like to call your attention once again to Luke chapter 12 and our Lord's teaching particularly about anxiety and security. Anxiety and security are really two sides of the same coin. Spent some time analyzing anxiety last week according to our Lord's teaching. I think anxiety is in a frustrated emotional demand for security. We have a We want a certain kind of security. We don't feel like we have it. Anxiety is our bodily and emotional reaction to that. I mean, we could even be anxious about something spiritual. We could be anxious about our salvation, for example, or we could be anxious about next week's paycheck. And Jesus points us to the only cure for anxiety that there is. I mean, we can talk all we want about it as a medical model or whatever, and we can have that discussion. But clearly Jesus sees it as an issue of faith. It is an issue of the heart. Oh you of little faith he says. And the cure for anxiety is a deepening joyful rest in God the father. It is a deepening walk with the father knowing that he knows our needs that he's good that he's wise that he's powerful that he will provide. And there is no other substantive cure for anxiety. Let's flip it around, though, this morning. What is true security? And how do we find it? That's our Lord's topic at the end of this section on what the ESV calls Do Not Be Anxious. Pretty good title for that section. Let me read verses 28 through 34. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let us pray. Father, we have so much worldly information about anxiety and security. Pray that your spirit would clear our minds this morning, that we might hear what you say, that we might hear your timeless wisdom. Above all, that we might grow in our faith and rest and trust and praise to our Heavenly Father. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Security has been a buzzword in our culture for a while now. I suppose it's always there in the background, but since 9-11, we have a department of what? Homeland security. Since the financial meltdown, there's been more advice, more articles, more talking heads talking about financial security than usual. How to protect your nest egg. I saw an article from the Wall Street Journal about that a while back. People are talking about health care security, right? Even either from the point of view of we don't have it and we want it, or we have it, we don't want to lose it. Be careful what you're doing. Health care security. And even in light of our break-in a couple of weeks ago, church security. I don't know how people find these out, but I had an email from a man who runs a church security company. He said, sorry to hear about your break-in. How he found out, I don't think I even want to know. We'd like to offer our services to you for church security. As I'll say in the course of the sermon, there's a legitimate concern for those kinds of security. The issue is, what place does it have in our lives? And is there a more important kind of security? And the obvious answer is yes. Let's look at what our Lord teaches us about true security. And if you want to follow my line of thinking, I hope I'm reflecting what our Lord does. First, I want you to see two contrasts. And then I want you to see a principle, a priority, and a promise. Two contrasts that our Lord draws and I think it's important to see these. The first contrast is the contrast between two kinds of security. I've already alluded to that in my introduction but this is what I mean. Jesus talks about a security in this age and a security in the age to come. And a security in this age is What we eat, as he says in verse 29, what we drink, clothing, shelter. He makes an allusion to health earlier in the passage, which of us can lengthen our lives by worrying. That's what I mean by security in this age. And then there's security in the age to come. There's security of entering into God's eternal heavenly kingdom. And he's talking about this, for example, in verse 33. Sell your possessions, give to the needy, provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. So you see, it's important to get this in mind that he has two kinds of security in mind in this sermon. There's the security in this age. Food, money, shelter, those kind of things. And there's security in the age to come, security in heaven. All I want to say at this point is, other than draw the contrast, is both are legitimate in their place. I mean, if you thought I was going to stand up here and say it is absolutely sinful for you to think about worldly security in any way or worry about your job or your money, that's absolutely sinful. Not true. Because Jesus says the Father will provide that security. So how could it be sinful? Is God going to provide something bad? No. Jesus promises that the Lord will provide what we need. So there's a legitimacy to those things. We had a class a while back, an evening class, on Christian stewardship of money. That's a good thing to have. It's not wrong that we focus on that. It's right that we focus on that. The question we'll see is, what place does that have in our lives compared to the security of the age to come? Well, that's the first contrast, two kinds of security. And then the second contrast that our Lord is talking about are two ways of seeking security. Two radically different ways of going about seeking security. And the first way I would call the way of unbelieving anxiety. Verse 30, all the nations of the world seek after these things. Now that word seek is a loaded term, deliberately. And clearly in the context, what Jesus means here is that's what people are anxiously seeking all the time. That's what they're preoccupied with. They're worried about their security in this age. Now, there's an irony about seeking security that way. And don't miss the irony. Seeking security that way fails even when it succeeds. Don't miss that point. It fails even when it succeeds. Remember, this whole passage is responding to the parable of the rich fool that we talked about three weeks ago. The parable of the rich fool. You have many goods laid up for many years. Eat, drink and be merry and enjoy. And God comes to that fool that night and says, you've forgotten all about your soul. Tonight, your soul is required of you. Well, he succeeded, didn't he? I mean, in his own terms, He succeeded in his anxious seeking of worldly security, right? The irony was, in the ultimate sense, of course, he failed. Big time. And another way Jesus points out that failure is, you can get a certain amount of money and clothing