My name is Reese Winkler. This is my first time, so prayers are appreciated as we open up the Word of God together this morning.
Tiny bit about me, and then a lot about God to follow. So I am a teacher, so I teach Bible class, mostly middle schoolers, so I'm just going to pretend like you're all sixth grade students.
It'll make it a lot easier for me. And my wife, Amy, is a nurse at the hospital over in Gainesville.
Okay, so let's read together. We're going to be in Matthew 6, again, 25 through 34. I'm going to go ahead and read from verse 24.
And this is the Word of God. And it says,
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money, or mammon.
Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns.
Yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life?
And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin.
Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore, do not be anxious, saying,
What shall I eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?
For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient is the day its own trouble.
So, at the surface level in reading this text, I just need to tell you guys,
this is a hard text.
Not so much to preach, it's pretty straightforward,
but it's a hard text to hear, especially in our culture.
And so know from the outset, there are going to be things that we talk about today
that we'll see in the Scripture that are going to challenge you,
they're going to push you.
And we have this tendency, I think, a lot of times,
when we hear a hard word, to brace ourselves against it,
and to harden ourselves against what the Word of God is saying.
And so I would encourage you this morning,
soften your heart.
Know that this is meant to be helpful to you,
that the Word of God is written, as Nathan says all the time,
for God's glory and for our good.
Right?
This is supposed to hurt a little bit,
and if you're not getting hurt ever by the Word of God,
then you're either perfect, which is unlikely,
or you are not listening to what the Word is actually saying.
So I would challenge you this morning, as I speak,
I'm going to try to soften it a little bit,
and empathize with you,
because I'm walking the same path that you guys are.
I feel anxious.
And what a good first text to preach, right?
As I'm preparing, right,
I have to look at myself formulating an argument against being anxious.
And so join me as we look together
at what the Word of God has to say about anxiety.
Today it may seem overwhelming at times
and seem like a message only pointing out a deep flaw
in the way that many of us function on a day-to-day basis.
However, I hope that you will see our text as a message of hope
as we throw ourselves on to Christ,
relying on Him to battle and overcome our anxiety.
So society has a lot to say about anxiety.
And any time that society has a lot to say about anything,
we need to be careful, right?
Our world is full of arguments about anxiety.
There's so many books, self-help classes,
lots of money that has gone into teaching about anxiety.
So we've got to be careful not only about how we think about it,
but also how we're affected by worldly influence.
This also means that we need to undo some of our assumptions we get from the culture, right?
So before we explore God's Word, we need to undo some of those things,
which makes for a long introduction this morning.
But be patient, we will get to the text.
So according to the National Institute of Mental Health,
anxiety disorders affect the largest percentage of Americans
of any other type of mental health disorder.
The numbers are around 19% of Americans fall into this category of disordered anxiety,
which means that about one in five people self-report that anxiety affects them so much
that it interferes with relationships, jobs, and so forth.
Now, one in five, you may be sitting there thinking,
well, I just got to be four out of five, right?
But unfortunately, the news is a little bit more bleak than that, right?
Our society's baseline of what is normal anxiety is way higher than what Scripture would call us to.
Driven by greed, power, and the desire to be liked,
Americans have developed a high tolerance for anxiety,
and in large part, the church has been inoculated from the pervasive view of our anxious tendencies.
So as we're thinking about anxiety today,
I want us to be thinking about how many of our actions on a day-to-day basis
are targeted at alleviating feelings of anxiety.
The way that you dress to please others or to catch attention,
doing something so that you can say that you did or post it,
looking like you work hard in front of your employer and feeling anxious about that,
or distracting yourself from anxiety with music, video games, God forbid,
exercise or outdoor activities,
even reading the Word of God, praying, reading Christian books, and coming to church
so that you don't have to feel guilt later, right?
The focus of doing even good activities is on taking away anxiety
and not on the glory of God, then we're doing it wrong.
We have the wrong mindset.
For many in society, anxiety has become so normal
that we're unable to recognize it and call it out in ourselves and in others.
And we fail to take personal responsibility for our anxiety.
So the world seems to recognize several sources of anxiety.
Not all of them are invalid.
Certainly there's truth to it.
But they normally say some combination of genetics,
endless possible life circumstances,
and our learned responses to our environment
constitute a cause for anxiety.
However, the world will never say that anxiety is somehow our fault
or that there's some moral weight to being or feeling anxious.
Unfortunately, the way that we talk about in the church,
think about and respond to our own anxiety
would reveal that many of us have bought into this lie,
though we may not say it on the surface.
John MacArthur in his commentary on the text writes,
Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God,
yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other.
So if this is true, if we commit the sin of anxiety
as much as we commit any other sin,
why are we not talking about it more?
Why are we not thinking about it more,
encouraging each other more, and so on?
And I think a lot of it has to do with the way that we speak about it.
We take our language from the way that the culture talks about it,
and then that transfers into the way that we think about it.
So this morning I invite you, as we look at God's Word,
to see what the Scripture has to say about it,
but then I would encourage you to examine your own anxious tendencies
and the root of them.
