... male announcer: Up next
on "Leading the Way," a timely sermon
from Dr. Michael Youssef. Dr. Michael Youssef:
Our greatest distinction between those who know
and love Jesus and those who don't is the level of worry
that we have about life. But when those who love Jesus
become anxious, it is because
we have a temporary amnesia. We have forgotten
who is our heavenly Father. announcer: Coming up next. announcer: "My Journal"
is the monthly publication of "Leading the Way
with Dr. Michael Youssef." Dr. Youssef: Who forgave me
all of my sins and gave me the assurance of eternal life
with him in heaven. announcer: Each month,
"My Journal" offers practical weekly
devotionals from Dr. Youssef and exciting ministry reports from our on-the-ground
field teams. This is a great resource to not only cultivate
your personal faith, but to also stay informed about how God is moving
in our world today. As our gift to you,
we would like to send you a free six-month subscription to encourage you
in your walk with Christ. To receive your free
"My Journal," call now
or sign up at LTW.org. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Dr. Youssef: He is the same
Holy Spirit who is our tutor, and our teacher,
and our instructor. He is the same Holy Spirit who's willing to give you
discernment, to give you wisdom,
to give you understanding, to give you anointing, to give you a favor with God
and man. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Dr. Youssef: This pandemic,
this crisis, we have seen human nature
at its best. We've seen people
giving of themselves, sharing,
sacrificing. But we also have seen
human nature at its worst. We've seen pictures of people
fighting over toilet papers and some other goods
and food items. We have seen obscene stockpiling
out of fear and anxiety. We've seen irrational hoarding
in the land of plenty. And that is why
Matthew 6:25 through 36, Jesus is speaking
to his own. Remember this,
he's speaking to his own, and he was saying, "There is no need for you
to be anxious and worried like those
who don't know me." But when those who love Jesus
become anxious and worried, and we all do at some point,
I can tell you when, I'll give you the timing
on when that takes place. It is because we have
a temporary amnesia as to who
our heavenly Father is. It is because for that moment, we have forgotten
who is our heavenly Father. There are the moments
when we forget the privileges that we have as children
of the king of the universe. The very heart
of Jesus's message here in this passage
in Matthew 6, he said, "Don't worry
about the necessities of life." In those just few verses,
there are three times, three times where our Lord Jesus
gives us a command. These three times
were not suggestions, they are not recommendations,
they are not nice things to do, they're commands
in the imperative mood. This command is found
in verse 25, 31, and 34. I'm going to show you
four things, I'm not going to expound
on them, but I'm going to come back
and show them to you in their biblical context. First of all,
he's saying worrying is wrong because it indicates distrust
in the nature of God. He is saying that worry
is totally unnecessary because of who
your heavenly Father is. And thirdly, he's saying worry
does not make sense, why? Because it is inconsistent
with faith. And fourthly,
finally, he says worrying is very unwise because of our certain future,
our known future. But today, I want to focus
specifically on verse 27. I'm going to come
to the rest of it, but verse 27, "Who of you
by worrying can add a single day
to your lifespan?" Now, some translations said
an hour, it doesn't matter, any period of time. This admonition of Jesus
is the exact opposite of what our culture
is force-feeding us. But why Christians
worry so much? Why Christians get anxious about the issues of life
and death? Listen to what Jesus said again,
verse 27, "Which of you or who of you,
by being anxious, can add a single day
to your lifespan?" Hear me out, please,
this is important. In the archives of heaven back before the creation
of the world, there is a document
for each human being. And in that document, the date of our birth and the
date of our death is written, and nothing will change that. Nothing will change it.
Nothing will modify those dates. Listen to the words
of Jesus again, "Who of you,
by being anxious, could add a single day
to your lifespan?" Now, I don't want
to make the mistake that I often tell you
not to make, and that is not to put the text
back into its context. It's very important. And so,
in the few verses before 27, Jesus talks about the source
of anxiety, the very source of worrying. Matthew 19 to 24,
Jesus says if money and the accumulation
of worldly possession is your god, then you'll worry,
you will worry. You will be anxious
if the net-- your net worth
is your master. In fact, you will never have
a worry free day in your life if that's the case. Why? Because that god
is a cruel slave master. That is why, please,
please, please, please do not get me wrong. I don't want you
to get me wrong. I beg you
not to get me wrong. There is nothing wrong
with money and possession. Did you get that? Nothing wrong with money
and possession. Nothing wrong with money
and wealth. As a friend of mine said, "You cannot serve God or mammon, but you can serve God
with mammon." And therefore, the question
is not the possessions, the question is, are your possessions
possessing you? When that happens, you will never have
a worry-free day. You will always live
in worry and anxiety. So, the question is,
what is the antidote to worry? The cure for worry is using
of one's possessions to serve the living God. The real worry-free life
is only possible when the resources
that God gave you, make no mistake about it, God gave you are used
for reaching the lost. And Jesus said, "You cannot be
a slave to mammon and a servant of God
at the same time." It's an impossibility,
it's just an impossibility. If accumulation and more and more and more
is your master, then worry
is your lot in life. If materialism is your master, then you can be assured
that anxiety is going to be your
permanent companion. If all of your treasure
is on this earth, not in heaven,
then you can be assured that worry is going to be
your bosom buddy. Jesus said,
"These are two masters, two," no third,
just two. And he says, "These are
diametrically opposed and they cannot co-exist." Now, don't shoot the messenger,
that's what Jesus said. There is the one that
commands us to walk by faith and fully trust him,
and then there's the other who demands that we walk
by sight or what we see. There is the one who calls us
to acknowledge God and only God
as the source. And then there is the other
who pumps our pride and give ourselves credit
for all of God's blessings. There is the one
who tells us to set your mind on things
that are above and things that are in heaven,
where Jesus is. And then there's the other
who says, "Your earthly security, your net worth
is all that matters." There is the one
who calls us to see the things
that are unseen by the rest of the world
and the things that are eternal. And then there's the other
who wants us to focus all-- in fact, forces us
to focus our attention on what is seen
and what's temporal. Who is my master? Who is my master?
