Introduction
Well, you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. We'll get to the book of Deuteronomy, God willing, next Wednesday night. We'll have an introduction to the book, and then we'll pick up in our exposition of the Pentateuch. But tonight I thought we'd look at the latter part of Matthew chapter 6.
It's one of those passages that you should look at often. Last time we had a bit of a break in our studies in the Pentateuch. We looked at James 1. on having joy in the midst of trials. Well, this particular passage speaks to anxiety, carnal anxiety or worry, which simply means to give way to anxiety or unease, allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or trouble.
So Jesus speaks to that specific issue in the Sermon on the Mount in verses 25 to 32, but I'll pick up the reading at verse 19. "'
Scripture Reading
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth "'where moth and rust destroy "'and where thieves break in and steal, "'but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven "'where neither moth nor rust destroys "'and where thieves do not break in and steal. "'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.
"'Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, "'what you will eat or what you will drink, "'nor about your body, what you will put on. "'Is not life more than food "'and the body more than clothing? "'Look at the birds of the air, "'for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, "'yet your heavenly Father feeds them. "'Are you not of more value than they?
"'Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin.
And yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Now, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things, the Gentiles seek.
For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles. or trouble, amen. So
Introduction
you see that repetitive emphasis on do not worry. And basically in terms of the context, if your treasure is in heaven, according to verse 21, your eye is focused upon Christ in verses 22 and 23, and your slavery is to God alone in verse 24, then verses 25 to 34 prescribes the manner in which you ought to conduct yourself relative to material possession. does not say don't worry at all about anything ever because you'll only ever have gold and silver and all kinds of things. I think the idea here is that when we worry, it takes us from that kingdom principle or priority in verse 33. We'll see that as we move through the exposition.
But notice, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. It's a question of priority. And if we're worried or we're riddled with carnal anxiety, then our focus is not in the right place.
The Prohibition: Do Not Worry
So first we'll look at the prohibition given by Jesus in verses 25 to 32. It's simple. Don't worry about your life, don't worry about your body, and don't worry about your tomorrow. And then secondly, the principle highlighted by Jesus in verses 33 and 34.
So first the prohibition in verses 25 to 32, there's a command, a reproof, and a contrast.
The Command: Do Not Worry
Note first the command in verses 25 to 27. Very simple, therefore I say to you, do not worry. Do not worry about your life. Now again, it's probably written for us because the natural tendency of our hearts is to do the exact opposite, to worry about our life. to worry about what we'll eat, to worry about what we'll wear, to worry about our tomorrows.
So Jesus is saying that he doesn't want us to do that. And then note the specific concerns that he indicates here. Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
So again, the governing principle here is verse 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. You can see the obvious connection. If you are taken up all day with worry about your life, with worry about your body, with worry about your tomorrow, you're not taken up presently with the pursuit of God's kingdom and righteousness.
It's a very simple context, but one that we need to master, or one that we need to appropriate, and one that we need to hide in our hearts so that we might not sin against God. And then note that he gives an analogy with reference to the birds here and later with the lilies of the field. Verse 26, look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
I have never once surmised that a bird is given to worry. A bird is about the task of a bird. I think most of their day is spent in flight pursuing food, that food that nourishes them so they can continue in flight to look for food. Seems like a kind of a difficult cycle, if you were to ask me.
There's probably other things I'd rather throw in there on a given day, but they're not worried. They're pursuing. They're prioritized. They have a focus.
Luther made the observation when, on the comment, look at the birds of the air. He says, you see, he is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers. It is a great and abiding disgrace to us that in the gospel a helpless sparrow should become a theologian and a preacher to the wisest of men. Whenever you listen to a nightingale, therefore you are listening to an excellent preacher.
It is as if he were saying, I prefer to be in the Lord's kitchen. He has made heaven and earth, and he himself is the cook and the host. Every day he feeds and nourishes innumerable little birds out of his hand. And note the implication that Jesus draws out here specifically.
Now, I don't think that Jesus is promoting indolence or laziness or slothfulness. He's not suggesting that you're not supposed to sow, you're not supposed to reap, you're not supposed to work, you're not supposed to get up off the couch, there'll be an endless supply of groceries in your cupboards and in your fridge. That's not the point. The point is that these insignificant birds are tended to by our Heavenly Father.
And then he asks this particular question in verse 27. If one were able to look back at his life and see how much worry has been wasted, we would probably be amazed. Many of the things that we worry about never ever even begin to come to pass. Many of the things that we're carnally anxious for.
