You can turn with me back to Matthew's gospel. We'll look at Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. Our focus will be on verses 25 to 34, but I want to read beginning in verse one, just so we can connect the dots in the larger context.
So Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse one, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret, and your father, who sees in secret, will himself reward you openly. And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place.
And your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. In this manner, therefore, pray.
Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If, therefore, your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.
Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin.
And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so 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.
Opening Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for this Lord's Day. We thank you for the blessing of corporate worship, for the fellowship of the saints, for the presence of Christ in the midst of the lampstand. We pray that you would be glorified here, that you would be worshiped and honored, that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts and in our minds, that we would receive the teaching from our blessed Savior, this prohibition against carnal anxiety or worry that so often paralyzes the people of God.
We confess all sin and unrighteousness and pray for cleansing in His most precious blood. And we pray that today, all over this earth, including our gathering here this morning, men, women, boys, and girls would seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That that righteousness of Jesus Christ, that that blessed gospel of the salvation of sinners would be preached, would be blessed by the Spirit, and that many would come out of darkness into marvelous light. We thank you for your power, we thank you for your glory, we thank you for your majesty, and we pray now that you would guide us by the Holy Spirit, forgiving us of all sin and all unrighteousness.
And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well,
Introduction
it seemed appropriate as we enter into a new year. As our brother prayed, we don't really know what's around the corner, but we're very thankful that we know that God is the one who is sovereign over all things. But with reference to chapter 6 at verses 25 to 34, it's connected to the larger context. And basically, Jesus starts off chapter 6 by emphasizing religious observance.
He deals with almsgiving. and then he focuses on prayer, and then he moves to the issue of fasting. About the center of the chapter, we see where our priority must be, our allegiance must be, and then that comes to pass in a very practical and concrete way in the way that we conduct ourselves on a daily basis in verses 25 to 34. So basically, if your treasure is in heaven, according to verse 21, if your eye is focused upon Christ, according to verses 22 and 23, and your slavery is to God alone, according to verse 24, then verses 25 to 34 encourage us how we're to function, again, in the day-to-day, ordinary, normal ebb and flow of life. Now, sermons like this typically are associated with two problems.
The first is that the preacher assumes a posture of scolding. I don't want to scold anybody today. I don't like to be scolded, so therefore I try not to scold others. So if you feel scolded, think encouraged.
But the second thing that oftentimes attaches to sermons like these is that the one preaching it is somehow the guru. He's going to be the guru today and teach us how not to worry. Brethren, I am not that kind of a guru. In fact, if you want a lesson on how to worry, then I'm your guru.
So I'm in the same boat with all of us. I need the same reminders with reference to the to the individual, with reference to the family, with reference to society, with reference to the economy, with reference to politics, with reference to ecclesiology. All of those things can perplex the people of God. All of those things can be a sort of a contest in our hearts in terms of primary allegiance.
But I do know that the teaching of Jesus here is a wonderful corrective. So
Sermon Outline Stated
we'll look at verses 25 to 34 under two considerations. First, the prohibition given by Jesus in verses 25 to 32. And then secondly, the principle highlighted by Jesus in verses 33 and 34. So you've got a prohibition mentioned several times by our Lord, and then you have a principle highlighted by Him.
Under prohibition, I want to look first at the command in verses 25 to 27, secondly a reproof in verses 28 to 30, and then finally a contrast in verses 31 and 32. But in essence, what Jesus does here in this section is he tells us not to worry about our lives, not to worry about our bodies, and not to worry about our tomorrows. that I think gets at the very hub or substance of what our blessed Savior is trying to communicate. And in terms of worry, a simple definition is to give way to anxiety or unease, allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. One thing I want to caution us is that Jesus is not here prohibiting the mindset of careful living, walking circumspectly, seeking to be a faithful steward of the resources entrusted to us, working hard so that we can provide for our families.
We know there's other passages of Scripture that we need to take into consideration with reference to this passage. The man does not provide for his own. 1 Timothy 5, 8, he's denied the faith. He's worse than an infidel. So it's not the case that Jesus calls us to just lay on our couches, don't worry, be happy, and wait till the eschaton comes down and envelops us.
No, that's not it at all. He doesn't want us to be governed by worry. He doesn't want us to be governed by anxiety. He doesn't want us to be paralyzed from kingdom pursuits.
