What Do You Treasure?

Transcript

GRM 1019
8/31/2008
What Do You Treasure?
Matthew 6:19-34
Gil Rugh


Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6. We are talking this morning about the sovereignty of the Lord in the political arena of the world, the setting up of rulers, the setting aside of rulers, the establishing of kings and kingdoms and the taking down of kings and kingdoms. Another area that relates to our activity in this world has to do with material things. And along with the emphasis on the political process these days there is much discussion about the financial situation. I was watching one of these round table discussions in the last week or two on finances and these different experts were talking about their concern, the seriousness of the situation. A person noted that it is estimated there will be 1,000 more banks failing before we turn around in this. The huge numbers of foreclosures they are projecting for houses. We're talking about the fears of people, uncertainty as they see their resources and wealth eroding and this fear spreads around. It's not just in our country now, but we note impact on this around the world. And I just can't help but come back to Matthew 6 and how God settles us as His people on these matters as well.

Matthew 6 is part of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7 we call the Sermon on the Mount. Really, Jesus is talking about what will be required to be in the kingdom that He will establish, a kingdom that is not established at His first coming but will be established when He returns to earth at His Second Coming. And much of this describes the character of God's people, starting out with the beatitudes in Matthew 5, describing the blessedness of those who come to salvation, the salvation that God provides. And God's people being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, some of those very familiar concepts.

When we come over to Matthew 6 and picking up with verse 19, the real matter here relating to the character and conduct of a believer, those who belong to God, both as Jesus was addressing the Jewish nation who would be privileged to enter into the kingdom the Messiah would establish, manifest the character and behavior that is different than the world. And that is very clearly seen when it comes to the matter of material possessions and our attitude toward material things. And so Jesus deals with that rather extensively in Mathew 6:19-34. And I just want to walk through this and look at a variety of other passages with you. We're not doing a well rounded view of the doctrine of material things related to how you acquire material things, but we're looking on our attitude toward those things and the behavior of the believer in relation to material things.

Verse 33 would summarize the whole section as you get down toward the end, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, all the things necessary for physical life. That's what He's focusing on here. So those who have come to know the king, know the salvation of the living God, have their focus on the kingdom that their Messiah would establish as Jesus addresses the Jews, the righteousness that He provides. The principles are the same for us as believers as we do anticipate the time when Christ will return and establish His kingdom and we will rule and reign with Him. We focus on His righteousness and are confident and comfortable in the sense of worry free about the turmoil of the world and the unsettledness of material things.

Look at verse 19, do not store up for yourselves on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. The simple point being made that all earthly treasures are transitory, they are subject to being lost one way or another. They are not permanent, they can be lost in one way and they can be lost in another way. We'd say today they can be lost through bad investments, they can be lost through no fault of our own, things that happen. The total economy collapses and our country comes to nothing, what will our wealth be worth? I was reading about a man in Germany during World War II and the events there, who had acquired wealth for his retirement. And when it came time for retirement, they were in the midst of the collapse of Germany. He had enough to buy one bottle of drink and a cake, that was all his wealth amounted to at that point in time. Things had come to nothing. So verse 19 is a reminder.

Come back to Proverbs, I'm going to jump around a little bit with you to some passages of scripture, not by any means all the passages of scripture, as you are aware. But Proverbs 23. You know the book of Proverbs has such great wisdom for us in our everyday life. Some of you follow the pattern of reading one chapter of Proverbs a day and you go through it in a month. You may not do that every month throughout the year, but it's a good pattern to follow periodically to refresh your mind on the wisdom for life that this book provides. In Proverbs 23:4, do not weary yourself to gain wealth. Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone, for wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. That's the same point—earthly riches come and go. Doesn't change the fact that we are to be wise, we do the best we can to handle what God has entrusted to us wisely, but ultimately we don't have complete control over it. And in one way or another it can be lost.