I'm not here preaching at you. This is for me, brethren. I'm a man given to worry. It's gotten a little better as I've gotten older, but I think it was inculcated in me at an early age, both by Roman Catholic teaching and by my parenting, my mother especially.
Bless her heart. I love her. She was wonderful. But yeah, there was a promotion of worry that I seem to have taken away from the home.
But the rhetorical question is simple. Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? It's rhetorical. No one can.
Your worrying isn't going to add a year to your life. Your worrying isn't going to add 10 years to your life. And with reference to these birds, they are insignificant creatures. They don't sow, they don't reap, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they? Turn over to Matthew chapter 10. We see a similar idea in that passage. Matthew chapter 10 at verse 29, are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin, and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. So it's an argument from the lesser to the greater. If God provides for the birds and they're lesser, will he not provide for his people when they are greater?
So after giving this very clear command in verses 25 to 27,
The Reproof: Lilies of the Field
he then reproves them in verses 28 to 30, moves from the birds now to the lilies of the field. Verse 28, so why do you worry about clothing? It's assumed that his people are worrying, and I think it's a good assumption. not just based on my own experience, but others that I've spoken to. I have yet to meet anybody who has mastered this particular problem, that they never worry.
They're never carnally anxious about anything. Now, dispositionally, some people seem to be a bit more upbeat. Dispositionally, some people seem to have a more optimistic attitude. I've been thinking about that, optimism or pessimism, you know, the half cup or the cup half empty, half full.
It depends on the scenario. If you're about to die of thirst, it's half empty. If you've got an abundance, it's half full, right? It's based on perspective.
I just thought of that the other day. I thought I'd share that. But with reference to this reproof, it is calculated to stir up the disciples to concentrate on the lesson at hand. Why do you worry about clothing?
He points then to the lilies. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Again, this is not an argument for you not to work, for you to engage in sloth or imbalance, for you to lay on your couch.
That's not the point. The point is simple, that this insignificant creature is nevertheless tended to by God. And not only is it tended to, it has a glory all its own. Notice in verse 29, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Remember that scene in 1 Kings chapter 10 when the Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon. What does she witness? She witnesses glory. She witnesses great wealth.
She witnesses great power. She witnesses great wisdom. And yet Jesus says all of that's chump change in comparison to what God has bestowed upon these lilies. So why do you worry about clothing?
Why do you worry about food? If God is going to feed the bird, if God is going to clothe the lily, then why is it that you think as one greater than lilies and birds, why do you think he's not going to tend to you? And that's Jesus' point there in verse 30. Notice He doesn't say, O you of no faith.
This is a struggle for those who have a little faith. This is a struggle for believers. This is a struggle for Christians. This is a struggle for the disciples that are hearing him teach this Sermon on the Mount.
So he reproves them and he chides them because that's not the way it's supposed to be. You should grow in your faith, and how do we do that? By learning Scripture, by learning theology, by using the means that God's ordained, such that our confidence in God is such that we don't have to worry about food and clothing. Turn to Romans chapter 8.
It's not dealing with temporal things, but it's another argument there from the greater to the lesser. So in our passage from the lesser, birds and lilies, to the greater, man, but in the book of Romans chapter 8, specifically, it's an argument from the greater to the lesser. Notice in verse 32, "...he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Again, in the context, it's spiritual things. In the context, it's strength to deal with our remaining corruption.
It's strength to pursue those things that are pleasing to God. But the principle holds fast. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, that's the greater. Now note the lesser.
How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? So if God's not gonna spare the son of his love for the redemption of sinners, why is he gonna leave those sinners to fend for themselves subsequent to that reality? God is good and God cares for you. Just like God cares for the birds of the air, and just like God cares for the lilies of the field.
So after the command, after the reproof,
The Contrast: Gentiles and Believers
he then gives this contrast in verses 31 and 32. Note the contrast. Again he repeats, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink?
Or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. So he repeats this, therefore do not worry, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? The repetition indicates obsession.
It's not a concern that I need to go out and make money and be a diligent employee so that I can feed my wife and kids. That is requisite. That is necessary. Whoever does not provide for his own, 1 Timothy 5, 8, is worse than an infidel.
He's denied the faith. So every man has that concern to go out and work hard to provide for his wife, to provide for his children. Everybody, not just men, but everybody has to fend for themselves. But this is an obsession.
