Law of Provision

HEAVEN'S FIXED LAWS

Ron Dunn

Matthew 6:24-34

24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

There was a cross erected on Calvary long before there was a Garden of Eden ever made. So God opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living creature. It is an interesting study to see how God specifically satisfies the desire and has made provision for every creature.

I was visiting my folks in Arkansas a few weeks ago. We went out in the woods one day, and saw some robins. It was the time of the year when the robins were beginning to come out. We also saw a lot of sparrows. Have you ever watched how a robin eats, and how a sparrow eats? A robin is a large bird, very slow and deliberate. Robins love to eat worms. God has given them built-in radar. Sometimes you sit down and watch a robin as he seeks out his food. He will walk around the ground and duck his head. He is getting that radar tuned in on that worm in the ground. After awhile he finds out where the worm is, and he pulls that worm out. Every time, before the robin will eat, he will lift his head and ask the blessing. Then he will eat the worm. That's the way the robin eats. He will move around the ground, ducking that head, letting that radar pick up whatever vibrations that worm puts out. He finds the worm, lifts his head to heaven, and eats the worm.

Now, what if God had made sparrows, that are much more plentiful and faster, to like worms and with built-in radar. Well, the robins would starve to death! While the robin was trying to find a worm, the sparrows would already have eaten all of them. God didn't make the sparrows that way. Sparrows don't seek out worms. They will eat insects, flies, crumbs, straw, grass, and anything else they can find. You see, God has made abundant provision for all things.

The same thing is true of a man's life. Most of us this morning are worrying about the physical and materials needs of our lives because we are assuming responsibility that God never intended us to have. There is only one way that you can be absolutely liberated and free today from the natural fears and frustrations that beset common man. That is to bow before the law of provision and realize that what God possesses, he provides for. You see, that puts the responsibility on God. If I belong to Godâ€”lock, stock and barrel, if he owns me because he made me, if he owns me because he bought me with his blood, then God is obligated to meet my needs. That is exactly what the Bible says he will do.

The Apostle Paul says to the church at Philippi, but my God shall supply all (A-L-L) your needs--physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. He shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. This is what Jesus is talking about this morning. You will never know God in his fullness, friends, until you come to the place that you are willing to trust God for provision. This is one of the most important aspects of the Christian life. Many of us are failing right here at this point. Many of us are living Christian lives on Sunday morning but we are living pagan lives through the rest of the week. I'll explain to you in a moment what I mean by that. The step that you need to take in coming to know Christ in his fullness, and coming to know the joy and peace and the restfulness that Jesus wants us to have, is to come to acknowledge and bow before God's law of provision. Jesus says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. What things? Well, what you are going to eat, what you are going to drink, what you are going to wear--all these physical, material necessities of life--they shall be added unto you.

Now Jesus very clearly enunciates this law in three ways in this passage. What is the law of provision? If I am going to be able to look to God daily to meet every need that I have, if I am going to be released from anxiety and worry about the necessities of life, what am I going to have to do?

I. You must value yourself.

Place a value upon your life. Look at verse 26. Jesus says,

Behold the fowls of the air: (Now, we are very biblical this morning. That is exactly what we have done. Jesus said to behold the fowls of the air so we have talked about robins and sparrows. So we are right on the beam so far.) for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. (Now, notice this last question.) Are ye not much better than they?

Aren't you much better than a bird? Aren't you much better than they? Jesus says why are you so uptight about these necessities of life? Why do you feel you are responsible? Why do you feel this way? Look at the birds. You never saw a bird planting a garden. You never saw a bird reaping a harvest. Yet your Heavenly Father takes care of them. Your Heavenly Father feeds them.

