Well, let us once again open our Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter six. And our focus will primarily be on verse 34, but I'll read verses 33 and 34. And once again, we'll ask for God's help as we come to consider his word. So Matthew chapter six, reading verse 33 and 34. Jesus says, but seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient or enough for the day is the evil or the trouble thereof. So let us once again pray and ask for God's help. as we consider his word. Our Father, we do thank you how you have brought us to yourself from various backgrounds, accents, culture, and how we are the sheep of your pasture. And we do pray that this evening we would hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. For Lord, you said, my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and none shall be able to snatch them out of my hand. We do pray, Lord, that there may be other sheep you may have who are not yet in the fold, and that this evening you will call them in. And we ask that you would help us who are in the fold to take your yoke upon us and to learn from you. For your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Lord, we ask that you would shepherd us this evening through the ministry of your word, that you would grant us your Holy Spirit and speak to each of us to the end, that we may glorify you more and more in our lives. And we ask and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now as pastor read this section here in Matthew chapter 6, as you well know, this is in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus gave this sermon and Jesus was the best preacher that ever walked on earth. So we're reading a perfect sermon with a perfect outline, with perfect application. And I have the challenge to seek to communicate what this perfect sinless preacher has said, and with the hope and prayer that by God's Holy Spirit, through this weakness that stands before you, that God would overrule and that he would minister to each of us. And as Jesus is speaking here in what we know, the Sermon on the Mount, in this particular section, he is dealing with this matter of worry or anxiety, and particularly worry concerning our physical well-being. The things that often poor people worry about, how to pay the rent, how to eat, How am I going to live? But you also know, rich people worry about these things as well. Because they have lots of money, what's going to happen to my money? So it's not just the poor. But very often, the poor do worry about these things. And as Jesus is speaking to his followers and to a larger audience, he is helping them to understand the true priority in life. That is life in the kingdom of God. And the Sermon on the Mount basically is teaching us how to live in the kingdom in this world. It's a fallen world. It's a world with sickness. And even as pastor has prayed, we prayed about our nation where there is crime and violence and there's so much going on in this world. It's an evil world. And yet in this evil world, God has called us out of this world. that is no longer living for the things of this world but we now live for the kingdom of God and here Jesus is teaching us how to live for that kingdom in a sinful world. And so this kingdom, as I mentioned here two times ago when I was here among you, just briefly by way of a review, as we considered verse 33, seek ye first his kingdom. By the kingdom of God, and as I told you, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, or his kingdom, is referring to the same thing. They're not different kingdoms, there's one kingdom. And what is this kingdom? This kingdom is the realm where the redeemed, that is, those who have been born again, those whose eyes have been opened, whose hearts have been changed by the grace of God, it is where the redeemed, they live under the rule of God. They live under the rule of God. We know in Philippians 2 it says, And that day every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. Right? In that day. Well, those who are in the kingdom are doing this already. And that is the kingdom of God where those who have bowed the knee to King Jesus and confess that Jesus is Lord. And this kingdom is something that has come in this world already. But it's not complete. It's not perfected. Because there are many people in this world who have not bowed the knee to King Jesus. And this world is a fallen world. And the kingdom is something that has come with the coming of Jesus, but the kingdom is something that will come in its fullness when Jesus returns. And when he returns, the kingdom will be manifest in all of its fullness. It will be manifested around the entire world. In fact, it will be a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. And there will be no more wickedness, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more mourning, no more sin, no more devil, no more war, no more crime. All of these things will be done away and this kingdom will be there in all of its fullness. And even as pastor mentioned, God himself will be the light there of this new kingdom. And so this is what Jesus commands in verse 33, but seek ye first his kingdom. This is what we're seeking. This is what he commanded us to see. Yes, we are living in this world. We are living in the here and now, but our pursuit, our hope, our goal, our aim is for the return of Jesus and for the fully, full manifestation and establishment of this kingdom. Not that the Republicans will take office and we will get a new president, or that whatever your political persuasion is, or maybe you like things the way it is, I don't know. But the point is, it's not a political answer, that's the bottom line. We're not looking for a political answer. The answer is in Jesus Christ himself. And so Jesus says, seek ye first, his kingdom, not only his kingdom, but and his righteousness. Now, people can talk the talk, but it's not enough to talk about religious things and have a good way of communicating and speaking about things. But Jesus says, seek his righteousness. That is a holy life. Without holiness, no man will see the Lord. And this holy life is a life of obedience to the King. Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. So what we are doing, and in the Sermon on the Mount, I won't go through the whole thing, but as you see, Jesus speaks about, you have heard that it was said of old, that you shall not kill. But I say unto you, that he that has his anger in his heart is guilty of murder. You have heard that it was said of old that you shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you, if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And so Jesus is opening up what this righteousness is. And this righteousness is a righteousness that is pursued from the heart. It's not an outward performance. It's not a show. It's not an image. Wearing a suit and tie and going to church on Sunday. It's much more than that. It's your heart. What's in your heart? So this righteousness that we are to seek is a righteousness and obedience to God from the heart. And so this is what Jesus commands us to seek. And he commands us to seek this as opposed to what we read in verse, look at verse 31. Jesus says, do not be anxious. Don't worry saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or with what shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek, that is the unbelievers. The Gentiles, I mean, we're all Gentiles, but in this context, it's referring to those who do not know God. They're not in the kingdom. And how do they seek to have a happy life? They seek these things of the world. This is their priority. And Jesus says, don't be like them. You're in the kingdom of God. Rather than seeking the things of this world as your priority, yes we need to eat, yes we need to work, we need to pay rent, pay the mortgage, we need to do these things. Jesus is not saying don't do this at all, but to seek first the kingdom. The Gentiles are seeking the things of this world first, but rather those who are in the kingdom seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things." What things? Food, clothing, shelter, the things you need to live. All these things will be added to you. Okay, this is what our Savior is saying. Now, this evening we'll focus on verse 34. I just said that by way of getting a sense of the context. But verse 34, here Jesus concludes this section. He concludes this section with a command, and he gives three reasons for this command. Verse 34, he concludes this section by saying, therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow would worry about itself. sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. So let us consider firstly Jesus' final command here. He says, do not worry about tomorrow. That's the conclusion here. When you look when he began, we began the reading at verse 19 where it says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. He says, you cannot serve God and mammon, verse 24. Verse 25, therefore I say unto you, do not worry about your life. Look at verse 31. Be not therefore anxious, saying, what shall we wear, what shall we drink, et cetera. And verse 34, therefore do not worry. And so Jesus concludes by saying, with all the things he has said in this section, the bottom line Don't worry about tomorrow. That's the command. Don't worry about tomorrow. Now, Jesus gives three reasons why we shouldn't worry about tomorrow. All right? There are three reasons why we shouldn't worry about tomorrow. Firstly, First reason why we shouldn't worry about tomorrow, that is, we who are believers, because it makes sense. Don't worry about tomorrow because it makes sense. It's a logical conclusion. Jesus said in verse 33, That's true. And that being true, why do we worry about tomorrow? You see, it makes sense not to worry about tomorrow. When Jesus says, therefore, do not be anxious for your life, this is connected to what is said before. This is a conclusion. You don't separate verses 33 and 34. You don't separate those two verses, they go together. Jesus wants us to have our energies. You know, when you worry, you expend a lot of energy, don't we? And worry can make you tired. You can worry so much, you can wear yourself out. You can drain yourself emotionally. And Jesus says, no, no, don't expend your energy in worry, but rather expend and direct your energy in seeking first the kingdom of God and seeking first his righteousness. And do not worry about tomorrow because all these things will be provided for you. So firstly, we see that it makes sense It makes sense. Second reason Jesus gives as to why we shouldn't worry about tomorrow, not only the fact that it makes sense, is that tomorrow is not your concern. Tomorrow is not your concern. In other words, it's none of your business. It's not your business. It's God's