So
The Command: Do Not Worry
note first the command in verse 25a, therefore I say to you, do not worry. Do not worry. Easier said than to be done, obviously, but the repetition of our Lord's words seems to indicate or presuppose that this is something that will plague the people of God. In other words, once you come to the Savior, once you are clothed in His righteousness and you've been cleansed in His blood, it doesn't mean now you can don't worry and be happy.
It doesn't mean that there's no more problem on the face of the earth. In fact, verse 34 balances out the whole section, telling us that tomorrow has enough troubles of its own. So the passage doesn't mitigate the reality of the hardships associated with life. Jesus is not a health, wealth, and prosperity teacher, but the fact that he commands this several times indicates that there is a susceptibility in the hearts of men to be given to carnal anxiety.
Therefore, I say to you, do not worry. That comes on the heels of what he says in verse 24. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
So what's the take-home message from verse 24? Well, I'm to serve God. I'm to be faithful to God. I am, to use the language that he'll use in verse 33, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
So notice that the therefore comes on the heels of that. You are a slave of God, you are a servant to God, therefore I say to you, do not worry. And then the specific concerns are indicated there. He says, 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 he gives these concrete applications of what it is possibly that we may worry about. Jesus is a connected preacher. He doesn't just give this sort of admonition to not worry, but he flushes it out. He fills it out.
He underscores the difficulties associated in life. Of course we're concerned about our lives. Of course we're concerned about our bodies. Of course we're concerned with whether or not we're gonna have another meal.
It has well been said, we're only nine meals away from anarchy. And I think that is becoming more obvious as this history proceeds. And so the fact that these things enter in upon us, again, Jesus doesn't say, you're dirty, rotten scoundrels. I can't believe that you're concerned about your life.
I can't believe that you're concerned about your body. He's saying, I don't want you to be overcome by those concerns. I don't want you to have divided allegiance based on those concerns. I don't want you to depart from the God that you are enslaved to by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
I want you to be kingdom oriented. I want you to be focused. I want you to be purposed. And don't you love the example that he gives with reference to bringing this to pass?
Look at 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? Jesus teaches us something very, very important here.
Man is more important than animals. I'm not suggesting we go out and treat animals with utter disdain and contempt and kick every cat that we see, but we are of more value. Why? Because we're the pinnacle of God's creation.
In the creation of all things, in Genesis chapter 1, Verses 26 to 28, it's man that bears the image of God. It's not the Baltimore Oriole. It's not the Beluga whale. It's not the shark.
It's not the dog in your garage or in your living room. Hopefully it's not in your garage today. It's not those beasts. It is rather man.
Jesus invokes the same sort of an analogy in chapter 10 of Matthew's gospel. A sparrow doesn't fall apart from the will of your father. Are you not more valuable than the sparrow? So Christ, again, is a connected preacher.
He knows the problems that affect mankind, but he also knows the remedy is oftentimes to be seen in the way that God governs and sustains the lower creation. Luther makes the observation based on, look at the birds of the air. He says, you see, he is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers. It is a great and abiding disgrace to us that in the gospel, a helpless sparrow should become a theologian and a preacher to the wisest of men.
Whenever you listen to a nightingale, therefore, you are listening to an excellent preacher. It is as if he were saying, I prefer to be in the Lord's kitchen. He has made heaven and earth, and he himself is the cook and the host. Every day he feeds and nourishes innumerable little birds out of his hand.
Christ is doing that. And then note the specific statement that he draws from this in verse 27. Spoiler alert, the answer is... No one.
Verse 27, which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? How can you possibly extend your life? How can you possibly provide promise for the future based on your worrying? Again, brethren, I'd probably be immortal by this stage if that was in fact the principle.
But you can't. You can't increase, you can't make it better. Worry doesn't bring peace to the soul of a man. And that's precisely our Lord's teaching.
The Reproof: Consider the Lilies
Now notice He gives them this reproof in verses 28 and 29. He continues, so why do you worry about clothing? Can he assume something concerning his audience? He assumes something that is typical of mankind.
He assumes the reality that there will be a concern for our lives, for our bodies, and for our tomorrows. So he's offering to us the corrective such that our lives and bodies and tomorrows don't take our focus off the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So notice in verse 28, why do you worry about your clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin.
