The Folly of Craving Earthly Security

You are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them. For your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way. Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our deaths for giving our debtors and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever in. For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you. And if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions.

Whenever you fast do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast anoint your head, wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Do not store it for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rusty straw where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rusty straws where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is clear, simple, sincere, whole, 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 that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not worth much more than they and who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil nor do they spin. Yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory, clothed himself, did not cloth himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more cloth you, you of little faith? Do not worry then saying what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing. For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow we'll care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Amen, we can all say amen to that. Each day has trouble enough trouble of its own. Last week we looked at the hazard of hoarding earthly treasures. We saw that hoarding earthly treasures that is putting our heart and our confidence in earthly treasures deceives you with false security. It robs you of heavenly treasure. It captivates you with distorted perception so that you can't see reality as it truly is and it prevents you from serving God because you're so busy serving man. Today we want to look at the folly of earthly security. It's really about anxiety, anxiety. An anxiety means a distraction of the mind.

It's that sinking feeling deep down inside when you're out in the middle of the desert and the sign says next gas 125 miles and your little empty red light is coming on on your gas gauge. And you feel like I don't have the resources to meet the challenge that lies before me. Anxiety is something that we all continually deal with in this life because we're always faced with challenges as we look to the future. An anxiety is always future oriented whether it's five minutes in the future or whether it's five years into the future. Our hearts are gripped with anxiety over the future. And in this passage, Jesus is admonishing us as His disciples to not allow our lives to be controlled by anxiety and the key to finding relief from anxiety.

What is Jesus exactly demand of His servants? Well, He does this is what we saw last week that He insists on transforming the hours that we spend on the most common acts in our life. He insists on transforming those hours into acts of worship for His glory. That what Jesus wants is the life that you live and every aspect of your life to be lived for His glory. And resting in His care and His ability to take care of you. Let's look at why it is so foolish to seek security in earthly treasure. The first reason that He gives, that Jesus gives in this passage in verses 25 through 30 is that it is ignoring God's character. When you seek security in earthly treasure, you are ignoring God's character.

And what I mean by that is you are ignoring the fact that God is your father and your father knows what you need. Now listen to these words. And something that's repeated throughout this text, very early on, I should have said to you, pay attention to this. The prayer that Jesus gives us is our father who art in heaven. And He repeats this over and over again, the key to having a right relationship with material things is this issue of God being your father and you acting like it. You acting in light of that. Now notice what He says here, verse 25, for this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body as to what you will put on.

Your food, your drink, your clothing. The most basic necessities of life is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow. They do not reap nor gather into barns. And yet your Heavenly Father, their Creator, but your Father, your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable to Him than they are? Are you more valuable to God than the birds in the air? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil nor do they spend. They don't make cloth and they don't create garments. And yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory enrobed himself.

And the word clothed himself here is a word that's used of a king putting on his glorious robe in order to appear before people and to show his glory. And he says the lilies of the field have more glory than Solomon did. And they neither sow so that rather they neither make cloth nor do they form clothing. But if God sowed clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow, is turned into the furnace, will He not much more cloth you, you of little bay? Romans 8 32 says, He who did not spare His own son. He did not spare His own son, but gave him up for us all. How will He not also with him freely give us all things? How could God possibly withhold from you what you need if He is your Father?

If He is truly your Father? And that's really the key here. Your Heavenly Father feeds these birds. Your Heavenly Father is the one who clothes these lilies of the field. And this is really the cure for all anxiety. In every case, it's getting your eyes on the Father. It really is that. I can remember as a kid being in situations that were very anxiety, really produced anxiety in my heart. But if I was with my dad, there was no anxiety. I had that much confidence in him. I knew he would take care of me. I knew he would protect me. I had a guy threatening my life once when I was a little kid. So he was going to kill me. And this is a man who was really angry. And the only reason I didn't die of anxiety at that moment was because my Father was there.

And my Father would protect me. And this is what Paul is saying. Bring the Father into the situation. Are you experiencing anxiety over the future? Anxiety over about your needs being met. You being able to face the challenge that lies before you? You've forgotten about your Father. Your Father is in this situation. And notice what the real issue is in verse 30. The real issue is this, men of little faith. He says the problem is that you lack faith. Your faith is too small. It's a lack of faith that makes us opt for earthly rather than heavenly treasure. The reason we are so trapped into expending all of our energy and setting all of our affection on earthly things is because we have little faith.

