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Matthew 6:24-34 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

• 0:00
  I see a few faces this morning that I don't recognize.
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  For those that don't know me, my name is Caleb Waters.
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  ! First and foremost, I'm a follower of Christ.
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  I'm a husband, and I'm a community group leader here.
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  For a living, I teach math at West Forsyth High School.
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  And so on Thursday morning, I got a text from Nathan at about 10 o'clock.
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  And I didn't know what it was going to be about.
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  It just said, call me when you get a chance.
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  And so I was like, okay.
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  And I teach all day long on Thursdays.
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  I don't have any planning periods that day.
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  So it was about 4 o'clock that afternoon when I was able to call him back.
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  And he was like, do you want to preach Sunday?
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  I was terrified.
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  But I eventually told him that I know I have the Spirit of God working in me.
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  And I know I have the Word of God to preach.
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  With those things, by His grace, I can do this.
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  So a little bit of background before we get into where we'll be at.
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  Margaret and I live in Cleveland right now, and we work in Forsyth.
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  She's a student, teaches at Liberty Middle School, and I teach at West Forsyth High.
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  And so we have a really, really, really long drive down there and back every day.
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  Really long drive.
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  Okay.
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  And so we try to redeem a lot of that time by that being a lot of the time that we read Scripture and discuss it together.
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  And so I've been given the advice, and I believe it's fitting, to preach on a topic that I think the Lord is really working on my own heart about.
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  And it was a passage that we read early last week.
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  And it comes out of Matthew 6.
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  So turn there with me this morning to Matthew chapter 6.
• 1:43
  So many mornings when we're driving to the school, I'm really nervous.
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  Having only taught for three weeks that isn't student teaching so far, I feel like I don't have a whole lot figured out.
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  Most days I feel like I have less figured out than I don't have figured out.
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  And so I'm worried, nervous, and anxious about the day to get started.
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  And then Margaret starts reading the Scripture that we decided on that day.
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  And we'd made it to verses 24 to 34.
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  And it was really, really fitting for me then and continues to be now.
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  And so I pray it serves you well today as well.
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  So let's go ahead and read verses 24 to 34 here in Matthew chapter 6.
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  Starts off saying,
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  No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
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  You cannot serve God and money.
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  Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
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  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
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  Look at the birds of the air.
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  They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
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  Are you not of more value than they?
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  And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?
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  And why are you anxious about clothing?
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  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
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  They neither toil nor spin.
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  Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
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  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
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  will we not much more clothe you, O you of little faith.
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  Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
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  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
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  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
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  Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
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  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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  Okay, this is God's word to us this morning.
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  I'm really thankful that he has given it to us.
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  And so, pray with me just real fast, again, before we get going again.
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  Father, we are thankful this morning for your word.
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  I know that I can rest in it, that its truth will come out no matter how good or bad I speak.
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  Father, and I just pray for all of our hearts, that you would work in them to not be anxious,
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  and to have a greater trust in you this morning.
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  And I pray that you would just help us to think and listen clearly this morning.
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  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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  So, a little bit of my perspective on riding in the car, Margaret reading this passage.
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  I'm still nervous.
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  I'm struggling to focus on the words that I'm hearing her say.
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  That the Lord of the universe said here so many years ago to us,
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  the same God that came to this earth, lived a perfect life, and suffered the death that we deserve for our sins.
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  The same God saying these words to not be anxious.
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  That life is so much greater than just food or clothing.
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  I start feeling pretty pathetic for how I was worrying about so much,
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  and not even being able to focus there on this text.
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  And so, it really served me really well to hear them then.
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  And so, we're just going to walk through it this morning.
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  And before we get to that, I just have a simple dictionary.com definition of anxious.
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  Okay?
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  So, to be clear on what anxiousness means.
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  It's an inward feeling.
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  It's being full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune,
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  or to be greatly worried.
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  Okay?
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  So, it's not a massive concept.
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  It's just this inner feeling inside of us being torn apart just by a lot of worry.
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  Okay?
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  With that in mind, let's go ahead.
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  And how this passage is kind of laid out.
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  We have the main exhortation in the beginning and at the end.
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  And then Jesus gives us quite a few reasons supporting that.
