And as they are going out, I'm going to invite Kevin to come and get himself ready, and I'm going to hand over to him then. Thank you, Kevin.
Well, good morning again. It's good to be with you all, and I bring you greetings from Middleton Baptist Church, another Cork Kerry Project church, and it's wonderful to be here with you.
When I was in the U.S., I described the Cork Kerry Project to people. I was saying, it's like when you go to another Baptist church, it's like visiting your cousin's house.
It's like, it's not your own home, but it's very familiar, and that's a precious thing, and I give thanks to God for that.
Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, the Sermon on the Mount.
We're going to be looking at verses 24 to 34 in particular this morning.
It should be verse 25 to 34. Matthew chapter 6, 25 through to verse 34.
These are the words of Jesus Christ.
He says,
Therefore, I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, or about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life 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, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his 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 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,
how much more will he not more clothe you, O you, of little faith?
Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear?
For the Gentiles seek after all these things.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all of these things will be added to you.
Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Father, as we consider these words of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray that we would have ears to hear and eyes to see the light of your truth.
We ask for your help in Jesus' name. Amen.
Worry is a powerful thing.
Something we've all experienced at one point or another.
Some problem or crisis or challenge comes crashing into your life,
and it's something that you cannot just fix.
And so you start to worry.
What's going to happen next?
What will I do if this happens?
How will I cope if that happens?
Is this ever going to get better?
Worry is a powerful thing.
You become so focused on the problem at hand
that you develop a sort of tunnel vision
where all you can think about from the moment you wake up
to the moment you go to sleep is that thing, that problem.
Has that ever happened to you?
It's happened to me.
Sometimes, when we're in that worried state,
a well-meaning friend or family member will come alongside us
and they will say something along these lines.
Hey, don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it.
And as well-intentioned as those words are,
they are, of course, 100% not effective.
It's like throwing a cup of water on a raging fire.
The words just evaporate.
And they have no effect.
It's like that song.
As I was thinking of this passage, I was thinking of that song.
Years ago, it was used for the National Lottery.
Bobby McFerrin, Don't Worry, Be Happy.
Have you ever heard that song?
Here's a little song I wrote.
You might want to sing it note for note.
Don't worry, be happy.
In every life, we have some trouble,
but when you worry, you make it double.
Don't worry, be happy.
Now, that is a very catchy song,
and it's very bad at treating worry.
That's a great song to listen to when you're not worried
and everything is fine,
you're on your way to the beach and it's sunny.
But when life is actually difficult
and you're dealing with the anxiety
that comes with living in a fallen world,
that's the last song you want to hear.
It's actually counterproductive
because it'll just make you angry.
It's superficial,
as if stopping worrying was just like turning off a light switch.
But when we consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ
in this passage this morning,
we find something altogether different.
He deals with worry in a profound and comprehensive way.
Unlike our well-intentioned friends in that catchy song,
Jesus' teaching on worry goes beneath the surface,
underneath the symptoms,
and gets right to the source of why we worry
about the things that cause us trouble.
And he shows us a better way,
a way of his kingdom,
the way of faith in him.
Now before we jump into these verses,
let's quickly just remind ourselves
of where we are in our Bibles.
Matthew 5, 6, and 7
are the Sermon on the Mount.
And that is Jesus teaching his disciples
all about life in the kingdom of God.
God's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.
It's not a military kingdom like the Roman kingdom.
Remember Jesus said,
my kingdom is not of this world.
It's not a worldly military kingdom.
God's kingdom is his realm of salvation
and his rule of his lordship.
To be a Christian,
to be a disciple of Jesus,
means to come into the kingdom
by faith in Jesus.
If you look back at chapter 4 of Matthew,
verse 17,
Jesus began his public ministry
as the Messiah with these words,
repent, turn from your sin,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The kingdom is here.
Jesus is the king.
He brings the kingdom.
You enter into that kingdom
through faith in him.
So by turning from our sins to Jesus,
we enter in.
We submit to King Jesus.
We serve him, worship him, obey him, enjoy him.
That is what it means to be a Christian.
Here in the Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7,
he's teaching his disciples
what it means to be citizens of that kingdom.
Here are the ethics of the kingdom.
This is what it means to live as my disciples.
And in this passage, in Matthew 6,
he spends quite a long time,
this is a considerable chunk
of the Sermon on the Mount,
and it deals with worry.
The first thing we need to understand
is that here in this passage,
Jesus is addressing a specific type of worry.
He is specifically addressing the problem
of worrying about the necessities of life,
the stuff that we need to live.
Look at verse 31.
He sums it up with these questions.