If we really believed in heavenly treasures, who among us would be stupid enough to buy gold? If we really believe that the treasure in heaven is far greater than treasure on this earth, who would be worried about earthly treasure? One of the marks of the church is really amazing. And see only really the only religious movement, if you want to call it that, the only religion on the face of earth where this is true. Throughout the history of the church, you've always had very rich and very poor Christians and a lot of people in between in the church. You had in the early church slaves who were owned by other people and they were elders in the church where their owner attended church. Imagine what that would be like.

You see, it is because that every believer when they come to understand the gospel, they understand that what they possess materially has nothing to do with their standing before God. It is just a situation that God has allowed them to be in. And our responsibility, whether rich or poor, is to use those circumstances for the glory of God. And that's why James says, if you're poor, praise God that he has reached down and lifted you up. And if you are rich, thank God that he has caused you to be to humble yourself before Almighty God and put faith in Christ. The implication here is that faith in the invisible God is demonstrated by power over material things. You have power over material things.

Do you rule over your material things? Or does your material things rule over you? I've quoted Jacques a little, probably a hundred times here, but let me just say one more time. He's the one who said, the only time that you are ruling over money and it's not ruling over you as a God is when you are giving it away. Now, he's exaggerating a little bit, but his point is well taken. And the point is this, that God has placed the riches that you have in your hands in order that you would use it for the glory of God and for the good of people and for your own good. Because nothing will bless your soul and your life like using what God has given you for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 7, Paul, has an expression there.

He says, this is how we ought to live in the face of this present distress. He said, if you're married, live as though you're not married. Now, that's kind of weird, isn't it? You see what he's saying is that you have to have the kind of freedom before God that none of your life situation keeps you from giving yourself wholeheartedly to the living Christ. And so he says, those who use the world as not abusing it. And all he means by that is that God has put us, in fact, there's no one in our congregation doesn't use the world. There probably are people in the face of this earth who are not using the world in that sense that he's using it there. But you that use the world is not abusing it. That is that you don't worship it.

You use it. You rule over it as God has placed it under your care. You are a steward of these things. And so we are to exercise power over material things instead of being enslaved by them. And Jesus says that will only come as we continue to believe the truth that God is our Father and provider. Notice this. Here's a couple of great illustrations of it. Matthew 19. Jesus says, and someone came to, it says someone came to Jesus and said, teacher, what good things shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? This is the encounter with what's typically called the rich young ruler. Now notice what happens. This young man comes to him. What should I do that I may obtain eternal life? And he said to him, Jesus responds to him, why are you asking me about what is good?

There is only one who is good, but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. Then he said to him, which ones? And Jesus said, you shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And this is the summary. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. He gives him all the commandments in relationship to the way we are to relate to one another. And then notice what happens. The young man said, and obviously what Jesus is doing is he is taking this opportunity. This is a gospel conversation. And Jesus is getting right at the heart of the issue. He knows because of this man's approach to him. And he knows by everything he can see what this man's problem really is.

The reason he doesn't have assurance of eternal life. Notice what happens. The young man said to him, all these things I have kept. I have loved my neighbor as myself. What am I lacking? Jesus says to him, what Jesus does? He says, really? You loved your neighbor as yourself. Then this is what you should do. If you wish to be complete, go sell your possessions. Give to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me. You believe in heavenly treasure? Jesus says, go sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. And come and follow me. Now that command isn't given to you. I'm not giving you that command. And Jesus isn't here giving you that command. But if Jesus gave you that command.

If he was talking to you, if he's talking to Mike more. And he says, Mike, I want you to go sell everything you have. Give to the poor and come follow me. That is exactly what Mike would do. If he loved his neighbor as himself. And he loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. And he would store up treasure in heaven. Would you give everything you have? What if you had the opportunity today to take every earthly possession you have. And to give it away in your future. And to sell it and give everything you had to feed the poor. Notice what he says. He says, if you do this, you will have treasure in heaven. Now we saw last week that Jesus said the way that we use our earthly opportunities.

