Thank you, Jerry. Matthew 6 again. Matthew chapter
6. As I said, the title of this
message is A Cure for Anxious Thoughts. The word of God is written to
God's people. The scripture says, Romans 8,
verse 7, says, the carnal mind, or that is, the natural The natural
man is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God. Now, listen to my opening comments. I don't know why this is, but
I do, too. Forces are at work to keep us
from listening. But the opening comments are
somehow always lost in the shuffle. But I lay the foundation. The
very opening comments are vital. Scripture says the carnal mind,
or the natural man, is not subject to the law of God. The natural
man won't receive the Word of God, is not open to it, is not
submissive to it, not obedient to it, won't hear it, won't come
to hear it. Neither, indeed, can be until
God works a work of regeneration in their heart to receive the
Word of God. All right? So the Word of God
is written to God's people. except for warnings and prophecies
of certain judgment to all unbelievers. The Word of God is written for
the salvation, for the comfort, for the instruction, for the
admonition and correction of God's children. It's a book written
to God's children. The Sermon on the Mount. We've
been through it before. We would do well to go through
it often. Sermon on the Mount, as people
like to call it, is to Christ's disciples. Look at it in chapter
5, verse 1. Look at chapter 5, verse 1. It says here that See, in the
multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, or seated,
his disciples came unto him. His disciples. Look at verse
13 and 14. And he says to these disciples, you are the salt of
the earth. Who is he talking to? Well, he's
sure not talking to an unbeliever. They're not the salt of the earth.
Verse 14, you are the light of the world. Look at chapter 6,
verse 9. Chapter 6, verse 9. It says,
After this manner, therefore, pray ye. Here's how you are to
pray, our Father. Who's he talking to? Believers. This is not for everyone. This
is for God's people. And the words of our text that
we read a moment ago. The words of our text, full of
promises. I love this portion of Scripture. I love this portion of Scripture. How that our Heavenly Father
takes care of His people, and that's what we sung. It's full
of promises, it's full of words of comfort to God's people. This
is for you, John, Jesus. It's for you, a special word
from God, your loving Father. to you, his child. Promises of
salvation, promises of well-being, promises of safekeeping, promises
of providential care all the days of your life, and thereafter. Promises. All right? We ought to pay close attention.
This is good. Verse thirty-three says, But,
and he says several things here.
And then verse thirty-three says, But, and this is a big little
word, and I say this to everyone, and this does apply to everyone
without exception, but this is that which all these promises
are contingent upon. This is the first order of business.
This is the first thing we should concern ourselves with. But,
look at it. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you." Our Lord says to everyone, Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, which is Christ. He's the King, and Christ is
the righteousness of God, which we must have to be with God.
He's not talking about heaven and how to live right. That's
not it at all. He's talking about Christ the
King. Christ plainly said that, didn't
he? He said the Kingdom of God is right here, right in front
of you. Christ. And his righteousness,
the righteousness of God, Romans 10, verse 4 says, Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness. Christ is the believer of Jehovah's
the believer's righteousness. All right, so he's talking about
Christ, the King, and his salvation. And he says to everyone without
exception, seek first the King. Seek him. Seek Christ first. And all these things will be
added to you. Seek first to know him and be
found in him, and everything else will fall in place. He says,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure, and everything
else will be all right. Nothing else matters more. He
says, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Then all
these other things will seem so trivial. So all these promises are to
those who are in Christ by faith. All these promises are to believers,
and he says, but the first order of business is to seek to know
whether or not you're a believer. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and all these things, and his righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you. And if you do that, even as a
believer, these things will become second place to you, and not
a worry at all. All right, these are sure certain
promises of peace, joy, provisions, general well-being to God's people. But we say, and I say first to
everyone in here, young and old, believer and unbeliever, seek
first Christ. Give diligence. to make your
call in a relationship. Find out whether or not you're
in Christ before you seek anything else. All right? All right. Now, let's look at these words
that we read from verses 24 and following. And let me say this
first, that this message is especially geared to the young. And perhaps the unmarried, and
perhaps the unsettled, and I'm glad to see that there are some
young people here tonight. I wish all of them were, but
I'm glad to see, and God knows, and God providentially, sovereignly
brought everyone here that was supposed to be here. But if you
care that your children are saved and learn these things, you might
want to get the tape and give it to them. All right, and I
say this to those, that category I just mentioned, those categories,
the young, the unmarried, the unsettled, and so forth. Settle
the matter of your soul first, and everything else will fall
into place. That's what our Lord is saying there. Settle the matter
of your soul first, and everything else will fall into place. Seek
Christ before you seek a career. What difference does it make
if you're successful if you lose Christ, if you don't have Christ?