So our understanding of the cure for anxiety
is similarly distorted by society's influence.
Their prescription would be some combination of therapy,
medication, and self-care.
And even though those results from these activities
that culture says work on anxiety
are barely better than the combination of placebo effects
and the natural cycles of human emotion,
which normally cycle in and out of periods of anxiety
or depression after six months for most people.
So in other words,
culture's version of the cure or the treatment for anxiety
is barely better than doing nothing at all.
So we can think about this shallow treatment of anxiety,
this symptom-level treatment of anxiety,
like treating the common cold.
So we've all had a cold before,
and we've probably all used some type of symptom relief
to try to get rid of its effects.
We've also all probably tried to push through a bad cold
or take a pill or two
instead of giving our body what it really needs,
time to rest and recuperate.
And like anxiety,
you might be able to hold the symptoms at bay for a while,
but you won't get better
until you give the body what it really needs.
Like a cold,
anxiety will not get better
until we give our soul what it really needs,
which is a renewed heart before God.
And while we aren't to condemn the use of medication
in extreme circumstances,
talking it out with someone,
or surface-level self-care
as a useful symptom management tool,
it would be foolish to neglect
to examine the spiritual root of anxiety as well.
As scripture would call us to do.
It would also be foolish to think
that simply because anxiety may have biological roots,
that there aren't spiritual roots and consequences as well.
A tendency towards anger,
sexual promiscuity or perversion,
and laziness all have biological components,
yet we would not excuse a murderer,
we wouldn't excuse an adulterer,
and we wouldn't excuse slothful behavior.
Right?
So we shouldn't also excuse anxiety
just because it might have biological roots.
And we are in a sinful world because of the fall,
which means our bodies are corrupted as well.
The point of Christian living
is not to follow the flesh,
but to fight against the flesh
for what God desires.
So our text this morning strongly denounces the idea
that anxiety is a product of factors we can't control.
Similarly, we ought not to think
that because anxiety is an emotion,
that it's totally out of our control.
Scripture commands emotions all the time.
And if you want a bigger picture of this,
there's a great episode of Ask Pastor John,
which is John Piper,
and it's called
The God Who Commands Our Emotions.
So some examples of emotions
that are commanded are forbidden in the Bible.
Some that are commanded are joy,
gratitude, fear of the Lord,
delight in the Lord,
to love God,
to love others,
to hope,
to be sorrowful,
to weep with those who weep,
to rejoice with those who rejoice.
And of course,
love is not merely an emotion,
and joy is not merely an emotion,
but there are certainly feeling aspects to it.
The point is that we can't just turn them off and on,
but that doesn't mean that they can't be commanded
because they are.
And then forbidden,
we're forbidden from the fear of man,
from fear in general,
from the love of the world,
from sinful anger,
and in our text this morning,
forbidden from anxiety.
So just because you don't have total control
at all times to flip it on and off
doesn't mean that it can't be commanded.
So we've got to get that straight in our minds.
Anxiety, like all other emotions,
is a result or an extension of belief, right?
So an emotion reflects a deeper thing,
and that is belief.
John Bloom at Desiring God
writes in an article on this topic,
God designed your emotions to be gauges,
not guides.
They're meant to report to you,
not to dictate you.
The pattern of your emotions
gives you a reading
on where your hope is
because they are wired
into what you believe
and what you value
and how much.
That's why emotions like delight,
affection, fear, anger, joy, etc.
are so important in the Bible.
They reveal what your heart loves,
trusts, and fears.
Pleasure is the measure of your treasure.
Isn't that nice?
Because the emotion of pleasure
is a gauge that tells you
what you love.
Another commentator in our text
describes it as Jesus' treasure test
in reference to what the preceding passage
that Clay preached on last week refers to.
So in other words,
you can know what you're treasuring
by examining your emotional attachment
to those things.
Christ here in our text
specifically ties anxiety
to treasure or to worship.
So we've got to ask ourselves the question,
what does your anxiety,
what does our anxiety,
tell us about what we worship?
Is it our family, money,
appearance, providence,
or your sense of self-worth
before others and before God
or a job performance?
So a quick word of encouragement
before we dive into our text.
Maybe you're feeling overwhelmed
at the thought of that,
wow, my anxiety that I feel
all the time is sinful?
What?
Maybe this is bad news for you.
However, our text provides a cure
along with it.
But we have to be willing to go deep enough
in digging out the root of sin.
So I want to revisit really quickly
our cold analogy.
And I know that no analogy is perfect,
but with your permission,
I'd like to beef mine up a little bit
to be a more accurate description
of our dealings with anxiety.
So I'll invite you into a different dimension
for a second
as we change some basic assumptions
about colds, medicine, science,
and the way that the world works in general.
So some of you will find this helpful
if you can track with me.
So I have bad news
and I have good news.
So the bad news
is that you're going to catch the cold
every day,
or sorry,
every week this year.
So no matter what you do,
you're going to catch the cold
every week this year.
But there's good news along with it, right?
There's a vaccination for the cold.
