your Bibles and turn with me
to the book of Matthew, chapter 6. Matthew, chapter 6. I'm going to look at verses 25
to 32. This chapter, chapter 6, goes
to 34, but I want to go through verse 32 and then Lord willing,
next Wednesday. We'll look at the last 33-34,
but before we begin, let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, we call upon you
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask this evening,
Lord, would you bless the word, bless it to our comfort, bless
it to the calling out of your people. Lord, forgive us where
we failed you. Thank you for your presence.
These things we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Our Lord is preaching the Sermon
on the Mount. In this particular chapter, chapter
six, he began by warning his hearers against laying up treasures
for yourselves upon the earth. Worthless treasures. Treasures that men think have
heavenly value, but they're carnal treasures that's been produced
by nothing more than the flesh. They're fleeting treasures and
they're going to perish. Man by nature thinks and he places
all of his confidence of serving God in himself. He believes himself
to be willing. He believes that he has a willing ability that he's able to satisfy
God in all points. He believes that he's able to
accomplish God's demand for justice and righteousness. He's got to,
because justice has got to be satisfied, the soul of the sinner
is going to die, and righteousness has got to be established. For
without righteousness, the righteousness of God, no man shall see God. So man thinks by nature that
he's able to do, and that's a treasure to him. That's a treasure on
earth. And that supposed ability that
is the treasure to the carnal man is going to be proven to
be, according to these scriptures, corrupt. It's going to perish. Now it's either going to be shown
to be corrupt in this life by the regenerating grace of God
and the Lord by His Holy Spirit calling a man, calling a woman
out of darkness and showing them, proving to them, giving them
a new heart that what they have thought that they've accomplished
is nothing more than emptiness, vanity. or it's going to be shown
to be corrupt in the day of judgment. Whenever that one stands before
God and tries to plead his own cause, tries to justify himself
before the Lord of glory, and in that day, if God has left
a man or a woman to themselves, they're going to realize the
truth of God's Word, and then he's going to realize that he's
been fooled by his old carnal heart that is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. He's going to realize then that
he was not the author of his eternal destiny in heaven and
that all he's ever done has been displeasing to God. He's going
to realize now that he served the wrong master. Matthew 6.24
says no man can serve Two masters. No man can be a
slave. No man can give himself totally
to two masters. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and this
world. You can't serve God and mammon. You can't serve what this world
sets forth that men trust in. You can't serve them both. You
talk to a regenerate, and I'll tell you what that regenerate
will do. He's going to love God and hate himself. Oh, wretched
man that I am. That's what he's going to do.
You can't serve two masters. It's absolutely, according to
this word, no man can. It's impossible for a man to
believe in himself, to believe in his will, to believe in his
works, to believe in his faithfulness and see himself as the achiever
of his security before God. It's impossible. You can't do
this. To serve yourself and to serve
God. No man can serve himself and
also bow to the Lord Jesus Christ and cast himself upon the mercy
of God for salvation. You can't do it. He'll either
hate, he'll detest. One in love with the other or
else he'll hold fast and disesteem the other. You can't trust God
in this world. Now, for God's people, those
everlastingly loved of God, chosen in Christ, those for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to seek and to save, those
for whom He laid down His life, those that the Spirit of God
shall surely call out of spiritual darkness and unbelief, the Lord
Jesus Christ has answered God's demand for justice. He was made
sin. He bore in His own body the debt,
the guilt of all of God's elect. All of them that would ever be
born in this world, He bore it all. Right now, right up until
the time He comes back, He bore it all. All of them. And he laid
down his life and he satisfied the law's demand for justice. God is a just God. And he will by no means clear
the guilty. And Christ, who knew no sin,
was made sin. And where the law beheld sin,
justice must be satisfied. So he satisfied God's law for
justice and he satisfied God's demand for righteousness. He
obeyed God. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. And that obedience, that righteousness,
has been imputed to everyone that God's called out of darkness
and regenerated them by grace, power, mercy. And now they have,
by the Lord Jesus Christ, their treasure laid up in heaven. They
couldn't do it. Christ had. They have a lively
hope. a living confidence of being
with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that inheritance that Peter
