Best. Sermon. Ever. Anxiety (Matthew 6:25-34) | Dr. Charlie Wallace

it's always good to gather on the Lord's Day Sunday a day where we come in and worship together and find rest for our souls amen that's why we're here well it was a story of a very nervous airline passenger who began pacing the terminal when bad weather had delayed his flight have you ever been there before and during his walk he he came across a rather peculiar thing you saw it was a life insurance machine life insurance machine and it offered $100,000 in the event of an untimely death aboard his flight 100,000 dollars if you die and it only costs $3 you imagine that so he looked at that machine and he looked at the deal that it was offered and he looked out the window the threatening clouds and he thought of his family at home and so for that price he thought it was foolish not to buy so he paid the machine for the coverage he then looked for a place to eat and as he walked around he found a good-looking Chinese restaurant so he had a nice relaxing meal and then at the end of his meal he opened up his fortune cookie and it said your recent investment will pay big dividends that would be enough to cause some anxiety right I never remember I'll never forget in college where we went to a Chinese restaurant with a friend of mine and then he got a similar fortune and but it was said it was a bad fortune and he's like I'm not gonna I'm not gonna accept this he went to the bucket and he picked out another one opened up was the same exact one so that would not that would cause anxiety right anyway but we live in a world that breeds anxiety we have doctors telling us we need to be worried about our health we have politicians telling us we need to worry about our country we've got weather men telling us we need to worry about the weather and see they're too hot too cold too windy I'm waiting for the day they just say it's just right they don't ever say that that doesn't get people to watch everything looks great they don't need to watch us they would never say that so the message of the day seems to be watch out worry because fear is a great motivator the world knows this so the world continues to produce fear but fear is sin worry is sin anxiety is sin some of your thinking to hold on pastor sin well yes how do we know this because Jesus commands us not to have it so when we go against his command that is called sin I don't know many people who don't have some type of anxiety or worry from time to time I don't know many people who don't worry about something you know either everyday but Jesus says if you are a Christian not to do it look at Matthew chapter 6 verse 25 says therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life well you will eat well you will drink nor about your body what you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them are you not of more value than they and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life and why are you anxious about clothing consider the lilies of the field how they grow and they neither toil nor spin yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these but if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not much more clothe you oh you little faith therefore do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself sufficient for the day is its own trouble father in heaven as we come in today no doubt all of us are worrying about something today anxious about something today so father my prayer today is that as we continue to worship as we take our hearts at rest today the father we would rest in your words we would rest in what you have told us today that you would take our burdens and our anxiety and our worry from us Lord that you would show us that we can trust you today I ask these things in Jesus name Amen I want to show you three things today three things that will help us stop worrying number one God is in control of your circumstances God is in control of your circumstances and before we dive into this passage I want to pause to offer a word of distinction between anxiety and maybe an anxiety disorder some people don't just worry they have an anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the u.s. affecting 40 million adults the United States age 18 and older about 18 point one percent of the population every year and anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors including genetics and brain chemistry and personality and life events and how to treat this in general can be a controversial subject even in Christian circles so I'm not going to venture into that today I'm just going to tell you what Jesus says about what to do with anxiety he says his verse 25 therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life when he says therefore he's referring to the previous section where he has told us that he is our master and we are his slaves his servants so because Jesus is our master he then tells us that we do not need to worry about our lives that he will provide for us and that is what this passage is about that Jesus is our master he will provide the word life refers to our entire being our our our physical our mental our emotional our spiritual selves and Jesus says do not worry about your life don't be anxious about it when famous pastor says that worry is the sin of distrusting the promise in Providence of God distrusting the promise and Providence of God but it is something that we do more frequently and we don't even know we do it many times worry has the meaning of strangling has the idea of choking and that's what worry does it strangles the joy out of life it chokes the joy out of life and it chokes out all of your other emotions so you can only dwell on what worries you so all your thoughts are consumed with we must replace worry we must replace anxiety with a faith with a trust and who Jesus is and who Christ is we must ask God to help us replace worry with faith in who he is should we plan for our future in our life what we certainly should but we must realize that we are not in control of our lives that God is in control of our lives he decided when we would be we would be born how he would be be born and he will decide when we leave this world amen that's what Jesus says we must realize that we're not in control that God is and we do not provide for ourselves God provides for us we do not own our things God owns them we definitely should plan for the future but we are not to be anxious about the circumstances of our lives Jesus says not to worry about this he says what you will eat what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on food water and