Hip, hip, hooray, right?
So you can prevent the cold
or you can take this vaccination
before you get sick
or you can take this vaccination
after you get sick.
Okay, it's your choice.
And in this fanciful world,
cold medicine is also an option.
So you could just kind of
knock out the symptoms
that are there as well.
So this leaves us with a few options.
Some are better than others.
So the first option,
this is the best option,
is to take the vaccination
before you get sick, right?
You know it's going to happen,
so you take the prescription for it
before it happens.
Number two is an okay option.
Probably not your best one,
but you could wait
until the symptoms start coming up
and then choose to take the vaccination
or take the medicine, right?
That's an okay option.
And then option number three,
take the cold medicine
that will alleviate
some of your symptoms.
So you get sick,
then you pop a Benadryl
and hope for the best, right?
Not a great option.
And then our worst option,
we can get the cold every week
and accept our new normal.
So this should frame the way
that we think about the text this morning,
how we think about anxiety.
And even though there's some bad news,
right, that anxiety is sinful,
there's good news, right?
There's a cure along with it.
So we can either seek to prevent anxiety
with prayer, meditation on the Word,
and renewed daily belief.
We can treat anxiety
once we're already flustered
with prayer, meditation on the Word,
and renewed daily belief.
Or we can keep using shallow methods
to make the symptoms
of feeling anxious
temporarily subside.
Or we can just settle
for anxious lives
and try to get by.
So it's bad news
that our anxiety is sinful unbelief,
which we'll see.
But it's probably worse,
and it's probably worse
than we originally thought.
But we can prevent it,
and we can deal with it.
And when it does come,
we can repent before a God
who has offered us grace upon grace
to sojourn through this life.
God knows our frame.
He knows His children
that are living in a sinful world
will be tempted
by only looking at
what's around them in the world
and becoming anxious.
So let's call anxiety
what it is together,
do our best to examine ourselves,
and lay our sinful anxiety
at the foot of the cross
as we take up biblical prescription
for dealing with worry.
So anxiety, again,
is a symptom of a deeper problem.
It's not a cause,
or it's not the issue
in and of itself,
but it's a symptom
of something deeper.
Today, we're going to be looking
at anxiety as a symptom
or as a result
of a few common areas
of sinful unbelief,
how to prevent those things,
and see how our Lord
would have us respond
when we recognize feelings
of anxiety.
So in our text this morning,
and from surrounding texts
from the Sermon on the Mount,
we'll see anxiety
as a symptom of unbelief,
specifically a symptom
of a worldly focus,
a symptom of unbelief
in God's provision,
a symptom of unbelief
in God's wisdom,
a symptom of the fear of man,
a symptom of prayerlessness
or wrongful prayer,
and then we'll look together
at some points of application.
I'll repeat those headings
as we go.
So first heading,
anxiety as a symptom
of unbelief.
So like other sins,
anxiety is rooted
in the unbelief
of specific characteristics
and promises of God.
So any sin,
no matter how big
or how small,
is a statement to God
saying our way is better.
And we don't always
do this consciously,
and in fact,
most of the time
we don't do this consciously,
but the action
that we take
is saying to God,
what I wanted to do
in this moment
is better
than what you've said
is the right thing to do.
Anxiety and belief
are clearly tied together
in our passage this morning.
If you look back over it,
you have this continued echoing
of do not be anxious,
but believe that God will provide.
The command to not be anxious
is specifically mentioned
three times.
In verse 30,
our Lord connects anxiety
with belief.
He says,
But if God so clothes
the grass of the field,
which today is alive,
and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven,
will He not much more
clothe you,
O you of little faith?
Right?
So you have those two things
specifically tied together.
The belief that God will provide
or the unbelief
that God won't provide
is a symptom of belief
or not having faith.
John MacArthur
in his commentary
on this text writes,
Worry is not a trivial sin
because it strikes a blow
both at God's love
and God's integrity.
Worry declares
our Heavenly Father
to be untrustworthy
in His Word
and His promises.
To avow belief
in the inerrancy of Scripture
and in the next moment
to express worry
is to speak out of both sides
of our mouth.
Worry shows that we are mastered
by our circumstances
and by our own finite perspectives
and understanding
rather than mastered
by God's Word.
Worry is therefore
not only debilitating
and destructive
but maligns
and impugns God.
God has made
abundant promises to us
throughout the Scriptures.
The question is
whether or not
we will believe them
and hold fast to them
in times of trouble
or will we live
a life of anxiety
and worldly comfort.
So first question for us,
do we know
the promises of God?
Do we have specific things
that we can take up
in God's Word
to fight anxiety with?
Do we know
the characteristics of God
as they're expressed
in Scripture
or is it kind of
this like general,
well yeah,
God's loving
and He's kind
and He's powerful
and He's sovereign.
We know these words
but we need to know
things in His Word
that we can run to
in times of anxiety
and comfort.
In our chapter,
in our text this morning,
verse 33,
the promise,
seek first God's kingdom
and all of these things,
daily provision,
will be added to you.
Great promise right there.
