Dear Grace Covenant Church, I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to say this morning, He is risen. He is risen indeed. Before we get to the ministry of the Word, I just have a few announcements that I want to share with you this morning. Number one, this is a home group week. So I believe that all of our home groups, all five of them, are meeting virtually. I know that we did that a few weeks back and it went really well. So we're excited to be able to do it again. So if you have any questions about your home group, when they're going to meet, what platform they're going to be meeting on, please reach out to your home group leader and they'll be able to answer those questions for you. Also, just to let you know, obviously during our normal season of meeting, it's in home groups that we have sermon discussion and prayer and eat. Well, obviously we're not going to be able to do all those things. And I think most of our home groups are taking advantage of these times principally to pray. So please join your home groups virtually this week and let them know how they could be praying for you, how we could be praying for you as a congregation. So that's the first thing. The second announcement I have is really just to tease you. We have big news coming. It's not super big, but it's big. It's new. It's exciting. It's coming. I'm going to make you wait. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but it's coming. You should hear it before next Sunday. So please be looking in your inbox for that. The elders met last Friday. We talked through it and we've decided that we're going to do something that is yet to be revealed to you. Thirdly, I just want to remind you, we sent an email out on the listserv a while back talking about how you can continue to give your offerings, and we're just asking that you mail them in, if you can do that, or if you could physically bring them by, that would be appreciated as well. Also, I just want to reiterate on behalf of the elders, that if any of you have any prayer requests, if any of you have any desire for the elders to come by, one or two or three or all four of us, to pray with you, to pray for you, to counsel, just spend time with you, please let us know. I hope you know that as elders it is very difficult for us during this time not to be among our sheep, and we want to serve you in any way that we can. So please let us know if we can do that. Also, I'd like to speak on behalf of the deacons and say, if you have any physical needs, you've had a dryer go out in your house, or the HVAC system went out, or whatever, or you need somebody to go to the store for you, please let our deacons know. They are minutemen who are ready at the drop of a hat to meet any of your needs, so please reach out to them. This morning, as we come to the ministry of the word, I'd like to draw your attention to Matthew chapter six, verses 28 through 34. Matthew chapter six, verses 28 through 34. Listen carefully, for this is the word of the living God. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, and why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 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. As for the reading of God's word, the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our Lord stands forever, and we are grateful for it. Well, if you were to go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, you'd find, like many stores and restaurants in this area, that they are closed as a result of the spread of COVID-19. But of all the people that got the memo, the cherry trees did not get the memo. Though the gates are closed and the streets of Brooklyn are empty, The beauty of the cherry blossoms rebels against the perceived threat of COVID-19. The aroma of these cherry blossoms refuses to be stifled by quarantine orders. The bees continue to go about in the way that God created them to go about in their normal business of pollinization. And when I consider this, I just want to say behold the defiant beauty of the cherry blossoms. They refuse to let COVID-19 set the narrative. They refuse to alter that which they were created to show and to exude and to showcase. Behold the defiant beauty of the cherry blossoms. Marvel, let us marvel at their single-minded devotion to their Creator. It's as if we hear their voices in one accord saying, I shall blossom how God created me to blossom. You know, it seems to me that this is exactly what Jesus was getting at when he told us, as we just read in Matthew chapter six, do not be anxious for anything. Jesus tells us, don't worry about tomorrow. He says, don't worry about what you will eat, don't worry about what you will wear, or don't worry about how you will be taken care of. And what was his point? We see his point in our text in verse 33. Instead of worrying about food and clothing, instead of worrying, in our case, about getting a virus, instead of worrying about this, that, and the other thing, what does he say in verse 33? He said, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, And all these things will be added to you. And here's what's curious about our Lord, who, by the way, was a master teacher. To make his point, Jesus doesn't go to the Law of Moses and command it. He doesn't do that. He doesn't go to the life of an Old Testament saint or the life of a New Testament saint to illustrate it. No, he doesn't do that either. Jesus, in order to illustrate this point, does not go to some systematic theology book and say, memorize this definition of trust and call me in the morning. No, Jesus doesn't do that either. No. Instead, what does our Lord do? Our Lord goes to the law of nature. He used a lily as a sermon illustration. And this sermon illustration taught the listeners then and if we are listening today now, how to trust God with a simple lesson from nature. So I would like to follow the example of our Lord this morning in this time of COVID-19 and ask one simple question. What does a