Huh? Seek Christ before your career, lest you pursue that which would
take you away from the gospel. See, many young people do. Many
people do, young and old alike. They pursue those things which
would take them away from the gospel. or pursue those things
which are spiritually detrimental to them. Seek Christ before a
career. Christ will become your career.
You'll say, like, Father, I might rent Him. And everything else
will fall in place. A job will just be a means of
paying the electric bill. Like a fellow said in answer
to a question one time, a fellow said, What do you do for a living?
Christ is my life. I'm a plumber to meet expenses. Our living, our life, is not
our jobs. But it will be if you don't seek
Christ first. And if you seek Christ before
a career, you'll be content with much less. Your goals won't quite
be so high in this life. You're not so likely to be disappointed.
nor will your goals be all-consuming." I'm telling you, it's a dog-eat-dog
world. If you want it, you're going
to have to get eating and do some eating. It's never enough. Seek Christ before you seek a
career. Secondly, seek Christ before you seek a mate. He says,
"...seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,
and all These things will be added unto you. Seek Christ before
career. Seek Christ before you seek a
mate. Get the horse before the cart. Christ said, I'll never leave
you. Isn't that the kind of relationship you'd like to have? A lifelong
relationship. That husband or wife that you
be joined to may not stay with you, they probably won't. If
you and they are not believers, they probably won't. That's just
facts, isn't it? There are many in here who it
hadn't worked. They can attest to that fact.
And besides this, listen to me. Everyone, especially young, unmarried,
unsettled You will never find true love outside of Christ. You're never going to find true
love outside of Christ. You're never going to find a
husband or wife who's going to love you sacrificially. Except
one who knows Christ. I'm telling you the truth. Those of you who married before
the Lord saved you and him, and the Lord did save you, you found
out that he and she still got a long way to go to love like
Christ. But nevertheless, it's a whole
lot better than what the world's getting. The Lord is working, and I'm
confident that he'd have begun a good work in that husband.
He'll finish it. He'll turn into a Christ-like
husband eventually. Hang on, ladies, and men, hang
on. I'm telling you, the Word of
God is telling us you will never find true love outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ, outside of someone who loves that Christ
and acts like Him. You'll never find somebody to
love you sacrificially, except one who knows Christ and who
is being created in the image of that Christ. Is that right?