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  And so, that's exactly how we're going to walk through it this morning.
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  And so, just a summary statement that I made.
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  It's very simple.
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  The main exhortation of this passage is just to trust in God and don't be anxious.
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  Trust in God and don't be anxious.
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  Okay?
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  We can see this early on in verse 25 where the Lord, he just reminds us that life is much more than food and clothing.
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  Okay?
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  At the end of verse 25, he says,
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  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
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  When we're anxious, we're rebelling against this God who's called us to think about higher things than that.
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  He's calling us away from the simple, the cares of this world and drawing our focus to things that last.
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  And we see down there in verse 33, seeking first the kingdom of God.
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  He's drawing us away from the things of this world and to that.
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  In the words of Paul, he said that's the same concept later on in Colossians where he said,
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  Set your minds on the things above and not on the things of this earth.
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  And looking back in verse 24, we see how Jesus is telling us that we can't serve two masters.
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  That we're either going to hate one and we're going to love the other or vice versa.
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  We can't do two things at once.
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  We have to be fully devoted to God or we'll be fully devoted to this world.
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  And so throughout this whole passage, Jesus gives quite a few reasons for this.
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  That's how we're going to walk through it this morning.
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  It's just looking at these reasons and talking through the logic of them.
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  So I have it structured as Jesus's reasons to not be anxious and trust in him.
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  I have seven of them.
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  I promise I won't take three weeks to get through them.
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  I won't take three weeks.
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  Probably won't even be 40 minutes.
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  Okay, so to start off with number one, number one of Jesus's reasons to not be anxious and trust in him.
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  Come straight out of verse 25.
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  Life is much greater than food or clothing.
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  Okay, life is much greater than food or clothing.
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  In verse 25, let's go ahead and read that again.
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  Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,
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  nor about your body, what you will put on.
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  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
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  So that's this rhetorical question, which obviously the answer is yes, that life is more than food and it's more than clothing.
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  But why would he ask that question in such a way?
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  Why wouldn't he just point us to the fact that we do need to be seeking his kingdom first?
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  So why did he ask it?
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  And so let's think about this.
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  If we didn't have food, we'd eventually die.
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  If we didn't have clothing to keep us warm from the cold, we'd eventually die.
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  But if we didn't have food that we didn't like, we'd just be uncomfortable.
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  If we didn't have clothes that the people around us liked, we might not have the same image in their minds that we want them to have.
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  So ultimately here, he's talking about three different things, at least three different things.
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  Preserving our life, comfort, or man's opinions.
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  Okay?
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  The preserving our life, if we didn't have them at all, we'd just die.
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  Our comfort, wanting things that just we want.
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  Okay?
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  So just being comfortable.
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  Or man's opinions, what people think about us.
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  As believers, those are not the things we are called to.
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  Not the things we are called to at all.
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  In this passage here, we're given the exhortation to seek first the kingdom of God.
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  That does not include seeking first our comfort, or our self-preservation, or even, at all, man's opinions of us.
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  In other words, verse 33 could be called, and it is elsewhere, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
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  The same exhortation, just put a different way.
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  We're called to lose our own life so that we can gain that true and greater life of living each day oriented toward what God's kingdom could use the most.
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  So it's not at all, our calling is not at all about our comfort.
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  It's not at all about what other people would think about us, and it's not at all about preserving our own life.
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  This could be put another way, and we so often do.
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  We're called to experience, proclaim, and display the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things to all peoples.
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  That is our calling.
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  It is not to be comfortable.
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  It is not to have others have a high opinion of ourselves.
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  So life is more than food and clothing.
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  So point number two of Jesus' reasons to not be anxious and trust in him.
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  We can only do so much.
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  We can only do so much.
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  Let's look at verse 26.
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  It says,
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  Look at the birds of the air.
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  They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
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  Are you not of more value than they?
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  First thing I think we need to clarify that we all know, but we need to clarify it.
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  Verse 26 is not an excuse for laziness.
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  It's not just saying that,
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  Look at the birds like the heavenly Father feeds them.
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  They don't do any work in this.
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  It's not at all what it's saying.
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  It's saying Jesus doesn't, I mean, it's saying the birds don't store up just things for,
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  that they could live on and on for eternity.