business. Notice how Jesus puts it. He says, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Now, what he does here, he personifies tomorrow. You know when you personify something? You familiar with Pilgrim's Progress? All right, Pilgrim's Progress. And John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress, and he gave personality to different characters, like talkative. Well, a talkative is like describing a person who talks a lot. And so the man's name was Talkative. And Christian's companion was named Faithful because he was a man of faith. And so Bunyan gave them the name Faithful. And so what Jesus is doing here is sort of like what Bunyan does in Pilgrim's Progress. He speaks of tomorrow as though tomorrow was a person. And he says, do not worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. Do you There's some school teachers here, right? Well, if you're a school teacher, if you're a parent, oftentimes you can tell a child and tell maybe one of your children, I don't want you going into the yard today. But what about Jose? And said, don't worry about Jose. You do what I tell you to do. What about Maria down the street? She gets to play in her yard. Do not worry about Maria. You focus on what I just told you to do. And so it's kind of like of that same spirit when you think about tomorrow, that is the future. Jesus says to us, do not worry about tomorrow because that's not your concern. Tomorrow doesn't concern you and you know why? because we don't know what's gonna happen today. Proverbs 27, one, it says, do not boast yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth. We don't know what's gonna happen 20 minutes from now. Right? So worrying about tomorrow, what is that gonna do for you? Nothing. Now, when Jesus says do not worry about tomorrow, he's not saying don't plan for tomorrow. Yes, you plan, you have a schedule, you have a calendar, you make arrangements, you have to do this, you have an appointment, you have to get ready for work, you plan for tomorrow, but the command is not don't plan for tomorrow, don't worry about tomorrow. don't worry about, you've made your plan, now you're worrying about, well, I hope it all goes well, and I wonder if this, and if so-and-so doesn't show up, and I got this interview coming, and oh man, I hope I don't blow it, and I hope I really need to get this job, and oh, we have this going, and have that, and so we're worrying, and we're up at night, and we say, oh man, I hear the news that there's going to be some concern with the stock market. I have a lot of investments and I don't know what's going to happen. And so you're worried. I mean, your mind can, you can go drive yourself crazy worrying about all the possibilities of what can happen on tomorrow. And Jesus says, don't do that. Don't do that. For tomorrow is not your concern. And the third reason Jesus gives here, the reason why we shouldn't worry about tomorrow, not only because it makes sense, and secondly, that tomorrow is not your concern, but thirdly, today is enough for you. Today is enough. You have enough. to occupy you today. Today is enough. It is enough for you. Sufficient to the day is the evil or the trouble thereof, that is, misfortune. It's not speaking about evil in terms of wickedness, but in terms of calamity or hardship, such as when the refrigerator breaks down or you get a flat tire or you know you got to take your little son or you got to go to the doctor you didn't plan that things that come up in your day that you say man my whole day was ruined because of traffic on the road or I never made that appointment and oh I missed my job interview and you know what things that come up that just brings difficulty and trouble in your day that's what Jesus is saying today is enough for you there is enough trouble in each day to keep you occupied. All right, so that's the command. Do not worry about tomorrow. Three reasons. Firstly, it makes sense. When you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, God said, I have that all taken care of. You seek first my kingdom and my righteousness. I'm going to take care of everything else. So it makes sense. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow's not your concern. It's not your business. That's God's business. And third, today is enough for you. Now, the rest of the time I really want to spend in going through some lines of application. The text is not difficult. I think the text is very clear, but I wanted to think through this in lines of some observations and application. First thing I want to ask is a question. When you think about worry, this is a question, I trust you see the importance of this question. Who is your master? Who is your master? And in this context, in Matthew chapter 6, look at verse 24. Jesus said, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, or God and wealth, or God and your possessions, or your money, if you will. So that's why I ask the question, who is your master? What makes you content in life? I don't want to tell you, this is how the world lies to us. The world itself is deceived, but sometimes we as God's people, we can get sucked into that and become deceived ourselves and lose our focus. because we've listened too much to the world. The world talks about having financial security. What's financial security? Having all the money you need, that 401k retirement. Now you can retire, well first of all, you gotta