clothing the three basic necessities of life right have some water right here that I drink cuz I need every now and then I had some yogurt this morning and praise the Lord I'm wearing clothes all right the three basic necessities of life now many of us do not have to worry about these necessities we tend to worry about things and aren't necessities and many of your problems and if my problems are not real world problems do you have water yes do you have food yes do you have clothes yes you know whenever we run out of drinks in our house and I tell my kids to drink water you would have thought I told him to drink fire water what those are the necessities so even so those who do not have these things even if you don't have water and abundance of water or abundance of food or the abundance of clothes if you were a child of God Jesus says still do not worry about these things he will provide he adds it's not life more than food and the body more than clothing what he means is life's not all about eating and life's not all about looking good and what you wear what he means there's more to life than about worrying about what we are going to eat or what we are going to wear he says verse 26 look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap and gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feeds them now it should be enough for a God just to tell us don't do it right but he knows that we're not gonna listen he knows that we just aren't prone just to do what he says so he gives us this illustration for us to understand better about what he means he says look at the birds of the air they don't so they don't reap they don't put food into barns they don't save for the winter your heavenly Father feeds them he provides for them gives them worms and the ground to feed on birds depend on God's provision through nature and God provides for the birds sometimes when I'm you know trying to read a nice little book and the house is quiet in the springtime and there's a bird right outside the window that won't quit chirping sometimes I wish God didn't provide for him because I can't think all here's this chirping bird but that's that is a reminder that God even provides for the birds Jesus then asks a question that is meant to make the listener the reader feel silly he says are you not of more value than birds are you not of more value we are made in the image of God amen we have a certain intrinsic value that other parts of creation do not have you and I have not just evolved from some primordial slime you and I are not just some accident you are made in the image of the Almighty and powerful God in heaven you have value and you have it because you are made in God's image because of this you have much more value than a bird or another animal mankind is the crown of God's creation because of this Jesus has promised to take care of your needs and he is in control of our circumstances verse 27 says this and which of you being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life did you know that did you know that when you lie awake at night and worry you don't add hours to your life by worrying if anything you might take him away he's a story of an exasperated husband and he asked his wife she was a warrior I know there's no warriors in here but yes his wife why are you always worrying when it doesn't do any good all you do is worry it does no good why are you always worrying she said it does to do good 90 percent of the things I worry about never happened you might get that when you leave later today right worry is one of the few activities in life that accomplishes nothing accomplishes nothing right even when we sin against people with our words we accomplish something we communicate the worrying accomplishes nothing some of us worry about our life expectancy right we think if we just go to the doctor have enough checkups eat healthy we can somehow extend our lives a few years that is partly true but it's not a guarantee we all know there's people who are in perfect health perfect health and just drop dead one day we've heard those stories doctors don't know what happened God is ultimately in control of how long you will live your life exercise good eating habits will not somehow force God to extend our lifespan now it goes the reason if you're healthy you will live long or generally speaking but it can't control God because God controls the world God is in control of your circumstances that should make us feel peace today if you were a child of God if you're a child of God that you are not in control of your life that God is sure you make decisions about what to do every day but God is over your life he's watching over your life number two God is in control of your security you might think your security system is but it's not God is look at verse 28 why are you anxious Jesus says about clothing consider the lilies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor spin now he's referencing the lilies the grasses that grow everywhere in this part of the world I think we have a picture we have a picture of the lilies I think we have one maybe no okay anyhow imagine your mind of a field of lilies and he says consider pay attention to or we're learn keffe carefully from them a beautiful patch of lilies do not design themselves and this part of the world they only came up for a day 24 hours they have bloomed the next day they would die and they bloom because the God has designed them too he has orchestrated for them to bloom they bloom all certain colors that God has designed for them and he says in verse 29 yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Solomon the richest King on the face of the earth could not clothe himself with more beauty then a God made flower he could not replicate God's creation in all the yarn and the dyeing the wool that he had he could not replicate the beauty of God's creation yet God still clothes the lilies of the field and he says in verse 30 but if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is allied and tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not much more clothe you oh you of little faith even the flowers and the grass the field one day will cease to exist and the dried and dead stalks of these flowers and grasses were used as fuel for ovens or furnaces back in the day many times are used to bake bread or keep warm and as beautiful as lilies are they spring up one day and they're gone the next and their only use is to put into an oven God says that he if he will take care of a flower a beautiful flower that rises for a day and has cut down the next and is used for fuel how much more