talks about in 1 Peter. It's incorruptible, undefiled,
fadeth not away. It's reserved in heaven for you. Now, this is the foundation of
hope of a believer. God Almighty, having sent His
only begotten Son into this world, to seek and to save, to live
far, to die far, to put away their guilt, to establish their
righteousness, call them out of darkness, give them a new
heart, gives them life eternal, that life, that eternal life
that never fades away, incorruptible, reserved in heaven for you. Now,
the Lord says in verse 25, therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought
for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink,
or yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life
more than meat and the body than raiment? And here's what he said. Don't worry. Take no thought. Don't be anxious. Now that right
there, I'm going to be honest with you. I need this message. I need to hear what the Lord
has to say because I find myself doing the very thing that he's
commanding us don't do. Don't worry. Don't worry. Take no thought. Don't be anxious
for your life. If the Lord Jesus Christ has
given life eternal in Himself, shall He withhold the temporal
things that we need right now? If He's given us life eternal,
shall He withhold those things that are perishing? Take no thought
for what you shall eat, Now, he has given us, the father has
given us the bread of heaven. The heavenly manna. He's given
us his only begotten son. And God's people feed spiritually. This is what we're doing right
now. We're eating. We're eating. We eat. by faith of that which the Father
has provided. He's given us His Son. He's given us the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we feed upon Him who was made flesh, who came
in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. He gave His
body to be broken. We're going to eat, Lord willing,
of the Lord's Supper. This is my body that was broken
for you. He's given us of the bread in
heaven. Now let me ask you this. If He's
given us the bread of heaven, shall He withhold what we have
to eat every day? If He's given us of His only
begotten Son, The Lord said in John 6.57, as the living Father
has sent me, as the mediator. And I live by the Father, not
as God, but as man. He humbled himself, the servant
of Jehovah, God himself. made flesh, humbled himself before
his father. And as the man Christ Jesus,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, I live by the father. So he that eateth
me, that is by flesh, by faith, I'm sorry, even he shall live
by me. He's gonna, you that believe
in me shall live by me, is what he's saying. Now, believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ is to, by faith, spiritually eat of
him. That's what he, he that eateth
my flesh, drinketh my blood, by faith, has life. So, if we have the bread of heaven,
the Lord's not gonna withhold anything else that we have to
have for this life, this temporal life. He's gonna provide. Is there anybody in here? that
has absolutely, could honestly say, I have gone without having
food to eat. Now we might not have the things
we want, but I'm talking about you just have not had anything
to eat. It might have gotten close, but
has the Lord ever forsaken you? I can absolutely remember a time
in my life when it got close. You know, but you know I still
had something to eat. Is the Lord going to forsake?
So I said, take no thought for what you shall eat or what you
shall drink. The Lord Jesus Christ declared,
he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood. The one that has been
given a heart to trust and cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus
Christ for life. has the blood of Christ to drink. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood by faith, by faith, that one dwelleth in me. That's
the proof of electing grace, that a man or woman believes
on Christ, not in himself, But he believes on Christ and I in
Him by His Spirit, that inseparable union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ has shed His own blood, that blood that we drink. We'll
drink a little cup of wine in just a few minutes. That's what
the Lord did. That's what we're going to do. This is my blood. that was shed
for you. This is the symbol of my blood. Now He's given His body. He's given His body, that flesh,
that meat that we by faith eat. His life, His broken body. We
drink of that blood by faith. We believe that when He died,
He died for us. He died for us, His people. Now
let me ask you this. Will He withhold any natural
drink? Is He going to forsake us in
this life as long as He is pleased for us to live? Therefore I say
to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what
you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put
on. Now here's what the Scripture
says concerning a believer. They're robed in the righteousness
of Christ. robed in His obedience, robed
in His holiness. Now let me ask you something.
Is He going to withhold natural clothes? Is He going to withhold
from us that which we need to cover? He said, is not the life
more than meat and the body more than raiment? The Lord doesn't
discourage laboring. A man is exhorted to labor. He doesn't work. He doesn't eat.