Come back to Matthew 6. In contrast, verse 20, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. So the contrast here is between earthly treasure and heavenly treasure. Remember Jesus told the account of the rich man who said, I have many goods stored up for many years. Now I'll take my ease. And God said to him, you fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will these things be that you've stored up? So is everyone who is not rich toward God. That's the point of that account. So here, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. The contrast, verse 19, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And the contrast in these two kinds of treasures is verse 19, the treasures on earth are transitory and you can lost those and ultimately we will all leave them behind. Ecclesiastes speaks of that very clearly. In contrast the treasures stored up in heaven are not subject to loss. They are permanent.

Turn over to I Peter 1:3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He's talking about those who have entered into new life in Christ. We are born again to a living hope, verse 4, to obtain an inheritance. So part of our being born again is now we have become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God. So you see how secure this is. It's an inheritance that is under the protection of God, reserved in heaven for me. It can't be lost. And I am assured of getting there because I am protected by the power of God. So both the inheritance and the heir are under God's protection, preserving power to guarantee that we will enter into that inheritance. So that is an inheritance of eternal value. That's the contrast. You know, it becomes difficult for us, even as believers living in this world, to keep our perspective. Because so much of the world's values are measured by what you have. And for us as believers we get concerned. The world is afraid of what I will do if I lose my wealth, if I have little or nothing. The message of scripture is be concerned about what matters, what is eternal, what is sure, what will last. That's our focal point.

Come back to Matthew 6. A very important point, verse 21, for where you treasure is, there your heart will be also. Now you come to the focal point. The issue is the focal point of my heart. He is not saying that everyone who is godly must be materially poor in this world, but he is saying that our true treasure, if we are God's people, must be a heavenly treasure. Some have more, some have less in this life, but for no believer in Jesus Christ is this world's wealth to be their treasure. That's why we talk about holding it lightly. We as parents have to be careful, we want our kids to get the right kind of education, get the right of job so they can make money. And there is a responsibility. We could take time and study the scripture, the book of Proverbs would be great, on talking about diligence and hard work and wisdom and planning and storing up properly and planning ahead as much as we can and all of that. But you know, we have to be careful. We want to root our thinking, you know what matters. You may become an individual of great wealth, but the greatest tragedy would be with your wealth. You would be poor before the living God. So where is your treasure—my house, my accounts. That's what Jesus is talking about, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What is the focal point of my heart. It doesn't mean I'll never have anything in this life.

Go back to Deuteronomy 8, we'll have to look at just a couple verses. What God says to Israel. Verse 11, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today. The focal point for God's people was to be on the word of God, a commitment to honor Him by their obedience to Him. Otherwise when you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and lived in them, when your herds and your flocks multiply, your silver and gold multiply, all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, through all the trials of the wilderness, and so on. Verse 17, otherwise you may say in your heart, my power, the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is this day. And so on. So you see the warning there, God would provide wealth for Israel but a warning, the focus of your life must not become your wealth. Even when you prosper by My gracious hand, never lose sight of the fact that I am the God who has enabled you to acquire wealth. Why do we have the health, the strength, the mental capacity, been born in a country. In all of it God has graciously dealt with us, we thank Him for His provision, that even the poorest have so much more than so much of the world. Why? Why should we be born here, now sitting in a comfortable place with air conditioning, with a copy of our Bible, having driven here in our own vehicles, having eaten plenty to satisfy our hunger and more. Why? God did it, the hand of the Lord in it. We must be careful in this we don't forget Him. Great difficulty to live in a prosperous setting and keep our focus. Israel had this word from God, but they didn't do it. They did indeed fail exactly as He warned them not to fail.

I've shared with you, years ago when I was doing some studies on the West Coast part of the studies we were involved in as they tracked Christianity around the world was as the wealth of believers rises, the intensity of the Christianity declines and wanes. It's hard not to become absorbed in those things. And once you have some you have to protect what you have, and when you protect what you have you realize I'll need a little more if I'm really going to be secure. And it just keeps drawing us in. Again, there is a wisdom that we exercise in this world, but our treasure is not here. If all I have materially is gone tomorrow, my real treasure will be secure. That's the point that the scripture is making.

