Jesus' Sermon On The Mountainside, Worry, Continued

What are you worried about right now?

Every time you catch yourself thinking anxious thoughts, ask yourself,
• Am I remembering the truth about God?

• Do these thoughts honor God?

• Is this what God thinks about this subject?

• Do my thoughts cast doubt on God’s goodness, do they elevate my own importance or desires?

• Would my thoughts bring God pleasure?

• Are they grounded in faith, do they exalt God’s reputation?

• Are these thoughts causing me to feel more fearful and negative, or

• Are these thoughts filling my heart with courage and a strong commitment to righteousness?

• Would God our Father tell me that these are worthy thoughts for His child?

The Bible says to take your anxiety to God, thank Him for everything that you do have, and ask Him for His comfort, forgiveness and courage to stop worrying.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)

* Live in the moment right now.

* Seek to be faithful to God and to love Him and the people in your life who are there right now.

* Don’t be carried away by what might happen tomorrow.

After all, God has given you only the grace for what you need to live out today. When tomorrow comes, God will give you the grace you need for then.

God is reliable and trustworthy, He takes care of His own

--> How great is your relationship with God?

--> Is it just for show, or is it vibrant and rich, personal, intimate and filled with spiritual power?

In God's community, we all are supposed to be giving to each other, to the glory of God, in the praise of His grace. If somebody is not sharing, another person may go hungry. When you read about the early church in Acts, that’s how they lived out Jesus’ teaching. They never worried, but gave everything they had to each other, so that no one was left wanting.

If you link Matthew 6:33-34 with Matthew 6:3-4 you discover that this chapter of Jesus’ teaching actually makes an organic whole:

"When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

As one Bible translation puts it,

"...Relax, don't be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way He works worry about these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.

"Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met...When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it — quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out."

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Jesus' Sermon On The Mountainside, Worry

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" (Matthew 6:25

Worry and anxiety aren’t just trivial problems. Worry is really a form of unbelief. Worry is sin.

Maybe that feels unfair, but please don’t be discouraged.

Recognizing that the emotional pain of worrying and being anxious is sin is actually good news. Jesus didn’t die to free you and me from uncomfortable emotions. He died to free us from the power of sin. As one author has put it, “Jesus paid the price of every ounce of worry and fear in each of our lives, and He broke the power that worry, and all our sin, has in our lives.”

If you’ve identified with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, then this is the truth:
* You are free from the bondage of sin,
* Free from the bondage of worry, habitual fears and anxieties.

It may seem like these worries will never let you go, but that’s not the truth. Jesus has empowered you to stop being anxious about your life.

You have been set free.

When you are willing to worship God and put Him first, you will discover that whatever God provides is enough for you to live for Him.

(1) God created you and He is a responsible Father. He will take care of what He has made

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:26)

(2) God sees to it that the earth continues to thrive – He sustains the entire universe by His word

(3) Worry is pointless, and ends up making your situation worse, not better, because you are now emotionally depleted and can even make yourself physically sick with worry

"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:27)

(4) God even cares about beauty, He has clothed the universe in luxurious colors, scents and sounds

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28-29)

(5) To be preoccupied by the things of earthly life is to live like an unbeliever.

"...Will [God] not much more clothe you — you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things," Matthew 6:30-32

It’s understandable for someone who doesn’t believe in God to worry about the seemingly arbitrary and capricious and meaningless way life goes along. But it’s sin for someone who claims to believe that God is loving, powerful, good and sovereign to also indulge in an anxious thought life.

(6) God is your Father, and as His child you enjoy privileges that are not available to those who are not members of His family,

"Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:32b-33)

Your heavenly Father knows what you need.

You are of far greater value than all the rest of the life on earth, and when you forget that truth, you will live like an unbeliever, always filled with worries and fears.

Instead focus on obeying and pleasing God, and everything you need will be given to you.

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Jesus' Sermon On The Mountainside, Wealth as God's Rival

If you and I worship wealth, then we will find ourselves emotionally, spiritually and materially impoverished.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19)

* We will view the wealth God has given us as really our own wealth and not His, and worry about whether our wealth is secure.

* We’ll worry if there is enough of it to provide for our wants.

* We will become reluctant to share the wealth.

* Instead of being grateful to God, our anxieties and worries will create distance between us and God.

Instead, the Lord Jesus says,

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."(Matthew 6:20)

The Jews were very familiar with this concept of treasure in heaven. One saying was that deeds of kindness done on earth became the treasure a person had in heaven.

Treasure in heaven was also connected with a person’s character. It was said that the only thing a person could take out of this world with them when they died was themselves. So the finer a self that person brought, the greater that person’s treasure would be in heaven.

When you lay up treasure in heaven, you end up using all that you have here on earth for the glory of God. Jesus often talked about how the right attitude toward wealth is a mark of spiritual maturity.

When God made everything we have on this earth, He declared it good. God has often invited His people to enjoy what He has given us. It is not wrong for you to possess wealth, but it is definitely wrong for wealth to posses you.