cherry blossom on a branch teach us about trust in God? What does a cherry blossom on a branch teach us about trust in God? Well, I would say the first thing that it teaches is that to seek first the kingdom of God is to be silent. Let me say that again. The first thing the cherry blossoms teach us is that to seek first the kingdom of God is to be silent. Now what do I mean by that? I want you to consider the cherry blossom for a moment. The cherry blossom just blossoms. The cherry blossom doesn't impatiently ask, when will spring come? Well, no, the cherry blossom knows that spring will come and it's due season. And the cherry blossom knows that it doesn't control the seasons of the year. It knows that its creator controls those things. And the cherry blossom simply reacts to what God made it to be. The cherry blossom doesn't ask, when will we get rain? Or does it ask, when will we get sunshine? It doesn't say, OK, now we've had too much rain or now it's too hot. No, it does not ask in advance what kind of summer it will be this year or how long or how short. No. The cherry blossoms are silent. The cherry blossoms wait. And this is how simple it is. And yet the cherry blossoms, in their stillness and in their waiting, are never deceived. The cherry blossoms care not what the mainstream media says. Because when the moment comes for a cherry blossom to bloom as God intended it to bloom, the silent cherry bud blossoms. It understands, now is the moment for me to be and to do what God has designed me to be and do. They are going to glorify God the way they were created to glorify God. They will blossom as they were designed to do. And that brings us to the second observation of a cherry blossom. A cherry blossom teaches us to be and do what we were created to be and do. So my question for us as we make the transition from observing a cherry blossom to our life in this time of COVID-19 panic and pandemonium is this, what does God design us to do and be specifically in this time of COVID-19? You know what he's called us to be and do? He's called us to be those who trust in God, and He's called us to trust God as a Father. You know, it's interesting, God as Father is one of the most common descriptions of God in the Bible, and why? Why is it that the Triune God saw fit to use, not only for His people, both in the Old and the New Testament, the designation of him as a father, but even for his son to call him a father. Why is it that God wants us to approach him as a father? I'll tell you why. Because a small child intrinsically trusts his father. Daddy said it, so what's gonna happen? You see, a small child has not been jaded by the broken promises of a father. A small child has not been jaded by the brokenness of this world. A small child is idyllic. A small child is literalistic. It's one of the things that I would always marvel at as a teacher when I would teach kindergarten and first and second and third graders is they took everything so literally. They didn't have a category for metaphor or figure of speech or simile or whatever the case may be. They took everything literally, and when Daddy says, I'm going to take you to ice cream on Friday, they believe that they're going to have ice cream on Friday. Because why? Because Daddy said it. And our Abba Father has told us, do not worry. Do not be anxious. Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear. Do not worry about how you look. Do not worry about whether or not you will get sick. Don't worry about those things, but trust in your Father in heaven. And this is why, this is why Jesus put a child in his lap and said, as he paraded that child before his disciples and all the watching crowd, to such belongs the kingdom of God. Trust. Trust a father who knows what you need, as this text says, before you even ask him. Trust a Father who, listen, delights to give you good things. Trust a Father who says, open your mouth, and I will fill it with good things. You know, nature teaches us that God cares for the cherry blossoms, and my question for us this morning is how much more will He care for His precious elect? How much more will our Father in Heaven, does our Father in Heaven, care for those who are recipients of the blood of Jesus Christ? We need to learn to be silent like the cherry blossoms and trust. We need to learn to defiantly disregard how the world tells us to fear and break forth with the radiance of trust like the cherry blossoms. You see, silence before God is the beginning of wisdom. And the beginning of wisdom is not simply the place where you start. The beginning of wisdom the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of the Lord, trust in God as Father is the place that we constantly come back to again and again and again and again. Christian, I don't care how mature you think you are, you're going to come back to trust in God as a Father time and time and time again. So thirdly, what do the cherry blossoms teach us? The cherry blossoms, and this really goes with the second point, the cherry blossoms teach us to suspend disbelief. The cherry blossoms teach us to suspend disbelief. Now, this isn't our tendency. What is our tendency? Our tendency is to suspend belief in what God has said, isn't it? That's our tendency. That's what we're drawn toward. That's what we're pulled toward. We are drawn to suspend belief that God will preserve his elect. We suspend belief that our inheritance is reserved in heaven even now. We suspend belief that God is good. We suspend belief that everything He takes us through is an outworking of His perfect plan. And what do we do instead? We suspend belief without any evidence. No, God's not going to take care of me. God isn't good. Surely God doesn't know what He's doing. Surely I know better. than God, what I need. You know, I think that if we were cherry trees, we would say, well, last year I blossomed on March 3rd, and here it is, March 23rd, and I still haven't blossomed. It's never going to