And then in Isaiah 41,
verses 8 through 10,
it says,
You whom I took
from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corner
saying to you,
You are my servant.
I have chosen you
and not cast you off.
Fear not,
for I am with you.
Be not dismayed,
for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
I will help you,
and I will uphold you
in my righteous right hand.
So together,
let's look at our next heading
as we see specific areas
of unbelief
that anxiety indicates
in our hearts.
So point number two,
anxiety is a symptom
of a worldly focus
or worldly treasure.
So worldly focus
versus Godward focus
has been a major,
if not the major theme
of the Lord's teaching
here in the Sermon on the Mount
since at least the beginning
of chapter 6.
So Nathan taught,
and if you didn't hear
the series,
we'll call it a series,
on the Lord's Prayer.
I would encourage you
to go back
and listen to those.
But we see God's glory,
not our glory,
being the focus of prayer
in chapter 6,
verses 9 through 13.
And then throughout,
we have God's reward
in prayer
and giving
and in fasting
instead of the temporary reward
of appearing spiritual
before others.
So again,
we get to choose,
am I going to choose
God's reward
or worldly reward?
And then seeking
heavenly treasure
over worldly treasure
in verses 19 through 24.
And then in our passage,
seeking God's kingdom
and His righteousness
instead of our little kingdoms.
We can only choose
one of these two,
as Clay put it well
last week, right?
We only get one choice,
and our call throughout
is to be singularly focused
on God's kingdom.
Anxiety, therefore,
is a result of treasuring
or overvaluing
the things of this world.
But we are called
to have minds
that are set
on heavenly things, right?
Colossians 3, 1 through 4 says,
If then you have been
raised with Christ,
seek the things
that are above
where Christ is,
seated at the right hand
of God.
Set your minds
on things of above,
not on the things
of this earth.
For you have died
and your life is hidden
with Christ and God.
When Christ,
who is your life,
appears,
then you will also
appear with Him
in glory.
So if we can
treat this world
as passing,
treat our life
as a vapor,
our death
as imminent,
your primary citizenship
being found
in heaven,
in your life,
as a tool
in the hand of God,
then you won't be anxious.
One of the primary ways
that we tend to fall
into this worldly mindset
is in our facade
of self-sufficiency.
So this brings us
to our next point.
Anxiety as a symptom
of unbelief
in God's provision.
And this is point number three.
The primary thrust
of our text
is what we're looking at
here, right?
The symptom of unbelief
in God's provision.
So if you look with me
at our text,
you'll see the pattern
or the way
that it's structured.
We have the overall heading,
then we have this repeated
pattern that he uses.
So the repeated pattern
is a topic,
a supporting example,
an argument
of lesser to greater,
and then we have
this little argument
in between
of unproductivity
in verse 27,
and then concluding
with an exhortation
and closing rationale.
So we have these two topics
of food and clothing,
and then supporting examples
of God's provision
for birds and for flowers,
and then we have
this argument
of lesser to greater.
If he so feeds
and clothes them,
will he not also
feed and clothe you?
So the overall heading,
verse 25,
do not be anxious
about what you will eat,
drink, or wear.
And then we have
several reasons given
not to be anxious
about food or clothing.
First reason,
you are more valuable
than birds and flowers.
Yet God feeds
and clothes them.
How much more
will he then feed
and clothe you?
In verse 27,
we learn that anxiety
about our lives
is totally unproductive.
And if you think
about your own anxiety,
think about what you
have produced
by working yourself up.
Nothing, right?
We don't accomplish
anything with our anxiety,
and that's clearly
our origin scripture.
Unbelievers worry
about these things.
Our next reason,
our next argument
is that the Gentiles
think in this way.
They worry about
food and clothing
because they don't believe
that God will provide
for them,
and it would be foolish
for us to think
like unbelievers
in reference to God.
Our next reason,
God provides
what we need daily,
and each day
has enough things
to worry about,
so don't worry
about tomorrow.
And again,
in line with our experience
and implication
from verse 34,
or worrying about tomorrow
makes you unable
to accomplish
what you're meant
to do today.
And all of us
have found this
to be true, right?
If we spend all day
worrying about
what we're supposed
to do tomorrow,
we don't get anything
done today, right?
We know that's true,
and yet we don't have
the tools or seem
to have the tools
in our arsenal
to battle anxiety.
When we believe
or when we begin
to believe that we
are providing
for ourselves,
we become anxious
then when our provision
is jeopardized.
our anxiety
about money,
food,
and clothing
is an indication
of unbelief
that God will provide
and is declaring
to God
that you have provided
for yourself
in the past, right?
I hope you're tracking
with me there.
There's no reason
to be anxious
unless you believe
that you're the one
who has been providing
up into this point
so far.
So it's actually
a statement
of pride
to God
to feel anxious
because we're saying
in the past
I've provided
and now I'm going
to be anxious
about how I'm going
to provide in the future,
but when we have faith
in God,
ask Him to provide,
then He gets the glory.
So God has sustained us
and clothed us
and our family
every day
since we've been alive
and He will continue
to do so.