Again, that doesn't mean lay on your couch, hold out your hand, and hopefully the checks start to roll in. Lay on your couch and keep your front door unlocked so that when the brethren come along and say, we've got a chicken for you, and we've got a bag of vegetables, you can tell them, well, just come on in and set it in the kitchen. And go ahead and prepare it for me, because I don't want to get up off of this couch, because I'm like the lilies. They don't toil, and they don't spin, and yet God clothes them.
That's not the point you're supposed to take away from this. You're supposed to take away the God of absolute unrivaled sovereignty, who governs all His creatures and all their actions, takes care of the lilies in the field. And if He takes care of the lilies in the field, how will He not with us freely give us all things? Isn't this Paul's point in the book of Romans, chapter 8?
The God, the Father, who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us, how shall He not give us all that we stand in need of? And again, brethren, we're not talking about the best cars. We're not talking about the best foods. We're not talking about the best clothing.
The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6 says, if we have food, if we have clothing, with this we shall be content. Not with steak and lobster and everything else that we might find desirable, but if we're sustained by our God, we give praise and glory to our God. And notice he ups the ante in verse 29. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Remember that scene in first Kings chapter 10, the fame of Solomon had spread throughout the nations and the queen of Sheba gets wind of it. And the queen of Sheba visits Solomon. What happens there? She's blown away.
She can't imagine that somebody has such riches. Somebody has such resources. Somebody has such wisdom. Somebody has such a kingdom like this.
It truly was mind-blowing for the Queen of Sheba. What's Jesus saying? The lilies of the field clothed by God, these lilies that neither toil nor spin, are more glorious than even Solomon in his kingdom. In other words, you've got to trust in God.
You cannot let this anxiety or this carnality or this worry disrupt you from the main things. Now
The Contrast: Gentiles and the Father
notice, thirdly, under the prohibition given by Jesus, the contrast in verses 31 and 32. First, he speaks of the conduct of the Gentiles in verse 32, and then he speaks of the knowledge of the Father in verse 32b. But look at verse 31, therefore, again, do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? Just want to remind you that doesn't mean don't go to work tomorrow and lay on your couch.
Don't worry about it. Don't be grief struck over it. Because you see that while we might think it's a legitimate concern for the preservation of life and for body and for our tomorrows, we can slip into a position where it becomes obsessive, where that's all we're governed by. That's the only thing that matters.
C.S. Lewis, I can't remember where I read it, but he speaks about that statement in Proverbs, giving neither poverty nor riches. And he makes the observation that many a man will say that he's making his way in the world, and yet, more realistically, the world is making its way into his heart. We thought that's a good caution for us.
Yes, the Bible enjoins hard work upon the people of God. Yes, the Bible stipulates six days you shall work a labor and do all your work. It definitely calls us to that, but it also calls us to be mindful that we can't serve God and Mammon. We're to serve God and God alone.
And so the Lord Jesus issues once again this statement in verse 31, As I said, the repetition indicates obsession. Spurgeon comments here, the questions in this verse are taken out of the worldling's catechism of distrust. They're taken out of the worldlings' catechism of distrust, this constant thought that perhaps God will not be there for us. Go back to the middle of the chapter, or the first third of the chapter, specifically at verse 11.
Give us this day our daily bread. Brethren, if we pray that in faith to this good God who clothes the lilies of the field such that they exceed the glory of Solomon, who feeds the very sparrows of the air, if we are praying, give us this day our daily bread, then at some point we must leave it with him. We mustn't be governed by the carnal spirit that says, but what about me? What about this?
What about that? This is what Jesus is trying to stifle among the professing people of God. You're not supposed to be governed by these things, because it reveals an allegiance problem relative to God and His kingdom and His righteousness. So notice the reasons there again in verse 32.
He speaks of the conduct of the Gentiles and the knowledge of the Father. Now the Gentiles here is used as those unbelieving people, the ones outside of Christ. We see Paul use it that way in Ephesians 4, 17. No longer walk as The rest of the Gentiles won.
So their Paul is magnifying their conduct and demonstrating that's something we're supposed to avoid. Jesus is dealing now with the mindset of the philosophy of the Gentile. He's sort of penetrating behind the scenes in terms of what governs people who live in a world where they don't have a sovereign God. Now I'm not suggesting that there is no sovereign God over them, but they don't have him experientially.
