Matthew 6:25-34
~16 min read
TRANSCRIPT
Our scripture text for tonight's message is taken from Matthew 6:25-34. People are worried about many things. Businessmen worry about whether they can clinch the next deal or not. Mothers are worried about the future of their children. Students are worried about their examinations. Young people are worried about whether they can find their future spouses.
Worry is an emotion that has troubled millions of people. What can worry do to us? It can do nothing but damage us. Someone explained the damaging effect of worries and anxieties in this way: it is like a dense fog or haze, extensive enough to cover seven city blocks, 100 feet deep, and able to cripple a large city. But this entire fog is only composed of less than a glass of water divided into 60,000 million tiny droplets of water, and it is able to cover the whole city of New York and paralyse it. In a similar fashion, the worry and anxiety that trouble our minds are extremely small, and yet it can do massive damage to our lives.
Here in this passage, Christ's intent was not for us to adopt a "who cares" attitude. There is a type of genuine worry – or perhaps we should call it genuine concern – that all Christians should have. For example, if you are a preacher, a Sunday school teacher, a Bible study facilitator, or a parent with children, and you are not concerned about the spiritual well-being of those who are under your care, something is terribly wrong.
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:28, “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches”. In other words, despite the persecutions he faced, he cared genuinely for the spiritual well-being of all the churches. However, even then, as we seek to fulfil our spiritual responsibilities, we must also learn to cast all our cares onto God.
Is there a cure for worry and anxiety? The world has no solution but to offer psychotropic drugs prescribed by the tonne, and people turn to psychologists for therapies after therapies, but to no avail. Dear friend, the only cure for worry and anxiety is found in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible offers an entirely different and far more effective cure, and no one is more qualified to teach us than our Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And this is what we want to learn from this passage in Matthew 6:25-34. The title of our message is “The Folly of Worry and Anxiety”. Three times in this passage, Jesus gave the command “take no thought” (Matthew 6:25,31,34). “Take no thought” does not mean we do not care, or we do not plan, or we do not make proper provision for the future. In the original Greek language translated into English during the time of King James, it simply means “stop worrying”. In other words, stop worrying; stop being anxious. There are four reasons why we should not worry.
I. It Is A Command
Firstly, because it is a command given to us. Let us begin with verse 25, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
In the preceding verses, Jesus taught us that we ought to have only one treasure, lay up treasures in heaven, to have only a single-minded vision, and to have only one master. No one can serve two masters; ye cannot serve God and mammon (paraphrased from Matthew 6:24). It is impossible to serve God and money at the same time.
We all know that the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 1, says, ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.’ You and I cannot be serving God and glorifying Him if we are constantly worried. We will start to doubt God, which will then lead us to stop praying and keep focusing on the problem. So, the command was given to us: stop worrying; stop being anxious.
II. It Is By God’s Providence
Secondly, we should not worry because everything happens by God's providence, including our lives. Providence is the means by which God directs all things toward His sovereign purpose. Ephesians 1:11 says, “according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”. The Westminster Larger Catechism, question 18, says, ‘God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, ordering them and all their actions to His own glory.’
Listen carefully to the words of Jesus Christ, “Take no thought for your life”. Why did He say that? Are we not supposed to take care of our lives? Most certainly. However, we need to understand who is the one responsible for our having life in the first place: God Himself. Isaiah the prophet said, “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1).
Nothing happens by chance or coincidence, and there is no such thing as being lucky. God made us and shaped us. He gave us life. He chose our parents. He allowed the circumstances that surrounded us as we were growing up. He allowed us to go through trials and struggles to mould us into the person of His design. He determined the place and the time of our birth, and even the place where we live, are all appointed by him. Not only that, if we are believers, He has redeemed us by the precious blood of His only begotten Son, and we are called the children of God. We belong to him.
Dear friend, have you ever been troubled with your appearance – how tall or short you are, how beautiful or handsome you are, or the colour of your skin? Have you ever been sad because you are not exceptionally bright? Or have you ever been proud because you are highly intelligent? Well, God says to you, ‘I made you. I take the responsibility for those things. I am the One who created you.’ Our heavenly Father created us and brought us here. He will accomplish His sovereign purpose in our lives for as long as we live. The providence of life is not in our hands; it is in God's hands.
III. It Is Unnecessary
Thirdly, we should not worry because it is unnecessary. As sinners, we are doomed for eternal damnation, and the greatest expression of God's love is when He sent His only begotten Son to die for wretched sinners like us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). If God spared not his only begotten Son to save us, will He not provide for our physical needs?
