1 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,400 All right, so if you have your Bible, please turn to Matthew, 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,520 chapter 6, Matthew 6. It's good to be continuing in 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,200 the Sermon on the Mount. Amen. 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,840 We're going to be continuing with some chapter or some verses 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,720 here that many of you are likely very, very familiar with. 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,320 I'm sure a lot of this has been familiar, but these, these 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,320 verses today I think will really resonate with you. 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,440 And so I'm, I'm grateful to be in this passage this morning. 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,520 If you have a worship God, I want to encourage you to grab it 10 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:36,280 and take notes as we go this morning. 11 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,160 Kids, you have one for you. You can take notes there. 12 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:42,840 You can listen for there's 4 words that will be repeated kind 13 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:44,680 of through the sermon. So you can listen for those and 14 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:46,840 mark those down. But it's a way to stay engaged 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,560 for you as well. But there's going to be some 16 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,920 good things I think to to note this morning on particularly 17 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,480 just the idea of having a divided hearts and wrestling 18 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:59,640 with anxiety. All right, So how many of you 19 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,120 have ever wrestled with anxiety? Yeah. 20 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:04,920 The rest of you are anxious about raising your hand, right. 21 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:09,360 So that's true. All right, So as we come to the 22 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,880 passage, Jesus is just continuing as he's done 23 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,200 throughout the Sermon on the Mount. 24 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,720 He's exposing the hearts, right? It's he's, he's showing 25 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,080 throughout the section that Kingdom righteousness is not 26 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,400 merely about what happens outwardly, right? 27 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,880 So much of what the Pharisees taught and what they exemplified 28 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,200 and, and the things that all that they did was about their 29 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,520 outward showing of righteousness, far less so than 30 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,640 about anything inwardly being devoted to God. 31 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,760 And so Christ is just showing. It's not about your appearance. 32 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,520 Totally right. Those things will come, but 33 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,560 ultimately it's not about looking religious before others. 34 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,560 It's about your heart before God. 35 00:01:57,960 --> 00:01:59,560 All right, your heart before God. 36 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,440 So here in this passage, Jesus turns to one of the most 37 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:09,520 practical and revealing areas. Sorry, I'll try to fix that of 38 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,040 our lives. He he turns to our relationship 39 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,800 to possessions, our relationship to security, and our 40 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,600 relationship to worry or to anxiety. 41 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,000 All right, we're in verses 19 through 34. 42 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:23,120 Sorry, I don't think I said that. 43 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,520 And so this passage speaks directly to the things that 44 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,640 occupy our minds, the things that shape our decisions. 45 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,840 We're going to have to ask questions like, what do we 46 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,440 treasure? OK, so you got to be inward 47 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:39,760 thinking here. We're going to have to ask 48 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,920 questions like what do we trust, right? 49 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:48,680 You're going to have to think about things like, what do we 50 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,920 fear, right? What, what is it that you fear, 51 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,880 right? And so another question that may 52 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,200 come is, what is it that I'm living for? 53 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,040 What's my purpose in life? What gets me wound up? 54 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,720 What's gets me excited, what drives me, all those kinds of 55 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,920 things, right? So in this, Jesus makes clear 56 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:15,280 that these things are not small matters, right? 57 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,600 We might think these are just small things, but they're deeply 58 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,560 spiritual. They, they reveal whether our 59 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:25,400 hearts are set on earth or on heaven, whether our allegiance 60 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,840 is divided or whether our allegiance is undivided. 61 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,160 They, they reveal whether we are living as though God is truly 62 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,720 our Father or not. All right, so Matthew 6, verses 63 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:44,720 19 through 34 today, if you would, would you please stand as 64 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:53,080 we read God's Word this morning. Verse 19, Jesus says do not lay 65 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,600 up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust 66 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,320 destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 67 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,960 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where 68 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,280 neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break 69 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,360 in and steal. For where your treasure is, 70 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:15,720 there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. 71 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,440 So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of 72 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,040 lights. But if your eye is bad, your 73 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,000 whole body will be full of darkness. 74 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,400 If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the 75 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,840 darkness? No one can serve 2 masters, for 76 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,080 either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be 77 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,360 devoted to the one and despise the other. 78 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,800 You cannot serve God and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not be 79 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,960 anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will 80 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,560 drink, nor about your body what you will put on. 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,360 Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 82 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,120 Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor 83 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,760 gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 84 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:03,800 Are you not of more value than they? 85 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,920 And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour 86 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,720 to His span of life? And why are you anxious about 87 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,320 clothing? Consider the lilies of the 88 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,000 field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. 89 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,880 Yet I tell you, even Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed 90 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,440 like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass 91 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,080 of the field which today is alive, and tomorrow is thrown 92 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:35,000 into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little 93 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,800 faith? Therefore do not be anxious 94 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,240 saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what 95 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,720 shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after 96 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,240 these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them 97 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,880 all. But seek first the Kingdom of 98 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,800 God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added 99 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,880 to you. Therefore do not be anxious 100 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,560 about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 101 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,840 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 102 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:08,560 This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, let's pray. 103 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:16,360 Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the grace and mercy you've 104 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,440 shown us and giving us the written scriptures. 