The Village Church
Where is your security? Faith or Worry. - Audio
Your Bibles, please open them to Matthew chapter six Winston Church Hill once said of himself when I look back on all the worries I remember the story of a old man Who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life most of which never happened I think the old man was right Because many of us worry about the possibilities of something happening instead of the guarantee that something would happen When you look back over your life this past week No, we only have to go a year from now, but you're back But this past week when you look back over your past week and your past worries of your health your livelihood The safety of your kids the company that you work for your finances trying to make ends meet we the bills get paid Well, I have enough food this week Well, I lose my job this week with my marriage make it through this tough season again How many of those worries actually came true? Of all the things that you worry about day in and day out how many of them actually come to pass How many all of us in myself included we we all struggle with worry Fear anxiety about something All if we have something that keeps us up late at night Staring up at the ceiling Everyone has that something But there's good news for you when it comes to your worries When it comes to what keeps you up at night Jesus can get the mickey off your back if you want the mickey off your back Do you want the mickey off your back? And if you do Jesus has hope for you this morning in Matthew 6 beginning in verse 25 Therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life What you will eat what you would drink And all about your body Or what you would put on It's not life more than food the body more than clothing Look at the birds of the air They need a soul nor we now gather into barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them Are you not more valuable than they? And which are you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of his life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow they need to torn up in and yeah I tell you even Solomon and all of his glory was not a ray like as like one of these But if God clothed the grass to the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven Well, he not much more clothed you owe you a little faith Therefore do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentile? Seek after 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 Deficient for the day is his own trouble. Let us pray Father God, this is your word Not my word not the word of this church But it's your truth That you have given to your people And my prayer is is what I pray every Sunday that you I will move out of the way and your spirit will take over and Apply the words to our hearts to my heart to the heart of everyone here As I said, we all have something that we worry about Something that keeps us up late at night something that we are afraid of In spirit, I pray that you take that word and apply it to that situation this morning That the field may be relieved that anxiety may be relieved because of what you do today Crusting my prayer. Amen In these words here Jesus Speaks truth into the words of your life To the anxieties of your life the fears of your life three times in his past as he says Don't worry. He commands us Therefore do not be anxious Therefore, I'll tell you do not be anxious about your life What you would eat what you would drink and know her about your body What you would put on This phrase therefore I tell you is it's it's a connector because he he connects this statement what he says in verse 24 In verse 24, he says no one can serve two masters We talked about this last week remember of course not No one can serve two masters for he we the hate one and love the other who would be devoted to one and despised the other it cannot serve the father and money And so for the past three weeks we've been answering one question for the past three weeks and that question is this where is your security? Where is it? We talked about it in terms of prayer. Where is our security that our prayers are heard? It's not father who he is and what he does not in us Last week we talked about the father being our treasure The treasure that we seek The one that we live for the one that we serve We serve him whether the money if you are a believer and Jesus says because of that Because of that truth We have no need to worry We have no need to live an anxiety You are dependent upon the father Who is your provider your treasure and Lord? So you do not have to live in worry. Therefore, I tell you do not be anxious The idea behind this word that has been translated anxious is is that you have an anxious an anxious concern About your life you worry about your life You consume it worry about your life Now all people naturally care about your life. Do you care about your life? You care about the world being on your life your safety We all do That's healthy But the problem is is when it turns into worry That's the problem. That's what Jesus is talking about He's prevent he's prohibiting us from this anxious concern about the means of life. I Worry about my life all the time. I worry about my life We're about the safety of my life. I worry about how I'm gonna eat and how I'm gonna live and what I'm gonna drink I'm concerned with it. I have no peace all I do is worry Well, I pay the bills this month When I'd be able to provide for my kids this month This is my job really secure. They're downsizing. Am I going to get the pink slip this time? Is it me? Is it my turn now? We worry Jesus says We have no need to In verse 34 he also says we have no need to worry about our future either Or even the uncertainties of the future Jesus knows He knows that you care about your life. He knows that you want to do good in school He knows you want to provide for your families. He knows you want to raise your kids. Well, he knows you need a job He also knows that you're gonna struggle and worry about those things as well But he doesn't want you to live in the worry There's a difference between struggling worry and living in it. I Hope you know that There's a difference and put it this way. He is commanding us not to live an unrepentant