Jesus went on to give two illustrations, and what is interesting is that Jesus used, in the eyes of men, two very insignificant creations of God – the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Look at verse 26, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”
To “behold” is to observe carefully. Look carefully at the birds. Perhaps there are billions and billions of birds in this world. By and large, they are all healthy and happy. None of them is suffering from hypertension. None of them is suffering stress-related diseases. And most certainly, none of them is worrying as far as their physical needs are concerned. When they are tired, they sleep. When they wake up, they go out to find food.
“Behold the fowls of the air” – one of the smallest creatures on the face of this earth; watch them fly, see them hop on the ground, hear them sing on the treetops. Have you ever come across a skinny or skeleton-looking bird in your life? Unless the bird is terribly sick, I have never seen such a bird before.
The birds never sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet they are always so healthy-looking. Even during wintertime, they are still healthy. If God feeds them on a daily basis, will He not provide for us, who are His children? If the birds are not worrying, why do you and I have to worry? Are we not of more value than the birds?
Jesus did not mean that we should be lazy or slothful. Birds themselves instinctively make provision for the future. In fact, those tiny little creatures work harder than any one of us in this room. It also does not mean that if we trust God, everything will be smooth-sailing. Sometimes sparrows are eaten by other animals, and some of them die young. That is how nature works. The point is this: the birds demonstrate God's care for the lower creatures. How much more we, who are of a higher creation, can be assured of His great care.
The ultimate truth is this: the birds do not have souls. The birds do not have a Heavenly Father. Only we, His children, can call upon Him, Abba, Father. The birds do not bear the image of Christ; they do not worship God, but we do. When our Lord Jesus died on the cross, His death had nothing to do with the birds, but it had everything to do with you and me. His blood was shed for you and me. Therefore, Jesus said, “Are ye not much better than they?” Most certainly, it is absolutely unnecessary for us to worry as children of the Almighty God.
In our church, we are praying for Noah, the son of Patrick. He was born with some medical conditions or autoimmune deficiency syndrome. He needs 24-hour care and attention. He needs special medical equipment to help him cope from day to day. When we look at the amount of resources he needs and the challenges he has faced and will face in the future, how can it not trouble our hearts?
But when we consider his life, how God has sovereignly created him and placed him in a Christian family with loving parents and siblings, and provided his parents with the resources to help him face those challenges, this verse immediately comes to our minds – “Are ye not much better than they”, the birds of the air? Our hearts are comforted because we know that God will take care of him, and He will take care of you and me.
Verses 28–30, “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
The lilies of the field is a general term used for the wildflowers that grow in the fields and hillsides of Galilee. They are the beautiful decorations of nature. Even though they make no effort to grow, design, or colour themselves, yet even Solomon – one of the richest men in the world – in his glory, in his prime, was not clothed like one of these flowers.
Today, people spend so much time, money, and effort to dress themselves up. People lust after sumptuous, stylish, and costly clothes to satisfy their pride and vanity. Look at the number of clothing stores we have, and the number of clothes we have – it is staggering. People today do not worry about necessary clothing, unlike the time of Jesus Christ. Many of those people had only one garment. And if Jesus told those people who had only one simple garment not to worry, what do you think He would say to us today, who have our closets full of clothes and still think we do not have enough and we are worried about what to wear? God forbid!
However, despite their beauty, flowers do not last long. Along with the grass of the field, they are alive today, and tomorrow they are thrown into the oven. The oven was used for baking bread. When a woman wanted to bake bread, she would build a fire inside the oven. She would use dried grass and flowers from the fields to start this fire, and sustain this fire.
So, one moment the flowers were so beautiful, but the next moment they had little use except to be burned up as fuel for the fire. If the Almighty God cares enough to decorate the fields with beautiful but short-lived flowers, how much more is He concerned to clothe and care for us, His blood-bought children, who are destined for eternal life? A million upon a million years, we will still be with the Lord forever and ever. Will He not care for us?
A person who worries about those things; what to eat, drink, and wear, may have saving faith, but he does not have a strong faith that relies on God to finish what He has begun. That was why Jesus said, "O ye of little faith." We say we believe that God is able to redeem us, deliver us from the power of sin and death, to take us to heaven, to the mansion where our Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, to keep us for all eternity; yet, we do not trust Him to provide for our daily needs. We say we put our eternal destiny in His hands, and yet we refuse to believe that through His hands, He will provide what we need to eat, drink, and wear. What shall we say then? “O ye of little faith”.
IV. It Is Unwise
Our final point is: we should not worry because it is unwise. Verse 27, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”
Our culture is obsessed with trying to lengthen life. People exercise, take supplements like vitamins and minerals, get regular medical checkups, and do all kinds of things in the hope of adding a few years to their lives. All these things are good and necessary, but we must always bear in mind that our days on this earth are appointed by God – no more, no less. If God will not permit, we cannot even stay one second longer than we should on the face of this earth. Yet some people are so obsessed with health products that instead of helping them, they get so worried about what to take and what not to take.