105 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,160 Your holy word. Lord, we know, we confess that 106 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,120 they are infallible. They are sufficient for all of 107 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,640 life and godliness. They're able to teach and to 108 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:36,360 train us, to instruct us, to rebuke us and correct us for a 109 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:42,600 life of godliness, that we as believers may be perfectly 110 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,520 equipped for every good work that you grant to us. 111 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,400 And so, Lord, we humble ourselves before your word 112 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,040 today, and we ask that you would teach and instruct, that you 113 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,280 would correct and rebuke, that you would train us for 114 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:57,800 godliness. We ask that you do this work 115 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,120 through your Spirit, which is alive in US. 116 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,440 Father, would you help us to understand your word today? 117 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,440 Help us to believe it. And Father, we pray that 118 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,320 ultimately we would walk away from this message trusting you 119 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,840 more fully, more deeply than we did before we walked in. 120 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,160 And it's in the name of Christ, I pray. 121 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:19,720 Amen. Amen. 122 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,240 You may be seated. So one of the clearest ways to 123 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,360 discover what rules a person's heart is really to ask a few 124 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,280 questions like what do you value most? 125 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,280 Or if you had to make a list and you had to write down what you 126 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,000 value most, just think about what would be the top three or 127 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,400 two or one thing, right? What, what is it that you're 128 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,520 serving? Right? 129 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:46,920 What what is it that you're serving? 130 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,560 What, what are you worrying about? 131 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,200 Jesus addresses all three of these things in the passage. 132 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,200 And, and that's why this passage isn't really just about money. 133 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,560 It does address that. And it's not just a passage 134 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,200 about anxiety, though it addresses that, but it's really 135 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:08,240 at the heart of it, at the depths of it. 136 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,680 It's a passage about allegiance, right? 137 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,080 It's a passage about the desires of your heart. 138 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,280 Ultimately, it's a passage about worship. 139 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,240 What is it? Who is it that you're 140 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,600 worshipping, right? What Jesus shows us here is that 141 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,600 earthly treasure, darkened spiritual vision, slavery to 142 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:31,480 wealth, and anxious living. All these things are connected, 143 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,640 right? They're all growing out of what 144 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,000 we might call a divided heart, right? 145 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,559 A heart that's serving 2 masters. 146 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,840 And they're all answered by the same thing. 147 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:47,960 So how do we not have a divided heart? 148 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:53,080 How do we, how do we not devote ourselves to earthly treasure? 149 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,160 How do we keep from having a darkened spiritual vision or 150 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,360 slavery to wealth, or how do we keep from living anxiously? 151 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,600 How do we answer that? They're answered this way. 152 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:07,640 Wholehearted trust in the Father along with wholehearted pursuit 153 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:11,040 of his Kingdom, Right. And so the main point of the 154 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,520 text, as I've written it down for you today, is this. 155 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:19,800 Kingdom citizens must reject divided devotion and trust their 156 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,880 heavenly Father wholeheartedly. Kingdom citizens must reject 157 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:28,000 divided devotion and trust their heavenly Father wholeheartedly. 158 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,120 Now Jesus is going to unfold this for us in in two movements. 159 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,440 The first, in the first movement, he's going to call us 160 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,600 to reject earthly minded devotion. 161 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,840 And then in the second, he's going to call us to rest in our 162 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,040 Heavenly Father's care. And so let's take a look at this 163 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,960 first movement #1 reject earthly minded devotion. 164 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,280 This covers verses 19 through 24. 165 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,920 Jesus begins with this command. In verses 19 through 20, He says 166 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:02,680 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up 167 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:04,240 for yourselves treasures in heaven. 168 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,200 Now that's what we would call a command of contrast, right? 169 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,680 Do not do this, but do this, right. 170 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,960 So there's two kinds of treasures, Jesus saying there's 171 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:16,440 one on earth, there's one in heaven. 172 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,800 There's two places to invest. You can invest in heaven or you 173 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:25,000 can invest in things on earth. And ultimately what this points 174 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:29,000 to is there are two ways for you to live your life, all right? 175 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,640 You can live your life totally consumed by all that happens in 176 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,720 this world, thinking that that's the ultimate thing. 177 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:42,160 Whatever my heart desires in this life, I should pursue that. 178 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:48,800 And many a men have done it all, right, and many a men have been 179 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,160 left wanting at the end of their life. 180 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,800 But there's another, right? You can invest everything that 181 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:02,920 you are in the things that God calls great in His Kingdom, 182 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:05,680 right? You can give yourself, you can 183 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,840 devote yourself to the Father's Kingdom, you can devote yourself 184 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,400 to the things of heaven, right? So we have two ways to live 185 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:16,720 before us, and that's what Christ is showing. 186 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,840 He's also showing us that on earth your treasure, whatever it 187 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:25,560 may be, is vulnerable, right? You can think about it yourself, 188 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,400 but moths destroy. That's true. 189 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,200 Rust corrodes. Thieves do break in and steal. 190 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,400 Everything in this life is temporary. 191 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:37,400 Your clothes are going to wear out. 192 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,120 Your possessions are going to decay. 193 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,520 The market is going to fluctuate. 194 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:43,560 Everybody said Amen. All right. 195 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,280 Homes are going to age. Your body is going to weaken. 