Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34)

Matthew 6:25–34 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. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take 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.

Introduction:

Every generation has had reason for worry.

Every generation has had cause for anxiety.

Today, I want you to note that I am in no way trying to minimize or invalidate your anxiety or your cause for worry in your life.

It is real.

It is valid.

There is an answer.

As with every other topic that we have dealt with, winning the battle with anxiety if a process.

It doesn’t happen overnight.

It is a journey.

You don’t have to travel it alone.

Command (25)

The command of Jesus in verse 25 deals directly with the matter of anxiety over the future.

Many of us, maybe all of us can relate to Jesus’ topic of worry.

We all have a tendency to worry about the future.

Usually this entails worrying about the provisions of the future.

Will we have enough to eat?

Will we have clothes to wear?

These are illustrative of the types of concerns that we might have.

There are, of course, other concerns that might weigh us down.

Illustrations (26-30)

Look at the birds.

They aren’t farmers.

They don’t plant.

They don’t care for crops.

They don’t gather grain into barns.

God makes sure they are fed.

A hummingbird, for example has to eat 100% of it’s body weight every day.

Can you imagine if you had to find that much food for yourself everyday?

God makes sure that they get it.

Some birds eat seeds, berries, fruit, insects, other birds, eggs, small mammals, fish, buds, larvae, aquatic invertebrates, acorns and other nuts, aquatic vegetation, grain, dead animals, garbage, and much more…

If God can care feed the over 400 billion birds on the planet, why don’t we believe that he can take care of us?

Look at yourself.

Some of us struggle with this more than others.

But to some extant all of us want to be in control.

We want control so that we can insure everything is done to our standards.

How much control do you have over your body?

Probably not as much as you think you do.

Can you add one cubit of height to your stature?

If you cannot control your height, how can you control tomorrow.

Look at the plants.

See how they grow up?

They do not toil.

They do not produce beautiful fabrics to clothe themselves with.

And yet, they are more beautifully clothed than Solomon.

Consider the disparity in value between you and those flowers.

Flowers are beautiful in the field one day.

The next day they are thrown into the ovens as kindling and fuel for the fire.

Are we not more valuable to God than a flower?

Will he not also clothe us if we trust in Him?

Jesus asks them to look at their faith in Him.

The problem is that we too often don’t have the faith to believe that God will do these things.

I don’t even know if it is really an issue of believing God has the ability to provide for His disciples.

I do think we each struggle with the idea that God would do this for us individually.

Application (31-34)

The command is repeated. 31

Do not worry about tomorrow.

Don’t worry about what you eat or drink.

Don’t fret about what you will wear.

These are not the marks of a disciple.

They are the marks of a gentile.

This is not a reference to ethnicity.

It is a reference to the prevailing pagan practices of the gentiles.

The gentiles served gods that did not care about the needs of their followers.

Truth about God that enables us to keep the command. 32

God knows exactly what our needs are.

Let me rephrase this in a way that might break through the Bible fog.

God knows exactly what you, as an individual, need.

What do we focus on instead?

If we are free from expending energy on worrying about tomorrow, what do we spend that energy on?

How about seeking the kingdom of God?

Final point.

What do you gain by being anxious about what tomorrow holds?

Can you change anything about tomorrow?

Can you prepare for everything that could potentially happen tomorrow?

It has been said that worrying about tomorrow does not empty it of it’s troubles, but it does empty today of it’s strength.

One of the marks of a disciple or follower of Jesus will be a growing absence of anxiety and worry in their lives.

Notice I said a growing absence.

A growing absence of anxiety will be the result of a growing presence of trust in Jesus.

I wonder, this morning, in what areas do you need Jesus’ help the most when it comes to the issue of worry?

Maybe this morning you do worry about the provision of your physical needs.

Your financial future isn’t what you would like it to be.

Your financial present isn’t looking so good either.

Perhaps this morning, you don’t so much worry about yourself, but those you love.

You worry about your family.

You worry for their safety.

You worry about their spiritual lives.

Maybe you are worried about eternity.

As followers of Jesus,