Dear friend, God has appointed our days on this earth. Exercise, a good diet, and healthy practices are beneficial when done in a reasonable way and with the right perspective. No doubt, they can improve the quality of our lives, but they can never force God to extend our lifespan. A person can worry himself to death, but not to life.
Dr Charles Mayo, one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic, which apparently is the best hospital in the whole world, once wrote: ‘Worry affects the blood circulation, the heart, and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man or known a man to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died of worry.’ How true.
The gift of life is a gift from God, and it is to be used for His purposes, for spiritual and heavenly reasons, not for selfish and earthly ones. So, our concern should always be to obey, honour, love, please, and glorify our Almighty God, leaving everything else to His wisdom and care. Worry is not a trivial sin because it strikes at both God's love and His integrity. When we worry, we doubt God and His love, and then we start to say all kinds of wrong things. We are declaring that God is not trustworthy of His Word and His promises. God forbid!
That is why we must always feed on the Word of God daily. Otherwise, Satan will move into the vacuum of our hearts and plant worry in it. Once he does that, then he will push the Lord further and further away from our hearts, minds, and lives.
I believe there was a time whereby our faith was so small. There might have been a time when we doubted God, just like the disciple of Christ, Peter. In the early days of his ministry with Jesus Christ, Peter was worried about many things. When he tried to walk on the water, he looked at the waves, he became worried, and he started to sink. When the time came to pay the taxes, he was worried that they might not be able to pay. At one point, he was worried about who might betray Jesus Christ. He was worried that Jesus might have to suffer, and so He rebuked him on one occasion. And he even defended Jesus with the sword.
Peter was a great worrier, not warrior. But after he came to know Jesus Christ intimately and walk with Him, he learned that Jesus Christ was not only able to save him but He was absolutely able to take care of him. So, at the end of his life, he wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”. As we faithfully walk with the Lord, our faith may be like a little mustard seed at first, but it will grow. God willing, at the end of our lives, we will be able to say, like the disciple Peter, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-32, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things”. Stop worrying – that is what the pagans and the unbelievers would do and seek after. But you are different. You are the children of God. You are believers. You know your heavenly Father loves you, and He knows everything about you, including your needs. Stop worrying.
Instead of worrying, verse 33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”. When we speak of a kingdom, we think of a king, and this is the kingdom of God. It is a kingdom where God is King. It is a kingdom that is characterised by His righteousness.
Remember, Jesus taught His disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer, “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”. In heaven, God's name is perfectly hallowed – as in set apart as holy. God's kingdom is perfectly established. God's will is perfectly done by the holy angels and the souls of all the saints who have gone before us.
But that is not the case on this earth. Every day, we see God's name being blasphemed. Every day, we see people constantly rejecting His kingship. Every day, we see people living their lives contrary to His will. As believers, we are troubled. That is why we pray, “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”. But it must first begin with us. The believers must first be seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. When you and I are focused on the spiritual things of God, and we are not worried because we know that our heavenly Father knows all our needs, the promise is, “all these things shall be added unto you”.
Finally, Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”. Today, tomorrow, and the future will have trouble of their own – it is inevitable. Some people think that there will be a time on this earth, humanly speaking, when they will be free from trouble. ‘When I get married, then I'll be free from trouble. When I get a promotion. When I have children. When I get into a new neighbourhood. Or when I move to a new church, I will be beyond trouble.’
It is futile to try to live a trouble-free life. Tomorrow will have its challenges and trials, no matter how hard you try to prevent them. We are not to worry about tomorrow because worry will not remove tomorrow's trials. But what it will do is drain our strength for today. We must carry the burdens of today. But it is when the burdens of tomorrow are added to the burdens of today, that is when the weight is something beyond us, and we cannot bear it. If you and I add tomorrow's troubles onto today's troubles, we give ourselves an impossible burden to carry.
And dear friend, this is the folly of worry and anxiety. If you have forgotten whatever I have said, remember this: Jesus said, ‘Stop worrying. Stop being anxious.’ Why? Because it is a command given by God, and if it is a command, we must obey. And everything in life happens by God's providence, including our lives, and it is absolutely unnecessary, and it is utterly unwise. May the Lord help us. Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, indeed there may be times when we are worried and anxious about certain things. We need to be reminded, and who can better remind us than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself? We thank Thee for Thy precious word, especially our Lord Jesus, who reminded us as He repeatedly said, ‘Take no thought. Take no thought. Stop worrying. Stop being anxious.’
Rather than being worried and anxious, we should be praying. We should be seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. We should be focusing on the One who is in control of all things, who alone is able to help us, who alone is able to deliver us, who knows what is best for us, and we submit to His sovereign will. So, help us that all of us will live such a life, looking up today and living our lives for the glory of the Almighty God. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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