In fact, Spurgeon says the questions in this verse are taken out of the worldlings' catechism of distrust. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?
And as was prayed, brethren, in our context it really is outlandish. I get it in Myanmar. I get it when there's soldiers all over the place. I get it when you got to go at 4 a.m. in the morning to try and get some rice. for your daily food.
I get it to a degree there, but even then, they still fall under this text, and not to be given to carnal anxiety, but it makes a lot more sense in a context like that than with what we have in the Western world. So this kind of obsession, or this kind of preoccupation, or this kind of anxiety or worry is absolutely untenable. It's not something that is condoned by our Lord. So he makes that repetition and then gives the contrast.
Notice the reasons for this statement. Do not worry, verse 31. And then he gives two reasons embedded in verse 32. First, the conduct of the Gentiles, and secondly, the knowledge of the Father.
Gentile Conduct and God's Knowledge
Notice the conduct of the Gentiles. This simply means outside of the covenant. Those who are not believers in Jesus, those who are not saved. For after all these things the Gentiles seek.
Now, the four highlights why believers should not worry. Four, after all these things the Gentiles seek. Again, the seeking is not bad in itself. Go out to work, make the money, get the food, bring the food home.
That's not the point. It's obsession, it's carnal anxiety, it's worry, it's preoccupation with those things versus preoccupation with the kingdom of God. This is the obsession of those who do not know God. They are in this worrisome frame because of their atheistic principles.
They have no doctrine of sovereign providence. They cannot sing the song that we began with tonight, The Lord Will Provide. They don't have that reality. They don't have that grounding.
They don't have that basis. Their philosophy is such that there is no God, their philosophy is such that life is basically a random collection of atoms, and their philosophy is such that if I don't have enough right now, it's going to provoke this worry, it's going to provoke this obsession, and it's going to provoke me to live in light of that. In fact, their obsession, the Gentiles in this context, is far more consistent with a blatant atheism than it is with Christian theism. And I think that's a good way for our Lord to appeal to us.
How are we thinking about life? Are we processing the various challenges as believers or unbelievers? Are we obsessive? Are we preoccupied?
Are we brought to that place where we're carnally anxious at every turn of the day? And again, there are those seasons, there are those times, there are those trials and afflictions where it may be the case that it's going to be more heightened. But as a general course of life, it is not to be the case that we function like a Gentile. Ryle says that he suggests to us that over-carefulness about the things of this world is most unworthy of a Christian.
One great feature of heathenism is living for the present. Let the heathen, if he will, be anxious. He knows nothing of a father in heaven. But let the Christian, who has clearer light and knowledge, give proof of it by his faith and contentment." In other words, what Ryle is saying, that I think Jesus is saying, is that our doctrine of God, and our theology proper, and sovereign providence, and all those things, ought to play into the minds and hearts of the people of God, such that we're not given to worry. especially as Calvinists, especially as predestinarians, especially as those who affirm that God's providence is wherein He governs all His creatures and all their actions.
So whatever comes from God is from God. And we need to keep that mindset. And again, we can extend that beyond just the food and the clothing and the particular things that are given here. I mean, he speaks about tomorrows as well.
So whatever is on the horizon for us tomorrow, we need to understand that God is providentially over it all. So whatever tomorrow brings, God is the bringer of it. It's not haphazard. It's not random.
It's not chance. We didn't draw the shorter straw. We haven't been struck with unluckiness. No, it's from God.
And as a result, when we reason in a manner that is consistent with Scripture, we let that good theology dictate the way that we interpret reality around us. If the Gentile lets his bad theology interpret the reality around him, and it ends in carnal anxiety and worrisomeness and woe, then we need to be just the opposite and take Jesus at his word, for after all these things the Gentiles see. This is an inconsistency with the people of God when they're given to these sorts of things. The believer always thought this, as Calvinists or as Reformed believers, we believe in God's comprehensive sovereignty in spiritual and eternal matters, right? just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, does not depend upon him who wills or him who runs, but on God who shows mercy.
We affirm that. We confess that. In fact, we'll battle people over that on Facebook, or on the street corner, or in the back of a church, or out passing out tracks. We'll throw down for that reality, and yet When it comes to the physical or the temporal, when it comes to my daily bread, when it comes to medical concerns or physical issues or family trials or challenges, we forget every notion of God's comprehensive sovereignty.