Stop at Proverbs 6:6, go to the ant, oh sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief officer or ruler prepares her food in the summer, gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, oh sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, your poverty will come in like a vagabond, your need like an armed man. We read this section because I want you to realize God is not speaking against hard work, not against discipline, not against fulfilling our responsibilities to be hard workers, to provide for our needs, to be wise in doing it, to be planning. It's not a matter, I sleep in late, I don't have a job that pays me well so I don't like to get up in the morning. Well the Bible calls that being a sluggard, doesn't speak highly of that kind of person. He's not speaking against hard work and I just lie back and I know the Lord will take care of me. Well He will take care of me and one of the ways He takes care of me through the hard work He has enabled me to do. So we don't want to lose sight of that balance. We're not talking about it's wrong to have possessions. It's wrong to love those possessions, it's wrong for those possessions to be our treasures and it's wrong to focus our lives on them.

Come over to I Timothy 6. You'll note, so often when the Bible talks about wealth it's in the context of warning about the dangers of wealth. Verse 6, but godliness is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness and so on. Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of eternal life. So the love of money.......... We often quote this, money is the root of all evil, but that's not an accurate quote here. It's the love of money. God has entrusted us, in this country I'm constantly, because of our internet presence, getting e-mails from people in foreign countries, often believers, pastors, and they'll share with me their financial situation. And the poorest of us are so much better off than they are. And they look at us with boundless wealth and would like us to share some of it. And so we think, I'm not rich, but it depends on comparison. I may not be rich compared to someone else in our city, but I may be very rich compared to someone else in another part of the world. I want to be careful I don't fall in love with money, I want to be careful, and this is true for young people as they are establishing their career, I'm not driven by money in this. I realize I have responsibilities, I have to provide for my family, I have to provide for the physical needs I'll have, and so I want to be wise in planning for that as much as I can, but I'm not out to get rich. Oh here's an opportunity to get rich. Many people have gotten into trouble recently, not just recently, this happened in other times of boom as well, but what happens? I'm going to get in on this, there is a lot of money to be made. All of a sudden the bottom falls out and I find out I'm one of those holding an empty bucket. And worse than empty, it's negative. Now what do I do? Well, we just want to be careful that I haven't desired to be rich, and that leads me into temptations and snares and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men to ruin and destruction.

Let me read you Psalm 62:20, if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. It doesn't say, if riches increase you have to get rid of them. He says if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. Look at I Timothy 6:17, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches. But on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy, and they are to do good, be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. So there are those God will bless with riches and even among us who in the world would be viewed by many as very well off. There are those who would have great abundance. Be thankful the Lord can entrust some people, some of His children with riches. I don't know how trustworthy I'd be, the Lord knows and has entrusted me accordingly. So that's a little bit humbling. I tell Him, Lord, you can trust me with a lot more. And it's like our children, they would like more, but we know what they can handle at that stage. So be thankful that the Lord provides riches in a greater way for some, and they have an opportunity to manifest true godliness with their riches.

