Amen. Let's take out our Bibles again, congregation, and let's turn together in the Word of God to Matthew's Gospel. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 6. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 6. We find our place here in our exposition of this place of Scripture called the Sermon on the Mount in this familiar teaching of the Lord Jesus, beginning with verse number 25. Matthew chapter 6 and beginning with verse 25, Jesus says, Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor read nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, Even Solomon, in all of his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? Oh, you of little faith. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Now let's join together in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we bow before you again as we come to your word. As your people who have been called by your eternal purpose. You have brought us to a place where we have seen our sin for what it is, and we have ran to Christ as our Savior and deliverer from the wrath to come. We as your people, who are vitally connected and in union with Christ, desire to hear His Word and to follow His teaching and to faithfully seek to do His will as our Savior. We pray, dear Father, that as we come to this portion of Your Word today, this very practical Word that Jesus speaks of, We ask you that you would give us the grace to follow its teaching, that you would give us the simple trust to believe in its valid truth that we should heed in our day. Help us by doing that, that we would be light, that we would truly be a lamp, and that we would point others around us to the saving power of the Gospel. We ask You that You would indeed do this by Your grace and give us the grace that we would faithfully follow. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. This morning we take up in our study this next section in the Sermon on the Mount dealing with the issue of worry. The Lord Jesus in the previous portion of chapter six has been dealing with various areas of practical piety. He dealt with some of the false practices of the Pharisees and the religious people of his day. Concerning the area of giving and praying and fasting, there was this outward external performance of trying to appear and look to others as being religious. Dressing a certain way, doing a certain thing, saying a certain thing, acting in a certain manner, so that other people would take note and acknowledge, oh, that is a righteous person. Look what they're doing. Look how they're acting. Look how they're praying. Jesus says in that context, they have their reward. The only reward they're getting is the reward from those foolish people who are beguiled into thinking that they are truly righteous in their hearts. It was all an external sham. Last week, we noted this issue flowing from that is this whole area of our finances as it relates to kingdom living. Jesus speaks about how that we cannot store up for ourselves treasures on earth because treasures on earth are transient. They're fleeting. You cannot truly keep them, hold them and ensure them in this life. Jesus says, rather, we should be concerned with storing up treasure in heaven that is lasting, that is secure, And that is ultimately all that really matters as pilgrims passing through on a journey to the next place, the presence of Almighty God. We cannot serve two masters. Either we will serve Mammon or we will serve God. And we can only have one master. From that here, beginning in verse 25, Jesus takes up what is one of the most practical portions of all of this chapter, namely the issue of worry and anxiety. If we would be honest this morning, we would all acknowledge that at some point in our lives, we have had the reality of worry and anxiety come upon us. In fact, if I were to ask the question, is there anyone here this morning who has never worried? I would dare to say that no one would raise their hand and say, I've never worried about anything. Indeed, worry pervades our culture and the human condition. Folks worry about everything. They worry about the smallest details of life. They worry about the big issues of life. They worry and they are fretting over things that may seem insignificant or potential problems that they may see as perhaps happening. And it can literally freeze a person and immobilize a person from truly doing and being all that God would have them to be. Indeed, there is a whole culture, a whole area of industry in our day that tries to address the issue of worry and anxiety. People buy books which are printed by the dozens every year about how to be happy and worry free and have no anxiety in their lives. Just go over to Barnes and Noble. They have a whole line of books dealing with this issue. People go to seminars where special speakers will give intensive lectures on the issue of how to have worry-free living and have this anxiety removed from their lives. People go to counselors and psychologists and psychiatrists who give them counseling. And very often it's a process where you never really get out of that. You just keep going and going and going. And they keep listening and listening, but there really isn't ever any curing to the condition of the human soul, because ultimately those who would call themselves students of the soul, the psuche, are not really knowledgeable on the true condition of the soul. Jesus, however, is indeed competent in areas of the soul. Amen. And we know that worry is a real issue, and we know that anxiety can literally, doctors say, make you physically ill. A person who is filled