and little faith. How many people here worry? How many people here have little
faith? Well, that's who we'll be considering. When someone is being unreasonable,
and irrational, it's very difficult to deal with them, isn't it?
If you give them reasons as to why they should not think this
way or why they should not behave this way, it really doesn't matter,
does it? Not if someone's unreasonable
or irrational. They'll go on in their contradictory,
unwarranted, and unlawful ways of thinking and behavior. Now, we've all dealt with people
like that, haven't we? And we've all been like that,
haven't we? Did you know that there's nothing
more unreasonable than worry and little faith? Nothing more
unreasonable than worry and little faith. Now I pray the Lord will
deal with me and you regarding these two ugly siblings, worry
and little faith. Actually the little faith is
begotten of the worry and the worry is begotten of little faith. Now let's begin in verse 22 of
Luke chapter 12. And he said unto his disciples, therefore, I say unto you, take
no thought for your life. Don't be anxious for your life. What you shall eat, neither for
the body what you shall put on. The word therefore tells us that
what he's getting ready to say was predicated on what was previously
said in this passage we considered a couple of weeks ago. Let's
begin reading in verse 16. And he spake a parable unto them,
saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.
And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because
I had no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, this
will I do. I'll pull down my barns and build
greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And
I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. Now, if I had, let's just say
$10 million in the bank, I'd feel pretty good. I'd feel pretty
good. I'd feel like, well, whatever
comes my way, we can handle financially. I'm not going to spend that much
money. I'm going to keep it in the bank, live off the interest.
I can have a good living. I'm going to feel pretty good
if I got that much money in the bank. This fella had a lot of money
in the bank. And he said, soul, take that ease. Eat, drink, and
be merry. You've got much goods laid up
for many years. Verse 20, but God said unto him,
thou fool. This night thy soul shall be
required of thee. Then who shall those things be
which thou has provided? So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself and is not rich toward God. Now who is this individual
who is rich toward God? After all, God's got a lot of
money. I hope I say that reverently. God has infinite resources. He says, the cattle on a thousand
hills is mine. If I was hungry, I wouldn't tell
you about it. There's nothing that you can do or give to add
to his coffers. He's rich, infinitely rich. So who is this person that is
rich toward God? Turn to Luke 21. And he looked up and saw the rich
men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also
a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites, an insignificant
sum that couldn't help anybody. And he said of a truth I say
unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they For
all these have of their abundance cast in under the offerings of
God, but she of her punery, her poverty, hath cast in all the
living that she had. Let me tell you two things about
this woman's gift. Once this woman gave this gift,
you know what she had? Nothing. And she became one who was completely
dependent on what the Lord gave her for all things. She had nothing. She had nothing to give now.
She had nothing to depend on. But she was completely dependent,
100% dependent upon what the Lord would freely give to her. Now that woman became rich toward
God. She is one of those that James
described as the poor of this world who are rich in faith. She became completely dependent
on what the Lord gave to her. Would that be me? Am I someone
who has nothing and I'm completely dependent upon what the Lord
freely gives to me? Now that person is rich toward
God. Now with that in mind, the Lord
says in verse 22 of our text, And he said unto his disciples,
therefore, there's those who treasure up things for themselves
and those who are rich toward God. Therefore, I say unto you,
take no thought. Don't exercise any anxiety or
worry for your life. Be like this poor widow. She
was just dependent upon the Lord for everything. That simple. Don't worry about your life,
what you shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put
on. Food and clothing. These are
the two things he tells her to not worry about. Food and clothing. I think it's interesting that
shelter's not mentioned. That's a biggie. Shelter. But all he
speaks of is food and clothing. Now food is what sustains us. It's what keeps our life going. Where would we be without food?
We would die. We need food for the sustenance
of our life. And what is clothing for? You
know, we think that clothing beautifies us and we usually
try to get clothes that we think will make us look better somehow,
but really that's not what clothing is for. That enters into the
equation, but clothing is for a covering of our nakedness.