We buy up the opportunities because the days are evil. The way we use our earthly opportunities is how we lay up treasure in heaven. Jesus tells the parable about the good steward. Remember the wise steward or the shrewd steward who makes a way for himself by doing favors for people so that they will welcome him into their house when he needs them. And Jesus says, that's the way the children of light ought to be. That we ought to use all the resources God gives us in order to gain an entrance among the people of God. Store up treasure in heaven. How much do you think about that storing up treasure in heaven? You ever think about what you're doing today as laying up treasure in heaven? You realize that when you lay down your life, when you lay down your life by, first John says, this is how you're to lay down your life.

You know, Jesus laid down his life for us by dying for us. John says, this is what we ought to do for one another. The way I can lay down my life for you is if I see you hungry, if I see you cold, if I see you in great need, that I use the resources I have to sustain my life to sustain your life. That's how I lay down my life for you. Do I really believe that that's laying up treasure in heaven? But notice this, when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving for he was one who owned much property. Now it's really clear what's going on here. What's really clear is that this man values his earthly treasure more than her heavenly treasure, right? If you were to say to me, man, I really like your new car.

I don't have a new car, but if I did have a new car, if I had me a new BMW, the most expensive one they made, and you saw me driving it, and you said, boy, I really like that. And I said to you, well, if you will give me a thousand dollars, I'll give you this car. If you felt that that BMW automobile was worth more than a thousand dollars, you would gladly give me a thousand dollars, right? I know you're smart. You know that a new BMW is worth more than a thousand dollars, so you would gladly give a thousand dollars for a BMW because you would believe that the value of that automobile was greater than that thousand dollar bill, right? Do you believe? I mean, ask yourself, I want you to ask yourself this question, do you really believe that treasures in heaven are far, far greater in value?

That's what Jesus is calling up on us to put into practice. In slayment to the visible makes faith in the invisible suspect. When you say that you believe in the invisible, but you live in the realm of the visible in a way that belies that, we have to say, I don't know if I believe that you really believe in the invisible. You see, this man believed in the visible more than he believed in the invisible. He loved what he trusted, and what did he trust? He trusted his riches. What do you trust? What are you trusting? He wasn't damned for possessing great things. He was damned for clinging to them as if they were a lifeboat on a stormy sea, and he was clinging to them like he could not give them up, because if he gave them up, he would perish himself.

And then notice this, another example, Luke 12, then he said to them, beware and be on your guard against every form of greed. For not even when one has an abundance, does his life consist in his possessions? And he told them a parable saying the land of a rich man was very productive, and he began reasoning to himself saying, what shall I do? Since I have no place to store my crops, then he said, this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come, take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool. Why is he calling him a fool?

Why is he calling him a fool? Because his value system is totally distorted. He doesn't understand the true value of things. You fool, this very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. He isn't a fool for harvesting an abundant amount of crops. He's not a fool for laying up those crops in barns. The reason he is a fool is he has let his crops fill his horizon and determine his lifestyle. He has let his riches become a slave owner. He is enslaved to barns and grain, and he seems to have no interest in God. And so God says, you fool tonight, you're going to have to stand before God, and you are going to stand naked, unclothed.

What are you doing with your life to lay up treasures in heaven? Now notice this, it is also foolish because it is imitating ungodly men. And notice this, in verse 31 and 32, Jesus says, do not worry then what we will eat, what will we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear for clothing for the Gentiles, eagerly seek all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Now what is he saying? He calls the ungodly Gentiles, and of course he is speaking to a Jewish audience, and so in their minds when he said Gentiles, he understood that meant this massive humanity that has no time for God, that has no recognition of the true and living God, who lives as the ungodly.

Now ungodly simply means this. What it means to be ungodly, and as Christians sometimes we can act in an ungodly way, ungodly means that you don't give God what he deserves. You don't give God what he deserves, what does he deserve? What does he deserve? What does the God of the universe who created this universe and created you in his image, send his son into the world to die on your behalf, to reconcile you to himself, who brought you into this family and gave you life, and has given you a future, and has promised you all things that you are going to inherit everything in Christ Jesus, that you have a secure future in Christ Jesus. What does that God deserve? Well, anytime we withhold from him what he deserves, we are acting in an ungodly way, and so when he mentions these Gentiles, he's talking about those who live as though God doesn't exist.

