We've been going through the Sermon on the Mount, and we'll be looking at verses 25 to 34, but to set the context, let's back up to verse 19, where we looked at last week. Beginning with verse 19 of chapter 6. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, for Ma and Ras destroyed. and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, Your whole body is full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. And where we ended last week, you cannot serve God and mammon or money or wealth. Any of those words would be possible as a translation. You cannot serve God and wealth. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor 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 in the barns, 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 a span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. He had to tell you, even Solomon, all his glory, does not operate like one of these. But if God so closes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will it 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 I 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. There is a sermon outline in the bulletin. There's an ad on TV that features a dog in a bone. It's a cute ad. It shows the dog at first with his bone that he has in his ditch. But the dog's restless. He's worried. This is a very safe place for his bone, his precious bone. And so, he takes it out of the dish and he goes in the backyards and digs a hole and buries it. And yet, he's still, he's restless, he's anxious. He continues to worry about that bone. It's not in a very safe place, even buried in the backyard. So he digs it up and he takes the bone into the bank. And we don't see him, but the supposition is he puts it in a safe deposit box in the bank. And of course he's still worried. Because even though the bank might be safer, it's not secure. It's out of sight. He can't keep an eye on it when it's in the bank, and so he's still anxious and worried about that bone. We see him at the end going back into the bank and getting the phone and taking it home. That's a cute ad and there's a song that goes along with it that repeats the idea of worry, worry, worry. Now in some ways it's not effective. I don't have any idea what the product is they're trying to sell. Some sort of security that's safe, that you can trust. And I doubt at all that dogs are really conscious and worrying. But it does really picture what goes on in the minds of a lot of human beings. Because a lot of times we are that anxious and worried and we try something and we're still worried and we think this will be better and we're still worried. We're still anxious. And it seems like nothing we can do. No matter what preparations we make, can relieve that worry. How does a person overcome anxiety? How do you overcome that worry so that you're not always on high alert? Always being anxious, always wondering about the next day, and the next week, and the next month. Well, Jesus points us to the answer. And essentially his message to us in these verses is, we have good reasons to trust God. We have good reasons to trust God, and therefore stop worrying. You don't need to worry. You are to trust God. And so the first point we can see from these verses is the negative command that Jesus gives. And it's given in verse 25, and in verse 31, and in verse 34. in slightly different words, but each time Jesus is essentially saying to his disciples, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry. Verse 25, do not be anxious about your life. And what you'll eat and what you'll wear. Verse 31, therefore, do not be anxious about food and clothes. Verse 35, therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow. When Jesus says something to us three times in a very short space, He's trying to get our attention. He's trying to make a point. This is crucial. This is a command to take to heart. That worry and anxiety that very much is a part of everyday life. Like that dog in the commercial. We're anxious about the future. We're anxious what we'll have. anxious what might be taken away. Jesus' command to his disciples is don't worry. Don't think that way. Don't be consumed by that worry. And it's easy to do. And people can do that all the time. I think of a man I met before I went off to seminary. He and his wife were in their 70s. He was very successful. He'd made millions and probably $10 million or more in his lifetime. And instead of enjoying his old age, he was consumed really by one thought, by one worry. Now this was 35 years ago. He was consumed with a fear that the USSR was going to invade our nation and it was going to take all his property away from him. And that's all he thought. how to protect from that eventuality. He certainly didn't foresee the downfall of the Soviet Union and its collapse. And he's been dead for 25 plus years. All his worries, all his energies were spent on something that didn't come to pass. And Jesus is commanding us not to be like that. Not to be overcome with worry and anxiety. I was thinking about the future and what's going to happen. What if, what if, what if? As we look at this command, we need to remember the context. First is larger context. We saw at the very beginning, Jesus here throughout the Sermon on the Mount is talking to his disciples. It's addressed. to those who've made it their purpose in life to follow God, to be his children. And so it's not just a promise that Jesus gives to everyone out there. That if you're not trusting in God, you should be worried. Not about what you'll wear and what you'll eat, but about the condition of your soul. But for those who have dealt with that, who through Jesus Christ are trusting in the Heavenly Father. They have no reason to worry. Their needs will be met. They are secure in Christ. Now, others outside are not secure at all. But he also, as you look at verse 30, he's addressing his disciples. He calls them, oh, you have little faith. Because as he's talking about anxiety and those who are anxious, he's really saying the ones who are his followers who show those signs are showing little faith. Their faith isn't what it should be if they're anxious. They're not trusting God the way they should if they're anxious about the necessities of life. Jesus' first listeners that we today need to be those who have a strong faith. Who not be worried for food and clothing and what to drink. The