What shall we eat?
What shall we drink?
What shall we wear?
In Jesus' day,
the struggle for the necessities of life,
food, water, clothing,
it was never ending.
Normal people, like you and me,
had to work really hard
just to not die from starvation and thirst.
Food had to be planted and nurtured,
harvested, cooked all by hand,
and even then,
you were at the mercy of the weather
because if it didn't rain,
you didn't have a load of plumbing
and irrigation systems.
Your harvest would fail
and you'd be in trouble.
And even water had to be drawn from a well
and brought to your house by hand.
There were no taps.
And in terms of clothing,
people usually just had
a handful of garments to their name,
nothing more.
You were considered very well off
if you had more than one or two
changes of clothes.
So when Jesus says to his disciples here,
he's sitting down with them,
teaching them,
this is what it means to be in my kingdom.
He says, don't worry about food.
Don't worry about what you're going to drink
and what you're going to wear.
It hits them in a way
that it probably doesn't hit us immediately
as people who live in the 21st century.
Because we go down to Tesco
and it's full of food.
We open up our taps,
it's full of water,
and we have so much clothes
that we actually run out of space
of where to put them
and we put them in clothes bags.
But for these people hearing this,
they're like,
oh, that's what I spend
most of my time trying to do
is just get something to eat
so I can make it to the next day.
Now, you might be tempted to think,
okay, well then,
this doesn't really apply to us
because now we have taps
and we have Tesco.
That's not the case.
And here's why.
Because when Jesus is speaking
about food and drink and clothing,
he's using those as examples
of the necessities of life as a whole.
These are the sort of things
that we get focused on,
what our immediate needs,
our physical needs,
the things that we need
just to survive,
the nuts and bolts,
as it were,
of everyday life.
So while we don't have to worry
about the availability of food
or clothing,
don't we still worry about life?
How am I going to pay my bills this month?
Will I have enough money
to make it to the end of the month?
How am I ever going to buy a house
in this market?
What am I going to retire on?
What are my kids going to,
what kind of world
do my kids enter into?
Are we going to have another recession?
How am I supposed to pay rent
and save for a mortgage?
Am I going to be able
to get a good job
when I leave school?
These are real needs.
You need somewhere to live.
You've got to pay your rent,
you've got to heat your house,
you've got to feed your kids,
you've got to plan for the future.
And then Jesus comes to us
and he says,
don't worry.
Now if all Jesus said to us
is don't worry,
I think he'd be just like
that catchy song.
Just don't worry about it.
And it wouldn't be effective.
But Jesus doesn't stop there.
He doesn't just give us
a bare command.
He gives us reasons,
real concrete reasons
why we don't need to worry.
And I think he gives us three
that we're going to look at
in the first half here.
Two smaller ones
and the third one
he spends a lot more time on
so I'd say that's the main one.
The first smaller reason is this.
Life, verse 25,
life is about more
than just meeting your needs.
He makes this point
in verse 25
in the form of a question.
Is not life more than food
and the body more than clothing?
The problem with it
focusing exclusively
on these things
is that it reduces life
down to them.
It sort of shrinks life down.
Worry monopolizes
our thoughts
and our energies.
It consumes us
to the point
that we can't see
beyond or above them.
Worrying about
the necessities of life
eclipses
the meaning of life
from our view
which is to glorify God,
to know God
and to enjoy Him
forever.
Reason number two,
verse 27,
again Jesus
in the form of a question
he makes the point
worrying is futile.
It doesn't do anything.
Which of you
by being anxious,
he asks,
can add a single hour
to his life?
You can't extend your life.
You can't make yourself taller.
You can't do any of those things.
You're so limited.
And he said,
what about worrying
will never accomplish
these things?
The only thing
that worry accomplishes
is sorrow.
Worrying is futile.
Someone once described worry
as a rocking chair.
It gives you something to do.
You feel like you're doing something
but you're going nowhere.
All this energy
and you're going nowhere.
Third reason,
verses 26 to 32,
as I said,
I think this is the main reason
because of how much weight
and time Jesus puts behind it.
Your heavenly Father
will provide.
Your heavenly Father
will provide.
He comes at this point
from a few different angles.
I'm just going to read them quickly.
Verse 26,
he points to the birds.
Look at the birds of the air.
They neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns
and yet your heavenly Father
feeds them.
Are you not of more value
than they?
Arguing from the lesser
to the greater.
This is true of the birds,
my disciples.
How much more so
is it true of you?
Child of God.
Verse 28,
he points to the flowers.
Why are you anxious
about clothing?
Look at the lilies
of the field,
how they grow.
