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Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:25–34
Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, I want to address something I've been wanting to speak to for a while now. I'm most familiar with its setting in Matthew's gospel. Specifically, our focus is verses 31 to 34.
The broader context, of course, is the Sermon on the Mount, and the more immediate context is Christ's prohibition against His people worrying. And I'll read verses 25 to 34, and then as I said, we'll kind of summarize verses 25 to 30, and then focus on verses 31 to 34. But Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 25. 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 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 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 trouble. Amen.
Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father, help us now to understand our Lord Jesus. Help us not only to understand it, as I suspect most of us do, but help us to apply it and help us to be a people that are resigned to the sovereignty of our God, not just in matters of salvation, but in everyday matters. You are the God who is absolutely sovereign over saving sinners, and we all confess that. but help us to realize you are the God who is sovereign over all in preserving and in keeping and in watching out for those redeemed sinners. We pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Again, we pray for the forgiveness of sins and we ask these things through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
I had mentioned to Brother Tony just prior to the worship service tonight that I was preaching on this subject, Do Not Worry, and I was quick to let him know I wasn't doing it from a vantage point or a position of having mastered it. I looked for a brief definition on Google. I thought when I typed in worry, D-E-F, there would pop up a picture of Jim Butler. So I do not speak to you as one who has mastered Matthew 6 and the various prohibitions against worry that our Lord gives to us, but hopefully as a helper to try and open up this passage so that we can all seek comfort in God, so that we can all seek contentedness in God. so that we will not be characterized by a carnal anxiety, by a worrisome spirit, by this attitude that does betray confidence in the living and true God.
When I did type in the definition of worry, this is what Google responded, give way to anxiety or unease, allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. I think that's a very appropriate explanation of what worry is. Allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. Now Christ, in His kindness, does not want His people to be marked by that particular definition.
Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, speaks specifically to this issue. And I'm convinced He speaks specifically to this issue because it's a real issue. God addresses real problems. God speaks to us where we live.
God knows our hearts and God does give us the remedy on how to deal with, or at least how to try and deal with, the various issues that confront us. Now, if we were to map out verses 25 to 34, this is what I suspect it would look like. In the first place, there is a command in verses 25 to 27, and that command is repeated or carried out through the context, do not worry. Secondly, there is an indictment in verses 28 to 30.
Why do you worry? And then Jesus points to these lilies and Jesus points to these birds as instructors. They are to calm our soul. They are to reprove us and to call us to repent for having this carnal anxiety or this worrisome spirit.
Luther made this observation concerning the birds. 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. So we've got a command, do not worry, verses 25 to 27.
We have an indictment. Why do you worry in verses 28 to 30? We're going to take up verses 31 and 32 under the heading of the contrast, Gentiles and children, and then secondly, the governing principle in verses 33 and 34. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then these things will be added to you.
But note, in the first place, this contrast that Christ sets up in verses 31 to 32. He does repeat Himself. Look at verse 31, therefore do not worry. He's already said it several times.
He says it in verse 25. He says it in verse 28. He says it here again in verse 31. He'll say it again in verse 34.
He tells us several times, do not worry. And I believe that Christ repeats Himself in this particular command because we repeat ourselves in disregarding the command. In other words, Christ tells us several times because He knows our hearts, He knows our tendency, He knows the disposition that is in us. We need often reminders of this particular principle.
Notice that He highlights the things He's been speaking of. Verse 31, therefore, do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? Things he previously dealt with. There is an obsession here on the part of people.
What am I going to eat? What am I going to drink? What am I going to wear? Spurgeon says the questions in this verse are taken out of the worldling's catechism of distrust.
It is taken out of the worldling's catechism of distrust. Now
Gentiles and Children Contrasted
note specifically Jesus' contrast of the children of God with the Gentiles. Note, he says, 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. Now, we need to spend a little bit of time on this particular topic, for after all these things, the Gentiles see.
What is Christ implying? What is Christ inferring? What is Christ stating? That when the child of God gives over to this carnal anxiety, or gives over to this worrisome spirit, when he or she becomes obsessed with what shall I eat, what shall I drink, what shall I wear, he has identified himself, or aligned himself rather, with Gentiles, with those who know not God.
Those who are strangers to the covenants of promise. Those who are aliens to the commonwealth of Israel. Those who have no hope and those who are without God in this world. The Lord Christ highlights why believers should not worry and he contrasts them with the Gentiles.
Notice as well that
The Gentile's Orientation
this is an obsession for the Gentiles. This is what marks them. This is what occupies them. This is their orientation.
