This morning, our first scripture reading comes from Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah 43, verse 1 to 7. And my text this morning is taken from Matthew chapter 6. But first, I will be reading the Old Testament, Isaiah 43, 1 to 6. But now, thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom. Kush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you. I give men in return for you. Peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, do not withhold. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth. Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Turn your Bibles to the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6. verse 25 through 34. God's people, these are words from Jesus Christ. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body. What you will put on is not life more than food, and the body more than closing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about closing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed 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 He not much more close you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." This is the reading of the Holy and the Infallible Word of God. And may the Lord bless the reading of his word into our hearts by the power of his Holy Spirit. Amen. You may be seated. In recent times, a research has been done here in the United States of America. The research was on how many people here in America die as a result of anxiety and fear. And the Christian organization which has done this research has an objective on why they did the research. They did the research in order to find out how many confessing believers, how many evangelicals in America, has been affected by anxiety and fear. And as a result of fear and anxiety, they died. And when the outcome, the result of the research came back, it was very disturbing for the Christian organization which did the research. Because the number of believers who died as a result of fear, doubt, and anxiety was almost equal to the number of unbelievers who died as a result of fear and anxiety in their life. You see, anxiety and fear, the people of God, is not part of God's design for you. in the plan of God, plan of salvation, plan of providence, grace, and God's shepherding in your life. God never designed fear and anxiety to be a part of your life. Notice How often the phrase, what if, overwhelms our life as Christians. Consider how many times you use the word, what if, in your life. What if that one whom I love die? What if I lose my job? What if there would be an accident? What if they don't come back home? We send our children to school and we become very anxious and fearful that they might not come back to us. What if I will never find a spouse in my life? What if, what if, what if? You see, what if always promotes fear, anxiety, and doubt in a Christian life? The wise king, King Solomon, in Proverbs 12, 25, he said this, Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down. That's what Solomon said. Anxiety in man's heart always weighs him down. It pushes him down. It creates and promotes fear and anxiety in his life. You see the problem of being anxious about life about food and clothing that our Lord Jesus Christ is addressing in our text this morning. It was not aimed, it was not addressed to unbelievers. Christ actually was addressing his own disciples who happened to be believers. They were the followers of Jesus Christ. And according to Jesus Christ, you see, believers can be confronted by anxiety and fear about life in general, but also about tomorrow. You can easily recognize that from the three repeated commands that our Lord Jesus Christ gives to his disciples. Notice verse 25. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious. Verse 31. Therefore, do not be anxious. Verse 34. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow. Over and over again, Jesus told his disciples, and all of you this morning, do not be anxious about life. Do not be anxious about food, about drink, and do not be anxious about tomorrow. You see, the new year is around the corner. We're about to receive this new year in our life by God's grace. Are you going to welcome this new year? Are you going to enter to this new year being anxious about life, about tomorrow? Or are you going to welcome this new year trusting in the God of providence, trusting in divine providence? I have no doubt that we all use these words to encourage other people. We see our friends being worried, and we say to them things like, don't worry, everything will be all right. It is okay. It will be all right again. Christians, when you use words of encouragement like this, do you also point your friends to the one who is the source of their courage, the source of their hope, their only reason why they should not be worried in this life, who is Jesus Christ, the son of God. We just use those words because you have heard other people using them. When we do that, you see, we also point them to the foundation of their hope, to the foundation of their hope, or we just Leave them without any hope. If you recall, in the 1980s, there was this famous solo song by Bobby McFerrin. The song goes like this, don't worry, be happy. You know, that song calls people who listen to that song to be optimistic in life, to be hopeful in life. But the song doesn't point it to Christ. In fact, someone told me the singer tells his listeners to give him a call whenever they're worried. I don't know how many people call him. Maybe he is, you know, the most miserable person in this world. that we cannot help you in your worry in this life. But notice carefully, the one who is telling you this morning not to be anxious about life, not to be anxious about clothes, not to be anxious about food, not to be anxious about tomorrow, is Jesus Christ, who is able to make you to be free from anxiety, doubt, and fear in your life. And our Lord Jesus Christ gives his disciples three reasons why they don't need to be anxious. And listen to the three reasons. One, don't be anxious because life is more than food, more than possession. Don't be anxious because God knows what you need. You will notice that in verse 32. Don't be anxious because each day has its own trouble. So three reasons why you Christians don't need to be anxious. Don't be anxious because life is more than food. Don't be anxious because God knows what you need. Don't be anxious because each day has its own trouble. So the first reason, and this reason comes from your Lord, from your Savior, Jesus Christ. Don't be anxious because life is more than food. Notice how our text begins. It begins with this word, with this phrase, therefore. You see, Jesus is giving this command to his disciples based on the light of what he has already told them. He's drawing a principle for his disciples based on what he already told them. Jesus didn't come to his disciples and just said, don't be anxious, but he gave them reasons. He gave them instruction why they don't need to be anxious. Notice his principle in verses 19 and 20. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. where moss and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moss nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Now God's people, here Jesus Christ is presenting us a lifestyle. That's what He's doing. He's presenting you a lifestyle. The first lifestyle is the life that treasures the treasures of heaven in life. Remember, there is only one treasure that you can treasure in this life. Actually, Jesus points to two kinds of treasures. But as a Christian, you are called to have this one treasure in your life. And Jesus is referring to two types of treasures. One is treasures in heaven, and the second one is treasures on earth. Treasures in heaven, Jesus is saying, are eternal. They are not temporary. They are for eternity. So treasure, lay treasures of heaven for your life. Make sure that you live a life that is a treasure in heaven. Because if you lay that treasure, that is something eternal and worthy to live for. But if you lay a treasure on earth, that riches that you store for your life will be temporary and unworthy. And if you lay treasure on the treasures of this earth, possessions on earth, they will make you become anxious. If you own a car and a house, And if you have a lot of money at the bank, your car, your house, and the money that you have at the bank, if you lay your treasure on them, you see, every day you think about them, you think about your car, your car will remind you that it needs a gas. Every time you think about your house, you see, your house will remind you, you need to pay your mortgage. You see, they don't bring eternal hope. They don't make you become free from anxiety and fear. If you lay your treasure on them, you will be anxious about life and about tomorrow. But if you lay your treasure on heaven, on eternal things, on Christ, on grace, on salvation, on God's provision for you to live and walk by His power, by His providence, then you will have a heavenly treasure for your life as a Christian. And notice verse 21 and 23. This is what Jesus tells you. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Now listen to this. The eye is the lamb 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 will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? So first Jesus, you see, he laid before us a lifestyle. And now Jesus is displaying before you two distinct lifestyles. One is a life which has eyes and see the light. What is this life which has light? This life and its light is the eye of that life that see the things of God in God's Word. This is a life which has eyes that see and understand the divine revelation. If you have a lifestyle with this eye, good eye, that sees the things of the Lord, you would understand this verse. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously gives us all things? If you don't have this eye, you are not going to understand this verse. If you don't have this eye, you are not going to be free of anxiety and fear and doubt. You need to have a life which has this eyes with it. The eye that is informed by divine revelation. An eye that see and understand all the promises of God in the scripture. Those promises which are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. But the second lifestyle, my friends, is this. It's an eye but doesn't see. The sight of this lifestyle is very dim. The sight is very poor. You see, this eye means an eye that is not informed by divine revelation. An eye that is not instructed by the word of God. My brothers and sisters in Christ, If you don't cherish God's Word, if you don't read and meditate on the Word of God every day of your life, your life will be a life without eyes. You will not see, you will not understand the promises of God for you. For that reason, you see, you will remain being in anxiety, fear, and doubt in your life. And verse 24, another distinct lifestyle. Jesus said in verse 24, 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. You cannot serve God and money. Money here is The Greek word maman, which means possessions. It's not necessarily only money, but everything that you possess, you own in this life. And Jesus is saying, if you worship your possession, if you devote your life to what you own and possess in this life, you will be the most miserable person in this life. You will worry, you will have doubt, and you will have fear. You will doubt God's faithfulness for you, even as you enter the new year. You will enter this new year saying, what if, what if, what if? You are not going to welcome this new year as a believer, someone who trusts in the promises of God. So Jesus said, You would either serve money, your possession, or God. You can't have two gods in your life. You would either devote yourself to God, the God of Providence, the Almighty God who can do everything, with whom everything is possible, or you would devote yourself to your possession, to your money. And if you do that, my friend, anxiety will be part of your life. worryness will be your lifestyle in the christian life that's what jesus is telling his disciples i read a story one time a young rich man young man but very rich he was proposing to this mature and strong christian woman And because of his riches, he told the woman, if you marry me, I will give you whatever