be alive to retire. And you have to be in some relatively good health to enjoy that money. You see, things for which you have no control over. And so the world is telling you if you do these things, if you follow these steps, you're going to have a happy life. And somehow financial security is the thing that really is going to make you content, that puts your mind at ease, where you can relax, you can enjoy life, you don't have to worry about paying the bills, you just write a check, you can take a vacation, you can do this, you can do that, you can enjoy life. If you have financial security, then all will be well with you. You see, that is a lie. And you need to see that. You cannot serve God and mammon, that is wealth. So that's why I ask the question, who is your master? What makes you content? Do you think, and how the world says, you know, that's why people pay the lottery? Why do they pay the lottery? or play the lottery. They do both. They pay the lottery and they play the lottery. They probably pay more than they win. Anyway, you know what I'm trying to say. But why do they play the lottery? They want to hit it big, right? So they can just tell the guy, I'm done with this job. I'm out of here and go off and live happily ever after. And some people think if I had more money, my marriage would be better. You know, a lot of the problems I have in my marriage is that it's financial, it's money. I just don't seem to make enough money for my wife and she's not happy and she's frustrated because we have to do this and we have to struggle and it's... And it's tough on the kids where we're fighting and arguing. And it's all because we don't have enough money for this. We have trouble because of that. The creditors are threatening to shut off the electric. The phone bill is going to be cut off. And we're getting this eviction notice. And all these things are happening and all these problems. and it's because of her fault, it's your fault, it's their fault, it's these kids' fault, it's the problem with the world, and he goes on and on and on. If only we can have more money, then we will be happy. That too is a lie. It's not more money. You know what will make you secure? It's more faith in God. More faith in God, eternal security. Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 6. We're going to look at a few passages here. 1 Timothy chapter 6. So I wanted to leave some time so I can do this. 1 Timothy 6. And Paul is writing to Timothy, and he's speaking about those who teaches false doctrine in verse 3. And one of the things these teachers think, they think that godliness is a way of gain that is a profit. And we know here of people who think the ministry is a way to make money. And so they're not in it to serve the Lord, they're in it to make money for themselves. And so they take advantage of people, tell them what they want to hear, have big churches, they have big houses, big cars, big dogs, and everything else. But here notice what Paul says in verse six, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out. But having food and covering, we shall be therewith content. Just think about it. Just let that sink in. God is saying through the apostle, Food and covering is what we need. We just need something to eat to put in our body, and we need something to cover to protect our body. And if we have food and covering, that's all we need. We want three cars, big houses, and all these things. I'm not judging and criticizing having material things. God blesses his people. There's not a sin to be rich. We're talking about your master. Who's your master? That's the question here. And then he goes on. Verse nine, but they that are minded, they have this attitude, they have this mindset, they are minded to be rich. Why do they want to be rich? Because they just want the money. They have this mind to be rich. They fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money, and it doesn't say money, money is not a sin. It's the love of money, okay, there's a distinction there. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. People, and you know, people will do almost anything for money. They will kill, they will lie, they will sell themselves into prostitution, They would do all kinds of things. They will lie. I was going to say, I'll just say the word politics. How's that? That speaks for itself. without getting into all of that. So many things that people will do for money, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. They've been led away from the truth, led away from the gospel, not that you can lose your salvation, But perhaps they were listening and hearing the word. And maybe some are sitting here tonight. Maybe you're not a Christian, but you're here and you're in church. And we pray that you won't be led away from the gospel, led away from the truth because of a love for money. And this love of money, this pursuit after money and things, will lead men into many snares, that is, into many traps. You find yourself into situations where you're compromised. And it's like, do I tell the truth? If I tell the truth, I'm going to get in trouble. But if I lie, I'll get the money. But I'm going to do something that's wrong. So what's the right thing to do? Well, we know the right thing is to tell the truth. if you're seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. And so here we see in this passage in first Timothy how the love of money is a spring from which people commit all kinds of evils and wickedness in this world in order to get and obtain money because they have been deceived into thinking that money is going to make them happy. whether they're selling drugs on the street to make money, all kinds of things, even the things I've just mentioned, brethren, are wicked things that people are doing even as we sit here. They're engaging in these things or coming up with plans as they're sitting around with their friends or they're on a computer and they're thinking of ways how they can make more money, how they can steal from people and how they can, to get this money. You see, it's the root of all kinds of evil. So if money is your master, you're going to do all kinds of terrible things in order to serve that master. That's my point. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews 13. And what says in Hebrews 13, it really ties in well to what we see in Matthew chapter 6. And the writer to the Hebrews in chapter 13 verse 5, in my version it says, be free from the love of money. And I know the King James says, or the New King James says, let your conduct be without covetousness. And covetousness is, in this context, is the description of having a love for money, being covetous for money. And so in the Greek, it could be without a love for money, or let your turn of mind be free from the love of money. And that's why this translation I have, the American Standard, says, be free from the love of money. content with such things as you have. For he himself hath said, I will in no wise fail you, neither will I in any wise forsake you. So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What shall man do unto me? And you see the contrast here in Hebrews 13 here, verse 5. The contrast is between money and God. You can't serve both. You can't serve God and serve money. And here it says, be free. Be free. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be free from the love of money. That is your mindset, your attitude, your perspective, your desires. Let it be free from the love of money and content, you know, contentment. Contentment can be understood in a number of ways, but I want to put it to you simply. Contentment is when your mind and heart is at rest in God. You're content. You're satisfied. You're secure in God. You're content with your life, with your circumstances. And why? Because here, when you are free from the love of money, What is the thing that makes you content? Or who is it that makes you content? It's God. Notice what it says, For He hath said, I will in no wise fail you, nor forsake you. God is saying, I will not fail you. I will not forsake you. And you see your trust, the things that people is trying to get with money. And you heard the saying, there are many things that money can't buy. Money can't buy love. It cannot buy love. Someone can go with a person because they have a lot of money. It doesn't mean they love them. They just want the money. They're just playing the game. They're going along with the game. They are just selling themselves to this person so they can get their money, but they don't love that person. Money cannot buy love. And so here we see God is saying, here it is, is that when God, when you're free from the love of money and your security is in God alone, God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. You know, money can leave you like a bird. can fly away. You can have it and it can be gone. But God never changes. He is a rock. He is always there. So much so that even if you were to die because you believe in Jesus, you know what God will do? God will be with you. He will strengthen you. Remember Stephen when they were stoning him? He saw the Lord Jesus sitting, standing as it were, and he cried out to the Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And those who hated Stephen, while they were putting him to death, Jesus was strengthening Stephen's heart. And Stephen saw Jesus and he saw him there. And he says, I'm gonna be with him soon. It's like Jesus is saying, come on, my son, continue, be faithful to the end. I'm with you, I'm not gonna fail you, I'm not gonna forsake you, I will strengthen you. Come on, my son, be faithful, be steadfast. I'm giving you some encouragement. And so he saw Jesus standing. You see, even in your worst hour, I'm just describing the worst possible thing, perhaps, that could happen to you, God will be there. He will not fail you. He will not forsake you. And so if it is with the worse, God will be with you in every lesser thing in life. I will not fail you, neither will I forsake you. And what's the response? So verse six, so that with good courage we say, the Lord, not money. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What shall man do to me? The Lord is my helper. That boss, that governor, that president, that person that's over me, that is threatening to harm me. What can man do to me? When you look at your bank account and it's so low and it's zero and they're about to close it out and say, I'm sorry, you got to close out your account. God will not fail you, nor forsake you. You see, it's not more money that we need, it's more faith in God. That's the point here. Now let's go back to Matthew chapter 6. I want you to see how Jesus puts these things. I wanted to look at some of these other verses to give some additional perspective. But Matthew 6. Verse 19, Jesus says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth, rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal. Okay, whatever you have in this world, you can lose it. Whether it can be taken away from you, or it can rust and deteriorate and be of no use, and you throw it to the junkyard, you put it to the side of the curb. How many things you put to the side of the curb you have bought new, and now it's old, run down, and you don't need it anymore. You need something else. but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves cannot break through or steal." Right? So Jesus is trying to help us to think through these things. And then he says, verse 24, no man can serve two masters. Either you will love the one or hate the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. You cannot serve both. Therefore, there's a connection, verse 25, therefore, because you cannot serve God in mammon, therefore, I say to you, don't worry about your life. Jesus is trying to put our minds at ease. Don't worry about your life, what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, your body. And then he gives the illustration from the birds. The birds are not worrying. And your father feeds the birds, right? And I told you this before, when you see birds, you're at a stoplight and you're in the parking, you see birds come down on the ground and they're eating. What are you looking at? I tell you what you're looking at. You're looking at God taking care of those birds. And you need to think about that. When you see those birds and maybe your life is, maybe you're going through many troubles and there's a lot of uncertainty in life, but just do a little bit of bird watching. Don't spend all day doing this. You need to do other things. But do a little bit of bird watching and say, you know what? God is feeding that bird. God is taking care of that bird. Not one sparrow falls to the earth apart from your heavenly father. And Jesus said, you are of much more value than the birds. The lilies of the field, the grass, how they are clothed. Solomon and all his glory was not as arrayed like one of these. You see these flowers and things that are growing up and no one is cultivating the earth. They're growing up. You may see a bunch of garbage and there's a little bit, a patch of grass over there and there's a little bit of flower. There's a little dandelion. There's garbage everywhere else. You see, wow, look at there. That thing is growing out of the ground. It's not doing it by itself. God is doing that. And if God is so clothed the grass of the field, will he not much more clothe you? Now remember, Jesus is saying these things. These are the words of Jesus. And he says, O you of little faith, don't worry about food and clothing, but rather seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, I say, do not worry about tomorrow. So you see the connection here with the love of money versus faith in God. Brethren, difficult times, when you're looking at your bank accounts, when you're wondering how you're going to make ends meet, it's not that you need more money. You need more faith in God. God will provide the money. Or God may provide in other ways. Maybe gifts. Maybe the landlord says, I'll give you some more time. You just don't know what God is going to do. You need to do your part, do what you can, but you need to trust God to provide. Another thing I want to mention about worry is that worry robs God of His glory. Let's think about this. When a Christian worries about food and clothing, and they're acting like people in the world, that dishonors God. It robs him of his glory. Jesus says, do not be like the Gentiles. See this in verse 31. Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or with what shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. When we are acting like the world and worrying about these things, like the world does, we're acting as if we don't know God. We're acting as if Jesus is not our Savior. We're acting as though we're not Christians. We're acting like an unbeliever. And Jesus says, don't be like that. Your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. And he's got it all worked out. Now, you don't know how he's going to work it out, but he has it all worked out. And Jesus says, don't be like the Gentiles. He says, oh, you of little faith. Little faith will save you. That is faith in Jesus Christ, even if it's little faith. Jesus says faith, we're justified by faith through Jesus Christ. So little faith, you can get to heaven with little faith. But you know with little faith, you bring little glory to God. Little faith brings little glory to God. And is not God worthy of great glory? Have a holy jealousy. Stir up within yourself and pray that God help you by His Spirit to get your mind in gear. You see, that's why we walk through these passages, so to help you, brethren, think biblically. To think according to what the Bible says. That's why we went to the 1 Timothy 6 passage. That's why we went to the Hebrews 13 passage. There are other passages we can go to, we don't have the time. but have a jealousy. And one of the best ways to glorify God is not to preach a sermon, not to evangelize, it is to trust Him. To trust Him with all your heart. To stand up in the midst of the storm of your life, of this world, like Paul did in Acts chapter 27 when he was on the ship and these experienced sailors were there and the