196 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,080 It's it's going to return to dust. 197 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:57,200 Even the things that you work really hard to build can be 198 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,320 lost. All right, the the warning and 199 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:05,000 Ecclesiastes is that the wealth of one generation will not 200 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,840 extend past the second generation beyond it, all right, 201 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:14,880 that it'll be consumed. Another warning there is that 202 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:21,160 your grandsons or great grandsons for sure, likely won't 203 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,240 even remember your name, your own family members. 204 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:30,680 All right, that that's how temporary, how fleeting life is. 205 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:32,480 I'm not saying that's the case every time. 206 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,040 That's just the warning in Scriptures, right? 207 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,400 So Jesus is not condemning planning. 208 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:40,720 Let me get that out of the way, right? 209 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,400 He's not saying you shouldn't plan for things, right? 210 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,000 Christ himself says that before the man builds the house, he 211 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,400 should count the cost of building the house. 212 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,400 He should prepare everything and be ready to build the house 213 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,440 before he builds, right? So there is wise planning. 214 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,800 Stewardship is a good thing. We believe that. 215 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,000 We believe the Scriptures teach that, right. 216 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:07,920 It's wise to save money. It's wise to be responsible in 217 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,240 how you think about providing for your family. 218 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:12,480 These are all good and right things. 219 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,520 Scripture commands diligence. It commands wise management. 220 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,320 It teaches us not to be a sluggard, but to be like the 221 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:23,080 ants who work hard, right? The the issue is not whether you 222 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:28,480 possess things right. The the issue is whether our 223 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,800 hearts are anchored in those things. 224 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,680 Another way to say it would be whether those things possess you 225 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,480 or not, right? We don't want to be possessed by 226 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,640 our things. And so the issue is where are we 227 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,760 storing up hope? Are we storing our hope in 228 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,400 heaven or are we storing our hope on earth? 229 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,200 And so Jesus states the principle of this in verse 21. 230 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,200 He says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be 231 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,280 also. Where your treasure is, there 232 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:06,080 your heart will be also. So the thing that you value, the 233 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:10,640 thing that you think is a treasure, that thing has your 234 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,640 heart, right? It has your heart. 235 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,360 This is one of the most penetrating statements in the 236 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,840 Sermon on the Mount. I think your heart follows your 237 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,000 treasure, right? So what you count as most 238 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,080 valuable is going to draw all of your affections. 239 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:29,840 It's going to draw all your attention. 240 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,960 It's going to draw all your energy, your thoughts. 241 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,200 It's going to draw your whole life after it, right? 242 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,920 Whatever you prize, don't miss this. 243 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:45,560 Whatever you prize most will quietly disciple your soul. 244 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:50,160 All right. Then in verses 22 through 23, 245 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,720 Jesus speaks about the eye, and he says the eye is the lamp of 246 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,960 the body. Now, at first glance, this might 247 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:00,800 seem like some sort of disconnected statement, some 248 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,680 sort of proverb that Jesus just throws out. 249 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:06,560 And, and maybe as Matthew's writing this down, he's just 250 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,720 kind of remembering some statements that were made. 251 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,480 But how many of you believe the Scriptures are far more 252 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:13,240 intentional than that? Amen. 253 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,480 Amen. Glad we can agree. 254 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:21,040 All right, This is not disconnected, right? 255 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,280 Jesus is still talking about the person's inner, we might call it 256 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,960 the inner orientation. And what I mean by that is the 257 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,680 desires of the heart. What is it that my heart is 258 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,640 oriented towards? What is true north for me? 259 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,280 You might think of it that way, right? 260 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,680 And So what Christ is teaching is that a, a healthy eye is 261 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,360 clear. It's it's single in its 262 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:51,160 devotion, it's undivided in its devotion, but a bad eye, right? 263 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:58,760 It's darkened, it's distorted, it's selfish, it's corrupt, 264 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,640 right? So he, he's speaking here about 265 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,400 spiritual perception, not just the ability to see, right? 266 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:12,600 He, he's saying that what fills our heart shapes how the whole 267 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:17,000 person sees life right now. You can see how it's connected, 268 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,600 right? So in this context, a healthy 269 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:24,120 eye is not only a clear and undivided eye, but it's a 270 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,440 generous Kingdom shaped eye, right? 271 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,760 It's got its eye on the things that Christ that God would say 272 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:37,160 are good, right? While a bad eye is not. 273 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,360 It's devoted to itself, it's selfish, it's greedy, it's 274 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,520 darkened and all that it sees. And so that's why Christ says if 275 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,760 your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. 276 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,800 But if your eye is bad, your whole body is full of darkness. 277 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:57,040 Now, if the light in you is darkness, right, how many of you 278 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,840 have thought at times in your life where you thought you had 279 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,400 some light in you, only to realize that's actually 280 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:08,760 darkness? And Christ says, how great then 281 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,599 is the darkness right? How great then is it? 282 00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:16,800 In other words, when the heart is gripped by greed, when the 283 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,000 heart is gripped by covetousness, when the heart is 284 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,400 gripped by an earthly mindedness, it, it doesn't just 285 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:27,560 affect one corner of your life, it affects the whole man, right? 286 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:32,040 It, it, it strives after all the desires, it takes all the 287 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,720 affections, it takes all the energy, right? 288 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,520 It's not just one part of you, right? 289 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,560 It, it darkens all of you. You no longer see clearly. 290 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,360 You might think you're seeing clearly, but you're darkened in 291 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:49,960 your sight. So how could you know, right? 292 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,400 You don't evaluate money clearly. 293 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,240 You don't evaluate relationships clearly. 