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  They trust the Lord.
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  They work as hard as they can each day trying to provide for themselves,
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  going around eating food and building their nests.
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  When I was riding this section, I was at the Boyk's house,
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  and I saw lots of birds going and getting food at their bird feeder.
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  They were moving around.
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  They weren't just sitting in their nest, staring up at the sky, waiting for food to come down.
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  That's not how birds work.
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  They do work.
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  They do their best.
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  Each day, they strive.
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  They eat, and they build their nest, and they try to provide for their children.
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  But ultimately, they control so little.
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  So little.
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  If a just hard winter came, or they were out of food,
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  they couldn't find any worms to eat, or there wasn't a convenient bird feeder,
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  they'd starve.
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  They'd starve.
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  Look at the middle of that verse 26.
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  Yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
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  It is the Lord who is in control of their well-being.
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  And that is the same for us.
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  That is the same for us.
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  We control so little about the circumstances around us.
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  So when I immediately think about anxiety, three passages come to my mind.
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  This one, Philippians 4 and Psalm 127.
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  Turn with me right now to Psalm 127.
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  Psalm 127.
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  Let's look at verses 1 and 2 here.
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  Go ahead and read those.
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  It says,
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  Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
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  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
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  It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
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  eating the bread of anxious toil.
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  For he gives to his beloved sleep.
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  I think these verses here demonstrate really well what I believe the middle of verse 26 is saying
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  when it's clarifying that it's our heavenly Father that's providing for the birds.
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  The same for us.
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  If the Lord was not orchestrating all the events around them, they wouldn't survive.
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  They would starve.
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  They would freeze.
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  They wouldn't make it.
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  And that's the same thing for us.
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  Remember, the whole universe is being upheld by the word of his power.
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  That's present tense.
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  It's not as if God created everything and stepped away.
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  That is present tense.
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  We are here.
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  I am breathing.
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  I am talking.
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  You are breathing.
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  You are writing things down because the Lord is holding everything together.
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  It's not at all that we just do all of our own thing after the Lord created us and walked away.
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  So ultimately, it is the Lord providing for all of us.
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  Amen.
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  Amen.
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  And so we can only do, we can only do so much.
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  Unless the Lord wills whatever we're trying to do, we're not going to be able to do it.
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  Just thinking about college and how many times I failed tests.
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  A lot.
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  A lot.
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  Unless the Lord wills us to pass it.
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  It's in vain that we stay up until 2 in the morning and get up at 4 two hours later to study for it.
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  It's in vain that you take the same class three times.
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  Okay?
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  It is.
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  Unless the Lord wills us to be liked in the side of our boss or our coworkers, it's just not going to happen.
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  No matter our efforts.
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  The Lord is orchestrating all of the events around us.
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  Every single one.
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  And this is a good thing.
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  It's a good thing that we don't have full control.
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  Because the Lord always has our best interest in mind.
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  The Lord works all things together for our good.
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  And that good is that we will become more and more like Him.
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  Ultimately, we can't survive.
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  We can't provide for ourselves unless the Lord wills it.
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  But, as I mentioned earlier, this is not at all an excuse for laziness.
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  We see birds moving around, building their nests.
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  They've got string.
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  They've got straw.
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  They're building it.
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  They're eating worms.
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  They're diligent.
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  Okay?
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  This concept reminds me of a verse that when we're going through 1 Peter in college Bible study a couple years back.
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  Probably a lot of y'all remember that.
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  1 Peter 4.19.
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  It says,
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  Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.
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  Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.
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  That command applies for us as well.
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  That's what we can do.
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  All we can do is trust God and to do our best.
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  Notice that verse says,
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  Entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.
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  It doesn't just say,
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  Entrust their souls to a faithful creator.
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  It doesn't say,
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  Just do good.
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  We could never just keep doing good and keep doing good with no trust in our heavenly father.
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  And we could never have true trust in our heavenly father without doing good.
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  Those are right there together.
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  So we're active in this.
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  But we can only do so much.
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  So point number three of Jesus' reasons to not be anxious and trust in him.
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  Worrying doesn't fix anything.
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  Worrying doesn't fix anything.
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  So let's look at verse 27 here.
