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Mar 12, 2023

Freedom from the Grip of Anxiety

Freedom from the Grip of Anxiety

Passage: Matthew 6:24-33

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Stand Alone Message

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, faith, jesus, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, belief, anxiety, video, believe, health, spirituality, inspiration, jesus christ, the bible, lord, christianity, emotions, happiness, feelings, stress, bible study, own, emotion, psychology, inspirational, therapy, mental health, wellness, thinking, feeling, self improvement, transformed life, personal development, self help, panic attack, health tips, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, anxiety relief

This week, we continue to look at what scripture says about our feelings and how we can trust and lean into God’s promises and rely on his character when life gets tough. As we study Matthew chapter 6, we learn that anxiety pushes us to think too little of God and tries to hide how much God thinks of us. Its easy to see what we are devoted to in life, since we tend to worry the most about it, but that worry doesn’t change anything. As we deal with anxiety in life, we have to rely on God’s promises and our faith needs to drive our feelings, not the other way around. As always, if you’ve got questions, reach out today. You can take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next

Pastor Marty, one of our pastors, Marty Godfrey, has been in the hospital this week. He had triple bypass surgery this week, but is recovering well from all the hard stuff this week. Now he's at the point where they're making sure everything else is good and all other things are happening and right. And him and his family just want to say to all of you guys, thank you so much for the prayers for all of the encouragement that you've been given and keep them up. He's got a long road ahead to heal from that. And then also, men, let me speak to you just for a minute. Don't be stubborn. Amen? If something is going on, go get checked out. Go get checked out. Speaking of the men, tomorrow night. Tomorrow night is our men's night. It's our wings and things. Men's night tomorrow. And along with praying for the Godfrey family, I'm just going to ask you, over these next 36 or so hours to be lifting up tomorrow night. We have about a little over a thousand men that will be here tomorrow night. And from what I hear, a couple of young ladies snuck in and bought a couple of tickets, which is awesome. I don't know how that worked, but you bought a couple. We've got over a thousand men coming tomorrow night that are going to be hearing the Gospel. You've been inviting friends and do me a favor and pray for God to do an amazing work in men's hearts tomorrow night. It's going to be a great night together. 

 

Let's jump into the message. Last week, if you were here, you heard me mention that for the next couple of weeks, what we're going to do is we're going to walk through or process through what I'm just calling three tough emotions. Three tough emotions that either A you have dealt with in your life, or, B, I can promise you that somebody in your circle is either dealing with it right now or have dealt with it in the past. And what I said is we're going to attack them from the spiritual side, the spiritual lens. We're going to see what God says about them. We're going to see how we can have victory even in the middle of these difficult emotions. Last week we jumped into the deep end of the pool and we looked at this idea of depression last week. We conquered depression from the spiritual side last week, and we saw it through the lens of the Prophet Jeremiah, through this Prophet Jeremiah. And we defined depression last week as just looking at the now and looking into the future and what you're feeling. All right. What you're feeling in that moment is despair, suffocating darkness, and really no way back to joy. We defined that as our working definition last week. Well, listen, every service last week, someone around came up to me after the service and said, and I quote, Matt, depression feels like the walls are caving in on you and they feel like they're narrowing. 

 

To which I want to say, man, that is exactly what we spoke to last week. We looked at this idea from Jeremiah last week that in the pit of depression, we can look for the goodness of God. We can rest in the promises of God. It was amazing out of Jeremiah last week after we found it. Amen. It was amazing how we got to see that God, even in the middle of our despair, wants us to see and experience and walk and find his goodness. Well, last week we made the distinction that all three weeks there was one theme that's going to carry through all three of these weeks. In fact, I want to give you that principle again this morning. Just so you can have it at the top of your sheet. And here's the principle that I say is going to happen every single week. And here it is. We said that we should never feel our way into our beliefs. We should never feel our way into our beliefs. But we have to believe our way into our feelings. We said that last week to point out the fact that our beliefs should always be the engine of our lives and our feelings should always be the caboose. All right. That's the mental image that I want you to have, because here's what happens if you get those mixed up. If you put your feelings ahead of your beliefs, your feelings will lie to you. They will take you down paths that you never thought you would be on, and then they will solidify lies in your minds that are not truths from God. So we said last week that we should never feel our way into everything. That's not to say that you shouldn't have emotions. That's not to say you shouldn't have joy and those things in your life is to say that all of our beliefs should shape our feelings first, and our feelings don't have a mind of their own. We are in control to tell them what to believe. Now, this morning, that topic is going to be incredibly relevant as we walk through this idea this morning of the struggle of anxiety. The struggle of anxiety. Now, unlike depression, where some of you are like Matt, I don't feel like I've ever been in depression. I can almost 100% guarantee you that every single one of us at some point in our lives have felt anxious, have felt anxious, have had an anxiety moment. 

