Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Truly, we are one in Christ. There’s no Jew or Gentile. There’s no slave or free. There’s no male or female. We are one in Christ.
I’m thankful for Jim, thankful for his servant heart, for all that he does for me and for this church. Thankful for Ron, his servant’s heart, his love for the Lord, and just his evangelist’s heart for the lost. It challenges me when I see these brothers.
And so that’s why we gather in Jesus’ name. We can be spurred to love one another better as a result.
25 “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. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 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? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 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, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we’re all children of God, whether we know it or not. We gather to hear from you, Father. We want you to address us today and your just, infinite, immense love for all of us. Help us to be set free from all the anxieties that are common to man. May you speak. May we have ears to listen and receive. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.
This sermon on the Mount was spoken to a crowd in Jesus. This is his first sermon, and he addresses people.
If you just look at Matthew 5, who are people who are poor in spirit, people who are mourning, people who are meek or afflicted, people who are hungry and thirsting for righteousness, people who are merciful, people who are pure in heart, people who are peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and those who are reviled because of Jesus.
And these are people just on the margins of life. They are not the movers and shakers.
They’re not people with a lot of resources. These are just people who are just barely scraping by. And Jesus’ heart, and this is the heart of the Father, His heart goes for people like this.
And if you just want to look at even Luke’s version of the same text, it’s not even “blessed are the poor in spirit.” It’s “blessed are the poor.” Jesus went to these people. Jesus went to the poor. Jesus went to the prostitute.
Jesus went to people who are kicked out of their little social circles, people who are not anything of note in society. Jesus went to them because this is God’s heart for the lost.
And in the center of this sermon on the Mount is this section about finances. And I just want to put it in context before we dive in. In Matthew 6:1.
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1, ESV)
Actually, even before I get into the context, just something I ask you to just search your heart just for a moment. What are you stressed out about? What are you stressed out about?
If you could just spend a moment with the Lord and search your heart, what are you stressed out about? And if you would like to share, I’d like to hear some answers. What are you stressed out about? Anybody?
You don’t have to be too specific. It can be general, but what are you stressed out about? It could be your soccer game for John.
It could be something small. It could be I’m late on my mortgage payment, something bigger. But what are you stressed out about? Kids, finances, future? Yes. Hair loss. Hair loss, work? Yes. Health? Yes.
I think we’re all very similar. I think all the answers are going to be about the same. If you are a parent, it is your kids, it is a future, it is finances, all of these things which are common to man.
In Matthew 6, there’s this father in heaven who so loves us, and I think we even sang a song.
He looks at the, his eye is on the sparrow, like in the morning. You look at the birds, you think, how are all these birds surviving? How are they able to find worms and insects? Why aren’t they just dropping dead?
I mean, how can this be that these birds are just alive and thriving and God’s word says God the Father is feeding them? So there is just an awareness of God’s centeredness of my father in heaven, who so, so loves me.
And from that, love is such a deep level of peace and security, and all the stress just kind of melts away.
Or you don’t really believe that you have this kind of father in heaven, and instead, your religion is practiced before men. And so that is the context.
And Jesus warns, he says, don’t practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:2-4, ESV)
And so there is this God centeredness.
Everything you do is before an audience of one. And even the giving is coming out of that awareness of God who loves me. He supplied all my needs. I want to help my brother, sister.
And then there’s a different type of religion that is before men. Even the generous, charitable things you do, you need to announce it. It is not in secret. It is very public. It is before men.
That’s an example of giving in secret, or invisible versus visible. And then also there’s an example of prayer in Matthew 6:5.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:4-8, ESV)
And so there is a prayer that is very public. It’s before men. He’s practicing a righteousness before men. And rarely does that person pray in secret, because that doesn’t matter at all to that person versus a person that everything is before God.
I live before an audience of one. Everything is in secret. On occasion, like Sunday, it has to be public. But this is not, not the first time, hopefully, in a week that I’m praying.
Everything is coming from that secret time with the Lord. That’s an example of prayer, an example of giving. And now we have an example of fasting.
Verse 16.
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18, ESV)
This is also something that can be done very secretly before an invisible God. Nobody has to know. In fact, when you’re in public, they don’t. They can’t even tell. You just look normal.
And then there are those who announce it. Oh, did you know I was fasting three days this past week? This is what the Lord told me. Secretly. You’re trying to get the praise from this person. Oh, I didn’t know you’re that godly. Why you fast that many days? Well, I should. I should respect you more.
There’s that type of religion that is practiced before men. And then there’s the other thing. It’s just intentionally, you’re gonna hide the fact that you’re fasting because it’s not to brag to other people. It is completely in secret unto the Lord.
And then we get into the issue of the heart. The treasure that’s on earth versus a treasure that is in heaven.
Matthew 6:19.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, ESV)
And then the summary statement, verse 24.
24 “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. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24, ESV)
I think all of us who live in America, these are convicting verses. These are convicting verses.