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  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
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  None of us.
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  We can't.
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  We can't.
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  Okay.
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  And many times when I'm worrying, I'm anxious about something.
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  It's taken up the time that I could be spent doing good.
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  It's taken up the time that I could be using, accomplishing that thing that I'm worrying so much about
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  by dwelling in that worry, just wallowing in that worry.
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  We can't even add an hour to the next 24 hours,
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  although how much I would have loved to these past few.
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  We can't.
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  We can't.
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  Ultimately, it's about trusting in the Lord and doing good.
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  In true CFC form, I decided to quote Spurgeon on this one because he had a really good quote.
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  I don't have a fancy book, but I do have Google.
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  And he made a quote.
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  Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.
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  Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.
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  Worrying will ultimately not help us at all.
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  It will steal the strength for the good we could be doing while we're entrusting our souls to God for today,
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  and it's not going to fix the things about tomorrow.
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  Number four.
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  God values his people and therefore provides.
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  God values his people and therefore provides.
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  In verse 26, let's look at that verse again.
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  Look at the birds of the air.
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  They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
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  Are you not of more value than they?
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  Let's also jump down to verses 28 through 30.
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  Read those.
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  And why are you anxious about clothing?
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  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
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  They neither toil nor spin.
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  Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
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  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
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  will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
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  So in that rhetorical question in verse 26, where he's asking if we're more important than birds,
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  the obvious answer is yes.
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  And then in 28 through 30, he gives us a couple more examples of some seemingly more helpless things than us,
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  flowers and grass.
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  He shows the point of grass.
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  A lot of people in this day used it as fuel in their oven to keep warm, to cook, to have fire.
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  That was its point.
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  The Lord clothed that grass.
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  He orchestrated all the events around the grass to have people use that.
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  That was its point.
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  And then Jesus shows us how Solomon, one of the richest men to ever live,
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  in all of his glory, everything he had in this world,
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  is not as good as what the Lord has to offer us.
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  Thinking even about in our sanctification and our salvation,
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  those gifts are so much greater than anything we could ever amass for ourselves,
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  whether it be food or clothing or anything we could think of.
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  So much greater.
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  So I've heard a lot of people around here sum these up as,
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  we're more important than birds.
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  We're more important than flowers.
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  And therefore, the Lord will provide for us.
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  Simple as that.
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  He'll give us what we need.
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  It says down there in verse 32,
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  For the Gentiles seek after all these things,
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  and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
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  The Lord already knows that we need provision.
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  The Lord knows that we need these things, and he will provide for them.
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  The Lord will take care of us as people, of us as his people.
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  Let's talk a little bit about why.
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  Going all the way back to the beginning,
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  the Lord created us as mirrors to reflect his glory.
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  He made Adam.
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  He made Eve.
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  And they were there to reflect the glory of God to one another.
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  They sinned.
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  They broke those mirrors.
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  They became shattered mirrors that would reflect either a distorted image of God
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  or really no true image at all.
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  All of us individually, we all have also disobeyed God.
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  All of us.
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  And just like they, we are deserving of eternal wrath,
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  eternal punishment because of that.
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  All of us.
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  But God, being rich in mercy, and he's desiring to show his steadfast love,
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  decided that he would send his son, Jesus, to take on the sin of all of us.
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  He lived a perfect life.
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  He deserved no death.
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  He deserved no bad thing.
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  But he took on all of the sin of the world for us
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  and suffered the punishment that we deserved for our sin.
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  So that for those of us that put our trust in him,
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  we were given his righteousness.
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  He took our sin.
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  He bled and died for that on the cross.
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  And we were given his righteousness.
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  That's called the great exchange many times.
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  When we were given his righteousness in exchange for our sin.
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  That's the love that he demonstrated for us.
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  While we were yet sinners, when we had done nothing good,
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  when we were not desirable at all, he did that for us.
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  And that's that great love.
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  And he valued us that much.
• 23:09
  Quite a lot.
• 23:09
  He valued us quite a lot.
• 23:12
  And to think that this same God that was willing to go to those extents,
• 23:17
  this God that condescended, became a man, took on flesh,
• 23:22
  went through all of this life, living a perfect life.
• 23:24
  He was tempted just as we were, but without sin.