As if he's only sovereign in the matter of placing us in Christ, but not in the keeping us in Christ, sustaining us in the midst of this veil of tears and bringing us ultimately to that place of glory. How is it that we affirm Calvinism when it comes to salvation, but no Calvinism when it comes to God's sovereign providence, wherein He governs all His creatures and all their actions? When it comes to politics, we need to understand that whoever's in that particular position of power is there because of God. By me kings reign, Christ says, speaking His wisdom in Proverbs 8.
We know that there is no authority except from God, Romans 13 1-4. It could be for good or it could be for ill, and for ill most likely because of God's judgment upon a people. But nevertheless, they are there because of God. So we mustn't be spiritual-only Calvinists or Reformed believers.
We need to bring these things to bear in our lives. So it's not just soteriology that God is comprehensively sovereign over, but it's all things. It's all of our circumstances, it's all of our issues, it's all of our hardships, it's all of our afflictions, it's all of our trials, it's all of our challenges. And if we understand that, then we ought to conclude that God, who does all things for my good, Romans chapter 8, 28, a passage that we like to hang on our refrigerator, but we don't always hang it on our hearts, We need to understand that even the bad things that happen in our lives are calculated by God to promote good.
They bring conformity unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5 tells us that the Son of God learned suffering through what? or learned obedience through suffering. He learned obedience through suffering. That, according to his humanity, to be sure, as the mediator of the new covenant, he learned obedience through suffering.
So for us to think there's never going to be any suffering, there's never going to be a trial, there's never going to be a challenge, there's never going to be a hardship, Maybe we have bought into Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland and all those other weirdos who are preaching a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. So see, on the one hand, we say, oh no, we'll never believe like that. But on the other hand, the moment affliction hits, we default over into that camp and say, why are these bad things happening to me? It's because we're thinking like Gentiles.
We're not thinking like Christian believers. The believer needs to comprehend that God's sovereignty is comprehensive in all things. So then he moves from the conduct of the Gentiles, the philosophy of the Gentiles, to the knowledge of God. Notice in verse 32b, 4, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Now, the doctrine of the knowledge of God is the basis for prayer. If you go back to, in chapter 6, to Matthew, I'm sorry, Matthew 6 at verse 8. after cautioning the disciples on how not to pray, don't be like the heathen, the ones who use vain repetition, let's just pick up at verse 5. When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. What a pathetic life.
If that's your life, you should repent and go hide somewhere. If you're praying to be seen by men, that's not a negation or a mitigation of corporate prayer. Corporate prayer is commanded by God. We're supposed to pray.
But ideally, we're not in here to pray so that others can say, what a great prayer. No, we're praying to God corporately together. But if you're these kinds of people, and we know they are these kinds of people, Luke 18, when Jesus tells about the rich man and the publican, the rich man, or the Pharisee, rather, stood and prayed thus with himself, I thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. I thank you that I'm not a murderer.
I thank you I'm not an adulterer. I thank you I'm not an extortioner. I thank you that I'm not a heathen or a tax collector like this man. The hypocrite is condemned by our Lord because he says at the end of verse 5, Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
If all you want is the accolades of men, that's what you're going to get. Men are going to say, wow, that's a great prayer. Did you hear those words? Did you hear that eloquence?
What a wonderful guy. Notice in verse 6, Notice that Jesus just assumes the reality of this. Have you ever prayed and said, well, I didn't really feel God was there. I didn't really feel the presence of God.
It doesn't matter what you feel, God is present when the prayers of his people are being offered up. And when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your father who is in the secret place, not if you're in the right motive or the right disposition or your heart is warm and inflamed, and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Then he goes on to condemn the heathen. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
They think that the multitude of words is going to gain the ear of a god out there and get him to act on their behalf. When we were younger, there was something called a Rolodex, and it had all your addresses and numbers on it. I know those are antiquated now, because everybody has a cell phone with an address book in there. Well, the heathen was kind of like that.
They'd take their rolodex, start flipping through it, and start throwing prayers out to the various gods, hoping that a prayer would attach, and a god would hear, and a god would answer. And in order to do that, it was vain repetition amongst the pantheon there, just trying to connect. Jesus says, don't be like that. They think that they will be heard for their many words.
Now note, it's on this basis that he grounds the Lord's prayer. Therefore, do not be like them, either the hypocrite or the heathen, for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. He knows what you need. So you're in good hands.
It doesn't mean don't pray. Prayer is an act of worship. Prayer is an expression of our dependence. And prayer is commanded by our God.