They act as though they owe God nothing, that he has provided nothing for them, and that they owe him absolutely nothing. You see the ungodly know nothing about a heavenly father who values his children to the degree that by his actions he says, you are worth a son to me. This is what you're worth to me, you're worth to me that I would send my son into the world to redeem you and bring you into my family. They don't know anything about that, but the believer does. The Gentiles imagine that they themselves have to provide for their needs through their own ingenuity and their own wisdom and their own efforts. For example, when you see Christians in a restaurant, for example, give thanks for their food, and I'm sure that sometimes that happens simply because we're trying to be like the Pharisees standing on the street corner praying and all that, but when you see someone just humbly bow their head and give God thanks for food, what you know about that person is.

They actually believe that he is the source of all things. When you give thanks for your food, you are saying, God, even the most basic necessities of life come from your hand. You see, it was no mistake that Jesus says to us when we are to pray that we pray, give us this day our daily bread. In other words, God, I am dependent upon you to meet my most basic daily needs. Every breath that I breathe comes from God. Now it's true of both believer and unbeliever. Every person living and breathing on this earth owes everything to God, but believers understand that. The disciples of Jesus understand this, that everything comes from His hand. And so He says, when you are seeking security and earthly things, you are imitating the Gentiles.

That's how they live. They seek for security in earthly things, but we seek for security in heavenly things. The disciple has a father in heaven. He knows that you have need of all these things. In fact, back in verse 80, he says, he knows even before you ask him, he knows what you need. And so you come before him and ask him to meet your needs. It's because you have this deep down conviction that everything comes from the hand of God. Even before you ask. In verse Peter chapter 5, when Peter is talking about this issue of anxiety. And there, he's talking about anxiety that's caused by the severe life challenge they are facing. They are encountering persecution and difficulties in life because of their faith in Christ.

Have you ever been opposed because you were a follower of Jesus Christ? Have everybody rail on you or do things to you because you were a Christian? Well, that's what Peter was writing to, and it became a very severe kind of persecution. But he tells them, when you're in these situations, you must humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. In other words, believe the truth that God Himself is overall. And so when you go through trials, you understand that you're under the mighty hand of God, that you're not out of His control. And so He says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. But how do I do that? How do I humble myself under the mighty hand of God when I'm going through great difficulties?

This is how He says, this is how we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Peter says, you do it this way by casting all your anxieties on Him because it matters to Him about you. Why would you cast your anxieties upon the Father because it matters to Him about you? Have you ever been in certain situations where you felt like there was not another person on the face of the earth that you mattered to or that what you were going through mattered to them? Well, the testimony of Peter is, to believers, it matters to Him about you. Now, it's true in the life of the church often, especially if we get really legalistic. When people have problems, they don't want to tell other Christians because other Christians are going to begin to tell them the 14 things they've done wrong to get themselves in this mess.

Because we are great Job's comforters. You know, a family has a child rebel and they want to give them 14 lessons on child rearing. Well, you know, wait until they get up from being hit by the truck and heal up a little bit before you start giving them that kind of advice. Or all of a sudden they suffer some great setback or maybe they have a heart attack and go to the hospital. You know, your problem is you're eating too many hamburgers. You know, that's not the time to tell them. That isn't the time. And Christians are really good at that. We feel this obligation to straighten people out. Instead of saying to them, let me tell you something. I don't know all you're going through, but I know this.

It matters to Him about you. It matters to Him about you. And so you can cast all your anxieties on Him. What are you fearful of? This week I was talking to Connie O'Donnell. I went over and spent some time with her. Connie, as you know, has ALS. And she isn't able really to get out anymore. And this week her 42-year-old baby brother was killed, died suddenly. He had gone to the doctor. He really was working too hard. And things were, he was really under a lot of stress. He went to the doctor and told him about chest pains, nausea, and some of those kinds of signs. So the doctor did a couple tests, and then the doctor said, I think you're fine. I think it's just stress. Ten minutes later, when he was on the freeway, he had an aneurysm burst and died immediately.

When he was driving down the road, he was on his phone to a friend. And then this happened. He just, by the grace of God, didn't hit anybody. It was a busy traffic. Went off the road, rolled down an embankment and died instantly. A few days, and as I was talking to Connie, her heart was so broken. I've never seen anyone more broken over anything. I've never heard anybody wail any more deeply from the depth of her soul. She can barely talk, and yet just the grief was so overwhelming to her baby brother. You see her baby brother came to faith in Christ because of Connie's testimony. When he heard that she had ALS, he jumped in his car, the minute he heard it, drove to Port of Hill, picked up his parents, and drove up to see Connie.