you need in this life. And you will be the most happy person in this world. And the Christian woman, very gently but firmly, she responded to him saying, can your money buy me eternal joy? And the young man, rich young man answered, haven't heard of it before. But if you tell me where I can find it, I can go and buy it for you. And the Christian woman said to him, you can't buy it. It's a free gift. You receive it by faith from Christ. That's where their relationship stopped. He was not the right person for her. And you single women looking for a godly wife, a husband, that should be your response. Someone who would give you more Jesus. more eternal joy in your life. And Jesus is saying, you see, you should worship God. You should devote yourself to God. You see, Jesus Christ commanded the disciples not to be anxious about life, about food, about clothing, after calling them to lay for themselves a treasure in heaven, not on earth. You see, that was the principle that Christ was drawing for his disciples. If you really lay your treasures on the things in heaven, then you will not be anxious. Therefore, don't be anxious. If you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first, worriness and anxiety will go away from you. Because he saw, you see, Jesus Christ saw what was going on in their hearts, what was going on in their thinking. Whenever I read and meditate on this portion of the scripture, I always try to picture the disciples. Maybe they were saying things like this, wait a minute, How can we abandon all these things? How can we abandon food? How can we abandon clothes? How can we abandon shelter? What is the master talking about? Is he commanding us to be idle? We have bills to pay? We need to support our families? Is he discouraging us from work? What's going on? What is the teacher saying? Some of the things that might came to the mind of the disciples. But remember, Jesus is not telling his disciples, don't work. But he's telling them, don't worry. There are two different things. What does the Bible say in 2 Thessalonians 3 10? If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. That's a very clear command of the scripture. Every Christian is called to be hardworking, especially those of you who are the heads of your household. You are called to work, to earn your living and support your families. But they are called to do that without being anxious about anything. You see here, Jesus is saying, after you lay your treasure in heaven, fulfill also your vocations. Do whatever God gives you to do to earn your living. And as you do that, do not be over-anxious. As you work hard, as you earn your living, do not be over-anxious. Trust the Lord. But Jesus, you see, takes his disciples from the greater to the lesser. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 25, He told His disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food? What is Jesus doing here? He's taking them from the lesser to the greater. They were thinking about food. They were thinking about food. They were anxious about tomorrow. Now Jesus is calling them to think about their life. And Jesus said to the disciples, who gave you life? Who made it exist? Where does your life come from? From God. God gave you breath to breathe. God made you to exist. Now Jesus is saying, if God gave you life, if God gave you body, if God gave you soul, if he is your creator, if he is the one who formed you as a living creature, Do you think He is unable to give you food, drink, and shelter? He gave you life. You see, the people of God, when you become anxious about these small things, comparing with who God is and what He can do for you, and all His promises in Christ Jesus, The moment you do that, you are cautioning God's ability, God's providence, and God's faithfulness to you. As if you are saying, well, I'm not sure about you, oh Lord. And Jesus is saying, he gave you life. Not only that, but also Jesus, you see, he takes them from the greater to the lesser. And he called upon his disciples to watch the birds. You see, when they doubted, when they became very anxious, Jesus told his disciples, now it is time for you to learn from the birds. I told you many things. I assured you. I gave you assurance about my father and his provision. And now you're doubting. Watch the birds. Learn from the birds. They don't labor. But my father provides all their needs. Believers, do you know why Christ was doing that? This is the reason why Christ was doing that. Christ was showing them God's relationship with the birds and God's relationship with them. Jesus was telling them, look, the birds' relationship with my Father is He is their Creator and they are His creatures. The relationship is the relationship between the Creator and the creatures. My father's relationship with you is he is your father. He adopted you as his own children. He is your heavenly father. Every time we recite the Apostles Creed, this is what we confess. I believe in God, the father. Almighty maker of heaven and earth. We call God our father. But do you believe? Or do you live as if God is your father? I always observe my own children. And how much they trust me. How much they depend on me for the things that they need in this life. But sometimes my children come to me and they ask me for things that I cannot provide. Because I have my own limitations. But I always rejoice in our Heavenly Father. And by God's grace, I point my children to the One who can provide our Father in Heaven. You see, the relationship is the relationship of not only the Creator, but also the Father. God's children, God is your Father. Imagine your children coming to you, crying. And you ask them, why are you crying? And they tell you, I'm afraid. Why are you afraid? I don't know. What I'm going to wear when I go to school. And then you say, as a parent, I will provide that to you. That's the reason why I'm here. I'm here for you. I will dress you. You will dress up and you are not going to school naked. And they cry again, I'm hungry, I'm not sure who will feed me. And you will say to them, I'm your father, I'm your mother, we are your parents, we'll feed you. You will not go hungry. Can you