You will never find a husband or wife who will assume their
proper role, except one who knows Jesus Christ and submits to the
Word of God. You'll never find a husband who
will be a real husband to you, a leader, who will be a real
parent to your child, unless God has just great restraining
grace on that unsaved husband. You'll never find a husband who
will assume their proper role as a good husband or a wife who
will assume that role, that submissive role in loving and caring and
help meet and serving role of a wife and a mother to your child
until you find one that knows Christ. You'll never find a husband or
a wife or a father or mother to your child with true wisdom
and true discernment and true maturity in how to raise your
child and how to, with the godly principles and morals and scruples
that you want to instill in your child except one, and that's
Christ. Is that right? I'm telling you,
the things that I'm saying are vital. Young people, unmarried,
please, may God give you hearing ears at this time. You'll never
find a husband or a wife who will forgive and forget, who'll stay with you through
it all except one who knows Christ. The only husband or wife who
will be merciful and gracious and loving to the end is one
who's experienced the mercy and grace and love of Christ. Right? else when you lose your
cool, or they lose their cool, you lose each other. I tell you,
it takes the mercy and grace of God to keep any marriage together,
even believers. And only a husband or wife who
has experienced that mercy and grace of God will be a merciful
and gracious husband or wife. Do you hear me? Don't you dare
make a commitment to anyone who's not committed to the Lord Jesus
Christ, I'm telling you. And don't listen to their smooth
talk. And don't think that you don't
know somebody until you live with them. You don't, do you? You know what? Don't you dare
commit to someone who's not committed to Christ, and don't you dare
commit until you commit to Christ. Or else that one will take you
away from the gospel, never to return again. And this brings
me to verse 24. This is what our Lord is saying
here. In verse 24, no man, no woman can serve two masters.
Either he or she will hate the one and love the other, or else
he or she will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God in that. You cannot. The word serve here
means to be enslaved to. And whatever a man or a woman
desires, mostly, whatever a man or a woman or a young person
covets, whatever their thoughts and pursuits are enslaved to,
that's who they serve. That's what they serve. Whether
it be job, career, whether it be home, husband, wife, family,
whatever. One will be given to, Christ
said, you'll either hate the one and love the other or hold
the one and despise the other. In other words, you'll be given
to, you'll be in love with, taken up with, like young girls. It's
so boy crazy. And young boys. It's so girl
crazy. That's all they can think about. And that doesn't wane much as
they get older, until they find somebody and settle down and
they realize, and then they think to themselves, what did I get,
what was I so excited about? What was I so consumed with this
guy for? Well, he'd look at him. Or she. I'm telling it like it is. One
will be given to and in love with and taken up with and despise
or ignore the other, if Christ is your life. Well, you see,
God is saying you cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot be
wholly taken up with finding you a husband and winning Christ. You can't do both. You can't
do both. And if you find Christ as your
husband, If he becomes your husband, if you win Christ and be found
in him, he'll give you a good husband. Guaranteed. You have his word
on it. Matthew 6.33. Sometimes the Lord graciously
blesses both, doesn't He? Both of you unsaved, and the
Lord saves you both. Boy, what a blessing that is.
There's no promise if you're a believer that If you marry
an unbelieving husband or wife, that God will save that person.
No promise at all. There's nothing but warnings
of danger for you. If Christ is your life and your
love, you can do what you do. As unto the Lord, you can be,
well, that's the only way you're going to be, a good worker, a
good husband, wife, and so forth. If you serve Christ, you will
serve your job well and your family well, your husband and
wife. And let me say this before we go on to the next verse in relation to this husband and wife looking for a mate and
so forth. Many people use religion as a
means to an end. worldly end. Many people use
religion as a means to find a husband or wife, or as a means to find
peace of mind. You know, people feel, they just
feel good when they go to church. And then once these things are
found, once the husband or wife or this peace of mind or this
good feeling or whatever is found, the religion's dropped. And it's happened here, just
very recently. I've used myself as an illustration
before, and maybe I shouldn't have so much. I'm talking about
a young man who was actively pursuing a girl who wasn't interested
in the gospel. And I came to church because
I wanted that girl. Well, I see now that was the
Lord's hand in bringing me to hear the
gospel and thank God in mercy and grace he saved me of the
sound of the gospel. But that's not always the case.
