Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew 6, we're going to consider a passage we have considered a couple of times in the past. Seems genuinely appropriate for the particular situation we face today. It's Christ's prohibition against carnal anxiety or worry.
And we'll find or we read beginning in Matthew 6 at verse 25. Jesus says, 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 in the 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. Well, let us pray. Our Father, thank you that the Word of God addresses such issues, such relevant issues as our own insecurity, our own worry, our own tendency to carnal anxiety.
I pray this passage would speak volumes to our hearts and souls, that it would be a great encouragement to each and every one of us, that you would strengthen us with might and the inner man by your Spirit, so that Christ may dwell richly in our hearts through faith. God, I pray that you would bless this congregation, that you would Stabilize, secure us, grant us help, Lord God, to continue to persevere, and by your grace and for your glory, to do those things that you've called us to. Forgive us, again, for our sins and our transgression. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. Well,
Introduction
here in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ, as I said, is addressing carnal anxiety or worry. Worry simply means to give way to anxiety or unease, to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. And the reason why Christ addresses this, obviously, is because of the tendency of our heart to worry. In other words, there's nothing superfluous in Scripture.
If Christ or the apostles address something, there's a good reason for it. So Christ gives us these principles so that we will stand fast, and we will be faithful, and we will not be relegated to not serving our blessed Savior.
The Command: Do Not Worry
I want to look first at the command in verses 25 to 27. Secondly, the indictment in verses 28 to 30. Third, a contrast in verses 31 to 32. And then finally, a principle in verses 33 and 34.
But in the first place, notice the command. It's carried through the whole context. Verse 25, do not worry. Verse 31, do not worry.
Verse 34, do not worry. I guarantee you his hearers didn't raise their hand and say, what are you talking about? They knew all too well because he repeated it. He emphasized it.
He sealed it to their hearts so that they would not be reduced to the sorts of people that are given over to a carnal anxiety. Now, this passage doesn't teach that we're never supposed to think about the future. It doesn't teach that it might not be the case or won't ever be the case that some of these things rise up in our hearts. But what Christ is telling is that we're not supposed to be sort of governed by this anxiety.
We're not supposed to be governed by worry. We're supposed to be governed by this commitment to the kingdom and the righteousness of God Almighty. So he gives this command in verses 25 to 27. 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.
In other words, there are things more important than food. There are things more important than clothing. There are things even more important, dare I say, than our lives. It is the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
That is where Christ is going. That's the governing principle. Verse 33 is key to this entire passage. Again, Not that you shouldn't work, not that you shouldn't try to gain money so that you can purchase food and the like, but rather you ought to be trusting in God Almighty.
And then he uses that particular analogy in verse 26. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Now, I don't think it would be legitimate for somebody to take this passage and say, you know, I'm going to lay on my couch, because God provides for the birds, and if I lay on my couch, then God will provide for me.
This is not a text that calls us to inactivity. It is not a text that calls us to not use means. It is a text that is calling us not to worry, not to engage in carnal anxiety. But the argument is from the lesser to the greater.
If God cares for birds, don't you think he's going to care for his image-bearers? If God cares for lilies in the next section, don't you think he's going to care for his image-bearers? And not only his image-bearers, but those who are blood-bought by his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, in verse 27, which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature?
When all of this stuff began, I sent out a quote by Martin Luther. Remember, in that particular quote, Luther said, if God wants to kill me, he knows where to find me. Now, some would suggest that that's a bit of a macabre approach, or that's a bit of a horrifying view. No, it isn't.
What better place to be than under the sovereign plan and purpose of God Almighty, who is for us? And if that is the case, then who can be against us? With reference to this particular text, listen to Luther. He says, you see, Jesus 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. That's a beautiful way to see what's happening in this particular passage. And brethren, I should say that I'm not up here as one who's mastered a non-worry and a non-anxiety-free or an anxiety-free life. I need this passage very much so.
Every time I touch my face, which I'm mindful of the fact I do a lot, I think I'm going to get the Wuhan. I mean, if anybody wants to shut us down, they could do so on the amount of times that I touch my face. I make it a point to not touch anybody else. I'll stay far from you.
I want to comply with the civil government to be sure, but it's not that I've arrived. This is a passage that I speak. Think speaks volumes to all of God's people at these times.