So the doctrine of the knowledge of God, God's knowledge of our situation, is the basis of prayer here. And then the doctrine of the knowledge of God, God's knowledge of us, is the basis for I'm going to say this, knowing that it's not attainable, at least for some of us, a worry-free life. A worry-free life. So if the Gentiles, who do not have the true God, live in such and such a manner, then the believer who has the true God, who knows the things that you have need of, should live in such and such a manner.
Don't be like the Gentiles. Don't be like the heathen. Don't be like those who think that they can manipulate the gods to get the answer that they want. Don't be like these Gentiles who are obsessive about the temporal.
As well, we have the promise from God that he will provide. The Lord will provide food, water, and clothing. Now notice, food, water, and clothing doesn't mean prime, you know, rib and lobster and whatever it is that you like to eat. It doesn't mean you're going to wear whatever the good clothes are, Gucci, whatever the good clothes are.
It doesn't mean that, but it means sustenance. Psalm 37, 25, I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. Turn to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, the apostle uses a text from the Old Testament that I think we're inclined to spiritualize.
And I'm not suggesting we shouldn't because the doctrine spiritually is true, but it's in a context that has to do with temporal stuff, provision, physicality. Notice in 13.5. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have.
For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Notice that. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Again, the spiritual application is true. We're saved by God's grace.
Jesus doesn't let us go. He tells us that in John's gospel, John chapter 10. Nobody can pluck a believer out of the hand of the father. Nobody can pluck a believer out of the hand of the son.
It's a reality. It's settled. Whether we call it eternal security or perseverance of the saints, whatever you want to call it, it's true in the spiritual realm. Those in Christ are saved never to be lost, never to be damned, never to be reprobate.
But here it's physical. Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, your spirit's fine. No, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Again, the idea is not steak and lobster and all the things that you love to put on your body, but the Lord will never forsake his children. So he gives a command, verses 25 to 27, he reproves them, verses 28 to 30, and then he gives this contrast between the Gentiles and the true believer in verses 31 and 32.
The Principle: Seek First the Kingdom
And that brings us then to the principle highlighted by Jesus in verses 33 and 34. This is where it's all going. This is where, you know, the crescendo or the pinnacle of his argument.
The Exhortation: Kingdom and Righteousness
Note first the exhortation. Very simple. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And if you go back again in the chapter, you'll notice the Lord's Prayer.
It's structured in a particular way. It's structured with a particular pattern. So is the Ten Commandments. In the Ten Commandments, our duty to God comes first, and then our duty to man.
Well, the Lord's Prayer is structured in a similar fashion. It is God first, and then it is us. Notice, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Notice, God's name, God's kingdom, and God's will precedes our provision, our forgiveness, and our protection. So God comes first. Notice again in 633. That's the specific priority.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now, kingdom of God is most likely His rule, His reign, His glory. His majesty, his honor, seek those things associated with, connected to, and part and parcel of God's holy kingdom. But as well, the righteousness of God.
And I think here, specifically, he is speaking about the righteousness imputed to us, the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. In other words, if we have that righteousness, we can seek that kingdom, and we don't have to be given over to worry and carnal anxiety. Gil comments, and his righteousness, the righteousness of God which is revealed in the gospel, and is what gives a right and title to the kingdom of heaven. This is not the righteousness of man, but of God, and is no other than the righteousness of Christ, so called because he is God who has wrought it.
It is what God approves of, accepts, and imputes, and which only can justify in his sight, and give an abundant entrance into his kingdom and glory. Heaven is to be sought for in the first place as the perfection of the saint's happiness, and Christ's righteousness is to be sought for and laid hold on by faith as the way and means of enjoying that happiness, without which there will be no entering into the kingdom of heaven. I think that's appropriate in this particular context. Remember, Jesus is speaking to both disciples, in the multitudes.
Along the way, he is calling sinners to faith in him and repentance unto life. So if you're thinking like a Gentile, what's the primary emphasis? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. How do we get to that kingdom of God?
Through the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us and received by faith alone. Never forget the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5 to 7, our law. And one of the functions of the law is to lead a man to the cross. And that is one of the functions for the Sermon on the Mount, is to show us how far short we fall and how much we stand in need of the blessed Savior for sinners.
In fact, I thought I had a quote here. Yeah. Lloyd-Jones. says, there is nothing that so utterly condemns us as the Sermon on the Mount. There is nothing so utterly impossible, so terrifying, and so full of doctrine.