They haven't believed the gospel. They are not saved. So
Gentile Thinking Condemned
Jesus cautions his people from thinking like Gentiles. Jesus cautions his people from thinking like atheists. Jesus cautions His people from thinking as if God or the gods aren't omnipotent, aren't omnipresent, aren't omniscient, aren't the sovereign being that is revealed in Isaiah the prophet chapter 57 and verse 15. God, the High and Holy One, He inhabits eternity, but He also dwells with those who are of a contrite spirit.
So when you come to this particular statement, the Lord Jesus is condemning a particular line of thinking on the parts of his people, on the part of his people. So
The Knowledge of the Father
notice again verse 32, for after all these things the Gentiles seek. This is the reason why they're not supposed to worry, because that's Gentile thought, that's Gentile conduct, that's Gentile practice. Again, not making sure that you work hard and providing those things that your family needs for your lives, for your bodies, and for your tomorrows. But when you're obsessed with that, when you're consumed with that, when that's all that activates you, you have more in common with the Gentile than you do with the covenant people of God.
The obsession is of those who do not know God, for after all these things the Gentiles seek. It reflects a philosophy, it reflects an atheistic thought process that were just governed by chance, By fate? By random happenstance? We don't live in a theistic universe?
We don't have a sovereign God? We don't have the God outlined in Westminster's Shorter Catechism wherein he governs all his preachers and all their actions? Which Shorter Catechism reflects the teaching of Scripture? Daniel chapter 4.
There is none who can stay his hand. There is none who can say, what doest thou? There is that reality that among the people of God, what we know about God should be fleshed out in how we live before God. In other words, theology matters, right?
You can have impeccable orthodoxy, but if you're frantically, don't look at my thumbs, biting your thumbnails, then it reveals that perhaps your orthodoxy needs to be translated into orthopraxy, or the practice of the Christian faith, the act of the Christian faith. So Jesus says, don't be like the Gentiles. This is their thought process. They are blind men wandering in a blind universe with no all-seeing God who provides for them according to his mercy, goodness, and kindness.
As Ryle says, he suggests to us that over-carefulness about the things of this world is most unworthy of a creature, a Christian rather. He says, one great feature of heathenism is living for the present. Yeah, I think we'd all agree with that. Let the heathen, if he will, be anxious.
He knows nothing of a father in heaven, but let the Christian who has clearer light and knowledge give proof of it by his faith and contentment. As well, brethren, when Jesus cautions us about the thought process here of the heathen, again, verse 32a, for after all these things, the Gentiles seek. Remember that we're dealing in a context of temporal provision. Temporal physical provision.
Isn't that the illustration of your life? You can't add a cubit to it. Your body, food, clothing, your tomorrows. It's temporal stuff.
It's not ever not amazed me, figure that one out if you will, that sometimes Calvinists or Reformed believers who have a very astute doctrine of God in matter spiritual forget it when it comes to the practical. Oh yeah, God's absolutely, positively sovereign. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In love, having predestined us unto adoption as sons.
We affirm that, we confess that, we love that, we delight in that. And yet it may look like the cupboards are getting bare and we forget all about God's absolute sovereignty. We forget all about God's providence, wherein He governs all His creatures and all their actions. See, the Lord is taking this doctrine and He's putting it right into your kitchen.
He's putting it right into your bedroom. He's putting it right into your workplace. He's putting it right into your car. He's putting it right into your discussions concerning Him and His world.
So yeah, affirm the glory of God in the electing and predestinating power that He exhibits in the salvation of sinners, but glorify God that your daily bread is on your plate in the morning as well. The same God of Ephesians 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, is the same God of Psalm 68, where the psalmist praises God because he loads us daily with benefits. The psalmist in Psalm 103, he certainly capitalizes upon and he celebrates the forgiveness of sin as that sort of crown jewel of God's goodness to his people. But he also celebrates physical, temporal deliverance.
He praises God that he's in the spiritual, he praises God that he's in the physical. He praises God that he's in the eternal, he praises God that he's in the temporal. And that's exactly what Jesus is reminding us here. Affirm God's absolute sovereignty, but see it not only in election and predestination, but see it in the provision of jobs, see it in the provision of clothing, see it in the provision of food, see it in the bringing of tomorrow, such that while you may have some concerns about what these morons are gonna usher in in 2024, nevertheless, you know that they are God's morons at the end of the day.
