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May turn in your Bibles to Matthew 
six. Matthew, chapter six, I'll pick 
up reading in verse 19. 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 man. 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 in the body, more than clothing. Look 
at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor 
gather into barns that 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 clothes the grass of the field, which today is, 
and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, 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 see 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 trouble. Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your Holy Scripture. Thank you for the ministry of 
your spirit. We pray that even now he would come upon us, that 
he would guide us and lead us and instruct us in the truth. 
We pray that we would be submissive to the Holy Word, that we would 
be those Isaiah speaks of, that we would tremble at the word, 
that we would be humble and of a contrite spirit. God, that 
you would clear away any sin and transgression that would 
darken our understanding and help us, God, in a special way 
to deal with this sin of worry, this sin of carnal anxiety. Help 
us to receive our master's words. Help us to take them to heart. 
Help us to glorify and honor you, Lord God, and to live as 
children of a heavenly father. We just bless you and we praise 
you now. And we ask that you would be glorified in our study 
together. And we pray through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Well, there is a lot of material 
here in verses 25 to 34, so I hope to sort of divide it up between 
this morning and next Sunday morning, but just to sort of 
give you an overview of the latter portion. Remember that in the 
Lord's Prayer, we saw that there was a conspicuous order. God 
comes before food. God comes before our daily needs. Remember, hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, your will be done. And then we pray, give 
us this day our daily bread. Jesus teaches us in prayer that 
there is a conspicuous order. God comes before provision. Well, life ought to evidence 
the same pattern. God, Matthew 6, 33, God comes 
before food. God comes before clothing. God 
comes before your concerns because he calls us to seek first the 
kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be 
added to you. That's the overarching or the 
governing principle that Jesus sets before kingdom citizens 
to kill the sin of worry, to kill the sin of carnal anxiety. It's a matter of orientation. 
It's a matter of commitment. If we truly are the slave of 
God, we will not be like the Gentile who only thinks about 
and who's only governed by things of this lower world. No, if God 
is our master and we are His slaves, then we will seek Him 
first, we will seek His righteousness, and we will trust Him to provide 
all other things to us, because that's what the Lord Jesus Christ 
instructs us in. Well, as we pick up verse 25, 
we'll look at verses 25 to 30 under two primary considerations. First, verses 25 to 27, there 
is a command, do not worry. In fact, three or four times 
the Lord Jesus uses this idea. We'll look at that in more detail, 
four times in the passage. And then secondly, we'll look 
at the indictment, verses 28 to 30. Why do you worry? Why is it the case that in view 
of a heavenly father who is so gracious and so kind, why does 
it enter into your heart to be carnally anxious? Why does it 
enter into your heart to be fretful? Why do you torment yourself with 
things that are outside of your control and in the hands of your 
heavenly father who does all things well? Just want to quote 
from Martin Luther with reference to this first section where we're 
instructed by the birds. Luther said, 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. It's a 
beautiful saying, a way to appreciate the earthiness of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. I mean, look at the examples 
that he points us to. He doesn't engage in this long, 
protracted discourse. He uses two very pithy and relevant 
examples, birds and flowers. They become our preachers. They 
become theologians. They become our teachers to help 
quiet the storm that rages in our hearts when we are carnally 
anxious or fretful or worrisome about things that are simply 
out of our control. So let's look at the command. 
Do not worry. Versus twenty five to twenty 
seven. The first observation is the 
grammar. The language, the connection, 
how Jesus relates to his disciples in this particular section. Notice 
that in verses 19 to 24, he has spoken of the necessity for us 
to lay up treasure in heaven. He has spoken of the necessity 
for a single eye devotion to the kingdom. He has spoken of 
the necessity to submit and to serve God alone. Verse 25 begins 
with therefore, it is an implication. It follows necessarily. It is 
concrete application based on the realities of laying your 
treasure up in heaven, singly focusing on the kingdom of God 
and submission to the Lord God Almighty. Those things being 
the case, that being true, your heart is taken care of, your 
eye is looked after and your submission is in order. Therefore, 
don't worry. What's the matter with you in 
light of these realities and in light of these truths? The 
fact that you serve the God of absolute sovereignty of heaven 
and earth below, you're actually going to worry. He says, therefore, 
I say to you, do not worry. This is the logical outflow of 
all that has preceded. Knowing oneself to be a slave 
to God, and thus in great hands, is the ultimate help to resist 
the tendency to carnal anxiety or worry. But as well, it might 
answer the question of the doubtful, still believer who says, OK, 
I'm laying up for myself treasures in heaven. My eye is singly focused 
upon the kingdom of heaven. If you talk this way, you got 
big problems. That's a whole nother sermon. And my submission 
is to God, the father alone, what might the tendency be to 
rise up in our hearts? Who's going to look after me? 
You know, when I'm tasked with all this holiness, when I'm tasked 
with all this biblical and righteous living, how can I be sure that 
I'm going to get food on a daily basis? So not only is verses 
25 to 34 the logical outflow, it is a blessed answer. You serve 
God and let him worry about your daily provision. Live like you 
meant your prayer in the fourth petition. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't pray, Lord, give us this 
day our daily bread and then live like the Gentile, live like 
an infidel, live like an unbeliever who is paralyzed and stricken 
by worry. It is both the logical outflow 
of the preceding and it is the blessed answer to those still 
remaining thoughts of if I am pursuing God, how will I be sure 
that he is going to look after me? I think that's what Peter 
is getting at to resist the devil and he will flee from you. Submit 
to God. Humble yourself under the mighty 
hand of God. And then what does Peter say 
in first Peter five, seven, casting your burden upon him for he cares 
for you. I mean, if we're told to submit 
to God, it might well up in us. Well, in all of my submitting 
to God, in my busying myself in being his servant, who's going 
to look after me? God is going to look after you 
in your submission to God. Cast your care upon God. Roll 
it over upon him as the word envisages and he cares for you. Notice as well the translation. I think the new King James is 
correct. Other good translations are do 
not be anxious. The old King James translates 
it. Take no thought of. But that's incorrect. The Bible 
never calls us to a careless and thoughtless life. In fact, 
Peter or Paul is pretty pretty adamant in 1st Timothy 5a, that 
if a man does not provide for his own, he's worse than an unbeliever. 