The Indictment: Why Do You Worry?
Notice in the second place, he indicts them. He moves from this place of giving the command in verses 25 to 27. And then he indicts them. Notice in verse 28.
So why do you worry about clothing? He commands them not to, and then he indicts them for them having done it. He is repeating himself, and if we ask the question why, he repeats himself because we repeat ourselves. We will do those things contrary to what he has commanded.
And Christ knows that, and that's why in the space of just a few verses, he hits this nail on the head several times in terms of not being given over, to this sort of a thing. And then he uses the analogy of lilies in the field, verse 28. So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin. Again, not an argument for you not to toil or spin. Just lay naked on your couch and God will send clothing. That's not the way the passage is to be taken.
It does not provide an argument for inaction, but rather it provides an argument for a lack or a pursuit of a lack of non-worry in the lives of God's people. And then verse 29, And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Again, it's an argument from the lesser to the greater.
If God provides for the birds, He's going to provide for His image bearers, His redeemed people. If God provides for the lilies, who don't toil or spit, and yet are vastly more beautifully arrayed than even Solomon in his glory, will not God take care of you? In other words, don't worry, and if you are worrying, repent of worry, because God has not left you nor forsaken you. We saw that in our studies in the 10th commandment.
Hebrews chapter 13, a passage we spiritualized, and rightly so, based on other scripture, but in the context of Hebrews 13, it's not supposed to be spiritualized. There is a prohibition there against covetousness, and then a reminder that God will not leave us nor forsake us. It's in the realm of temporality. It's in the realm of those things that we possess, where God has said that He'll never leave us nor forsake us.
The Contrast: Gentiles and Children
Now notice, thirdly, the contrast that Jesus gives in verses 31 and 32. It is between Gentiles and children. Now this morning we spent a lot of time focusing on Gentile inclusion in the covenant of grace, and at this particular point you may say, why is Jesus picking on the Gentiles? He's using them as a representative body of those who are outside the covenant people.
We know that they are included. We know that by God's grace we've been included. But in this particular context, when he speaks of Gentiles, he's speaking of those who do not have relationship with the true and living God. So that is his argument here.
Now notice what he says in verses 31 and 32. He says, therefore do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? Spurgeon calls this, the questions in this verse are taken out of the worldling's catechism of distrust. Notice what he goes on to say, for after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
So there are two reasons why Jesus speaks to them concerning this contrast. In the first place, Gentiles seek these things. They're not bad because Gentiles seek them. It's not bad to want food.
It's not bad to want clothing. In fact, those things are essential for life on this earth. But what is bad is when that is the entire orientation of one's life, when that is everything to a particular individual, when the thought of God and His glory and His righteousness and His kingdom never comes to play in the minds of men, women, and boys and girls. Gentiles do not think beyond the daily bread.
They do not think beyond the clothing that they wear. And this is Jesus' contrast with reference to these Gentiles. For after all these things, the Gentiles seek. The four highlights why believers should not worry.
And it's an obsession on the part of the non-godly to pursue these things at the very expense of other things that matter. Remember Jesus, what shall it profit a man? if he gains the whole world, but he loses his soul. There's no consciousness on the part of the Gentiles relative to their place before God. All they want is a full belly and a back that is clothed with a jacket.
That's what consumes them. It is a philosophy that reflects atheism. Now, I'm not suggesting that everybody who thinks more about food and clothing is necessarily atheistic, but this type of a mindset, this type of an exclusion of God, this type of operation wherein the professing people of God look just like the world around us. We look just as scared.
We look just as full of cowardice. We look just as rattled and affected by the things around us. Again, I am not saying don't do what you're supposed to do in terms of this particular crisis. That's not the point.
The point is, is don't be so preoccupied with it that you neglect God's kingdom and righteousness. Remember, that's where Jesus is going. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. With reference to this, Ryle says that Jesus suggests to us that over-carefulness about the things of this world is most unworthy of a Christian.
Notice what Ryle does not say, that carefulness about the things of this world is unworthy of a Christian. Carefulness isn't. I would imagine that all of us are seeking to be careful. Look at the pews, look at the distance, look at the reality that we're really trying not to touch our faces.
We are seeking to be cautious. We are seeking to be compliant. We are seeking to do what is in our power to do, but to fret, to be given away to anxiety, to be riddled with worry to the place where we all... It's almost like we're forgetting God.