This is what they're about. And this stems from a particular philosophy. The Gentiles don't have a sovereign God. The Gentiles don't have a doctrine of providence.
Now I realize the word Gentiles, but in this context, Gentiles means those who do not know God. So they don't have a doctrine of providence. They don't have Hymn 21 in their hymn book. They cannot speak and they cannot sing concerning God's mysterious ways.
The fact that God overrules all things for the good of his people.
No Doctrine of Providence
It is consistent for a Gentile living in his atheistic world to reason the way that he reasons. What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What shall I wear?
He has no father. He has no provider. He has none in his corner, and certainly this renders him full of carnal anxiety and worry. J.C.
Ryle says that Christ suggests to us that over-carefulness about the things of this world is most unworthy of a Christian. Now brethren, we are not to conclude that we are to lay on our couches and hold out our hands and manna will fall through our roofs into our hands so that we can stuff it in our mouths. No, the idea of birds and the idea of at least their participation in the food process, they work, they are diligent, they do toil. The lilies in the field don't.
God nevertheless clothes them even better than what he did with Solomon. But the idea is not passivity. The idea is not to be obsessed. Ryle says, 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 clear light and knowledge give proof of it by his faith and contentment. You see, doctrine precedes practice.
And for the child of God who has a sovereign God, it ought to flesh itself out in the daily ebb and flow of life. We are not to be like the Gentiles. No God for the Gentile. lots of worry, lots of anxiety, lots of fretting, lots of obsession. But with the child of God, it should be different.
Not that we're not concerned about such things, not that we don't go to work, not that we don't go to Walmart when there's a sale and buy a new shirt. That's not what our Lord Jesus is suggesting. But to be obsessed with such things, to fret about things, to be a worrisome person, to have what we saw in the definition, to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles, that is not supposed to be the case for the children of God. And it truly is amazing that as the people of God, we do confess and we do profess.
In fact, our confession of faith back there highlights the reality that we see God's sovereignty in salvation. We know that nobody's ever saved because of their free will. We know that nobody's ever saved because of their good choices. We know that nobody's ever saved because of their law keeping or their merit.
We know it is God who makes alive dead sinners. It is God who is sovereign in regeneration. It is God who grants the graces of faith and repentance so that sinners can close with Jesus Christ. We know that, we confess that, we profess that, and yet on a Thursday we forget God's sovereignty and we start to fret about what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear.
We need to think in terms of Romans 8.32, if God did not spare his own son for us, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Now in that context it's spiritual to be sure, but we ought to consider the comparison that Paul makes. If God did not shrink back from hanging His own dear Son upon the cross and putting Him to grief on our behalf, how's He not going to give us all spiritual things for the good of our lives? But we might tone that down one step further and say, if God hung His Son upon the cross, is He going to abandon us on Thursday?
Are we going to starve to death or be without water on a Thursday? Are we going to be naked on Thursday? This is the way that Gentiles function. They have a prior commitment.
They have excluded God. They are atheists. They are heathen. And they live consistently with that confession.
But as the people of God, those who understand who He is, This is unbecoming conduct for the people of God. We are not to be characterized by worry. We are not to be suspicious of the fact that we're going to see our picture when we type in worrydeaf at google.com.
Your Heavenly Father Knows Your Needs
Notice as well what our Lord goes on to say in the same verse. After these things the Gentiles seek. And then he says, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. So you see the structure of the text.
Don't worry. And then he gives two reasons. Don't worry because in the first place Gentiles worry. But don't worry because in the second place God's got this.
God knows what you need. God made this world, He made you, He is in charge, and nothing escapes His sovereignty. There is no detail of your life that is outside of the omniscience of God. He wouldn't be omniscient if He didn't know that you were going to have a rough Thursday.
And it's very intriguing that in this passage, Christ never ever says, you're not going to have trouble, you're not going to have trials, you're not going to have difficulties. Christ says, you're going to have them. Notice at the end, sufficient for the day is its own trouble. You see, Christ is not suggesting that as God's children, everything always goes perfectly for you.
I think David and Paul would be great illustrations that that's not the case, as would be Jesus Christ, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. So Christ is a realist. He understands that in this life there is tribulation. Christ is a realist.
He knows that there are sufferings. He knows that there are hardships. He knows that there are trials. He knows that there are sorrows.