He's worse than an infidel. Paul says in 2nd Thessalonians 
310, if a man won't work, neither shall he eat. The idea in this 
portion of the Sermon on the Mount isn't just zip through 
life singing songs of ease and comfort without thinking one 
bit about tomorrow. That's not responsible. That's 
not biblical discipleship. That's not godly living. That's 
not living in light of your calling in Christ Jesus. When he even 
uses the birds as an example, they don't sow, they don't reap, 
they don't gather in the barns. What's the obvious implication? 
Men sow, men reap, men gather in the barns. This is not a passage 
calling us to lay on our couches and just let life go by and open 
up our big mouths and have God drop food into them. Again, Luther 
says, God wants nothing to do with the lazy, gluttonous bellies 
who are neither concerned nor busy. They act as if they just 
had to sit and wait for him to drop a roasted goose into their 
mouth. The take no thought of is better 
understood as be not anxious. Do not worry. Do not be paralyzed. Do not be troubled. Royal explains 
it this way. Four times, he says, take no 
thought about life, about food, about clothing, about the morrow. Take no thought. Now, here it 
comes. Be not over careful. Be not over 
anxious. Prudent provision for the future 
is right. Wearying, corroding, self-tormenting 
anxiety is wrong. That's what Jesus is addressing. Not saying don't be concerned 
about tomorrow. He's not saying forget about, 
you know, planning, forget about working, forget about, you know, 
getting more education, forget about trying to get a better 
job. Now, the scriptures everywhere set forth diligence. What is 
obviously being condemned by the Lord Jesus in this passage 
is that attitude of threat, that attitude that paralyzes. That 
attitude that runs havoc in our hearts that we, by the grace 
of God, need to stomp out. You remember several weeks ago, 
I mentioned there's two types of Christians, at least in my 
perception, the steady-eddies and the roller coasters. It dawned 
on me that some of the children here may not know what a roller 
coaster is. I think that's bizarre, but if 
you don't, It's one of these metal things that you put a car 
on, and you go like this on hills, and you spin, and you do all 
kinds of wonderful maneuvers. Wonderful when you're young. 
As you get a little older, you get off, and your stomach feels 
like you're about to die. You can always tell when a man's 
getting too old for the amusement part, because in the last hour, 
he's sitting on a bench somewhere, you know, shaking, hoping the 
day will end, praying for the sweet release of closing time. Kids are still running from roller 
coaster to roller coaster. That's a Christian life for some 
of us. May I say that you have somebody 
preaching to you this morning that is experientially connected 
to the passage? I'm not suggesting every man 
that ever preaches has to have every bit of experience in order 
to preach. I'm not saying that. This was 
one of the easier sermons to find observations on. I filled 
up a page in like seven minutes. Not because I read Owen, not 
because I read Spurgeon. There's the steady eddies and 
there's the roller coasters. May I submit Matthew 6, 25 to 
30 is oftentimes, not always, oftentimes the place where the 
roller coasters of us have our dealings or our difficulties. 
We're not going to be worrying about food or clothing or whatever. 
We may be worrying about something else, but worried we are. What is worry? What is carnal 
anxiety? Webster's 1828 says, to ease, 
I'm sorry, to tease, to trouble, to harass with importunity or 
with care and anxiety. I think I actually like dictionary.com 
better. It says, to torment oneself with 
or suffer from disturbing thoughts, fret. It's important that we 
understand who the aggressor is in worry. It's not God tormenting 
us. It's not our spouses tormenting 
us. It's not our brethren that are 
tormenting us. It's us that are tormenting us. You see, Jesus is speaking to 
disciples here. He's speaking to believers. He's 
speaking to kingdom citizens who fall prey to this particular 
sin, to this particular expression of little faith, this fretful 
attitude, this tormenting of oneself. It's terrible, isn't 
it? I don't think any of us put our 
thumb on the table and hit it with a hammer. We don't torment 
ourselves physically. We don't see a flame and stick 
our hand in there because we want to feel the burn. We wouldn't 
do such a thing. And yet, in the realm of worry, 
there's probably a whole host of us in this room who are very 
efficacious at tormenting themselves. We've got the KGB beat in terms 
of punishment. It's reported that the KGB could 
break every bone in a man's body and not leave a mark. They had 
perfected torture. Well, some in this room do the 
very same thing. Worrying about this, worrying 
about that, worrying and fretting and just engaged in a carnal 
anxiety. This is the attitude and disposition 
that Jesus is condemning. Martin Lloyd-Jones says the word 
is used elsewhere in the New Testament as something that divides, 
that separates, that distracts us. Isn't that what worry does? Isn't that what carnal anxiety 
does? We're called to be subjects loyal to the kingdom of God Most 
High. What does worry do? It sets God 
on the periphery and it puts ourselves on the throne. Worry 
and carnal anxiety is a form of idolatry. Because we're saying 
we're more important. This universe revolves around 
me. My food, my clothing, my benefit, my wants, my hopes, 
my dreams, my this, my that. Isn't that the refrain of worry? Oh no, not me, man. Really? Really? Note the specifics that 
Jesus addresses. What are some common areas that 
we worry in? Verse 25. Therefore, I say to 
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what 
you will drink or about your body, what you will put on. This 
isn't the final word, this isn't the only thing the Bible says 
concerning food and clothing. We're not to come to verse 25 
to 34 and say, well, this is the final answer on why there's 
famine or suffering in another part of the world. They just 
don't have any faith. No, you can't conclude that. This is 
not a theodicy. This is not a defense of God. 