What is your security?

Think about it this way – go through each aspect of your life and ask yourself “Could I survive the loss of this, or would it spin me into a pit so deep I wonder if I would ever come back up out of it?”

* Maybe you feel you might not survive the loss of your child, or of your husband, or your family.

* Maybe your treasure is your pet, and the loss of that little companion would sink you beyond help.

* Maybe what you are treasuring is for you to be loved, and you fear losing, or being abandoned by, the person or the creature who loves you.

* Maybe your treasure is your sense of security – your house and investments, or your retirement account.

* Maybe it’s your health and strength, and you are undone by the thought of being bedridden.

* Maybe pleasure is your treasure, and the loss of even a little pleasure makes you irritable and grabby.

* Maybe you treasure being popular,
...or having a sense of purpose by being employed,
......or having something to do.

You tell God what your treasure is, and He’ll tell you where your heart is.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)

A prayer-filled life is characterized by godly wisdom:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23)

Eyes are opened to the light of God's word, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, rather than being blinded by the glare of wealth, which actually brings darkness and clouded thinking.

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (or "Mammom") (Matthew 6:24)

“Mammon” was a commonly used word in Jesus’ day that referred to wealth, but in the negative sense, being enslaved to wealth.

You can’t love and devote yourself to your earthly treasure and think that you can love and devote yourself to God at the same time. Mammon is God’s rival. The love of one will crowd out the love of the other.

* In what capacity might you be trying to "serve two masters"?

* In what ways might wealth, or the desire for wealth, be clouding your thinking?

* What do you find yourself devoting more of your time and energy towards? God, or His rival...Mammon?

God hasn’t promised to always protect your earthly treasure. If you spend your life trying to protect your treasure, which God hasn’t promised to do, you will find yourself in a constant state of anxiety, since you know, deep down, that you can’t control the future.

The only answer is to replace the earthly treasure with a heavenly one, treasuring God even more, treasuring His love and approval even more than your other loves.

A prayerful life has a single focus on God, and not double vision which tries to serve God and some other source of security,
-> Like material wealth,
...or a career,
......or your children,
.........or having a companion and so on.

When your heart is wrapped around earthly treasure, you leave yourself vulnerable to fear, anxiety and worry. A person with single focus is free from anxiety and worry about the things of life, but trusts contentedly in God's provision, even when God’s will allows anguish, suffering, and death.

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Blended Gospels: Jesus' Sermon On The Mountainside, Wealth

“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?

"So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

[Blended Gospels: Matthew 6:19-34, Luke 6:24-25, ESV]

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Jesus' Sermon: Intention of the Law on Fasting

Jesus' third example of religious hypocrisy concerned
(C) Fasting:

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." (Matthew 6:16)

The only fast that God required of His people was on the day of atonement, but the Pharisees fasted twice a week, Monday and Thursday, making sure everybody knew it so they could be congratulated on their holiness. All they were interested in was other people’s admiration, so they lost out on any blessing their fasting would have brought from God.

Fasting is good and right. Jesus fasted, and He said that sometimes something can’t be accomplished without both prayer and fasting.

Fasting helps to discipline our appetites and keep our spiritual priorities straight.

Judicious fasting has long been known to be good for your health. When you fast you are disciplining rather than indulging your appetite, which strengthens your ability for self-discipline and self-control in other areas of your life, too.

Pleasure and habit don’t become our masters.

Fasting gives you the courage to do without something, and strengthens your faith that you can persevere. Fasting helps you to appreciate all that God gives you. You know how to say thank you when you’ve done without.

This is private and intimate, between you and God.
(1) When you fast in order to be in a deeper communion with the Lord
(2) Then do it quietly, unobtrusively, so that it truly is a holy fast. (3) Fast in a way that does not drag everyone down with you,
(4) But that is uplifting and joyful, a pleasurable gift to God,
(5) And a deeper humbling of yourself.

Real righteousness is anchored in a vibrant relationship with God

It's all about the love -- this is for You, Lord, because I love you. It's intimate. You don’t even want other people to be looking in, because this is personal.

Worship of God contains three essential elements:
--> Generosity,
--> Communion with God
--> Self control

Real lovers of God commune with God, sustained by prayer that brings joy and spiritual energy, because it is focused on the love affair with God Himself, wanting always to do what pleases Him and is within His will.

* In what ways can your prayer life become more personal and intimate with God?

Real lovers of God control their own impulses to over-consume what God gives them, or to hoard God's wealth.

* In what area of your life might God be calling you to fast from as a matter of worship and devotion to Him?

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. It is His pleasure to give to us. Real lovers of God worship Him by joyfully sharing His spiritual and material wealth with others in a way that upholds the receiver’s dignity and deflects attention from the giver.

* What do you have that you now see God is calling you to share with someone else, as a matter of generous love towards God Himself?

If you and I do not worship the wealth, but worship God alone, this sharing ends up making all of us rich. God rewards the one who gives out of love for Him. Those who receive what is given are also richer.