Quite often a guy gets a girl and the guy and the girl are
gone right after that. Gone. Most of the time that's how it
is. Most of the time. Or if the relationship fails,
that guy or that girl who was seeking that guy or that girl,
they're gone. And am I not telling the truth? I've seen it happen
hundreds of times, where I came from, a large congregation. Let me give you an illustration. A young couple approached me
one time, and neither one of them knew Christ or the gospel
or saved. It was obvious. They'd come occasionally,
and they said to me, they were planning to get married, and
they said to me, we'd like to have a Christian marriage. And
I said, with as much compassion as I could, with as much kindness
as I could, yet with as much plainness, I said, you've got
to be a Christian before you have a Christian marriage. I said, the thing to do is to
come worship first and settle this issue between you and Christ,
and then that marriage will be just fine. They got married, and they quit
coming, and they got married, and they quickly got separated,
too. Well, and that's what I'm saying
to everybody. Seek ye first. That's what Christ
is saying. Seek ye first. Don't seek marriage first. Seek
Christ first. Seek Christ, and he'll provide
you a Christlike mate. Oh, yeah, he knows your friend.
He knows if you're able to contain or not, if you're able to bear
it, right? He'll not put you, he'll not
make you an old maid, if it's meant for you to have a husband.
He'll not make you an old codger man that nobody wants anymore,
if it's meant for you to have a husband, right? It's a trial
of your faith, what you're going to seek first, Christ or mammon. All right? Those are words of wisdom to
the wise. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. All right? But to
believers, now, to believers, those who know Christ, those
who know Christ, from here on out, they're words of admonition,
but these are such words of comfort. such word of the verse twenty
five therefore I say unto you. Now he says therefore. And if you're paying attention
you might have trouble. Understanding why he says that
first in verse twenty four and he says therefore. Because he
says. Whatever you're serving or whatever
you're after, whatever you're pursuing, is what you're going
to be totally consumed with and what you're going to be taking
thought for. So as he said, therefore, I say unto you, take no thought.
Verse 25. Take no thought. And he says
this five times, people, in the ten verses. Five times. Take
no thought. Take no thought. Believe it.
Now this is to everyone without exception here. Take no thought
for your life. Take no thought. He's not saying
don't ever think about anything. Don't, you know, ladies don't
think about the next meal or don't, you know. No. Proverbs
31 commends a virtuous woman who provides for her own and
does this and that and the other and commends that one who, whatever
they do, they put their, they do with all their might as unto
the Lord. diligently and faithfully and considerably and prudently
and so forth, with thought, forethought and so forth. He's not saying,
just don't give a flip for nothing, just go on. He's not saying that
enough. What he's saying here is take
no thought is, take no anxious, no consuming, no worried, no
fretful thoughts. As The epistle, the writer of
the epistle said, be careful for nothing. Or that is, don't
be full of care. It's the same word. Don't be full of care. Don't
take anxious or worried thoughts for anything. Listen to me now. Don't take anxious or worried
or be full of care about anything. Anything. He says, for your life, for your
life, take no thought for your life. Now life, that's the greater
of the two, isn't it? God gave you life and breath,
and if you're a believer, he's given
you all which pertaineth unto life and government, eternal
life. Aren't those things greater? Aren't those greater than this
body. He's giving you that when we
take care of the lesser. I think that's trivial. Like
a man spends, and what did he give for your life? You're not
your own, you're bought with a price. You've ransomed your
life. He's given you life. He laid down his life for you. He said, I died that you may
live. What did he pay for your life,
this spiritual life and this physical life? the life of his
son. That would be like a man spending
half a million dollars for a home and Freddy no work. Whatever
something silly you know. Something ridiculous you know.
The grass needs cutting. You know those things. Those are trivial matters concerned
to the whole of the matter. The whole of the matter. He said, and I'll read on, he
says, take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what
you shall drink. What you shall eat or what you
shall drink, or whether or not you're going to have any. And
nobody here, nobody here has to worry about that. Some may,
some could, some of you who live on very meager means and make
a very low wage, and maybe you are concerned about your bodily
sustenance. But that's almost laughable.