But He wants us to realize that in the midst of those things, we compound it by worry. We compound it by carnal anxiety. We make it then sinful instead of God's blessed rod of affliction wherein he tutors his children and they become conformed to the image of Christ. So the imperative repeated in verse 31, do not worry, and then the specific reasons Gentiles worry, but then that second one, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
It is intriguing that this particular section does parallel, at least in some degree, the Lord's Prayer. Look back for just a moment earlier in the chapter, in Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6 at verse 8, therefore do not be like them. He has told them don't pray like hypocrites and don't pray like heathen.
Hypocrites like to stand out on the street corner and blow the trumpet so that everybody sees that they're praying. I mean, can you imagine that? Is that what you want to be known for? Wow, he's a great prayer.
Wow, that string of eloquent words that he put together. Brethren, Jesus says, go into your closet and pray. Now, by saying that, he doesn't mean don't have corporate prayer. When we have corporate prayer, it's called corporate prayer.
Pray. In other words, when we gather together on a Wednesday night or a Sunday morning for the express purpose of praying, then please pray by all means. Corporate prayer is sanctioned and commanded by the apostle in 1 Timothy chapter 2. In the first place, I urge that prayers, supplications, giving of thanks, intercessions be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority.
The idea being is that you pray privately and when you come publicly and there's an opportunity for corporate prayer, you pray. Sometimes there's this lull or there's this silence in our prayer meetings. I remember hearing of Earl Blackburn saying, you know, in the midst of such a lull or such a silence, brethren, we're here to pray. I mean, come on, right?
If I came up here to preach and I didn't open my mouth, one of y'all might say, can you get on with it? Well, the corporate prayer meeting is the corporate prayer meeting. If you are present, then pray. Shouldn't be just two or three guys praying.
Pray, please, beseech the Lord. But in this particular context, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to pray. They love to be seen by men.
Jesus says, go into your closet. Your father who sees in secret will reward you. But he also says, don't pray like the heathen. What do the heathen do?
They stand there and they yammer on because they think they'll be heard for their many words. Vain repetition marks the heathen. They approach God the way that worshipers of Baal approach Baal, in a formulaic manner. If we just say the right words and we do the right things and we say the same thing over and over, then He will respond and give us what it is that we want.
Jesus says, don't be like them. Now notice in verse eight, therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Now think about this. It is the doctrine of the knowledge of God.
That does not mean my knowledge of who God is, but the doctrine of the knowledge that God has concerning His children that is the very basis or foundation for His children to pray. You see, it's not the case that we are approaching Yahweh in some formulaic manner. We're not trying to subject Him to our whims, we're not trying to get Him to perform to our script, but rather we are acknowledging His sovereignty, we are casting ourselves dependently upon Him, and we are engaged in an act of worship. That's what prayer is.
But Jesus here says, because of what God knows concerning your needs, therefore pray.
Knowledge of God as Basis for Prayer and Life
And the same thing is true in our daily living when it comes to this issue of carnal anxiety, when it comes to this issue of worry, when it comes to this issue of what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear. He says, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. So I think what Christ is saying is you don't need to worry because your father's got it under control. Have you fathers ever said that to your kids?
Dad, what are we gonna do about this? I got it under control. Nothing like being micromanaged by a five-year-old, is there? I mean, don't we love that as parents when our five-year-olds, or even worse, our 15-year-olds wanna tell us how to manage affairs, right?
Is everybody with me? Don't you just love that? I know a better way for you to do this, dad. I know a more accurate way for you to present.
I'm the father. I've got it under control. This is what Christ is saying. Why would we worry?
Why would we be perplexed? Why would we allow our mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles in a world governed by a heavenly Father? So the connection is such, live as you pray. In fact, Owen says that very thing.
Not Owen van der Veen, my grandson, but John Owen, the prince of Puritan preachers. He who prays as he ought will endeavor to live as he prays. You see, if you're consistent in this mindset at the throne of grace, it will help shape you in your daily conduct and in your daily life. If my father knows what I need before I pray and I pray, I can trust that my father still knows what I need after I pray, and he's going to supply my needs as is fitting, as is according to his particular will.
So the doctrine of the knowledge of God is the basis for prayer. The doctrine of the knowledge of God is the basis for a life that is not marked by carnal anxiety, a life that is not marked by worrisomeness. And then note the kindness of the Lord. Just, again, drawing out from what Jesus says, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
What's His implication? He knows you need it, but it's questionable whether He's going to get it. No, the implication follows, doesn't it? Are you with me?
He knows you need these things. He doesn't have to continue on and say, so of course he's gonna supply it. That necessarily follows. Don't be a Gentile.