He doesn't work. But we're admonished to not be
anxious. Don't worry about what you're
going to eat, about what you're going to drink, about what you're
going to put on. Look at verse 26. He says, Behold
the fowls of the air. They sow not. Neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than
they?" Now here the Lord's going to use a natural example, the creation that declares
His eternal power in Godhead. He's going to teach us something
about the particular love and care given by the Father to his
elect. Now he's going to be speaking,
he's telling us don't worry about what we're going to eat, drink,
wear. He said consider, behold, the
fowls of the air. Now there was something real
particular in that that I saw. He didn't say these birds, I
used to have a parakeet and it was in a protective cage and
I'd give it some bird feed you know, put a little paper down
on the bottom for him, give him some water, stuff like that.
I took care of him. These are the fowls of the air,
these wild birds out here that just out, you know, not kept,
wild birds. Now, the scripture declares that,
you know, behold the fowl of the air, they sow not, neither
do they reap, nor gather to barn. Your heavenly Father feedeth
them. They're not with anxious anxiety, struggling over the
needs of today. The Lord provides them some food,
some berries, some worms, some seeds, whatever. The Lord provided
that. God gave them what they needed. They're not out there planting.
reaping, storing up in barns for a rainy day because they're
afraid that God won't provide. They're not doing it. Yet, your
Heavenly Father feedeth them. Your Father, who is your Father,
not only by creation, but in adopting and electing grace by
covenant mercy. Your Heavenly Father The One
that has chosen you in Me. The One that loved you with an
everlasting love and set His affection on you before time
was. The Scripture declares that it's
His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Send His only begotten
Son for you that you might have life. Now, will He not Take care
of you now. In this world while you're...
He feeds the wild birds. Are you not much better than
they? Don't worry. Don't worry. Like I said, we
all need this. We need to hear the Lord's exhorting
us, take no anxious thought. about what you're going to have. Your needs will be met. Look at verse 27. Which of you,
by taking thought, which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit
unto his needs? Stature, now I know stature often,
we always think of height. But this word right here has
to do with the length of our days, our lives. How long we
live, this is what this is talking about. Our lives are completely
and entirely in the hand of God. And we certainly do those things
that are necessary for the maintenance. We eat and drink, we have to
have clothing, we have to have shelter, we have things that
the Lord provides. But the worrying about adding
one length to our lives, which of us, by worrying about it, I can tell you from experience,
worrying for me, and I'm sure it is with you, is to not believe
God. I don't believe Him. I'm worried
about it. I'm concerned about it. Now,
does the scripture not say that He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will? It does. Almighty God orders
the steps of His people. Now what are His people going
to do? They're going to do exactly as
He directs. They're led by the Spirit of
God. He's going to order everything that is happening, everything
that goes on. The Lord has ordered that. Now
let me ask you this. What is my worrying going to
change? Nothing. It's just going to make
me miserable. I hate it when I do that. I hate
it when I wake up in the middle of the night. And I try to tell
myself, OK, just forget about this. Well, I might as well just
be talking to the wall. It don't work. It just doesn't
work. And it just aggravates me. Which of you, by worrying,
is going to add one second to your life? What, Psalm 39, five,
behold, thou has made my days, David said, as a hand breath.
My age is as nothing before thee. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. The Lord is saying, don't be
anxious about your age. Don't worry. Don't worry. David
here wasn't praying, wanting to know the time of his death,
or the place of his death, or the means of his death, but was
thankful that God had made him ready to go. At any moment. My life is as a hand breath.
Just at any second. If you've ever passed out, Did
you really know it when it happened? I didn't. I passed out before. Never knew it. Never knew, just
not until I was starting to come back around, that's when I realized
evidently I passed out. Never knew it. David said, I'm
just thankful that the Lord has revealed to me my time is as
a hand breath. To everything, Ecclesiastes 3,
1 and 2, There's a season, a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, a time to
die. So the scripture says, Lord teaching,
which of you by worrying about it is gonna add one moment to
your life. It's appointed unto you. Man
wants to die. You know when we're gonna die?
When God says that's it. And our anxiousness and worry,
and he says, Not going to change anything. Not a thing. And then
continuing in his example of the uselessness of being overly
concerned about the provision of our clothing, our needs overall. Look at verses 28 to 30. And why take your thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not. Neither do they
spend, and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothed the grass of the field, which today is to Mars cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Now, I wanted, when the Lord
gave reference to It holds your place right here. Turn to 1 Kings
10. 1 Kings 10. 1 Kings 10, I'll read verses 1-7. This is about when the Queen
of Sheba came to see Solomon. 1 Kings 10, verses 1-7. And when the Queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, She came
to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with
a very great train, with camels, bare spices, very much gold and
precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon,
she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon
told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from
the king which he told her not. When the Queen of Sheba had seen
all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and
the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, the
attendance of his ministers, his butlers, their apparel, his
cupbearers, his assent by which he went up into the house of
the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king,
It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts
and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not the words
till I came, and mine eyes had seen it. And behold, the half
was not told me. Thy wisdom, prosperity, exceedeth
the fame which I heard." Now, I don't want to be moved from
our passage, but I can't help but saying how Are we not reminded
even at this spot of how it shall be for us? Of what the Lord,
now think of what the Lord, she came and talked to Solomon. She had heard of his fame and
she came and he told her, he told her all that And she asked,
he told her what was in his heart. Now let me ask you this. Has
the Lord not revealed to us, has Solomon spoke to the Queen
of Sheba? Has the Lord not spoken to us?
Years and years and years. And we've heard, we've heard.
And we've understood and by faith we believe it. But in that day,
in that day when We behold Him as He is, when we see Him, as
He is. And we know, even as we are known
in that day, how much has He told us now? But oh, when this
body, this body that has the possession of sin, and we're
struggling now, we've got that old man that's fighting us, and
we hear and we believe, Lord, help our unbelief. Shall we not
in that day truly see and say the half that the Lord told us
because of the frailty of our flesh, not of His holding back. He's told us all of God's will
and purpose in these scriptures right here. But thy wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth Everything that I ever heard. That's what
she said to him. He said, why do you take thoughtful,
Raymond? You consider these lilies. Watch
how the lilies grow. That's what he said. Watch how
they're growing. They're growing and they're not
laboring and sowing and struggling and anxious. Night and day, they're
just growing with a beauty that this monarch never had. Solomon in all of his earthly
glory, the Lord said he wasn't arrayed like one of the lilies
out in the open field. If we could just behold, get
under a microscope and behold and look, really look at that
flower and see that intricate, oh the beauty of that, the colors
and the way that that flower is made. It's perfect, it's perfect. God made it like that. And He
causes that flower to blossom and the fragrance of that flower
fills that air with the fragrance of God's power, God's wisdom. Then it dies. It just dies. If God is pleased to clothe a
lily with beauty that exceeds the temporal glory of Solomon. Shall he not take care of his
people that he has everlastingly loved and clothed them, clothed
them in Christ's righteousness, clothed us? I'm thankful for
this sweater. I'm so thankful. Will the Lord
fail to provide that which covers us? Will He not cover this body
which dwells our immortal soul, these bodies that are the temple
of God, even these clothes that are representative of the righteousness
of Christ? Verse 31 and 32, Therefore take
no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles, the unbelievers,
seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth. He knoweth that you
have need of all these things. All of the anxiety that we have
is worrying about getting what we think we need. The Lord said, your heavenly
Father knoweth. He always knoweth. He completely
knoweth that you have need of all these things. He is the all-wise
God who is perfectly acquainted with the needs of his people. In closing, turn to Luke 11. Luke 11, verse 11 through 13. Luke 11, 11. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will you give him a stone? If he ask a fish, Will he for
a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will
he offer him a scorpion? If you then being evil, I looked
up that word evil just a moment ago. I wanted to know, what does that
mean? Here's the meaning. Degenerate
from your original virtue. If you being fallen in Adam,
If you haven't fallen, if you being a sinner, if you being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit, the graces
of God's Spirit to them that ask him? He knows that we have
need. He knows, he knoweth that we
have need. worry. Philippians 419, but my God shall
supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ
Jesus. My prayer for myself and for
you is that in that moment when we do find ourselves being anxious, Is it going to work out? Are
things going to pan out like I hope they would? May the Lord
bring these scriptures back to our hearts. When we find ourselves
at night, and I say this because we all know what I'm talking
about. When you wake up and there's something that is just It's bothering
you and we're worried. May the Lord bring back to our
memories your heavenly father knoweth that you have need. Take no thought. Don't worry. Don't worry. Don't worry. And then may the Lord cause me
to have that assurance and that fresh relaxing in his word. Lord, you told me not to worry. Help me not to. Lord, cause these
scriptures to be made real to me for your glory and for my
good. Amen.