captain and guards and military personnel and there were prisoners on the ship and these men were experienced they weren't wimpy men but things were so bad that they began to fear for their life And Paul stood up and said, sirs, you should have listened to me. But he says, be of good cheer, because I believe God. God had revealed to Paul that no life will be lost. Now that ship was destroyed, but no one died. You can read about it to find out what's your appetite. And there, brethren, stand up in the midst of your circumstance. with a courage of faith in God. Now people will look at you and say that you're crazy. But no, you're not crazy. If you are believing what God says in His Word, you're not crazy. You're a man of faith. You're a woman of faith. Because you're not making this stuff up in your head. You're following what He says in His Word. And so worry robs God of His glory. Have the jealousy to have this stronger faith where you believe God and to see God glorified in your life. Now I'm going to, I have some other things I want to skip through a few things. Got too much on my paper here. All right, let's look back at the verse, verse 34. Jesus says, Be not therefore anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. Now, I want to give a word of direction here that grows out of this. Rather than worry about tomorrow, what we need to do, brethren, focus. Focus on the day before you. Focus on today. Today is the Lord's day. This is the day that God has given us. This is a day of rest, a day of worship. Focus on today. That's why you're here. And then after the service, when you go home, say, focus on the day. Yes, you got to get yourself ready for tomorrow, those things, but focus on this day, the word that you heard, the fellowship you've had. Drink it all in. Absorb it. Reflect on it. Ponder these things deeply within your soul and take with these things with you into this week. And then when tomorrow comes, and you get up and go to your routine, you have all these appointments, and you have this on your plate, and you have to do this and go here and go there, focus on the things that are in front of you. Yes, you don't know what's going to happen on Tuesday. You don't know what's going to happen a week from now. And maybe you're worried about your health, and maybe you're worried about certain relationships, or maybe you're worried about your job, or maybe you're worried about the country, or maybe you're worried about the church, or whatever it may be, God has only given you one day to live at a time. Seize the day, Trinity Christian School had that, Coram Dale. Seize the day that God has given you for His glory. Have a jealousy for God and His honor. Be focused on the day before you, one day at a time. You've heard that before. Navigate through the troubles on your difficult day. You're sitting in traffic. You're gonna miss your appointment, and there you are. Lord, help me. Give me wisdom. Give me grace. I know you are in control of all things. Help me not to worry about these things. Help me to trust you. I know it's easier said than done. And you know what, brethren, half the things we worry about don't even happen. We're worried about this is going to happen, then when the thing comes, something else comes up and you're like, oh. The Lord will take care of it. Trust Him. It's in every little detail. Focus on the day before you. Yes, make your plans, plan for tomorrow, but don't trust in your plan. Trust in God. There's always enough time in every day to do the will of God. And then we won't turn to this passage, but I want you to think about Abraham and Isaac, Genesis chapter 22, when Abraham had to offer up Isaac his son. I want you to read that portion, maybe tonight when you go home. As they, I think it was a three day journey. It wasn't overnight. And then you read in Hebrews chapter 11, it tells you what was going on through Abraham's mind. God told Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. Abraham took it one day at a time. He said, okay, let's grab the wood, servants, let's go. Can you imagine Abraham traveling with his son to sacrifice his son and the son is saying, father, We have the wood, where's the land? He says, God will provide. Abraham didn't know how God was going to provide, but Abraham believed and trusted God because he knew that God had promised through Isaac will the promise come. The seed will be multiplied. God had made a promise that it will come through Isaac, his descendancy. And Abraham, in Hebrews, it says, Abraham believed that God was able to raise up Isaac from the dead. And so, you know, when he took the knife and he ordered to slay his son, and then a voice came from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, do not hurt the lad. And God had provided. You see, Abraham was living by faith. He took it one day at a time. He didn't have the answer. He didn't know how it was going to work out, but he believed God. And he focused on the day that was before him, trusting that God somehow, some way is going to fulfill his promises. And brethren, God doesn't need our help in order for him to fulfill his promise. We just need to trust him. And then finally, the last line of direction I want to give you, brethren, is that this. At the bottom of all the things that I'm saying here, we must take Jesus at his word. And that's really what it boils down to. The question is, do you believe Jesus