"Worry Not!" | Pastor Steve Gaines

have you ever met somebody that just they worried all the time how many of you know somebody they just seems to like worry about something about all the time every time you talk to them they're worried about something I don't point oh you're pointing to yourself okay okay okay you scared me a little bit all right I heard about this lady who for several years was worried that a burglar was going to come into their house and she'd lock all the doors and she was afraid of burglars and one night her husband heard a noise downstairs in the house so he goes downstairs to investigate and when he got there sure enough he found a burglar and so the husband said good evening sir I'm the man of the house I'm so pleased to finally meet you please come upstairs and meet my wife she's been waiting you for 10 for you to meet you for 10 years that's a goofy illustration I know it but you know I tell you a lot of our fears are just about that silly and I think about sometimes the things I used to worry about and the things that I still worry about sometimes but especially when I was younger I've had people asked me what would you do differently if you knew now if you knew back when you were about 25 what you know now I tell them all the time I would pray more and worry less I just pray more and I'd worry a lot less I I can remember being so a concern how in the world am I going to pay for college high in the world am I going to put these kids through school how in the world and I am I and you know the Lord had it worked out all the time maybe I'm talking to somebody tonight you're like that woman you're afraid of something you've got a phobia you know we got a phobia nowadays for everything you can think of there's acrophobia fear of heights I want to ask you to tell me if this is your phobia or not astraphobia fear of thunder and lightning claustrophobia fear of having no escape and being closed in odontophobia fear of dentists sorry about that you dentists out there in Nakhla phobia fear of crowds frig of phobia fear of being too cold man I'm not I'm not one of those guys I like it cold glossophobia fear of speaking in public are paksa phobia fear of being robbed if this is this is really a hard one to say okay if though a phobia fear of fish especially dead fish I like you know every fish I've ever eaten was dead okay all right moussah phobia fear of mice and rats well I'm not afraid of those we killed one last night didn't we baby it's usually we didn't I did didn't I I bought seven rat traps and I put them put them out and we're getting those dudes man we're not giving him a proper burial either we're killing those things necro phobia fear of death optim optimal phobia I don't think I said that right fear of being stared at I love it optelec phobia all right whatever pyro phobia fear of fire toxsa phobia fear of being poisoned xenophobia fear of strangers foreigners and aliens and Bama phobia fear of playing Alabama and football now let's just be serious for a minute all right over and over the Bible says that we're not to worry about anything how many of you have ever read something like that in your Bible if you don't raise your hand up you've never read your Bible okay the Bible is replete in the old of the New Testament telling us not to be afraid not to worry tonight I want us to look at some very famous questions that Jesus asked and exhorting us with these questions and the title of the message is simply worry not worry not Matthew SiC you see that guys sitting there with his head down like that he needs to get up and go go to Sonic and get a big old hamburger doesn't he he just he needs to he needs to stop worrying and trust the Lord Matthew 6:25 the New Living Translation says that is why Jesus is speaking that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life and by the way this is at the very core of the Sermon on the Mount this is right in the middle okay right in the middle is at the heart of Jesus most famous sermon so there's got to be a reason that it's right in the middle this is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear isn't life here's the question isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing look at the birds of the air he says in verse 26 they don't plant they don't harvest they don't store food in barns for your heavenly Father feeds them and then here's another question aren't you far more valuable to God than they are then animals are then then the birds can he ask you another question in verse 27 can all your worries add a single moment to your life then he starts verse 28 with another question and why worry about your clothing then he gives an example look at the lilies of the field the common flowers out in the field that nobody ever looks at look at them and see how they grow they don't work they don't make their clothing yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are and if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the into the fire tomorrow he will certainly care for you and then he ends everything with the question of all questions in this text why do you have so little faith there's the real issue Wow five questions in six verses do you see Jesus asking questions to make a point that's the whole deal here he's not wanting information he's making a point and all of them all of his questions are trying to encourage his followers to stop worrying it is a poor witness for Jesus when we worry it is a poor witness so let's talk about it very quickly notice first of all the sinfulness Woori the sinfulness of worry it's a sin to worry verse 25 that is why I tell you not to worry worry not about everyday life now if we worry and he tells us not to worry then we don't do what he says and when we don't do what Jesus says guess what that is that is sin it's sin and then he gives examples about not worrying about everyday life whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear isn't life more than food there's another question isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing Jesus plainly commands us I tell you not to worry about everyday life everyday life is all-inclusive is it not it's a comprehensive statement is it not everyday life