 

Now, as we said last week, there is a continuum here from anxious to totally falling apart, panic attack. But we've all been somewhere on the anxious scale. In fact, I don't even have to define what being anxious is, because you know what it is. Well, this week I needed a little bit of a sermon help. So I went to the knowledge base of all knowledge, social media this week. And I asked the question this week. I said, What makes you anxious? What makes you anxious? And I got a ton of responses. In fact, let me read you a couple of them. Some of them are incredibly interesting and funny and some of them are serious. The interesting ones or funny ones were Matt, what makes me anxious is people asking me, what's me, what makes me anxious. That makes me anxious. The second one I want to point out is what makes you anxious? They said, Matt, you do. You preach so long on Sunday mornings that I just get anxious when your countdown clock goes to zero. Here it is. That which by the way, that thing means nothing. Another one said, what makes you anxious? Somebody said, which UGA player will get arrested this week. That made them anxious. Obviously that's probably a Clemson fan. Some of the more serious ones of the week were this. What makes me anxious is change, money, crowds raising kids. Amen to that one. Traffic, chaos, the unknown, bills. Another one was being vulnerable. Makes me anxious. Another one I thought was pretty good was middle of the night phone calls. Man, that's a big one that's out there. Things that are outside my control, my future health, my future situation. And then. And then someone said, what makes me anxious is my singleness. And I thought, you know what? That's a big one. And this wasn't like an eighth grader. This was like a grown person. They said, my, my, my singleness and in God's providence, the next one after that said, What makes you anxious? They said my spouse makes me anxious. I was like, only God could do that on a question of what makes you anxious. You know, the reality is, I mean, I think this struck such a chord. And I got lots of direct messages from people that just didn't want to kind of put their laundry on display. The reality is, I thought I would get like five or six responses, but I think it struck a chord because anxiety is a massive struggle in many of our lives. 

 

In fact, I think on even one side that we're stamping the word anxiety into some things that I'm not even sure that it probably goes into. But that's a whole nother morning. But anxiety, the reality is it's a catalyst for so many other problems. One author this week said it like this: I just want to read it to you. I didn't put in your notes. He said, Think about how many other sins are connected to the root sin of anxiety. Think about how money will cause you to hoard or to steal. Anxiety about succeeding will make you irritable and impatient with those around you. Anxiety about relationships will make you withdrawn or indifferent towards other people. Anxiety about what others think about you will make you lie or stretch the truth. And here's how he finished it up. He said this. He said, If anxiety could be conquered a mortal blow would be struck to so many other sins. And Church, I think we can feel that in our lives. So here's what we're going to do today. Today, we're not going to look at what the world says about anxiety. We're not going to look at the clinical side of anxiety. Today, we're going to look at what Jesus says about anxiety and worry. And we're going to look at this from the incredible teaching of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapter six. Matthew Chapter six. Today, it'll be a whole lot easier than finding Lamentations, I promise you. Matthew, Chapter six. We're going to start in verse 24 in just a second. But here's the goal for today. Eventually, today, my goal is for us to come to a conclusion. In fact, I want you to write this down that the anxiety moments, here's the principle, are an opportunity to trust and to lean into God's amazing promises and God's character. 