294 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:57,760 You don't evaluate your Christian life clearly. 295 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,280 You don't evaluate the priorities that God has set 296 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,080 before you. Clearly you're not evaluating 297 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,360 anything about life. Clearly you're darkened in your 298 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:11,960 sight. And so Jesus then brings the 299 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:16,240 first half of the passage to its climax in verse 24 where he says 300 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:23,520 no one can serve 2 masters, you cannot serve God and money. 301 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,920 He says, Now that's a controlling statement, right? 302 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:33,720 Treasure, vision, service, all those things converge on this 303 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,760 point. A man, what Christ is saying is 304 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,520 that a man cannot give ultimate allegiance to both God and 305 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,520 wealth. Just can't. 306 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,840 He cannot have two Thrones that rule the same heart. 307 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:56,080 He may try. God knows I have tried, right? 308 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,640 He? He may speak as though he is 309 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:05,600 doing both, but eventually, eventually, his choices in life 310 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:13,120 reveal who his Master is, right? And Jesus does not say it's hard 311 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:18,800 to serve both, does he? And he says it's impossible to 312 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,600 serve both. So we can be fooled into 313 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,200 thinking we can do this right? I'll be the first man in human 314 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:31,800 history to serve 2 masters. You won't, You won't. 315 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:39,480 You'll only be fooled right? Jesus is exposing something 316 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,880 deeper here. He's exposing the reality of 317 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,720 idolatry. This is the reality of what 318 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:46,520 happens when we become idolaters. 319 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:51,440 All right, so here he's using money, but you could insert 320 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,440 anything into this. We'll we'll stick with the theme 321 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,720 of money here, but just know you can insert whatever it is your 322 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:04,480 heart desires the most. Maybe it's autonomy, maybe it's 323 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,120 doing your own thing, building your own Kingdom, doing what 324 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,000 makes you happy, what you think is best right? 325 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,600 Maybe that's making a lot of money. 326 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:16,480 Maybe that's. Whatever, right here money is 327 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,320 not merely currency. Here, money has become a false 328 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:25,960 God when the man looks to it for what only God can give. 329 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,120 Now here's the thing about money that makes it God like and why 330 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:33,640 we end up looking to it so fervently. 331 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:43,200 Money promises security. It promises significance, It'll 332 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,680 promise you comfort, it'll promise you control right? 333 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:52,240 It'll promise you peace. If I just had X amount more 334 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,600 dollars, then my life would be so much better. 335 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:02,600 You see, money whispers to us. If you have enough of me, you 336 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,920 will be safe. And that's why it's so 337 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,160 dangerous. I don't want you to miss what's 338 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,840 happening here, right? Money competes with God not only 339 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,040 at the level of possession, right? 340 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,520 Am I going to possess God or am I going to possess money, but it 341 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,920 also competes with God at the level of trust in the heart. 342 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,840 Am I going to trust wealth or am I going to trust God? 343 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:37,120 John Calvin famously said that the human heart is a perpetual 344 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:42,680 factory of idols. Perpetual factory vinyls. 345 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,040 What a great statement. Let me just think about for a 346 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:48,600 moment. You just run the thought for a 347 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,040 moment. What is a factory, right? 348 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,400 It's a place where they make things. 349 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,280 They build things with their hands. 350 00:21:55,280 --> 00:22:01,440 They work hard. It's the blue collarist of Jobs 351 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:08,440 and, and you think about what my heart does daily. 352 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,920 It's perpetually seeking something else to worship. 353 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,360 And so it'll contrive, it'll create, it'll run after all 354 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:25,240 sorts of idols, things that I think promise what only God has 355 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,440 promised and what only God can deliver on. 356 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,480 All right, So this passage proves that. 357 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,440 I think this passage proves that our heart is a perpetual factory 358 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,440 of idols. All right, because it's not just 359 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,720 going to be money. It's going to be the things 360 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,160 we're worrying about, the things we're giving ourselves to here 361 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,600 in the moments, right? The issue becomes we can take 362 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,840 created things, those things that God has granted and his 363 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,720 great mercy and grace to us as good gifts. 364 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,160 We can take those things and we can turn them on their head and 365 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,760 we can ask them to bear the weight of our eternal, of our 366 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:07,400 eternal hope, but ultimate hope. And Jesus is saying very 367 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:15,840 frankly, to do that is darkness, that to do that is to be a slave 368 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:22,200 is to be a slave that that's divided devotion. 369 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:28,000 Now, it's possible to hold something in your hand without 370 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,720 it being in your heart. That's possible, right? 371 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,840 Sawyer talked about that earlier, right? 372 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:40,040 But but once it gets into the heart, that's when it begins to 373 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,280 steer our lives, right? And that that's how treasure 374 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,720 works, right? It's like a a compass hidden 375 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,760 within our soul. Whatever you treasure most will 376 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,520 keep pulling you in its direction. 377 00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:04,080 Now, it might be obvious at first, but over time, well, let 378 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,240 me say it this way, it might not be obvious at first, right? 379 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:11,000 But over time what happens is it shows up in your calendar. 380 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:13,440 What is it that you're devoted to? 381 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,440 What would your calendar say about the things you're most 382 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,800 devoted to? It shows up in your prayers. 383 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,040 All right. Do you pray? 384 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,080 If you're not praying, that's, that's check, check engine light 385 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,080 #1 right? When you pray, what are you 386 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,760 praying for? It'll show up in your spending. 387 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,200 It'll show up in your ambitions in life. 388 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:49,840 What is it that you're striving so hard after shows up in our 389 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,640 disappointments? It's not one we often think 390 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,680 about, but it's it's one I've become keenly aware of that like 391 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:01,400 when I get disappointed, what am I disappointed over? 392 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:07,880 Why am I disappointed? It shows up in your fears. 