and shelter and 401ks and all that kind of stuff. You can have that sort of thing. But what happens to it? The money bags grow old. verse 33, and by contrast to the treasure in heaven, thieves steal, moths destroy, as he says in Matthew chapter 5, rust corrupts. You see what I mean? There's a limited duration to that kind of security. It fails even when it succeeds. But then there's the second way of seeking security. Let's call this the way of kingdom faith. Jesus is saying to us in verse 29, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. Now again, seek is a loaded term. He doesn't mean if you don't have a job, you shouldn't try to find one. It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that if your cupboard's bare, you shouldn't go to the store and get some food. He doesn't mean that. He surely means don't be anxiously preoccupied with these things. Instead, seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you. Now, there's an irony in this way of seeking, too. Don't miss it. You want security in this age, Jesus says? Then don't seek it. That's what he says. You want security in this age? Then don't seek it. Then you'll get it. And of course, the most important point he's making here is I want you to seek something else. I want you to be seekers of the Kingdom. I want you to be seekers of heavenly treasure. And as you seek that, God will provide the earthly treasure that you need. I wonder how many of us really believe that? Can we stop just a minute and think in our own hearts? How many of us actually believe that? That the Father will provide. Don't anxiously seek it. Seek the Kingdom. God will provide. Well, those are the two contrasts I wanted to get out before you. Two kinds of security, two ways of seeking security. Now, we can dig a little more deeply and substantively into what Jesus is teaching us. And beneath these two contrasts, first of all, is a very important principle. And he states that principle in verse 34. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Listen carefully. Our Creator has designed us in a certain way such that one and only one treasure can captivate our hearts. It is not possible for two treasures equally and ultimately and in the same way to captivate our hearts. Not possible. We're not made that way. One and only one treasure. can captivate our hearts. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. There are two legitimate kinds of security. I've already said that. More importantly, our Lord is saying that. There's security in this age. There's a legitimate place. There's heavenly security. But only one of those kinds of security can be ultimate. It can't both be ultimate. Only one can be. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Now in Luke's version of the sermon just slightly different words that our Lord speaks that he says in Matthew but really talking about the same subject and comparing it to that I think might help make it clear. Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 the Lord's talking about this very thing and this is what he says. No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in money. Does that make it clear enough for us? We're made in such a way that only one treasure can captivate our hearts. Can't have two masters. Can't serve two masters. They will be in conflict with each other. So the only way we can legitimately seek earthly security is when it is a byproduct of seeking heavenly security. Another way of saying this principle is that security in this age is worthless without security in the age to come. Is that clear? Security in this age is ultimately going to be eaten by moths, corrupted by rust. Naked we came from our mother's womb. Naked we shall return to our grave. We brought nothing into the world. We're not going to take anything out of it. That's what our Lord is saying to us. The principle is one and only one treasure can captivate our hearts. Again, can we pause for a moment and ask ourselves our honest, brutally frank question, which treasure captivates our hearts this morning? Which treasure is it that captivates us? Is it some kind of this age security or are we captivated by that eternal, heavenly security that Jesus talks about, where no moth eats, where no rust corrupts, where no thief can break in and steal. That's a principle. Now, a priority. Jesus, in Luke's version, puts it this way. He says, instead of seeking earthly security, seek his kingdom. In Matthew, the words are slightly different, probably better known. We even have a little song that goes with it. Seek first the kingdom of God. So Jesus in Matthew emphasizes more the priority, seek first the kingdom. In Luke, it's more by way of contrast. You might want to be seeking earthly security, but Jesus says, verse 31, instead, not first as in Matthew, but instead seek his kingdom. But really they're saying the same thing. We must understand what he means by seeking the kingdom. Now I think many people read that and I think I've read it myself and thought of it this way. Well what he obviously what he means is go out and do evangelism. Isn't that obvious. Isn't that what it means to seek the kingdom of God. He's talking about seeking the expansion of the kingdom of God. It means stop worrying about your earthly stuff and go out and do evangelism. That's not what he means. He's not talking about evangelism there. Now that may be an application of it and a workout, you know, working out of the principle and I'm certainly all in favor of evangelism, but that's not what our Lord's talking about. What's he contrasting it to? He's contrasting it with the anxious seeking of security in this age, right? So how do we seek food and money and security and investments and health care? How do we seek those things? We seek to possess them, right? We seek to grasp them. We seek to have them. That's what Jesus is saying. Seek the kingdom of God in that way. Seek to have it. Seek to possess it. Seek to make sure you're in it. Seek to make sure you're going there. That's what he means. Seek to be sure that you are on the way to the eternal kingdom. where moth does not corrupt and rust does not destroy and thieves don't break in and steal, just like Pilgrim on his way to the celestial city. That's what our Lord means. Now, if that's not clear, let me try to put it just in different biblical words. What Jesus is saying is believe and surrender to the gospel all the way to heaven. That's what he's saying. In the first chapter of Mark, Our Lord's message is summarized in the following way. Jesus came and said, repent. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. He's telling people to seek the kingdom, to respond to the kingdom in his person and in his preaching. And what does that response mean? It means repent and believe the gospel. It means stop making security in this age your idol. and surrender to the Gospel. Know the forgiveness of sins. Be reconciled to God so that you can start calling Him your Heavenly Father. Folks, it is not true to say that every man, woman, and child has the right to call God their Father. Not true. We can only call God our Father through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we rest in Christ, when our sins are forgiven, when they're atoned for, when we're adopted into His family, then we have the priceless privilege of calling God our Heavenly Father. Do you see how we've just solved our security problem? Do you realize that? The Gospel solves our security problem. What else do we need? The Heavenly Father is smiling on us. There is no condemnation for us in Christ. He is wise. He is good. He is holy. He is so generous. Our security problem has just been solved by the Gospel. No wonder Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God. Make your calling and election sure. Know that your sins are forgiven. Walk closely to the Father all the way to heaven. That would be our priority. Principle only one treasure can captivate our hearts. The priority seek his kingdom not earthly security and that will be added later. And then a promise. Really I've already touched on it but I close with with emphasizing this promise. Verse 31. Seek his kingdom and the promise and these things will be added to you. Our security problem is solved in the gospel. Thanks be to God. We've been reconciled to a father who is holy, wise, and good, who knows what we need, who will provide. He asked us to seek him, to trust him, to walk with him. Now that promise ought to liberate us to seek the kingdom. Interesting application, verse 33. Jesus is saying, if you really believe that God's going to take care of you, And in verse 32 is going to give you the kingdom. Then don't be afraid to downsize. That's really what he's saying. You can sit loose to those earthly possessions of yours. Sell them. I don't think that's a universal commandment, but as the need arises, as you live your life, sell them. Don't be afraid to give to the needy. How ironic it is that I've been struck by this several times in raising the money for Ruth in Manipur, having visited India a couple of times. I've been struck by how ironic it is and how humbling and convicting it is and how wonderful it is that poor Christians are so generous. Poor Christians are so generous, they can't do enough for you. You go to their house, they'll kill their only goat and serve it to you. They'll give you gifts. Why are men of poor Christians giving me gifts when I visit them? They can't afford that. Why are they giving me gifts? Because poor Christians, more than we do, know where their true security lies. So they have no big issue about downsizing. They have no big issue about, oh, I've got to clutch my possessions. I can't give any of them away. Here, take them. You need them? Here, you have them. God's taking care of me. Here, what I have, I give to you. What a wonderful thing. And you and I should be more like that. Jesus says, don't be afraid to downsize. If you really believe the Father is going to take care of you, why would you be afraid of that? Provide yourselves with money bags that don't grow old. He's saying, and use your earthly possessions to invest in heavenly things. I love it when I see people making their major decisions in light of the kingdom of God. I've seen people change jobs, change houses, make career moves. And sometimes I think people do that just because of the career advancement and just for the opportunity and just for the job sometimes. Sometimes I think that. But how wonderful it is when I see people who've had to make changes maybe in their career, their job or move away or whatever. And one of their first concerns is now, is there a good church in this place? Is there a good church where we might move, where we can get good teaching and grow in grace? I love it when I see that's their concern, as opposed to, oh, yeah, we'll find a church somewhere. But the kingdom of God at the center of those major decisions. And may the kingdom of God be at the center of our daily decisions. The Bible strikes this way. I think it's convicting and I hope it's relevant to you as well. One of the best ways to tell where your heart is is keep a record of where you spend your money. Look at your credit card bill. Look at your checkbook register. That's a real good way, humbling way sometimes, convicting way, of knowing where your heart is. Jesus is saying, if the Father is going to take care of you, why are you so worried about hanging on so tightly to your possessions? Seek His kingdom and all these things will be added to you. I would say this to single people. I have said it to single people. Don't concoct a strategy if you're a woman for getting a man. If you're a single man, don't concoct a strategy for getting a woman. Seek the kingdom of God and He'll provide a man if He wants you to have one. He'll provide a woman if He wants you to have one. But He says seek first the kingdom of God. And these things will be added to you. Don't go to borders and buy a book on how to get a man or how to get a woman. I've seen those books. Unbelievable. How obvious can you get? Trust God the Father. Seek His kingdom and He will provide. You've heard this quote before. I'm sure you have. I know I've mentioned it. Others have. It's just one of those classic quotes and I think summarizes what our Lord is saying here. The missionary who was martyred by the Akka Indians so many years ago kept a wonderful journal. And one of the statements in his journal is this. He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Is that not what our Lord is saying? Don't sit so tightly about this stuff. Give it up. Give it away. Your Father will provide you a treasure that will never be destroyed. We are not fools, though the world thinks we are, who are willing to give up what we can't keep to gain what we can't lose. By the grace of God, that, my friends, is true security. Amen. Let's close by singing the hymn, I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord. And may that be true of us. 353, I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord.