MATTHEW 6:24-34
UPTIGHT OR UP CLOSE?
#19 - SERMON ON THE MOUNT
For several years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she feared burglars. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did find a burglar. “Good evening,” said the man of the house. “I am pleased to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you.” William Marshall, Eternity Shut in a Span, http://www.bible.org/illus/w/w-54.htm#TopOfPage
You know it’s time to worry when:
· You wake up face down on the pavement.
· You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold.
· You see a “60 Minutes” news team waiting in your office.
· Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
· You turn on the news and they’re showing emergency routes out of the city.
· Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
· Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell’s Angels on the freeway.
· Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.
· The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard.
· You wake up and your braces are locked together.
· You call your answering service and they tell you it’s none of your business.
· Your income tax check bounces.
· You put both contact lenses in the same eye.
· Your wife says, “Good morning, Bill,” and your name is Harry. Source unknown http://www.bible.org/illus/w/w-54.htm#TopOfPage
Although most of us have not had any of the “worries” I just mentioned, most of tend to worry at least some of the time. In fact, I think in our day worry has hit epidemic proportions.
We worry about what people think of us.
We worry over the future.
We worry about what we said or didn’t say.
We worry about image.
We worry about our friends.
We worry about our parents, our children, and other family members.
There seems to be no end to worry. And worry has a twin sister. Her name is fear. Fear and worry go together.
And yet God does not want us to worry, to fear, to be anxious, or to be uptight.
Instead of us being “uptight”, God wants us to be “up close”.
God wants us to walk closely to Him. The closer we walk with God, the less we will worry. When we don’t walk closely to God, chances are we will worry.
This morning we continue our series on the Sermon on the Mount.
Last week we talked about Matthew 6:19-24, which shows us that what we are doing with our money is an indication of where our heart is. Where’s your treasure? There’s your heart!
Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
In Matthew 6:25-34 we find Jesus showing us how we can be without worry as we get “Up Close” instead of being “Uptight”. First we see that:
WORRY IS CAUSED BY HAVING THE WRONG MASTER – Vs. 24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
This is the verse where we left off.
Jesus is telling us that you can not serve two masters at the same time.
· If you love one master, you will hate the other.
· If you are loyal to one master, you will despise the other.
· If you serve money, the pursuit of money and the things which money can buy will demand all that you have.
· If you serve any other master, such as sex, or alcohol, or yourself, or another person, that master will demand all that you have.
· If you serve the Lord Jesus as your master, He will demand all that you have.
What right has Jesus to be your master?
If you have trusted Him as your Savior, as the one who died for you, as the one who has given you eternal life, then He is the one who has redeemed you from eternal punishment.
Because Jesus has redeemed you, paid for your sins, He has every right to be your master.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? [20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Out of appreciation for what Jesus has done for you, Jesus should be your Master.
John 13:13 - Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Jesus’ standards are high for Christians.
Luke 14:26-27 - If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. [27] And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Jesus is telling us that our love for Him is to be so great that our love for anyone else by comparison is hatred.
If it’s a choice between Jesus’ will for my life, and anybody else’s I am to bow to the Lord Jesus and to do His will.
If the Lord Jesus is your Master, He will give you victory over worry and fear.
Psalm 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
If Jesus is truly your master He will give you victory over worry.
· But if money is your master, you will worry about losing money, having enough money, and getting more money. You will be concerned over your possessions.
· And if you are your own master, you will worry about what people think of you. You will worry about your own comforts. You will worry about the well being of your own little world.
· And if sex, alcohol, sports, hunting, or even fame are your master, that is, if they rule your life, you will find plenty to worry about.
If you have any other master you will worry!
So we need to ask the question, “Who is my master.”
If I am a perpetual worrier, it is someone or something other than the Lord Jesus.
WORRY IS CAUSED BY HAVING THE WRONG MASTER
WORRY CHANGES NOTHING – Vss. 25, 27
Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Jesus is very clear here. He says “Don’t be anxious about the details of life:
What you are going to eat.
What you are going to drink.
What you are going to wear.”
Why does Jesus say this?
Our lives and our bodies are more important than food and clothing.
Genesis 2:7 - And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
When the body goes, man still lives. He continues on as a living soul. Therefore, life is more than food or clothes.
We are instructed in Proverbs 4:23 - Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Man is to keep his heart because the issues, the real important things in life, proceed from the inside, not what we put in our bodies.
Who you are is more important than what you eat or wear.
What you are is more important that what you eat or wear.
Therefore, Jesus tells us that worrying over what we eat, drink or wear changes nothing.
Matthew 6:27 - Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Here is another way worry changes nothing.