This is an vindication of God for famine or for believers. 
We read in the morning prayer meeting about Hindus torturing 
and punishing a village or Christian people in a particular village. 
You know, the crime of the Christian people, they wanted to bury a 
relative. So 300 Hindu militants. Hindus. Aren't they supposed 
to be peaceable? Aren't they supposed to just 
bang tambourines? Aren't they supposed to just 
wear long orange flowing robes and ask for money or whatever 
at the airport? Hare Krishna is a form of that, I believe. They did for six hours, 300 militants 
punished Christians for the sin, the offense, the crime of wanting 
to bury one of their own. They tortured two older women, 
they knocked some kids down. One man said they wanted to skin 
us. Don't take 25 to 34 and say, 
oh, those wretched believers there, they just don't have any 
faith. This is not everything the Bible says. These are principles. These are maxims. These are truths 
with reference to the people of God as a whole. Don't worry. Don't fret. Don't think about 
food and shelter and clothing and all that sort of thing. Don't 
be paralyzed with it. Don't be ruined by it. Don't be paralyzed by it. Remember 
that quote from Lewis? A man oftentimes says he's making 
his way in the world, when little by little, it's the world that's 
making its way in his own heart. Jesus says, don't worry about 
these things. And notice Jesus isn't like that 
song that was popular, at least when I was young, don't worry, 
be happy. Jesus is a realist. Jesus is 
biblical. Jesus understands. Look at verse 
34, balances the whole thing out. You're not saying you're 
never going to have difficulties in your life. You're never going 
to have trials in your life. You're just going to have a big 
fat painted smile and just run your way. No, that's not what 
he says. He says, don't be anxious about 
tomorrow. Don't borrow from tomorrow trouble. Don't be paralyzed, don't be 
grief stricken, don't be fretful over a tomorrow that may not 
even come. Sufficient for the day is its 
own troubles. It's not waning as magic wand 
and saying there's no troubles ever in the Christian life. There 
are troubles, brethren. There are hardships. There are 
trials. There are afflictions. There 
are pains. There is misery. There's hardship 
and suffering. This is a promise from the scriptures 
themselves. Paul says, by or through many 
tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. If you freak 
because of hardship, you sign the wrong dotted line. Jesus 
says, do you count the cost in Luke 14? Understand what discipleship 
is all about. It is going to cost you. You 
have to be worthy or you have to be willing, rather, to carry 
your cross daily. Not wear a gold cross on your 
neck, but carry the cross, meaning you're willing to die for the 
Son of God if He should deem it. That's tough. Jesus' point, 
though, is don't freak out. Don't be like the Gentiles. Martin 
Lloyd-Jones develops this beautifully. If you have his studies in the 
Sermon on the Mount, he's got a few pages there. He says, you 
know, it's amazing with Christians. We can be perfectly spot on with 
salvation, right? Calvinists, especially. I mean, 
we're ready to argue with anybody over soteriology. That's the 
doctrine of salvation. By grace, it's through faith. 
Oh, yes, absolutely. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. 
It's great. And then what happens? We live like the Gentiles. What 
am I going to eat? What am I going to drink? What 
am I going to wear? You believe God for your never 
dying soul? You're not going to believe him 
for your food today? That's what Jesus is after. You're going 
to commit yourself to the God of heaven and earth, the one 
who has providented and promised to bless you with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, and then you're going 
to freak out about a lack of food? That's what Jesus is after. Don't 
do that. Don't worry about your life. 
Don't worry about your food and drink. Don't worry about your 
clothing. Note the question that Jesus 
asks. Isn't life, or is not life, more 
than food and the body, more than clothing? You might not 
think it, looking at the popular media today. I mean, there's 
the Food Network, there's the Golf Network, there's magazines 
devoted to every form of leisure, to every form of pampering the 
body. I mean, in America, North America especially, what's first? 
Body. Life. Health. Strength. Vitality. All these 
things. Jesus says, isn't there more 
to it than all this? You're image bearers of God. 
You live in a world created by God. There's more than just the 
seen things around you. There are unseen truths around 
you. You're part of a larger whole. You're connected to a 
larger plan. You find yourself in the decree 
of God. And you're going to worry, fret, 
whine and complain about, what am I going to eat today? It just doesn't make sense, does 
it? At all. Tormenting oneself. Taking the 
hammer and beating the thumb, spiritually speaking. Torment. Over what? When Jesus says, is 
not life more than food and the body more than clothing? You 
know what? Life is more of God. What is the chief end of man? 
To eat good food. To wear nice clothes. To have 
great shelter. To drive beautiful cars, know 
the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. You see, what happens is we enjoy 
the gifts, but we forget the giver. We obsess on the food. 
We obsess with the drink. We obsess with the clothing. 