or don't you? Do you believe Jesus? I know you can believe in Jesus, I'm asking a different question. We can believe in Jesus trusting in him for salvation, for his righteousness, trusting in his death, his resurrection, that there is salvation in none other name on the heaven by which men must be saved. We believe that Jesus is the Christ. We trust in Him as our propitiation, as our salvation, to be justified not by our works of righteousness, but we're trusting in His works. We're believing in Jesus Now, I'm talking about, okay, we believe in Jesus in becoming a Christian, but as we continue on this, proceed on this journey of living the Christian life, are we believing Jesus' word? Each step that we take, each day that we live, do we believe this word of Jesus where he says, seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness? That means, I need more money, so I gotta work on Sunday. I can't come to church anymore. Ah, you're not trusting God. You're not trusting God. Now, if you're a nurse, doctor, those works of mercies, those are exception, but if you're working at ShopRite, ShopRite, Home Depot, is that a work of necessity or mercy? Those places need to be open on Sunday? Uh-uh, it's not a necessity. So, you know, the thing is you're not trusting him. Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness. There's this job interview and you know, man, man, if I can get this job and then they ask you this question and you know, if you answer truthfully, you may not get the job. And there's a temptation to lie. You say no. I'm gonna trust God, and I'm gonna tell the truth. This is what happened on my previous job. This was the situation, and this is why I'm no longer working there. I've worked it out, I apologize, da-da-da-da-da. Why would you tell me these things? Because it's the truth. I fear God, and I trust God. You see what I'm saying? We don't need to sin in order to meet our needs or to help God fulfill His promises. We must take Jesus at His word. And what Jesus says here is absolutely true. Jesus said, don't worry about tomorrow now. What are you gonna do tonight? Go home and stop worrying about tomorrow. You say, yeah, but I worry so. Okay. What do you do with that? Go to Jesus and say, Lord, forgive me for my sin of worry. Help me to trust you. Show me your promises. Show me something from your word. Help me to trust you and to know that you will provide. I want to glorify you. I don't want to have little faith. I want to have strong faith. I want you to be glorified in my life. I want my life to be a witness of the grace of God. And so when people look at me, I want them to see Christ in me. You must increase and I must decrease. Here I present myself Lord as a living sacrifice to be used for your service. You go to God and you confess all that and you get that out of your system and then you go to the Word of God and you find the promise, you find what the Word of God has to say to you in your particular situation and you hold fast to it. Remember, Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice. Do you hear the voice of Jesus speaking to you tonight? I hope you do. You hear the voice of your shepherd? Follow him. Trust him. Listen to him. Jesus says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. O you of little faith! He won't cast you off. A bruised reed, He will not break. You may have little faith, but Jesus doesn't despise you. Jesus won't cast you off. A bruised reed, He will not break. You there in your little faith, you say, oh, I'm such a shameful Christian, I'm such a weak Christian, and how can the Lord use me? A bruised reed, He will not break. A smoking flax, He will not quench. But He will strengthen that bruised reed and make you stronger. And He will take that smoking flax to be a burning flame that you may glorify Him. Oh, He that has begun a good work in you, He will perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ. God will not leave you nor forsake you. And don't let your feelings about yourself be the measure of what you attempt to do for God. Present yourself to Him. Listen. Believe Him. Follow Him. And I close, brethren, just simply reading these words, and I pray that as I read them, you will again afresh hear the voice of your shepherd, and then we will pray. Our Lord Jesus Christ says this, But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. And what human being can do justice to your sermon that you preached, that is recorded here in scripture, this Sermon on the Mount? But we do ask, our Father, that you would help us by your Spirit to hear your voice speaking to us through this sermon, and help us to seek first your kingdom. Grant us that holy jealousy for your honor and your glory, that we would put away worry, and that we will take you at your word, and believe you with all of our hearts. Our Father, we desire that you get great glory in our lives, and that your name would be magnified in this world. We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. And we are not to hide our light under a bushel. We are to let our light shine. And our Father, we ask that you would help us to do this by trusting you with all of our hearts and not being deceived by the lie of this world that will deceive us in thinking that money is a solution to our problems. But we ask that you would increase our faith. And we pray and ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.