 

Now, let me say that again. This is going to shape everything. We're going to look at anxiety moments are an opportunity to trust and lean into God's amazing promises on this side. What he has promised us and his character over here, which is who God is. Now, one quick thing before we jump into the text. There's like 100 intros. I get it. But we got to do this. As we said last week. Let me point out again, there can be a lot going on when you face anxiety. There can be a whole lot there. As I mentioned, God has created us with a body. He's created us with a soul. And those things are so intricately woven together that one can't function without the other. And if one is struggling, the other is struggling. So what happens is they both affect each other. And for some of you, you have some major factors inside of your anxiety that have to do with physical nature, psychological nature, traumatic events, relational things that have happened inside of you. And I don't want you to think today that I'm just trying my best to lump all this into a spiritual deal. That's not what I'm doing. That's not what I'm doing. I do realize there are some things in that, but what we are going to do is attack anxiety from the spiritual side. And here's what I want to promise you. I promise you, if you will start by spiritually looking at how Jesus says to deal with your anxiety, that a lot of you can be set free from your anxiety. But I also realize there are some of you with some deep seeded things that have happened in those cases that I want to tell you this once you deal with it spiritually and it's still there, I'm just going to ask you, this man, you need to reach out for help. You need to reach out for help. You need to seek wise counsel. And we would like nothing more than to point you in a direction with somebody that can help you walk through that. All right. So I just want to say that on the front end. All right. Let's jump into the text on anxiety and here's what I'm going to do. I want to read the whole text. All right. Don't don't do that every week. But I want you to see it in one complete thought. And then we're going to come back around it and pick it apart. All right, Matthew six, verse 24, hold on, because I'm going to read it and I'm not slowing down. Here it is. It says no one can serve two masters. This is Jesus talking. Either you hate the one and love the other, or you are devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. I know it kind of seems like a weird place to start a whole conversation about worry and anxiety. But hold on. Are you going to see why? In just a minute, verse 25. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life. What you will eat and drink, or about your body or what you will wear is not life more than food and the body, more than clothes? Look at the birds in the air. They do not so or reap or store away in barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feeds them, are you not much more valuable than they? Verse 27. Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. Do they not labor and spin? I tell you that not even Solomon, in all of his splendor, is dressed like one of these. Verse 30. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field that is here today, that is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire. Will he not much more clothe you? Oh, you of little faith. So do not worry about saying what shall we eat and what shall we drink and what shall we wear? For the pagans, all right. That's the people who have zero relationship with God is what he's saying. For the pagans run after these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. Verse 33. But seek verse his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles on its own. 

 

Now, look, I love this passage. In fact its probably one of my favorite ones, that's why it kind of leaks into about every third message, one verse out of this passage. But I see this passage not through the lens of that I've got it all figured out, but I see it through the lens of there's so much freedom offered inside of this passage that I just want us to have. But one thing that Christ does or Jesus does in this passage is that Jesus defines for us what anxiety is, and he shines a light on the cultural misconceptions of what anxiety really is. So here's what I want to do this morning. I just want to show you how Jesus defines anxiety and what he says about it. And because of that, I'm praying that you can see that there's some freedom offered in this passage. He gives us three descriptions of anxiety here. Pretty simple outline this morning. Number one, he says, this anxiety pushes us to think too little of God. That's what anxiety does. Or you could even say anxiety kind of just thinks too little of God or has a limited view of God. And here's what I mean by anxiety pushes us to think too little of God. The most profound and the biggest kind of counterintuitive point inside this whole message is that most of us define anxiety as an emotion that comes out of the uncertainty of life. That's kind of how most of us would define anxiety. But what Jesus has just said and what we have read is that anxiety is an emotion that is intimately connected to our deepest desires. That's what he said. So don't think of anxiety as just this random kind of out there little deal. Jesus says, No, no, no, no. Anxiety is intimately connected to what you care about the most. In other words, right, this principle down we worry most, or we're most anxious about what we are most devoted to. That's the point he's making in the passage. If you want to see what you're most devoted to, just see what you worry about the most. That's what Jesus is telling us. Well Matt, that's not true. Oh, that is totally true. You see, we worry most about what we're most devoted to, which is why Jesus starts this whole conversation off with What are you devoted to? Look at verse 25. Watch verse 25. Jesus says this. He says, Therefore, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body or about or what you will wear. Now, as Bible students, you know this any time you see the word, therefore you got to see what it is. That's great. Three of you, there for, right there it is. 