The question is
will you trust Him?
A fabulous example
in church history
of this type
of reliance
on the Lord
for life and ministry
can be found
in the 19th century
missionary
and pastor
George Mueller.
Moving to Bristol
in 1832,
he pastored a church
named Bethesda Chapel
from then 1832
until his death
in 1898.
In 1835,
after seeing hundreds
of orphans
in the surrounding community
with their basic needs
unattended to,
he opened four houses
able to take in
130 children.
In 1846,
he bought more land
to begin building
even more orphan houses
and then from 1849
1849 to 1875,
more houses
were opened
that could house
2,050 orphans
at one time,
all of which
are still standing
today.
Mueller,
throughout his life,
would care for
10,000 orphans.
His ministry
brought in
the equivalent
of over
112 million dollars
of today's money
and yet,
he never asked
for any of it.
He never solicited
money,
he never said,
we're in need,
we need this,
he just prayed
and allowed God
to provide.
He didn't start
with any significant
amount of money
or fortune
and he never
took a salary.
Mueller was a man
of faithful prayer
and trust
and God
to meet the needs
of his nuclear family
and his extended family
of over 10,000 people.
In A.T. Pearson's
biography of Mueller,
he writes of one
of these times
when he was looking
at purchasing
new lands
of pressing
faith in God
to accomplish
the building
of those new
orphan houses
and he writes,
should God provide
large amounts of money
for this purpose,
it would still further
illustrate the power
of prayer
offered in faith
to command help
from on high.
A lot of ground
spacious enough
would at the outset
cost thousands
of pounds
but why should this
daunt a true child
of God
whose father
was infinitely rich?
Mr. Mueller
and his helper
sought day by day
to be guided of God
and as faith fed
on this daily bread
of contact with him,
the assurance
grew strong
that help
would come
and so it did.
When we ask
and rely on God
for provision
and then he provides,
he gets the glory
for that provision.
But when we fail
to see him
as the provider,
we begin to believe
that we're the ones
providing for the needs
and then we get
the glory and success
or feel anxious
about the threat
of failure, right?
And so by asking
God beforehand
to provide,
seeing him
as the giver
of our jobs
and of our provision,
he then gets the glory
on the back end.
Right?
So faith in God's character
and promise
cannot coexist
with worry.
Mueller once said,
and this quote
is on the front
of your bulletin,
he says,
the beginning
of anxiety
is the end of faith
and the beginning
of true faith
is the end
of anxiety.
So if we trust
God for salvation
to perfect us eternally,
to cleanse our sin
from us,
why can't we trust
him to meet
our daily needs?
Yet isn't it so easy
to fall into this trap?
It really feels
like we're providing.
Just as God provides
work for the birds
to do so that they can eat,
he gives us opportunity
to work and to provide
for our own.
So let's pray often
to this end,
asking God to help us
recognize our dependence
on him for our daily need,
asking him to provide
so then we can thank him
and praise him
when he does.
So we've looked at
several lesser
to greater arguments.
This argument
that if he does
this little thing,
if he cares for
these little birds
and these lilies
will he not also
care for you
because you're more valuable.
So I'd like to make
my own lesser
to greater argument.
And technically,
I think it's a
less to lesser argument.
If God desires for us
not even to worry
about the basic life needs,
how much less
should we worry
about the trivial things
that we spend
most of our time
anxious about, right?
We're all here this morning.
Most of us are dressed
at least pretty nice.
All of us,
I would assume,
don't have to worry
too much about
where our next meal
is going to come from.
We can get it
one way or another.
Yet we find ourselves
worrying about
more than just
our basic needs
being met.
Often we find ourselves
not content
with what God
has deemed appropriate
for our lives,
which brings us
to our next point
of unbelieving anxiety.
Point number four,
anxiety as a symptom
of unbelief
in God's wisdom.
And this is where
I think most of us,
if and when
we struggle with anxiety,
this in a lot of ways
is kind of what comes
to mind in my heart.
And I think for a lot of us
at CFC,
this is really where
it hits home
because God has promised
to provide for us
and sustain us,
but often we're not
content with the basics.
We want more
than the basics.
We desire more
than what God has
planned for our lives.
This shows itself
in several areas
and some common ones
as believers
are in materialism,
the wanting of new things,
more money,
nice things,
which ultimately
only serve for our enjoyment
rather than the furthering
of the kingdom.
We're also not content
often with our situation
or our environment.
We want our family situation
to be easier or better.
We don't want to be
single anymore.
We want life to be easier.
We want a better job.
We want better grades
and fill in the blank.
When we worry about
these things,
we say to God
that what He has given
isn't enough
and Christ isn't enough
to satisfy.
I know that may sound harsh
again this morning,
but let's look at
what the Scripture
has to say
about the way
that God provides
in His wisdom.
So a really common verse,
but I don't know how often
it's necessarily applied
to anxiety.
Excuse me.
Romans 8, 28 through 30,
a common verse again.
And we know that
for those who love God,
all things work together
for good.
For those who are called
according to His purpose.
