Putting Jesus First - HFBC

Putting Jesus First

I want to first say thank you for the opportunity to come and share the Word of God this morning.

We will be looking at Putting Jesus First in our lives and how when we do, He will make sure we are taken care of.

We will be looking at Jesus’ famous sermon on the mount, in Matthew 6 this morning.

In the sermon on the mount Jesus is speaking or teaching the twelve disciples.

A crows had began to gather around to hear Jesus speak, and Jesus made way up a mount, with the disciples.

He started with the eight beatitudes, then spoke on discipleship, then on personal relationships, He then taught about giving to the poor and prayer, and then about fasting and laying up your treasures in heaven.

That brings us to our text this morning, Jesus gives a cure for anxiety or worrying.

We are told not to worry, but I believe it is a human trait to worry at least a little.

If you are a parent/ grandparent, then you have more than likely worried at some point.

My nanny was a very godly woman and a great prayer warrior but she worried probably more than anyone I ever knew.

I do not worry a lot, but there have been times that I have, the majority of times have been over either my wife, children or grandchildren.

These times are generally due to health situations.

In His sermon on the mount Jesus gives us a cure for this anxiety or worrying.

Our text is Matthew 6:25-34, but we are going to start off with verses 25-27 to begin with.

Matthew 6:25–27 NASB95

25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

Pray

I. Do not worry about Food.

In our first section of Scripture, Jesus tells us to not be worried about food.

Jesus uses wild birds to illustrate the lesson here.

Jesus is not telling us we do not need to go to work and work hard for what we get.

We are told in Scripture if we do not work then we are not to work.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 NASB95

10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

What Jesus is telling us is that the wild birds are dependent on nature, that is they rely on God to supply the food for them.

Jesus shows us this when He says that the birds do not go out and sow seed and then go back and harvest it.

We see farmers doing this, they must go out and sow the seed that they are wanting to harvest, and when the crop is ready they must harvest the crop.

But the thing is the farmer just like the bird must rely on God to provide the increase of that seed.

See a farmer can sow the seed, they can water that seed, and they can fertilize that seed but they cannot make that seed germinate or sprout and grow.

As God supplies the needs of the birds through nature, we as humans have much more opportunity to use nature to survive off of.

We are able to go out and catch fish, grow gardens, and forage for food through God’s creation.

As creatures made in the image of God, we must understand that we are more valuable than the birds of the air.

When we worry about how we are going to eat, worrying will not accomplish anything.

I know for me all worrying does is cause me more problems, generally an upset stomach.

II. Do not worry about Clothing.

Matthew 6:28–30 NASB95

28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

Here Jesus tells us not to worry about how we will be clothed.

Here He uses the illustration of flowers, specifically lilies.

These lilies may better be wild flowers and grasses.

Again they do not clothe themselves, or make themselves grow, God provides that.

We can learn a lesson from the wild flowers as they are not cultivated, but they grow.

That is a person does not go out and plant them, water them, fertilize them, or weed them, but yet they grow and are beautiful.

Here we have a wild flower or grass, the grow some what quickly and become beautiful, but yet they do not live as long as birds or humans, and yet God provides for them and causes them to be beautiful.

These wild flowers and grasses can be used for so many things, and if God supplies and adorns them so greatly, how much more does God love human kind that He created in His own image.

Jesus states that even King Solomon and all that he had, all the riches that he obtained, God has made the wild flowers more beautiful.

Even as God makes the wild flower that may only last a few months.

God supplies the needs of the wild flowers and grasses, He will supplies the clothing needs of human kind.

III. Do not worry about Anything.

Matthew 6:31–32 NASB95

31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Here Jesus begins to bring the lesson to a climax.

He states do not worry about anything, food, water, clothing, any of your daily necessities.

Now we need to understand what are truly necessities, and that really is food and water.

We do not need electric to survive, we do not need a vehicle to live, but yes these things make life more enjoyable and makes us more comfortable.

Jesus said the Gentiles eagerly seek all things.

If the logic of Jesus’ argument be granted, then worry can only result from a lack of genuine belief in God’s goodness and mercy.

R. Mounce says, “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God.”

As Jesus said the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, anxiety characterized pagan religions, which were dominated by fears of an unstable and dictatorial deity who constantly had to be appeased.

If birds of the air, wild flowers and unbelievers do not worry about these things, than we as believers in Jesus Christ must believe, trust and rely on God for all our needs.

IV. The Cure for Worrying.

Matthew 6:33–34 NASB95

33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Here Jesus gives us the cure for our anxiety our worrying.

He tells us to seek first the Kingdom and Righteousness of God.

What we are being told here is that we are to be obedient to all that Jesus has commanded.

When we are obedient to Jesus, we are told all these things will be added to you.

Another words, God will supply our necessities, food, water, clothing, the things we need to live.

But one may say, if that is true, then why are there believers who are starving and without the necessities of life.

We are told here that all these things will be added, we are not told when.

Verse 34 tells us do not worry about tomorrow, as tomorrow will take care of itself.

We must remember that we live in an evil and cruel world.

It is not what God intended, if we remember back to the Garden of Eden, God provided everything that Adam and Eve needed.

But they were not obedient, and did what God told them not to do, bringing sin into the world.

When sin came into the world, there was a lot of punishments for that sin.

As sin has greatly come into this world, it has brought that evil and cruelty to abound.

If we will truly seek first the Kingdom and Righteousness of God, then we will be better off in this life.

But we must put Jesus first and follow all that He has commanded us to do.

The first thing we must be obedient too is receiving Jesus call to follow Him as His disciple.

Jesus told the first disciples to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men.

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Therefore, I must ask the question, have you been obedient in following Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

We are told that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23 NASB95

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The sin that every human has in their life, has consequences, and we are told that the wages or consequences are death, that is spiritual separation from God for eternity.

Romans 6:23 NASB95

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But there is a way to not be separated from God for eternity, and that is the free gift that God has given us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

See God loves us so much that even though we do not deserve He provided a way out of hell.

Romans 5:8 NASB95

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

This love was perfectly shown in the sacrifice that God made through His only Son.

John 3:16 NASB95

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

We can receive this gift from Jesus if we believe all that Jesus has said and done in our hearts and confess with our mouth that He is Lord.

We need to believe in our hearts that Jesus live a perfect life, went to the cross to shed His blood for us, was buried and God raised Him from the dead to defeat sin and death.

Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of God the Father preparing away for those that will receive the free gift of salvation.

Romans 10:9–10 NASB95

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

If you have never received this free gift of salvation, will you come and allow me to pray with you today, to talk more with you about salvation.

For today is the day of salvation, we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

If you have received the free gift of salvation, are you being obedient in being a fisher of men.