Look at the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they spin, but I tell you Solomon in all his glory didn't have a suit like those lilies do. Aren't you much better than they? The first thing you have to do is place a value upon yourself. You need to realize how important you are to God. I know I am more important than a sparrow. Now, a robin may have a little bit of edge on me, but I know I am more important than a sparrow. And I know that I am more important than a flower that today is, and tomorrow is gone. In a few days it will wilt and die. If you pay $17 a dozen for those American red roses, and you set them in your living room, you will see in a few days how wilted they are. I know that I am better than they are. Jesus says you are much better than they are. You've got to place a value upon yourself.

How valuable are we to God? I think there are two ways that the Bible reveals our value to God.

1. It is revealed in creation. God created the heavens and the earth. He created the animal kingdom. Then as the crown of his creation, he created man, and he created man in his own image. God has an image, a spiritual image, and he wants to create something that will have an affinity to God. What does the image of God mean? It simply means that I am able to have fellowship with God. I am able to walk with God, to know him, to communicate with him. God is able to communicate with me. Let's just suppose that God had not made up his mind, and God was looking at all the animal creation that he had made, wanting to pick some species that he could give his image to so he could have fellowship with them. He chose you and me. We are made in the image of God. This is how valuable I am. God wants me to have fellowship with him. He didn't give that sparrow the image of God. No dog has an affinity with God. No horse is able to communicate with God. Only man is able to worship and know God. We are the only ones to whom God has revealed himself and said I will not be ashamed to call you my son. He is not ashamed to be called our God. I am valuable to God. God will take care of me. He will meet my needs. You need to understand that God is much more concerned about your life than you ever could be. I am convinced that what the world needs to understand today is that God loves them and is concerned about them in the most minute details of their lives. Friend, if it's big enough to worry about, it's big enough for God to take care of. God is infinitely concerned with my life. He wants to reach into my life, and reach through my life, and touch me with his love and his provision. You are valuable to God. You mean a great deal to God. The second way I know I am valuable to God, is not only because he gave me his image and the ability to fellowship with him, but also because he gave his only Son for me.

2. He gave his only Son for me.

I can never again doubt that God cares for me, and that God wants to provide for me when I stand at the foot of the cross. God has a rich investment in us. He loved me so much he gave his Son to die for me on the cross. Listen, you weren't worthy to be saved but God thought you were worth saving. That is what the cross says. God says that in spite of your sin, your rebellion, the blackness and the wickedness of your heart, you are worth saving because you are made in my image. I am going to restore and save my image. You are worth saving. Friend, I want you to know that if I am worth saving, I am worth keeping up. I am worth providing for. I love that verse in Romans 8:32 that says, he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? Which is the greater thing for God to give us--his Son or the daily necessities of life? The greater thing is his Son. If God has done the greater thing, how much more shall he do the lesser thing? The first step in coming to the place where we recognize God's provision in our life is to value ourselves. Friend, God considers you worth saving. God considers you worth sustaining. This is why Jesus said if a man gains the whole world but loses his own soul, it is all loss and no profit. One single soul is worth more than all the gold and all the silver and all the rich things that the world possesses.

II. You must forget yourself.

I didn't have too much trouble with that first thing. It doesn't take too much talk to convince you that you are valuable. This second point is a little more difficult. Forget yourself. I thought you just said we are valuable. That's right but the second thing he says is to forget yourself. Look at verse 25: Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life. Again in verse 28: And why take ye thought for raiment? And in verse 31: Therefore take no thought. Verse 34: Take therefore no thought for the morrow. What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying, "Forget yourself." You quit making yourself the center of your little world.

The person who does not acknowledge that God is going to provide for him, and doesn't look to God for all the expectation of life, is going to turn his focus of attention on himself. He is going to be thinking about himself. And he is going to be thinking about his needs. Look at verse 24. Jesus says,

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Now mammon simply means all the material things that we trust in, the things that we trust in for our livelihood. Jesus says that there are only two things that a man can trust in. Either you are going to be trusting in the material things of life, or you are going to be trusting in God. You can't trust in both of them. You cannot be submissive to the Lordship of Jesus and, at the same time, be a slave to mammon--the material pursuits of life. There is only one alternative.