For those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined
to be conformed
to the image of His Son
in order that He might be
the firstborn
among many brothers.
Right?
So we have this massive statement
at the outset
that God works all things,
that He's in control
of all things
and they're working together
for a purpose.
So I don't want to skip over that
because it's important to know
that God's in control.
He's working out
everything that happens
in the universe around us,
but also in our individual lives
to an end.
And that end is found
at the end of verse 29,
to be conformed
into the image
of His Son.
That's God's definition
of good
that He's just said
He promised to do.
So again,
everything in our life
is working towards
making us more like Christ
in the way that God
has designed it to be.
Another common verse
that we know,
Ephesians 1,
11 through 14.
I would encourage you
to go ahead and turn there
with me for this one.
Maybe not as common
as the last.
So go ahead and turn
to Ephesians 1.
We'll be reading
verses 11 through 14.
And it says,
In Him we have obtained
an inheritance,
having been predestined
according to the purpose
of Him,
who works all things
according to the counsel
of His will,
so that we who are the first
to hope in Christ
might be to the praise
of His glory.
In Him you also,
when you heard
the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and believed in Him,
we're sealed with
the promised Holy Spirit,
who is the guarantee
of our inheritance,
until we acquire possession
of it,
to the praise of His glory.
So again,
we have this huge statement.
Again,
God also works all things
so that we might be
to the praise of His glory.
So when you put those
two things together,
we have a statement.
God works all things
together for good
to be made more like Christ,
that we might be,
we might exist
for the praise
of His glory.
So whatever happens,
again,
in our lives
serves this purpose.
Therefore,
our lack of contentment
with what God
has placed in our lives,
often revealing itself
through anxiety
about our situation,
says that we would rather
get what we want
than to be made
more like Christ
in the way
that He has decided
to do so.
So again,
let that sink in.
A lack of contentment
with what God
has placed in our lives,
says that we would rather
get what we want
than to be made
more like Christ.
This includes
the process
of our sanctification.
This is kind of
a challenging argument
to make,
and I want to be clear.
When I was talking
to Nathan yesterday
about it,
I just asked him,
like,
does that make sense?
Like,
should I include this?
And I feel like
it's a really relevant
part of the Christian life,
this frustration
with the process
of our sanctification.
We often get frustrated
to the point of anxiety
with the pace
at which we're growing.
We get frustrated
with the fact
that we're still
battling the same things
over and over.
So have you ever
asked yourself this question,
why doesn't God
take away my temptation?
Or why am I still struggling
with the same sin
I was five years ago?
This is a very common
frustration
that we have
as believers.
So in one sense,
we should never be content
with our relationship
with God, right?
We want to be zealous.
We want to be striving
after a deeper relationship
with Him
and knowing Him
to a greater extent.
Is that not the purpose
of the Christian life?
But when this desire
turns into guilt
as we beat ourselves up
for our performance
over the last week,
the last month,
or the last year,
it gets in the way
of accepting the grace
that God has provided
as a covering for our sin.
We're effectively saying
to God,
thank you for my salvation,
but now it's my turn
to make myself worthy
to be your child.
We often find ourselves
guilty or ashamed
before God
because we feel like
we aren't good enough.
And we've got to remember
that's the whole point
of the gospel.
That is the message
of the gospel,
that we're not adequate
before a holy God
to be a good enough
brother or sister
or son or daughter
or husband
or good enough
at our job.
But in Christ,
we have sufficiency.
In Christ,
we are, in fact,
worthy before a holy God.
Not because of our works,
but because of what
He's done in us.
We have to understand
our dependence
and the synergism,
us and God
working together
on our sanctification
according to His will.
Paul,
writing to the church
in Galatia
about salvation
through faith alone,
by grace alone,
says in chapter 3,
verses 2-3,
let me ask you only this.
Did you receive the Spirit
by works of the law
or by hearing with faith?
Are you so foolish,
having begun by the Spirit,
are you now being perfected
by the flesh?
Of course,
the answer to that question
is no.
Just as the birds gather
what the Lord has provided
for them without worry,
we must learn to do the same
in our own sanctification,
not full of anxiety,
but simply taking up
what He has provided
for us daily
in His Word
and the church
as we seek to walk
with Him in obedience.
When we try to repay God
back for our salvation
and we begin to feel anxiety
because we've placed
the pressure on ourselves
to earn back our salvation,
which has been freely given
to us by God
and we effectively say
that the cross of Christ
is not enough.
Strive for godliness
by all means,
but don't worry about
where God has you
in your faith
and in your walk.
He has promised
to sustain us to the end
and to make us more like Christ
in the process.
So, along with the promise
that we already have
in Romans 8-30,
Philippians 1-6 says,
and I am sure of this,
that He who began
a good work in you
will bring it to completion
at the day of Christ.
Oftentimes,
we're anxious
about the way
that we appear
before God,
but sometimes
this anxiety
that we feel
about our own holiness
is a result
of not looking good
in front of other people.
And so,
this brings us
to our fifth point.
Anxiety is a symptom
of the fear of man
or the desire
to please man
more than we desire
to please God.