393 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:10,400 Now, what are those things that scare you? 394 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,160 What are the things that you're running from? 395 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,720 So this first section of the passage that we're looking at 396 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,960 calls us to honest self examination, which is a lot of 397 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,320 fun, right? You all guys look like you're 398 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:33,720 having fun today, but you really do have to start asking 399 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,000 questions about your own heart. What is it that I'm truly 400 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,640 treasuring? What occupies my thoughts most 401 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,640 often? What loss? 402 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,560 If I were to undergo a loss, what loss feels unthinkable to 403 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:54,040 me? What do I Daydream about? 404 00:25:54,040 --> 00:26:00,280 Heaven, what makes me feel secure? 405 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,680 What makes you feel significant? You see all the different 406 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,600 questions you can ask of your heart as you read a text like 407 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,680 this. And again, I want, I want to be 408 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,960 careful. This, this text isn't only for 409 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:17,880 the rich, right? You might be reading this like, 410 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,800 well, I'm not wealthy. This isn't a problem for me. 411 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,440 Well, a poor man can worship money just as much as a rich man 412 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:28,160 can, right? A man can idolize what he has, 413 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,760 but a man can also idolize what he wishes he had. 414 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,400 That the issue is not how much is in your bank account. 415 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,400 The the issue is what sits on the throne of your heart. 416 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:46,120 And then Jesus, he just presses the issue further. 417 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,480 Jesus says you're not uncomfortable enough yet. 418 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:54,120 All right, let me help you. So he begins to ask, 419 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:58,640 essentially, how are you seeing? How is it that you see things? 420 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,600 Are you evaluate evaluating life through the lens of the Kingdom, 421 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:05,800 or are you evaluating your life through the lens of earthly 422 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:10,280 gain? So back to the idea of money. 423 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:14,760 Do you see money as a tool for stewardship and generosity, or 424 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,760 do you see money as a tool or as a savior to cling to? 425 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,600 And finally, he just gets to the real question, right when he 426 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,400 says you cannot serve both, you cannot have two masters. 427 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,440 The question has to come, who am I serving? 428 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,120 And then I must recognize that what he's saying is that 429 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:44,160 eventually my life will reveal my Master. 430 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:52,280 The decisions I make, the way that I live, the relationships I 431 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:57,120 tend to or don't tend to, the way I spend my money, the way I 432 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:00,400 plan my calendar, the way I pray, all these things will 433 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:08,040 reveal the Master of your heart. So this first movement that 434 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:12,520 Christ is showing us, I think calls us to repentance. 435 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:16,840 It calls us primarily to repentance. 436 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:23,760 It's calling you and I to reject worldly treasure as ultimate. 437 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,880 It's calling us to reject a darkened vision. 438 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:33,320 And it's calling us to reject money as a rival Lord. 439 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:37,480 Now here's why that matters so much. 440 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,840 Because when money becomes your master, you have a darkened eye 441 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:46,880 and you're living for yourself. Anxiety becomes your companion, 442 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,680 all right? So if your treasure is here, 443 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,800 then your heart is always going to fear losing what is here. 444 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,120 If your security is earthly, then your peace is always going 445 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:07,920 to be fragile because the things of this earth are transient, as 446 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:09,600 Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 4. 447 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,840 So that's why Jesus moves directly from the mastery of 448 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:20,440 wealth to the burden of worry. Point #2 rest in your Heavenly 449 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,760 Father's care. I'm going to read this passage 450 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:30,280 again because I just think you need to hear all of this yet 451 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,760 again. Therefore, I tell you, do not be 452 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,440 anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will 453 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,480 drink, nor about your body what you will put on. 454 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,800 Is not life more than food in the body, more than clothing? 455 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,840 Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor 456 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,720 gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 457 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,080 Are you not of more value than they? 458 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,320 And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour 459 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,200 to His span of life? And why are you anxious about 460 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,800 clothing? Consider the lilies of the 461 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,360 field. How they grow, they neither toil 462 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,520 nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon and 463 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,360 all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 464 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,040 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is 465 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,200 alive, and tomorrow was thrown into the oven, will he not much 466 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,960 more clothe you, O you of little face? 467 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:36,520 Therefore do not be anxious saying, What shall we eat, or 468 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,080 what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? 469 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,000 For the Gentiles, those unbelievers, seek after all 470 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,880 these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them 471 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,000 all. But seek first the Kingdom of 472 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,440 God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added 473 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,160 to you. Therefore do not be anxious 474 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,920 about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 475 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,880 Sufficient for the day. It's its own trouble. 476 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:10,440 Amen. So verse 25 just begins, 477 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:16,480 therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, right? 478 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:21,720 Jesus is linking anxiety to everything he has just said when 479 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:26,400 he says. Therefore, what he's saying is, 480 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,120 worry doesn't come from nowhere, right? 481 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,280 Worry grows naturally from divided devotion. 482 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,240 If I'm living for earthly security, I will be anxious 483 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:44,720 about earthly security, right? If money becomes my master, then 484 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:49,560 provision is always going to feel uncertain and threatening. 485 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,960 And I love that. Jesus just names very ordinary 486 00:31:54,960 --> 00:32:00,640 concerns, life, food, drink, clothing, right? 487 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:02,640 These these are not imaginary needs. 488 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,400 Jesus is acknowledging these are real needs. 