That's a problem, and that's what Ryle addresses. That's what Christ is addressing, that over-carefulness about the things of this world is most unworthy of a Christian. He 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 is clearer light and knowledge, give proof of it by his faith and contentment. It suggests that here, good theology is a helpful antidote to worry and carnal anxiety. In other words, if we know who our God is, Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, that should go a long way to promote in us a desire to be killing worry, a desire to be killing carnal anxiety, and a desire to be complying with our Lord Christ in the Sermon on the Mount at this particular point. Before we move on, it is very important for us to understand something.
As reformed people, we understand God's absolute sovereignty when it comes to salvation. We have five points that we oftentimes rattle off. We have certain passages in Scripture that we often go to. We can tell people God is in heaven.
He saves according to His purpose and plan. It is according to His good pleasure. Well, the God of absolute sovereignty in terms of the spiritual is the God of absolute sovereignty in terms of the temporal as well. He's over food.
He's over clothes. He's over crises. He's over the various things that affect us in this world. And it's simply inconsistent for the people of God to affirm those five points, to affirm the glory of God and His sovereignty and salvation, and then live like Gentiles when it comes to the garden variety, mundane, day in, day out sort of things.
God Almighty is over one sparrow who falls from the sky. If God is over that, if he numbers the very hairs of our head, doesn't that hopefully instill in us a reason or reasons not to be riddled with panic, worry, and carnal anxiety? Now, notice the second reason. Again, working in the contrast, Gentiles and children.
The first place, the first reason, the conduct of the Gentiles, this is how they function. But then notice the knowledge of the father in verse 32b. Verse 32, he says, for after all these things the Gentiles see. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
He didn't stop the other week and say, well, you know, they're on their own now. They can manage all on their own. No, He knows that we need these things. And as I said, He has purpose to never leave us nor forsake us.
It may not be pantries overflowing with lobster and steak or freezers, overflowing with that, but the Lord sustains his people and we ought to give thanks to him. The four again highlights that this is a reason why believers should not worry. So Jesus continues to pound that nail and he gives a series of reasons or arguments as to why we are not to engage in worry. And the fact that Jesus says this the way he does, notice, for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.
Jesus hasn't assumed the posture of rabbi with a new doctrine at this point. He says it casually. He says it freely. He says it assuming that everybody already knows this.
In other words, those who have come into contact with the living and true God knows because the earth is his and the fullness thereof. He knows because he made us. He made us physical beings that need nutrition, that need clothing, that need warmth, that need shelter. He knows we need all this.
So the idea that we are going to lose it and freak out like the rest of the Gentiles is simply unacceptable. This is a reason, a rationale, as to why the people of God should not be governed by worry. The doctrine of the knowledge of God is most comforting. And I don't mean us knowing God, but knowing what God knows concerning us.
And I think at this particular point, we ought to be encouraged that with reference to these things, the Lord has never left us nor forsaken us. You see, oftentimes believers are encouraged for the present and the future based on what God has done for them in the past. He hasn't left us or forsaken us to this point. Why would we think in this crisis that it's all over?
We're not gonna have anything. We're gonna be destitute. We're gonna be deprived. All these things, the Lord will provide food, water, and clothing.
Psalm 37, 25. Now, I know there are people that will say, but you know, the persecuted church, as a general maxim and principle, as a general maxim and principle, there's always those exceptions to the rule. There's always those intricate difficulties that present themselves to the people of God. But for the most of us, this is the regular pattern of providence that we see worked out in this world.
David is able to say, I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants breaking bread. Mention Hebrews 13, 5. Again, that is true spiritually. When God begins a good work in us, He will complete it unto the day of Christ.
Romans chapter 8, Paul says, there is nothing that shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But the particular application here in Hebrews 13.5 is temporal. It has to do with food, has to do with clothing, has to do with the sorts of things that we oftentimes find ourselves wound up over. So Christ is saying, don't worry.
God takes care of the birds. God takes care of the lilies of the field. God has made a distinction between His children and the Gentiles. The Gentiles don't have a living and true God.
The Gentiles don't have that sure footing. So their lives reflect it. Of course they're worried. Of course they're panic-driven.