Trust in the knowledge of God that he has your back, that he understands your needs, that he knows you must have food, he knows you must have water, and he knows you must have clothing. So you see how that works. Your father knows that you need all these things. Again, it would be superfluous for Jesus to say at that point, and he will supply what you need.
Of course he will. That's the thrust of the argument. David says, I have been young and now am old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.
Now, brethren, if what shall we eat means lobster and steak, What shall we drink means the finest whatever beverage of choice. What shall we wear means, you know, Gucci. Then you're in the wrong game, okay? You're in the wrong place.
God's never promised to supply steak and lobster every night. He certainly never promised to supply your favorite beverage every night. And he certainly never promised to clothe you in, you know, however many dollar shirts or whatever, you know, an expensive shirt is. Again, the Walmart.
Bargain sale is probably a great place to find covering. That's what God says he'll take care of. Don't worry about it. Don't fret, don't freak out, don't lose it.
There's a New Testament sort of parallel to that sentiment. I have been young, now I'm old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. The apostle says in Hebrews 13, five, 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.
Isn't that a promise that we oftentimes spiritualize? And, well, we should. When God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you, that certainly means He's not going to abandon us. If we're saved on a Sunday, we're not going to be lost on a Thursday.
He will never leave us, nor will He forsake us. But in the context of Hebrews 13.5, it's with reference to temporal support. That's the injunction. Do not be covetous. but rather be content with what you have.
God has promised, I will never leave you nor forsake you." You see, that's that New Testament equivalent of what David has said in Psalm 37. I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. So we see this contrast between Gentiles and children in verses 31 and 32.
The Governing Principle: Seek First
Now let's look finally at this governing principle in verses 33 and 34. What is to be the Christian's first priority? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Again, the Lord's Prayer is a great pattern here.
I mean, is it accidental that Jesus in the same chapter gives us the Lord's Prayer and then he gives us this teaching on do not worry, do not fret, do not freak out, do not be overruled by carnal anxiety?
The Lord's Prayer as Pattern
Isn't the Lord's Prayer structured according to verse 33? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then these things will be added to you. That's precisely the structure of the Lord's Prayer. God's name be hallowed is the first petition.
God's kingdom come is the second petition. God's will be done is the third petition. It's only after extolling the Lord, it's only after requesting that his name is magnified, that his kingdom come, and that his will be done, that we then turn our attention to our particular needs. Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us of our sins, or our debts, or our trespasses. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. You see, there's a particular structure or order with reference to the Lord's Prayer, and Jesus co-opts that and brings it smack dab into the middle of his teaching on do not worry. The issue for you is not to be consumed with and concerned for what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear.
The issue for all of us is to seek first God's kingdom, to seek first God's righteousness, to have the proper orientation, to be obsessed not with eating, not with drinking, not with wearing, but to be obsessed with God, to see Him as our focus, to see Him as our everything. France says the verb seek echoes the stronger compound verb that was used prior with reference to the Gentiles' anxious quest for material provisions in the previous verse. Disciples, by contrast, have a different orientation, a higher purpose in life. You see, the idea being is if we get our priorities right, then perhaps that will help us to make gains against the sin of worry, against the sin of carnal anxiety.
So if we are fretting, we're freaking, we're losing it, we need to check our priority system first. What's most important to me? My favorite beverage? Steak and lobster?
You fill in the blank. Maybe steak and lobster isn't what you would like to eat every night. If that is what is obsessing in our minds or in our hearts, that will helpfully check us, I hope, and cause us to reflect upon the principle that should govern our life. And it is this vantage point, this seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that enables the people of God to live without worry.
Now, I say that and I wonder, is it possible to live without worry? I doubt it. I mean, some of you are very secure and probably don't worry like butlers do. But some of us are just, you know, it's an ongoing battle, you know, to find that contentedness and to find that trusting in the sovereignty of God.
But worry-free is probably just not a reality, but that ought to be the pursuit. Because in our worry, we betray this reality, that we're not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are to be consumed with God's kingdom, God's righteousness in such a way that we have no energy left. to worry about what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear. So Christ directs us to those things that are most important.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and as Christ often does, He gives us a gracious promise. Notice, and all these things shall be added to you. Now, we need to qualify this. It's like that passage in Philippians 4.13.
You know where Paul says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Christian basketball players think they can jump higher because Jesus strengthens them. Christian weightlifters think they can get an extra 25 pounds on their bench press because Christ strengthens them. Christian financial managers think they're able to do well in the daily markets because Christ strengthens them.