And it was through her testimony of God sustaining her in the midst of this suffering that her brother turned to Christ, and then his wife turned to Christ, and his three children, an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 13-year-old, turned to Christ. And after this accident, three days after the accident, Cheryl Henry's wife went to the spot where he had died on the freeway, very busy freeway down towards San Diego, pulled off the side of the freeway at this spot, and her and the three kids went down this embankment and just looking for things. They found his cell phone, they found a shoe, and they were in such despair, just weeping, and the kids were still rummaging around and Cheryl came up and was standing in front of her car next to the freeway, parked alongside the freeway, traffic going by 65, 70, 80 miles an hour.

And she's at the front of her car, and she said that she was convulsively weeping, and she in her mind she was thinking, I just want to walk out in front of this traffic, I don't want to live. And she said several times she attempted to walk out into the freeway, and she couldn't move. She said every time a car would pass, she said, I'm going to do it now, and she would try to move into the traffic, and she couldn't. Suddenly, as she's been over the car, somebody puts his arm around her, and begins to comfort her, and begin to pray for her. She was convinced it was an angel that she didn't know what it was, and it was a stranger who was driving down the freeway and saw this woman bent over her hood weeping, and so he pulled over to see what he could do.

Can you imagine the boldness of this man? He walks up and puts his arm around her, and just begin to pray for her, and she told him what was going on, and he gathers the children around and Cheryl, and prays for them, and begins to tell them that God's going to get them through this, and he gives her his car, he's a businessman, he says, my church will pray for you, and we'll do anything we can, whatever you need, you let us know. What kind of God is this that meets the needs of his children? See, some of us, it's kind of like the children of Israel. Many of them, they didn't want to be set free from Egypt. They just wanted Moses to fix Egypt, and some of us, we don't want God to save us out of this world.

We just want him to fix our world, so we can live here like everybody else, and you know, have it really good. You know what, God's going to save you out of this world, and as he's bringing you along, and you go through very, very difficult things, we are not like the Gentiles who don't understand that we have a Heavenly Father who meets our needs at the darkest moments of our lives, that when we are going through very difficult times, and we look at the future, and we wonder, how am I going to get through this week? How am I going to get through this month? How am I going to get through this year? How am I going to do this? I have a Father who is in heaven, and He's met my needs. And then notice this, it is also violating, boy, look at that spelling, it is also violating God's priorities, verse 33, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things.

What things? All these things He's been talking about, the thing clothing, food, shelter, the necessities of life. Seek He first, the His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Let me tell you something. A distinguishing mark of the Christian is He is a seeker. He's a seeker. You know, there's a lot of talk today in this last few couple of decades about seeker's sensitive church services, and seeker is using that context of unbelievers who are seeking God. Well, I'm not just sure about that, but I know this. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a seeker of God. You're a seeker of His kingdom and His righteousness. Jesus described it in chapter 5 verse 6, the beginning of this sermon.

Those who hunger, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they should be filled. That's a description of a true Christian. A true Christian can't help but seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Paul is an expression in, I think it's in Philippians, let your sweet reasonableness be known to all men, Maranatha. Maranatha means Jesus is coming. And so He says, be sweetly reasonable because you know, you can be so bulldog determined to have your way and right in the midst of that Jesus could come back and ruin all your plans. So just be sweetly reasonable. It may not go your way, but you have a father in heaven. You have a God in heaven who's going to meet your needs. Now He says, seek first my kingdom and seek righteousness.

And notice this, the order of it, seek first His kingdom. You notice the order of the Lord's Prayer? You know, this is a good practice, by the way, when you pray, pray according to the order of the Lord's Prayer. Begin by extolling your father, by praying for His glory. That's your first priority. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's your first priority. Seek first His kingdom. And then a little later in their prayer says, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses as we have forgiven those who've trespassed against us. You see, that's the priority. Seek first His kingdom and these things will be added to you. Some of us are afraid if we put Him first, if we seek Him first, we're not going to get all these things.