he even gives examples food drink clothes isn't life more than food isn't your body more than clothing he basically commanded his disciples don't worry about anything now where have I heard that oh yes the Apostle Paul writing to the church at Philippi and the New Living Translation nails the original language when it says don't worry about anything instead read it out loud with me up the screen instead here it goes pray about everything let's read that whole phrase again let's read it together here we go don't worry about anything instead pray about everything one more time don't worry about anything instead pray about everything and then I'll still have somebody say well brother Steve do I really need to pray about this pray about everything especially those things that cause worry then he explains tell god what you need thank him for all he has done has God been good to you I just leaned over and said to drew while ago God's been so good to us we're so blessed to be here at Bellevue on a Sunday night praying for these people praying for our nation praying for Charlotte praying for people who have needs praying for people that are considering the suicide praying for different things he's saying here just give thanks for what God has done in your lives he said then verse 7 you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand what really does it passes all understanding his peace will guard your hearts that your emotions and your minds that your thoughts as you live in Christ Jesus I don't know how more plain God can get he's told us don't worry about anything pray about everything prayer is God's alternative to worry prayer is God's alternative to worry I don't want to be ugly to you I just want to say to you though forthrightly if you're worrying all the time it shows that you're not praying the way you ought to pray when I'm around somebody that's praying I know it because they're not really worried they can be concerned about something but they pray about those things they're not worried about it they're not frantic about it they're not going around nervous about things they're calm and they they walk with assurance they know that God is in charge because they've been praying you know God is not the author of fear the devil is I had a guy one time tell me you can smell the devil and one of the ways you can smell the devil is when you start sensing fear when you start sensing that intimidation when you start sensing worried rising up that's the devil coming after you you can smell the devil because it smells like fear he's the author of fear God is not the Bible says that God does not send fear that God does not send phobias to his children 2nd Timothy 1:7 it's such a good verse let's read it together off the screen here we go for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind God does not give us a spirit of fear so if God doesn't give us a spirit of fear and we have a spirit of fear come opponents a literal spirit NUMA phobia a spirit of fear come upon us it is demonic and the Bible says we are to submit to God resist the devil and he must flee and then draw near to God and He will draw near to us God's not given us a spirit of fear if it doesn't come from God it comes from the enemy God does not want you to walk in fear God wants you to walk in faith he wants you to walk in love he wants you to walk in purity he wants you to walk in confidence he lovingly seeks to cast out fear from every child of God and the Bible says this one of my wife's favorite verses first John 4:18 there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear would you read that with me I know I'm forgetting you to read a lot tonight but read good and strong up to that point let's all read it together there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear what cast out fear perfect love who gives perfect love God God because fear involves punishment and the one who fears is not perfected in love you're not as mature as you ought to be if you're constantly living in worry and fear fear is a tool of the devil the devil is a fear monger he will constantly throw fiery darts at your brain and it's your heart trying to get you to be afraid let me tell you you can have a great experience of worship you can even have a great prayer time and the devil will throw a little dart at you the Bible says holding up the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy faith is how you conquer fear faith is how you comfort me you're either going to walk in fear are you going to walk in faith and the devil will throw thoughts at you those little darts are he'll say what about this have you thought about this well do you believe this what do you think about this and just throw those little darts I have it all the time you say what do you do with that I take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ I say that is not of God I mean that thought will come in my mind I say that's not of God in the name of Jesus I grabbed that thought I say in the name of Jesus I take that thought captive you are not going to put me in fear I'm not gonna walk in fear you say you go around talking to thoughts all the time because every thought I have did not originate with me God gives me thoughts the devil will throw fiery dog darts at me he'll put thoughts in my mind I don't understand it but I do know this I take those things captives and then I do what I should do as quote the Word of God God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind you can say that is the craziest thing I've ever heard in my life you say whatever you want to I'm gonna walk in freedom I'm not gonna be in bondage to fear not gonna do it I decided a long time ago I'm not gonna take the devil stuff I'm not gonna let him use me for his spiritual punching bag I know that there is no fear in God's love and that perfect love God can cast out all fear put it down plain put it down straight God commands us not to fear so if we do fear if we engage in fear and here's what I hear people say all the time well I can't help it brother Steve that's just the way my daddy was that's the way my mother was that's the way my brother is that's the way we are you know we gained you know we we just like the fear you