Worry Free

Introduction

Last week we began to consider the attack of the world upon the Christian in the fact that there is an overt attempt to make each Christian a materialistic person - someone who serves his or her own interests, accumulating treasures and positions here on this earth. Every Christian that falls for this is an ineffective disciple, because he becomes an ineffective disciple maker. Why? Because they are too concerned about their own treasures to be bothered with the Great Commission.

But there are some Christians that have withstood this overt, this obvious attack from the world. They have not fallen for the materialistic temptations that the world offers. But beware, the world with its philosophies and mindsets, like Satan and even our own flesh, does not attack only on one front, nor is it always obvious.

Worry Free

This morning, we will begin looking at the problem of worldliness in the area of worry, of anxiety.

In this section, of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-32, we will see that when the world cannot successfully distract the Christian with overt materialism, that it turns to more subtle tactics. One of the points that we saw last week was that the world is subtle. It is cunning. Sin and Satan and the World are all subtle and tricky. They do not care how they obtain the objective of making Christians ineffective, they simply wish to destroy, ruin, or render Christians ineffective by whatever means possible.

After last week’s sermon, you may think that you are sitting pretty good. You have thus far resisted the all-out frontal assault that the world has thrown at you, and you have not fallen into the trap of laying up for yourself earthly treasures or trying to serve the world and God at the same time. But before you know it, the world will try a very tricky and often unnoticed maneuver that will allow it to infiltrate your mind and heart - not through desires of earthly gain, no, but through worry and anxiety over earthly things.

So today, we must take Paul’s warning to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 2:11

2 Corinthians 2:11 KJV 1900

11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

As we look at this passage of Scripture in Matthew, let us remember that we can be victorious over worry and anxiety because we have the instruction of Jesus.

Matthew 6:25–32 KJV 1900

25 Therefore 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? 26 Behold 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? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, 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? 31 Therefore 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.

Jesus starts this section of Scripture with the word “therefore.” It has been said that whenever we run across that word, we need to always see what the therefore is there for. So, Jesus is saying here, “In light of everything that we have just seen,” and what have we covered? -That the we are to be focused on God and His Kingdom over any material treasures.

“In light of that, knowing that material things and earthly things can become objects of desire, don’t let them become objects of worry or anxiety either.”

Jesus is carrying out the main argument from the previous verses. Don’t put your focus on the world. Don’t treasure the world. And now, he carries it a bit further to “don’t be anxious about the world.”

At all costs, we must put God first. Next week we will study the verse that tells us, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” but we have already seen that our focus must be single and that we are to serve God, not mammon.

Jesus, the greatest of all teachers, understanding what teachers throughout the ages have always understood, that repetition is the key to learning, now will take a principle and repeat it three different time, but each time in a slightly different manner.

Don’t Worry

Jesus uses a particular phrase and a variation of it throughout this portion - “take no thought.” If you are reading the King James Version with me, you need to understand what this means. it simply means “Don’t Worry” or “Don’t Be Anxious.” In the year 1611, the way you said don’t worry, was “Take no thought.” So, if you are reading in the New King James or ESV or CSB, or most other modern translations, you will see that this verse says, “Don’t worry” or “don’t be anxious.”

Now that word “thought” or “worry” in the Greek that Jesus used is a very interesting word. It indicates something that divides , separates, or distracts us. This is a word that is used throughout the New Testament. In Luke 12:29 Jesus is teaching a very similar sermon, but this time on a plateau, and when He gets to this part of the message, Jesus says, “Be not of a doubtful mind.”

This is a mind that is divided. It is not functioning as a whole. Don’t be divided in your thoughts, focus only on the King and the Kingdom. Don’t be divided in your thoughts; don’t try looking at the worrying about the world while tying to focus on God.

Jesus uses this word again when Jesus visits Mary and Martha at their house in Bethany. Martha is busy prepping the house and meal for Jesus, but Mary has not a care for any of that as she sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to Him. Martha walks in the room and says, “Jesus, can you please tell Mary to come and help with the chores?”

And Jesus rebukes Mary. Luke 10:41-42

Luke 10:41–42 KJV 1900

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

What Jesus was saying is that Martha was distracted by many things. Mary, on the other hand, had a singular purpose; she was not distracted by many things.

