter 3 when those

Jewish people that were believing in Jesus were getting persecuted, and He, the writer of Hebrews—let's, for argument's sake, say

Paul—he says, consider, same word as in Luke 12, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession.

The remedy for persecution, the remedy for the desire to go back to Judaism and its sights and smells and bells and and gold and marble and everything else at the temple, was to really think about Jesus, the man

Christ Jesus, the God -man, while suffering. Here's this

Jesus who is sent by the Father. Here's this Jesus who's faithful. Here's this Jesus who's the

Anointed One. I should be thinking about Him. He's the apostle and high priest that we confess, and I'm to consider and to think and to wonder and to go, you know what?

How do I respond to these trials as a Hebrew? I'm getting persecuted. I'm to consider.

Not me, but I'm going to consider Him. As Spurgeon said, consider Him. You cannot know all

His excellence, all His value to you, except He is the subject of your constant meditation. Consider Him.

Think of His nature, His offices, His work, His promises, His relation to you. Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession,

Christ Jesus. To put your mind down on something and study Christology, to direct your whole mind toward the object, one

Greek grammar says. To grasp, to know, to be attentive, to focus, to concentrate.

And the people back in the book of Hebrews, they were immature because they didn't do that.

And the ones that were mature were doing that. And so, as you look at the birds and consider the ravens instead of worrying, you're considering who's taking care of the ravens.

It's the Father, Luke 6. It's God who takes care of them. They, the ravens, don't have souls.

They, the ravens, aren't image bearers. They, the ravens, don't have a Father. They have a Creator, but you have a

Father. If you just prayed to the Father, our Father who art in heaven, right in chapter 11, the

Father. So you are to be a birdwatcher. But think of the

God behind the birds. That's the idea. If you think about birdwatching, as I was looking online, what it actually means to be a birdwatcher, because I think in the past I've kind of thought it was funny to see guys out with binoculars and telescopes and everything.

If you just casually look at birds, you're called a birdwatcher. That's what I would say. Most people are birdwatchers.

But I didn't know that if you're really into it, you're called a birder. B -I -R -D -E -R.

A birder. He's a birder. That's like, you know, you're a Trekkie or a

Trekker. Star Trek. Kind of a fan, but a real loyal fan, you're a Trekker.

And then if you're a scientist of birds, you're an orthanologist.

Orthanologist. Easy for me to say. Orthanologist. Birdwatching. When you go watch birds, you have to think.

And I want to know how to do birdwatching, so I looked up how to do birdwatching, and I got a cheat sheet for beginner

Worcester area birdwatching. And it says, start with these questions.

Ask the size of the birds. Sparrows are smaller. Robins are bigger. Crows are even bigger.

Ask what color they are. What's the main color? Brown, gray, black. Ask yourself this question.

Where are the birds? Maybe they're on the ground hopping around in a tree, a feeder, flying in your water.

Ask how the bird is moving. Oh, it's hopping, it's walking, it's climbing, it's flying. Ask if there's anything that makes you go, huh, that's a red shape, chest.

There's a really long beak. Oh, it's bright, got bright colors. For all of these, the five questions, size, main color, where is it, does it move, any stand -up feature, you're having to think.

But the main thing is, God cares. The Father cares. It's not so much as this thing hopping, is this thing walking, is this thing gliding, is this thing, you know, pecking the wood.

No. It's about the God who cares. God cares for birds.

And Jesus goes on to say, verse 25 of Luke 12, and which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to this span of life?

If then you're not able to do such a small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Can you add an hour to your life that's been ordained?

Your death has been ordained? The number of your days have been ordained? Of course not.

If you were, you're not going to live longer. You might actually live less. Now, sometimes people think this is an hour longer to your life, or there's a, in the

Greek, it could mean maybe you're going to add a cubit to your height, like 18 inches to your height.

Most of the people think it's describing length of life, age, but even if it was the other, both work.

Do you think worry is going to give you 18 inches more of height, or do you think you're going to have another hour to live by worrying?

No. It's not going to work. You can't add your height, and you can't add to how long you're going to live, or when you're going to die.

Whether it's your bodily stature, or it's the length of time that you live on this earth, worrying doesn't change anything.

But as many people have said, trusting in the Lord changes how you see everything.

If you're not able to do such a small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Verse 26. You can't add to your life.

You can't add to your height. Then why do you worry about other things? I mean, an hour, based on your life, is not that big a deal.

18 inches taller, I mean, for concerts it might be good, for airplanes not. Well, then why worry?

You've got a great God. It gains nothing. It tortures.

Things matter. Be concerned. Work hard, but don't worry. A poem goes, worriers feel every blow that never falls, and they cry over things that they will never lose.

I can't control how tall I am. I can't control how long

I live. So, since I can't control any of that, then I'm not going to worry, and I'm going to trust in God's love and care for me, and how

He provides. God is good.