worry Because when you paint repent of it it means you're struggling with it when you don't repent up you just living in it Don't see it as sin Don't live an unrepentant worry about the means of life in your future. Why? Why? Verse 25. He says it's not life itself more important than food In the body more important than clothing. What is your answer to that question? Isn't or is Jesus just being a philosopher here asking the tricky question Is your life more important food your body more important clothing? Yes See all of us need we all need life necessities everybody. I don't care who you are We need life necessities. We need the means of life, but the means of life is not our master and When you are have this anxious self concern about the means of life that have become your master or Your daddy have you want to whatever you want to put in the blank they have become that to you One Christian says what makes a proper concern foolish is worry worry and The illusion to which it gives rise is this that life itself can be secured by the means of life for which there is concern That if I just get these things then I will have more security in life If I just get this education from this school if I get this job living this neighborhood And if I get all these things then I'm gonna have all this security about my life really Can stuff Achievements and success really do that is there is there enough stuff that you can get to give you true peace and true security in life really The means of life will not bring you to true security that you're searching for And you're concerned and you're worried about the means of life it blinds you from seeing that life itself is more important When you are consumed by worry I mean it's sometimes it's like you're You're stuck in creeks and I mean you feel like it's sinking deeper and deeper into your own anxiety and you can't get out The walls of life closing in on you Shortness of breath I Can't do it. There's no way I can get out of this my life is gonna come to an But the question with this question Jesus is asking you to calm down Calm down Alex take a deep breath and calm down you need perspective Perspective You have to look past the current struggle The current situation have to look past the current worry you gotta look at your life as a whole Not just in part That's our problem. We only focus on the part We don't see our life as a whole because if you see your life as a whole you see that the father has always provided for you Even when you think he wasn't gonna come he came But from struggle to struggle we forget it He delivered me deliver you from this struggle in this issue and yet when this issue comes you all back and unbelief again But he's always provided for you has God always provided for you Yes, he has and why do you don't believe it's gonna provide for you in this world in this situation in this issue I want all of you to look at the palm of your hands I want you to notice You have a thing of prints on the palm of your hands In every person no two people have the same thing of prints and every time you turn to surface the imprints of your fingerprint will be on that surface Every time you touch something you got to see your life as that surface and your life the father's fingerprints It's all over it And you can't see it if you don't see it through the lenses of the gospel That's our problem We don't see our life through the lenses of the gospel We see it through the lenses of world And if we see it through that lens you ain't gonna see its fingerprints His fingerprints are all over your marriage your kids your struggles your issues. He's there even if you can't see it It's there As the spirit they give your eyes to see Give your eyes to see because his fingerprints is all over your life, and it's all over creation itself That's why Jesus says in verse 26 look at the birds of the air The father has this final prints even over their lives Look at the birds of the air how they how they feed themselves Jesus again calling to have perspective Pay attention to the fact that these creatures these birds are neither so nor weep Nor do they gather into barns They don't they're not farmers they don't plant their food They don't harvest any food and nor do they store up food and yet they are always or fed why because your heavenly Father feeds them his fingerprint is even on them on the birds Not just the birds even the grass that you're gonna morn the spring How did the grass grow your father grows it? If God closed the grass to the field Feeds the birds of the air. How much more you? Who is created in his image a bird's created an image of God? It's grass created an image of God. There's only one creature in all the creation that's creating his image in its humans How would he not also provide for you? Will you believe that? Do you believe that I'm not talking about here at Sunday school and here right now I'm talking about when you go home and you get into the places that you truly live. Do you believe this? in those places My life is tough Do you believe it? Dude around me 14-2 says this is God speaking of the people of Israel But he also speaks this to his church as well for you are You are a people holy to the Lord your God The Lord has chosen you to be a people of his treasured possession Out of all the people who are on the face of the earth When was the last time you thought of yourself? As God's treasured possession See Christians we beat ourselves up. You know how we beat ourselves up? Well, I'm just I'm just a sorry center and I always screw up and I always mess up. You know the father don't see you that way You know why he doesn't see you that way because you're covering the blood of his son That's my son. He has issues, but that's my son That's my son. That's my daughter My treasured possession That's you Last week we said God has to be our treasure But man don't you love the fact that we are his treasure as well? powerful Powerful Now, I know what you're thinking you're thinking well Alex you say all valuable to the father that he provides for me and takes care of me but But where was he? When I lost my job Where was he when I was hurt by that person who I thought loved? Where was he when I lost my home? Where's he now in the midst of