489 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:10,440 He's, he's not mocking you. He's not dismissing you, right? 490 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,520 He, he knows that people need food. 491 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:14,600 He, he knows our bodies need clothing. 492 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:23,720 He he knows daily life brings real pressures, but he ask I 493 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,520 love the questions that he asked throughout that passage. 494 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:32,720 He he asked this is not life more than food and the body more 495 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:37,840 than clothing and you and I are left to go. 496 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:46,480 Yeah, we know that it is in other words, and and don't miss 497 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,200 what he's the point he's making. If God has already given you the 498 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:56,880 life itself, if breath in your lungs, can he not also sustain 499 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,560 the life that he has given you? Of course he can. 500 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,520 And so to prove the point, Jesus standing there, sitting there 501 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:13,720 teaching crowd gathered around he, he points to the birds of 502 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:18,440 the air that are flying by. This is look at them. 503 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:24,120 They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your 504 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:29,000 heavenly Father feeds them. Now the point that he's making 505 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,680 is not that the birds do nothing. 506 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:36,360 They do, they do a lot, right? The birds do gather. 507 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:40,720 They they do search, they act, they feed their young, they 508 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:45,120 build nest, right? The the point, though, is that 509 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,040 they're not anxiously running around the world trying to do 510 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:54,680 those things. God cares for them, and the 511 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:58,320 birds are worshipping God by acting according to how he's 512 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,960 created them to act. And in their worship of God, in 513 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:07,000 their obedience to God and doing what birds do, God is caring for 514 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:11,560 them. If you ever wonder if God cares 515 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:15,320 for you, step outside, Look at the birds as they fly by. 516 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:20,280 And then Jesus asks this question that's meant to land on 517 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:30,040 the conscience. Are you not of more value than 518 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:36,000 they are? Now, some of us might be 519 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:41,960 feeling, yeah, we might have some feeling of humility where 520 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:43,800 we would say, well, you know, I don't know. 521 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,480 The birds are pretty cool, all right. 522 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,080 I'm not a bald eagle. That's that's pretty cool bird. 523 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:58,360 But think about it. Think about what the Scriptures 524 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,640 say. Genesis 127. 525 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,760 You're created in the image of God. 526 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,600 You're created in the likeness of God. 527 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:15,960 You're created as male and female to reflect God and the 528 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:20,720 ways that He's designed you. You're created with great care, 529 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:26,240 great purpose. In Psalm 8, we see something 530 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:29,480 like we are the crown jewel of God's creation. 531 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,160 Who is man that you are mindful of Him? 532 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,720 The psalmist asked. You've created him a little 533 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:43,200 lower than the angels. Of course you're of more value 534 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:52,160 than the birds. He then asked in verse 27, In 535 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:56,560 case you're not struck yet, which of you by being anxious, 536 00:35:56,560 --> 00:36:00,040 can add a single hour to your span of life? 537 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,680 Our kids will tell you they hear this somewhat frequently around 538 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:13,640 the house. Son, can you add time to your 539 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:15,440 life by worrying about that thing? 540 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:20,040 No, that I can't. Then let's not worry about it, 541 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:26,640 all right? In fact, the opposite seems true 542 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:28,640 from the studies we have around these days. 543 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,200 You can actually shorten your life by being full of anxiety. 544 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:40,160 So, brothers and sisters, I know all too well I I'm with you in 545 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:42,600 this foxhole. I know all too well that worry 546 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:48,800 feels useful. Preoccupying my mind with worry 547 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:53,880 feels like a good thing. It feels like the best way to 548 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,720 plan, the best way to be ready, the best way to whatever, right? 549 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:03,800 It can even feel active, like I can convince myself that if I'm 550 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,200 worrying about something, I'm being active, I'm being 551 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,120 proactive and how I'm dealing with it. 552 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:16,960 It could even feel responsible. All right, I have a wife and 553 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,200 three sons to care for. I'm going to worry about them. 554 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:21,720 I'm going to worry about my care for them. 555 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:23,000 I'm going to worry about provision. 556 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,080 I'm going to worry. It feels responsible. 557 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,720 But Jesus clearly says it has no power to lengthen my life. 558 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:39,120 He clearly says it has no power to secure tomorrow for me, and 559 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:42,880 it has no power to control the outcomes of what's going to 560 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:47,480 happen. So though I think it's useful, 561 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,320 Christ makes it clear it's useless. 562 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:58,000 And so then yet again, he standing there, sitting there 563 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,280 teaching, he points to the lilies of the field around them, 564 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,760 and he says they do not toil or spin. 565 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:11,800 Look at their beauty. They do not toil or spin. 566 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:16,080 Yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 567 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:21,440 And then he asked a question. If God closed the grass which is 568 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,760 here today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much 569 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,560 more clothe you, O you of little faith. 570 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,720 Now that phrase does sting a little, but it is important. 571 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:41,720 O you of little faith. Jesus is saying that anxiety is 572 00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:45,400 not merely a personality trait as we might think. 573 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:56,400 He he traces it to weak trust. Then verses 31 to 32 he returns 574 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:01,160 to this command. Do not be anxious saying, what 575 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,120 shall we eat, What shall we will drink? 576 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,080 What shall we wear? And then he says, for the 577 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,480 Gentiles, seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father 578 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:14,880 knows that you need them all. We've had some of the most 579 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:17,360 direct statements from Christ, and now we have one of the 580 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:22,600 sweetest statements from Christ. He wants to solve your anxiety 581 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:26,440 by pointing your eyes upward to your heavenly Father. 