Go to James 5, and you see again, every time we go to one of these passages, there is the warning about the dangers. I'm not saying it's sin to be rich, but there are dangers that come with God's blessings. And we want to be careful His blessings don't be a reason for us to get trapped. That was Israel. God was going to provide great blessings and material abundance for Israel. He warns them, when that happens, keep your focus on Me and My word. They didn't do it. James 5, come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are come upon you. Your riches have rotted, your garments have become moth eaten, your gold and silver have rusted. Verse 4, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields you withheld. Verse 5, you have lived luxuriously on the earth, led a life of wanton pleasure. You have fattened your hearts to the day of slaughter. You've condemned and put to death the righteous. You see here he is condemning the rich, the ungodly rich. He writes to primarily Jewish people in the letter of James here, condemning the focus on riches. And riches acquired at the expense of misusing those who worked for you, and so on. So again, that constant warning. Strong language. He had warned the church earlier, and believers, about what happens. When a rich man comes into your assembly you are concerned he gets a good seat. A poor man comes in, you don't care if he gets a seat at all. We say we don't have that pressure, but if one of the well-known tremendously wealthy people of our state came to a service, we'd all be buzzing about it. So-and-so is here, do you see so-and-so here. Is his soul more valuable than the soul of a beggar who comes in and sits down. We look at the beggar who comes in and sits down and we say, what's he doing here? I sat next to him and he stunk, clothes hadn't been washed in months. I don't think he belongs here. We say we wouldn't do what James says, but James says, I want to warn you what the danger is to do. We get attracted by the world's standards and that begins to shape our thinking.

Come back to Matthew 6. Verses 22-23, the eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light, if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness and then the light that is in you is darkness. How great is the darkness. The point is of clarity of sight on these matters, undivided loyalty. If your heart is set on earthly treasure, then you'll be in spiritual darkness. We can't have our eyes focused on the treasures of the world and have the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ, for example, shining bright in our hearts because our eyes aren't on Him.

Note what he says in verse 24, no man can serve two masters. That's the point you see in verses 22-23. There you have the eye and the eye bringing in light, or the eye that is bad and the body is filled with darkness. It's not possible for you to be focused in the two areas. So here Jesus is instructing those who would be His followers, those who would come into His kingdom when it is established, about the focus of their lives. You know I John 2:15-17, all that is in the world, the lust of the eyes and so on. We need to be careful we don't get absorbed in those things. That's what Jesus is telling here. It's unfolded in other places of scripture as well. Keep your eye focused. What God told the Israelites, My word, My commandments, be concentrating on them. And when the riches come don't take your eyes, now, off My word and what matters and become absorbed with that. Doesn't say you can't enjoy it and appreciate it, but that does not now become the focus of a life.

You know what it's like, and I always use the example, but when a person is newly saved and comes to know the Savior, everything else gets adjusted in their life to be built around their relationship with Christ, their commitment to Him, His word, living for Him. But if we're not careful, those things have a way of pushing themselves back into centerstage and we get distracted. We would think more balanced. In other words, God gets one place in our life and we have these other things arranged. God says, your focus never changes, it's Me, it's treasure that I give and so on.

So in verse 24, no man can serve two masters, 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 and wealth, you cannot be a servant of the living and a servant of wealth. Can't be a slave of both, doesn't happen. So what is he doing? He's describing genuine believers, if you will. I take it the description is true, the statement of the Word is true. It wasn't just well in biblical times you couldn't serve riches and God, but today we've worked it out. No, I can only be the slave of one master because to be a slave means you are totally obligated to your master, he owns you. Remember what we read in I Corinthians 6? You are not your own, you've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. I'm not my own but I am totally enslaved to the One who purchased me. There is no part of me that I can give to the slavery of someone else, being enslaved to someone else or something else. No one can serve two masters because a master requires total allegiance of his slave. That was I Corinthians 6:19-20, I just referred to.

Picks up on verse 25, and what he's going to do in verses 25-34, he's going to three times tell them not to be anxious. What He did is lay the foundation here in verses 19-24—not storing up treasure on earth but storing up treasure in heaven, the importance of being focused on the treasure that matters and on serving our true Master, not wealth. Now you'll note verse 25 says, for this reason I say to you. Now we're going to unfold His plan for us and it's built around three statements repeated, or a statement repeated three times—do not be anxious, or don't be worried. Verse 25, do not be worried; verse 31, do not worry then; and then verse 34, do not worry. King James I believe has do not be anxious. And He'll give the reasons why, each time, believers, the children of God are not to worry. He's talking about material things here, the things of this life. Let me tell you what these reasons are. Verses 25-30, the largest section, don't be anxious, do not worry because God makes adequate provision for His children. The second reason given when He says do not be anxious, verses 31-33, is because God knows what you need. And then the third reason is do not be anxious because each day has enough trouble of its own. So you concentrate on today. So what He's really saying is those who are true followers of Him lead worry-free lives, based on the fact that worldly wealth is not the focus of their life. They have true treasure that they will enter into in due time so what they have in this life is not of great concern, it's not a cause of worry.