We obsess with the gifts. And we forget God. You see, the 
common denominator in this particular sin is me, myself. It's selfishness. It's idolatry. It is putting oneself first. 
rather than God and his kingdom. Isn't life more than food? Isn't life more or the body more 
than clothing? Remember that situation when 
Jesus comes to see Mary and Martha. In fact, let's just look there 
for a moment. It illustrates the point. I don't want to condemn. I don't want to speak ill. I 
just want to show the principle fleshed out in a particular way. Luke chapter 10, verses 38 to 
42. Now, it happened as they went, he entered a certain village 
and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 
And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and 
heard his word. But Martha was distracted with 
much serving, and she approached him and said, Lord, do you not 
care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, 
tell her to help me. Now, ladies, I'm not suggesting 
you never clean your house. Nothing godly about a sink full 
of dishes. Nothing holy about unclean clothes. 
Nothing noble about spots on your carpet. So at the point 
of the story, the point of the story is obsessing with your 
house, obsessing with your carpet, obsessing with your sink, obsessing 
with your clothes or the spots on the clothes to the neglect 
of the one thing needful. You see the point that Jesus 
draws. Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are 
worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen that good 
part, which will not be taken away from her. You see, in our 
practical, personal, daily living, Jesus wants us to flesh out the 
Lord's prayer. God comes first in the closet. God must come first in the kitchen. God comes first in the closet. 
God must come first in the workplace. God comes first in the closet. 
God must come first in the car. Wherever we find ourselves, the 
conspicuous order of our lives is his name, his kingdom, his 
will before our daily provision for bread. That's the point. That's what he's getting at. 
We've seen the grammar, the specifics, the question. Look at the encouragement. 
God cares for you. Verses 26 and 27. Not a great 
encouragement. God cares for you. I don't want 
to say that in a menacing way. God cares for you. Suck it up 
and knuckle under and don't worry. No, God cares for you. It's great. Look at the birds of the air. 
What Jesus says. It's an earthy preacher. He uses 
relevant applications. He speaks the language of the 
marketplace. He says, look at those birds, 
look at what they're doing. They fly around in the air. They 
don't sow. They don't reap. They don't gather 
into barns. Again, the implication is very 
clear. Man sows, man reaps, man gathers. God gave him that task. God gave him that mandate. God 
called Adam first in the garden temple to subdue that place, 
to expand the worship place of God Most High. After he's driven 
out, he is told that he will still labor, he will still work, 
and it will be by the sweat of his brow. He will toil, he will 
be busy. Man goes out to his labor early 
in the morning, according to the psalmist in Psalm 104. I 
believe Psalm 104 is also in the mind of Jesus here as he 
is speaking to this reality, that the birds of the air find 
their blessing, their gift, their food, their sustenance in God. They're not lazy. Do you ever 
just see birds laying in their nest with their beaks open, waiting 
for God to drop worms in? No, they fly around. They're busy. They go from place 
to place. They're looking for food. What's 
the point? God feeds them. God sustains 
them. God cares for them. And notice, 
it's not just God providentially. It's not just God sovereignly. Look at how Jesus sustains his 
argument in verse twenty six. Look at the birds of the air, 
for they neither sow nor reap or gather into barns. Yet you're 
here. It comes. Heavenly Father feeds 
them. He's not the heavenly father 
to the birds. He's God, sovereign, providence, 
all those things. But no bird calls God father. No bird is called to go into 
the closet and break our father. No bird is told that you ought 
to relate to your father through the mediator, Jesus Christ. Birds 
have no sin. They don't need the mediation 
of Christ. They are related to God based on creation. We are 
related to God based on creation and redemption. We are vitally 
connected to him through Jesus Christ and thus can call him 
heavenly father. The father we pray to in Matthew 
six, nine. The father who calls us to work, 
to sow, to reap, to gather into barns. The father who instructs 
us to trust him. The father who, as we see in 
Deuteronomy 8.18, gives us the power to attain wealth. That 
Heavenly Father will most certainly look after you. That's the blessed 
truth. That's what Jesus wants us to 
get. That's what Jesus wants us to understand. Note the implication 
of the point. Are you not of more value than 
they? That we live in a day and age 
that people will busy themselves protecting baby seals and vote 
yes for abortion just indicates how far we have fallen. I'm not suggesting we go out 
and club baby whales or baby seals or whatever. I'm not saying 
that. It's a matter of your life or 
mine and theirs, then club them and eat and live. We have people that are so freaked 
out about eating cows or eating animals, meat is murder, and 
yet abortion on demand. Jesus says, aren't you more valuable 
than the birds? Genesis 1, 26-28, doesn't say 
he created the Baltimore Oriole in his image. Doesn't say the 
Blue Jays created in his image. Doesn't say the sparrow or the 
swallow is created in his image. Doesn't mean that. It says that 
man is created in the image of God, Psalm 8. What is man that 
you have stationed him in this position? You've given him dominion 
over the creatures. What does Jesus teach later in 
Matthew's gospel? Are you not of more value than 
the sparrow? Do you doubt that? Do you not realize that? If God causes that sparrow to 
eat for a day, he's going to cause you to eat for a day. And 
then note the implication that Jesus draws off of this example 
in verse 27, which of you by worrying can add one cubit to 
his stature? Stature is probably better translated 
as span as in lifespan. Not many of us. I feel like a 
short man in a tall world. I wouldn't want to add 18 inches 
to my height. I just simply wouldn't want to 
do that. I doubt any of my taller brethren would want to do that 
because you'd hit your head every time you walked into a room. 
He's not talking about adding height. Not saying by worrying, 
have you been able to make it to the Lakers? Talking about 
in your worrying, have you prolonged your life? Don't you love Jesus 
in the way that he teaches? Look at the birds of the air. 