That's the question. Asking yourself the question,
"Who is my master?" is one of the most
important questions that you can ask in life,
why? Because answering
that question will determine the level of our
anxiety and worry in life. Verse 25, Matthew 6,
Jesus said, "For this reason I say to you
do not be anxious." You say, "What reason? What is he talking about,
what reason?" The reason of knowing
who your master is. Hear me right please. When it comes to worry
and anxiety, it makes no difference
whether you are poor or rich. Did you get that?
Let me repeat that. When it comes
to worry and anxiety, it makes no difference whether the person
is poor or rich, why? Because your attitude
toward material possessions, which is the
accurate measurements of your spiritual condition,
it's your attitude. It's how you react to them. Listen, I have known ministers
of the gospel, people ordained to the ministry,
and they are enslaved to money. Listen, it has nothing to do
with what you have or what you don't have. It has everything to do
with what have you. Here's the problem,
here's the problem: When you think
that you are self-made-- Oh, we hear a lot about
self-made man. When you think
you made it all yourself, then you're going to worry because you feel
that it's up to you to protect
what you made. If you think
that you're the one who did it, then you're going to have
to worry about protecting it. In reality, God is the one
who gave it to you. God is also--can take it away
in a heartbeat. I've seen people literally
lost millions overnight. But when you know
that God gave you everything, God gave you everything, and that you are using it
for his glory, you'll be at peace. You'll be at peace, why? Because just as God
gave it to you, he will multiply it to you. He'll multiply it to you so that you can keep multiplying
in the work of God. And he'll multiply it to you so you can multiply it
to the work of God. I have seen this too many times
to doubt it with my own eyes
many, many, many times. God is not looking for a puddle, where the water comes in
and stays there. He's looking for conduits. As I pointed out to you earlier
from Matthew chapter 6, he commanded
in those few verses, commands three times,
verse 25, 31, and 34. Remember the four reasons
I gave you earlier as why worry is a sin,
why worry is wrong? I'm going to repeat those ones
from the Scripture, all four of them. In verse 25 of Matthew 6,
"Worrying is a distrusting of the intentions of God
toward you." Did you get that?
Verse 25. Secondly, verse 26 to 30, "Worrying is a disbelief
in the sovereignty of God." Thirdly,
in verses 31 through 33, "Worry is the distortion
of the character of God." It's the distortion
of the character of God. And finally, verse 34,
fourthly, "Worry is the distrust
in the promises of God." Now, I wish I had time
to expound these, but unfortunately I can't. But feel free
to take that outline. Listen to me, just as the wind blows
unless you stop it, just as the water flows
unless you impede it, just as light will glow
unless you buffet it, you and I, and yeah,
including me, I'm not preaching at you,
I'm preaching myself as well, you and I are going to worry
unless we deal with it, unless we deal with it. Now, I am aware of the fact
there are some people who try to tranquilize
their worry. I know. There are others
who are trying to deaden the feeling of worry and anxiety
by chemical substance. I know other people try
to escape from their worry. The Bible said there's only
one way to deal with worry, none of the other things
will work. Here's something I hope
you'll never forget: Worry is the opposite
of contentment. Contentment
is what Jesus calling all of his children to have,
why? Because God has peace
in himself, and he wants us
to have it. Because God has tranquility
surrounding his throne in heaven, and he wants us
to have it. Because God has serenity
filling the courts of heaven, and he wants us to have it. He wants you to have it,
he wants me to have it. His peace cannot be fabricated. Oh, many tried,
they cannot fabricate it. His peace cannot be duplicated.