with anxiety can have a whole host of physiological problems and ailments, and illnesses come as a result of stress and worry and anxiety. into this very practical issue which touches all of our lives, Jesus here gives a very certain clarion word of how we are to deal with this issue of worry. Jesus says, first of all, a word about a prohibition against worry. Then he moves from that to speak about some principles about worry. And then finally, we see here a plan to abolish worry in our lives. All of us want to abolish this thing called worry. Amen. It really is not any good for us and it's not enjoyable. And how do we deal with it? Well, notice, if you will, in verse 25, the prohibition against worry. Jesus says, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. This phrase here, do not be anxious, he is saying, do not worry. The old King James says, take no thought. And the idea was to have your thought life. totally invaded and filled with this consuming reality of being anxious and worried about the things of our existence. Jesus says, do not worry, do not be anxious about your life. He says what you will eat, what you will drink or about your body, what you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. The very word worry means literally to pull apart and the idea of peace, which is the opposite of worry and anxiety. Peace means to put things together, to bring that which is not together into harmony. And so when you think about the idea of worry on the one hand and the idea of peace on the other, the absolute antithesis of worry, whenever a person is at peace and enjoys peace in their lives, their lives are in harmony with their true person and existence in union with Jesus Christ. When a person is filled with fretting and worrying and anxiety, they are literally being pulled apart. Have you ever seen folks that are so filled with worry that it just incapacitates them? They can't function because they're so consumed with the things which they have allowed to become the trigger issues of anxiety in their existence. Jesus says, do not worry, because worry will literally pull you apart. A congregation at this point, we have to acknowledge here, Jesus is giving a command here. He is giving a prohibition. And this tells us something about the nature of worry or anxiety. You see, we live in a culture today that basically thinks worry and anxiety is kind of like having a food allergy. Or kind of like catching a cold, it's not really your fault. It's just something that's part of your constitution. Well, you know, I'm just an actual born worrier. That's just what I am. I worry about things. And you've heard people say this and they don't believe that they are somehow accountable or responsible for their worrying. They believe that it's just who they are, and therefore, they're off the hook. They're not responsible for that kind of thinking. Jesus says here, you are responsible for your thinking. You are responsible for your worrying. You are accountable for your anxiety. It is a choice that you make. It is a decision that you engage in, and you have the choice either to worry or to not worry, whether to fret or to not fret, whether to be anxious are to not be anxious. You see how this flies in the face with what most people think about the topic of worry and anxiety. They think it's just something that you do and you can't really get around it. Jesus says, no, it is your duty. It is your responsibility. It is a part of your duty before God to deal with this issue of worry and anxiety. Jesus here in giving this command, giving this imperative, he is basically saying, if you are worrying, you are sinning. Now, that's not very popular, amen? That's identifying a whole lot of sin, isn't it? If Jesus says, don't do it, it means you have the capacity not to do it. And if you choose to do it, then you are breaking the command. of Jesus Christ. It is not just a matter of, well, this is just who I am or you don't understand my situation or well, if you were in my shoes or well, if the circumstances of your life were like what I'm going through. No, Jesus didn't give any qualification whatsoever, did he? He didn't say, do not be anxious about your life unless. fill in the blank what you think is a legitimate area to be anxious about. He says, don't do it. You're sinning. If you do, you're breaking my command and congregation. Again, this flies in the face of what is commonly said in our pop psychology industry of today that tries to redefine sin as a disease. Tries to offload responsibility and say it's not my fault. It's just who I am. It's my environment. It's my upbringing. It's when I was potty trained as a child. That's the fault. You know, that's the kind of things that people come up with as reasons. But I'm not to blame. It's what they did or what they said or how they acted. And you see, we live in a culture of blame shifting in this area of our souls. And in this area in particular, it's their fault. It's that's fault. That's the reason it's not me. And so here Jesus says it is your area of responsibility. It is your duty before God. You are commanded not to be anxious about your life. whatever your circumstances, whatever your situation, because this has to do with the well-being of your soul and your effectiveness in serving me in my kingdom. I like the story about the person who hired someone to worry for them. Have you ever heard this story before? The guy who hired someone to worry for them? He said, I want to hire you to worry for me so I don't have to worry. And I'm going to pay you $100,000 a year to worry for me. And the guy