582 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:35,920 Your heavenly Father knows. Praise God, he He knows every 583 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:40,320 need, He knows every bill, He knows every burden, He knows 584 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,600 every uncertainty that you brought into church this 585 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,880 morning. And Christ says, yes, I know, 586 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,520 yes, the Father knows. But look upward to the one who 587 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:57,000 provides. You see that you see. 588 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,640 He knows what you need before you and your anxiety can even 589 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:08,000 name it. And then Jesus gives us positive 590 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,560 commands in verse 33. But seek first the Kingdom of 591 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:15,400 God and his righteousness. And all these things, your food, 592 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:18,960 your clothing, what you'll eat and drink, all these things will 593 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:24,520 be added to you. So that's the answer to divided 594 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:27,000 devotion. That's the answer to anxious 595 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,920 living. The disciple of Christ, the 596 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:35,840 believer is to place the Kingdom 1st and to seek it diligently. 597 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:40,120 But what does that mean? It means we're that that God's 598 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:44,880 reign, God's rule, God's righteousness, God's priorities, 599 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:48,920 those things are to become the controlling concern of our 600 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:53,080 lives. And when that happens, 601 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,080 everything else is put into its proper place. 602 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,760 Just think back a few verses to the Lord's Prayer. 603 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:12,520 Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your 604 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:16,680 Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 605 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,360 Give us this day Our Daily Bread. 606 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:26,000 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others their trespasses 607 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:33,320 against us and deliver us from the evil. 1 You see how the 608 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:41,080 prayer is orchestrated to solve your worries, to get your mind, 609 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:47,400 your heart, your gaze fixed upward on God and His purposes, 610 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:53,960 His Kingdom, His will, His provision of food, His provision 611 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,920 of your needs, His provision of forgiveness, His provision of a 612 00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:01,680 heart toward others, His provision of defense against the 613 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:06,280 enemy. You see, we must learn to say 614 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:09,440 with the apostle Paul in Galatians 220, I have been 615 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:14,920 crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but 616 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:19,360 Christ who lives in me in the life I now live in the flesh. 617 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:23,040 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave 618 00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:28,120 himself for me. It's total heart and life 619 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:33,960 devotion to Christ alone. And then finally in verse 34, 620 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:38,320 Jesus says, therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for 621 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,280 tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 622 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:44,280 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 623 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:52,760 Now Jesus is not naive. The one speaking here is the one 624 00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:56,600 who knows that in a short time he'll be headed to the cross. 625 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:05,880 And yet he says, worry only about today. 626 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,360 Tomorrow's troubles are sufficient in their own right. 627 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,960 Today's troubles are sufficient in their own right. 628 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:16,440 Worry only about today. You see, he's not denying 629 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,480 trouble. He acknowledges it plainly. 630 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,720 Each day has enough trouble of its own, he says. 631 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:28,160 And yet what Christ is forbidding here? 632 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:33,520 He's forbidding us from going into tomorrow with our thoughts 633 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:39,120 and with our anxieties and with the pressures and with our cares 634 00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,320 and our worries and concerns and all those things. 635 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:45,240 He's forbidding us from going over into tomorrow, picking 636 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:48,440 those things up and dragging them back into today. 637 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,200 He's forbidding us from dragging tomorrow's imagined burdens into 638 00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:59,800 today's grace. Right. 639 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:06,080 The great doctrine beneath this paragraph that the thing we have 640 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:11,880 to come to know and to believe in this passage is the fatherly 641 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:16,600 Providence of God. The same God who cares for the 642 00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:21,080 birds, the same God who clothes the lilies, is not distant from 643 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:25,480 his children. He he is not indifferent to 644 00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:27,320 their needs. He's not indifferent to their 645 00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:30,880 worries and concerns. He is not an absentee father. 646 00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:37,320 He is not forgetful. He's not take a break from his 647 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:41,720 throne or from his sovereignty. He is your Heavenly Father. 648 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:45,440 He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. 649 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:49,120 He is unchangeable. He does not lie. 650 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:56,720 He's always loving and He's always doing that which is good 651 00:44:56,720 --> 00:45:02,800 for His people. And that means that you, 652 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:09,960 Christian, that means that you do not live in a random 653 00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:16,360 universe. You, you don't live under blind 654 00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:20,160 faith. You, you don't live at the mercy 655 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:25,440 of chance or luck or whatever you might call it. 656 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:33,320 You, you live under the wise, holy, sovereign, and fatherly 657 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,600 care of the God who created the heavens and the earth. 658 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:43,640 Now if I ask you, does that remove hardship? 659 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,120 You would say no, wisely. No, it doesn't. 660 00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:56,040 It doesn't promise ease. But it does mean that hardship 661 00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:59,400 never comes outside the Father's hand. 662 00:46:01,040 --> 00:46:06,920 It means that hardship and our needs, they they never escape 663 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:12,400 the Father's eye. We can believe Romans 828 that 664 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,840 He works all things, all things. Not some of the things, not 665 00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,760 partial things, not, not a limited amount of things. 666 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:23,320 He works all things together for the good of those who love him. 667 00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:25,000 They're called according to His purposes. 668 00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:33,400 So anxiety then is like trying to carry tomorrow's load before 669 00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:39,680 God has given tomorrow's mercy, before he's given tomorrow's 670 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:41,880 grace, before he's given tomorrow's strength. 671 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:49,240 Jesus is saying here that each day has its own trouble, yet 672 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:51,360 each day also brings its own mercies. 673 00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:56,640 Limitations is clear that God's mercies are new every morning. 674 00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:04,720 God gives daily bread, He gives daily grace, He gives daily help 675 00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:08,360 to his people. You see, worry tries to seize 676 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:13,000 tomorrow in advance, but in doing so it rejects the grace 677 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:19,640 that is only given for today. And so this spec, this section 678 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:23,840 speaks directly to us about, because worry is one of the most 679 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:31,800 respectable sins in the church. We'll solve worry in all kinds 680 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:34,600 of ways. We'll solve worry by worrying 681 00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:38,120 more. We'll solve worry by seeking 682 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:42,000 medication. We'll solve worry by eating 683 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:44,760 more. We'll solve worry about talking, 684 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:46,680 gossiping about it, telling others. 