It's for a covering of our shame. Food is to keep us alive and
clothing is to cover our shame. Now, if I'm depending on the
Lord I'm not going to worry about the sustenance of my life, my
food, my material food, my physical food, or my spiritual food. I
trust Him to preserve me. I trust Him to sustain me. I
trust Him to keep me. If I'm dependent upon the Lord
the way this widow was, I know that any stick of clothing I
have comes from Him. And I know this, I've got this
royal robe of righteousness, this beautiful clothing that
hides my shame, that covers my shame, that takes away my shame.
The righteousness and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
why be anxious for food or clothing? God's gracious. He gives you
whatever it is you need, physically, most especially spiritually.
We feed upon Christ, don't we? He is our necessary food. He's
the bread that came down from heaven, and God gives Him freely. In no sense do we earn Him, do
we? In no sense do we deserve Him.
God gives Him to us freely because He's God. That's who He is. That's
what He does. He's gracious. And to worry about
clothing? to worry about Christ's righteousness
not being enough to cover me, to make me perfectly beautiful
before God, to where His righteousness really is my clothing. You have the best food. You have
the wedding garment. What more could you want? Now he says in verse 23, the
life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. The life, I like the way he says
this, the life, the life. He's not merely speaking about
existence, but the life. Remember what he said in verse
15 of this same chapter, take heed and beware of covetousness
for a man's life consists not in the abundance of things which
he possesses. Now, The life is the same life
Paul spoke of in Colossians 3 when he said to every believer, you're
dead. You're dead. How much worrying
does a dead man have to do about the things that are going on
here? Does he worry at all? Does he worry about the economy
collapsing? Does he worry about what's gonna happen to our government?
Does he worry about fill in the blank? No, he's dead. He's dead. Paul said, you are
dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, there's my life. Christ is my life before
God. You know, I'm not ashamed of
my life. I'm proud of my life. My life is perfect. My life couldn't
get any better because my life is the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is my life before God. Our life is the work of Christ
for us, justification, and the work of Christ in us, regeneration. This is our food. This is our
clothing. Now, I want good food, materially,
and I'd hate to have to be scrounging for my next meal. I like to have
plenty of food in the cupboard. I like to be able to go anytime
I want, get something good to eat, tave chips, Cheez-Its, whatever
it is, good food, stuff that's good for you. I like food. I like food. I was eating Cheez-Its
today. That's why I thought that. I was watching that football
game, just popping Cheez-Its in my mouth. I love Cheez-Its. I like clothes. Who doesn't? But this is really
not what the Lord's talking about. I mean, it enters in. I don't
have any question about that. It enters in, but it's not even
1%. Christ is my food. Christ is my clothing. To worry about our clothing is
to say we don't trust Christ's righteousness as enough, and
to worry about our sustenance being preserved is to not trust
the grace of God to preserve us and sustain us. Now read verse
24. The Lord gives us something to
think about. He says, consider the ravens. They neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse
nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are you better
than the fowls? Now how much scheming and plotting
do they do to secure their food? They don't think about it, do
they? God feeds them. They don't plan. They don't save.
God feeds them. Yes, they go out and gather food.
You know, they don't just sit there on the tree branch and
wait for food to drop in their mouth. They go out and gather food.
And we're called upon to do the same thing, but they're not worried
about it. They're not planning. They're not scheming. God feeds
them. They're not fatalistic about
it. They're going out and gathering their food, but they know who
their food comes from. God feeds them. Are you not much better
than they? Sure, The argument goes from
the lesser to the greater. God feeds you. He's going to
sustain you. He'll give you food physically.
He'll give you food spiritually. May God give us grace not to
worry, to truly be carefree. Lord's going to take care of
me. Now, you know, when we're hearing the gospel, when we're
hearing a message like this, we think, you know, I'm going
to change. Well, no, you won't. I know better
than that. You'll walk out of here and worry.
But you ought not. You ought not. We still have
this flesh. I realize that, but it's still
true. We ought not. I shouldn't say you ought not.