know what it's time for somebody in that family to break that tradition and say it stops with me and that's not going to be passed on to my future generations why don't you a man go ahead it's it's okay to clap and praise God on a Sunday night I promise you why don't you just declare war do some fasting do whatever you got to do but root that stuff out and say I'm gonna walk with God I'm gonna walk with God and I'm not gonna live in fear I'm not gonna pass this on to future generation I'm not gonna do it just not gonna do it all right that's the sinfulness of worry notice secondly the senselessness of worry it makes no sense because it doesn't accomplish anything except bad stuff fear worry do anything except hurt you it doesn't help you any not at all when you get down to reality worry makes no sense all you can do is worry about the past the present and the future think about if you worry about the past doesn't do any good as you're worrying about the past ever changed what happened in the past no if it's past guess what it's past it's not there anymore don't let it bother you now have have we all got days we would do something different if we could do it how many of you have got a day that you would love to live over I got both of my hands up alright sure we've all made mistakes we've all messed up we've all sinned fall short of the glory of God but we have to give those things to the Lord and trust that he will not only lead us forward but he will be as our by the Bible says our rearguard he will guard us from behind the good thing about getting saved is listen he's not only in front of you he's behind you he's not in front of you in behind you he's beside you he's over you he's under and he's in you he's all around you so he's got you back so don't worry about the past give your pass to God and He will throw all of that in the sea of forgetfulness he'll take it as far as the East is from the West give it to God and move on say god I can't do anything about the past but I can't do something about today and that will help me get ready to future what about worrying about the future you can't worry about the future you don't know what's going to happen in the future you can have these little scenarios in your mind about what's going to have the future but you don't know what's in the future the only one who knows what's going to happen in the future is God and so that's why you pray about the future you don't worry about the future you pray about the future worry doesn't do anything to help the future and worry doesn't even help you right now in fact it hurts you right now it hurts you it distracts you from walking with God think about he gives the various examples by the way worrying will waste your energy and the older I get the less energy I have to waste Don and I have quit arguing almost but one of the reasons is we're getting to time too old for it are you know where you out did you know that and we already know we're gonna we know that at least by Sunday I'm going to apologize amen I'm night will get up here mad it hurt and try to preach to you alright so we just go and say hey listen we know we're gonna and you know sometimes it's kind of fun make it up but just don't worry about then you really don't worry but it's just senseless wasted energy it's meaningless its counterproductive it's irrational it never helps worry always hurts it never helps it never helps so stop calling yourself a worrier don't put that on you don't claim that say I'm not a worrier I walk in faith I'm a warrior I'm not a warrior I'm a warrior and I will walk in faith I've never said that before in my life you gotta write that down let me give you a few things worried cannot feed you where it cannot be that's what Jesus says right here can't feed you look at verse 26 look at the birds they don't plant they don't harvest they don't store up food in barns for your heavenly Father feeds them your heavenly Father feeds the birds your heavenly father feeds billions of birds every day aren't you far more valuable to him than they are birds don't plant and harvest you have never seen a sparrow driving a John Deere tractor you've never seen a Robin bailing hay pelicans don't have a savings account at Charles Schwab and yet for some reason every bird on the planet is fed by all mighty God jesus said the same reason the birds don't plant they don't harvest they don't store food is because your heavenly Father feeds them and then Jesus stings us with this didactic question he says aren't you far more valuable to God than they are sorry animal worshipers we're more valuable than the birds and the animals people are more valuable to God than birds or animals we are not people according to God are not animals we are not a species of animal as they try to teach us in our schools rather we are made in the image of God and the animals are not there's the difference the Bible says that we have dominion over the animals not vice-versa we shouldn't be cruel we shouldn't mistreat animals to be sure but God loves us more than he loves animals therefore if God will feed the animals who are lower than us doesn't it make sense that he's going to have enough food on the table for us to eat as well no need to worry about that worry is senseless because it will not feed you it is also senseless because it cannot heal you cannot heal you worry cannot heal you in fact it can make you sick verse 27 cannot heal you can all your worries at a single moment to your life Don and I were reading the other night the the 10 most popular things that people do to live to be a 100 one of them was flossing your teeth I got that one down pat and every night when I floss us and we'll live to be 100 she said you need to do the other nine things as well does worry at any time to your life no it takes away time worry takes away moments from your life it doesn't bring healing it brings disease it brings death it hurts your immune system and it will not add a single moment to your life worry cannot heal you something else worry cannot do and another reason that it's senseless is it cannot close you worry cannot put clothes on your back verse 28 why are you worrying about your clothing look at the lilies of the field how they