Indeed, I do not hesitate to say that were it not that I knew of the doctrine of justification by faith only, I would never look at the Sermon on the Mount, because it is a sermon before which we all stand completely naked and altogether without hope. Machen has a similar comment. I probably should have written that one down as well. But Machen's writing against early 20th century neo-Orthodox liberalism, who took the Sermon on the Mount and said, oh, this is all we need to do is live like Jesus.
Machen says, no, no, no, no, no. That's not the gospel. Live like Jesus is law. One of the functions of Matthew 5-7 is to show you how much you don't live like Jesus.
When he says, unless your righteousness exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees. Well, how does that ever happen? By grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This righteousness of God was prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah.
Now this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1.30, but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So if we have that righteousness of God, we're in that kingdom of God, and therefore we are equipped to not think like Gentiles, to understand that our Heavenly Father provides for us, that if He feeds pretty worthless sparrows and He clothes, you know, lilies that are here for a day and thrown into the fire the next day, He's going to tend to them with fatherly care and kindness. Why wouldn't He care for us? We need to think in a manner that is consistent with the theology that we hold to.
So he gives that exhortation at the first part of verse 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then he gives this promise. Notice, and all these things shall be added to you. The things are those in the context, not everything.
You get that from people sometimes. You know, the Philippians passage, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Well, you can't jump over a building without some sort of a motor. You just can't do that.
Well, I can do all things through Christ. You can't play in the NBA if you're 4 foot 10. It's just not going to happen. You can't be an astronaut if you can't climb up a ladder at the church building and throw a little paint on it.
There's just some things that are impossible. So I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It has nothing to do with you being an NBA star. Neither does this mean that you have a ticket to everything you've ever wanted because you've sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
All these things. Food, clothing, and those sorts of things. So it's not an e-ticket to get whatever it is you want. The pursuit of God's kingdom and righteousness is not the means by which we gain riches and power and glory for ourselves.
So again, at that level, the health, wealth, prosperity people, or the motivational speaker types, come to Jesus, and then you'll be able to sell lots of products. If that's how we're marketing Jesus, we've missed something, okay? We don't come to Jesus so we can be better salesmen. I'm not suggesting that God in his grace doesn't provide you with wisdom to be a better salesman.
I'm not saying that. The formula is not come to Jesus so that your life is magically better. And you get your picture up on the wall for employee of the month. 1 Timothy 6, 8, having food and clothing with these we shall be content. Again, the food and the clothing, it's not defined, described, or delineated what kind of food and clothing that is.
And Lewis makes the observation in terms of the order here. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Sort of a then, right? You seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to you.
You can't get second things by putting them first. You can get second things only by putting first things first. It's sublimely profound. You cannot get second things by putting them first.
You can get second things only by putting first things first. That's the priority structure in the passage. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness And all these things will be added to you. Don't say, well, it's all these things, and as long as these things come my way, then I'll seek God's kingdom and righteousness.
That's an inverted Christian life. That's a faulty way of thinking. That's Gentile thinking. Heathen thinking.
The Conclusion: Sufficient for Today
And then note the conclusion. The conclusion in verse 34. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Do not worry about tomorrow. The Lord has cautioned his disciples about worry regarding their lives and bodies. Verses 25, 27, 28, and 31. The Lord now cautions his disciples about worry regarding their tomorrows.
Right? You may not worry today about the food and the clothing and the this and that. But I think a lot of us struggle with worrying about tomorrow. I do.
I mean, there's morons that run this government. I mean, who knows where we're going to be tomorrow? I do worry about that. This is just a sad and pathetic time in our history.
So the proclivity or temptation is, actually, I'm getting better. trying to live like Jesus says. What would Jesus do? He wouldn't worry about those guys. But then notice the reason for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Tomorrow will worry about its own things. The emphasis here is do not worry about tomorrow, because if you're worrying about tomorrow, guess what you're not doing? You're not seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. That's the governing principle, verse 33.
If I'm obsessing about tomorrow, then I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing today. James speaks to this as well. You can turn to James 4, 13 to 15. Same sort of a mindset there, living as a heathen, living as if there is no God, governing all his creatures and all their actions.
James 4, 13 to 15, come now you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little. for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." So this mindset that we put all our eggs in the basket of tomorrow, it's going to take us from pursuing the kingdom today. And then note how Jesus ends this section on the reality of sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
So you got to appreciate Christ does not suggest there's never going to be any trouble. I mean, that's how he could have addressed it. Don't worry about, you know, this. Don't worry about that, because it's only ever going to be great.