said, that's great, but where are you going to get the $100,000? He said, that's your first worry. And you see, it would be nice if we could hire someone to worry for us. Wouldn't that be wonderful? You know, we'll just hire this guy and they'll worry for me and then I won't have to. And I'll just check up on how the worry is going every once in a while. But Jesus says here, no, that is wrong because worry is wrong. It is a sin and you're responsible for it and you need to deal with it in mortifying the sin of worry. This is not the only place in the word of God where we find this. If you'll turn back to Philippians chapter four, we notice in Philippians chapter four, this idea Paul brings this up as well. You're probably familiar with the text that I'm going to already, but in Philippians chapter four and beginning in verse number four, Paul here is coming to the end of this epistle and he's dealing with some very practical issues. Remember, Paul is writing this epistle, Philippians, while he is in prison. So his circumstances were not what you would call just living high on the hog and having a worry free life. He was in a difficult circumstance. He didn't know if he was going to have his head chopped off the next day. And it was not like these kind of low security prisons that they send folks who cheat on Wall Street. No, that's not the kind of prison system in Paul's day. It was a very difficult, a very hard existence being in a Roman imprisonment. Yet Paul says this in that context, he says, Philippians 4, 4, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Notice verse number six. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Paul, in a very difficult circumstance of life, a very uncertain future, facing a difficult physical existence, says, What you need to do is be rejoicing always. And you don't need to be anxious about anything. Rather, what you need to be doing is having this posture of perpetual prayer that will indeed be the very context by which God grants this peace which surpasses all understanding. The old idea, you know, Two prisoners were in a prison. One looked out the prison window. One saw mud and the other saw stars. You've heard that story before. The idea that it's all a matter of perspective. It all has to do with what's going on in between our ears. It's not our circumstances. It's not our situation. It is our Constitution and the condition of our soul. Now, turn back with me to Matthew chapter six. We see this prohibition against worry. Secondly, we know here some principles about worry. Jesus says three things about worry to kind of give more validity and strength of what he is saying. He says, in terms of principle about worry, number one, it is unnecessary for the Christian. Look at verse number 26. It is unnecessary for the Christian. He says, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor read nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I tell you, even Solomon and all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, Will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Here, Jesus gives a couple of illustrations to say worry is unnecessary for those who are members of Christ's kingdom. The first illustration is that of the birds of the air. Very common, simple illustration. He says, look at the birds of the air. They don't sow and they don't reap. You don't see them out plowing in a field. You don't see that. And yet they are fed. Your heavenly Father makes sure that they do not go hungry. Are you not of more value than they? Secondly, he uses the illustration of the lilies and the field. He says, look at the lilies of the field. And whenever you consider the lilies of the field, they do not toil, they do not spin. And yet, whenever you compare the beauty of God's natural creation illustrated by the lilies of the field, whenever you look at what harmony, what beauty, what variety of color. And you compare that to the best illustration of the best clad gentleman that Hebrew history could bring, Solomon. Those natural conditions are far more beautiful, far better arrayed, far more stunning than even Solomon in the best kingly garb that he could garter for that occasion. Jesus says, if God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and gone tomorrow, that which is transient, that which is here and gone before you really can take account, will God not much more take care of you? If God can feed the birds, if God can clothe the fields, can He not provide for you your next meal? Can he not give to you the assurance that you will be clothed and not go needy as a child of God? The illustration that he is using is this argument from the lesser to the greater. He is saying on a very mere, meager level, this issue of natural creation and how God takes care of the natural order. That is a blessing and it is an illustration of God's goodness and beneficence in a natural way. But you are far more than just a natural part of God's creation. You're his children. You have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You have been chosen and elected and eternity past. God has set His love upon you. He has called you to His Son. You are a part of His kingdom. You are a part of His family. It's one thing to be concerned about the needy in general, but think about how you take care of your own children. Jesus says, arguing from the lesser to the greater by way of contrast and comparison, God will do far greater and far exceed what he does in taking care of birds in the air and the lilies of the field. So he says it is unnecessary to worry if you're a Christian. Secondly, notice