Matthew 6:25 KJV 1900

25 Therefore 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?

Here Jesus warning us against the danger of being distracted by anxiety by the many things that life can distract us with, even the important things like food, drink, and clothing.

So, Don’t Worry is the principle. Let’s take a look at it in the general sense. Don’t worry about what? Pretty much everything concerning life. Read Matthew 6:25 with me again.

Matthew 6:25 KJV 1900

25 Therefore 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?

Don’t worry about your life. This is comprehensive. He gives two examples of life’s worries (food/drink, clothing), but this command to not worry is about every aspect of our life in this body.

And then he gives a consideration for why we should not worry. It is like Jesus is saying, “Consider this before you become anxious: Isn’t your life more than food? Isn’t your body more important and greater than clothing?”

And to that, we may be tempted to respond, “Yes, but if I am to live, then I need food and drink, and I need clothing if I am to survive!”

But in effect, what we need to be considering here is not first, how do we sustain our life. Let’s go back to the beginning of our lives. How did you arrive on this world? How did you obtain life? Where did it come from? The answer to all of this, of course, is that it is a gift from God.

The fact that you and I are alive right now is is because we have been granted this gift of God called life. God willed it; He decided it.

So if God has given us this life, then don’t you think that He will supply for this life?

This verse is meant to turn our hearts and thoughts to the giver of life. Yes, of course people need to work. They need to plant and reap the food or else work and buy the food. Jesus’ concern at this moment is not how the issues of life will be taken care of, but that the issues of life will be take care of.

The first principle that we must come to grips with is that this life and every breath in it is a gift from God. How often do we thank God for being alive, for the gift of life? God is the giver of life, and He alone is the sustainer of life. Not only that, but this next principle is closely related - God has a plan for each life.

We must never think of our lives as accidental. There is a reason that you are alive today, and if you are alive today, God has a purpose for you.

So if you find yourself on a turbulent flight or in the midst of a stormy sea, don’t worry. Remember that the life in you is a gift from God and that He has a purpose for you.

It was this kind of faith that drove the Heroes of the Faith that we see in Hebrews 11 to continue to follow God. People like Abraham and Joseph and Moses did not often understand, but they were convinced in their knowledge that despite whatever came their way, God was in control of their lives and he had a plan, and He would not leave them or forsake them until His plan was accomplished. And then, when God had accomplished His plan, they trusted that they had a coming life in His presence for all eternity, their “heavenly habitation.”

“Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than the clothes you put on it?”

Jesus, after 40 days of fasting, spoke these words, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Argue this out in your mind and let it be a source of freedom from worry: You are a child of God who loves you and sustains your life. He has a plan for you and will sustain you until that plan is accomplished. And when he leads you home, you He will lead you into a heavenly life that is peace and joy everlasting in His presence.

Lessons from Birds and Flowers

And now, after having warned us to not be anxious about food or clothing, Jesus begins to give practical application. With regard to the question of food and drink, Jesus calls our attention to the birds. Here, he makes a general observation of a fact of life. Look at it in Matthew 6:26

Matthew 6:26 KJV 1900

26 Behold 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?

What is the observation? Birds don’t sow and reap and gather food, they just go and get it, and it is God who provides it for them.

There is obviously a difference between the way that birds gather food and the way people gather food. We do gather food in barns after sowing and reaping, but the focus on this verse is that these birds are provided for. The way God provides for man is by his sowing and reaping and gathering food into barns. This has been the way since the fall of man. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were like the birds, picking their fruit off the trees without having to really labor hard for it.

But after the fall, man was to eat from the sweat of his brow; he would have to labor hard for his food. Regardless, when man toils and plows and sows and reaps, it is still the Lord that provides the rain; it is still God that is in control of the processes of photosynthesis. These are the things we should not be worried about.

Jesus here is condemning the man who after planting, stares at the sky wondering if it will rain, worrying as he looks at the fields if the crops will grow, and how much product will he get from them.

And here we must go back to the principle from v.25- God is in control - of the weather, He is in control of the growing, He is the one who gives the increase.

And if our Heavenly Father takes this much care of the birds, to whom He is not related, how much more will He provide for us? If it is unimaginable that a man would provide the necessary food for his animals and neglect his children, how much more would that be true of our perfect Heavenly Father?