 

Maybe we need to teach the Bible. All right, there it is. Right. Any time you see the word, therefore, you've got to see what it's there for. So what is this therefore, there for? You're right. Verse 24. I'm going to answer that one for you. Now go back and look at verse 24. Watch what Jesus says. He proves his point. He says, No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. He says you cannot serve both God and money, so Jesus knows that we're most anxious about what we're most devoted to. That's what He's just said. You can't serve them both, and that's obviously the thing that's on our mind. And then Jesus knows that we're a little bit slow and we need an example, right, to prove this point. So Jesus uses money as an example to show us what anxiety looks like. Well, Matt, why did he use money? Well, it's pretty obvious why he uses money, because that's what we're most anxious about a lot of the time. 

 

A lot of people. You see, if you think money is the one all important thing to a good life, then what you're going to do, Jesus says, is you're going to worry about money. You're going to worry about getting money, you're going to worry about keeping money. You're going to worry about hoarding money. You're going to worry about hiding money and not losing money. And so what Jesus does is he asks the question right here, this devotion question to money. In verse 25, Jesus says, This is life, not more than food and the body not more than clothes. He's proving his point right here. You can just hear Jesus saying, hey, listen, is money really what defines the good life? Because that's what these two things represent. And then to go one step forward, he uses the illustration, two of them. He starts with the birds, he starts with the birds. I love this illustration because Jesus looks at us and he's like, Hey, listen, listen, listen, listen. Think about the birds that are out there. Look at verse 26. He says, Look at the birds of the air, do they not sow or reap? They don't store in barns, yet your heavenly Father, he feeds them. He feeds them. So what he's saying? Jesus is not saying that birds could just care less and they just live a whatever life. But he's saying that, hey, listen, birds will spend a whole lot of time worrying about saving too much because they know that it is God that's going to provide for them and they're never going to lack. That's the point he's making. And then he says, Hey, think about the wildflowers. Look at verse 28. He says, they don't labor or spin. Yet, I tell you that not even Solomon, in all his splendor, was dressed like one of these. What's the point here? He's saying the flowers don't spend much time being anxious about or spend much time trying to look pretty right? 

 

They don't spend much time on that. Why? Because. Because it's God that makes them that. Do you see the point in these two examples? God is looking at us and he's not making the point. Now, don't take this the wrong way. God is not saying don't save. He's not saying don't have a 401k, he's not saying just live a flippant life. That's not what he's saying. He's not even saying that you shouldn't go out and buy yourself something nice. That's not what he's saying here. The point is, we should not be devoted to these two things, whether it's money or beauty in a way that they're our source of security, that there is a source of beauty. Do you see what Jesus did in one swath here? He just knocked everybody out in your whole house. Why? Because there's always somebody worried about money. There's always somebody worried about beauty in every single house out there. Jesus is a masterful teacher, and he looks at us and goes, Hey, you're anxious because you're worried about the wrong things. You're anxious because you're trying to store up things that you haven't been called at the shore up. You're anxious about things that it's my job to do, to provide for you. What Jesus is teaching here in the academic world is called God's law of first things. God's law of first things. And here's how it goes. As simply as I can put it, what Jesus is saying is that simply, if you and I, we will focus on God as the first. Here's what he's saying. As the primary. 

 

Listen closely. In whatever it is, whether it's money or devotion, time, kids, whatever it is. Then God's role and his promise to us, if we put him first, then his role is to supply us with the seconds. That's his role. His role is to come behind us in all the other things that we need, whether it's money or beauty. That's what he's told us. Right. But here's what he has said. The problem that we have, here's the law of the first. The problem is that many of us focus on the seconds. The second thing in our lives. And here's the result of that. I don't think we fully grasp it. Let me give it to you. The result is that not only are we chasing a fool's errand of chasing after the seconds. You see, if you're focused on security, beauty, spending, saving, whatever it is, what happens is that God looks at us and says, well, okay, well, now you're not even promised the seconds. You're not even promised that I'm going to do this for you. And here's the second part that we miss. And he says, you've removed yourself from my promise. So you see that when we focus on the first, we get God and His power and He promises to give us the rest. But when we focus on the second, we're not promised the second, and we separate ourselves from the first. But yet Satan knows this tactic. Satan knows that this is where we struggle. So listen, God takes care of the flowers and the birds, and all He asks out of us is just to make him the first. Now, this has to do with so much more than money. Money is just the example that Jesus used here because he knows it's a struggle. It has to do with so much more than beauty. Okay, so those are your two things. You've got a thing, all right? You're thinking about your thing, whether it's parenting or career or something else. But what God is telling us is you've got anxiety and you've got stress because you've looked at God and you're thinking so much less of God. 