They are under his power. They are operating in a manner that is tethered. They are not free to go about doing whatever it is that they deem. I find great comfort in that.
The reality that as bad as it may appear, God is not shaken. God is not off his throne. God has not been cast down. God is over all things.
And may I suggest at the outset of a new year, read your Old Testament. You'll get a great big dose of that all throughout. You'll get a great big dose of that reality when Israel, the two tribes, the northern and the southern, are undergoing chastisement, are undergoing difficulties, when they're under the reign of a Manasseh or under the reign of an Ahab. Well, did God take a holiday during the reign of Manasseh or of Ahab?
No, God is sovereign over them. What about right now and presently? Christ has exalted to the right hand of God Most High. He is the head over all things.
He does so specifically relative to his church, but he has absolute comprehensive sovereignty. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So for us, understanding that, we live like Gentiles when we deny it at the level of practicality. When we start to fret, when we start to cower, and when we start to think that it's only gonna ever be bad, well, it might be, but God sustains, God gives grace, and God will see you through it.
And as we muse on history past, we see the very same lessons. You know what, one of the most quoted, you've heard this from me many times, the most quoted or alluded to verse in the New Testament is Psalm 110.1. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies a footstool. Well, what was going on in the Roman Empire at the time that they would rehearse this over and over again?
Oh, I don't know, a godless state? A group of unbelieving Jews that were trying to target the people of God? Abortion, infanticide, homosexuality, all the sorts of things that we say, oh, there's never been a day and age like ours. Well... there has been, we just have the luxury of being able to find out about it like that, because information is always right there concerning the various situations affecting us.
So with reference to the Lord Jesus' teaching, he tells us to guard against the conduct of the Gentiles, and then he speaks of the knowledge of the Father. Notice in verse 32b, he says, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. The for, again, highlights that this is a reason why believers should not worry. Don't worry.
Why? Because you'll be like the Gentiles. Why? because your God, your Father, already knows the things that you need. In fact, look back in Matthew chapter 6, specifically at verse 8.
In the context here of praying, Jesus mitigates against or militates against the motivation behind our prayer. If your motivation is simply to be seen by men, you're not praying right. But then he condemns the manner of our praying. Notice in verse 7, and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
In other words, you're going to kill God with all of your words, or not kill him, but invoke him because of the manifold number of words. So Jesus goes against that motivation and that manner, and then he prescribes for them specific manner on how to pray, content too. In this manner, verse 9, I'm sorry, verse 8, therefore do not be like them, for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. He uses the same argument here to discriminate against or to kill our worry.
Verse 32b, for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. He says this casually. He says this freely. He says this without argument.
He understands who his father is. He understands divine omniscience. He understands divine benevolence. He understands that God has got you carefully in his hand.
The knowledge of God, or the doctrine of the knowledge of God, is the basis for prayer in Matthew 6, 8, and 9. And the doctrine of the knowledge of God is the basis for, I don't even want to say this because it seems unattainable, but a worry-free life. Again,
Theology Proper and Daily Life
brethren, it's theology proper that stabilizes the soul. It's what you know of God that affects how you live for God, or contrary to what you should be living for in terms of God. What a man thinks, that's how he functions. This is Paul in Romans chapter 12.
Therefore, do not be conformed to this world, but rather be transformed by what? By the things that you do, by the places that you go, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Paul understands where the battle is fought and won. Get the mind instructed, get the mind theologized, get the mind filled with an understanding of who God is, and then the conduct will follow.
Because that is the way we're made up. That is why God uses preaching, God uses reading, God uses the mind to get to us in terms of our understanding so that we'll live in a manner that is consistent with His will and His word for us in this present evil age. And then in terms of God's goodness, again, that's assumed for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Right?
He knows that you have lives. He knows that you have bodies. And he knows that you have tomorrows. Consider the psalmist, Psalm 37, verse 25.
I have been young and now am old, but yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his descendants begging bread. And then Hebrews 13, five. Paul there, I think Paul wrote it, invokes a principle that we oftentimes spiritualize. I don't think there's anything wrong with spiritualizing, but in the context of Hebrews 13, it's temporal, it's physical, it's real life, it's lives, bodies, and tomorrows.
Hebrews 13, 5, let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Again, brethren, we have that blessed reality that will never leave us or forsake us in the spiritual realm, but it's a promise attached to a prohibition against covetousness. Why shouldn't you covet? Because God has purpose to never leave you nor forsake you.