• 23:27
  He went to the cross.
• 23:28
  He suffered and died for us.
• 23:30
  And on the third day, he rose again and now sits at the right hand of the Father.
• 23:34
  Thinking about that, him going through all of that,
• 23:38
  it would make no sense at all that he would not provide for our daily needs.
• 23:43
  And how often do we still worry we are not willing to give our burdens over to him,
• 23:51
  this God that is all-powerful and loves us so much,
• 23:54
  both sovereign and good and loving.
• 23:58
  He can do all things, and he wants to give his children good gifts.
• 24:01
  He's going to provide for our needs.
• 24:06
  He cares about us so much.
• 24:08
  Let's look at verse 33 again.
• 24:13
  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
• 24:16
  and all these things will be added to you.
• 24:20
  I want to make it really clear that this verse cannot be used to preach the prosperity gospel.
• 24:27
  Not at all.
• 24:28
  Verse 33 says in that phrase,
• 24:31
  all these things.
• 24:33
  There's a lot riding on that phrase right there.
• 24:36
  What does that phrase mean?
• 24:38
  And so let's look at it.
• 24:40
  All the these things in this context,
• 24:42
  he's been talking about food.
• 24:43
  He's been talking about clothing.
• 24:44
  He's been talking about water.
• 24:47
  The all these things in this case does not include a free Lamborghini for all Christ followers.
• 24:52
  It does not include even a perfect life here.
• 24:58
  It doesn't even include escaping from really hard things.
• 25:03
  But he will provide for us.
• 25:04
  He will provide for our needs.
• 25:07
  It doesn't say all things here.
• 25:09
  So we know ultimately that the Lord works everything together for our good,
• 25:15
  and that that good is becoming more and more like him.
• 25:18
  And we can trust him that he will provide to that end.
• 25:24
  So point number five of Jesus's reasons to not be anxious and to trust in him
• 25:30
  is that anxiety characterizes unbelievers.
• 25:36
  Anxiety characterizes unbelievers.
• 25:39
  Let's look at verses 31 and 32.
• 25:42
  It says,
• 25:43
  Therefore do not be anxious, saying,
• 25:44
  What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
• 25:48
  For the Gentiles seek after all these things,
• 25:50
  and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
• 25:54
  So here Gentiles is being used to talk about people that are outside
• 25:58
  outside the realm of the promises of God,
• 26:00
  outside salvation.
• 26:02
  He's speaking to a Jewish audience here,
• 26:05
  and so people outside that realm.
• 26:08
  So in common language now,
• 26:11
  we could say that unbelievers worry a lot about what they're going to eat,
• 26:14
  what they're going to drink,
• 26:15
  what they're going to wear.
• 26:18
  So that meaning,
• 26:20
  the unbelievers care too much about their appearance before other people
• 26:24
  and their comfort.
• 26:24
  That's something that characterizes unbelievers.
• 26:28
  They really care.
• 26:30
  And we,
• 26:30
  when we're caught up in these ideas,
• 26:33
  really care about what other people think about us
• 26:35
  and what our comfort.
• 26:38
  We care so much about that
• 26:39
  that we forget
• 26:40
  what the Lord has called us to
• 26:42
  in seeking first his kingdom
• 26:44
  and that all those things will just work out.
• 26:50
  Ultimately,
• 26:51
  our approval comes from God
• 26:52
  and not from man.
• 26:54
  And therefore,
• 26:55
  these are not fitting for a believer
• 26:57
  to care so much about
• 26:59
  how we look to other people
• 27:00
  or how comfortable we are.
• 27:05
  That sounds like the polar opposite
• 27:07
  of taking up our cross
• 27:09
  and following Jesus.
• 27:10
  Exactly the opposite.
• 27:13
  Wanting to not sacrifice anything
• 27:15
  for the cause of Christ,
• 27:17
  of living in comfort
• 27:18
  and what haven't wanting to
• 27:21
  look good in other people's eyes.
• 27:25
  So to point six,
• 27:28
  tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
• 27:32
  Tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
• 27:36
  So look down in verse 34.
• 27:38
  I don't think I can say it a whole lot.
• 27:40
  I can't say it any better.