 

You've taken him off the throne and you've put yourself on the throne. And what you're thinking of is the seconds. And because you've done that, you're not going to get the seconds. And you've lost the firsts. I know that's confusing, but you know exactly what I'm saying because it's a fool's errand to chase the seconds. So anxiety, what does it do? It pushes us to think too little of God because we think we're in control. But secondly, anxiety. Here's what Jesus says. It tries to hide how much God thinks of us. Now I want you to see these two together. So leave this on the screen for a second. The first one we are taking God off the throne and we're putting ourselves on the throne saying, I've got this, I can do this. I am in control. The second one hides who God says he is to us. In other words, it's Satan whispering in our ear, Hey, God doesn't really do that. God doesn't really care. God's not really out there. He doesn't really care where you're walking through. But look at what Jesus says. It's masterful. Look, Jesus tells us how great of care that God takes of the birds. Right? We just saw that. But look at verse 26. You might need to underline this. Watch what Jesus says after he talks about the birds. He says, Are you not much more valuable than they are? Are you as a person with a soul created in God's image, not much more valuable than the birds? He goes even further. After he talks about these beautiful flowers that God creates. Watch what he says in verse 30. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? You of little faith. Listen, what Jesus is doing right here is he's taking the God of creation and he's showing us that the God of creation in creation, cared about the birds and the begonias, for goodness sakes. Right. How much more does he care for you? How much more does he want to walk with you? Don't you think that God cares more about you than a bird or a begonia? Anybody that tells you otherwise, they don't know Scripture. He's saying, no, no. Jesus is pointing out the character of our Heavenly Father that from creation on, is 100% a God of blessing, a God that gives us good things. That God does care for the birds and He does care for the flowers, but he much more cares for you. I love Luke. When Luke was teaching the same message in Luke, chapter 12, verse 32. Here's what Luke adds to this. He says, Do not be afraid, little flock. Your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. So let me ask you the question. How pleased was God to give you the kingdom? Here's the answer. Jesus was pleased enough to, or God was pleased enough to send Jesus to die on the cross for you. 

 

That's how pleased He was to give you the kingdom. So listen, if let me bring it full circle. If God loved you enough to give Jesus for you, do you really think that God is in the business of neglecting your everyday needs? Do you really think that? If we can trust him with eternity, then why can't we trust him with today? Paul says in Romans eight. He says he did not spare his own son, but he gave him up for us all. How will he not also catch this, along with him graciously give us all things? You know, the question that just struck me down this week studying this was this, what more can God do to prove his love for me? What more? What more can I look at God and go, God, if you will just do this, I'll love you. God's looking at me going and listen, I gave my son for you. I put my son on the cross for you. The humiliation of the cross for you. What more do I need to do? Church Listen, we can trust God. We can trust Him with our bills and our marriage. We can trust him with our family. We can trust him with our kids' education, with our job. We can trust him with our money and our future. Let me say this. I want to say this sensitively as possible, but as frank as possible. Here it is. Anxiety for the Christian is completely irrational. It's completely irrational. I know I just lost like 10% of you. Right. But let me back it up. Anxiety for the Christian is completely irrational because of this. Here it is. If we believe God can take care of heaven, why do we not believe He can handle me on earth? Do you see what I'm saying in that? If we believe that God is good for eternity, then why can't I believe that He's good for now? 