my struggle? Where is he when I'm living paycheck to paycheck and can't keep my bills paid? Where is he now? Where is this care there Alex? How can you say he provides for me? When I still have so much hurt and disappointment in my life Whereas it doesn't make any sense of what you're saying Well if that's you this morning This is my running encouragement to you the father promises us many things many things But a free pass on suffering is not one of them Not one of them, but what are you saying Alex? It means you're gonna hurt You're gonna get betrayed You're gonna get sick Some of your kids ain't gonna turn out right That's life in the falling world Because the world still has seen it See one Christian writer says to be free from worry and to be free from troubles are not the same thing The hardships are part of the journey, but for us That's what we want the father to take away It's the hardship of life Just the struggles of life Which of you by being anxious about your life can add a single hour to it No one can you can't worry a Way the troubles and disappointments of life You can't okay. How long you step the nightstand is selling you cannot worry them away You can That's what Jesus says don't be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow be anxious for itself sufficient for his days of his His own troubles But in the midst of your troubles your hardships are sufferings you got to know the father is even there He's even there in the midst of that His words says in Romans that he works all things to the good of those who love him All things to the good of those who love him and when he does that that becomes a fingerprint in your life When he does that He comforts us in the midst of our hardships in the midst of our struggles But we have such little faith that we don't believe it. I know I do We don't always believe it Cuz the issue is I'm gonna eat a little bit by faith or I'm gonna live by worry This is what Jesus is talking about you can't do both I'm gonna eat a little bit by faith trusted in the father taking him at his word or I'm gonna worry about every single thing that comes in my life What is it gonna be? Last year The American Atheist I think group of society had a billboard down on South Parkway Many of you if you live down that way you probably seen this billboard and on this billboard It had a picture of five small churches down here in the right corner and then at the top it had this phrase It says you know they're all scams What's a scam? It's a dishonest scheme a Fraud a con a hustler That's what a scam is But don't you know? When you live and worry about your life and your future. That's what you say about God's promises He's just a fraud He's a scam artist. He ain't gonna take care of me He ain't gonna provide for me. He he ain't gonna come. He's not gonna see me out of this He's just a hustler. He's a con artist and basically we're practical atheists Basically, that's who we are. That's how we live When you worry about your life, that's what you are That's what your function has not as a believer Not as a son not as a daughter But Verses thirty one or thirty two makes this point Gentiles seek after these things Gentile represents pagans those who not believe in God And when we worry about these things, that's what we function at But if you live by faith, you will believe that your Heavenly Father knows you need the things that you need You have to have faith to believe that rest in that Do you rest in that right now? If you do Jesus says you would do what he says in verse 33 seat first the kingdom of God and the righteous and so God And all these things will be added to you. That's the way of faith Resting trusting depending not just intellectual knowledge of who he is But you're resting and trusting and depending upon Jesus. That's faith I'm talking I'm not talking about a foxhole faith where he's only a guy when you're in trouble Then when the trouble goes, you know, you back to your ways I'm talking about our true resting of true depending and a true trusting in Jesus. That's faith And it's seen and seeking his kingdom and his righteousness first to seek God's kingdom means what it means you live under him as your king He's your king He's your authority Nothing else Nothing else is on that throne no government no philosophy no world other world view. He's your king And to seek his righteousness means you live as a reflection of him as your father You do both you submit to him and you live for him at the same time Steve first his king and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well First Peter says humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand That he may lift you up in new time Cast all your worries on him Because he cares for each and every one of you Will you believe it? theologian Sinclair Ferguson says anxiety can never be cured by getting more of what we already have Many people make that fate a mistake Anxiety can only be cared by the assurance that all our needs will be met by our king Our king for this reason the chief drive in our lives should be to live on the authority of that king and to see his kingdom extended to every possible way Morally socially personally in relief spiritually you want to see him his kingdom expand in all areas of this world That is what he calls us to live for that's living out our faith Let us pray Seek first the king of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well Father God we will struggle to live that out But through your spirit help us to Help us to not live and worry, but live under assurance that we are in good hands Good hands Perfect hands merciful hands gentle hands strong hands and in our life It's secure And pray for those who are in the midst of a struggle and worry or suffering the hardship I pray that you will whisper your gospel to them. Let them know that they will be taken care of That you will see them through that you are that good shipping you're gonna ship them through this issue Help them to rest in that Protecting from the voice of the enemy the voice of their own sin And they'll keep our eyes focused upon our one great king our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Crashing my prayer. Amen Please stand as we close our service [BLANK_AUDIO]