There's not a person in here who's gone without one meal all
their life. Ain't we? Except me, I do without
breakfast, because my wife won't fix it. No. But I could have it. I could
have all the ham and eggs I wanted to, and so could you. Everybody
in here. There's nobody in here who—this
is It's almost laughable. There's nobody in here, and it's
shameful is what it is if we worry about this, whether or
not you'll have any. And I don't even think anybody
worries about that, whether you'll have any, but I do think some
worry about what we are going to eat and drink next. You ladies. This is just that, you know,
women, they'll fix a, prepare a meal or whatever, and while
it's being eaten, they're thinking about the next one. That's good.
That's good. My wife will do this to me, and
she's not here, and I can say this. And she'll say, well, you know,
we'll be eating breakfast. She'll say, what do you want for lunch?
I say, man, I'm through with this yet. I don't want anything. And it doesn't sound good at
all to me. eating lunch and worried about dinner. Well, that's good,
you know, a woman should prepare for the next meal and so forth,
but don't be overly taken up with it, he said. What you should
eat or drink, or, I mean, the next thing you should eat or
drink, or what you should eat or drink. Fat, brown, you know, let's get
down to where rubber meets the road. The scripture has given
a key to this thing of a proper diet from the beginning. Hasn't
it? One word. It ain't fat grams. It's temperance. Temperance. Moderation. Take care of the cholesterol
and all that, huh? Oh, sure. Don't be overly taken
up with these things. And I gave illustrations last
Sunday of people who were consumed with these things, and they died
of those very things that they were so careful about. The man
was a vegetarian, a strict vegetarian. He raised wolf cattle, though. Boy, that is hypocrisy. But he
was a strict vegetarian, and only ate, listen, only ate, Brother
Ed, organically grown vegetables. He wouldn't spray any of his
vegetables with any chemicals. He died of stomach cancer. He
was a believer. I have confidence he was a believer. The fact is, God may meet you
at that thing that you're so consumed with and show you, hey,
don't be taken up with that. And I've said it before, God
can sustain us on dog meat, if necessary, or no meat. Elijah went forty days, didn't
he, without it? He went forty days on what a
crow brought him, something. What it was doesn't sound too
good to me. I know, I've eaten much crow. But whatever that raven brought
him, it sustained him for forty days. all of a sudden take care of
a lot of this. I gave you a good diet. You forget it. And you'll lose the pound. And
you'll gain weight spiritually. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. All right,
it says, now don't take thought for what you shall put on. Oh
my. It's fashion trends of the day.
Or personal appearance. Talking about personal appearance
as well. Don't take so much thought about what you should eat or drink,
what you should wear. He says, you're not the life more than
meat and the body more than rain. Huh? Isn't life more than eating
and drinking? Huh? Isn't that, aren't those
things such a ridiculously small part of living? Eating and drinking. Huh? Real living. You know, the commercial on TV
shows two guys sitting around a fire eating some fresh-baked
trout and got them a can of Old Milwaukee, and they say, it doesn't
get no better than this. And I think, man, that's the
best it gets. That's the best life gets. I tell you. I tell you what doesn't
get any better than when you feast on the meat of the gospel.
and get a good cold draught of the water of life. Now, it doesn't
get any better than that. That's living. That's life more
abundant. And you'll know what I'm talking about, and those
who do know, who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, it's
a whole lot better than catfish. Forgiveness of sins is a whole
lot better than trial. It lasts longer, too. Oh, my. That's what he says here. He says, it's not life more than
meat and a body than a raven. Isn't life worth living better than most people live
it? The life of God. Is that what
God created man to do, sit around and drink beer and eat fish? It doesn't get any better than
this. Oh, man. Well, that's those people whose
God is their belly. That's what they say. But life,
the Scriptures talk about life as being in righteousness and
peace and joy and the Holy Ghost. All of that pertains to Christ.
And I'll add this, and I'll go ahead and say it. We've got young
people, and they know the meaning of this word, sex. Is the God
of our generation now, that which everybody is totally consumed
with, isn't life worth more than about one to three minutes physical
gratification. And most marriages are, that's
the basis of them to start with. Can't wait to, you know, ah boy,
when you finally get married, you'll find out that's, that's
just not what marriage is all about. That quickly, you quickly
find out marriage has got to be a whole lot more than that. Isn't there more to life than
appearances, than meets the eye, huh? Is there not more to someone
than their appearance? Is not beauty skin deep? That's
the old saying, beauty skin deep. Pretty girls are a dime a dozen,
guys. Kevin, sorry, Kevin. John, there, John's unmarried.
Beautiful women are a dime a dozen. Be like that old song. If you
remember that old song, you're going to be happy the rest of
your life. Marry an ugly one. Nobody will steal her. She won't
run off with somebody. And she'll probably be a good
cook to make up for her loss. You like that song. You remember
it. You're old enough. No, you won't be happy the rest
of your life. Marry someone who looks like Christ, not who, you
know, Revlon or Mary Kay will make—he can make anybody kind
of pretty. We don't have to worry so much
over these things. We shouldn't. Food and clothing. He tells us not to be overly
worried with these things, any provision of this life, and our
personal appearance, and so forth. Look at verse 26. He says, "...the
fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
in the barns. Your heavenly Father feedeth
them." Are you not much better than they? Huh? Aren't you? Oh, yeah. Beloved, now we're
the sons of God. Worth more? He gave His Son for
you. You're worth a whole lot more
than the fowls of the air. He said, well, they don't reap.
They don't gather in the barns, yet your Heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than they? And He's not condemning
building a barn and putting things in it. Not at all. He's condemning
anxious thought over it. That fellow that He condemned
over there, it said, the fellow said, Well, I've got all these
goods, and now take your ease, soul." He's condemning soul ease. He
said, you have all you need, now take it easy. Eat, drink,
and be merry, is what the crap man said. And that's what the
Lord said, thou fool. And they say, even if you didn't
build a barn, the Lord would provide for you. The birds do. Why don't I take him at his word?
He always feeds a little bird. A little bird? Hey, bird. Tell him, bird. You never missed a meal, and
you didn't eat any chicken feet, either. You're eating a whole
chicken. He always feeds little birds.
Are you not worth more More than they, verse 27, he said, Which
of you, by taking thought, can add but one cubit, the least
thing, under his stature, can change his whatever, his circumstance,
the least thing? And I told you about myself growing
up. I was always short, and I still
am. But it used to bother me a whole
lot more than now, especially when I was playing sports, played
basketball, you know. So I'd do everything. You know,
I'd put a bar over my door and hang from it every morning. You
know, stretch in the bed like he told me to. It didn't work. It did not work. If you can't
do the least of these things, grow one hair on your head. Try
it. Try it. If you can't do that,
oh, my. Verse 28, he says, I want to
take your thought for rain. I take you for rain. Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither
do they spin. Yet I say of you, even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Huh? Which of you, by taking thought
and adding one cubit under your stature, change your appearance
or change anything about yourself? Really? Someone said, I'm too
ugly, I'm too short, I'm too fat, I'm too this, I'm too that. If your personal appearance is
of primary importance to you, and there's not much to you, there just ain't much to you.
And if your appearance is of paramount importance to others,
there ain't much to them either. You don't want their relationship. He was married, he was robust
and healthy in the armed forces. Intelligent, sharp, had a good
job making a lot of money in the armed forces. Real intelligent
fellow. Tall, six foot something or other,
lean, nice looking man. He was stricken with multiple
sclerosis. And it made him a wheelchair bound. But his wife left him. Took their daughter, his daughter,
and left. Well, she wasn't a wife to him,
was she? Huh? If that's what determines a relationship,
my, my. Well, so don't be, you know. He says, don't be overly taken
up with these things. I take your thoughts. for what
you eat or drink, or your daily sustenance, or your father takes
care of you like he does the birds of the field. Why take
your thought for Raymond, how you look, and that you're going
to wear the lilies of the field? Man, they're a lot prettier than
any woman in here. Yes, they are. Those lilies out
in the field, those flowers, oh my, gorgeous, just absolutely
gorgeous, Well, I take your thought. Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil. Solomon
in all his glory wasn't as beautiful as one of these. Verse 30, read
on. And wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today he is, and tomorrow is
cast in the oven, and those flowers and beautiful
things will be destroyed some day, and so will beautiful people. Young girls that are so—want
to look so pretty Tell them, older women, tell them how quick
you grow old and those wrinkles start to appear. Tell them how
futile and vain it is to worry about that. There's more to life
than that. Oh my, if God so clothed the
grass of the field which today is, and the morrow is cast in
the oven, shall he not much more clothe ye, O ye of little faith? And boy, that could, you could
allude to the robe of Christ's righteousness there, couldn't
you? Huh? You worried about being covered, your sins being covered?
Oh my. They're covered. They're covered.
O ye of little faith. Believe Christ. So, therefore,
Verse 31, take no thought, don't be overly concerned with, what
are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? What
am I going to wear? Oh, I look terrible. Verse 32, after all
these things do the Gentiles seek? That's what the world,
this world is so pitiful. Turn your TV on, it's so pitiful. And it's so shallow and so empty
and so ridiculous and so fickle and so, just, it's so pitiful,
isn't it? the pursuits and the concerns
of this world, vanity of vanity. Don't you see vanity in all this
stuff? And all these people, movie stars
that people make over, every one of them has been married.
They don't—they're as dizzy as the top, aren't they? The rich and the famous, lifestyles
of the rich and famous. Oh, better is little with a fear
of the Lord and great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner with herbs
and a stalled ox and trouble therewith. Better is an ugly woman who loves
the Lord than—who's one of them? Who's some actress? One of these
pretty actresses who won't keep him thirty days. are one of these
beautiful women walking down the street or. Of a man. Of my life more than meets the
eye and. After all these things with the
world that's what this ridiculous foolish world is seeking after
your Heavenly Father knows you have need of all these things.
But seek ye first. Don't be taken up with these
things. Take no anxious thought. Don't be concerned with these
things like unbelieving, empty, foolish, vain worldlings. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. That's the only thing that's
going to last anyway. And all these things will be added to
you. He'll give you a good husband. He'll give you a good wife if
you're meant to have one. He'll give you a good job. It'll
meet the bills. He'll give you a nice home. Might
not be a castle, but it'll be a good one. He'll give you a good car. It'll
be a new one. It'll get you where you want it. All he's saying,
don't take any thought for it. Don't be full of anxious care.
And for the future, I'll say this to those who worry about
the future. Look at this. He says in verse
thirty-four, take therefore no thought for the morrow. Someone
said there are three troubles that people bear. People bear
three sorts of trouble. The troubles they used to have.
I don't know why somebody would want to bear what's gone. Oh, but you don't know what I went
through. You threw it? Yeah, but what's, you know. Why are you crying? It's over?
Yeah, it's over, but don't. It's gone. The troubles they
went through, the troubles they are having, and the troubles
they're going to have. People like to bear those. Three sorts of troubles. What
you used to have, what you're having, and what you expect to
have. Man, oh man. And Christ says, Take no thought
for tomorrow. The morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself. Sufficient of the day is evil
thereof. There couldn't be enough trouble. Isn't there enough trouble
right now? And to worry about tomorrow? Besides, you can't—there's no
promise of a tomorrow. There's no promise there will
be tomorrow. Oh, but I've got to get me a husband. You might
not live through the night. You've got to know Christ as
your husband. Oh, I need a new job. You might
not live through the night. The Lord's going to take care
of your own—His own. Isn't it? This is exactly what
he's saying. Take no thought. Don't be filled
fully. Don't lose sleep. Listen, Violet, He gives His
beloved sleep. How? By resting in His Word,
His promises. Don't worry about tomorrow. When
you get up, you'll be worried then. What am I worried about
today or about tomorrow? You'll probably be worried then.
Don't worry about it now. What we ought to be worried about
is that we're not listening to what I'm saying right now, what the
Lord's saying right now. That's what we ought to be worried
about right now, that the Word's not taking root. And sufficient,
he says, under the day is the evil thereof, and I'll tell you
what else is sufficient for tomorrow. Go ahead, Nancy, you can say
it louder. Grace is sufficient. Huh? Did he get you? Was it a tough
day? It was a tough day, wasn't it? Sherry working down there,
automotive fastener. I wouldn't want to do it. I wouldn't. John Booker, I just wouldn't. I admire you all. Go get these
plants and work hard and so forth. Tough day, wasn't it? Did you
get through it? You didn't die, did you? And
there are people who worked 40 and 50 and 60 years, 50 and more. Long time. His grace is sufficient
to get you through it. Tomorrow, enjoy it right now.
Enjoy His mercy and His grace and His love. Rest on the cross.
Go home. Go to sleep tonight. All right? You worried about
anything? Good. Good. Go home. Go to bed. Wake up. And you'll start worrying. Remember these words, okay? Remember
these words. Remember these words. Your father
who cares for you and you're so much worth so much more than
birds. And the birds eat. You know,
we feed, we've got birds on our back porch. A bird feeder. And I like to feed the birds
and watch them. And they just come in by the
flock. Birds are insatiable. It's amazing how much a little
sparrow can eat. He'll sit there and eat, and
eat, and eat, and eat. And you know the days when I'm
gone, or when I forget to feed the feeder? Who's feeding them then? Huh? They don't need me. They're going
to eat. They're going to eat. And so
will you. And you'll be taken care of.
Everything will be all right. You'll get what you need. Not necessarily everything you
want, but you'll get what you need. And that's what we need
to be seeking after. That's what it means in the Lord's
will and the Lord's name and asking anything according to
his will, according to his word. That's to ask for those things
needful. And there's nothing wrong with asking for a good
husband or good wife, a good job, as long as it's for the
glory of God and for your spiritual good. And, Lord, give me a husband
who loves Christ and will take me away from the gospel, who will enable me and him to
raise our children under the gospel. Lord, give me a wife
like that. Lord, give me a good job that won't keep me from hearing
the gospel. But don't be full of anxious
thought, our Lord said, of promises—blessed, blessed promises—to his people. Comfort ye one another with these
words." All right. Stan. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for these blessed words. Thou who came and lived as a
man, who was touched with the fever
of our infirmities, tempted, in all points, like as we are,
yet without sin. Thou who said, Foxes have holes,
birds have nests, the Son of Man doesn't have a place to lay
his head. These aren't the words of a comfortable
preacher. These are the words of the Son
of God who came and had nothing, as far as this world goes, yet
said, you can depend on your Heavenly
Father to provide for you, even if you provide no script for
your journey, no food, no apparel, shoes. If God provides one pair, they'll
last forty years. We'll waste so much more than
a sparrow. If Christ died for us, let us
first seek him, these young people, these people We're so troubled
about many things, old people, believers and unbelievers alike.
Lord, let us all seek Christ first, and everything else will
fade into insignificance, and everything will fall right into
place. If we seek him first in his righteousness, everything
will be just fine. Whatever we get, we'll say with
that old wit, all this, and Christ, too. It's all I need. food and
raiment, all I need. Lord, comfort us with these words.
Take them and instill them in us. Let nothing take them away
from us. Don't let the evil one destroy
this peace that you give unto us, this joy that you give. Let no man take it from us. Let
no worry or trouble take it from us. Let us rest in our loving
Heavenly Father in his kind providence in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for
us all, he will indeed freely give us all things. In Christ's name we pray and
let together. Amen.