 

Let me go one step further and say this. If God can deliver me from damnation, then why do I not believe that He can deliver me from the day? You see what I mean? That makes anxiety when we're looking at it in a spiritual sense, completely irrational. Because I'm looking at my moment going God, I don't trust you in this moment. God, I'm not giving this to you in this moment. God, I don't think you're working in this moment. But God, I know the moment I die, I'm going to wake up in heaven around all of you and God's going, Really? I can't handle your power bill? But your soul, I can? It's irrational. Listen church, we got to believe either we got to choose to either believe the Bible or not when it comes to who God is. That's why Jesus, He goes even one step forward in verse 32. In Matthew 6:32, he says, For the Pagans run after these things. He's like, Listen, we don't choose to trust God and we choose to trust our anxiety more. We're acting like a pagan who has no God to trust in. But listen, Church, we have a good father. We have a good father who cares more about me than I can imagine. So let's just act like it. Let's just act like it, and let's just give him the praise. It is truly hard to believe the gospel and be anxious. That's what he's saying, because we know where our eternity is. In fact, Paul speaks to this even stronger because that's really what he does in a lot of things, right? Listen to how Paul says this in Philippians four. He says this. Do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation about prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your request to God. Verse seven, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Listen, this is not a Hey, if you get around to it, this is a command in Scripture. 

 

The command is to be anxious for nothing. For nothing. But Matt, what about. Nope. But Matt, you don't understand. Nope. But Matt, I got this. Nope. Nothing. It's what Paul says. We saw this four times in our texts today where Jesus is saying, don't worry about it. And now Paul is giving us this command to be anxious for nothing. It's all over the New Testament. In fact, did you know the command to fear not is the most used command in the whole Bible? Do you know that? Do you know how many times its in the Bible? It's used 366 times in the Bible. It tells me and you to fear not. You know what that means? That means there is one fear not for every single day of every single year of your life, including Leap year. Right 366 of them. They're there. So Paul says quit. Place your anxious thoughts in front of the feet of Jesus and his role is to take care of them. In fact, he gives us a little prayer trick here. I just want to point out and then I want to move on. And I saw this on Monday and it has been really good for the week. Remember when he said, Hey, listen, Paul says, instead of being anxious in every situation, he said by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your request to God. Now you've heard that before, but let me kind of turn this around, and I want to show you a key word that doesn't get a lot of press when preaching about this. And it's the word Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. You know what this means? It means this, you know, one of the most anxious hours of your whole life every day is your prayer life right? It's your prayer life. Why? Because it's at that moment you're dredging up everything that you have got for God. So you're getting more anxious, and more anxious, and more anxious, because you're working through your list of stuff that you put on a list so you didn't have to remember for the rest of the day. But what Paul is telling us here is that when we were bringing our requests before our Heavenly Father, let us bare our souls in front of God, that's step one. But number two, before we get done praying, let's pre, in advance, thank God for handling what I've just given him. Now, that's bold, isn't it? Hey, God, I got this thing. I'm bringing it to your request today. And, man, this is a really big deal, and I'm really kind of anxious about this thing. And God, I'm putting it in front of you today. And God, hey, listen, before I close, I just want to thank you in advance that you're the God of the universe, the creator of the world, that you have promised me that you will take this from me. And God, now this thing is in your hands and not in my hands anymore. And the results that come are up to you. That's what Paul is saying. Now, I don't know if that looks like your prayer life. It didn't look like my prayer life for a long time. But this week it has been really cool to say, God, I'm just giving this to you. And the results are you, and whatever happens, happens. That's how, what did Paul finish up with saying? The peace that passes all understanding, that's how it can rule your heart. So what does anxiety do? Anxiety, it pushes us to think too little of God. 

 

Anxiety secondly, it hides how much God thinks of us. Why? Because we begin to place our stuff in the middle of it. And I want you to see the third when this one brings both of these together. Here's the third one. Number three, Jesus says anxiety at its core, it is a masterful liar. It's a masterful liar. Or if you want to write out in the margins, you can just even say that anxiety is just a false prophet. It's a false prophet. Why? Because you see anxiety, what it does in our lives, is it offers false solutions to our problems, right. It makes false promises that it has no power to back up. It's just making it. Why? Because our feelings are running us. And it offers false predictions in our lives of something that's going to happen. What do we do? You see, when we worry or when we're anxious about something. Stay with me. It makes us feel a little bit better about that thing because we feel like we're doing something about it right. We feel like we're doing something about it. And here's what happened. It's a false prophet and it tells us, hey, listen, if you will just put some time to it, if you'll devote some time to it over time, you will be able to do something. 