They don't toil or spin
yet I tell you,
even Solomon,
the rich, glorious
king of Israel
with all his wealth
and pomp
was never dressed
as well as one of these.
He says,
if God so clothes
the grass of the field,
like today it's there,
tomorrow it's thrown
into the oven,
it's gone.
How much more so
will he clothe you,
oh you of little faith?
Your heavenly Father
will provide.
And again,
verse 31,
he comes at it again
from a different angle.
He speaks to the Gentiles,
those who don't know God.
And he says,
therefore do not be anxious
asking what shall we eat,
what shall we drink,
what shall we wear.
For the Gentiles,
those who don't know God,
run after all these things.
And your heavenly Father
knows that you do need them.
He knows that you need them all.
Don't be like the Gentiles
who don't know God,
who are just focused
exclusively on these things,
as if this is the whole,
this is the be all
and end all of life.
Brothers and sisters,
listen to what Jesus
is saying to you this morning.
God, your Father,
knows everything
that you need.
And he will give it to you.
If you need it,
then you either have it
or you're going to have it
in his timing.
And if you never get it,
it's because you never needed it.
God knows everything
that you need.
I don't even know
everything that I need.
As a parent,
you look at your children,
as an analogy,
you look at your children
and see oftentimes
they need to go through
tough things
that they don't want
to go through
in order to grow
and develop.
How much more so
will our God give us
what we need,
not just the necessities,
even the challenges
and the pains of this life,
so that we grow
in our trust in him.
God will provide
everything that we need.
Jesus says,
you don't have to be anxious
about your life.
You can trust him.
Worry is a powerful thing.
Jesus deals with it
in a powerful way.
He's given us
these three reasons.
Life is about more
than just your needs.
Worrying is futile.
God is your father.
He will provide.
But Jesus doesn't stop there.
He drills down deeper
right to the very source
of worry.
Look at the end
of verse 30 again.
He says,
oh you of little faith.
That's what Jesus points to.
Not that they had no faith.
They were his disciples.
He said,
this worry that you have
about your needs,
the necessities of life,
it comes from
weak or small faith.
He's saying,
this isn't how you should live
as my disciples.
Now,
I need to pause here
for a second
and make a very important
clarifying point.
we must be careful
not to confuse
the worry that Jesus
is addressing
in this passage
with other things
in the Christian life
such as
normal sadness
and lament.
Let me explain
what I mean.
Worry due to a lack of faith
is very different
to sadness.
Psalm 142,
David said,
with my voice,
I cry out to the Lord
with my voice,
I plead for mercy
to the Lord,
I pour out my complaint
to him,
I tell my trouble
before him.
To put it simply,
David is sad,
he is low,
he is in a dark place
and if David was there
next to you
and you had this scripture
in Matthew 6,
it would be wrong
to be like,
don't worry,
you're fine.
That would be a misuse
of scripture,
wouldn't it?
He's feeling the brokenness
of this world,
it's sadness,
that's good
to lament
and feel sad.
Worry due to a lack of faith
is different
also
to normal concern.
1 Corinthians 11,
the Apostle Paul
writes this,
he says,
he speaks of
the daily pressure on me
and my anxiety
for all the churches.
I don't think
he's referring
to the same sort of anxiety
that Jesus is referencing.
Paul is simply saying this,
I am concerned
for how the churches
that have been planted
under my ministry
and the ministry of others,
I'm concerned
that they're going well.
That's not a sinful anxiety,
that's just normal concern,
the way that parents
are concerned
for their children
or the way that
if some of you perhaps
are waiting for
leaving cert results
or junior cert results,
that's a normal concern
and yes,
of course,
it can twist into worry
and a mistrust of God
or distrust of God
but in and of itself,
that's normal.
You see the point
I'm trying to get at?
We need to be able
to distinguish
between those things.
We don't want to come up
to someone
who is just having
a hard time
and slap Matthew 6,
do not worry on them
and think that's going
to heal everything.
The worry that Jesus
is addressing here
comes from a lack of faith.
That is its source.
It's not just
some isolated issue,
it's rooted,
Jesus says,
in what we value
the most.
Did you notice
that this passage
in verse 25
begins with the word
therefore.
This word therefore
tells us
that everything
he's just said
about worry
flows from
and out of
in continuity
with everything
he's just said beforehand.
They're all
put together.
when we jump
back to verse 19
where I think
his train
of thought
begins,
we see that
Jesus has been
teaching his disciples
specifically
about what
they are to
value the most.
Let's look at them
quickly in three chunks.
First verses
19 to 21.