So, again,
the symptom
of the fear of man.
This is a huge source
of anxiety
for many in the church
and we clearly see
this taught
already in the Sermon
on the Mount.
Chapter 6,
verses 1-8,
we see righteousness
either to be seen
by others
through generosity,
prayer,
or fasting
instead of seeking
after the heavenly reward
that God gives us
for those actions.
Anxiety about what
others think of us
is the fear
of man spending
significant time
worrying,
thinking,
getting worked up
about what others
will think
is the fear of man.
And many believers
are raised
and function
as people pleasers
primarily
and not as
God pleasers
and end up living
a crippling life,
enslaved life
to the opinions
of others.
And this has
many consequences,
one of which
is that it stifles
our ability
to share our faith.
Right?
If we're so concerned,
more concerned
with what people
think than what
God thinks,
then it cripples
our ability
to share our faith.
John Bloom,
again,
he says,
we will obey
the one
whom we fear.
So,
whichever one
we fear the most,
that's where our
actions and our
obedience
will then follow.
Again,
we can only choose
one,
the fear of man
or the fear of God.
Deuteronomy 10-12
says,
Now Israel,
what does your Lord
require of you
but that you fear
the Lord your God,
walk in His ways
to love Him
and to serve
the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul.
If you'll turn with me
to Matthew 10-26
and following.
Again,
Matthew 10-26
says,
this is Christ's teaching,
so have no fear
of them
for nothing is covered
that will not be revealed
or hidden
that will not be known.
What I tell you
in the dark
say in the light
and what you hear
whispered
proclaim
on the housetops.
And do not fear
those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul.
Rather,
fear Him
who can destroy
both the soul
and the body
in hell.
Again,
Jesus talking about birds.
Are not two sparrows
sold for a penny
and yet
not one of them
will fall to the ground
apart from your Father.
But even the hairs
on your head
are all numbered.
Fear not,
therefore,
you are of more value
than many sparrows.
We must trust
that pleasing God
in all circumstances
at whatever cost
will offend
and displease
others
ever more so
in our age.
But when we back down
in our beliefs,
fail to share our faith
when we know we ought to
or simply live
as we ought to
for fear of social consequence,
losing a job,
etc.
We say to God
that we are making
our kingdom
the priority
instead of His.
Okay,
last point.
Point number six.
Anxiety
as a symptom
of prayerlessness
or wrongful prayer.
And to see this,
we do need to go
outside of our text again,
but we'll see it
in the surrounding teaching
on the Sermon on the Mount.
So,
look back with me,
turn back to Matthew 6
if you're not there already,
and we'll reflect on
verses 9-13,
the Lord's Prayer.
So,
as we read it,
we'll find that
if we have Christ's attitude
in prayer as He models,
we'll alleviate
many of the sources
of anxiety
we feel today.
So,
our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
If we trust
in the declaration of God
as our Holy Father,
because of the redemptive
work of Christ,
our focus will be heavenward
for His glory
and not for our own.
So,
the fear of God
will far outweigh
the fear of man.
Next,
your kingdom come,
your will be done.
If we focus on
God's will being done
and His kingdom coming
as our focus
instead of our own will
and our own authority,
we'll be content
with whatever He brings
into our lives
to accomplish
His purposes.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
If we trust
Him to be our provider
for daily provision
and forsake
the sin of pride,
believing we are
self-sufficient,
we will not be anxious
about where money
will come from
to provide for our families.
And we will be content
with the grace
He gives us
daily to sustain us.
And then lastly,
forgive us our debts
as we have forgiven
our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
If we trust Him
to forgive our sin
as He works forgiveness
into us
and to keep us
from temptation,
we will not worry
about the progress
of our sanctification
or try to earn back
our salvation.
And maybe we pray
and maybe you feel like,
well, I spend enough time
in prayer,
yet I still struggle
a lot with anxiety.
Oftentimes,
we're not focusing
on God taking away,
sorry,
we are focusing
on God taking away
painful circumstances
which aren't to be
the chief aim
of our prayer.
So maybe our focus
is off,
maybe we're not doing it
often enough,
or maybe we're not equipped
to specifically pray
to the end
God would have us do.
And we'll take a look
at that in just a minute.
Okay,
and then Philippians 4
is another great example
of prayer
as a prevention tool
for anxiety.
This is a very common verse.
So let's read it together.
It says,
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again,
I will say rejoice.
Let your reasonableness
be known to everyone
for the Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious
about anything
but in everything
by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving.
Let your requests
be made known to God.
And the peace of God
which surpasses
all understanding
will guard your hearts
and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
So,
many read this passage
as only being a treatment
or a prescription
once we feel anxious.
But in fact,
a more straightforward reading
of the text
simply shows
the command
not to be anxious
and then the means
to prevent anxiety
through prayer.
So,
look or listen.
Again,
it says,
do not be anxious
about anything
but in prayer
by supplication
let your requests
be made known to God.
So,
it can be done beforehand.
In fact,
it's not just a tool
to respond to anxiety
with prayer.