Now, look at your own life. Have you and all your worrying, 
have you and all your self tormenting, have you and all your fretfulness 
and in all your carnal anxiety bettered your life? Made it happier? Made it longer? The physiological 
argument probably could be reversed by worrying you're actually taking 
qubits off your lifespan. By worrying and fretting and 
thinking about everything under the sun and not submitting yourself 
to the sovereign rule of a gracious father, you are probably rendering 
damage to your innards. You're a mess. Which of you, 
by worrying, can add one cubit to your lifespan? Have you ever 
worried your way out of a problem? Have you ever worried your way 
out of a sticky situation? You know what generally happens? 
We build up this worry. It's almost like this force field, 
we think. But it's self-torment. We get 
to the actual event and we realize that wasn't so bad. Why did I 
torment myself the day before? That's what Jesus is appealing 
to. Who of you, by worrying, has made your life better? See, 
you don't find books written on how to have a happier life 
through worry, how to increase your stature, or how to increase 
your lifespan through anxiety. You're just not going to find 
it. It's physiologically impossible. Jesus the Lord says to all of 
us, which of you, by worrying, has made things better? God cares 
for you. It is useless to worry. Jesus 
assumes that will answer none of us. There is not one of you 
in this room who can say, well, you know, I worried about 15 
times last week and I felt my lifespan grow a bit. That is 
simply inaccurate. Jesus says that worry is useless. It has no place in the Christian 
life. It has no place in the kingdom of God. It has no place 
in the heart. Get rid of it. Dispel it. Destroy 
it. Despise it. Loathe it. Do not 
entertain it. Don't keep hitting your thumb 
with the hammer. Wouldn't we say that to someone? 
Wow, this hurts. Ow, this hurts. Ow, don't do 
it. You'd say stop hitting your thumb with the hammer. You happen 
to know a peculiar person that bangs his head into the wall 
and he says, wow, this really hurts. May I suggest you stop 
banging your head on the wall? You know, many of us just worry 
about everything. It's paralyzing. France says our lifespan, no 
less than our food and clothing, is a gift of God and is outside 
human control. Worrying about it changes nothing. That's verses 25 to 27. Look, 
secondly, broad category at the indictment. Why do you worry? 
Verses 28 to 30. Having given these truths in 
verses twenty five to twenty seven, the natural response or 
the natural outflow of Jesus' statement is, so why do you worry? What's your problem? What don't 
you get? What don't you understand? Why 
the self-torment? Why the threat? Why the anxiety? Why the betrayal? Why the life 
stricken with such an attitude? Why do you worry about clothing? 
Why do you worry about clothing in this context for survival? Why do you worry about clothing 
in this context for inheritance? Remember, I alluded to this, 
I think, last week or the week before. How indicting is this 
upon the children and the young people of our generation? If 
we're cautioned against worrying about clothing for survival, 
May I suggest that if your friends look at your jeans or look at 
your shirts and they don't approve, find new friends. Don't go buy new pants that they'll 
approve of. Don't buy new shirts that they'll 
give you the thumbs up to. Find some new friends that aren't 
so shallow. Find some new friends whose life isn't connected to 
clothing. I mean, when you really stop 
and boil it down. Do we live to eat? No, we eat 
to live, to bring glory to God. Do we live so that we can wear 
the most glorious clothes? No, we are clothed so that we 
can in modesty serve and honor our great God. It's a matter 
of perspective. Why do you worry about clothing? 
What is your problem? What is the issue? It's a pride 
issue. It's a vanity issue. It's an 
idolatry issue. It's I have to have this or people 
won't like me. I have to have this or I will 
freeze in this particular context. In the freezing context, I certainly 
give a lot more credence to somebody worrying. I'm not going to justify 
it because Jesus does not. But if somebody is about to freeze 
to death and they're worried about a garment that I can understand 
that I can appreciate, but somebody worrying because some friends 
at school are going to say, you're weird. You shop at Wal-Mart. Praise God, you got a Wal-Mart 
to shop at a thrift store to shop at. We throw away much better 
stuff. than many, many, many, many people 
in the world even have access to. It's shameful. We probably fill more food up 
in that trash can on a luncheon day than many people in the world 
see. And we have the wherewithal to 
worry about these sorts of things, to panic, to freak, to fret, 
to be incapacitated. Why do you worry about clothing? 
Next example, look at the lilies, look at those flowers. They don't toil, they don't spin. Implication, man toils, man spins, 
man works, man's busy. Not those lilies of the field, 
not those beautiful flowers that canvas Palestine. Not those various 
varieties that look so gorgeous. Look at what he says. 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. Lovely lilies, said 
C.H. Spurgeon, had ye rebuked our 
foolish nervousness. The array of lilies comes without 
fret. Why do we kill ourselves with 
care about that which God gives to plants which cannot care? Why do we kill ourselves with 
care over things which God gives to plants which cannot care? You want to read about Solomon's 
glory, go back to first Kings 10 when the Queen of Sheba comes. What does it do to her? She's 
amazed, she's marveling, she is impressed. Jesus says those 
lilies, those geraniums, those varieties, those plants, all 
of those things, God has arrayed those much more beautifully. 
Why are you worried? Why are you paralyzed? Why is 
it that clothing takes more of your energy than God himself? Very interesting to in light 
of our studies in Deuteronomy chapter eight, very similar context, very similar context. God through 
Moses is preparing the people for the conquest. Go in to the 
promised land, dispossess the land of the Canaanites, kill 
them, utterly destroy them, exterminate them, get rid of them. That sentence 
could probably land me in jail in this politically correct environment. 
