Cornerstone Church 02/10/08
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”
Matthew 6:25-34
This morning we begin a New Series
Propelled by Prayer
“Where the power to carry on comes from”
a 7 week walk with Jesus
In the weeks to come my distinguished colleagues will all be teaching on prayer.
In discerning who should go first we drew straws.
Guess which one I picked?
That fits! I’m the guy no one knows what he does!
I’m often the one holding a camera or video camera!
We hear a lot about change these days!
But the biggest change needed is
for Christians to begin to pray…
We need to be propelled to pray!
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water will flow from within him.”
John 7:36b-37 NIV
We do not need a workshop on prayer!
We do not need to read a book on prayer!
Most of us do not lack knowledge on prayer!
We lack accountability to pray and a will to pray!
Prayer
Just Do it!
We need to stop giving ourselves to lesser priorities…
Stuff that does not matter!
The LORD of the Universe wants us
to spend time with HIM!
Does it get any better than that?
Something needs to change!
Our world needs to see God’s people, believers who are born again, who were set free from sin because the LORD Jesus Christ gave HIS life for us, living distinct and different lives for HIM!
“For it is time for judgment to begin
with the family of God…”
1 Peter 4:17 NIV
Introduction/Illustration
There once was a man who read a pamphlet about vacationing on a cruise ship. The thought of taking a cruise excited him. Because he was not a well-to-do individual he decided to save all of his money so that someday he might be able to take a cruise. He saved for years, denying himself to reach his goal. It was a great sacrifice and effort. After many years, however he achieved his dream. He purchased his ticket for his trip. Unfortunately, he had no money left for food. He wondered if he should go. He decided that he would take bread and peanut butter. Certainly the environment would be worth his effort. During meal time he hid away in his cabin eating his bread and peanut butter. All around him was an abundance of food. All sorts of food. As time wore on he could hardly stand seeing people eating all the time. Food on deck, people ordering room service. Finally he could not stand it any more. His food no longer satisfied him. Finally he asked a porter, “How may I obtain some food?” “Sir, do you have a ticket?” the porter replied. “Yes, I do,” said the man. “Than eat all that you want, your food is included in your ticket,” said the porter.
Sounds humorous doesn’t it? Maybe even sad?
However, in many ways, aren’t we like the man in the story when it comes to understanding and living life by God’s grace?
People in our society today are worried about everything.
Fear has gripped people’s hearts and paralyzed them.
Many shut themselves in their homes trying to insulate themselves from the world around them venturing out only to work or to accomplish other necessities.
People are anxious about:
How they look
What they are wearing
How much money they have in the bank
Rising gas prices
Falling stock prices
Foreclosures
Are their children going to turn out right
They worry about:
About the election - which political party will win
Their Health
Whether their job will be eliminated due to downsizing
Who they will marry
If they are married, how long it will last
If that weren’t enough…
Starbucks Corp said on Wednesday it is closing 100 underperforming U.S. stores and slowing domestic openings in the face of a likely consumer recession and "cannibalization" from overbuilding. "Their outlook is pessimistic for 2008. It’s going to be a tough year," said James Walsh, an analyst at Coldstream Capital Management in Bellevue, Washington.
This has led to all sorts of health issues:
Sleeplessness
Tension headaches
Irritability
High blood pressure
Ulcers
Heart disease
Inability to relax
How unfortunate that Christians have joined the ranks of those who worry and fret about everything.
We have taken our cue from the world around us.
We have allowed Satan to defeat us and cause us to stumble.
Instead of trusting in the power, provision and protection of our sovereign God we have grown use to living anxiety plagued lives.
James makes it clear that this anxiety, want and lust is the major source of divisions within the body of Christ.
James 4:1-3 NIV What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
As Christians fear and horde their finances the work of the church in the world through evangelism and missions is hindered.
The Lord Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount laid down guidelines on how Christians are to live in this world. We are to live radically different lifestyles from the world around us.
The Kingdom principles in The Sermon on the Mount are for today.
As we live the way that Christ desires for us to live we put forth an apologetic to the world.
ANXIETY IS UNFAITHFUL BECAUSE OF OUR LORD
Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
The Lord Jesus is emphatic in trying to get this point across to His children.
Throughout this section of Scripture He commands that we are not to be anxious.
DO NOT WORRY {BE ANXIOUS} (3 times)
Matthew 6:25 “Do not worry (be anxious) about your life.”
Matthew 6:31 “Do not worry about”:
What you will eat
What you will drink
What you will wear.”
Matthew 6:34 “Do not worry about tomorrow.”
Medical doctors will tell you that worry inflicts both physiological and psychological damage. What is far worse than both of those outcomes is the fact that worry is sin. When we worry we are displaying unbelief in our Heavenly Father’s ability to care for us.
“Take no Thought” which is how the KJV has translated this was taken from Shakespeare.
“Take no Thought” = Be not anxious or have no anxiety
Worry is taken from Old English/German
Worry = “to choke”
“to strangle”
Jesus is saying, “Stop Worrying!”
Literally: “Do not even start!”
We need to believe God’s Word and trust His promises He has given us:
Phil. 4:19 NIV And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Think about the context of the people who heard this sermon. Think about how they lived in the ancient world.
If it didn’t rain, or there wasn’t enough snow in the mountains, the streams would not run.
If the streams did not run, there was not enough water.
If the crops failed they had no money or no food.