Jesus assumes this in verse 32b. Your heavenly Father knows what you need. He's not gonna hold you over the fire pit like a man with a spider and watch you just vexed and frustrated and anxious. No, God is good.
Now that
The Principle: Seek First the Kingdom
brings us then to the principle highlighted by Jesus in verses 33 and 34. There's first an exhortation, second a promise, and then a conclusion. Note the exhortation. So we have been forbidden or prohibited from worrying about life, bodies and tomorrows.
And now he says in 33a, this is the point, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Again, go back to the Lord's prayer in Matthew six, you'll see a pattern here. When it comes time to pray, do we pray first for our food, our forgiveness and our protection? No.
There's a pecking order in the Lord's prayer. We pray first for God's name, for God's kingdom, and for God's will. In other words, we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and then these things, food, forgiveness, and protection, will be added to us. See, what the Lord is doing here in verses 25 to 34 isn't brand new information.
I've got something all together... No, no, he's simply reiterating what he's already said here in chapter 6. He's got a hammer, he's got nails, and he keeps pounding away. Because this is a vital component in our Christian lives, that we don't live like the Gentiles, that we live in light of a good God, that we are not governed by carnal anxiety or by worry, but we're governed by kingdom principles.
And so the very emphasis of our Savior here reiterates what we find there in the Lord's Prayer. Now notice the priority. He says, seat first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Now the kingdom of God is His rule, His reign, His presence, His power.
Typically in studies in the Lord's Prayer, there's a twofold component. You have the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. We're presently in that kingdom of grace. The gospel is preached, the spirit attends, people get converted, the converted get edified and strengthened and sanctified and built up such that they can live in this present evil age.
We pray for the kingdom of glory as well. That's how John ends the revelation, even so come Lord Jesus. This is what should be symptomatic of the hearts of God's people. We ought to long for the coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We ought to have this desire for the clouds to be rolled back, for the sky to be opened, and for our blessed Savior to come in the glory of His Father with all of His holy angels, taking vengeance on them who know not God and on those who do not obey the gospel, to be marveled at or admired by those who by grace have believed on Him. So we ought to seek first God's kingdom, brethren, not our kingdom. were to seek first God's reign and rule and righteousness and power, not riches and accolades and prestige. Again, I do not want to be misunderstood here. I am all for hard work.
I'm all for guys getting recognized at work, girls getting recognized at work, getting promotions, given more responsibility. None of what I say should affect that reality, but it's a question of allegiance. It's a question of priority. It's a question of the larger concerns of a man's life.
Is it only about these things? Because if so, we need the corrective of our Savior so that we'll seek first the kingdom of God. And then he goes on to say, and his righteousness. Again, that's the rightness of God, the perfection of his goodness.
But in the Sermon on the Mount, I suspect there's a larger overarching concern. I think that the Sermon on the Mount, rightly interpreted, serves as a pedagogue as well. In other words, it serves to show us our sin, our lawlessness, our rebel hearts, and then it casts us to the foot of the cross, seeking the righteousness of another. In other words, when Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, yeah, the rightness of God, the perfection of His righteousness, but also the person of the Savior.
Look at chapter 5, specifically at verse 20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. If you were an outsider, you were not a believer at that point, you were hearing that. How do you think you would respond to that?
You'd say, wait a minute. The Pharisees and the scribes, these are the righteous guys among us. These are the right guys among us. They're the religious teachers.
If their righteousness isn't good enough, then what hope for a slob like me? What hope for a piker like me? What hope for a wretch like me? So I think Machen is right.
I think Martin Lloyd-Jones is right. One of the functions of the Sermon on the Mount is to show us our sin. It's to show us our depravity. It's to show us our lawlessness.
How do you know you're sin and misery? The law of God tells me so. Well, Matthew 5 to 7 is a whole bunch of law. That's why I started off by saying, I don't want to scold.
I'm certainly not a guru when it comes to law keeping, but that law should make a man a seeker after righteousness. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our brother Steve read Jeremiah 23 at the outset of worship last week. Jeremiah 23.6, now this is his name, by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1.30, but of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, that is, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
What is Jesus doing here? He's calming His people. He is gently reproving His people. He is exhorting His people to not be governed by worry, to not be divided in their allegiance, to make sure that the priority structure is in place.