I do not care how long you've been a Christian. It matters not if you are a deacon or a preacher or a Sunday School teacher. Today, you are either bowing down before the god of mammon, before material things, placing a value upon material things, or you are bowing down before the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is no other alternative. Both of these are mutually exclusive. They are like oil and water. You cannot mix them. Jesus doesn't want us to trust in mammon so in the very next verse he says, therefore don't take any thought for your life. You have to completely forget about yourself, your needs, desires, and ambitions. Unless you do, you are going to find yourself serving those things that will meet your needs.

Why do you suppose God has promised to provide for us? Why does he want us to be free from worrying about what to eat or drink? As long as I am worrying about my needs, I can't help you in your needs. The Bible very clearly states over and over again that I am not to look on my own needs but I am to look out for the interest of other people. The law of God is if I want to receive, I must first of all give. God knows that if I am more concerned than I ought to be about my physical needs, when somebody comes along in trouble or in need, I am going to lockup my compassion because I am worried about my own needs. I am focusing my attention on my own necessities of life. I have to get out there and earn a buck for myself. So I cannot give out of a heart of compassion to that person who is in need. But if I'm not thinking and worrying about myself, I am set free and at liberty to help a person who is in desperate need. Why? God has promised to take care of me. God wants us to bow down before the law of provision so that we in turn can help those others who are in need. God has said to forget yourself. The Bible says that the love of money is a root of all evil.

When you really get uptight about your physical needs, it will lead you into all kinds of sin. It will lead a businessman into embezzlement and dishonesty in business. Why? Man, if I don't look out for No. 1, nobody is going to look out for me. A great many business people today are cheating in their business because they have not acknowledged that God will provide for them. Why do people cheat on their income tax? Probably some of you have done that this year. Why? You feel like you have to watch out for No. 1 and this money you have is what is going to take care of you. You have to hang onto it as long as you can. You are not accepting and yielding to God's law of provision.

The person who has a child-like trust in God that he is going to meet every need is not going out in the world grasping to get all he can. It leads to envy, jealousy, hatred, lying, stealing, murder, immorality. The love of money is a root of all evil.

Notice what Jesus says in verses 31-32:

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:)

The Gentiles are pagans. That is who Jesus is referring to. He is saying that the pagans seek these things. He is saying some of you are acting like Christians on Sunday and acting like pagans through the rest of the week. You have a pagan's view of life. We come to church on Sunday morning and praise him, pray to him, and give our testimonies. But through the rest of the week we are bowing down before the god of physical and material needs. We are worrying about whether or not we are going to have this or that. We are spending all our energies to make this, and to get that. We are basing our standard of values on the basis of what we possess. Jesus says you are living like pagans.

The only way you can live like a Christian Monday through Saturday is to recognize that God has promised to meet your needs. Do you mean I'm not supposed to work? I can just call my boss tomorrow and tell him I'm not coming in; the Lord has promised to meet my needs. No, not at all! You know better than that. God says six days you shall labor and on the seventh you shall rest. A person who doesn't believe that God is going to provide for him won't rest on that seventh day. God says to labor six days and he will meet your needs. He will take care of everything. You say that everything you have is yours. You earned it by the sweat of your brow, your own ability, your own ingenuity. You make it all. You see, everything comes from God. I don't care what you have in your life. Whether you are saved or lost, the Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from above. You say, "Preacher, God has never given me anything. My home, my car, my clothesâ€”everything I haveâ€”I went out and earned money and bought them. The Bible says not to forget that it is He who gives you the power to get wealth.