We will either serve God and love him and be devoted to him, and as a result, despise money, or we will be devoted to money and despise God. It’s an issue of the heart.
And with that as a context, let’s look at the text for today.
25 “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. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25, ESV)
Is this your definition of life?
That my heavenly father cares for me, and he will never let me grow hungry. He will never let me die of thirst. I will never be a naked beggar on the streets because I am loved by my heavenly father.
Is that your view about life in terms of finances? Or if we are honest, I think there is a lot of worries and anxieties and stress about money. But it’s far beyond food, clothing, and drink. It’s not just food like just any old food. It’s got to be great food all the time.
Whenever I want it, Doordash, Ubereats, it just comes to my door. It doesn’t matter. I can pay it. There’s that type of a mindset when it comes to food, clothing. It’s got to be designer clothing. It’s got to be brand name.
Is that the attitude with regards to finances? And maybe if we were to go back to what stresses us, is it really food, clothing, and drink, or is it greed that really is a source of the stress?
He goes on to say, Matthew 6:26.
26 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? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Matthew 6:26-27, ESV)
Yeah, I’m into health, and I just have to be reminded. I can’t even add 1 hour to my life according to God’s word. No matter what supplements I take, no matter what treatments I take, when it’s my time, it’s my time. I can’t add even 1 hour.
So even my health belongs to the Lord.
My life belongs to the Lord. The finances all come from the Lord.
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:28-29, ESV)
So Solomon, with all of his wealth, he could wear the finest jewelry and silk and robes and crowns, and everything in his palace. And you just look at the field that is blooming in the springtime, and that just blows away Solomon’s life.
That is what the heavenly Father can do. He is clothing even the lilies in the field, and we are much more valuable than the field. He’s not going to let us be a naked beggar dying of thirst and hunger.
30 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, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30, ESV)
It comes down to faith. It comes down to faith. What kind of view do you have of the heavenly Father?
Is it this view that he loves me? He really loves me? He’s the kind of father who will not let his children starve and die of thirst. He will make sure there’s enough clothing to get through the week. You don’t have to wear the same thing every day with holes in it. Do you understand that? This is who our heavenly Father is. It’s an issue of faith.
I remember when I was graduating from college, I was really stressed because I was taking the hardest course I ever took.
It was an advanced anthropology course by Doctor Tim White. He discovered Lucy. He’s very famous in the evolution anthropology world. And his class was literally the hardest class I took.
I took pre-med courses. I took other courses that were quite hard. This was literally the hardest class I ever took. He would show slides of, like, a bone fragment covered in dirt, and the test would be, what ancient site did it come from? And can you give it the proximal distal orientation of that thing? And I was like, what is this class?
I don’t understand a thing. I literally recorded every lecture. I transcribed it word for word because by the end, only, like, 25% of the class remained.
This was my last semester. I could not drop it. And I took the final, even having prepared as the best that I could, and I still failed. And my parents were flying over. I don’t know if they even know this story. My mom’s gonna hear this story later today. My parents did not know that I failed the class. And I was so stressed.
I had a job lined up, and I was just going through my mind. Am I gonna have to tell my parents that I didn’t actually graduate? I’m gonna have to tell this company I can’t work for you. I’m gonna have to go another semester. I was already a fifth year. Am I gonna be a 6th year student? This is very shameful.
And I remember I knew I was failing the test, and so I turned it on the back and I was just pleading for mercy. I said, please, professor, this is my last class.
I need to graduate. I have a job lined up. Please have mercy. I spent most of the test just writing that letter in the back. The test was blank. It was just all blank. I was so stressed.
And then I went a few days after the graduation ceremony, and I asked the professor to meet him in office hours. He remembered me because of that letter. And I said I had no strategy. I just said, oh, that looks like there should be a little bit more points given. So I’m a little partial credit.
Can you regrade this one and then you. Okay, one point. And then can you regrade that one? Okay, two points. By the end, I pass by three points. Praise God. Praise God.
And I know this passage. I know this passage. And yet when it comes to these moments in life, it’s like, I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. And now that I’m a father, there are moments I don’t believe it because it’s up to me, isn’t it? If I don’t get the job done, if I don’t work, my kids are hungry.
It really is up to me. I really need to work hard. Can I really trust God with my finances, with my kids’ finances? Can I trust him with everything? Is he true to his word that food and drink and clothing are guaranteed?
So really, I don’t have to stress. It’s really tied to our view of God. And just after a week like this week, where I was stressed in moments with children, with company issues, I just have to come back to Father. I have little faith. Father, I have little faith. I’m so sorry.
Can you forgive me? You are this kind of heavenly Father, and I live this week as if the buck stops with me. I gotta work hard. I gotta just grind it out.
Faith is tied to our view of God. Like, we can work hard, we need to work hard, we need to be faithful, we need to do everything we can. But at the end, we release everything to the Lord and there is no stress.
That is somebody with a proper faith and a heavenly father who looks from heaven and says, my children will not starve, will not die of thirst, will not be naked, I will cover it.
Verse 32: For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all.