We have to get all these things first. And then we'll seek His kingdom. That's a satanic lie. It isn't true. If you're grasping for these things first and you're thinking, then once I have everything I want, then I'll seek God. You're lying to yourself. It isn't true. But if you will seek Him first, if you seek His righteousness, if you seek the furthest of His kingdom, that God would receive His dew, that men would bow to Him and honor Him and worship Him and obey Him. If that is your primary goal in life, then everything you do, every decision you make is, God is this, use this in some way to advance your kingdom. And if you do that, then you will seek all these other things through the Father in the right way, by humble and submissive prayer, without worry, without valuing things in the wrong way, things will be put into their proper perspective if you will seek His righteousness and His kingdom.

Notice this. First Timothy, chapter four, be on the alert for men who forbid marriage and advocate abstain from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. And I'm sure He's talking about health food, low fat, non-dairy products. Sorry. What do I do that? For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. Now, you don't combat materialism with asceticism. That's my point here. What the Bible does not teach that you should become an ascetic and not eat the good things that God has given you, not enjoy the good riches that God has given you. Paul says in 1 Timothy, that God is the one who's given you everything richly to enjoy.

But what is true is that, even though there is no virtue and poverty, unless, of course, in obedience to God, you have to live in poverty in order to accomplish the will of God for your life. Miriam Bell is willing to go to you, and basically live in what we would call poverty in order to accomplish the word of God and the will of God. But that's not how we're going to overcome materialism. That's not the problem. The problem is the fact that you possess things. The problem is what possesses you now notice the 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, he was rich. There can't be anything wrong with being rich because God is rich.

But notice, even though he was rich yet for your sake, he became poor so that through his poverty, you might become rich. We aren't called to imitate Christ in his poverty, but we are to follow him in his example of love and self-giving. We should be willing to give of ourselves to lay down our lives, to give of everything that we have in order to accomplish the good purpose of God. The rich are only condemned for the misuse of riches, not for having them. And in fact, in my lifetime, what I've seen some of the most godly people I've known over the years have been people who had much and they used much for the glory of God. And then notice Matthew chapter 19 verse 23 and 4 and Jesus said to his disciples, truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Riches are not an evil, but they are dangerous. You have to handle with care. Let me show you why. They're dangerous because of this. This is sometimes the process that happens. We live that period of time in our life and we experience what it's like to know that God alone is all I need. But then God blesses us. And then we begin to think somehow that it's God and riches that is all I need. But ultimately where you end up is riches alone is all I need. That's the danger. And so that's why Jacques Alloul says, the full of your money by freely giving, freely giving of yourself and of your resources, what you have for the glory of God, acknowledge the fact that what is of true value is what your Heavenly Father gives you in Christ Jesus.

The fourth thing is that seeking security and earthly treasure is borrowing tomorrow's trouble. What a foolish thing to do. Tomorrow's trouble. There are some of you sitting here right now and what you're thinking about is something that's coming up tomorrow or this week. That's what you're thinking about. That's what you're worried about. Notice what he says in verse 34. So literally stop worrying about tomorrow. That's Jesus' command. You stop. You're worried about tomorrow. For tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. I don't know if you noticed this, but look closely at that verse. You see something really strange. What Jesus does is he personifies the tomorrow, tomorrow.

He personifies it. He treats it as a person. And what he does is he instructs us to throw our worries onto tomorrow and let tomorrow worry about it. You see that? He says, let tomorrow worry. If tomorrow is going to do the worrying, then you're free from worry. And since tomorrow is always in the future, right? Tomorrow is always in the future. You never live in tomorrow. Then our worries are also always beyond our reach. Put your worries on tomorrow. The idea isn't wait until tomorrow to worry about tomorrow. That's not the idea. The idea is put your worries on tomorrow because tomorrow always moves on. And his whole point is tomorrow is never here. It's just today that exists. We live in today.

And if tomorrow is to do the worrying, then no worrying will ever be done. What Jesus commands us is, now the capacity to worry is pretty good, you know, to have anxiety. Like if you walk out in the middle of the road here, and all of a sudden you didn't notice, and you turn and look and there's a big Ford truck coming down the road, especially if Jeff's driving it, it's coming down the road, and you've stepped out in the middle of the street, then you want to worry. And what that worry does is it motivates you, but what the New Testament continually tells us is don't continually worry. If you need to worry for a moment, if you need to worry for a few minutes in order to remember that you've got to do something then fine, but don't be worrying about tomorrow.