You mean you're advocating that? God advocated it. What's Moses remind them in Deuteronomy 
8? God took you out in the wilderness 
to teach you some lessons. God took you out in the wilderness 
to humble you. God took you out in the wilderness to teach you 
this very important principle. Man does not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Food. What else does Moses remind them 
on the plains of Moab? For those 40 years, your garments 
didn't wear out. Why are you worrying about clothes? For 40 years, the Lord sustained 
you in the wilderness and your clothes did not wear out. Not 
only that, you maintained physical stamina because of Him. Your 
foot didn't swell. Your feet didn't swell up. You 
had the ability to march on. See, the children of Israel concluded 
in the wilderness that God was not with them. Moses says God 
was the one carrying you. God was the father who picked 
you up and saw you through the wilderness. You see, Jesus is 
instructing us in that very same lesson today. Don't worry about 
food. Be more consumed with those words 
that proceed from the mouth of God. Don't worry about clothing, 
be more consumed with that God of heaven and earth who clothes 
the lilies of the field. Don't fret, don't be anxious, 
don't be carnally wrecked, don't torment yourself. Give yourself 
to a faithful creator and redeemer who looks after his children, 
who cares for his people, who is covenanted to bless them. 
That's what Jesus is communicating here. If God clothes the lilies 
of the field, which are fleeting and temporary, won't he clothe 
us? Ryle said this, he who takes 
thought for perishable flowers will surely not neglect the bodies 
in which dwell immortal souls. He says that grass is here, it's 
gathered up and it's burned, it's here for a time. You burn 
it so you can bake your bread. You burn it on a daily basis. 
And yet, before it goes to the oven, God cares for it. He causes 
it to grow. Isn't He going to care for you, 
this body that houses an immortal soul? Isn't He going to care 
for His children, the ones for whom Jesus died? Take your worry 
to 625 to 34. Take your anxiety to this passage. Let it find you out. Let it root 
it out. Let it destroy worry. It has no place in the Christian 
life. And then notice last observation 
in our passage before we close. But before we close, we have 
a few applications, so don't say, hey, good, we're almost 
done. Please don't do that. I mean, if you do that, at least 
don't have an outward smile on your face. Just kidding. Notice the specific issue. Now, if God so clothes the grass 
of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the 
oven, will he not much more clothe you, here it comes, oh you, of 
little faith? You see what worry and carnal 
anxiety evidences little faith? You see what worry and carnal 
anxiety shows little faith? Little faith is the problem. 
Little faith is the issue. Carson says the root of anxiety 
is unbelief. Spurgeon again, little faith 
is not a little fault for it greatly wrongs the Lord and sadly 
grieves the fretful mind. To think the Lord who clothes 
lilies will leave his own children naked is shameful. He says, oh, 
little faith, learn better manners. Spurgeon's right. That's the 
issue. When you're freaking out and 
you're fretting and your hearts are filled with carnal anxiety 
and you're having panic attacks. And you're in that mode where 
everything is wrong. Nothing's ever going to be better. 
Everything's against me. Life is ruined. Life is disastrous. It is a marker, an evidence, 
an advertisement that you have little faith. Let's just be honest. Oh, but you don't understand, 
you don't know my issues, you don't know my problems. Let's 
be honest. Isn't it nice When you meet people 
who are honest. Lord, I believe help mine unbelief. Well, she's just do he blesses 
him. What do we do? Lord, I believe 
my faith is strong. My faith is solid. My faith is 
rocks, you know, certain hell of all things. And I'm paralyzed. I'm fretful. I'm whiny. I'm complaining. I'm like the 
Gentiles who live out their philosophy with no sovereign God. You don't 
blame the Gentile because he frets over his daily provision. 
It's not right. It's not. It's not godly. You 
can understand why, when you have a humanistic, atheistic 
philosophy and worldview, men freak out over the littlest things. 
But Christians. who have a sovereign God in heaven, 
who closed the lilies of the field, who feeds the birds of 
the air, who has redeemed us through the blood of Jesus Christ? 
What's Paul's argument? The greater to the less in Romans 
chapter eight. God, who delivered up his own 
son for us, how shall he not with him also freely give us 
all things? He bled for you and he's not 
going to feed you. He bled for you and he's not going to clothe 
you. He bled for you, and he's not going to help you in a particular 
situation. He bled for you, and he's not 
going to supply the spirit that you need to deal on a daily basis. Really? Is that how you think? Matthew 6, 25 to 34 is the antidote 
to carnal anxiety. It is the command to resist worry. It is the strategy by which Christians 
in God's kingdom can stop living like the heathen. Start trusting. The point of the passage, as 
we mentioned before, is not a philosophical treatise designed to answer every 
question concerning famine, concerning food, concerning clothing, concerning 
shelter. The point is very simple. The 
point is very clear. Jesus is putting his finger on 
a particular sin that characterizes, unfortunately, many of God's 
people. Carnal anxiety, worry, threat, 
whatever you call it, tormenting oneself. Jesus says this does 
not belong. in the child of God. Well, in conclusion, the sin 
of worry. Remember, I said it was pretty 
easy to fill up a page. Here's just some thoughts. We don't 
have time to develop these things, but first, worry betrays a lack 
of loyalty to the kingdom. It betrays a lack of loyalty 
to the kingdom. Remember the larger context. 
Don't forget it. Lay up treasures in heaven. I 
try to be focused on the kingdom of God, serve the master, not 
man, man, serve God. You see, worry about clothing, 
worry about food, worrying about whatever it is, evidence is a 
lack of loyalty to the kingdom. Secondly, it evidence is divided 
attention. More consumed about those things 
which please you, you're more consumed about those things which 
serve you, more consumed with those things that benefit you 
than with God. divided attention. Third, it 
questions God's sovereign rule in the universe, doesn't it? You mean the God who chose me 
before time, before the creation of the world in him, the God 
who sent the son of his love and was pleased to bruise him, 
putting him to grief and let me starve to death? Now, notice the text does not 
say every time you eat, it's going to be what you want. That's 
where our problem is. I don't want beans and rice. 