grow they don't work they don't make their clothing yet Solomon in all his glory I'm reading about Solomon right now in the Old Testament he was not dressed as beautifully as they are these little of field the little field flowers are dressed better than all this great king named Solomon and if God so wonderfully cares for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow he will certainly take care of you have you ever seen a flower out in the field and it was out there worried what am I going to wear today oh I don't know what I'm gonna wear you say brother Steve that's absurd well I didn't ask the question Jesus did you just call Jesus absurd Jesus asked you have you ever seen a lily of the field worrying have you ever seen them out there worrying about what they're going to to wear that's the point of worrying about clothing if God knows how to clothe flowers that will be dead within a few weeks don't you think maybe he can put some clothes on your back jesus said clothing is something we shouldn't worry about I took this picture a few months ago out of a magnolia blossom in our yard I was walking out and I just it was just overtaken by how beautiful it was that's just by a little I phone there and I put it on Twitter and I said my father created this with a capital F there let me ask you do you think that flower with all those beautiful petals and everything do you think that flower is worried flowers gone now it's already passed away took it several couple of months ago but that flowers just out there just shining doing its thing and God took care of it and look at me God loves you a lot more sorry sorry nature nature worshippers God loves you a lot more than he loves that flower he dressed that flower up pretty well didn't he he can put clothes on your back as well all the brothers Steve I just don't know if I'm gonna have enough let me tell you something let me tell who you're enough is Jesus Christ is your enough he's all you need and he will bless you according to his riches in glory where he can't feed you can't heal you can't clothe you it's senseless the senselessness of worry the sinfulness of worry the senselessness of worry and very quickly to substitute for worry in the little stinging question at the end in verse 30 the last part of verse 30 the substitute for worry why do you have so little faith let's say it out loud together why do you have so little faith without faith we cannot follow Jesus faith is the opposite of fear Hebrews 11:6 without faith it is impossible to please God he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek Him proverbs 3:5 and 6 trust in the Lord as faith with all of your heart do not lean on your own understanding in all of your ways acknowledge him that means pray about everything and he will make your paths straight you conquer fear by cultivating faith I want to say that again you conquer fear by cultivating faith build up your faith and you'll tear down your fear build up your faith you'll tear down your fear where does faith come from look at me look at me faith comes from the Word of God Romans 10:17 so faith cometh from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ if you will live in this Bible if you will walk in this Bible if you will spend time in this Bible you will turn away from fear because your faith will be built up as you feed on the Word of God the faith will be building up within you and all of a sudden you're no longer afraid but you're walking in faith and God is giving you victory over fear the substitute for worry is faith hear the words of Jesus one more time that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear isn't life more than food your body more than clothing look at the birds the next look at me the next time you're about to worry just go look at a little sparrow they don't have near as much as you have and they don't worry about anything just look at the birds they don't plant they don't harvest they don't store food in barns they don't save for the future that is for your heavenly Father feeds them and aren't you more valuable to God than they are can all of your worries at a single moment to your life and why worry about your clothing look at the lilies of the field the next time you start to worry just go outside and find a little flower over there just a little piece of clover whatever find a beautiful little flower out there find a bloom on a Magnolia whatever you have to do I say God if you can clothe that little flower that really nobody ever looks at hardly at all if anybody ever looks at it at all if you clothe that flower I know you're gonna clothed me Lord I know you're gonna put clothes on my back I know you're gonna take care of me look at the lilies of the field how they grow they don't work they don't make their clothing you've never seen a lily that had a singer must showing the sewing machine you've never seen a lily that had one of those yet Solomon and all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow he will certainly take care of you why do you have so little faith may God deliver us I want to just close by saying there's the two primary ways you've heard me say this many you'll hear me say it many more times I hope the two primary ways that the devil will distract you or defeat you is fear and discouragement worry and discouragement because if you're worrying look at me if you're worrying you're not praying if you're walking in fear you're not walking in faith and without faith it's impossible to please God so I just want to encourage you build up your faith walk in the word spend time in prayer and don't give in to worry in a succinct statement here it is worry not let's say that together worry not father in the name of Jesus we pray that we will not worry but we will walk in faith in Jesus name and if that's your prayer say Amen

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 5,046

Rating: 4.8421054 out of 5

Keywords: worry not, do not worry, trust in god, Bellevue Baptist Church, pastor Steve gaines, bellevue memphis, bellevue church, bellevue sermons, Steve Gaines sermons, Steve gains, bellview, bellvue

Id: LBKKc7RORgE

Length: 29min 36sec (1776 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 27 2016