Let me just say here, this word translated worry, concern, anxiety can be used in a good sense of having a proper concern. Doesn't mean I'm indifferent. You know, as a husband and father I have responsibilities for my family. I just couldn't be indifferent, I have to provide food and shelter. That doesn't mean I have no interest in these things, not a proper concern. In fact Paul uses this word in II Corinthians 11:28 when he says, I have a concern for the churches. Doesn't mean I'm worried in the wrong sense, the sinful sense, but I have a genuine concern. So we're not talking about some kind of happy-go-lucky approach to life that is rather indifferent about the responsibility that God has given us. We just want to be clear when we say don't worry about these things. When all is said and done and I do what the Bible says I am responsible to do to the best of my ability, but it's in God's hands then. I'm not worried about whether our whole financial system collapses and here I am now as an elderly man—what am I going to do? Well, to the best of my ability I've done what I could, but my God takes cares of me. But it is not again an occasion for laxness, laziness or failure to function as God would have us function.

Okay, look at verse 25. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life. These are the things of life—what you will eat, what you will drink, for your body, what you will put on. I mean, these are the things of life. I have to have food, shelter, clothing. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow nor do they reap or gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they? So this first point, God makes adequate provision. Look at the birds of the air, they don't do the kind of planning. They don't make provision, but God provides for them and we are worth more to Him than the birds. Or who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? A single cubit, I think he's talking about extending our life in the context here. You know, worry doesn't change anything. When you're all done, what have you accomplished? Oh, I don't know if we have enough to pay the bills tomorrow. I think I'll sit down and worry about it for an hour or two. I get up and worry about it for an hour or two. So what changes? Well I think I have an illness that will take my life, I think I'll stay awake and worry about it tonight. But what will that do for me? Changes nothing, adds not one hour to my life, changes nothing as far as improving it. So you can't change anything by your worry. So God provides and your worrying accomplishes nothing. So when you stop and think about it , it's a worse than wasted effort or activity.

Why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. He's talked about the food, and God provides food for the birds and they don't have to store it up. Or what about the flowers of the field, they don't toil and they don't spin. I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow and is then thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, you of little faith. You know there is a stinging rebuke here to even those who are believers. He knows their hearts, their minds, He knows us as we are. He knows when we are worried about whether we'll have enough, what we'll do. And He calls it little faith, you of little faith. We call it being practical. But how is worrying practical? I mean. I can't change anything with my worrying, nothing. My kids won't have clothes tomorrow because I worried enough about it today, my family won't have food tomorrow because I was wise enough to sit and worry today. I don't get up in the morning and tell my family, it's all going to be taken care of. What did you do? I stayed up all night and worried. You know what they'd say? Dad's losing it, it's getting to him. Why? Because worry wouldn't change anything.