Don't worry and be anxious about your life, don't be anxious about tomorrow, because it's only ever going to be great. I mean, you, by God's grace, have received the righteousness of Jesus. You now, by God's grace, are a partaker of God's kingdom. And as a child of the King, everything is always only ever going to be good.
That would be the argument, but that's not his argument. The argument is sufficient for the day as its own trouble. You've got enough to deal with today, seeking first His kingdom, His righteousness. You've got enough today not to worry about your life, not to worry about your food, not to worry about your clothing.
You've got enough going on today that you shouldn't be paralyzed with worry concerning tomorrow. The presence of trial and tribulation in the believer's life is everywhere maintained in Scripture. The idea that we're going to just soar through life with only ever happy things is not scripture. It's just not.
I feel bad at times because I say that a lot, but it amazes me how often we're surprised when bad things happen. And I said we there, don't look at me. I know that I've got the proclivity. Listen to Ryle.
We are not to carry cares before they come. We are to attend to today's business and leave tomorrow's anxieties till tomorrow dawns. We may die before tomorrow. I've used the illustration.
Some of the older timers here will have heard it. When our kids were little, we were out for the day and one of them, it was Josh, and he was, you know, asking every step of the way, where are we going? What are we doing? Where are we going?
What are we doing? You know, that constant badgering. And as I'm so patient and loving and kind, I've just responded so gently. No, I didn't.
We got to a restaurant that we were going to. I said, son, we could die before we get to the front door of that restaurant. Figured, hey, that'd be a good way to silence him. So he runs across the parking lot.
It wasn't a busy. It was the section where you go to the door. And he gets to the door, and he says, dad, I made it. I made it.
I made it. But he's right. I mean, imagine if you spent 100 units of worry for Thursday on Wednesday and you died in your sleep on Wednesday night. Not a good way to spend your Wednesday in the grand scheme of things.
So he says, we may die before tomorrow. We know not what may happen on the morrow. This only we may be assured of, that if tomorrow brings a cross, he who sends it can and will send grace to bear it. A modern commentator, R.T.
Frantz, says, God's care and provision are assured. But that does not mean that the disciple's life is to be one long picnic. Each day will still have its troubles. The preceding verses simply provide the assurance that by the grace of God they can be survived.
There's nothing that is insurmountable to the blood-bought child of God who is an inhabitant of God's holy kingdom, who's under his reign, his rule, his redemption, the power of the Savior. God has us. And then Matthew, Henry. Let us not pull that upon ourselves altogether at once, which providence has wisely ordered to be borne by parcels.
Praise God there's seven days in a week, right? It's not just one long day. That'd be a bummer. The conclusion of this whole matter, then, is that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus that his disciples should not be their own tormentors, nor make their passage through this world more dark and unpleasant by their apprehension of troubles.
Then God has made it by the troubles themselves. There is gold there. that his disciples should not be their own tormentors, nor make their passage through this world more dark and unpleasant by their apprehension of troubles than God has made it by the troubles themselves. By our daily prayers, we may procure strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. It's good commentary on a very simple passage of Holy Scripture that functions beautifully in the context, do not worry, do not worry, do not worry.
Application and Conclusion
So in conclusion, if you didn't get it, the prohibition here is don't worry. Don't worry about your life, specifically what you eat, drink, or wear, verse 25. Don't worry about God's government of all things in general and the needs of His children in particular, verse 32b. And don't worry about tomorrow, verse 34a.
Now that doesn't again mean that you're not, you know, prepared for tomorrow, you're going into You've got your clothes laid out, whatever your process is, you're going to work. That doesn't mean that. It means don't obsess and get all frantic about tomorrow. You could very well die tonight.
And then in the morning you can say, look, I made it. The dangerous fruits of worry and carnal anxiety, it betrays a lack of loyalty to the kingdom. I think that's the overarching concern here. It betrays a lack of loyalty to the kingdom.
That goes back in the preceding section. Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. The lamp of the body is the eye. If, therefore, your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
Keep focused on Jesus. 24, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. It's loyalty, right? That's the issue.
So it betrays a lack of loyalty to the kingdom. It evidences divided attention. Again, it's tough because we're physical temporal beings, we're connected to history, we gotta eat, we gotta drink, we gotta wear. I get it.
It's the reality, but we're not to let these things become the overarching concerns in our lives. It questions God's sovereign rule in the universe. It reduces us to the theological equivalent of a Gentile or a heathen. We don't have a doctrine of sovereign providence.