imagine you as a child of God acting the same way towards your heavenly father? What would your heavenly father would say to you? I understand when my children doubts on me. That's okay. I'm limited. But would you act the same way towards your Heavenly Father? Would you welcome this new year? Saying to your Father, your Heavenly Father, the Almighty, the provider of your salvation and everything that you have in your life. And He has already proven that He is able because everything you have in your life comes from Him. And you would go to Him and say, I'm not sure. Maybe in 2016, I will go hungry. Maybe in 2016, my marriage will struggle and fall apart. Is that how we are going to respond to your Heavenly Father? You see God through his word is calling you to faith and a complete trust on him because he is your heavenly father. He adopted you by the power of his Holy Spirit. He gave you body and he's able to dress up to cover that body for you. He created it. My brothers and sisters in Christ, this morning God is calling you to trust Him completely, to trust Him as an ultimate provider to your life. And lastly, our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples in verse 24, Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself, sufficient for the day is its own trouble. And Christ is doing this now after he told them why they don't need to be anxious, and after he told them what they really need in life. And what they really need in their life was to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So he laid that foundation for them. Don't be anxious. Lay your treasure on heaven, on the things above. And then don't worry because your father knows what you need. But what you need, what you really need is to seek his kingdom and righteousness first. And now he's telling them not to worry about tomorrow. And the people of God, this is a reality check. This is a reality check. You say, I know Jesus Christ is not painting a wonderful and comfortable life for you. And I will prove that to you. Listen to these words, words from Matthew 5, 11. This is what Jesus said about the Christian life. Blessed are you when others revile you, and they persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you, falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Love those who revive you. That would make you anxious. Can I do that? Can I love my enemies? Matthew 5, 38, Jesus said, you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth. But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil, but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. That will make you anxious. Someone comes and slap you here, and you're supposed to give him the other cheek. Can you do that? That's a reality check. Now you might say, this is hard. It gets worse in verse 43. And this is the reality of the Christian life in verse 43. Jesus said, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, including praying for the conversion of the ISIS, the Muslim extremists. They are your enemies, but pray for their conversion. Of course, if they don't repent, You see, you pray for their destruction, but ultimately Jesus is saying, love your enemies, pray for them, and do good to them. This is hard. This makes you anxious. And you will wonder if you would love someone who hates you. Wives, you might struggle to love. The husband who abuses you. Husbands, you might struggle to love a wife who is not caring towards you. This is a reality check in a Christian life. Now you might feel hopeless. What do I do now? This is hard. Well, in a sense, this is good. Because you see, anxiety brings you to Jesus. When anxiety brings you to your Savior, it is good. Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Now, notice the measure of your faith that Christ is talking about. Jesus said, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious for itself, sufficient for the day is its own trouble." The faith that God gave you, Christians, is to handle the trouble of today. Let me tell you what is sinful, what is wrong. It is wrong. It is sinful to anticipate trouble in your life. It is sinful to meet it beforehand. You are sinning before God if you are doing that. If you are anxious, if you are meeting tomorrow's trouble before it comes to you, you are sinning before the Lord. Trust the Lord for today and leave tomorrow to Him. He is the one who controls your tomorrow. But live by faith for today. Listen to what God has told you by his word. For the Lord, God is a son and a shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. And in the New Testament, this is the hope that you have in Christ Jesus. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. The children of God, are you anxious about your life? Jesus is telling you this morning, do not be anxious. Trust me. I will provide all your needs according to the will of my father. Are you anxious about tomorrow? The children of God, God is telling you by his word not to be anxious about tomorrow. Instead, keep trusting in Him. All the promises of God are yes and amen for all of you who trust in Christ Jesus, not only for your salvation, but also about your life. and about tomorrow. God said in his word, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who love God and have called according to his will. My friends, trust in Christ. Trust in your Savior. He will bless your new year for His glory and for the well-being of your Christian life and your physical needs. Let's pray. Almighty God and Father, We give thanks to you for your word. This is a word and you have spoke to us through the preaching of your word. We ask you to grant us your grace to respond by faith and in obedience to your holy will. Help us not to be anxious about this life, about food, about drink, about tomorrow. Instead, help us to trust You completely. To trust You, the provider of our salvation, and the provider of all the things that we need in this life according to His riches and will. Oh Lord, help us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, especially as we enter this new year. Help us to welcome this new year as believers, but not as those Gentiles who lay the treasures of this earth.