Of course they're caught up in this carnal anxiety because they don't have the God of heaven and earth who has said to them, I will never leave you nor forsake you. But with reference to the people of God, these are all arguments as to why we are not to worry.
The Governing Principle: Seek First
That brings us finally to the principle, the governing principle in verses 33 and 34. Notice the first priority. Verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. I think this reflects the Lord's Prayer.
This reflects the Lord's Prayer. If you go back in Matthew 6, to Matthew 6, 9 to 13. There is an order in the Lord's Prayer, and we need to appreciate that order. Just like there is an order in the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments.
It does not start with our duty toward man. It starts with our duty toward God. That's where the Decalogue begins. It begins with God.
Well, so does the Lord's Prayer. So does the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray. We are to pray in the first place for the glory of God's name, for the coming of God's kingdom, and for the conduct of God's will. We are to pray God-word petitions before we pray for our food, for our forgiveness, and for our protection.
Not that it's wrong to pray for our food, it's commanded by our Lord. Not that it's wrong to pray for forgiveness, it's commanded by our Lord. Not that it's wrong to pray for protection, it's commanded by our Lord. But what comes first is that God's name be magnified in the earth.
What comes next but that God's kingdom, grace, the kingdom of grace comes, hopefully each Lord's Day, each time the gospel is preached, but then that kingdom of glory, we pray for that. Even so, come Lord Jesus. And then the will of God, that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So when we go back to Jesus' admonition here concerning worry, verse 33 shouldn't take us by surprise.
It's not the case that there's no place in the lives of God's people to pray for food or to pray for clothing. But it's always the case that the priority structure must be the same with God's people. They seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and then know that these things will be added to them. France comments on the verb used by Jesus here in verse 33, seek first.
He says, the verb seek echoes the stronger compound verb which was used for the Gentiles' anxious quest for material provisions in the previous verse. Disciples, by contrast, have a different orientation, a higher purpose in life. See, when food, clothing, safety, security in the temporal realm becomes everything, then that subjugates God. That messes with the priority structure, and this is what Jesus is addressing.
We are not supposed to mess with the priority structure. Kingdom life is regulated by this governing principle. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The Kingdom and His Righteousness
And notice those two objects. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Again, kingdom is heavy here in Matthew's gospel. The king is addressing not only his loyal subjects, his disciples, but also the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.
He's giving, I don't want to use this word in some horribly associated way, but basically a manifesto concerning the kingdom. He starts off with the Beatitudes. These are the virtues that are characteristic of kingdom citizens. This is how the subjects of the kingdom are supposed to relate to the law in Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew chapter 6, this is how the citizens or subjects of this particular kingdom are to engage in prayer and in or on almsgiving and prayer and fasting. And then he comes to this place of some real practical admonition concerning the people of God. And certainly it ought to reflect what we pray in the Lord's Prayer God comes first. The believer is to seek the righteousness of God.
I love John Gill's comment here. He says, and his righteousness. He goes on to say, the righteousness of God, which is revealed in the gospel and is what gives a right and title to the kingdom of heaven. This is not the righteousness of man, but of God and is no other than the righteousness of Christ.
So-called because he is God who has wrought it. It is what God approves of, accepts and imputes, and which only can justify in His sight, and give an abundant entrance into His kingdom and glory. Heaven is to be sought for in the first place as the perfection of the saints' happiness, and Christ's righteousness is to be sought for and laid hold on by faith as the way and means of enjoying that happiness, without which there will be no entering into the kingdom of heaven. So again, what Christ is doing is cautioning us, the people of God, against a carnal anxiety or a worry that causes us to be more focused and more oriented to the things of this world than God himself.
Again, not to say we shouldn't think about what we're going to make for dinner tomorrow. We shouldn't think about how we're going to prepare whatever. We shouldn't think about work and that sort of thing. That's not the point of the passage.
The point of the passage is do not worry. But notice,
The Gracious Promise
connected to this is a gracious promise. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now notice the gracious promise. And all these things shall be added to you.
Not everything. You seek God first and His kingdom and His righteousness. You're not going to come home to a Rolls Royce in your driveway. All these things.
What's these things in the context? It's food. It's clothing. It's the necessities of life.