Some of you dear sisters may think you bake the best pie for the church luncheon because Christ strengthens you. Brethren, in the context in Philippians chapter 4, Paul is dealing with matters of contentedness and whether he is abounding or he is abased. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me does not mean I can jump unassisted over the moon. That text is abused.
It's one of those placed on the torture rack where lots of texts are placed, and we make it say what we want it to say. It is not a proof text for Christian excellence in your vocation. Now, be excellent in your vocation to be sure. Give glory to God most high.
Perhaps indirectly, yeah, Christ strengthened you for that particular task. But in Philippians chapter 4, Paul is dealing with being abounding and being abased. The same is true here. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these things will be added to you.
Doesn't mean boats, doesn't mean cars, doesn't mean summer homes. Well, if I just seek first God and His kingdom and His righteousness, that's my ticket out of the dump I live in to a bigger, nicer place on the other side of town. That's not what he means. That's not what he is suggesting.
We are not to be health, wealth, prosperity fools when we come to this particular passage. The text is specific. What shall we eat? What shall we drink?
What shall we wear? Christ says if your orientation is proper, you're seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you're not going to starve to death, you're not going to die of dehydration, and you're not going to be naked. You may not be fed, drinking, and clothed in the manner that you would like, but that's not the point. The point is, seek first the kingdom of God and let your heavenly Father care for your particular needs.
Paul says in 1 Timothy 6.8, again, in a context dealing with avoiding covetousness, cultivating contentedness with reference to God's provision. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6.8, in having food and clothing, With these we shall be content." What kind of food and clothing do you mean, Paul? Something that will fit in and go down through your gullet, into your stomach, and provide the basic nutrition that your body needs. And something that will hopefully keep the rain off of your flesh when you're standing out on a Chilliwack day.
He doesn't tell us what kind of food and clothing, does he? Neither does Jesus here. Lord, I really want steak and lobster. I'm getting tired of this oatmeal every night.
And you said if I seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, then steak and lobster will be added to me. No, God's promise is oatmeal. Anything beyond that is cause for rejoicing to be sure that a man gets to enjoy a steak and a lobster on this side of heaven really is a mercy and a blessing from our good God. that he gets to enjoy a bowl of oatmeal is really a mercy and a blessing from our good God in light of our sins, in light of our rebellion, in light of our rejection, in light of our defiance. I mean, oatmeal is far too good for any of us, brethren, in light of the reality of our sin.
C.S. Lewis says, you can't get second things by putting them first. You can get second things only by putting first things first. There is a priority structure in life.
The believer is to have that as his orientation, and he is to pursue first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Do Not Worry About Tomorrow
Notice the realistic conclusion in verse 34. So he's told us, don't worry about your life. And I think he fleshes out what that means by don't worry about what you'll eat. Don't worry about what you'll drink.
Don't worry about what you'll wear. And that pretty much entails our lives, doesn't it? I mean, when all is said and done, that's what we work for and live for, at least in the temporal realm. I mean, we have to eat, and we have to drink, and we have to guard ourselves against the elements.
But he ups the ante, and notice what he says in verse 34. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. Do not worry about tomorrow. Don't let carnal anxiety so plague your heart that now you're worrying about things that aren't even here yet.
Some of us don't have a problem, not only have the problem of worrying about tomorrow, but a few tomorrows down the road. What's going to happen next week? What's going to happen next month? I've shared the illustration many times, and you probably heard it and are tired of it, but when we were younger, and the kids were little, or we're driving around town, and Josh is two, and he's saying, what are we doing next?
Where are we going next? He's just driving me nuts with all these questions from the back of our family station wagon. Praise God Almighty, those days are gone. Not that the kids are bad or anything, but it's just a good phase or good season to be out of with reference to life.
That's not meant to discourage younger people, but we did our time and here we are. But he's going on and on and on. What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?
What's next? And we stopped at a restaurant. I said, you may be dead by the time we get over to that front door. That's just the reality of things.
Now Josh, of course, ran over to the front door and he starts screaming, Dad, I made it. I made it. I made it. We worry about things that haven't even happened yet.
You realize how foolish that is? We, maybe you don't, but this is a tendency that is typical in my heart. Worry about things that haven't even happened. It's a waste of worry, isn't it?
Why waste worry? I think that's what Christ is saying. Do not know. He's not saying waste where he's saying, don't worry.