We ought not worry. God feeds us. He takes care of us. He says in verse 25, and which
of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cupid,
can add to his life one moment. Now, a lot of us kind of feel
like worrying is almost virtuous, kind of like there's something
wrong with us if we're not worrying, like we don't care if we don't
worry and we ought to be worrying. Well, That's ridiculous. It's ridiculous to think that
way. Worrying is unbelieving. Worrying is unreasonable and
worrying accomplishes nothing. Now didn't the Lord say which
of you by worrying can add one moment to your life? Can't do
it, can you? No matter how much you worry
and fret and scheme and plot, it doesn't change anything. Actually, it's very arrogant. When I worry, I'm saying there's
something I can do about this to make it better. It's very
arrogant. And when I worry, I'm telling
the Lord that he cannot be trusted. That's all I say when I'm worrying.
I'm not leaving it in his hands. And I'm saying he cannot be trusted. Now does worrying do any good
other than add stress to your life? Does it accomplish anything? Does it make anything better
at all? Does it solve any problems? No. Not at all. You can't add one moment to your
life by worrying. Now, the Lord asked this question
that I love the simplicity of this question in verse 26. He
says, if you then be not able to do that thing which is least. Now, hear what he says. He says,
you're not able to do that which is least. Do you believe that
about yourself? that you really are not able
to do that which is least. You can't come up with anything
spiritual. You're unable. You don't have any control. I
think it's always interesting to see people that are kind of
control freaks because control freaks are always miserable because
really they have no control. You have no control. You can't
change anything. You can't produce anything by
worrying, you're unable to do that which is least. I think
of what the Lord said, without me, you can do what? He didn't say hardly anything,
did he? He said, without me, you can do nothing. Now, if you believe or if I believe
somehow that we can do that which is least, We're going to worry. We're going to think, well, what
can I do to fix this? What can I do to make this happen? What
can I do to change this? What can I do to prevent this?
If we think we can do that which is least, we'll worry, we'll
plot, we'll scheme, we'll feel stressed, we'll feel pressure.
What do I need to do? Boy, it's a horrible place to
be, isn't it? But when you know you can't do
anything, all of a sudden the pressure's off. If you'd be not
able to do that which is least, if you have absolutely no control,
and you realize that, why do you take thought? Why do you
worry about the rest? I preached just a week or two
ago on that glorious verse of scripture. I wish we believed
it. We believe it sometimes about a half of 1% of the time, and
we know that all things work together for good. To them that
love God, to them who are called according to his purpose, all
things, bad things, good things, meaningless things, disasters,
terrible trials, troubles, prosperity, blessings, all things work together
for good. To them that love God, to them
who are thee called according to his purpose." Wherever you're
at, it's where the Lord has put you. However anybody's treating
you, it's the Lord that's behind it. He is in absolute sovereign
control. Now, the Lord goes on to say
in verse 27, he talked about how the ravens never worried
about food. He says in verse 27, consider the lilies. how
they grow. They toil not, they spin not,
they don't work. And yet I say unto you that Solomon
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. They didn't
toil for this, God made them that way. How did they become
so beautiful? God made them that way. How did they grow? God caused
them to grow. Now you consider the lilies.
They didn't get where they were at by toiling and spinning. And yet, Solomon in all of his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now, The lilies are
what they are because God made them that way. Very simple, isn't
it? They had nothing to do in the
production of what they are. They are what they are because
God made them that way. I'm clothed with Christ. He's made unto me. God made him
unto me. Same way he made the lilies.
God made him unto me wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. God made my clothing. I had no hand in the production
of my clothing. That fine linen, clean and white
with which I'm arrayed in, the beautiful righteousness of Christ.
God made me that way. I had nothing to do with it.
I didn't work for it. I didn't get it by toiling, by
spinning, by worrying. God made me that way. For he
hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Consider the lilies. It's a good thing to consider,
isn't it? Consider the lilies, how they
grow. God made them that way. When we worry about our clothing,
we're saying, I fear that this glorious wedding garment is not
enough. Now, we would never come out
and say that. We'd never come out and say, I'm afraid Christ's
righteousness is not enough. We'd be afraid to say something
that silly. But when we worry. when we lack assurance. You know
when we lack assurance, what are we lacking assurance in?