His peace cannot be falsified. His peace is above
and beyond explanation. And someone may ask, "Well, Michael,
is there a falsified, fabricated type of peace
that is not the peace of God?" Yes, absolutely. I hear about it all the time
in the media. But these are
Band-Aids on tumor. Jesus is saying that the gods
of the Gentiles, these are manmade gods. They are all inspired by Satan, and these are the gods of fear
and worry and anxiety and dreaded--
dread and appeasement. These gods demand much, promise much,
and deliver nothing. And many people fall in this
false fabricated peace, how? By trying to grab
all the pleasure that they could
while they're able. And that is why
their motto is, "Let's eat and drink,
for tomorrow we shall die." Here Jesus contrasts, especially for those
who love him and those who don't love him,
he's contrasting the two. And the contrast
is between those who love him and have
the assurance of heaven, those who seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness first and foremost,
why? Because they know
that all these things will be added to them. And I'm not talking about
just in heaven, but even in this earth. So, the question is, do you know what the number one
cause for worry and anxiety? Losing what you have,
it's the number one, losing of what you-- I'm talking about health,
wealth, whatever it is, even life,
and going without. That's the biggest
anxiety-causing fact. So, they naturally go
for more and more and more. But the source of contentment is seeking the praise
and the honor and the glory and the things of God. The secret of contentment
is being generous in giving of yourself
and sharing Christ with others. On the other hand, the cause of worry
is misplaced priority. Instead of being focused
on Christ, it's focused on, "Ooh,
what's going on around me? What's the latest in the news?
What's going to happen? How many people did this
and how many people went there and how many--" And I'm constantly-- And I've seen it
even among God's people. The source of contentment
is losing yourself in obedience to the Lord. The source of worry is focusing
on how dangerous this world is. The secret of contentment is how I can share Christ
with the lost. The cause of worry
focuses on what I don't have and, "How do I get it?" The secret of contentment
focuses on bringing glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. I hear people all the time, "I'm worried about
how dangerous this world is." Well, I see the world
is dangerous. But I want to challenge
every believer to do some soul searching. Wherever you are,
wherever you are, start today. Do some soul searching. Ask the question:
Am I anxious and worried? And if the answer is yes,
then why am I worried? During this time, God is teaching me
to take it one day at a time. I know he's teaching you, maybe not that lesson,
but other lessons. But the one question
you must ask: Do I really live
in worry and anxiety? And if I do, why? When my God promised, when all of the promises
in the Word of God are for me? Will you do that? announcer: "My Journal"
is the monthly publication of "Leading the Way
with Dr. Michael Youssef." Dr. Youssef: Who forgave me
all of my sins and gave me the assurance of eternal life with him
in heaven. announcer: Each month,
"My Journal" offers practical weekly
devotionals from Dr. Youssef and exciting ministry reports from our on-the-ground
field teams. This is a great resource to not only cultivate
your personal faith, but to also stay informed about how God is moving
in our world today. As our gift to you, we would like to send you
a free six-month subscription to encourage you
in your walk with Christ. To receive your free
"My Journal," call now
or sign up at LTW.org. ♪♪♪ announcer:
Vision 2025, our seven-year
strategic campaign to see one million souls
come to Christ by 2025. Year number one focused
on building infrastructure and expanding
"Leading the Way's" reach into new areas with new content
and new technologies. Since the launch
of Vision 2025, "Leading the Way" has added
29 new television outlets in key areas
around the country. And for the first time in the history
of the Fox Business Network, "Leading the Way" became the first
Christian ministry program to ever air on this powerful
national platform, now airing weekly every Sunday
in 100 million homes. As the Muslim population
continues to grow within the United States,
"Leading the Way" is actively evangelizing
this new people group. Plans are to target
geographic areas with high density populations
of Arabic-speaking Muslims. This year, we launched our new
outreach model in New York, with a Muslim population
exceeding 1 million. Radio, TV, online,
smartphone apps, partner churches,
and personnel are being utilized to impact this area
with more to come. Following a study of our
effectiveness in the region, "Leading the Way"
hired six new on-the-ground
field representatives, each perfectly suited
to reach Muslims for Christ. The field is white
unto harvest. Celebrating ten years
of broadcasting the gospel into the Arabic speaking world, the Kingdom Sat stepped up
its live programming content, expanded into Australia
and New Zealand, launched a new
global smartphone app, Apple TV app,
and so much more. This powerful tool
is making a real difference. This year, we launched
"Leading the Way Live," a series of global
evangelistic events featuring messages
from Dr. Michael Youssef. In October, Dr. Youssef
will be traveling to Sydney, Australia to speak at the
International Convention Center. Working with partners
in nine countries, "Leading the Way" distributed just over 13,000 solar powered
Navigator devices during year number one. This powerful pocket missionary
is providing the gospel and equipping new believers
for effective ministry in their home countries. With the burden to reach
the next generation for Christ, "Leading the Way"
launched a brand new podcast dealing with
cutting edge issues. "Candid Conversations
with Jonathan Youssef" is targeting 20-
and 30-year-olds, addressing the most controversial topics
of our times. Vision 2025,
year number one. You can join the movement. Join with "Leading the Way" and become a part
of what God is doing all over the world
through Vision 2025 by giving a generous gift
today. Help us continue
to passionately proclaim uncompromising truth
to the lost around the world. Call, write, or visit us online
at LTW.org today to see how you can become
a part of Vision 2025. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ announcer:
Passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth, "Leading the Way
with Dr. Michael Youssef" thanks you
for your faithful support through your continued
prayers and gifts. ♪♪♪