Do not worry about tomorrow. The Lord has cautioned his disciples about worry regarding food, drink and clothing. The Lord now cautions his disciples about worrying with reference tomorrow. And note the reason that he gives for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
You're not even in Monday yet, so why are you worried about it? It'll worry about itself when you're there. See, what happens when I'm worried about tomorrow? It means I'm not presently seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
When I'm worrying about the future, I'm not being faithful in the present. When I'm worrying what may happen in five months, I am not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now, this doesn't mean don't plan. Don't chart out where you're going to go to school.
Don't chart out how you're going to go ask for more money from your... It's not saying that. It's don't be carnally anxious over such things. Don't be paralyzed by such things.
Don't be worried about such things. Tomorrow will worry about its own things. And then he highlights the reality. At the end of the verse, in verse 34, sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
The presence of verse 34 here balances the entire section. Christ does not suggest there are no difficulties in the believer's life. Christ is not suggesting that there's no troubles, no trials, no tribulations. No, He acknowledges it.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Today has its trouble. Navigate through this trouble with the orientation of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Don't borrow problems from the future.
Don't co-opt issues from next week and bring them into the present. When your mind is incessantly worried about tomorrow, you are not seeking God first today.
Voices on Tomorrow's Troubles
Listen to some of the brothers. J.C. Ryle says, 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. Imagine that. You worry all this time about a Monday and you get struck by a car on the Sunday. You wasted a whole bunch of energy.
You betrayed your God. You evidenced carnal anxiety. You rejected the very scripture itself. Ryle says, 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. That is a powerful statement that we would all confessionally imbibe, but when it comes to the practical day in and day out, boy, do we struggle with what he says there. If tomorrow brings a cross, he who sends it can and will send grace to bear it. That is a powerfully packed statement.
R.T. Frentz says, God's care and provisions are assured, but that does not mean that the disciple's life is to be one long picnic. Each day will have its troubles. The preceding verses simply provide the assurance that by the grace of God, they can be survived.
Another man says, believers are not exempt from experiencing trouble. It is true that Jesus forbids his people to worry, but to be free from worry and to be free from trouble are not the same thing. This is what needs to penetrate our hearts and minds. For some reason, you do seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and you have displaced carnal anxiety out of your heart by this proper orientation.
That doesn't mean your troubles are going to vanish. It just means that you're better equipped to move through those troubles. You're better equipped to flourish as a result of those troubles. We saw it on Wednesday night.
God afflicted his people Israel in 1 Kings 8, so that they may repent. This is what David says in Psalm 119, it was good for me that I was afflicted. Because before I went astray, I didn't obey your word. He says, it is good for me that I have been, or I was afflicted.
Notice, this brother goes on, but to be free from worry and to be free from trouble are not the same thing. Christ commands us not to be anxious, but does not promise that we shall be immune to all misfortune. And then Matthew Henry, I think this is gold. He says, let us not pull that upon ourselves all together at once, which providence has wisely ordered to be borne by parcels.
God in His goodness gives us enough trouble for today. Why in our folly do we want to pull trouble from Thursday and bring it into today? That's what Matthew Henry is saying, which Providence has wisely ordered to be borne out by parcels, just a little bit here and there. 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.
Isn't that what worry does? Isn't that what carnal anxiety brings? Does it bring peace? Does it bring joy?
Does it bring happiness? When you're paralyzed with worry and you're paralyzed by carnal anxiety, are you happy? Really? Are you?
Are you like, wow, this is where I want to live. You know that gut feeling you get that's just like you just ingested something foul? Boy, I just crave that. No, we don't.
It's terrible. This is what Henry says. The conclusion of the whole matter then is that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus that his disciples should not be their own tormentors. Do not torment yourselves.
You've got the world, you've got the flesh, you've got the devil, they're real tormentors. Don't add to it by taking Thursday's problems and co-opting them into today's. 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.
I think that is a good explanation of the principle that Jesus sets forth here, specifically in verses 33 and 34.
Application
So, in conclusion, in case you missed it, as I read the passage, as I sought to explain the passage, Christ has a message for you tonight. Do not worry. do not be characterized by carnal anxiety. It is a trait of the Gentiles in their heathenish minds that has excluded God from the world. It is only natural, the implication follows, that they are going to fret.
What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? But as the blood-bought children of God who have a good heavenly Father, See, I think at times the whole problem is we question or we doubt the goodness of God.
We pointed this out on Wednesday night. Turn to Psalm 119 for just a moment. Psalm 119. Specifically verse 67.
Verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. That's the principle. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Note verse 68, you are good and do good, teach me your statutes.
I don't think it's an accident that those two verses are connected. Because here's the inclination, or here's the temptation, or here's the path that many Christians take. They receive affliction. They believe God is sovereign.
They know that He governs. They know that He rules. They know that providence is a reality, governs all His creatures and all their actions. And so it begins to rise up in their minds or hearts that if I was afflicted, God suspended His goodness for a time.
If I was afflicted, God went over to the dark side for a time. If I was afflicted, then God left that posture of goodness toward me, and He has now become other than good. We wouldn't say He's become bad, He's become nasty, He has become disinclined toward us, but He's not as good as He was. Because if He was as good as He was, I wouldn't go through such affliction.
But the psalmist says, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good, teach me your statutes. God's goodness does not diminish in our afflictions. The doctrine of divine impassibility underscores this reality, that God does not increase or diminish.
God is as good to his creatures as he'll ever be. It is not going to grow. It is not going to get less. You say, well, it's not going to grow.
That's discouraging. No, because he's most good to us already. It can't get better. It doesn't diminish either.
He doesn't stop being good when he sends affliction. This is a demonstration of his goodness, because as a wise father, he knows at times conformity to his beloved son will often take the shape of hard knocks. Some of us need to go through those trials in order to conform us unto the image of the Lord Jesus. So I think when it comes to this whole issue of worry or carnal anxiety, we begin to doubt God's goodness to us, don't we?
We begin to call into suspicion or call into question His demonstrations of love toward us. Don't do that.
The Dangerous Fruits of Worry
I would suggest, secondly, the dangerous fruits of worry. I'm just gonna run through a list here. Preach this back in Matthew 6. You may have notes you can review.
But first of all, the dangerous fruits of worry. Worry betrays a lack of loyalty to the kingdom. If you're worried or I'm worried or we're paralyzed by carnal anxiety, guess what we're not doing? I mean, isn't this our marching order?
Isn't Matthew 6.33 supposed to be for everybody, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Next time husbands, your wife says, I'm so worried, I'm so carnally anxious, reprove them because they're not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Same thing for ladies, your husband's freaking out and he's losing it and he's got some anxiety and sleeplessness and he just can't function. Tell him, look man, Matthew 6.33 is very clear.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now do this with love and encouragement and respect to be sure. But brethren, it is simply unacceptable that we do not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It betrays a lack of loyalty to the kingdom.
It secondly evidences divided attention. Divided attention. We're more consumed with what we'll eat, what we'll drink, what we'll wear, than with the promotion of God's kingdom. Thirdly, it questions God's sovereign rule in the universe.
Right? I mean, if we are fretting to the point where we are paralyzed, who ultimately is the target of our complaints? It's God. Fourth, it doubts God's fatherly care for His children.
Again, Gentiles shouldn't surprise us when they fret and freak over what shall they eat, what shall they drink, what shall they wear, but this is not conduct fitting a child of God. Fifth, it does not believe God's holy word. The Bible tells you do not worry about these things, and if you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then these things will be added to you. To live in a worrisome manner, to live paralyzed or riddled with carnal anxiety is to reject the very word of God itself.
Six, it paralyzes individual and thus kingdom advance. Praise the Lord that not everybody is paralyzed. Praise the Lord that not everybody is fretting. Praise the Lord that not everybody is freaking out because if everybody was, the kingdom wouldn't advance.
There'd be nobody to go to China. There'd be nobody to go to Timbuktu. There'd be nobody to preach. There'd be nobody to do anything.
There'd be no anything going on in terms of the propagation of the kingdom of God. Seventh, it shifts the focus from the eternal to the temporal. Our studies in Matthew 24 have evidenced that. There's nothing wrong with the ordinary.
If God has put you in a particular vocation, then flourish, thrive, grow in that particular vocation. But do so with an eye to the glory of God. Do so with the earnest expectation of the coming of the master once again in glory to judge the living and the dead. But this sort of thing, if we're more consumed with what am I going to eat, what am I going to drink, what am I going to wear, we're not consumed with eternal things.
And then as well, it reduces us to fearful, doubting, tormented souls instead of bold, faithful, obedient subjects of God's kingdom. That's huge, brethren. We've been saved by the grace of God in order to function for the glory of God. And if all we're doing is sitting around worried, we're not living for the glory of God, right?