 

But Jesus says this. There's two problems with that. Number one, write this first principle down. Anxiety or worrying does not change anything. It doesn't change anything in its purest sense. You say Matt, where did you get that? Look at verse 27, Jesus said it. He says, Can any one of you worry? Can any one of you worry about a single hour of your life? In other words, worrying is not even going to do anything. In fact, it does the opposite. Because, will worrying add to your life? No. But what does science tell us about worry and stress and anxiety? It actually subtracts from our lives. Did you know that 75% of non-emergency room visits to doctors right now are over stress and anxiety? Have you ever noticed that the people that live to be like 127 years old are the people that are just the most lackadaisical people on the planet? Right. That doesn't have a care in the world. This is why. Because anxiety does the second thing. Anxiety is a false prophet that says I will handle this, but it doesn't. It's a liar. 

 

But number two, check out the second reason anxiety is a liar. Jesus says the reason is because most of what we worry about. It never happens. It never happens. Now, I'm about to get in your business, just a little bit. I just want to tell you that on the front end of this, because here's what we do. All right. And I know this is what you do. Matt, never make a generality. No, this is a you. This is all of us. We worry about a thousand things that never happen. Amen. Amen? Are you with me on that? We just do. And here's what we do. We build these scenarios in our minds, and it feels so real. It feels so real that this is what's going to happen and that's going to happen. And here's where this is going to go. And it's all going to go and it's all going to be. And listen, Satan loves it. Do you know why? Because as we're building these scenarios in our mind, what we're doing is we're taking our eyes off the author and perfecter of our faith and Satan is creating a new scenario for our life that has no reality moments in it. None. Why? Because it's a liar. Anxiety is a liar. I mean, think about it. How many things through the years have you thought about and worried about? And we're anxious about that. Never happened. That never happened. Well, Matt, there was that one. Yeah, but there's a million others that didn't. That's the point. Look at how Jesus charges us to worry about worry and anxiety. 

 

Look at verse 34. He says this: Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow it will worry about itself. And then watch what he says. Each day has enough trouble on its own. Well, Matt, that's exactly what I am worried about, right? I'm worried about the trouble that's coming tomorrow. That's why I'm anxious. Kind of wish Jesus would have just left that sentence off. It's all right, but I get it. But listen, while there will be trouble tomorrow, what is Jesus saying right here? Who else is going to be there? Who else is going to be in tomorrow? Or let me ask that a little bit better. Who else is already in tomorrow? You know who's not in tomorrow? Satan is not in tomorrow. He's not there yet. He is not like God. He is not on the other side of time. But listen, Church, we serve a God that is not a liar. We serve a God that is in yesterday. He is in today and he is in tomorrow. And here's what God has promised us in this passage. God is saying, Listen, I'm not worried about the 999 things that you're worried about that are not going to happen. What I'm doing is I'm worried about the one thing that is going to happen, and I'm already in it tomorrow to give you what you need to walk through it. And either you can choose to do this on your own, or you can choose to trust the creator of the universe who clothes the flowers, who gives the birds what they need and is your savior. 

 

That's the point. That's the point of the whole message. I love my favorite example of this. The other services didn't get this so don't tell them. It's 12:00, we could go on forever here. My favorite example of this is the manna in the wilderness right. You know that literally the word manna in Hebrew means what is it? I love it, you know, what is it? I don't know. It's called what is it? God said, Hey, here's what I'm going to do. I know you need to eat. I'm going to provide for you every single day. Right? That's what he did. He gave them manna in the wilderness. There was nothing to eat. So he commanded him to go out and get what you need. Just for the day. Just for today. Go get what you need. If you try to get enough for tomorrow, I'm going to make it rot. I'm going to put worms in it, and it's going to sink your whole house up, except for the day before the Sabbath day. Then you can go get two things. What was God doing in that? God was teaching them a lesson about not worrying about tomorrow that I am the provider, that I am God and I will provide. And trust me, God is saying, if you will do your part, I will give you what you need for the day. You see, but here's our problem. Our problem is we want to stockpile our whole lives up to where we try our best to remove every risk out of it, at our power to where God is saying, 

 