• 27:41
  This is a word of God
• 27:42
  than this.
• 27:45
  But it says,
• 27:46
  do not be anxious about tomorrow,
• 27:48
  for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
• 27:51
  Sufficient for the day
• 27:52
  is its own trouble.
• 27:56
  This is such a comforting verse.
• 27:59
  Don't be anxious about tomorrow.
• 28:01
  Tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
• 28:03
  Don't worry so much on that.
• 28:05
  Sufficient for the day
• 28:06
  is its own trouble.
• 28:08
  That's how Firm of Foundation says,
• 28:10
  As thy days may demand,
• 28:12
  shall thy strength ever be.
• 28:13
  The Lord will provide
• 28:15
  what we need
• 28:16
  for each day
• 28:17
  to be able to get through it.
• 28:19
  But,
• 28:20
  He doesn't want us to bring
• 28:22
  that trouble
• 28:23
  that He will provide the grace
• 28:24
  to get through
• 28:25
  into the previous day
• 28:26
  by worrying and dwelling on that
• 28:28
  at all.
• 28:31
  As Spurgeon said earlier,
• 28:32
  dwelling on tomorrow's trouble
• 28:33
  doesn't make
• 28:33
  the trouble of tomorrow
• 28:35
  get any better.
• 28:36
  But it's just taking the strength away
• 28:38
  from what we have to face today.
• 28:41
  Not doing anything for it.
• 28:43
  One of the biggest,
• 28:46
  biggest things
• 28:47
  to take away from this passage,
• 28:49
  point number seven,
• 28:51
  anxiety is sin.
• 28:55
  Anxiety is sin.
• 28:58
  So many times
• 28:59
  I am tempted
• 29:00
  in my heart
• 29:01
  to say,
• 29:02
  I know that Jesus
• 29:04
  has told me not
• 29:05
  to be anxious about tomorrow.
• 29:06
  but look at tomorrow.
• 29:09
  Look at everything
• 29:10
  that is coming ahead
• 29:11
  and hold on
• 29:13
  to that anxiety.
• 29:14
  That is not
• 29:15
  at all
• 29:16
  what we're called to.
• 29:17
  That's telling Jesus
• 29:18
  that He is not enough.
• 29:19
  That's telling Him
• 29:20
  that we want to hold on
• 29:21
  to our burdens
• 29:22
  for ourselves.
• 29:25
  We can't make
• 29:26
  statements like that.
• 29:27
  We can't say
• 29:27
  that
• 29:28
  Jesus has commanded us
• 29:31
  to be anxious
• 29:31
  but we want to
• 29:32
  just hold on to that.
• 29:34
  Not okay
• 29:35
  at all.
• 29:36
  We've forgotten
• 29:36
  what the Lord
• 29:38
  has done for us
• 29:39
  and who He has made us.
• 29:40
  We've forgotten
• 29:41
  that He is a good Father
• 29:42
  that can also control
• 29:44
  all events,
• 29:45
  that He is sovereign.
• 29:46
  He is working
• 29:47
  everything out
• 29:48
  for our good
• 29:50
  because He is both
• 29:52
  good
• 29:52
  and sovereign.
• 29:54
  He cares about us
• 29:55
  and wants
• 29:56
  to give good gifts
• 29:57
  to His children.
• 29:58
  look over
• 30:00
  probably one page
• 30:02
  in most of y'all's
• 30:03
  Bibles
• 30:03
  to Matthew 7.
• 30:09
  We're going to read
• 30:10
  verses 7 through 11
• 30:11
  over here
• 30:11
  which I think
• 30:12
  communicates
• 30:12
  this idea.
• 30:13
  This was just
• 30:14
  a minute or two
• 30:16
  later in
• 30:16
  Jesus' sermon here.
• 30:18
  Same train of thought.
• 30:22
  So let's read
• 30:22
  verses 7 through 11.
• 30:24
  It says,
• 30:24
  Ask and it will be
• 30:25
  given to you.
• 30:26
  Seek and you will find.
• 30:28
  Knock and it will be
• 30:28
  opened to you.
• 30:30
  For everyone
• 30:30
  who asks receives
• 30:32
  and the one
• 30:32
  who seeks finds
• 30:33
  and to the one
• 30:34
  who knocks
• 30:35
  it will be opened.