It doubts God's fatherly care for his children. I will never leave you nor forsake you, connected to the prohibition against covetousness. It does not believe God's word. I mean, verse 33 tells us very clearly, and all these things shall be added to you.
It paralyzes individual and thus kingdom advance. If everybody's paralyzed with worry and anxiety, Again, they're not seeking first God's kingdom and His righteousness. They're not witnessing. They're not going out and evangelizing.
They're not sharing the gospel. There's no evident hope in them by which somebody might say, what's the reason for the hope that is in you, vis-Ã -vis 1 Peter 3.15. It shifts the focus from the eternal to the temporal. It takes the focus off God's kingdom and righteousness and throws it right smack dab into this present age.
Again, we need to be thinking about this present age, but not to the exclusion of the eternal. And it reduces us to fearful, doubting, tormented souls instead of bold, faithful, obedient subjects of God's kingdom. I mean, go back to Numbers. What happened in Numbers 13?
Moses sends out the 12 spies to recon the land. The two spies, Joshua and Caleb, say, it's great, let's go right now. Caleb says that, let's go up at once. And remember how Numbers 13 starts.
It's a reminder of God's promise to give them the land. that promise that goes all the way back, tap roots into Genesis 12, when God promises to Abraham, and then to Isaac, and then to Jacob, and delivers them from bondage in Egypt, brings them out into the wilderness with the purpose and plan to get them to the promised land. So He goes to buy out the land, grab some of the fruit, bring it back, moralize the people, encourage the people, little bit of a down payment, little bit of the taste of what we're going to get. Of course, as I said, Caleb's like, let's go at once. Joshua, at once.
Not the ten spies. The ten spies initially say, it's a good land, but there's some big people in there. and then after Joshua, or Caleb rather, says let's go up at once, the ten spies revise their report, it's a bad land, and it's full of bad people, and they're going to best us on the battlefield. Again, complete disregard of the promise of God to the patriarchs, and the very promise that brought them into that place. So the ten spies whine, moan, and complain, the congregation listens to the ten spies, and they want to stone Joshua, Caleb, and Moses and Aaron.
So that's, you know, somewhat of an equivalent. The whining, grumbling, disbelieving spies are not concerned with God's kingdom. The whining, grumbling, disbelieving Christian today, professing Christian, he's not believing in God's promises and God's blessings. And then I would end on this.
I think this is always a good place to think about. The cultivation of contentment. It's a good antidote to worry. The cultivation of being content, the rare jewel of Christian contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs.
Puritans wrote whole books about such subjects because it was important. What's a good way to dislodge that worry and anxiety in your heart about this, that, and the other? Well, by being content with this, that, and the other. So, first, the appreciation of godliness.
Paul, in his dealings in 1 Timothy chapter 6, says that godliness is of great gain. As well, the recognition of God's sovereignty in the dispensing of goods. The earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof. Psalm 24.
Whatever we have, we have because of God. Whatever they have, they have it because of God. You can't avoid the implication. So that hopefully produces a bit of contentment in our hearts.
The realization that poverty isn't the worst thing. Proverbs, I mean, it's better to have herbs on your table than a house full of feasting and strife, right? I mean, there are worse things. As well, the expression of thanksgiving to God for providing necessities.
That's a good way to have contentment and to dispossess or dislodge that sort of worry or carnal anxiety. And then ultimately the prioritization of God and his kingdom. That is what we ought to be first and foremost content with that we, by God's grace and the provision of righteousness through Jesus Christ, we have entrance into that kingdom. And we have not yet entered in fully to what we will have one day, but we already possess it.
We're already a part of it. We're already inhabitants of God's holy kingdom.
Closing Prayer
Well, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for the clarity of our Lord's teaching at this point of worry. We pray that you would give us that settled conviction that you are in control of all things, that you govern all your creatures and all their actions, and we rest in that, we trust in that, we thank you for the righteousness of Jesus Christ and for that citizenship that we have in God's kingdom.
We pray that you would go with us now, watch over the entirety of our local church, bless all the churches here in Chilliwack that are faithfully preaching and teaching your word. May you encourage them, may you build them up in their most holy faith, may you cause us in this community to shine as lights, and may we hold forth your word of truth, and we pray through Christ our Lord, amen.
Questions and Answers
Well, any questions or comments on any of that? So at least hopefully tonight you won't worry about tomorrow.