The fact that birds have their food and instinctively know where it is and when it will be there for them is one of those things that we might refer to as a “fact of nature.” But as Christians, we must look more deeply into these things. Jesus tells us that it is God who provides for these birds. He is the one that gives them the instincts. He created them with it. And we are so much more than simple creations - Christians are His children.

God deals in a providential manner with all mankind. We saw in Matthew 5 that God sends the rain on the just and the unjust alike. But here in this verse, Jesus is making a stronger statement to the children of God, to those that have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ - God is our Father and His care for His children exceeds the providential care for creation.

Why, because of the last phrase in our verse - “Are ye not much better than they?”

The Uselessness of Worry

But then Jesus tells us about the uselessness of worry. Snickers candy bars has had many slogans throughout its years of existence. Probably the most famous slogan it has had was created in 2010 - “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” But other slogans include “Don’t let hunger happen to you,” “Hungry? Grab a Snickers!” But there was one commercial in the late 90s or early 2000s that I simply cannot forget.

The commercial starts off with a balding middle-aged man that is looking in a mirror making faces as he strains and grunts. It looks almost like he is trying to flex his muscles but doesn’t know any poses as he continues to strain. After a while of watching this man strain and grunt and make faces, all of a sudden, a single hair pops pops out on his balding head with a loud PING! The screen goes dark for a bit and the slogan appears saying, “Gonna be there a while? Grab a Snickers!”

If only we could do that with our hair, our stature, or any other physical feature that would be great, right!?

Look with me at the next verse, Matthew 6:27

Matthew 6:27 KJV 1900

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

There is that phrase again - taking thought. We cannot, by straining or worrying, add one hair to our heard, or one inch, let alone 18 inches, to our stature. This phrase may seem out of place with the whole birds analogy, but it is not. This indicates the uselessness of worrying about things over which we have no control. The context is food, but with food we get the sustenance of life.

No matter how much you worry about it, you cannot extend your life. Trust God to sustain you until His plan for the end. The millionaire can buy all the food in the world and drink the best things, but he cannot extend his life. Money is power, we are told, and yet, money cannot extend life. Even medical knowledge and skill cannot extend life beyond God’s plan for it.

Jesus then turns our Eyes to the flowers.

Matthew 6:28–30 KJV 1900

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, 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?

The glory of Solomon was proverbial among the Jews. He dressed well, decorated his palace well, built an amazingly beautiful temple for the Lord. Solomon was extravagant. But even Solomon in all his greatness could not compare to the beauty of the flowers of the field.

The practice for these cultures was to cut grass from the fields, dry it, and use it as fuel. This dry grass would produce intense heat in an oven, and when it was done burning, they would brush out the ashes and place their dough in the hot oven and it would bake heir bread.

So Jesus is saying that if God, who clothes the grass of the fields with beautiful flowers, grass that is going to be cut down and burned, how much more will He take care of us?

What is being taught here is that God, who does not neglect the flowers with their finite existence, will not neglect us who are immortal. Oh, yes, the body will die one day, but our soul goes on. We do not just possess dignity in the fact that God made us in His image, we have an existence beyond the grave. And will He not take care of us while we are in this world?

He ends this with the phrase, “O ye of little faith.”

Little Faith

And this is the real cause of trouble. Notice that Jesus says, “ye of little faith,” not “no faith.” Those that are troubled by worry, Jesus says, have little faith, an inadequate faith.

So what does this mean?

We need to remember once again that Jesus is speaking to Christian people. He is speaking to His disciples. These are the people that can call God “heavenly Father,” and God is only a Father to those who are in Christ.

This indictment of people with little faith is spoken of those who only have saving faith and tend to stop at that. These are the people who Jesus is concerned about, and whom He desires to lead into deeper faith.

People who only have saving faith and go no further, rob themselves of so much in this life. Because of their lack of faith, they rob themselves of joy and peace because they are prone to worry and anxiety.

This worry and anxiety that Jesus speak about, He says is caused ultimately by a lack of faith.

So what is “little faith?” Little faith would be faith that is confined to simply the salvation of our souls. This faith does not extend into the corners of our lives. This is “little faith.” Remember, it doesn’t take a complex faith to trust Jesus for salvation. We are to have simple, childlike faith for salvation, but we are never intended to stay in childlike phase of our faith.