Do not lay up
for yourselves
treasure in heaven
where moth
and rust
destroy,
where thieves
break in and steal,
but instead
lay up for yourselves
treasure in heaven
instead of on earth
where neither moth
nor rust destroys
and where thieves
do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure
is,
there your heart
will be also.
He says,
as my disciples,
you are to value,
to treasure
the things that are above,
the things of heaven
and focus your hearts
on those things.
because whatever you
treasure,
whatever you value,
that's what your heart,
your inner compass
is going to point towards
and say,
that's true north
and your life
is going to fall in line
with that direction.
He says,
don't put true north,
don't focus your heart,
don't treasure
the things of this earth
because they pass away.
Wrath
and rust,
moth and rust
destroy those things.
even Olympic medals,
money
and fame.
Earthly glory
will pass away
along with earth
itself one day.
Jesus says,
value the things
that cannot be taken
away from you.
Lay up treasure in heaven.
Next,
verses 22 to 23.
The eye
is the lamp
of the body.
So,
if your eye
is healthy,
your whole body
will be full of light.
But if your eye
is bad,
your whole body
will be full
of darkness.
If then the light
in you is darkness,
how great
is
the darkness?
Jesus
is referring
to a commonly
held belief
at that time
that light
would come
into your body
through your eye.
It was sort of
the window of the soul.
We still say that today.
But that light
was good for you.
It certainly is sunshine.
It goes in
through your eyes
and fills up
your whole body
with light
and brings health
and vitality.
And Jesus
is taking
that commonly
held belief
and he's
transposing it
or using it
to speak
of a spiritual
reality.
He says,
if you fix
your eyes,
the spiritual
eyes of your heart,
if you want
to put it that way,
the spiritual
sense that you
have on what
is true,
on the light,
then your whole
body,
your whole life
will be filled
with light.
It will bring
goodness
and truth
and health.
But if not,
if your spiritual
sight is bad
and you're
focused on
the wrong
things,
not heavenly
things,
but earthly
things,
then oh,
how great
that darkness
will be.
You see how
it's following
on from the
treasure?
What are you
looking at?
What are you
valuing?
What are you
valuing?
And finally,
verse 24,
again,
he's using
these contrasts.
He says,
no one
can serve
two masters.
For you
either 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.
That word
money there
can also
just be
translated
stuff,
things,
material
goods.
What's
Jesus
getting
at here
in verses
19 to
24?
If you
want to
put it
in the
form of
a question,
he's
asking this,
what do
you
treasure
above
all?
What do
you look
at with
the eyes
of your
heart?
And who
are you
serving?
He says,
you can't
serve God
and stuff.
And then
so when
he says
therefore,
he's going
right along
and he's
saying,
therefore,
do not
worry about
the things
that you
need.
Because
those who
don't know
God,
focus on
these things
because that's
where their
treasure is,
that's what
they serve,
that's what
they truly
value.
He said,
it's not
meant to
be like
that for
you.
You
belong to
God the
Father.
You're
in the
kingdom.
Seek the
things that
are above.
And God
will give
you all
the things
that you
need.
Jesus
is not
denying
our
physical
needs.
Your
heavenly
Father knows
that you
need them
all.
life is
about so
much more
than just
food and
drink and
clothing and
bills and
holidays and
cars and
exams and
stuff.
Beware of
getting bogged
down in the
nuts and
bolts of
life and
losing sight of
the meaning
of life.
life is
about knowing
God and
living with
him.
That is the
joy of the
Christian life,
is it not?
And that is a
joy that will
come to its
climax when we
are with
him forever.
This is just
a foretaste
of that
joy.
Life is
about longing
for his
kingdom,
seeking his
righteousness
and his
kingdom to
come, not
only in our
own lives,
but across
the world.
that God's
rule and
reign and
glory would
be known
all around
the world
that he has
created.
If we allow
ourselves to
be focused
on those
things,
then we
will not
need to
worry.
If you're
worried this
morning, it's
good to ask
yourself, what
am I worried
about?
That's a good
first step.
A bit of
self-diagnosis.
Can I add to
your list of
questions?
When you're
really worried
and upset
about something,
ask yourself,
what am I
treasuring?
What am I
valuing the
most in
life right
now?
What am I
focusing on?
Where are
the eyes of
my heart
looking right
now?
And who
am I
serving?
Jesus says,
oh, you of
little faith,
I don't
think he
was saying
that as
some sort
of harsh
rebuke like,
you idiots.
He's trying to
say, don't
you see, oh,
you of little
faith, how
valuable you
are.