Listen, you can never fully prepare for everything. That's a fool's errand. And number two, you need to understand that's unnecessary, because I am the God that provides the what is it for your day. Church, that's why we're so anxious all the time, because we feel like we're the ones in control. We feel like we're in control. God says I'm here, God says I'm there. God says, Listen, tomorrow you are going to have problems. In fact, right now I want you to look at your neighbor right now. Look at him right now. And I just want you to say this tomorrow something bad is going to happen. It's true. I know. It's like, man, what a way to finish the message Matt. It's so true. The conversation is not is something bad going to happen? We're promised, he didn't like it at all. I promise you it's going to happen. She's never coming back. We're off script now. It's going to happen. Tomorrow, something bad is going to happen. But the question is who's there? Who's there? If it's me that's in charge, we're all in trouble. But if it's him that's in charge, he's going to clothe us and he's going to feed us. He's going to sustain us, and he's going to make us have joy. Why? Because he lives. The crux of the matter is this, because he lives, right? Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future and life is worth a living just because he lives. What's the conclusion of this whole matter right here? 

 

The conclusion is, let's not trust the false prophet anxiety with our lives, let’s trust the prophet that only speaks truth in his name is Jesus and Jesus took the things to the cross that should cause us anxiety. And He died for him and now has given us the way, the truth and the life that no one is coming to the father except for him. And he has offered us his life. Church, I said at the very beginning, what I hope you're seeing is anxiety ultimately goes back to a breakdown in our understanding of who God is and what God wants to do in our lives. Does that mean you're never going to have an anxious thought when you are fully invested in who God is? No, but it means this when they do pop in. You've got some ammunition in my mind to go, No, no, no. That ain't who my God is. My God is bigger than that. No, no, no. That's not who my God is. My God thinks more of that. That's not who my God is. Anxiety, you are a liar. And my God is the way, the truth, and the life. And he's mine. 

 

So church this morning as we jump into our invitation this morning and I'm just going to ask you what's the lord of your life today? Is it your anxious thoughts or is it the one who put himself on the cross, who rose for your sins and who offered you life? Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because he lives, he lives, he lives. Not me. My life is worth the living just because he lives. Lord Jesus today, as we walk into our time of the invitation today, Lord Jesus, God, let's put you back on the rightful spot. Let's see you for how much you really do love us. And God, let us see that anxiety is a liar that does not speak the truth. Because you live God. Now, with your heads bowed and your eyes closed. I just. I just want to say today, man, you might have walked into this place today, incredibly defeated, but I hope you're seeing the encouragement of who Christ is for you today. If you seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, he'll add the rest of these things on to you. Maybe this morning you just need somebody to pray with you in the next couple of minutes. We got lots of people who would love to do that, and speak his promises and his character over you. Maybe this morning you need to meet Jesus for the first time. You need to surrender your heart and life to him today. Listen, as soon as this prayer is over, I'm just going to ask you to be bold. Step out from where you are and walk right over to the next step banner to the front right of the room. Just look at one of us and say, I need Jesus today. Maybe today, you need to sit in your seat and just look at it, and it's because he lives that you can face tomorrow. Maybe you need to use this altar and just pray on your own today that God would replace your anxious thoughts with his character and His promises. Lord, move in these next couple of minutes Lord Jesus. It's in your name we pray. 

 

Amen. Amen. 

 

Let's stand and sing.

Follow Along with the Message

Freedom from the Grip of Anxiety

March 12, 2023

PRINCIPLE: We should never our way into our beliefs, we have to believe our way into our feelings.

PRINCIPLE: Anxiety moments are an opportunity to and lean into God’s amazing promises and character.

Matthew 6:24–34
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
3 Descriptions of Anxiety According to Jesus

1. Anxiety pushes us to think too of God.

PRINCIPLE: We worry most about what we are most to.

Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…”
Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Matthew 6:25
“…Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
Matthew 6:26
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”
Matthew 6:28–29
“…They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”
Matthew 6:33
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

2. Anxiety tries to hide how God thinks of us.

Matthew 6:26
“…Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Matthew 6:30
“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?”
Luke 12:32
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Romans 8:32
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
Matthew 6:32
“For the pagans run after all these things…”
Philippians 4:6–7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

3. Anxiety, at its core, is a masterful .

PRINCIPLE: Anxiety or worrying does not anything.

Matthew 6:27
“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

PRINCIPLE: Most of what we worry about happens.

Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:33
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

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