in verses 31 and 32, he says not only is worry Unnecessary for the Christian. Actually, it is unworthy of a Christian. He says, therefore, do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentiles seek after these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. The idea here of the Gentiles is speaking about the heathen. That's not a very politically correct term in this day. You don't hear the word heathen very much anymore. Lost people, those who are estranged from God, those who are not part of the covenant community of God. And Jesus is saying here, that's what concerns and preoccupies and becomes the central focus of people who do not know God as you know God. It's one thing for a people who do not have the reality of the saving grace of God in their life to worry about what they're going to eat and what they're going to wear and how they're going to get along. But you are part of God's family and what preoccupies the heathen should not be the concern of those who are part of his family. The lost world is, as we know, even to this very day in the universal teaching of the Lord Jesus, preoccupied with their careers, preoccupied with what they can accumulate, preoccupied and how they can can get along in their bank accounts and and how they can have security by way of their own industry. And Jesus says that's the kind of concerns that is unworthy of a child of God. The heathen, the lost, the Gentiles, perhaps. But you're a child of God. You know the King. You're a part of His family. You are citizens of heaven. This is not your ultimate destination. And God will take care of you as you are one of His. It is unnecessary for the Christian. It is unworthy of the Christian. Notice, if you will, in verse 34, he says it is unfruitful for the Christian. We notice here this phrase. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. And how true that is. Amen. We live in a fallen world. We live in a world where there is danger on every side. We have the enemy of our own flesh. We have the enemy of a corrupt, Christless culture that hates everything that we stand for, long for and live for. And then on top of that, we have a devil who is out to get us. And we have indeed trouble on every side in this life. Jesus says, consider this. You don't need to be anxious about tomorrow. You need to be living for Christ today. You can only live one day at a time, and tomorrow will supply a sufficient giving of another challenge. And whenever those challenges come tomorrow, the same God who has met your needs and sustained your existence and provided grace to live for Him today will be the same God tomorrow, and He will provide and He will protect and He will guide and guard as He is doing today. So don't worry about tomorrow. God will take care of tomorrow just as He takes care of today. I like the saying that someone wrote, kind of like a poem about the Wildflower and the sparrow kind of taking a theme from this passage about the the birds of the air and the lilies of the field said the wildflower to the sparrow. I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry. So said the sparrow to the wildflower friend, I think that it must be. They have no heavenly father such as takes care of you and me. How true that is. If God takes care of the sparrows and the wild flowers, the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and how much more, how greater and how more assured can we be? He will take care of us and therefore we have no need of worry. Notice, if you will, with me in this passage back up in verse thirty three, we know here the plan to abolish worry. We have said that worry is a sin. We are responsible for it and God has prohibited it. We have noted here that it is very simple because it is unnecessary. It is unworthy and ultimately it's unfruitful. It's not going to help anything. It's just going to make things worse. But how do we deal practically with worry in our lives? Some of us this morning gathered here may struggle with worry more than others of us. There may be some folks here who at this very moment is going through a situation and you are tempted to really be upset with anxiety and worry right now. Others of us may be challenged in the future in a circumstance where that temptation to worry could arise within our hearts. How do we deal with worry? Let me share with you three practical things. Number one, we deal with worry by elevating our priorities. By elevating our priorities. This is what we see in verse 33. Jesus says in verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness And all these things will be added to you." Here Jesus gives a very pointed contrast. But, the adversative conjunction, in contrast with, in contradistinction to those who would worry because they do not know your heavenly Father, this is what you are to do. Notice the passion here. He says, First, the Kingdom of God. The idea of seeking is this idea of passion. This idea of intensity. This idea of earnestly. We are to seek. We are to be passionately consumed with earnestness. And notice he says, first, again the idea of priority. Seek first. the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This is what should consume us. Rather than fretting and worrying and being anxious, we need to be passionately, with first priority, consumed with the kingdom of God and with His righteousness. What do we mean by the kingdom of God? We have spent a number of weeks in a previous study in this sermon on the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God really is a very inclusive and encompassing reality in the word of God. It has to