Cast your worry on tomorrow. And then he says this, each day has enough trouble of its own. What is he saying? What he's saying is this. Why would you be dissatisfied with today, as though it didn't have enough trouble of its own? You need some more trouble? I need trouble. You know, today I just can't live today. I need tomorrow's trouble. And so you bring it, you borrow it from the future and bring it over into the present. And the trouble he's talking about here is just the normal stuff of life, the trouble and pain and burdens. You know, just the incidence of present life that we live in a fallen world. Luther called it this word that's used here, the plague. You know, tomorrow has its own plague.

Don't be bringing it over in today. Each day has its own sufficient share of trouble. One of the things that's really interesting in the New Testament is this emphasis on living today. Ephesians chapter 4. Don't let your anger hang over till tomorrow. Don't let the sun go down your anger. Deal with it today. Philippians 4. Deal with your anxiety today. Ephesians 4. Your ambitions about the future. Don't let them dominate today. Live today. Have you ever done this where you're intending to get in the Word? You're intending to establish a pattern of prayer. You're intending to get your life together to start practicing the disciplines of the Christian life so that you can grow in the faith. But you can't do it today, right?

You just can't do it today, but you're going to do it, but not today. Things aren't set up right today, right? Isn't that amazing? And what the New Testament tells us is, live today. Don't let today be dominated by anxiety about tomorrow. Tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. Now the thrust of Jesus' teaching as we look through this entire passage in Matthew 6 is basically this. That he wants us to understand the greater value of heavenly treasure and the folly of storing up earthly treasure as our source of security. That is foolish. And he also wants us to understand the seductive power of riches that the more he blesses us with, the more tempted we are to turn to our riches and worship our riches rather than God who gives us our riches.

It's exactly what happened in Israel. God takes them into the land, blesses them richly, and as soon as they are doing well, they turn away from God. God brings judgment, they humble themselves, they repent, and God begins to bless them again. And as soon as he begins to bless them again, they begin to love the gift greater than the giver. And they go through this cycle over and over and again. You wonder, why does the Old Testament so fill with this cycle? Blessing, unbelief, judgment, repentance, restoration, blessing, and on and on and on. The cycle goes. It goes through the historical books in the Old Testament. You see Israel go through it again and again and again and again. Why? Why doesn't he just give us one cycle?

And say, now watch out for this. Well, it's because we're so prone to it. We're so prone to it. We're so prone to do the very same thing. And these things were given to us as an example so that we can see what this pattern produces in our lives. The last thing is in this passage that Jesus has given us is that anxiety about material needs is a manifestation of unbelief. It's a manifestation of unbelief. Now it's true. One of the complicating things here in our culture is, unlike other cultures, one of the complicating factors is, many times our needs, quote, needs, are self-produced because of foolishness and folly in our lives. We all know that. The God's even gracious in those things, isn't he?

Isn't it amazing how many times he's bailed you out when you got yourself in a mess by your own foolish decisions? And yet he's a gracious father who cares about you. It matters to him about you. And he's going to deliver you, whatever you're facing. Now here's one of the keys to it. It's back in verse 22. We've already looked at this. In verse 22, he says, the eye is the lamp of the body, so then if your eye is clear, if your eye is hopeless. This is translated several ways in a testament. It's translated, sincere, simple, single. And the reason it's translated in these various ways is because this word speaks about, what it describes is the opposite of being duplicitous. A duplicitous person is mister going both ways, you know?

He's a guy who has hearts this way and that way. But James describes it as a two-sold man. A two-sold man. He's going in two directions. He's sold out to Jesus and he's sold out to worldly wealth. He's sold out to this God and this God. And Paul and James says, a two-sold man is unstable in all his ways and he should expect nothing from God. This word, a clear eye means you have a single eye, a simple eye, a sincere eye, an undivided heart that is oriented exclusively toward God. This is what the fear of the Lord is. It's coming to the place finally in life where you realize that God is everything. That God really is everything. One of the... I was thinking this morning as I was reading through Matthew 6 earlier this morning.

I was thinking about the fact that, you know, one of the things about Jesus, he never ever talked about money in order to raise money. Isn't that refreshing? That Jesus never talked about money and riches and wealth in order to raise money. Jesus was never a fundraiser. Jesus never took an offering. Jesus never tried to get people to give him anything. And so when he teaches about this, what is his motivation? It's your heart. It's your welfare. This is why he gives us this message. It's because he cares about us. He cares about us having a clear eye. Turn with me to James 1. We'll close with this. Look at James 1. Notice this contrast. There's a great contrast here. Notice he's talking about trials that we fall into.