we take care of his people clothes you know give us a sense of security you know that's why we like to wear clothes that make you feel comfortable if I don't feel comfortable wearing something I don't care what the style is or what it's not going to wear it right because I want to feel secure but the primary purpose of clothes is to give us security and it goes all the way back to an avenue sinned in the garden when they sinned they felt ashamed and they realized they were naked and they made clothes for themselves or they try to then God gave them better clothes that covered the shame of their sin so why then are we putting so much effort into wearing something that all it's doing is covering the shame of our sin God alone is our security no I like to look nice you know I you know and I get up in the morning and pick out we're gonna wear and I got to make sure my my collar isn't popped up like this you know or one of you ladies will do it we'll put it down for me I don't want to embarrass myself right make sure it's good it may not be good anymore I don't know it's okay look yourself in the mirror wear clothes that are comfortable but what he's saying is do not be consumed with what you're wearing God will clothe you he is your security number three God is in control of your future verse 31 therefore do not be anxious saying what shall we eat what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all the Gentiles the nations the peoples pagans they seek after all these material things hoping it'll make them feel secure hoping that'll make them feel in control but they then worry about their circumstances they worry about their security but he's saying if you follow me you should not worry about those things Abraham Lincoln said the best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time the best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time one scholar about this passage says this he says that which the lord here prohibits is not the making of careful preparation of what is likely to come but the constant occupation of the mind and distraction of the heart over what will never come it is not the foresight of the storm and the taking in of sale while there is yet time which he represents but after but that after we have taken in the sale we continue to gaze at the horizon with such fear and unbelief that we are weakened thereby and disqualified of the discharge of far more important duties as when the day is done and we've done all we could do we're still looking out for the storm the storm that probably never will come it might probably won't jesus says seek first the kingdom of God you don't seek the storm first you don't seek - unforeseen event first you know put all your mind your worry into what negative thing could happen what do you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these things you worry about will be added we worry when we seek the things of the world first we seek security God gives us security we seek peace and comfort God gives us peace and comfort but seek God's kingdom and his righteousness and all will be added seeking God's kingdom means that we will drop everything else as central to our existence and fill up our lives with the desire to do his work when our minds are focused on Jesus and his kingdom and reaching other people disciple another's then we don't have room and time to think about ourselves he says in verse 34 therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself sufficient for the day is its own trouble right it's a good memory to a good verse to memorize right someone's worried about future events when you're worried about future Vince just memorize Matthew 6:34 it's been said that God is the God of tomorrow just as he is the God of today and when we worry especially when we have nothing to worry about we create hypothetical situations we create fictional situations that may never happen what about if this happens what are we going to do what about if that happens what are we going to do I don't know I can't live and you can't live in hypothetical situations we can prepare the best we can we can have a general plan but we're not going to be able to figure out how we would what we would do and how God would move in every fictional hypothetical situation that our brains can conjure up we just can't it's not made for word that worry becomes an addiction that drains us and there's worry and anxiety build that we lose room to put our faith in the Lord and we need to rest that God gives us the grace now we need to live day by day day by day which of these basic needs do you find yourself worrying about today food water clothing Jesus says don't do that he says trust in him if you know Christ Jesus has promised to provide for you if you do not know Jesus he hasn't promised you anything what he has promised you is salvation if you turn to him and if you turn to him and repent of your sins the place your faith in him then he has promised you these things but you must turn to him Bible says we do that you're saved you become a child of God and your heavenly Father will provide for his children then Jesus says you have nothing to worry about anymore wouldn't you love to leave here today with nothing to worry about Jesus says you can that is the point that is why I have told you this Jesus says do not be anxious Heavenly Father we close our time today many of us can't even fathom leaving here today not worried about anything because it becomes such a part of our lives we can't escape it even if we try not to worry and put our trust in you and put our faith in you second we interact with another person we find something they're worried about the second we turn on the television or read on the internet we find something that we're told we need to worry about we often can't escape that spirit of worry that's spirit of fear so father help us trust you help us Lord notice and we are tempted to take the bait of worry and fear now you're right there beside us telling us don't do it trust in me but I pray that we would trust in you well we ask these things in Jesus name Amen

Channel: First Baptist Church Moncks Corner

Views: 624

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: 2019-07-21, Churches in Moncks Corner, Churches in Berkeley County, Churches in Summerville, Churches in Ridgeville, Churches in Goose Creek, Volvo, Google Goose Creek, Moss Grove Plantation, Foxbank Plantation, Moncks Corner, Carnes Crossroads, Dr. Charlie Wallace, Pinopolis, Stephen Parris, Colby Huftalen

Id: xVdF8wclrGM

Length: 28min 14sec (1694 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 24 2019