You know, when Paul says, so then whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, he's not meaning sin. So then if you smoke crack or you drink to drunkenness or you engage in adultery or you worry or you're paralyzed with carnal anxiety, do that to the glory of God. No, it is not sinful activities that are covered in 1 Corinthians 10.31. As well, thirdly and finally,
Cultivating Contentment
we ought to seek by the grace of God to cultivate contentment. Cultivate contentment. Isn't this a great way to dispossess or displace this whole idea of worry and anxiety? We ought to, in the first place, appreciate godliness.
Godliness is great gain according to Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6. Secondly, with reference to contentment and in the context specifically with reference to stuff, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear? Stuff is the orientation things. We need to recognize God's sovereignty in the dispensing of goods.
Some people get oatmeal, some people get steak and lobster. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He owns everything. What he parcels out to his people is up to him.
It is his prerogative, what we shall eat, what we shall drink, and what we shall wear. We ought to thirdly realize that poverty isn't the worst thing in the world. Poverty, oatmeal every night and a Walmart shirt every day isn't necessarily the worst way to live. I think Solomon speaks to this issue in a couple places in the Proverbs.
Better is a little with the fear of Yahweh than great treasure with trouble. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted calf with hatred. You see, it's better to have a little but to fear God. See, poverty isn't necessarily the worst thing.
I'm not saying go sell everything you have and be poor. It's not wrong to work hard. You see a man who excels in his work, he shall stand before a king. The Bible envisions and joins men to work hard, to produce for their families, to try and produce well for their families.
That is a blessed and a good thing. Brethren, if your lot is a bowl of oatmeal, praise God that you're eating. Proverbs 17.1, better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife. Proverbs 28.6, the same sort of emphasis.
Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich. As well, a way to cultivate contentment is to express thanksgiving to God for providing our necessities. Right? You hand somebody a gift and they don't say thank you?
If you're like me, you think, man, dude, say thank you. I didn't hand you the gift, so you'll say thank you. Or you do something nice for your children or your wife. You're not looking to be worshiped and glorified, but a simple expression of gratitude is a nice idea, isn't it?
I mean, we are human beings, after all. I throw something to my dog, I don't expect her to say, thanks, Jim, that was delicious. But when it's a wife or it's a child, I mean, it's just what we do as image bearers of God. And God hands us niceties every day that we thank him.
We reflect upon the day and say, thank you, God, for my oatmeal. Thank you, God, for my t-shirt. Thank you, God, for this bed. Thank you, God, for this house.
Thank you for your kindness and your provision. Thank you that I can echo the psalmist who said, the Lord loads us daily with benefits. Express your thanksgiving to God. As well, we ought to prioritize our lives and realize that God and his kingdom ought to come first.
Again, under the cultivation of contentment, and then sixthly and finally under the cultivation of contentment, I think it's good for us to realize that life itself is messy and sin complicates things, doesn't it? I think perfectionists probably have a real tough time in this world, don't they? If everything doesn't go according to plan, it just ruffles the feathers. Right?
Doesn't it? Maybe none of you struggle with this. We like everything to be orderly. We like everything to be tidy.
We much prefer cosmos over chaos. We much prefer order versus disorder. We much prefer peace versus confusion. But brethren, that's not reality.
Life is messy. Things happen that knocks us off our stride. Issues come up. Trials hit us.
Sorrows affect us. Persons around us are hurting. And then you throw sin into the mix, and it always complicates everything. Now, how is this a help to cultivate contentment?
Because it ought to promote realism. If you think life is always going to be just so each and every day of your life, you have not started to live yet. There are a whole host of things that are going to knock you down. There are a whole host of things that are going to set you back.
There are a whole host of things that are going to ruffle your feathers. Accept it, embrace it, and by the grace of God, deal with it. I think that is a helpful thing to promote or cultivate contentment, realize that life is messy, sin complicates things, and things are not always going to go according to plan. That'll dispossess some worry and anxiety.
I mean, we worry if things get out of order. Don't do that. Expect it to some degree in your life that there will be difficulties and disorder. Let us pray and ask God to seal these lessons to our hearts.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you that our Lord loves us, that our Lord Jesus instructs us, that our Lord Jesus doesn't want us to be paralyzed by fear, by worry, by carnal anxiety. Certainly, this is not a good sort of portrait of a Christian. This is not a good way for us to live. This is a bad testimony, and it is wretched, and it does betray our confidence in a sovereign God.
So help us to take these lessons to heart. Help us to pray the men. Help us to be men and women, boys and girls, who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Go with us now, we pray.
And we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.