Friends, if you
were in Christ
this morning, if
we could have a
glimmer of a
sight of the
love of God
for us in
Christ Jesus,
we would never
doubt again that
he would ever
provide for us.
You think God
is short on
cash?
Do you think he
forgets things,
that he lets
things slide?
He will always
provide for his
people.
Always.
Take these
words of the
Lord Jesus
Christ and
hammer them
deep into
your heart.
Preach them
to yourself.
Say, God is
my Father, he
will provide.
God is my
Father, he
will provide.
God is my
Father, he
will provide.
He knows
everything that
I need and
he will provide
it for me in
Christ Jesus.
To put it
another way,
Christian, you
are free to
not worry about
your life.
You have
concerns, you
still have to
plan for the
future, there
are still
problems to be
dealt with.
This is not
don't worry, be
happy, catchy
song approach to
life.
But it is to
say in the
worry and the
stresses of life
that we don't
have to worry
about these
things.
The alternative
to worry,
according to
Jesus, isn't
caring about
nothing, it's
caring about
the right
things in
the right
order.
It's a life
where we keep
the first
things first.
That's why he
says at the
end there,
verse 33,
seek first the
kingdom of
God and his
righteousness and
then all these
things will be
added to you.
He's not saying
don't go
shopping.
Like, God
will provide
for me, I
don't have to
go shopping.
Of course you
do.
You've got to
plan for your
future, you've
got to plan
financially, you've
got to be smart
and use the
brain that God
gave you.
You don't have
to worry about
these things, seek
first the
kingdom.
If you want
to worry less,
don't just say,
I want to
worry less.
Pray and ask
God to help
you to
recalibrate your
heart, to
maybe correct
the compass
back to the
things that are
most important.
Him and his
kingdom and
seeking his
righteousness.
You can
trust God
with everything
else.
Yes, you're
going to work
a job, you're
going to pay
your bills, deal
with stress and
setbacks and
uncertainties, but
you're not going
to let that take
over your life and
let that be the
be all and end
all.
Instead, resolve
to seek first the
kingdom, to
submit to Jesus
as your king, and
to lay up
treasure in
heaven.
Jesus ends
this teaching
with this
concluding point
in verse 34.
He says,
therefore, in
light of
everything that
I've just
told you, don't
be anxious about
tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be
anxious for
itself, sufficient
for the day is
its own trouble.
I love the way
that Jesus limits
us as his
disciples in this
verse.
He says, don't
worry about
tomorrow.
Don't worry about
next week, or how
are you going to
provide for this, or
how are you going
to get that, and
if that's ever going
to happen, how am I
going to provide for
my children?
He says, just focus
on today, that's
plenty.
Don't let the
worries of the
future stop you
from following me
and trusting me
today.
Worry is a
powerful thing.
Jesus is greater
and more powerful
than our worries, and
he will provide
everything that we
need.
If you're here this
morning and you're
not a Christian, I
wonder if you've
ever thought about
the Christian life in
these terms.
I hope that by
looking at God's
word, the Bible,
with us this
morning, you've
seen that life is
about so much more
than just stuff.
It's about living
with God and for
God, and how
freeing that is.
I pray for us all
this morning as we
look ahead to the
future, as you look
ahead to the future,
is that you will
treasure what is
good and true, that
you will lay up
treasure in heaven, and
that you will trust
Jesus the King.
You keep your eyes
fixed on him, serve
him, one day at a
time until you see
him.
As we've sung already
this morning, riches I
heed not, nor man's
empty praise.
Thou my inheritance,
now and always.
Thou and thou only
the first in my
heart.
Thou high King of
heaven, my treasure
thou art.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven, we
pray that you would
help us to take the
teaching of Jesus
Christ, our Lord, to
heart.
Lord, I pray where
our compass is off
and where we are out
of alignment and our
priorities have slipped
and been jumbled, we
pray, Lord, that by your
spirit you would help us
correct them.
Pray for those, Lord, who
are this morning worried
about serious problems
and anxious for the
future, that you would
calm their hearts.
We thank you that Jesus'
words here are not
trite and superficial,
but deep because they
point us towards you, the
fount of all wisdom and
glory and love and
provision.
Father, you have made us
and we trust that as you
are our Father in heaven,
you will provide for us all
of our needs in your Son,
Jesus Christ.
Help us, we pray, day to
day.
And we pray that your
kingdom and your
righteousness would come in
our lives and in
Carrig Line and in
Carrig Tool and around
this world, we pray for
the glory of Jesus.
Amen.
Thank you, Kevin.
We are going to sing in
response.
It's another catchy tune,
but it's not full of bad
advice.
It is going to...