And he says, in verse 5 of James 1, if any of you lacks wisdom, he's talking about lacking wisdom in the midst of trials. I don't know how to deal with this issue in my life. I'm in an impossible situation and I don't have a clue what I ought to do about it. Some of you are sitting here today with this very situation in your life. What do you do? He said, if you lack wisdom, if you don't know how to apply the word of God to your situation, then let him ask of God, now get this, who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him. The word generously is this word, Hoploss. It's this word, single, sincere. In other words, when God gives a gift, He gives it purely and simply.

He doesn't give a gift for an ulterior motive. He gives a gift because he wants to give you something. You know why he gave you the gift of salvation? Because he wanted to give it to you. The Bible says that he saved you as a gift to his son. Why would he want to give you to his son? Because he wanted to give his son a gift. And the reason he gave you eternal life is because he has a pure heart. He gives his gifts purely and simply with an abandoned heart towards you. He has singleness of I and heart and soul. Now notice the contrast. He says, God is the one who gives to all simply, sincerely, singly and without reproach and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea.

Tossed by the wind. For that man ought to not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord because he is a double-sold, a two-sold man unstable in all his ways. You know what God wants to do in our hearts over this issue of the way that we deal with wealth? Is he wants you to have a single heart like his? He wants you to value him above all else. Because that's the very best for you. That you value God above everything else. Isn't it discouraging parents when your children as they grow up, they begin to value things that have no value whatsoever? And they have no time for things that are truly valuable? Isn't that disheartening? It hurts your heart when you see them love things that they should maybe even hate and yet despise things that are truly valuable.

Well guess what? The God of heaven knows what's truly valuable and he loves his children and he wants you to love what's really lovable. He wants you to value what's truly valuable. And so he speaks these words to you. Let me close with this verse. Luke 12 verse 32. This is one of the most astounding statements I think Jesus every made. He says to his disciples, do not be afraid, little flock. And he would say this to you today. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Isn't that great? Your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. He blesses you because he wants to bless you. And he's blessed you with many things and some of those things are material things.

And now he wants you to realize that what Satan wants to do what the world system wants to do is to trick you into thinking that those blessings from God are to be elevated to a place that compete with God. It's a very subtle, a very subtle, methodios method approach of Satan to grab your heart, to divide your heart. What God wants is for you to have a heart like His, a heart that is totally devoted. I don't know how that makes you feel. And I think about the fact that the scripture says that God is totally devoted to me. That's the most amazing thing in all the world. I've had some people I thought were really close to me. That turned on me, haven't you? I remember a kid in school. I saw a vivid memory of this.

Seventh grade. My best friend got an opportunity to move in a different circle, but he had to abandon me. I can still remember the pain, you know, of the abandonment. But I have a God who loves me who is totally devoted to me. And what he's appealing to me to do is to be totally devoted to him. That he have no competitors in my life. Let's stand together and give him thanks for that. Our Father, we are a blessed people. You have filled our hearts, our homes, our lives were so many good things. You've blessed us with riches that cannot be enumerated. And yet you tell us that our treasure is in heaven. It's kept for us. And what we have in the future is so glorious and so great that we can't even compare earthly blessings with the blessings we'll experience in your presence.

Father, we pray that you'd help us to be contrarians in this world, that we wouldn't go with the flow of this world system that pressures us to love things and use people. So Father, we pray that our hearts would be single, would be totally devoted to you, as you are totally devoted to us. May we love you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourself so that we could lay up treasures in heaven. Help us to use our earthly possessions to lay up treasures in heaven. To use every resource we have, our health, our strength, our talents, our opportunities, everything for the advance of your kingdom and the glory of your Son we pray. I pray that you'd help us to love each other fervently from the heart.

Father, I pray that we would reach out to each other to be touched by the feelings of one another's infirmities, the way Jesus does us and to minister to one another. I pray. I thank you for people like Connie and others who are going through deep waters and they give us the opportunity to love them and to experience you working through us as vessels to touch their lives. What opportunities? When I think of all the people that minister to her from this church and the way you're using them in such a wonderful way, I thank you for that father. And I pray that you'd help each one of us to submit to that glorious process to be used in the hands of the living God we pray. For the glory of Jesus, amen.