But He's also calling out to sinners. He's addressing unbelievers. He is telling people that the way of this kind of peace is through the Lord's righteousness. It is through the Lord's righteousness provided in His Son, who is the Lord our righteousness, that secures for you place in His kingdom.
So seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and then these things will be added to you. And
The Promise: All These Things Added
notice that promise based on what he says there in verse 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Brethren, it's the things in context. You've probably heard the statement from Philippians 4, through him I can do everything.
You know, the young basketball star figures because he's a Christian, he'll be able to jump higher, stuff harder, and be better than all of his competitors. No, that's not what Paul means there. The auto mechanic. I'm going to be the best auto mechanic because in Christ Jesus, I can do everything.
You still got to read, you still got to work hard, you got to have dexterity with tools. There's a lot of things involved there. We got to make sure that we don't, you know, get rid of any limitations on context. When he says, in all these things, what's he talking about?
Your life, your food, your clothing, and your tomorrows. Again, not steak and lobster. Not, I can jump higher and dunk harder than anybody on the face of the earth. Not, I'm gonna be the best attorney in Vancouver, because in Christ Jesus, I can do everything.
You can't fly to the moon unassisted. Does that not be covered by Philippians 4? We gotta make sure that what Jesus is promising here is what Jesus is promising here. Paul, as I said in 1 Timothy 6, 8 says, in having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
Right? Doesn't specify what food and what clothing. Doesn't specify how much food or how many clothes. It says you have it.
You have it. Lewis says, you can't get second things by putting them first. You can get second things only by putting first things first. I think that's a perceptive statement here.
You can't get second things by putting them first. In other words, your life, your body, your tomorrows shouldn't become your priority, shouldn't become your allegiance. No, you don't get second things by putting them first. You get second things only by putting first things first.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. And then
The Conclusion: Do Not Fear Tomorrow
the conclusion, verse 34. Notice he commands again, do not worry. Do not worry. Don't be governed by anxiety.
Don't be fretful. Don't be the sort of person that is paralyzed by that kind of fear and trepidation. But here the object is a bit different. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow.
He's cautioned us about lives and bodies, and now he cautions us about tomorrow. And as I said earlier, verse 34 balances out the entire section. This isn't a theology of be, you know, don't worry, be happy. This isn't hakuna matata, I'm dating myself here when my kids were little.
This is not this kind of a concept where, you know, you've got God now, and just don't worry about tomorrow. He understands that each day has sufficient troubles. If Jesus is trying to sell the kingdom only based on benefit, he's doing a pretty bad job. He ever bought a used car?
He ever bought something from somebody that only saw it as gold and then it wasn't? Well, how do they sell it? Well, it's never broken down. It will never break down.
It's only ever good until you drive off the lot. Jesus says, sufficient is the day for its own trouble. Brethren, the Christian life is not the eradication of hardship. Do not worry about tomorrow.
And then as the reason, he says, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. There is hardship, there is difficulty, there are challenges to be faced. And then the reality that he states, he says, sufficient for the day is its own trouble. The presence of trial and hardship and affliction and difficulty is not confined to verse 34, it's illustrated and demonstrated throughout the scripture.
As I said earlier, read the Old Testament, read about your hero, King David, read about your hero, the apostle Paul in the New Testament. Read about your Lord Jesus, man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He had no form, no comeliness. There was nothing about Him that suggested that we fawn all over Him.
You read about the apostles in Acts chapter 5. They rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. You're about the history of the faithful in the church and life of God. They're in Hebrews chapter 11 at the very end.
There's no whiff of health, wealth, and prosperity. There's every whiff of hardship, and affliction, and trial, and difficulty, and Jesus doesn't mitigate that. But what he wants you to know is that don't worry about what tomorrow may bring, because as you're worrying about tomorrow, you're not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness today. And if you're not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness today, you're not going to be fit to deal with the troubles of today.
In other words, what Jesus impresses upon us is not the idea that there's no hardship, but he's telling us that if we want to navigate through the hardship, we need to have the priority structure that he's enjoined upon us. Ryle says we are not to carry cares before they come. Maybe you're like me, you've wasted a lot of time in your life worrying about things that never happen. Isn't that weird?
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to have some encounter group here, but it's just bizarre behavior. Is it DNA? Is it parental upbringing? Is it the weirdnesses that happen?