So many Christians, however, have not grown in their faith since being saved. They have little faith. They are perfectly clear on the issue of salvation. They believe in Jesus and have accepted Him as their savior and redeemer, but they often stop there. For some reason, they have not applied faith to any other part of their lives. They become worried and anxious, defeated in their daily lives. There is very little difference in the way they live and the way that people without Christ list. They are conformed to the world. Their faith is reserved only for their salvation, but they do not seem to have any faith with regard to their every-day lives.

This is what Jesus is talking about. These people have come to know Jesus as Savior, God as their heavenly Father, and yet they are worried about food and drink and clothing.

Going through life like this is not living. It is miserable, and the Bible tells us that those that have been justified in Christ shall live by faith. It is how we are supposed to exist. Without faith, we miss out on the abundant life that God has for us.

Little faith is faith that is confined to believing God in some areas, but not in all areas. And we are all guilty of this. A preacher once said that the trouble with many Christians is that we believe on the Lord Jesus (for salvation), but we do not believe in the Lord Jesus (for our daily affairs).

We believe Him for salvation, but we do not believe Him when He says that He will provide food and clothing.

Though He makes statements like “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” but we keep our problems and worries to ourselves. We try to bear them and then we are defeated by them.

He tells us that if anyone is thirsty, to come to Him and we will never thirst, but instead, we seek satisfaction in everything else under the sun because we have not believed His words.

There are three characteristics that I would like to address about Little Faith.

To be of little faith means...

We Are Mastered by Circumstances

The picture that Jesus is painting here is of a person that is mastered by their life. They sit with a great concern about what they will eat, and what they will wear, and many other things in life. They are not living a victorious life, they are victims in life. Circumstances bowl them over, and this is something that should never happen to a Christian.

The picture given elsewhere in the Bible of a Christian is on who is above his circumstances. They not only stand up to tribulations, they rejoice in tribulations. The Christian with a steadfast faith does not falter or cower, and they do not simply “grin and bear” their troubles either. no, they rejoice in tribulations because they firmly believe in the promises that they are God’s child, they are cared for, that God remains in control, and that He has a plan.

We often hear the phrase ‘blind faith” and think that this is the kind of faith that we should have. But Christian faith is thinking faith. It is the man of little faith that does not think. Instead of thinking, he is beat around the head with his circumstances.

I take your mind to Ephesians 6:17 where we are encouraged to take upon ourselves the armor of God.

Ephesians 6:17 KJV 1900

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Notice the first piece of armor of this verse - the helmet of salvation. The fact that we have faith in God to save us through the work and sacrifice of His Son Jesus should be something we think about often. And knowing that salvation means adoption, and that adoption means love and acceptance and provision, this thought should protect our heads, our minds against the buffeting blows of life’s circumstances.

But those Christians with little faith do not often contemplate the deep meaning of their salvation, and are therefore walking around without a helmet, concussed by every circumstance.

We Are Mastered by Our Thoughts

We must think. Christian faith is essentially a thinking and reasoning faith. It is not something mystical or magical. We do not sit on our couches waiting for something amazing to happen. That is not faith, it is presumption.

The person with little faith, instead of controlling his thoughts, is mastered by them. He sits and thinks, “What is going to happen to me? What can I do?” This is not thought, it is defeated surrender.

The man with more faith thinks constantly on the promises of God. This is why Jesus points us to behold the birds of the air and consider the lilies. The word behold means to fix you gaze on and discern. The word consider means to examine carefully and learn thoroughly. Our faith is a thinking faith.

We Do Not Believe God’s Word

Every Christian must take the statements in God’s word in context and believe them completely. We are to read the Bible and know that everything that is written in it is for our instruction. Some of it may not be for our application, but every word is written for our instruction and our benefit.

2 Timothy 3:16 KJV 1900

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

What God says to His disciples, he says to me. What God says to the Pharisees, if I am acting in any way like a Pharisee, then He says it to me. God’s promises to His children are mine, because I am His child. I must remind myself that when God says he will provide for me according to His riches in glory, then that means I need not worry about anything, because God keeps His promises. I need not worry about food or clothing. I need not be anxious about my life. I need not even be anxious about the evil that the world and Satan may have planned for me, because I know that my God is greater than he that is in the world.

I know my God has a plan for me. I know my God will fulfill in me His will if I simply follow Him and consider Him.

Little faith ultimately is a failure to realize our true identity.

We Forget Who We Are

For a few years, I had the experience of working as a high school security officer. For two years I worked at a particular high school that was part of the riches district in Arlington, Texas. This meant that we had many kids that went to school whose parents were doctors, lawyers, big time brokers, CEO’s of large companies. You name it, we had it. The parking lot was full of new BMWs, Jaguars, Range Rovers, etc. These kids knew they were rich and that their parents were influential. When I would catch one of them skipping class or doing something that they were not supposed to be doing, I treated them like any other kid. I would take them to their assistant principle and let him handle the consequences. Part of the day, I patrolled the parking lot. Students could only park there with a permit, and if they didn’t have one, their vehicle would get towed after the third warning.

I called the tow truck quite a few times, and most of those times were on nicer cars. Do you know what I would inevitably hear come out of the students’ mouths when they found out it was me that called the tow?

That’s right, “Do you know who my dad is?”

I am convinced that half our trouble as Christians is due to the fact that we either do not know or have forgotten our identity in Christ. This whole chapter has dealt with our identity. The theme is the Christian’s relationship to God the Father.

We forget to remember that God is not distant. He is present in our lives and cares deeply about us and has plans for our good because He loves us. He has adopted us and enjoys being our Father.

Meanwhile, we are worrying about provision in our life, forgetting that we are children of the God who owns everything. We allow circumstances like needs, bad health, enemies, etc. to take control over our thoughts, when instead we should be fighting those thoughts ans the first thing we need to tell our circumstances is, “Do you know who my dad is?”

If only we would keep that realization at the forefront of our minds!

Paul wrote the Ephesians, who seem to have had an issue with this. Ephesians 1-3 talks all about our identity and freedom in Christ as children of God. And the reason Paul wrote to the Ephesians is found in Ephesians 1:18-19

Ephesians 1:18–19 KJV 1900

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

He wrote them, and we read these words, so that we can be enlightened, so that we can KNOW the exceeding greatness of God’s power for us.

The moment we grasp what it truly means to be God’s child, worry is impossible. We MUST realize constantly that God is our Father.

Abraham knew this. He knew God was for him. He knew and trusted God’s promise concerning Isaac. And that is why, when God tested Abraham by commanding to go and sacrifice Isaac, Abraham got up early in the morning, prepared everything, and took Isaac and laid him on that altar. He raised his knife, willing to slit his own son’s throat because Abraham believed God, and believed who he was in God.

We know the story, ultimately God stopped Abraham and provided a ram to be sacrificed instead. But do you want an insight at Abraham’s thoughts? Hebrews 11:17-19

Hebrews 11:17–19 KJV 1900

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

WOW! Abraham fully expected to kill Isaac, but trusted that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Why? Because Abraham knew God and realized who God was to Him- a powerful promise keeper.

My God, our God is the God of Psalm 46

Psalm 46 KJV 1900

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. 6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, What desolations he hath made in the earth. 9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Worry / Free

There is no circumstance in this life which should lead a Christian to worry. We have no right to worry. Worry is something that is unique to the unsaved world, and whenever we give in to worry, we turn back to a worldly way of thinking and processing life.

When we worry, we dishonour God. Parents, how would you feel if your child express doubt that you could feed them, despite the evidence to the contrary (a full refrigerator, a full pantry, a track record of consistently feeding them throughout the years, etc)? But how often do we do this with God?

Exercise Faith - Think about what God has done for you and who He is in you. Understand the truth of God’s Word and apply it to every detail of your life.

Break free from worry.

Invitation

Home Groups

What, if anything, stood out to you from the sermon?

In what ways can we actively remind ourselves not to worry during stressful times?

K - What does it mean when Jesus says not to worry about food and clothes?

What does it mean to have 'little faith' according to Jesus' teachings?

How can we encourage each other in our church to not be overcome by worry and anxiety?

What role does prayer play in combatting worry in our lives?

How do we reconcile our responsibilities in life with Jesus' call to not worry?

K - Why does Jesus compare us to birds in the Bible?

How does understanding our identity as God's children help us in times of anxiety?

K - What is something you worry about, and how can you give that worry to God?

Can you share a personal experience where trusting God helped you overcome anxiety?

How can we practice gratitude as a way to combat worry in our lives?