The apostle speaks to that in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Having food and clothing with these we shall be content. So Christ says, when your priority structure is right, when you seek Him first and His righteousness and His kingdom, when you are consumed with God first and foremost, then God will indeed give you these things. It's a beautiful and a blessed thing.
C.S. Lewis said, you can't get second things by putting them first. You can get second things only by putting first things first. In other words, it's a call to prioritize in your life.
When you are prioritizing God, when you are prioritizing His kingdom and His righteousness, when your mindset and your orientation is correct, then not only do we have this gracious promise, but we also have the means by which to not continue to worry. Again, worry, it's never good, isn't it? Do you ever come from a good session of worry and go, man, I feel better? I've not experienced that.
There's no catharsis for me in worry. There's just more worry. There's more anxiety. I don't have a good session of worry and then say, man, I just feel so much better.
The Realistic Conclusion: Today's Trouble
And then that brings us finally to the realistic conclusion in verse 34. Notice what he says, therefore, here it is again, do not worry about tomorrow. So we're cautioned against worrying about our lives. We're cautioned about worrying about our food.
We're cautioned about worrying about our clothing. We're told that by worry, we can't add a cubit to our lives. There's no worry sort of pill that we take and, oh, and now I'm gonna have five or 10 or 15 more years. That's just not the way it is.
And now Jesus tells us, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things, sufficient for the day is its own troubles. Now, this is a great passage of Holy Scripture. The emphasis is clear, do not worry about tomorrow, but rather seek God's kingdom and righteousness today. Do you understand that when you're not, when you're worried about tomorrow, and again, I'm not thinking about caution, I'm not thinking about, you know, tomorrow I'm going to try to maintain distance or whatever, not touch my face as well.
I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting if you're governed by panic and fear and anxiety and worry, when you're thinking about tomorrow in those terms, then you're not presently seeking God the way that Jesus says. It's just that simple. Our minds do not have the capacity of the infinite mind of God.
God knows all things all the time. He never has learned it. He doesn't come to it through, you know, a discursive process. Everything is always present to God.
Our minds are capable of, you know, a bunch, I think, but not God and worry about all this stuff. And so we need to understand that when we are worried about tomorrow, we are not seeking first the kingdom of God today. And then notice what Jesus says. And again, the realism of our blessed master.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. See, Jesus is not sitting here at the Sermon on the Mount saying, you got nothing to worry about. Everything's just easy as a Christian.
I mean, you just kind of bounce through life. Bluebirds will attend your path. There'll be rose petals. Everything's gonna be great when you sign up to be a disciple of Jesus Christ by the grace of God.
He doesn't say that. He is not saying there's no trouble in the Christian life. He is not saying there's no distress or hardship in the Christian life. He is saying that as the people of God, we are prohibited from worrying about that trouble, being consumed by that trouble, being riddled with panic as a result of that trouble.
The presence of verse 34 balances the entire section. Christ does not suggest for a moment that there are no difficulties in the believer's life. So again, he doesn't come to the sermon, he doesn't come to the section on the sermon and say, you know, I can't believe that you people would ever, No, he knows that we're going to do this, but he gives us reasons and arguments as to why we're not supposed to do it. The presence of trial and tribulation in the believer's life is everywhere maintained in Scripture, isn't it?
Absolutely, positively, and Christ affirms that. Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Listen to a few of the brothers in the church.
First, again, Ryle. He says, we are not to carry cares before they come. I think I've shared with you before, some of you are newer and you haven't heard it, so I'm going to trot out an old illustration. When our kids were little, we were out doing errands one day.
My son Josh was probably two or three. He certainly was at the age to be able to talk. believe you me, he could talk. And he kept saying, you know, he wanted to know everything we're going to do. What about this?
What are we going to do? Every step of the way. And, you know, me being a very patient man, finally snapped and said, look, we were stopping at a restaurant. I said, look, you may be dead before you even get to the front door of the restaurant.
I wasn't trying to be, I guess I was trying to be harsh, trying to shut this down. So, you know, unbeknownst to me, maybe dealing with one of the other kids, he runs over to the front door and he says, dad, I made it. I made it. And I thought, oh good, you know, praise God, he's paying attention.
But the reality is we worry about tomorrow and we're not certain it's going to come. That's no reflection on what I think in terms of Wuhan. I'm just thinking in terms of God's sovereign prerogative and taking us out whenever it pleases him. But worrying about tomorrow being overruled by panic and anxiety about something that may never occur, it just doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?