Steak and lobster. Well, that's that's not what 
this text is teaching. You should always say, child 
of God, you should always have steak and lobster. Probably not 
the healthiest diet anyway, because lobster is just a vehicle to 
eat garlic butter, right? Not a healthy way to live. Jesus 
isn't saying the child of the king always gets whatever he 
or she wants. He'll provide for you. May not be your first choice, 
may not be your tenth choice, but he'll provide for you. Fourthly, 
it doubts God's fatherly care for his children. The text is 
conspicuous. Heavenly Father. Jesus connects 
us to redemption. It's not a passage for the Gentile. 
This is not a passage for the unbeliever. This is not a passage 
to calm the downtrodden and poor who are outside of Jesus Christ. 
This is a passage to comfort the children of God. It's your 
heavenly father. It does not believe God's holy 
word. Now, where he does. I'm sure you've all read Matthew 
6, 25 to 34 at some point in your life, or you've heard it 
preached or you've heard it alluded to, or you've heard it in the 
mouth of somebody praying in your hearing. I doubt that my 
reading of this passage this morning was the first time you 
had ever heard anything of this. Probably you're familiar. Look 
at the birds, look at the flowers. That's something we all connect 
to. So what is worry? What is fret? What is self-tormenting 
but to not believe the word of God? God brought them out into 
the wilderness to humble them, to test them and to teach them. 
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 
from the mouth of God. It does or it paralyzes individual 
and thus kingdom advance. paralyzes individual and thus 
kingdom advance. The time we spend worrying about 
ourselves could be much better spent in prayer, in service, 
in worship, in evangelism, in being concerned about world missions 
and the advancement of Christ's kingdom. You see, this sin of 
worry paralyzes that. It as well shifts the focus from 
the eternal to the temporal. Doesn't it? All you ever think 
about is food, clothing, shelter, whatever. Your focus is on the 
temporal. Your focus is on the here and 
now. That's one of the things that 
is indicative of the Gentile. They don't think of heaven to 
come. They don't think of an unseen world. They don't think 
of a risen Christ. They don't think of an advocate 
with the Father. They don't think of him making 
intercession on behalf of his people. They think about, what 
am I going to eat today? What am I going to wear? And 
what fun can I engage in? That's it. It ultimately reduces us to fearful, 
doubting, tormented souls instead of bold, faithful, earnest subjects 
of God's holy kingdom. As well, worry is a theological 
problem. We live based on what we believe. As we've already alluded to, 
verse 32, the Gentiles seek after this. Why? Because they're Gentiles 
and their theology is defective. It's wrong. They don't have a 
personal God. They don't have a heavenly father. 
They don't have someone sovereign in providence. They don't have 
a Lord Jesus. They don't have these things. 
So when the heathen lives this way, it is perfectly consistent 
with their theology. When the Christian has right 
theology, when he understands who God is, when he understands 
that he cares for birds and lilies, how dare us to be worrisome? And I said this, and I'll say 
it again, it is ultimately a problem of idolatry. Self is the center. What I wear. what I eat, what 
my tomorrow looks like. It's interesting as well in Deuteronomy 
8. What happened when they gathered wealth? It's for me. That's the default position of 
sinners, isn't it? Anything we get, it's for me. 
Everything's about me. I was thinking about this recently. You might say, I don't have any 
household idols. You read some of the accounts 
in the scriptures. They would hide the household idols. They 
had household idols. You might visit the home of somebody 
of a contrary religion, and you see they have a closet or a shrine 
or something. Or you can go to a Chinese restaurant. 
There's a little Buddhist sitting in the plant life, and they put 
food before him. And these idols are quite evident. You think to yourself, I don't 
have any household idols at home. Can I just encourage you to do 
something today? Go home, go in your bathroom, and look in 
the mirror. You'll find the household idle. Not open the medicine cabinet. 
I'm not saying it's on the shelf. Look in the mirror. Yeah. That's idle numero uno 
for everybody. And that's what this sin is all 
about. We are the measure of all things. My food, my clothes, my everything. This advertises the sin of worry, 
advertises where your treasure is, it advertises where your 
eye is, and it advertises who you really serve. I don't want to bloody us with 
the sin. What are some helps? Recognize 
the absolute sovereignty of God. I know that sounds fundamental, 
but that's what Jesus points us to. What's the antidote? What's the help? What's the remedy? 
Fifteen principles on how to beat worry? Worry and how I mastered 
it? No. Look at God. Look at God 
who puts food in the path of the raven. Consider how he provides 
for ravens, too. Birds of prey. Something has 
to die in order for a raven to eat. The parallel passage in 
Luke 12, when Jesus is speaking about this, it's ravens defined 
for us. Those unclean birds, right? Unclean birds, God provides 
for them. He's not going to provide for 
his children. Recognize the sovereignty of God. Appreciate, secondly, 
the government of God. He feeds birds. He clothes lilies. He'll certainly take care of 
you. Don't just have it in your head, but rejoice or appreciate 
the government of God. John Scott was a bird lover. We had some interesting twists 
in his theology. I can't advocate everything that 
he taught, perhaps later in life. But when this subject of birds 
comes up in the Bible, he shined. I often thought, I wish I appreciated 
birds and flowers more. I'd appreciate Jesus teaching. 
I just don't. Go over to Mr. Proctor, sit in 
the back, or sit there so we can see the bird feeder and all 
these cool birds. He's just happy. Oh, look at 
that bird, look at that bird. I want to be excited. I want 
to see it. I want to appreciate it. That's our God. That's our Lord. All these varieties 
of birds, all these varieties of flowers, all this plant life, 
all the glory of creation, all the majesty displayed for us. 