do with the reality of the present kingdom of God in our day. It has to do with our conversion into that kingdom. We should be concerned with whether or not we're truly converted. We truly know Christ. We truly are His children, or if we are to use the terminology of Jesus, still Gentiles and lost and estranged and alienated from God. That needs to be our first priority, not our bank accounts, not our cars, not our careers, but our conversion to Jesus Christ. Secondly, this idea of the kingdom of God has to do with our consecration, our our sanctification before the Lord. We need to be consumed with first priority about being more like Christ. Congregation being more like Christ is not being meek and gentle and humble and having this kind of lily livered kind of passivity. That's not what I mean when I say like Christ. What I mean when I say like Christ is obeying his commands. Amen. That's the issue of Christ's likeness. So this whole issue of this prohibition against worry is a test to whether we're like Christ. We are like Christ if we obey Christ and we don't worry. We are not like Christ, regardless of our our our outward external Attitudes, our way we have, our particular personalities, that has nothing to do with Christ's likeness. It has to do with following the teachings of Christ. Kingdom of God has to do not only with our conversion and our consecration. It has to do with looking forward to that blessed hope, the coming again of Jesus. We need to be preoccupied with the reality that Jesus is coming again. Amen. That is a blessed hope to true believers that should fill us with a sense of assurance. You see, you can tackle worry when you remember that Jesus could come back at any moment. Amen. He's coming again and he is going to set right all that is wrong and he is going to deliver me from all of these areas of difficulty and I am going to be with him forever. And that is a blessed hope. That has to do with the kingdom of God. All the things that relate to the kingdom of God, serving Him now, sharing the gospel, being about His business, carefully considering His commands, seeking to follow them as we, by God's grace, are enabled. We need to seek as first priority the kingdom of God. Look at verse 33 again. He says, Righteousness, the very idea of righteousness, the word means to be upright. And the idea here is that idea of holiness and practical godliness. Congregation, the Bible tells us that none of us inherently is upright. Amen. There is none righteous. No, not one. And yet we can be declared upright in and through the One who is upright, Jesus Christ. And when we run to Christ and embrace Christ and trust in Christ, then we have His righteousness reckoned to us. Our sin has been reckoned to Him. And we stand before God righteous. And then we who are righteous in our constitution before God follow after righteousness practically by seeking to follow the commands that call us to holiness and godliness and the ways that God would have us to live. We need to have this elevation of our priorities. You say, Pastor, what does that have to do with dealing with worry? I thought we were talking about worrying. Now you're talking about the kingdom of God and righteousness. Well, you see, if you are elevating your priorities and if your concerns and your focus and your desires are on those things, that is going to crowd out all of that junk that we're always worrying about. Amen. It's whenever our priorities are upside down. that we are worried about and fretting over and concerned about our careers and our cars and our bank accounts when we need to be concerned about the kingdom of God and His righteousness and living for Him. So the first way to deal with worry is we need to elevate our priorities. Secondly, a second way we deal with worry is we need to cultivate God's promises. And here let me share with you a very small sampling of God's promises which will give us assurance that we can deal with worry and deal with it effectively. The Word of God has given to us so many promises, and yet so often when we get into this temptation to worry, we somehow forget all of those promises of God, don't we? Because our focus just gets on what we're worried about. rather than what God has said, which is actually what is true. Romans 8 28. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. What a promise that is. Amen. That means that whatever my circumstances are, that doesn't really matter whether I'm in prison or living in the penthouse. whether I am in a place of difficulty or whether I am living a life that would be considered in our culture grandiose. That doesn't really matter, because God is orchestrating all things for my good and for His glory. And so whatever I'm going through, whatever circumstances I am facing, whatever challenges that lay before me or that I am presently going through, That's all just a part of God's plan. Amen. And that is all about God being glorified and me being more like Christ. And therefore, I never have to wonder, God, what are you doing? What is going on? Have you abandoned me? Things don't seem to be making any sense. And you know, we're tempted to do that, aren't we? When circumstances aren't as we think they ought to be, We start thinking we know a little better than God. God, if only this God, if you would do that, God, if you would just instead of trusting in the promises of God and the worry disappears. How about this for a promise? Hebrews 13 and verse five. God declares, I will never leave you nor forsake you. What a promise that is. That says to us that whatever we face, whatever we go through, whatever situation that confronts us, we are never abandoned. We are never alone and we are never devoid of the resources of God's sustaining grace to see us through and for the ability to live for God's glory in them. Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 11 in verse 28. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Congregation, are you weary this morning? Are you worrying this morning? Run to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're heavy laden, if you're burdened, Jesus says to you, come to me. Rest in me. And I will give you rest. I will clear your heart. I will clear your thinking. And I will give to you a peace that surpasses understanding. We read the words of 1 Peter 5 and verse 7 that we are to cast all of our cares on Him, knowing that He cares for us. You know, we talked a moment ago about trying to hire someone to worry for us. Well, while that may be a silly illustration, there's a sense in which we can take our concerns and we can put them on someone else. Amen. We can cast our cares upon the Lord, knowing that he cares for us rather than bearing that burden and carrying that difficulty and living with that trauma. We can take it and we can set it at the feet of Jesus and trust in him. that he will indeed sustain us and strengthen us and give us that rest he has promised. So we see here some very simple, simple words, plans to abolish worry, elevating our priorities, cultivating God's promises. Look at verse 30 here as we conclude this morning. How do we deal with worry? Well, number three, exercise your faith. Exercise your faith. Look at verse 30 again. But if God so close the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothed you? Oh, you of little faith. Jesus says the issue here is an issue of faith. Faith is believing what we cannot see and being sure that it is indeed true. And here we have Jesus declaring this issue of worry and anxiety is really an issue of trust and faith in God. Whenever we worry, whenever we are anxious, basically what we are saying is a very theological statement. We are saying at a practical level I can't trust God in this situation. I can't really place my assurance and confidence in God. I've got to carry it on myself and somehow figure it out for myself rather than trusting in God. Jesus says, oh, you of little faith, trust in me. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on your own understanding and He will indeed direct your path. Put your faith in the Lord. Trust in Him. Know that He is God. Be still before the Lord and find in your renewed faith the ability to conquer worry and live for God's glory. My friend, you cannot have faith in God unless first God has granted you faith in God. Amen. We know the reality of the gospel is this. A person believes and receives because God has worked a work of grace and regeneration in a sinner's heart. There are some here this morning, and you've heard this about worry. You've heard these words about anxiety, and you're saying, pastor up there, that all sounds good, like a nice little homily he's put together, but that just doesn't really connect to reality. My friend, that is true because you are lost and headed for hell, you are not regenerate, you do not know Christ, and therefore you hear these words of Jesus and they just roll off of you like water off of a duck's back. You say, oh, well, OK, what's for lunch? And my dear friend, if that is you here this morning, don't be deceived. You are lost. You are undone. You are in your sin. And you need Christ as your Savior. And when you have Christ as your Savior, the words of Christ will be more precious to you than any garbage this world has to offer. And you will see Christ and the wisdom He has as far greater than the so-called wisdom of the world. My friend, you need to run to Jesus Christ today. You need to trust in Him. You need to quit playing church and playing religion. And what you need is Christ changing your constitution. And then you will love the words of Christ. And you will seek to follow the words of Christ and His way will be dear to you. Trust in Him. Put your faith in Him. And you will find Him, one who will save you from your sin. Dear people of God, for us who are those who know Christ, we still would admit, as those who have remaining sin, we struggle with issues of anxiety and worry. Let the truths of this passage be burned afresh upon our hearts and may we be reminded that it is our responsibility if we are worried and it is our duty to kill that sin if it is found in our hearts and it is pleasing to Christ to be found seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness rather than the things that the Gentiles seek. May we know this reality in our hearts. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, we are grateful for your word today. We are thankful that your word is clear. It is direct. It is practical. and it confronts us where we are. We ask You, dear God, that You would draw us to Your Son ever so more close. And Father, if there are those here today who are lost, we ask that You would, according to Your purpose and grace, show them their sin. Show them their wicked constitution. Call them to Your Son that they might have salvation and cleansing from sin. Help us that we as your people would deal a death blow to the sin of worry. And help us to do it trusting in you. Cultivating the promises that you have graciously given. And elevating our priorities so that we are consumed with the cares of the kingdom and of your righteousness. God grant this to be so, we ask. We ask this in Christ's holy name, Amen.