I'm saying it knowing it doesn't make a lot of sense, and yet I'll probably do it at some point in this week. It's just a senseless thing. He says, we are to attend to today's business and leave tomorrow's anxieties till tomorrow dawns. We may die before tomorrow.
We know not what may happen on the morrow. This only we may be assured of, that if tomorrow brings a cross, he who sends it can and will send grace to bear it. Beautiful. Beautiful.
Listen to France. God's care and provision are assured, but that does not mean that the disciple's life is to be one long picnic. Each day will still have its troubles. The preceding verses simply provide the assurance that by the grace of God, they can be survived.
You see a theme in those two brothers? Whatever may come tomorrow, we trust in the power of God to furnish the grace necessary so that we may deal with tomorrow. John Scott 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.
Christ commands us not to be anxious, but does not promise that we shall be immune to all misfortune. Again, we need to understand that's the point. And then Matthew Henry, he says, let us not pull that upon ourselves altogether at once, which providence has wisely ordered to be borne by parcels. In other words, don't drop it all on your head now when God in his goodness and kindness gives you bits and pieces.
Right? He gives you bits and pieces. He doesn't just dump all the bad on you all at once. Now, of course, somebody will say, oh, but my uncle...
I know, there are those hardships and difficulties to be sure, but in this particular instance, what we have is... Is that? So Matthew Henry continues, the conclusion of this whole matter then is that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus that his disciples should not be their own tormentors nor make their passage through this world more dark and unpleasant by their apprehension of troubles. Then God has made it by the troubles themselves.
By our daily prayers, we may procure strength to bear us up under daily troubles and to arm us against the temptations that attend them and then let none of these things move us." I think those brothers get it. I think they understand, and I think it is a good explanation of Christ's emphasis here. Not to worry. Don't worry about your life.
Don't worry about food. Don't worry about clothing. Don't worry about tomorrow. If you had to pick what's the worst thing to worry about, the tomorrow one.
Again, who knows what's going to happen? I don't want to be a doomsday prophet or anything like that, but that Raya was right. Tomorrow may not come. Sufficient for each day is its own troubles.
We have enough to navigate now. When tomorrow comes, we pray for fresh grace, fresh strength, and fresh help, and we trust in God to provide it. Well,
Dangerous Fruits of Worry
in conclusion, we've seen the prohibition against worry. I would suggest, secondly, there are some dangerous fruits connected to worry. In the first place, it betrays a lack of loyalty to the kingdom. If the Sermon on the Mount is a manifesto of sorts where Christ is instructing on what kingdom citizens look like, how they ought to function, all those sorts of things, again, a normative use of the law.
There's a pedagogical function of the sermon, to be sure, but there's also a normative function. When we are consumed with worry, it betrays a lack of loyalty to that kingdom. Secondly, it evidences divided attention. Remember at Mount Carmel, what was Elijah's sort of challenge to those prophets, or to Israel rather?
How long will you halt between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, then serve Him. If Baal is God, then serve Him. It's not supposed to be this divided attention, a little bit of Yahweh and a little bit of Baal.
Thirdly, it questions God's sovereign rule in the universe. Brethren, the Lord has all things under sovereign control. There is not an instance that occurs in our lives that is haphazard, that is random, that is somehow disconnected to the overarching plan of God Almighty. I've often thought that sovereignty is one of the best things to make a pillow soft.
When we understand who our God is, we're able to go to bed at night and we're able to do so without this panic, without this worry, without this anxiety. In the fourth place, it doubts God's fatherly care for His children. Again, we're not Gentiles, brethren. I mean, we are ethnically, but by God's grace, we are spiritual Jews.
But in terms of Christ's contrast, are we more like the Gentiles who do not have God, or are we like those who trust in the provision of a heavenly Father? Fifth, it ultimately does not believe God's holy word. You see, I think we're guilty of this a lot. We know what Scripture says, but we're going to worry anyway.
We know what Scripture says, but we're going to be given to carnal anxiety anyway. We know that God has promised to never leave us or forsake us, but we're going to fret over that anyway. Sixth, it paralyzes individual and thus kingdom advance. In other words, if we're constantly riddled with worry, panic, and fear, guess what we're not doing?