And then we have
the promise
that God's peace
will guard us.
From what,
we may ask.
Not the circumstance
we prayed for necessarily
but from the original anxiety
we fight.
From the attitude
that God isn't in control
or doesn't know
what's best.
So,
as we thank God
for all he has given,
turn our requests
over to him,
relinquish our perceived control,
he guards our minds
from anxiety
with his peace.
So,
I want to look together
at some more specific application.
I hope some things
have been coming
into your minds
as we've been talking
but let's think about
some specific application.
How do we replace
our worldly focus
with a Godward focus?
How do we seek
God's kingdom
and his righteousness
trusting God
to provide the rest?
The change to a worldly focus
can be subtle
but it happens quickly
to us all, right?
We can start
like we feel
or maybe we go home
from church,
we're just done
with our quiet time
and then slowly
throughout the day
it seems like,
man,
I've become so focused
on what other people think.
I've become so focused
on my job performance, right?
So,
how do we get ourselves
to a point
where we can renew
our minds
and make it stick, right?
It's a hard thing.
So, first,
we need to take
a preventative approach
to battling anxiety
using regular habits
of grace.
So, target
those daily habits
of grace
towards your anxiety.
Daily orient
your mind
and your life
on God's kingdom.
So, when you pray,
pray like Jesus prayed.
Focus
as you're doing it.
And,
I don't know about you,
but when I pray,
I tend to become
distracted really quickly.
So,
sometimes it takes
a minute
to warm up
or to settle down
or whatever word
you want to use
to talk about prayer,
right?
It takes time.
So, set apart time
so you can be focused
on what God
would have you focus on
which is His glory,
right?
So, pray like Jesus prayed.
Focus on God's glory,
His plan,
and His purpose
for your life
as a child.
Next,
meditate on
specific promises
of God
which reinforce
belief,
right?
There's so many
rich texts,
right?
We looked at a couple
today,
but there are,
I mean,
hundreds of texts
that you can rely on,
memorize those things,
know where to turn
so you can meditate
on those things,
right?
He is in control,
He provides,
He knows what's best,
His commands
are good for us,
but it's not quite enough
just to like know
that knowledge intellectually,
but we have to let it
sit in ourselves,
we have to marinate
in the truth
of God's Word
and let it sink in,
right?
So, if you struggle
with anxiety,
then find these promises
and don't only know them
and memorize them,
but sit down with them,
take the time to think
about them
and thank God
for those attributes.
Secondly,
change the way you speak
and therefore think
about anxiety.
If anxiety is sinful,
which we've established today,
repentance is the
appropriate response,
right?
And so,
oftentimes when we
talk about anxiety,
we're talking to someone else,
we say,
we're really stressed,
we have a lot on our plate,
I find myself worrying a lot,
but we never go beyond that,
we never call sin
what it is
in our own hearts
and we find it uncomfortable
to call someone else out
on their sinful anxiety,
and I'm not advocating
when someone says
they're stressed
in community group
to say,
you better stop it,
you sinner,
right?
But maybe in smaller conversations
where it comes out,
like gently remind them,
this is a problem
of the heart,
it's not just a symptom,
it's something that goes
much deeper,
right?
So we need to address it
with repentance.
And then lastly,
rehabilitate,
it's a big word,
I know,
rehabilitate worldly responses
to anxiety.
Habits can be a powerful thing,
right?
And so,
in the brain,
going psychology on you,
but in the brain,
when you do two things together,
there's literally
a physical connection
that happens to,
inside of your brain,
there's a physical connection
between an action happening
and then your response to it.
So the more often
that you put two things together,
like anxiety
and then just treating a symptom,
there actually is a physical connection
that becomes stronger
and stronger
as your habits are formed,
right?
So if we're going to create
godly habits,
we have to undo
what's already there.
So when we're anxious,
instead of turning to
mere surface level solutions,
turn to what the scripture
tells us to do.
So if our cure for anxiety
is only exercise,
sleeping,
eating,
whatever,
then you're training yourself
to believe that anxiety
is merely emotional
and not spiritual.
So this doesn't mean
that doing those things
to de-stress
or unwind
or whatever word
you want to use
is wrong,
but it can't stop there.
It's not deep enough.
It doesn't address
the problem underneath.
So thirdly,
address the unbelief
in your heart.
When you feel
or when you find yourself anxious,
try to identify
specific areas of unbelief
and then ask God to help
to look at specific promises
to believe in, right?
God is not standing over us
in judgment
on our anxiety.
He knows
what we experience
and believe it or not,
Christ actually
had to battle
sin of anxiety.
He was tempted
as we were, right?
And yet,
He was without sin.
So we have this advocate.
We have this helper.
He's there with open arms.
The price has been paid
for our redemption
so we can go to God.
We can ask Him
to help us
in this unbelief.
So let's go to the Lord.
Let's take refuge in Him
from the things
of this world
and He can renew your mind.
He can change your perspective
and He can ease your anxiety
as He brings our focus
off of us
and onto Him.
Y'all join me as we pray.