God is praiseworthy. God can be trusted. He's never less good or more good.

He's just good, consistently good, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change, like shifting shadow.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, James 117. You look at the birds, not as an end, but you look at the birds to help you remember who takes care of the birds.

Well, Jesus goes on. He also wants us to consider flowers.

Bird watching, now looking at flowers. And the thing is, it's just external. It's not feeling.

It's not driven toward the inside. It's not introspection. It's extrospection. Consider the lilies,

Luke 12, 27, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even

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

He clothe you, O you of little faith? An argument from the lesser to the greater, how

He takes care meticulously, lavishly, as commentators say.

Won't He take care of you, if He takes care of the grass, the flowers?

They neither toil nor spin. Hmm. I began to look.

You look at the flowers, and you consider, and you get a magnifying glass out, and you just take a look at them.

You're like, wow, this is impressive. And they're here today and gone tomorrow. And they're gorgeous.

They're amazing. And how do you get clothes back in those days?

Well, kind of like you get clothes these days. It's got to spin. And in those days, in Solomon's day, 900

BC, you got to get some wool or flax. Didn't use cotton.

And you wash the wool. You tease apart the wool.

You get a distaff or a stick for the wool.

You get a spindle for the wool. You get the fibers, and you wrap them around the distaff.

And now, all of a sudden, you're twisting things and spinning. And before you know it, you've got a simple ply yarn.

Then you put two or three strands together. And then, before you know it, after a long, long time, hours of day, weeks, by hand, spinning, weaving, dying, cutting, sewing, then you got something nice.

And the flowers out there, they don't do any of it, because God just does it all. They're beautiful.

They're wonderful. They're lovely. And they're to rebuke us.

They're to preach to us. They're to tell us, you know what? God's behind everything.

If He takes care of a flower, He'll take care of you. Back to the basics.

Go outside. Get outside. I mean, the whole phone thing, and I stand with you as, hey, let's just swipe it up.

I wasn't ever into TikTok, nor am I into TikTok. But even on Twitter, on X, you just slide the next thing up, slide the next thing up.

Like, what's going on with the Iran war? Iran war, Iran war, Iran war. And it now knows what

I want, Iran war, and gives it to me, gives it to me. If He's going to clothe the grass that is thrown in the fire for kindling, aren't you worth more?

And then He says, oh, you have a little faith. That's the idea.

We don't have enough faith. He doesn't care for us. He's not going to protect us. He's forgotten about me.

Listen to the flowers, as it were. Listen to what they preach, silently. Who takes care of the flowers?

So we trust in God. Consider the lilies, the beauty of a wildflower.

And He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how will you not also with Him freely give us all things?

I don't want to be a little faith. That's exactly what worry is. Every time you think,

I'm worried or anxious, you should say to yourself, oh, you have little faith. That wasn't a good thing to hear.

Oh, you have little faith. Oh, you have little faith.

Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea and became perfectly calm. Immediately Jesus stretched out

His hand and took hold of him and said, oh, you have little faith. Why did you doubt? You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

George Mueller said the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

No wonder the just shall live by faith. What's worse,

I don't believe in the Bible, I don't believe there's a God, or I worry a lot? See how they're kind of the same root?

Hudson Taylor said this. He was a missionary to China. Let us give up our work, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into God's hand.

And then when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about.

So good. Sheep, shepherd, creator, sustainer.

And then he goes on, number three, the third remedy. Instead of stop doing something, start doing something.

He says, keep going. Verse 29, seek his kingdom, and do not seek what you are to eat or what you're to drink, nor be worried.

Seeking his kingdom, that's verse 29. Before, well, I'll read 30 and 31. For all nations of the world seek after these things, and your father knows that you need them.

Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. You hear those words in Matthew 6 with the

Sermon on the Mount, do we not? Do not seek what you're to eat or what you're to drink or to be worried.

Now, this is a different word. The first one was kind of a divided word.

This is a rare word, and it means, I've got my

Greek thing here, it means to be lifted up. It means to be in suspense.

It comes from the word where we get our word meteor. Meteor. Earlier, don't be anxious.

Don't kind of have this divided thought. Here, don't be like up in the air, unsettled, in suspense, like a meteor would be in your state of mind.

Rocking back and forth, tossing to and fro, fretful. No, no. Instead of don't worry, he's saying,

I want you to seek. I want you to settle down, be stable, and to sink.

Sink. What are you sinking about? Aren't you glad for the

Lord's teaching? Isn't he a good God? Doesn't he care for you? Aren't you ashamed of worrying?

I am. I don't want to worry anymore. I have some what they call besetting sins.

I think it's worry is one of them. I don't look at pornography. I don't cheat on Kim.

But I wish I worried less. And Jesus is faithful and just.

Forgive us our sins when we confess our sins, is he not? My name is Mike Avendroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry.

You can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com, and you can order books too, 10 or more, if you want to get 40 % off, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.