• 30:37
  Or which one of you
• 30:38
  if his son
• 30:38
  asks him for bread
• 30:39
  will give him a stone
• 30:40
  or if he asks
• 30:41
  for a fish
• 30:41
  will give him a serpent.
• 30:43
  If you then
• 30:44
  who are evil
• 30:44
  know how to give
• 30:45
  good gifts
• 30:45
  to your children
• 30:46
  how much more
• 30:47
  will your Father
• 30:48
  who is in heaven
• 30:49
  give good things
• 30:50
  to those who ask Him?
• 30:51
  We so often forget
• 30:55
  that that is our God.
• 30:58
  That He is a good God.
• 31:00
  And that He can do
• 31:01
  all things.
• 31:03
  And He commands us
• 31:03
  to ask
• 31:04
  and these things
• 31:05
  will be given.
• 31:06
  He truly does
• 31:07
  care for us.
• 31:08
  He loves us.
• 31:09
  He went to the cross.
• 31:10
  How much more
• 31:11
  can anyone do?
• 31:13
  None.
• 31:14
  He took
• 31:14
  all of that for us
• 31:16
  and so He allows us
• 31:17
  to cast our cares
• 31:18
  upon Him
• 31:18
  because He does
• 31:19
  care for us.
• 31:21
  And so when we're anxious
• 31:23
  we're telling Him
• 31:25
  that He is not
• 31:26
  enough to carry
• 31:27
  our burdens.
• 31:27
  We're telling Him
• 31:28
  that He is not
• 31:29
  providing
• 31:30
  well enough
• 31:31
  for us.
• 31:32
  And we're telling Him
• 31:33
  that these events
• 31:34
  aren't truly
• 31:35
  working for our good.
• 31:38
  So these
• 31:39
  past few weeks
• 31:40
  of being a new teacher
• 31:42
  I've had to
• 31:42
  preach this to myself
• 31:44
  constantly.
• 31:46
  Constantly.
• 31:46
  And being newly
• 31:48
  married as well
• 31:48
  having all
• 31:49
  different
• 31:50
  responsibilities
• 31:51
  and
• 31:52
  it's so easy
• 31:55
  no matter
• 31:56
  where we're at
• 31:57
  we all struggle
• 31:57
  in some
• 31:58
  form of
• 31:59
  anxiousness.
• 32:02
  And that's sin.
• 32:04
  That is telling
• 32:05
  God that He is not
• 32:07
  enough for us.
• 32:08
  Think about
• 32:08
  our relationship
• 32:09
  with Christ
• 32:10
  in the church.
• 32:12
  It's given
• 32:13
  in many different
• 32:14
  places
• 32:14
  that that is just
• 32:15
  like the relationship
• 32:16
  of a husband
• 32:17
  and a wife.
• 32:17
  I can't imagine
• 32:20
  how painful
• 32:22
  it would be
• 32:22
  if Margaret
• 32:23
  came to me
• 32:23
  and told me
• 32:24
  that she didn't
• 32:25
  trust
• 32:25
  that I would
• 32:26
  provide for her.
• 32:29
  That's what we're
• 32:30
  telling Christ
• 32:30
  when we're anxious.
• 32:34
  That's what we're
• 32:35
  telling Christ
• 32:35
  when we're anxious
• 32:36
  that we don't
• 32:36
  trust Him
• 32:37
  that He will
• 32:39
  provide.
• 32:40
  So the exhortation
• 32:43
  here
• 32:44
  is to not be
• 32:46
  anxious
• 32:46
  and trust
• 32:47
  in Him.
• 32:48
  That's it.
• 32:49
  Simple message.
• 32:50
  Not be anxious
• 32:51
  and to trust
• 32:52
  in Him.
• 32:53
  One more quote
• 32:54
  from R.C.
• 32:55
  Sproul.
• 32:56
  He says of this
• 32:57
  text,
• 32:58
  We are to make
• 32:59
  God's sovereign
• 33:00
  rule
• 33:00
  and a right
• 33:01
  relationship
• 33:02
  with Him
• 33:02
  the highest
• 33:03
  priority
• 33:03
  in life.