I'm not good enough. I did this. I did that. I must
not be saved or I wouldn't have thought this. I wouldn't think
that. I wouldn't do that. Every time I say something like
that, all I'm saying is I'm looking to myself for assurance. What
happens when you look to yourself for assurance? You lose all assurance,
don't you? What a glorious article of clothes. I shouldn't even call it that.
Christ's righteousness, my wedding garment, my clothing. And look
what the Lord says in verse 28. If then God so clothed the grass,
which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the
oven. How much more will he clothe
you, O ye of little faith? Now, when the Lord speaks of
ye of little faith, how does that resonate with you? Well,
I know how it resonates with me. Little faith is better than no
faith. Now, let me say that. Little
faith is better than no faith, and let me tell you why. Because
little faith saves just as surely as great faith. You see, it's
not the faith that saves in the first place, it's the object
of the faith that saves. Christ saves me, not my faith.
I tell you what, someone who has great faith is a lot happier
than someone who has little faith. They enjoy life more. And he says to these people,
O ye of little faith. And it's actually just one word
in the original. Little faith is little trust.
Now, a few questions. How trustworthy is the Lord? Is there any lack in his power? Is there any lack in his faithfulness? Are his promises sure? Is there any problem with his
goodness? Is he mean? Does he want to trip
you up? Is there any lack in his wisdom
or his ability to make his will come to pass? You know the answers
to those questions. There's only one place where
a little faith is appropriate, and that's with a little God.
That's it. We have a great God, therefore
we should exercise great faith. We have the eternal God who cannot
lie, and how sinful it is to have little faith in such a big,
glorious, altogether trustworthy Savior. You see, strong faith, big faith,
and there is such a thing. glorifies God. Remember what's
said about Abraham in Romans chapter 4, who being not weak
in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, neither yet
the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, he
was able also to perform. Now, is that kind of faith beyond
me or you? Well, it is if God doesn't give it to us, but shouldn't
every one of us have that same faith? Being fully persuaded
that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. I think of the Two examples the
New Testament gives of great faith. The first one is the Roman
centurion. As a matter of fact, Luke read
that back in the study. He comes up to the Lord. The
Lord says, I'm going to heal your servant. I'll go and heal
him. I'll go to your house. He said, Lord, I didn't think
myself worthy to have you come under my roof. I don't want you
to bother yourself with me. but speak the word only. I don't need an experience. I
don't need a feeling. Speak the word only. and my servant shall be healed. You see, I understand authority.
I've got men under me. I say to one, go do this, and
he does it. Another, go do that, and he does it. I understand
authority, and I understand you have absolute authority. And all you have to do is speak
the word, and my servant shall be healed. You know what the Lord said about
that man's faith? He said, I say to you, I've not found so great
a faith, no, not in Israel. Greatest faith I've ever seen.
Well, what's so great about that? Well, we think of great faith
as us doing something great. That's what it comes down to.
That's what's so big about that. I mean, doesn't everybody believe
that? The other example of great faith is when that woman came
up to the Lord, and said, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy
on me. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. And the
scripture says he didn't answer her. He ignored her. He didn't pay
attention to her. And she continued to cry. That
didn't stop her. May God give us the grace to
never stop crying to him. Didn't stop her, because the
disciples said, send her away. She crieth after us. And then
the Lord said, I'm not sin but to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. Now what the Lord says when he makes that statement,
he says, I've only come for the elect. I didn't come for everybody. I only came for the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. You know what the scripture says
she did? Then came she and worshiped him. Now, the only time you or I ever
worship is when we worship. Oh, this thing of worship, it's
a supernatural thing. It's the gift of God. It's only
inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. She worshipped Him. She didn't
even know if He was going to answer her prayer. She didn't
even know if He came to save her. But she continued crying. Then she came and worshipped
Him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. That's where I'm at. If you don't
help me, I will not be helped. And then the Lord looked at her
and he said, it's not right to take the children's bread and
throw it to dogs. Now, there aren't very many different
ways to take that, are there? He said, My help is for my children. You're a dog. And that woman, rather than getting
mad and turning away, she said, that's the truth, Lord. If I
ever heard the truth, that's it. I am nothing more than a
dog, but I'm your dog. And I'm not expecting a place
setting with the children, but I'd be awful grateful for any
crumbs of mercy that fall my way. That's where I'm at. And
you know what the Lord said to her? Oh woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. Verse 28, if God so clothe the
grass which today is in the field and tomorrow is cast into the
oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not that which you shall
eat or what you shall drink, neither be ye of a doubtful mind. And my marginal reading says
don't live in careful suspense. Don't be worrying about what
you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, and don't be
worrying, living in this state of careful suspense. Turn to
1 Peter chapter 5. Verse 5. Likewise, ye younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. casting all your care, your anxiety
upon him, for he careth for you." Has someone misrepresented you? Has someone mistreated you? Cast your care on the Lord. and
leave it there. If he knows, what else needs
to be done? Are you worrying about how the
bills will be paid? Cast your burden on the Lord.