happen. Spring's never going to come. But the cherry blossoms don't do that. What do the cherry blossoms do? The cherry blossoms say, I haven't blossomed yet. It must not be the Father's good pleasure that I do. I will silently wait for Him. You see, the cherry blossoms, in contrast to us, the cherry blossoms suspend disbelief. Oh, child of God, listen to me, listen. Never doubt in the darkness what God has revealed to you in the light. Never doubt in the darkness what God has revealed to you in the light. In the midst of this pandemic, what we know is that God is good and that his eternal purposes for us will never be thwarted And beloved, can I just add this, that is infinitely better than not knowing that. Because let me tell you, if God is not good, if God is not for you in Jesus Christ, if God's purposes can be thwarted, then let me tell you something, it wouldn't matter if you got through COVID-19 unscathed, because there would be a greater nightmare waiting for you on the last day. You see, it is good news that God is good. It is good news that Jesus Christ has risen over death, hell, and the grave. It is good news that as Peter says in 1 Peter 1, 2 Peter 1, our inheritance is reserved in heaven for us. It's not going anywhere. And that is what we learn from the cherry blossoms. You know, one of the beautiful things about cherry blossoms is that, like many other trees, they all blossom at the same time. And now is the moment for us, dear Grace Covenant Church, to likewise break forth in unison as a group, as the corporate people of God, just like the cherry blossoms in the brilliant newness of springtime. You know what somebody told me the other day, and I don't deny it, Bible sales are up right now. People are asking questions that they weren't even asking just three months ago. Who is God? Where is He? Is He? Where is His goodness? Does He care for me? Does He see me? And we need not respond to these questions with deep philosophical answers from the likes of Cornelius Van Til and R.C. Sproul and Bonson and Gordon Clark or William Lane Craig. No, no. We need simply point all of the doubters to the defiant beauty of the cherry blossoms. That's what Jesus did. Jesus pointed them to the lilies. Jesus pointed them to the birds of the air. Jesus pointed them to creation and said, does not this teach you that there is a God and he is not silent? You see, the cherry blossoms teach us not to be anxious. They teach us to be silent before God. They teach us to be and do what we were designed to do. And you know, it was said of Jesus by the prophet Isaiah, that as a lamb before its shears is silent, so He opened not His mouth. You see, Jesus fulfilled this when He stood before Pilate. When Pilate was accusing Him, Jesus opened not His mouth. Why? Why did Jesus not open His mouth when He was accused? I mean, if anyone could explain how Pilate had so royally messed up, it was Jesus. If anybody could set the record straight, it was Jesus. If anyone could argue his way out of the grip of death, it was Jesus. Why was he silent, beloved? Why was Jesus silent as a lamb before his shears? Because he stood before God in your place. And as he represented you, he had nothing to say. As he represented you, beloved, wonder of wonders, he was guilty. And that's why Paul says, he who knew no sin became sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God. Do you see, beloved, how even the defiant silence of the cherry blossoms can rouse within us a greater appreciation of the gospel, Oh, that the gospel, with the help of the cherry blossoms, might teach us to be completely silent in our resignation to God in whatever He sees fit to do. You see, if we could but learn from the cherry blossom to become completely silent before God, in what then would the gospel not be able to help us with? Is this not why Paul says, he who did not spare his son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? This is the beauty of the gospel. The gospel doesn't just save you, beloved, it saves all things. And that's why we are people of the eschaton. We are people of the end. We are people of the last times. We are people of the then time. We are people of the new heavens and the new earth, where all things will be made new. This is the promise of the gospel. And this morning, if you have turned from your sins, If you have recognized that you are a wretched sinner, and in place of that wretched sinfulness, you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who has given perfect obedience on behalf of His elect, then I declare to you by the authority of God's word, your sins are forgiven, and you have received the inheritance of eternal life. You have been adopted, and you are a son or a daughter of the infinite Creator God. Let's pray. Father God, as we continue now in this, I think, fifth week of spiritual exile, we pray, Father, that as the sun has begun to poke its head out in the sky just a little bit more, and we perceive, Father, not on the calendar, but in real time, that springtime is upon us, that you remind us, Lord, as we see the brilliant blossoms of the cherry tree, and we see the lilies in the field, and we see all of creation as it were, breaking forth in unison with one voice as if it were a choir, that God is there and he is not silent, that we are, as people whom he has created, image bearers, that his creation is that which sings his praises. Father, I pray that we would be reminded that you are good, and I pray that all of this would cause our anxieties to subside, and that we would learn the lesson from the cherry blossom. We ask all these things in the strong and mighty name of your son and our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. And now, beloved, I send you out with the benediction. May he who is your light, your strength, your song and cornerstone prepare you for the fiercest drought and storm, that you may know the heights of his love and the depths of his peace. Amen, go in his grace.