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Jesus' Sermon: The Lord's Prayer

The Lord Jesus gave a pattern for prayer to His disciples

“This, then, is how you should pray" (Matthew 6:9)

(1) Beginning with worship and reverent love,

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9)

Believe that you are in the throne room of God, kneeling at His feet, with His hand lovingly placed on you. He is your Father, and you are His favored child, part of His family, and what you will ask our Father for is to benefit the whole family

(2) Consecrate yourself by aligning your heart, mind, will and spirit with God’s will.

"your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)

Let it be your deepest most heartfelt desire to be an active part of God setting things right on earth, just as they are right and good in heaven. Humble yourself completely under God’s hand.

(3) God already knows your needs, but now you are ready to bring you personal need to God, your material bread, and your spiritual bread, because you will now trust God’s provision, and will know how to use it in the right way.

"Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11)

“Father, please grant me the sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely submits to and delights in Your wise and Fatherly disposal in every condition. Help me to be satisfied with Your loving provision in any and every situation”

(4) Recognize your need for God’s forgiveness, and for His power to forgive the people in your life.

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." (Matthew 6:12)

Once you receive God’s forgiveness, then out of that wealth of His cleansing, comfort and deep acceptance, you will have the ability to forgive all the sins that people do to you.

Listen to Him carefully, because the Lord will help you to realize the people you need to go to, to forgive, to ask forgiveness from and who you need to ask to be reconciled with. This is what living the gospel is all about.

(5) Immediately you are going to be tempted to live for yourself instead, to please yourself and not God, so pray for protection,

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13)

(6) Praise God, full of faith that He is good, He is loving, He is powerful, He is sovereign! He can and will do all of this and more.

We must have a forgiving spirit towards others for our prayer to be real:

"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15)

God has made it clear that when you and I cherish sin in our hearts, our prayers are going to be without effect. To have fellowship with God, you have to live out the gospel experiencing God’s forgiveness both from Him to yourself, and through you to others.

The important thing about prayer is not so much about getting an answer from God, but being the kind of person that God will trust with an answer. Without receiving something from God, through prayer, you and I will not have anything of worth to offer anyone else.

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Jesus' Sermon: Intention of the Law on Prayer

The second of Jesus' examples of hypocritical religion concerned prayer
(B) Prayer:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." (Matthew 6:5)

All prayer is meant to be for God. Prayer is talking with God. You and I speak to God in prayer; He speaks to us through the Bible and His Spirit.

Often it is a good start to begin by listening to the Lord first in Scripture, understanding what He wants for you and what He wants to do through you, then respond to Him in prayer.

What do you say, how do you talk, when you are face to face with God? You may not use the most eloquent, beautiful language, you may not finish your sentences perfectly, you may not have a sensible outline for your prayer.

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6)

“Closet” means “a private room.” Go into a room by yourself and shut the door. Be alone with the Lord, so that you can freely pour out your heart to Him, and not be distracted as God pours out His heart and mind to you. You can pray out loud, on your knees before God, humbled before Him, without even a hint of self consciousness.

(1) We need to pray in secret before we pray in public: It isn’t wrong to pray in public, it’s good and right. Praying together is one of the most intimate things believers can experience together. But pray privately with God first, get right with Him first. It is wrong to pray in public if you are not in the habit of praying in private.

(2) We must pray sincerely: When you pray together, it can quench the Holy Spirit’s movement among you when
--> One person dominates the prayer time with long speeches that end up being a lecture for the people present, and not real prayer to God Himself.

You can quench the Spirit’s intercession through you by
--> Trying to think up holy sounding words instead of praying what the Spirit puts in your heart to say.

You can quench the Spirit’s leading when you
--> Run out of things to say, but still keep talking.

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:7-8)

Repeating a petition to God is not “vain repetition.” Jesus prayed about the same thing three times in a row in the Garden of Gethsemane.

A ”vain repetition” is when you just say the same words, but in your heart you aren’t really seeking God or His will.

* You might be wanting God to do your will;
* Or you might not be invested in what you’re praying about;
* You might be checking it off the list, so you can say you prayed about it;
* Or you might not even be thinking about what you’re saying.

Reciting a beautiful poem to somebody you love can be incredibly moving when you put your heart and soul into it. Praying memorized prayers can be the same. But when you are not thinking about what you’re saying, you’re just getting the job done, that’s “vain repetitiom."

(3) We must pray within God’s will: The purpose of prayer is to glorify God’s name, and ask for help to accomplish His will on earth.

(4) Prayer begins with God’s interests: God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. You and I can’t get anywhere by praying for something that would dishonor God’s name, delay His kingdom or go against His will.

Prayer involves each person of the Trinity.
* You and I pray to God the Father.
* We pray through the Lord Jesus Christ, that's why we often say "for Jesus' sake," because it's on behalf of Jesus' atonement that God allows us to come right up to Him in His holy of holies, the throne room of heaven.
* Being born again, God has put His Holy Spirit in us, so that you and I come to God in the Holy Spirit when we commune with Him.

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