A cubit is 18 inches. The New American Standard Bible puts it this way:
“And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to your life’s span?”
In other words, all the worry in the world is not going to change the length of your life. You can fret, fuss, and be anxious, but that won’t make your life any longer.
Let me add a little aside here. Although we shouldn’t worry, we should take care of our bodies. We should not abuse our bodies, or God could very easily allow us to shorten our life spans.
WORRY CHANGES NOTHING
GOD CARES FOR EVERYTHING
God takes care of providing for the needs of everyone.
The rain and the sunshine come on the just and the unjust.
In this passage God gives three examples of God’s care.
Vs. 26 – The birds do not sow or reap, or store food, but their needs are provided for. They must work to find the food, but God provides for them.
And Jesus reminds us that we are much better than they are.
Why are we better than they?
Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
We are made in the image of God.
Next, Jesus talks about the lilies of the field.
Vss. 28-30 – If you look up at the parsonage, you will that our day lilies are in bloom.
I planted day lilies because they require little care, they multiply and fill in a flower bed in a hurry, and they are so pretty!
These flowers are the work of God!
If God takes care of the lilies, how much more is He going to take care of you and I who are far more important than the lilies of the field.
Vs. 32 – The Gentiles, who would be the equivalent of non-Christians, seek after food and clothing.
Those of us who know Christ as Savior need to remember something.
We, in a very special way, are the children of God. Because we are His children, we can be assured that God will take care of us. Just as earthly parents know who to provide for their children, how much more does our Heavenly Father care for His children!
GOD CARES FOR EVERYTHING
FAITH IS REQUIRED
God has given us two tools in the battle against worry.
These two tools are faith and prayer.
The two go hand in hand, for when I am exercising faith in my heavenly Father, I will be praying.
Philippians 4:6-7 - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Mark 11:24 - Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Vs. 30 – Jesus tells those who would worry that they have little faith. How often do we become anxious instead of praying the prayer of faith?
We need to live by verses we are very familiar with.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. [6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer!
Are we weak and heavy ladden,
Cumbered with a load of care,
Precious Savior, still our refuge,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in Prayer,
In His arms He'll take and shield thee?
Thou wilt find a solace there.
If you don’t want to worry, trust God, not yourself.
If you don’t want to worry, ask God before you ask others.
FAITH IS REQUIRED
DEVOTION LEADS TO PROVISION
Matthew 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Most Christians have their priorities mixed up.
They seek their careers and fortunes.
They seek their families.
They seek their pleasures.
Then, if there is any time or energy left, they seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness!
“A noted your concert violinist was asked the secret of her success, ‘Planned neglect,’ she replied. Then she explained, ‘Years ago I discovered there were many things demanding my time. After washing breakfast dishes, I made my bed, straightened my room, dusted the furniture, and did a host of other chores. I then turned my attention to violin practice. That system, however failed to accomplish the desired results. So I realized I had to reverse things. I deliberately set asked anything else until my practice period ended. That program of planned neglect accounts for my success.’” (Not sure of source)
The secret to seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, also “takes planned neglect.”
Other things must be neglected or put on hold so that you will:
Study the Bible
Pray
Memorize and meditate on the Scriptures
Witness
Serve in church.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God is telling us to take care of his business, and He will take care of ours.
When serving God righteously is our priority God will provide for our needs.
There are many examples of this principle being true. Dottie and I have seen the Lord provide for us time after time.
D.A. Carson told of a couple serving a small lower class church in Montreal. “On Christmas Day the man distributed food packages, gathered by the church, to the destitute in the vicinity. He returned home to his wife and both of them thanked the Lord for the food which he had provided them – one can of beans. On half hour later they were invited out to Christmas Dinner.” (Source Unkown)
DEVOTION LEADS TO PROVISION
TROUBLE COMES PROPORTIONED
Matthew 6:34 - Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
There is no question that each day will present its share of problems, cares, and sorrow. But please bear in mind that God is in charge.
He does not allow in one day more than you can handle with His help. There’s enough evil in one day, sufficient for that day.
God has proportioned your trials. But God says “Don’t worry about the next day or about what happened yesterday. Just handle today’s problems and leave tomorrow for tomorrow.”
Otherwise, you are taking on more responsibility that God intended you to have.
And remember, 90% or what we worry about never happens.
WORRY IS CAUSED BY HAVING THE WRONG MASTER
WORRY CHANGES NOTHING
GOD CARES FOR EVERYONE
FAITH IS REQUIRED
DEVOTION LEADS TO PROVISION
TROUBLES COME PROPORTIONED