So if you’re a non-believer, of course you’re stressed every day. Of course every day. You’re chasing after the ability to buy better food, better drink, wine, seltzer water, whatever, and designer clothes.
You’re seeking after these things all the time if you don’t believe. But for those of us who do believe, we have a heavenly father. He knows all of what we need.
And remember, he says, what you need, not what you want. There’s many things I want out of greed. He doesn’t always answer those things. But the things that I need, food, drink, clothing, he says, those things I know you need those. I’m going to give it to you.
The rest, it may come, it may not come. It’s not up to me.
And you can live without any stress. Without any stress.
Philippians 4:11. This is Paul’s attitude toward money.
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13, ESV)
Athletes love quoting that verse about Jesus, strengthening them as they’re shooting a ball through a hoop.
But this is supernatural strength from Jesus to face seasons of lack. And Paul says, I learned the secret. Jesus is right here with me. He’s going to strengthen me, and he’s going to remind me who my heavenly Father is. I don’t have to worry. Even though I don’t have much, I don’t have to worry. You might say it’s easier for Paul as a single to think that way. But the principle still applies to us who are married with children. It’s the same principle.
If Christ is with us, he will strengthen us and remind us who is your heavenly father. Remember who your heavenly father is. He guaranteed food, clothing, and drink. And in any season, in seasons of abundance, you don’t indulge, you don’t go crazy. You don’t raise your standard of life so that you’re always comparing when you’re lacking that to what it used to be. You’re not living that way. But even in abundance, you give thanksgiving to the Lord. Even with lack, you give thanksgiving to the Lord.
It’s not changing the way you relate to your heavenly father. You know he is the one who supplies all of my needs.
15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:15-19, ESV)
Here he’s talking about money, and the needs that are related to food, drink, and clothing are supplied by God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
So in light of these truths, we get to the conclusion. But seek first in verse 33.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33, ESV)
All of us have jobs. All of us have things we need to do to pay the bills. We need to do our part.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33, ESV)
And all the things that are needed for us are guaranteed. He will guarantee it.
If you don’t seek the Lord and you seek money first, then God says, okay, you want to do it yourself, then you can do it. And all the stress that comes with it, it’s your burden.
But if you seek God first, God says, oh, I see. My child trusts in me. I will supply all of his needs. It really comes to what you seek first. It has to be God’s kingdom and his righteousness.
And then here I’ll end with a pro tip in Matthew 6:34.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:34, ESV)
One way to minimize stress in your life is not to think about tomorrow, but to focus only on today. If you focus only on today, then a lot of the stress and anxiety just goes away. You just focus on today. And today in itself, there’s already plenty of trouble. You don’t need to add to that trouble. Tomorrow’s trouble, next year’s trouble. Oh, my bank account in two years will run out, two years down the road trouble.
You don’t have to add all that to today’s plate. No, just today is enough. And today there could be a health crisis, there could be family issues, an emergency. That’s all you can handle.
And if you just limit it, I’m only going to worry about today. And in terms of finances, my heavenly father knows everything that I need that is already covered. So now with that covered, I can face the troubles and the hardship and the difficulty and really be all in and focus on these things with God’s help.
And that is how we live a life without stress.
Okay, let’s pray.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, reminding us of who you are and what you do for all of your children. If you feed the birds of the air, if you clothe the fields and the grass, how much more valuable are all of your children who are gathered in this place? The food is guaranteed. The drink is guaranteed. The clothing is guaranteed. Our Heavenly Father knows what we need even before we say it.
That is how attentive you are our Heavenly Father. You know even the number of hairs on our head. As earthly parents, we don’t even know our children to that detail. But, Lord, you are so detailed in your care for us. You know everything about us.
And so, Lord, we are reminded of who you are. We put our faith in you. Forgive us for having little faith in you. Forgive us for taking burdens that we never were supposed to bear on our own shoulders, to be the supplier and provider for our family and ourselves.
Lord, that is not ultimately true. We do our part, but there is no stress because you’re the one who gives us everything we need.
Lord, we pray that you grow a proper faith, a confident faith, a stress-free faith, an anxiety-free faith in you, a God who loves us, a heavenly Father who is so attentive and detailed in his love for us. We want to commit that we will only focus on today. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not the deadline coming down the road.
But Lord, we want to focus only on today, fully be present for today, and face the troubles that are plenty for today.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us a strategy to minimize stress. Lord, we want to live no longer stressed out, burned out, tired, frustrated. We don’t want to live this way, Lord. We want to live just totally at peace, at rest with you.
We thank you, Jesus, that you make all this possible. You are the one who is the way to the Father. You are the one who introduced us to the Father.
It’s because you died on a cross for our sins. Thank you, Jesus, for allowing your body to be broken and your bloodshed.
We celebrate what you did for us at Calvary and we rejoice in you. We pray, Lord Jesus, you would strengthen us in whatever season we’re in, whether in plenty or in lack.
We pray, Lord, in this time you would strengthen us for the days ahead. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