I heard about a little girl who went to Sunday School, and they taught her that she ought to ask a blessing before each meal. She went home after Sunday School, and as she sat down for the meal with both her parents who were lost, she asked if she could ask the blessing first. The father begrudgingly allowed her to do so. She began to pray. She didn't know how to pray. "Lord, thank you for the meat, thank you for the potatoes, thank you for the bread, and thank you for the milk." She went on and when she finished, the father was very angry. He said, "I am going to teach you something right now. Honey, God didn't put that meat on the table. Your daddy did. God didn't go out here and work all this past week to earn money to buy those potatoes. Your daddy did. And God didn't put that milk in your glass. Your daddy did." So the little girl bowed her head and said, "Dear Lord, thank you for daddy."

You can't get away from it. You can draw it out to its logical end and at the end you will find God. It is he who gives you the power to get wealth. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Some of you will never learn the law of provision until God absolutely bankrupts you, and breaks you, and puts you in a corner where you have to learn it and have to trust him. God says to forget yourself.

III. Dedicate yourself.

All of these are important. You can't leave out a one. First of all, value yourself. Secondly, forget yourself. Third, dedicate yourself. Look at verse 33:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Notice the first word of verse 33 is the word but, a word of contrast. He said all these pagans and heathens are all the time worrying about what they are going to eat or drink. They are seeking this. This is what they are dedicated to. They are dedicated to getting a better job, a raise in pay. They are dedicated to accumulating things. Jesus said instead of dedicating yourself to that, you dedicate yourself to the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I promise you that if you will forget about yourself, and consecrate yourself, and narrow down your dedication to one thing onlyâ€”the kingdom of God and his righteousness, I'll take care of all these other things. They will be added unto you.

Now, Christian, I want you to know that God has promised to meet every need of yours only if you seek him and his righteousness first. What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God? He is not talking about wanting to go to heaven. The kingdom of God is not a place; it is a way of life. It means God's rule. Righteousness is his way of doing things. Jesus is saying that if you will seek first God's rule in your life and his way of doing things, all these other things will be added unto you. I must allow him to rule in my life. As I do that, God provides for me.

You say you needed a certain thing and didn't receive it. What you do not receive, you do not require. The Lord withholds some things from us to teach us that we really don't need them. I have learned this lesson over and over again. I thought I really needed something, and God didn't give it to me. I found out I didn't need it. God withholding it from me showed me something more valuable.

Now, let me close by tying this together. There are a great many of us who pray as Jesus told us to pray. Give us this day our daily bread. Some of you get backed up in a corner, and you begin to pray. Lord, I have this need. God, I have all these bills. Lord, I have this financial need. Lord, I want to ask you to meet that need. Wait just a minute! Some of you are asking God to do something in prayer that you are denying he has a right to do by your life. On what basis is God able to meet my needs? On the basis that he is the owner of all things. He possesses all things. I have no right to ask God to take the wealth of the world and distribute it to me unless God owns it. If God is not the owner of all things, he has no right to distribute it to his children. Many of us, in the way that we live, in the way we treat God with our money, are denying in practice that God is owner of all things. We withhold our material substance from God, and we are saying in effect that God does not own all things. You have no right to tell me what to do with that which is mine. You have no right to tell me what to do with my life. You do not own all things. Then we turn around and ask the Lord to meet our needs. We are asking God to do something in prayer that we are denying he has a right to do in practice. The only way I have any right to come to the Father and say, here is my need (whether it is emotional, mental, financial, spiritual) is if, in the first place, I am acknowledging his ownership of my life and all things in this world. To that person Jesus says he will open the door of heaven and pour out blessings upon you that you cannot receive.

A great many of the marital problems that you have gone through have been a result of financial problems. Much of your worry and the anxiety of your life come from worrying about the needs of your life. God never intended for a man to worry about where his next meal was coming from. David said, "I have been young and now I am old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." God never intended that man should worry and be uptight and anxious about his daily life. God said he would take care of it. Then you can be free to serve me, to love me, to help your fellow man. You forget about all that. Trust me. Put me first. You seek to have my rule in your life, and all these other things will be added unto you.

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