Obviously, we're not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, but we're not functioning as faithful witnesses in the world. The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2 that we're supposed to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. Brethren, if we look like everybody else in this crooked and perverse generation, we have betrayed our calling. The people of God are not injudicious, they're not rubes, they're not non-cautious, but at the same time, they are not fretting and panicking and freaking with the rest of the mass of society.
Seventh, it shifts the focus from the eternal to the temporal. I think we're pretty well set on the temporal. I don't think we need more help, more education, and more instruction on how to be consumed with the present. We need to be taken up with the thoughts of that future kingdom.
We need to be taken up with thoughts. Again, not to the exclusion, gotta qualify this, because sometimes people say, he's so heavenly minded, he's of no earthly good. That is nonsense. I have yet to meet that person who's so heavenly-minded that they're no earthly good.
It's typically the heavenly-minded that are the most earthly good. But when we worry, when we fret, when we panic, it shifts the focus from the eternal to the temporal. And then finally, in terms of the dangerous fruits of worry, it reduces us to fearful, doubting, tormented souls instead of bold, faithful, obedient subjects of God's kingdom. Isn't that true?
Isn't that what Christ calls us to? Don't worry. Don't think about these things the way Gentiles do. Understand that God knows your needs and God is going to provide for those needs.
You, however, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then these things will be added to you. You see, if we engage in worry, it reduces us to fearful, doubting, tormented souls instead of bold, faithful, obedient subjects to the kingdom of our beloved God.
Contentment and Christ's Kindness
And then thirdly, the cultivation of contentment. I don't want to run through that. We've dealt with that in the Tenth Commandment. But then the final observation is the kindness of Christ.
The kindness and the mercy and the goodness of Christ. He addresses something that is symptomatic to at least some people. I don't know the numbers. I don't know who out there struggles with carnal anxiety or worry or that sort of thing.
I happen to be familiar at least with one of us, but I'd say some are affected by this. So what does Christ do? Christ gives us counsel. Christ gives us help.
Christ gives us antidote. Christ gives us the medicine. Christ gives us the remedy. That is indicative of the love and the kindness and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice as well, he doesn't belittle, he doesn't shout them down, he doesn't say, you terrible reprobates, I can't believe for a moment you'd actually worry about when you're going to eat or when you're going to get clothed again. He doesn't do that. Christ is full of pity, full of compassion, full of mercy, full of kindness. He acknowledges the presence of trouble in life.
I've often thought Sometimes people present the gospel vis-a-vis the health, wealth, and prosperity, and I would argue that's not the gospel, but for the sake of argument, they present their version of the gospel, and there's no trouble. There's no heartache. There's no hardship. no difficulty whatsoever. I mean, if you come into their camp, I mean, it's money, it's jets, it's houses, it's all these great things.
Christ isn't that way. Christ doesn't present the kingdom in that nature. Christ tells us sufficient for the day is its own troubles. You will have trouble.
Later in the upper room discourse, he tells his disciples in this world, you will have tribulation. It's not lying. He's not hiding those things. He's not saying, well, you know, just look at this good part of the car.
And then you drive it off the lot and it falls apart. That's not how Christ is. Christ is gracious and kind and honest. And he tells us what to expect.
He emphasizes God's kingdom and God's righteousness. And he provides remedy for his people so that they can undergo a degree of peace. That's ultimately what Christ is doing. Yes, our priority structure needs to be right in terms of our Godward commitment, but in terms of our own lives and in our own day-in and day-out activities, it's this stuff that provides peace.
Whatever the crisis is out there, whatever the hardship, whatever the travail, whatever the difficulty, whatever the affliction, the Lord God Most High has given His people a provision of peace, and He has called us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for this antidote against worry given by our Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray for each and every one of us, that we would be cautious, that we would be judicious, that we would be hard workers, that we would do the things that the Bible everywhere tells us to do. But God, keep us from this anxiety.
Keep us from this panic. Keep us from this fretfulness. Keep us from this worry that so often paralyzes us. I thank you so much for my brothers and sisters.
I thank you so much for this local church. I pray that you would bless each and every one of us. Cause your face to shine upon us. I pray that you would keep us.
I pray that we would know the goodness of the Lord's countenance in each and every day. And I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.