God’s has given to us the gift of life. We haven’t even begun to answer how we even got up from our sleep this morning and what holds us together. Beyond this God gave us the greatest gift, His Son so that we might have eternal life. And yet, we doubt His love and ability to provide for us.
Rom. 8:32 NIV He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Why are we tempted to think that
He doesn’t care for us?
ANXIETY IS UNCALLED FOR BECAUSE OF OUR FATHER
Matthew 6:26-30
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Don’t Be Anxious About Food - vs.26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
We are to watch birds. We do not want to misunderstand what our Lord is saying. Does He mean that we have no responsibility to care for ourselves? Absolutely not!
1) Believers aren’t excused from earning a living.
2 Ths. 3:10 NIV For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
2) Believers aren’t excused from concern for others
Christians are responsible to not horde and waste what God has given them. They are responsible for inequitable distribution.
3) Believers aren’t excused from experiencing trouble
Job 2:10 NIV He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Birds do not just sit perched singing all the time.
They work at finding their food.
When they follow God’s plan, they find adequate food.
They do not, however, worry about where their food will come from.
If God takes care of birds, which are not made in the image of God, How much more will He take care of you?
Don’t Be Anxious About Longevity - vs. 27
Who of you by worrying can add
a single hour to his life?
Who can add a single cubit to their life span?
Cubit can = Length of something
Height of something
Since a cubit is 18” it would be quite foolish for anyone to worry about adding such a measurement to their height.
Our society is, however, obsessed and consumed with the length of one’s life.
Everyone wants to live forever.
On any given day you will find all sorts of infomercials on Nordic Track, treadmills, weights, not to mention all kinds of aerobic workout videos or shows.
It is good to take care of your body. Much of this, however, is manifested because people really doubt whether eternity is real. It is for sure true of an unbeliever.
Whether you are rich or poor, in shape to run a marathon, or out of shape, nobody can add a single hour to their lives.
I knew of a forty year doctor who was a marathon runner who died early while I have also observed people who defied all the rules for good health and who lived to be nearly 100 years old.
Why? Because God controls the outcome.
Job 14:5 NIV Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
Death comes far too quickly for everyone. Worry, if it accomplishes anything, shortens life.
Don’t Be Anxious About Clothing - vss. 28-30
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Here is an area of imbalance in our society. Fashion has become a god. Models are among the highest paid of our society. The Word of God says that we are to be more concerned with inner, godly character than outer beauty.
1 Pet. 3:3-4 NIV Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Look at Solomon. You would have to go a long way to beat him. If he were alive he would be the publisher of GQ for men and Vogue for woman. Just read through the Book of Ecclesiastes and catch a glimpse of his extravagance.
Rodeo Drive
Saks 5th Avenue
Bloomingdales
None of those can even begin to compare with the way that God adorns flowers and mere blades of grass. He adds that the grass is here today and is used tomorrow to fuel an oven or furnace.
“Lovely lilies, How ye rebuke our foolish nervousness.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
“O You of Little Faith”
Are you starting to get a sense of Jesus’ tone here?
He loves us!
He wants to provide for us!
But, like the disciples who cried out from the boat, “Lord, don’t you care that we perish?” He asks, “Where is your faith?”
Luke 8:23-25 NIV As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Little faith = Those who believe nothing more than they are saved.
Little faith believers aren’t much different in their lifestyles than the world around them. They worry, fret doubt, and concern themselves with worldly cares and concerns.
ANXIETY IS UNFOUNDED BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH
Matthew 6:31-33
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Here is the 2nd admonition to not worry or be anxious. Worried about food, drink and clothing reflects that which the heathen or unbeliever occupy themselves.
1Cor. 15:32 NIV If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
When a believer has needs they simply need to let their Heavenly Father know what they need.
Phil. 4:4-7 NIV Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We are command to seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. Since we were bought with a price, who were once slaves to sin; we are now to live as obedient slaves to Christ seeking our Master’s goals first.
Acts 20:24 NIV However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
Seek = Seek earnestly
Continually seeking after these things
Seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness means living under Christ’s Lordship. He is to be the Lord of our:
Lives Job
Family Bank account
Home Wallet
Seeking God first is what is prioritized in the Lord’s Prayer:
Praise for the Lord
Prayer for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done
Forgiveness of for our sins and forgiveness of others who have sinned against us
Petition for our daily needs
ANXIETY IS UNSOUND BECAUSE OF OUR FUTURE
Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Here is His 3rd admonition: “Do not worry (be anxious) about tomorrow.”
We are not to worry about what may not happen in the future. We are to live day by day in dependence to the Lord. Get through each day by faith learning the lesson that God has for us.
He, The Lord, says, “…Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
“No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear.”
George MacDonald
Eccl. 7:13-14 NIV Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
Man is made in the Image of God
Not birds and animals
Not plants
Not all of His Creation – the Earth and the Universe
Many of those items reflect the Glory and creativity of God
But only man is made in His image and likeness!
Genesis 1:26-27 NIV Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Jesus came and died to redeem fallen man!
Jesus died to set us free!
How can we doubt His love, care,
protection and ability to provide for us?
How do you want to live for the Lord Jesus Christ?
As a Christian, who is free from worry and anxiety, so that you can reflect the AWESOME power of God in your life as an apologetic (testimony) to the lost world as you trust HIM and His ability to provide for you His child?
Or do you want to live as an anxiety riddled believer
that the Lord describes as one of little faith?
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:6-7 NIV
“Don’t Worry, Pray First!”