In fact, it shows a lack of willingness to trust the Lord. You men of little faith. It denotes weakness here in our faith, not absence of faith. It's an expression used in context where people who have failed to follow through in trusting the Lord completely as they should. Look over in chapter 8 verse 26. The disciples give you the setting here, verse 23. They get in a boat, His disciples with Him, they're going to cross the sea and a storm comes up and Jesus is asleep in the boat. They came to Him, woke Him saying, save us, Lord, we're perishing. He gets up, rebukes the wind and it gets perfectly calm. And what does He say to them? Why are you afraid, men of little faith, verse 26. I'd say, you could look at it a different way here. I mean, they thought He could do something. I mean, think about it, they woke Him up and said, Lord, save us, verse 25, we are perishing. I mean, that's faith, right? I mean, it wasn't, they said, let Him sleep, what can He do? No, they had faith He could do something, they woke Him up. And then He rebukes them, you of little faith. Why are you afraid, you men of little faith? They could have been sleeping, too. Why? If they trusted God. I mean, really, can the boat go down with the Son of God in it? We're safe. Our Lord takes care of us. So you see they had faith, but He says little faith. And that kind of faith gets rebuked because it's a divided faith. He could do something but maybe He won't, and that's where we get caught as Christians. None of us would say God couldn't do something. Our lack of faith comes when we're afraid maybe He won't. So we do our prayers, Lord, I know you can but I'm asking you will. And really our fear comes, our worry comes He won't. That makes us people of little faith.

Look over in chapter 14 verse 31. We're back on the water again. You're aware, the disciples went ahead of Christ in the boat and then Christ comes at night and He's walking on the water like He's just going to walk by. And they're afraid so Peter says to Him in verse 28, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. Now when you think about it, that was sort of a dumb thing. What if it wasn't Him and He said, come out. I mean, if it isn't the Lord it might be somebody and what if he says, get out of the boat and you go straight down. But there is a certain faith here in Peter. So he gets our and starts walking on the water. But seeing the wind He became frightened and began to sink. Lord, save me. Jesus stretched out His hand, took hold of him and said, Peter, you are a remarkable man. What does He say? You of little faith, why did you doubt? Now keep in mind there are only two men in the Bible who walked on water—Jesus Christ Himself and Peter. There is only one of those disciples who got out of the boat. I don't think I'd have been one of them. Peter got out of the boat. You think you're in a boat there and the wind is blowing and the waves are splashing, are you getting out of the boat? You see the Lord's not happy when we trust Him partially. So Jesus' words to him, little faith, you of little faith. Why did you doubt? It may have been more faith than everybody who stayed in the boat, but little faith, why did you doubt. There are some other passages on that statement we won't go to right now. Little faith. You see what a little faith is, it's really a divided faith. I'll trust Him partway, but I don't know if I can trust Him all the way with everything. I mean, I'll trust Him I'll have enough as long as I have what I think I can squeeze by with. I have a partial faith. I can trust Him if my investments go down to a certain level and Lord, I can trust this will be enough for me. But if You wipe it all out, now I don't know if I can walk by faith any longer, I don't know if I can trust You this far, Lord. You see we have a little faith which is a divided faith, which is a faith that goes so far. Afraid the Lord won't come through as I may need Him to.

Come back to Matthew 6. Verse 31, 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 you need all these things. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. You know, God not only makes adequate provision for us, He knows what we need. I think I know what I need, He really knows what I need. I may know some of the things I want, He knows what I need, He knows what I have to have. He knows I'll need food if I'm going to survive, He knows I need clothing and shelter. So He knows what I need. Don't worry, then, verse 31, saying what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear for clothing. The Gentiles seek these things. Keep in mind He's addressing Jews, the Gentiles are outside the realm of God's blessings, God's provision, God's salvation at this stage.

Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. The people that don't belong to Him, they are occupied with these things. I have to have this, I have to get this, I have to be sure I .......... Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Make the focus of your life God and living for Him, the kingdom that He is going to establish, the righteousness He provides. He'll take care of your needs, not your wants. You may go from wealth to poverty. The Apostle Paul did that, you know. He was a man of position, a man of power and with that would have come substantial income. When all is said and done, Philippians 3, he said it all went on the dung heap, all that was gone. And I don't miss it. Paul's testimony wasn't bemoaning all that he gave up. What he did say he gave up, he says I want you to know it's not worth anything because I gained Christ. That's the new focal point of his life. He still had to eat, still had to have clothing. We'd say Paul lived from hand to mouth and sometimes people gave him gifts, sometimes he had to go back to his trade and work. But he didn't die of starvation, he died a martyr. God provided for him. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added unto you. That single focus of life. Of course I do other things, I work a job, I do the things that are required of me, but that's not the focus of my life. It's my God, it's my service for Him. This is a promise for believers.