And he tends to it all. He upholds it all. We ought to 
appreciate that reality and understand that if he's that concerned, 
with a bird that's here today and gone tomorrow. How much more 
a blood bought child of the living God? You're not going to supply 
our needs. We need to render obedience to 
Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Get it in your head. If you worry, 
you're disobedient. If you fret and torment yourself, 
you are rejecting Jesus. You're rejecting Paul. Do not 
be anxious for anything. Philippians 4, 6 and 7. But in 
everything, Pray with Thanksgiving. Wrap your petitions with Thanksgiving 
and offer it up to the Lord God. What's the antidote to anxiety 
according to Paul? Prayer. Recognize God. Obey God. Honor God. Listen to 
Jesus. Listen to Paul. If you're a worrisome 
soul, if you're a fretful being, if you're tormenting yourself, 
you're in rebellion against the living and true God. You and 
I need to repent. And then we need to increase 
our faith in God. That doesn't mean you come at 
the end and you see Pastor Cam, you see some other person and 
they say, I want my faith increased. All right, I'm going to put this 
in you and I'm going to raise your faith level. How do we increase 
our faith in God? Is it mystery? Is it mystical? Is it subjective? No, it's by 
searching that thing that's probably in your lap right now. How do 
you increase your faith? You'll learn about God. You'll 
learn that he used ravens at the time of Elijah to sustain 
a woman, or that he sustained Elijah. Unclean woman, unclean 
birds tended to Elijah, the Tishbite. So you won't know that if you 
don't read your Bible. You won't see how God provided for Israel 
in the wilderness if you don't read your Bible. You won't see 
that when you're pressed and you're sorely vexed, to use some 
older language, how God delivers. You won't know that. It's incumbent 
upon all of us as worriers or potential worriers to increase 
our faith. And the means by which we do 
that is to search the scriptures. Haven't you learned as a Christian 
it's not magic? Haven't you learned as a Christian 
that it's not, I just have to, you know, be a better me? Where are the battles won? The 
secret place. Where's the battles fought? Secret 
place. Prayer and reading of the scripture. 
That's the means by which we increase our faith. Oh, you of 
little faith, read the scriptures. If you're not a Christian this 
morning, I would encourage you to worry about one thing. You 
say, that's a bit of a contrast. You've just spent the better 
part of an hour telling us not to worry. I'm telling Christians 
not to worry. If you're not a Christian this 
morning, you ought to worry. You ought to be fretful. And 
I hope and pray there'll be some self-tormenting when you're at 
home alone with your conscience and the reality that you are 
a sinner against the Holy God. It ought to terrify you. It ought 
to promote anxiety. It ought to promote threatfulness. The thought that you, a creature 
in God's world, have despised him, have rejected his law, have 
taken every one of the Ten Commandments and thrown them into the dirt, 
rejected them. That ought to cause you a great 
deal of concern. If you are here this morning 
and there's no concern about meeting a thrice holy God, our 
hope and our prayer is that the spirit breaks in and awakens 
you to the wrath to come. Remember what Peter said, repent 
and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. That's your 
problem. You're a sinner. God hates sin. Contrary to the fluff that is 
preached elsewhere, not only does God hate sin, he hates the 
sinner. Sin doesn't just exist out there. These six things Yahweh hates, 
ye seven are an abomination to him. Lying lips don't exist apart 
from the sinner. Haughty eyes don't just float 
around. I saw a pair of haughty eyes the other day. They're sinners 
eyes. Psalm 5 says that God hates the 
workers of iniquity. The scripture everywhere testifies 
what God does with impenitent sinners. He rained hell upon 
Sodom and Gomorrah. He judged the world through water 
at the time of Noah. He took the northern tribes and 
sent them into exile via Assyria. He took the southern tribes and 
sent them into exile via Babylon. All those things pale in significance 
as to how God displays his hatred for sin in the New Testament. 
How does God display his hatred for sin in the New Testament? 
You're probably thinking Revelation 21.8. These kinds of people go 
to the lake of fire, don't bypass the cross. Ye who think of sin 
but lightly, here its guilt may estimate. It's upon the cross 
that God shows his holy fury against sin. If you're not a 
believer today, be fearful. If you're not a believer today, 
worry about the thought of dying. But if that worry comes, flee 
to Christ. Flee to the Redeemer. Flee to 
the Lord Jesus. Believe the gospel. Believe on 
him alone, because it's in him your sins are blotted out. It's 
in him that you receive a righteousness that avails with God. It's in 
him that you find acceptance with God. If you're an unbeliever 
this morning, if you are worried about your state, if you are 
agonizing about where you'll spend eternity, listen to the 
promise of the gospel. All that the Father gives me 
will come to me. And the one who comes to me, 
I will certainly not cast out. Beautiful. Jesus says, the one 
who comes, I will in no wise, I will certainly not cast out. Take your worried, vexed, troubled, 
pride soul to the only physician, to the only one who can heal 
you, the only one who can bring health, the only one who can 
bring forgiveness. That's Christ the Lord. And as 
a believer, go out and don't worry. That's the message of 
our text. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for this section in 
Matthew 6. Thank you that our Lord Jesus speaks to all the 
issues that affect us in this world. We praise you for these 
commands. We praise you for these examples. 
We praise you for the grace that you supply. And we ask that you 
would fill each one of us with your spirit. Give us the grace 
to guard against, to resist the temptation, to worry, to be fretful, 
to torment ourselves. Help us to realize that you are 
sovereign and good and you care for your children. And we pray 
through Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen.