Matthew 6, and I'll begin in
verse 24. No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
in mammon. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what you shall drink, or what you
shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body
what you shall put on, Is not the life more than meat, and
the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air,
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather in the
barns, yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much
better than they? Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not,
neither do they spin. 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, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought,
saying, What shall we drink? What shall we eat? Or what shall
we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all
these things do the Gentiles seek. And the Gentiles there
does not mean non-Jews. It means unbelievers. For after all these things do
unbelievers seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof." Let's read in verses 24 through 34, Matthew
chapter 6. Now for a few minutes this morning,
I have you note with me In these verses we just read six times
the mention of taking thought, meaning to be overwhelmed with
concern or anxiety. I just want to read again those
six places and I'll insert the words, be not anxious. Verse 25, Therefore I say unto
you, take no thought or be not anxious for your life. Verse 27, which of you by being
anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? Verse 28, and why
be ye anxious for a remnant? Verse 31, therefore, be not anxious,
saying, what should we eat or what should we drink? Verse 34,
be not anxious for the Mara. And again, verse 34, for the
Mara shall take thought or be anxious, anxious enough for itself. So clearly the thought of this
passage is anxiety. Anxiety. And first I would begin
with the cause of it. And the cause of it is this. It's given in verse 24. Indecision. That of a divided affection.
A claim to be given to God and yet at the same time given to
the world and given to the self-life. It's a very strong verse concerning
total commitment. And the verse ends by saying,
or in this first line it says, no
man can Meaning that it is not possible
to serve two masters. Now, we may serve many people
in many ways, but we can only serve one master. If the Lord be not your master,
then someone else He is. And so, this is very clear. Many profess religion today and
I think this is probably the greatest greatest error and the
thing that's wrong in the religious world today is that so many profess
religion but not to the degree of denying self. I want a little religion but
I still want to hold on to what I want. I still want to be my
own person. I still want to do what I want
to do. Well, Jesus clearly said, if any man will come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. And he didn't mean by denying
oneself. He didn't mean denying oneself
of any and all earthly pleasure, not at all. But deny self. as my own God, to do what I will choose to do.
That's all Adam did in the beginning. God said, don't do this, and
he did. So that's the problem. And so
the anxiety he warns against here, first, it's a charge against
the love and care and concern of our Heavenly Father. It's
charging Him with being a deserter to His children. We can't trust
Him. We have to do it ourselves. We
charge Him with being an unfit father. And then second, it is to question
His ability to do all that a faithful father should do. I don't know of any man, if he'd
be honest, that would say, I have been everything I ought to be
as a father. I don't know any man that full
of pride. I guess there are some. But to charge our Heavenly Father
with that? Oh, no. Oh, no. And then third, this
contends that I can make it on my own. Even if God is slack in his care
for me, I can do this. And then fourthly, it leads to
a further distrust. In verse 30, he calls it little
faith. You believe God, but not very
much. So you see how awful this thing
is of straddling the fence, of not casting your lot with
God or against Him? I don't believe it's meant in
this great country of ours that we have thousands of churches
competing to be megachurches. We do everything we can to please
people. And it has left, it has left
the religious world nothing but a joke in the eyes of the secular
world. Oh, how much better, how much
better in a nation like Israel with some of them carried off
to Babylon. How much better to have one man, Daniel, that said, give me the lions'
den, because I'm going to pray. And the three Hebrew boys that
said, do what you have to do. Throw us in that furnace. We
are not bowing to that idol. See, that had a greater effect than all the megachurches will
ever have. Being true to our God. And that's
the need in this hour. It's the need in my life and
yours. No man can serve two masters. Mr. Spurgeon wrote, Oh, to be
fully decided. That we must pursue one thing
only. We would hate evil and love God. We would despise falsehood and
hold to truth. We cannot do both. We cannot
serve God and mammon. We've had multitudes of people
come through these doors. and worship with us for a time. And it's not that I've done everything
right, I know that. I've made so many mistakes. But
there would come a point then, they'd say, no, we're just not
ready to go that far, you know. But I appreciate you that are
so faithful and given to honoring the Lord in your life. Jesus said it's impossible to
serve two masters. Why? They give different instructions. Some of you have had occasion
to be on a job, and you'd have the big boss to tell you to do
one thing, and your immediate boss to tell you, no, don't do
that, do this other. Well, you're caught. Two masters,
it don't work. And of course, they twist it,
turn it around, where you're the one to blame for it all. And so it is in our lives, so
it is with our lives concerning God and honoring Him, no man
can serve two masters. To obey one is to disobey the
other. To obey one is to love that one
and hate the other. In Luke chapter 10, you remember what the Lord charged
Martha with He charged her with sinful anxiety. The Lord was a guest in their
home. And oh, she was so shook up and anxious about preparing
dinner. And she even went to the Lord
and said, she ain't helping me. Talking about her sister Mary.
And the Lord said to her, Martha, Martha, Thou art troubled about
many things. Your anxiety has overtaken you. You're trying to fix something
that don't really need fixing. You can just let go, stop your
worrying, sit at my feet like your sister Mary, hear my words,
And he went on to say that that's the one thing that's needful. And you might have said to her,
you can charge her, but I won't. She's chosen that good part. You can fix supper together when
I'm through teaching, but for now, what I have to say is more
important and more profitable than eaten. That's really plain as it gets.
No man can serve two masters. Now in verse 25, therefore, and that word therefore
means on this basis, because of that, therefore take no thought
or be not anxious for your life. Cast your lot with God. Live
or die. Sink or swim. Doesn't matter. Daniel did it
and lived. Naboth did it and died. Both
were winners. The Apostle Paul did it and lived.
John the Baptist did it and died. Both were winners. Live or die is not the issue.
Our life is hid in Christ. Again, Mr. Spurgeon wrote this,
let me read you this, on the bondage of anxiety. He said,
thought we may take, but anxious care we must not take. Our most pressing bodily wants
are not to engross our minds. Our life is more important than
the food we eat or the clothes we wear. God who gives us life
will give us bread and raiment. And like one fellow said, I may
not put on as fine of britches as somebody else, but I put them
on the same way he puts his on. We should much more care how
we live than how we eat. Uh-oh. The spiritual should go
before the bodily, the eternal before the temporal. What we
wear is of very small importance compared with what we are. Therefore,
let us give our chief care to that which is chief, yea, our
soul thought, to the one all-absorbing object of all true life. the
glory of God. So that's the bondage of anxiety. It's a killer. And secondly, the corrupting
effects of anxiety. We mentioned a moment ago, the
end of verse 30, O ye of little faith. The fear that God won't
come through. The satanic thought that He does
it for others, but He won't do it for me. Little faith, yes, but overwhelmed
with unbelief. Like the fellow in the Gospel
said, Lord, I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief. Don't discount the little faith.
Any faith at all, real faith, is the gift of God. We don't
create it. What most people call faith nowadays
is just mustered up human confidence. Picking yourself up by your own
bootstraps. The problem is the devil can
knock that out of you. about as fast as you can muster
it up. But true God-given faith never
dies. It's a living thing. Hebrews
11, now faith is, is. It's part of everlasting life. Not that we don't do everything
in our power to kill it, Sad to say we do, but it won't die. If God put it in you, it's there.
It's God-given. It's the very life of God Himself
in us, and it can't die. It can't die. However we nourish it, we nourish
it with spiritual food, or we starve it. with fleshly efforts and attitudes of self-sufficiency. Somebody said, feed your faith
and your doubts will starve to death. The sad part is we feed
our doubts about as much as we do our faith. Oh, ye of little
faith, what crushing words from the lips of the Son of God to
every one of us. After all He's done for us, He's
never lied to us. He's never been anything less
than He claimed to be. He's told us so much blessed
truth and we have trouble believing
Him. What a burden true believers
carry. What unworthy children we are
of such a worthy Father. He don't deserve young'uns like
us. But we're the young'uns He chose
and made us His young'uns. What a burden that we don't burn
all of the bridges of our self-life. Follow Christ wholeheartedly. Thirdly, in this passage, the
cure for anxiety. It's the truth of the things
he says here in this passage, which is simply embracing his
words and his promises. It's replacing all the foolish
pursuits to solve our own problems and live independently of God. He said, you're beating your
head against the wall to do that. What does he promise? First, to sustain life itself. Verse
25. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought, be not anxious for your life. I gave it to you. What you eat, what you drink,
nor yet for your body what you should put on is not the life
more than meat and the body than raiment. Your life is about more
than what you eat and drink and wear. No matter what happens in this
world, God has claimed you forever. You never could be good enough
to earn his favor and you'll never be bad enough to lose it
if he's called you by his grace. How blessed. And then again,
it's not about what you have. It's not about how you feel.
It's not about how you're treated. It's not just about friends and pleasant
circumstances and happiness. Luke 12.15 says this, that a
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things he possesseth. Not many people believe that.
But Christ said that's not life. Life is looking to our Heavenly
Father who gave it and sustains it. God's discipline in our lives
is a work of His love, not the lack of it. He disciplines His children.
The second thing, consider our value to our Heavenly Father. In this world, you're just a
number, but you're more precious to God.
than all the rest of His creation. Look what He said in verse 26. Behold the fowls of the air. Now this is not talking about
pet birds, gentle birds that's kept up and fed daily. No, no. He said the fowls of
the air, the wild ones. Nobody's taking care of them. For they sow not, neither do
they reap. They don't raise them a garden.
They'll eat yours, but they don't raise a garden. Nor gather in the barns. Birds
don't have a storehouse. Yet your Heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they? Do you have trouble believing
that? I think we all do sometimes.
Only a fool would deny it. Well, then, our Father's control of all things. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. I quote that often, and I see
people look cock-eyed. I want to tell you, it's in there
a lot more places than one, Ephesians 1-11. In other words, He's got this. We don't. And you're wasting your time
and energy fretting over what you can't fix. But to believe that He can and
will in his time and way. Because he goes on to say in
verse 27, you can't even make yourself
grow an inch, that is up. I bet he said stature, because
you can do the other. Which of you by taking thought,
by being anxious, by being all twerp about it, can add one cubit
unto his stature? And some say that implies longevity
of life. By being anxious, how are you
going to make yourself live one hour beyond God's appointed time? If you live here, you're not. You're not. And then the next
thing, verse 28, consider the lilies. And again, it's not those in
somebody's flower garden or those in the flower shop. Oh no, it's
the lilies of the field. Those out there that grow wild
and no human is taking care of them. Consider the lilies of
the field. They toil not. That is, they
don't have a job. They don't work. Neither do they
spin. They don't have a spinning wheel
to make their own cloth and clothing for themselves. And yet, verse
29, yet I say unto you, this is the Lord Jesus, this is what
we had in chapter 5, this is some more of those, yet I say
unto you, that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Don't you reckon King
Solomon in all of his wealth and royalty and nobility, don't
you reckon he had the finest clothing there was to be had? Sure he did. But our Lord said
that Solomon was nothing compared to how the Lord clothes the lilies
of the field. You say, I just don't see that
greatness. Well, that's your problem. I don't see it most
of the time either. We drive along like we might
as well be blind as well as ignorant. We don't see things. Well, so he's saying God could do more
with you and for you than you can do for yourself. Verse 30, wherefore, if God so
clothed the grass of the field, he makes it green, makes it beautiful,
grow, and need mowing, which today is, and tomorrow
is cast into the oven. He's in charge of its growth,
of its health, and of its dying. He's in charge of it all. Therefore, be not anxious. Take no thought, saying, what
we're going to eat? What we're going to drink? What
we're going to wear? Uh-oh. Well, I don't know what in the
world I'm going to wear. You'd have to have a crowbar to get
one more hanger in that closet of yours. But I don't have a thing to wear. For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. And again, this is not Gentiles
as in non-Jews. It's Gentiles as in unbelievers,
such as do not have a Heavenly Father. like we do. For your Heavenly Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. It's impossible for you
to inform Him of anything. Remind Him, yes. Ask Him, yes. But inform Him, no. And in that lesson on prayer
earlier in this chapter, he said he knows what things you have
need of before you ask. And he does. But he didn't say
not to ask. He said to ask. It is not the children's place
to provide for themselves. It's the Father's place. I've never seen a little young
man, especially in this country, worried about what they're going
to have to eat. That was going to be Mom and
Daddy's job. I'll just tell them when I'm hungry, and they'll
take it from there. It's our Father's place. And He's faithful. He's faithful. He is not ignorant of our needs,
neither is He indifferent to our needs. Not at all. And this morning,
some here are anxious over your physical condition. Most of us are, to some degree. And have the question, how much
longer will I be able to go? Some are anxious over children. You say, I did my best. And then
you feel convicted and say, I didn't really do my best, but I tried.
I cannot change the heart of that child. And then some are anxious over
finances. I don't see how I can possibly
make ends meet anxiety. And then some get anxious overwhelmed
in times of discouragement, defeat. And I would not lie to you about
this. I was having such a down spell. Dr. Spurgeon used to call it
a sinking spell, a fit of depression. I was feeling down one day and
thought like you're spinning your wheels. And I'm not saying that to have
you tell me you're not spinning your wheels. I don't need that.
But the point is, I was feeling that way. And I got a feedback from one
of my messages online from a man in Florida. I wouldn't know him
if I saw him. But he said the kindest things,
and the most encouraging things. And the Lord hears that for me.
And He does the same for you, and you, and you, and you, every
single day. We're just in such a coma, spiritually. We don't get it. We don't get
it. And then of course, There's much
anxiety in times of sorrow, sickness, bereavement. But the Lord's got it. And then
the last one, verse 33. But it's not quite the last one,
but our time's gone. It's both instruction and promise.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Make your pursuit, not the
sustaining and strengthening of your own kingdom. We all spend
enough time on that. But God's kingdom. And that's
what it is to live for His glory, not our own glory. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God. and His righteousness. The Pharisees,
our Lord talked about them a lot, they lived and struggled to perform
and they took great pride in their own so-called righteousness,
self-righteousness. And the instruction here is don't
do that. Seek His righteousness. Isaiah
said, yours is as filthy rags. Seek Christ righteous. And Paul
said, that's what I want. Here's an old man, Apostle Paul
at Philippi. I've been preaching many years.
Accomplished a whole lot. He got a lot to brag about if
he wanted to. But you know what he said he wanted in the end?
He said that I might be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness. but the righteousness which is
of God by faith. To believe that God is pleased
with me and His Son is the most wonderful thing. Now here's the
promise, the rest of verse 33. And all these things shall be
added unto you. What things? What he's been talking
about. Food, drink, clothing, all provision,
all protection, and greatest of all, position in Christ. What a wonderful, blessed, faithful,
gracious Heavenly Father. And the last thing, verse 34,
don't worry, don't be anxious for the morrow. Take therefore
no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
One writer translated this verse, Therefore, do not be anxious
for tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day
has enough trouble of its own. That's a fact. You can't even
carry your load today, let alone try to carry tomorrow's along
with it. So these are just the things the Lord put in my heart
to speak to you about this morning. Again, in this passage, six times,
take no thought. Be not anxious. Now that don't
mean, that does not mean, I got to throw this in, that does not
mean be lazy and sit back and lay back like a deadbeat. But to use the means God gives
you, honor Him in it and with it, Be diligent, be faithful,
and God will see to it that you don't starve to death. That's
the bottom line.