He careth for you. Are you worried about your health?
Are you worried about your sickness? Cast your burden on the Lord. He careth for you. Are you worried
about your sin? Is that a heavy burden to you? Cast your care upon the Lord,
for He careth for you. Are you struggling with assurance?
Cast it on the Lord. He cares for you. And beloved,
if He cares for you, what do you have to worry about? If it's cast on Him, and he cares
for you, you know what you and I are? Carefree. Carefree. If he's bearing a burden,
I don't need to bear it. If I've cast it on him, that's
where it's at. And I am carefree. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Verse 29 and 30, and seek ye
not that which ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither
be ye of a doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after. People who don't know God, what's
their great concern? What we'll eat, what we'll drink,
what we'll wear, where we'll live, how much we'll have, how
much we'll enjoy life, what can we do to make things better for
ourselves? That's what everybody seeks. All these things do the nations
of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that you
have need of these things. You know, the Lord knows exactly
what you need. Isn't that glorious? The Lord knows what you need
already. You know, you say, Lord, I need
this. He knows what you need. And I
think perhaps the best prayer we can pray with regard to our
needs is, Lord, give me what I need. I don't really know what
it is, but you do. give me what I need for Christ's
sake. He says in verse 31, but rather
seek ye the kingdom of God. And I love Matthew's account
in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 where he said seek ye the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. Now here's the one thing that
I want to seek. I want to seek to have His righteousness. I want to be like that little
widow woman who had nothing of her own and was completely dependent
upon what He gives me. That's good life, isn't it? Seek the kingdom of God and all
these things shall be added unto you. You're going to have everything
you need. And then he says, Fear not, little flock, for it's your
father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. That kingdom
I'm telling you to seek, it's the father's good pleasure. Don't worry about seeking and
not finding it. You seek it first. It's the father's good pleasure
to give it to you, not to sell it to you, not to dangle it out
here before you and pull it back. No, it's the father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. He gives you the king and he
gives you the kingdom. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
you and I'd not worry? Wouldn't it honor the Lord? He's
utterly trustworthy. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
we thought, I have my food. Christ is my bread. I already
have my clothing. Christ is my righteousness. And
I'm not going to be in anxious thought. by His grace about anything. Even when I say that, I know
I'll walk out the door and start worrying. I know myself. I've got some experience with
myself. But I wish I wouldn't. And I'm going to ask the Lord
for grace not to do that. Now, we're going to observe the
Lord's table. And then we're going to have
a baptism, two baptisms, Tom Fitzpatrick and Rebecca Singleton.
And when we're eating, this bread and drinking this wine, here's
our necessary food, the shed blood and broken body of Christ. This is what I feed on. This
is the only thing that really gives me nourishment. If you
tell me, here's what you need to do to be nourished, you need
to read the Bible more, you need to suppress your sin more, you
need to overcome all your worrying and anxiety, and you just need
to, you need to, you don't want that, that ain't gonna do me
any good. Not gonna do me any good at all. But if you tell
me that all I need is Christ, Jesus Christ is all I need, all
I need, all I need, he alone is all my plea, he is all I need. That helps me. Let's pray.