Verse 34, do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. That's our third. First, God makes adequate provision, so we need not worry. Secondly, God knows what we need, so we need not worry. Thirdly, each day has enough trouble of its own. Don't worry about tomorrow. And let's face it, that's where our worries are. Some of you are sitting here, you may be worried about something that is coming up tomorrow. You're not worried about what you're going to eat today, you've already had enough. And the things of today are taken care of, we've made it. I know, I've made it through the day, I don't know if we will tomorrow or not. Well you know we can say, thank you, Lord, for bringing me through today. And just list all your worries. They are tomorrows, aren't they? Well, God has given you enough today. When I start being overly concerned about tomorrow, that doesn't mean I shouldn't do any planning for tomorrow. The book of Proverbs speaks to those kinds of matters. But I don't have any worries about tomorrow. To the best of my ability I have tried to carry out my responsibility in planning, but I have no worries for tomorrow. Now what if you wake up and the headlines are disaster, everything has collapsed and your money is not worth anything. Well, Lord, I guess all I have is what is in the refrigerator. I wish I had shopped more earlier, should have had two freezers stocked. You know there was a time when there was a movement telling Christians they ought to be storing up things and blah, blah, blah. There is wisdom, they say a hurricane is coming and you ought to get some bottled water or put water in bottles and put them in refrigerator, sure, I'll do that. But am I going to sit there and bite my nails all night worried about tomorrow? We talked this morning, who sits on the throne? That has practical matters, then, in the provision for me for my everyday life. So I'll watch the financial news, or I'll read a financial magazine and hear all the gloom. And they say, are you an optimist? Well it depends, am I an optimist in the sense that everything is going to get better in this world? No, but I am an optimist in the context my God provides for me and my inheritance is secure, my true wealth will not be affected. If our money goes to zero and you're using it to put in the fire to keep warm, my wealth, your wealth in Christ is secure, right? In a hundred years I'm going to be a fabulously wealthy man. I am now, but I just can't get to it, yet. It's an inheritance stored up for me. How do you know it's there? Well, the One who is all powerful said He has it there for me and He is protecting it. Well maybe you won't make it, you're a bumbler. Well He said He's protecting me, too. Well, I look around and say, my God is in control of the world, my God is in control of all the little details of my life—the clothes I have, the food I have. It doesn't get any better, what more could I want? I should worry? I should be fearful? I should trust my heavenly Father, the sovereign Creator and God of the universes this far and worry about the rest of it? Just trust Him completely and don't focus on the things of this life. Focus on the things that He has promised, that He has said and rest in peace in Him. Then we'll be back to where Philippians 4 takes us, and the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding will stand guard at your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. God's solution for a worry free life. Place your faith in Him and then walk by faith.

Let's pray together. Thank you Lord, for your grace. How gracious you are, how patient you are with us, even as your children. Lord, we who have been saved by your grace through faith, how sad that we would have to be rebuked as those of little faith. We trust you partially, but not fully. Lord, worry easily creeps into our hearts and minds. The things of this life press in and soon they become the focus of our attention and very quickly we are worried. Lord, we need to stop and consider you are our God, you have graciously promised to care for us, to provide for us, to meet our needs, and to store up for us an inheritance in your presence. You have promised to protect us and keep us. Lord, not to keep us from pain, not to keep us from trouble or trial, but keep us safe and secure, to know that you are always watching over us, watching out for us and you are providing for us. Lord, may this bring peace to our hearts and confidence as we walk by faith, counting it a privilege to trust you, our God. May that be true of us in the days of the week before us. We pray in Christ's name, amen.