• 33:05
  Worry
• 33:05
  is inconsistent
• 33:06
  with this
• 33:07
  priority.
• 33:08
  It doubts
• 33:08
  the sovereignty
• 33:09
  or goodness
• 33:09
  of God
• 33:10
  and distracts
• 33:11
  from the true
• 33:12
  goals of life.
• 33:14
  God will meet
• 33:14
  all the needs
• 33:15
  of those
• 33:16
  who risk
• 33:16
  off for Him.
• 33:18
  We can be
• 33:19
  confident in that
• 33:19
  that because
• 33:20
  our God
• 33:21
  is both
• 33:22
  sovereign
• 33:22
  and He is good
• 33:23
  that He will
• 33:25
  meet all
• 33:25
  of our needs.
• 33:27
  With that in mind
• 33:28
  we have no room
• 33:30
  to worry.
• 33:31
  We have no room
• 33:32
  to be anxious
• 33:33
  and so
• 33:35
  we often need
• 33:36
  to go
• 33:37
  to the Lord
• 33:38
  about that.
• 33:38
  That is something
• 33:39
  I struggle
• 33:39
  with on a
• 33:40
  daily basis.
• 33:42
  Just fight
• 33:43
  and fight
• 33:43
  and fight
• 33:44
  my flesh.
• 33:46
  But ultimately
• 33:47
  we know
• 33:48
  that God
• 33:49
  is sovereign
• 33:49
  and He
• 33:50
  is good
• 33:50
  and so
• 33:51
  we can
• 33:52
  trust Him
• 33:52
  with our
• 33:54
  lives.
• 33:55
  So in
• 33:55
  closing
• 33:55
  I'd just
• 33:56
  like to
• 33:57
  ask a
• 33:58
  couple of
• 33:58
  questions.
• 34:00
  Number one
• 34:01
  being
• 34:01
  what are you
• 34:02
  seeking
• 34:02
  first?
• 34:04
  What are you
• 34:05
  seeking
• 34:05
  first?
• 34:05
  many of
• 34:07
  our lives
• 34:08
  just become
• 34:08
  disoriented.
• 34:10
  We revert
• 34:11
  back to
• 34:12
  looking for
• 34:12
  that comfort
• 34:13
  or looking
• 34:13
  for that
• 34:14
  approval
• 34:14
  of man
• 34:15
  so often
• 34:17
  and then
• 34:17
  put
• 34:18
  sharing the
• 34:19
  gospel
• 34:19
  and living
• 34:20
  out a life
• 34:21
  oriented to
• 34:22
  God's kingdom
• 34:22
  on the
• 34:23
  back burner.
• 34:24
  We try to
• 34:25
  do it
• 34:25
  but it's
• 34:25
  not the
• 34:26
  first priority.
• 34:27
  All of
• 34:27
  our life
• 34:28
  it says
• 34:29
  here
• 34:29
  seek first
• 34:30
  the kingdom
• 34:30
  of God
• 34:31
  is the
• 34:32
  first priority
• 34:32
  we got.
• 34:34
  And then
• 34:35
  question number
• 34:36
  two
• 34:36
  why are you
• 34:38
  anxious?
• 34:39
  Why are you
• 34:40
  anxious?
• 34:42
  It shows in
• 34:42
  our heart
• 34:43
  that we're
• 34:43
  believing
• 34:44
  either a
• 34:45
  lie about
• 34:45
  who God
• 34:46
  has made
• 34:46
  us or a
• 34:47
  lie about
• 34:47
  who God
• 34:47
  is.
• 34:49
  We either
• 34:49
  don't trust
• 34:50
  in His
• 34:50
  sovereignty
• 34:50
  we don't
• 34:51
  trust in
• 34:51
  His goodness
• 34:52
  we don't
• 34:53
  trust He's
• 34:54
  working out
• 34:54
  everything
• 34:55
  for our
• 34:55
  good.
• 34:58
  So why
• 34:59
  are we
• 34:59
  anxious?
• 35:00
  And so
• 35:02
  trust in
• 35:04
  God
• 35:04
  and don't
• 35:05
  be anxious
• 35:05
  and let's
• 35:06
  pray.