second part of the context is the immediate words. that precede these verses, which speak about that choice between God or wealth. Who is going to be your master? Is it going to be money and serving money or is it going to be God? And of course, the obvious choice for any of Jesus' disciples is, is they're going to serve God. They're going to look to God. They're going to honor God. And as they understand that, then he goes on to say, therefore, I tell you. Because you have made that decision to serve God, to honor God, to follow after God, to have him be your master, that God of the Bible, be the one who is your Lord. The consequence of that choice is you don't have to be anxious. You don't have to be worrying all the time. And so he moves on then to the second point. Why not be anxious? Why not worry? Well, Jesus gives us four reasons. And they all go back to that relationship we have with the Heavenly Father that we mentioned early on in the chapter. The ten times where Jesus mentions the Father. There's a relationship of trust that we have in our Heavenly Father. And as we would trust God, it would remove that fear. And He gives us four reasons why we should trust and rely upon God. and not be anxious. The first is at the end of verse 25 where it says, Life is much more than food and clothing. Now, food and clothing are basic necessities. They're needed to sustain life. And so, if there's anything to be concerned about, it would be at this basic level. As Ron prayed, In the operatory prayer, you know, the other things are our wants. You know, but if we should be concerned about it, I think it would be our daily needs. But Jesus says, is not life much more than food and the body much more than clothing? And the answer is yes. There's so much more than just that. So much more than just the physical. There's the spiritual. The most important part of you is your soul. That part of you that can never die. That you've been created in the image of God. You have dignity. You have purpose. To think in terms of just food and shelter is to go down really to the level of animals. What do animals do? They know they need shelter if it's stormy outside. They'll find a safe place. They search around for food. That occupies our life. Jesus is saying there's a richness and a beauty to life that goes way beyond the necessities. How impoverished we are on the inside if that's all we think about. And not the greater issues. And especially not the spiritual issues. of life and eternity and life with God and glorifying God and all the rest. Second reason that we're not to worry is that we're going to look around and think about the fact that God abundantly supplies what might be called the lesser creation. The animals and the plants. In verse 26, and then in 28-30. It's an argument from the lesser to the greater. God cares for us, and gives the birds that they need. In driving here we saw birds in the middle of winter, and they're fed. It's amazing, but they were out collecting food. As much as they could find was in the snow. And God provides for them. How much more? In terms of clothing, the flowers, how beautiful they are. More beautiful than the king, Solomon, or any king, or any, you know, man or woman today. And you have a royal wedding coming up, and undoubtedly there'll be an incredible gown. But the flowers. are more beautiful than that gown will be. How much more will God provide for His adopted children? Jesus was telling us the whole earth bears witness to God's love. The birds don't have to go and sow crops and then reap them and store them in barns. And yet they're fed. The flowers don't spin yarn and make clothes, but they're incredibly beautiful. We can trust in God providing for us. Much more valuable than the plants, than the animals. And more than that, as we read in Romans 8. If God didn't spare His own Son, if God was willing to give His own Son for us, should we ever think that some need, the need for the necessities of life, would somehow go unmet? He's given much greater, and a much greater cost We don't need to be worried or anxious about the things of this life. The third thing that he points out is in verse 27. The third reason we're not to worry is that worry, anxiety really change nothing. It's unproductive. Which of you being anxious can add an hour whose span of life, and really that word span has the idea of a cubit and it can be taken one of two ways in terms of life span or in terms of height. Now it seems strange, you know, to think of it in terms of, you know, growing 18 more inches. But I think that's the natural way to take it. And for God, that's a simple thing to do. God does it all the time. You know, a baby that's born 20 inches long, well, God will add a cubit, and another cubit, and three or four cubits. So he's, you know, six feet tall. And so it's nothing for God to do that. For us, to increase our height is impossible. As much as we strive, and you're a grade school child who whose big ambition was to play quarterback for one of the big ten schools here in the state. It wasn't going to happen. You look at how tall his parents were. You look at his frame. He was never going to be big enough. Now if he grew an extra foot, then he might be. But with the best of diet, if they tried to pull him and stretch him, it would do no good. He couldn't change his height. And it didn't matter how much energy, time, worry went into it, he can't change that. And so also, with us, we can put an awful lot of emotional energy trying to change things. But it's not going to change. Even something as inconsequential as a height. Indeed, it's likely to produce stress and maybe shorten our lives. We should commit our energies to places where it makes a difference to God and his kingdom. Well, the fourth reason, the most important of all, is that why we're not to be anxious is the fact that your Heavenly Father is aware of your needs. Verse 32 says the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. And then the promise at the end of verse 33, all these things will be added to you. You can trust the Father to provide what you need for life. Now, it's fairly logical that unbelievers would toil and chafe after material things, not having a higher sense of God and something, a higher purpose in life. They have little else to do with their lives. But when you know the king of the universe as your own personal father, who knows your needs, who's working all things together to meet those needs, then you can live a life without anxiety, a life without worry. You place those matters into the hands of your loving Father, and He'll supply. Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer, or what I would call the Disciples Prayer, give us this day our daily bread. That what we do is to look to Him each day, trusting Him to provide. We can't secure our own security, but God can. Because He's control of all things. The Christian who trusts God, who realizes that relationship just as a child, one of the children here who trusts, their parents, and not be worried, what are we going to eat today? You know, mom always provides, dad always provides, knows that they can count on that. So also, you can look to your Heavenly Father, and know that He is going to supply you with what you need. For now, and for eternity. Well, the third point is there's a positive command. If we're not to worry, with what are we to replace it? What should the follower of Jesus be doing? Well, it's in verse 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now, it's interesting that Jesus is really taking it for granted that human beings will be seekers, that we'll have some sort of ambition. Something that will drive us. We're not like seaweed that's just carried around in the oceans, drifting aimlessly. But we'll want something. It may be pleasure, it may be success on the job. For the Christian, there's only one thing that's worthy. The Gentiles seek worldly things. In contrast, a Christian seeks God's Kingdom. and his righteousness and seeks it first, meaning that in your life and my life, the top priority, the only thing that can be number one is God, is his kingdom, is his righteousness. And consider what that means in all areas of life, in your home. Very simply, it means that you have a Christ-centered home. And too often today, even in Christian circles, that's not done. You have child-centered homes, you have parent-centered homes. Too rarely do we have Christ-centered homes. In terms of personal morality, we don't go along with the world's standards. There are morality that's popular. And you can see that in a change in the don't ask, don't tell policy reflecting in some ways the pressure of the culture. We think, we choose, we act differently. In your career, in your business or personal life, it's characterized by honesty, integrity, hard work that befits a servant of God and not this idea of How little do I have to do to get by? Your bank account should show a giving to the Lord, should show a generosity of spirit. Your tax return should show honesty in paying those legitimate taxes for you to do in your citizenship. Although you're a good citizen, your highest loyalty is to God. In evangelism, you're seeking to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. And in your lifestyle, you think according to a Christian worldview that doesn't look at life the way society and the world around us does. I'd ask you, as Jesus commands you to put first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Are you willing to do that? How far are you willing to take that? I read the story of two men. You probably have not heard of them. John Lederduber and David Nichman. John was a potter. And David was a carpenter, and they lived in Copenhagen in the 1700s. And they desired to be missionaries. And as they looked, they heard about the slaves in the West Indies, in the Dutch West Indies. And they wanted to go. to those slaves and bring them the gospel. And as they talked with the Dutch slave owners, the slave owners weren't willing to let them go and administer to those slaves. And finally, after some discussions, the slave owners agreed, oh yeah, you can go, but there's one condition. You'll need to sell yourselves into lifetime slavery. If you become a slave, we'll ship you over there and you can then try to spread the gospel. Well, both men agreed. They were the first Moravian missionaries going out in 1732. Leaving their freedom behind, leaving all that was dear to them behind in Copenhagen and going. Now, the Dutch slave owners were so shocked that they never forced them to hold up their part of the bargain and they didn't enslave them. But they didn't know that. They went out. thinking the rest of their lives would be that of slaves proclaiming the gospel. But they realize what Jesus Christ had done for them. And they were willing, at great cost to themselves, to go, to put first, God's kingdom ahead of themselves and their desires. An example to us of what it means. How far would we go to put Christ first, his kingdom, the righteousness of God? Well, in summary, in our application, What should you do as a Christian when you are tempted to worry? Let me suggest three things. First is to pray. Jesus earlier in the chapter taught us that we should pray for our daily food. As we think about what we need, there is a proper place to look. It is not for ourselves, nor resources, and to be worried whether it will be enough, Others around us will have an outcome to help us, or whatever it is, we are to look to the Heavenly Father. In seminary I heard two sayings, almost mirror images of each other. One said, why worry when you can pray? And the other said, why pray when you can worry? Because we're going to choose one or the other. And for the Christian, there's no choice really. We should be praying. Matters of concern, we need to bring to our Heavenly Father. Second is we're tempted to worry, to be anxious. Jesus is here teaching us to contemplate the nature of our Heavenly Father. Look at His activity in the world. Be reassured as you look at the way he cares about the birds, how he cares about the plants, how he clothes them with beauty. And realize you're much more valuable. So you don't need to be anxious. You don't need to be concerned. Because your Heavenly Father cares for you. He cares for the plants and the animals. How much more? Think deeply about God. in His ways. And then third, look at your priority. Is it making the Kingdom of God first in your life? If we have that upward focus, we won't have that focus wrongly placed on ourselves, on our needs, our wants. We'll see the greater purpose that God has for our lives. and be able to enjoy it. When you focus on God and His kingdom, worry will be driven out. So seek first the kingdom.