I don't know. What shapes a person where they waste incessant amounts of time worrying about things that may or may not happen? And if we're trusting the living and the true God, if they do happen, we have his promise that he'll see us through it. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
Why? Because thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Ryle 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. Amen.
R.T. France, a modern commentator, says God's care and provision are assured. But that does not mean that the disciple's life is to be one long picnic. Each day will still have its troubles.
The preceding verses simply provide the assurance that by the grace of God, they can be survived. So don't worry about tomorrow. Don't panic about tomorrow. Don't fret concerning tomorrow.
You got enough to deal with today to seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness. And then Matthew Henry, he oftentimes nails things in a very beautiful way. Let us not pull that upon ourselves altogether at once, which providence has wisely ordered to be borne by parcels. The conclusion of this whole matter then is that it 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 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. That's a very valuable statement. Let's not become our own tormentors. Let's not work ourselves up over troubles when the troubles themselves aren't gonna be that severe.
Again, it's nonsensical. It's folly. It's weird. It's a lack of wisdom.
And that's why Jesus teaches it here, so that we won't worry about our lives. We can't add cubits to our stature Or about our bodies. What are we going to wear? What are we going to eat?
Or our tomorrows. Ryle was right. We could be dead by tomorrow. I don't say that with a gleeful hope, but I say that with a amusing smirk.
We could be dead by tomorrow. Doesn't James condemn this attitude? Oh, we'll go to such and such a city tomorrow. We'll traffic.
We'll sell. We'll buy. We'll deal. You don't know that you're a vapor.
You're here for a time and then you're gone. You're not the kingdom of God. You don't have that lasting, you know, stability. You're here today and then gone tomorrow.
I think that's a good and helpful perspective for the people of God to sort of, to imbibe. Again, not for self-deprecation, I'm just garbage. No, but to get a good dose of reality. The Bible does that.
It compares man with grass. in contrast to the stability of the Word that endures forever. Those are good checks upon us in our pride, good checks upon us in our temptation to worry. And in conclusion, if you had to summarize, I would think you'd take home this point. I shouldn't worry.
No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't worry. You should work, you should labor, you shouldn't lay on your couch unless it's time to lay on the couch, but you shouldn't be paralyzed, you shouldn't be captivated, you shouldn't be mesmerized by the concerns of this world to the detriment of your never-dying soul. We're to seek God, we're to seek his kingdom, we're to seek his righteousness.
The man who prays as he ought will live as he ought. I stole that from John Owen. You see the connection between Matthew 6 in the Lord's Prayer and Matthew 6 in this injunction not to worry. If you pray, give us this day our daily bread, provide for me my forgiveness, provide for me my protection, then go out and live as you want.
Don't just pray it emptily and then be governed by worry. Trust God for your provision, trust God for his concern, trust God for his kindness and providence, and then live in light of that. Live in light of that reality and enjoy the things that He gives you. Pray continually for what you need, but rest assured that He has you and that He governs you and that He cares for you.
And
Gospel Call to the Unbeliever
if anyone's not a believer, I want to direct your thought again to verse 32. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This is not an appeal to you to go out and be better. Stop worrying and you'll go to heaven.
Stop obsessing about money, stop obsessing about cars, stop obsessing about all those worldly things, and then you'll go to heaven. That's not my appeal. My appeal is Paul's appeal, is Jesus' appeal, is Isaiah's appeal, is Moses' appeal, is God's appeal. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Look to the Lord our righteousness for cleansing in his blood and clothing in that righteousness. The glory of the Christian gospel isn't try harder, do more, be better, but it's rather believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Because in that gospel, what God does is he takes that blood of Jesus and washes and cleanses you of all your sin. But it doesn't stop there.
You need to be clothed in righteousness so that you can stand before him. Well, Jesus fulfilled all righteousness such that when we believe in him by grace, that righteousness is imputed to us or given to us, constituted ours. And the way we receive it is by the empty hand of faith. Look to Christ, look to that righteousness, and by grace, enter the kingdom of God.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this exhortation of our Lord Jesus against worry, and help us to internalize these things, help us to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, and to realize that you are good in your providential dealings with your people. We ask that you would bless this local body. We pray for your blessing upon other churches in our community.
We pray that your gospel would go forth powerfully, conquering and to conquer. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.