685 00:47:47,560 --> 00:47:50,960 We'll solve worry in all sorts of ways, except the ways which 686 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,080 God has prescribed for us to solve worry. 687 00:47:56,720 --> 00:47:59,760 We, we excuse worry in the church as concerned. 688 00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:03,480 We'll dress up worry as responsibility. 689 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:07,000 We'll we'll even treat worry as maturity at times. 690 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,320 But Jesus here addresses it as a matter of trust. 691 00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:16,920 And so again, I don't want you to misunderstand the principle 692 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:18,480 here. He's not forbidding planning. 693 00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:20,720 He's not preventing preventing work. 694 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,960 He's not preventing you from preparation against. 695 00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:28,280 Scripture teaches prudence and diligence and responsibility. 696 00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:30,880 So the issue is not faithful action. 697 00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:34,120 The issue here is anxious unbelief. 698 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:40,600 So where? Where are you carrying burdens 699 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:48,080 today that belong to the Father? What fears about money? 700 00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:51,920 What what fears about your family, your marriage, your 701 00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:54,960 children? What were fears about your 702 00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:58,040 health? What fears about the future? 703 00:48:58,040 --> 00:49:01,560 What fears about ministry? Or what fears about provision 704 00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:06,280 are you rehearsing again and again in your heart and mind? 705 00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:13,360 And then you have to ask, what does my worry reveal? 706 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:17,520 What? What does it reveal? 707 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:21,640 What might reveal that you're trying to be your own provider, 708 00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:28,520 protector, and sovereign? But I'm here to tell you 709 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:34,160 lovingly, you are not your own provider, protector, or 710 00:49:34,160 --> 00:49:39,040 sovereign, and you were never meant to be. 711 00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:42,160 You were created in the image of God. 712 00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:47,360 You were not created to be God. So Jesus calls you to live 713 00:49:47,360 --> 00:49:51,160 differently today, doesn't He? He tells you to seek first the 714 00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:53,960 Kingdom. And when he says that, he's 715 00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:57,760 saying put obedience, righteousness, God's honor, the 716 00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:01,880 Father's concerns, put all those things above your own comforts, 717 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:07,080 and trust that the Father knows what you need and that He will 718 00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:11,240 provide it. Now, this is not a call to 719 00:50:11,240 --> 00:50:14,520 passivity. This is not a call to become the 720 00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:21,240 sluggard of Proverbs and to turn and toil in your bed, to let 721 00:50:21,240 --> 00:50:26,560 your hand drop down to the bowl, and to be so tired and so 722 00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:29,800 miserable that you can't even lift it to your mouth. 723 00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:32,960 Again. You're not to be a sluggard. 724 00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:38,360 Brothers and sisters, this is a call to priority. 725 00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:42,640 It's a call to seek first His Kingdom. 726 00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:49,040 It's a call to Live Today in obedience, to Live Today in 727 00:50:49,040 --> 00:50:54,360 humility, to Live Today with right labor, right hard work, 728 00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:57,200 diligence. It's called to Live Today 729 00:50:57,200 --> 00:51:03,120 prayerfully, dependently trusting your Father in heaven. 730 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:09,360 So in our passage today, Jesus has put his finger on two of the 731 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:11,120 deepest struggles of the human hearts. 732 00:51:11,640 --> 00:51:14,440 One, what we treasure and two, what we fear. 733 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:19,320 And and he tells us that both reveal whether our devotion is 734 00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:25,040 divided or not. If if we treasure earth, you're 735 00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:28,080 going to be chained to it. Just know that you're going to 736 00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:35,200 be a slave to it. If we serve money, you'll never 737 00:51:35,200 --> 00:51:41,480 know what it means to rest. If we live for material 738 00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:45,800 security, anxiety will always be close at hand. 739 00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:50,800 But if God is our Father and His Kingdom is our first concern, we 740 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:53,480 are free to live with undivided hearts. 741 00:51:55,080 --> 00:51:56,520 So the call of the passage is clear. 742 00:51:56,520 --> 00:51:59,920 Do not lay up your hopes where moth and rust destroy. 743 00:52:00,120 --> 00:52:04,320 Do not let your vision be darkened by greed and worldly 744 00:52:04,320 --> 00:52:07,640 mindedness. Do not bow to the Master called 745 00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:10,240 money. Do not live as though your 746 00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:13,880 Father has forgotten you and that he's unconcerned about your 747 00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:16,160 life. And do not drag tomorrow's 748 00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:21,720 troubles into today's obedience. Instead, we are called the 749 00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:23,400 treasure of the Father's Kingdom. 750 00:52:24,360 --> 00:52:26,040 We're called to trust the Father's care. 751 00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:28,440 We're called to seek the Father's righteousness. 752 00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:31,800 We are called to rest in the knowledge that your heavenly 753 00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:35,800 Father knows what you need. Why? 754 00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:41,800 Because Kingdom citizens must reject divided devotion and 755 00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:44,680 trust their heavenly Father wholeheartedly. 756 00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:49,840 Now for the believer, for those of you who are believers in 757 00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:55,080 here, this text is a call to repentance and renew trust. 758 00:52:56,760 --> 00:53:00,120 The text is calling you to loosen your grip on this world 759 00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:03,240 and to tighten your grip on the promises of your Father. 760 00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:10,440 If you're an unbeliever in here, then this text is exposing 761 00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:12,800 something you need to pay very close attention to. 762 00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:17,520 It's exposing the emptiness of life without God. 763 00:53:20,200 --> 00:53:22,800 You may spend your whole life chasing security. 764 00:53:24,240 --> 00:53:27,280 You may gain possessions yet lose your soul. 765 00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:32,080 You may run after tomorrow yet never find peace. 766 00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:37,880 The answer is not more control. The answer is not more money. 767 00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:43,160 The answer is not a better plan. The answer is Christ. 768 00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:49,320 Turn from your sin. Stop serving false masters. 769 00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:51,120 What that means is that you repent. 770 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:54,520 You confess your sins and you repent of those. 771 00:53:54,520 --> 00:53:59,640 You turn from those, and you come in faith to the King of 772 00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:03,120 kings, who brings sinners into the family of God. 773 00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:07,120 He'll save your soul of the day. Let's pray. 774 00:54:10,080 --> 00:54:15,200 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love. 775 00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:21,200 We thank you for your kindness. We thank you for your 776 00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:26,120 compassion. We thank you, Lord, that you are 777 00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:31,440 all knowing that there is not a need of our lives that escapes 778 00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:39,280 your sight. God, would you help us to see 779 00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:49,200 the areas of our heart where we are building up a treasure of 780 00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:51,400 this world and not a treasure of heaven? 781 00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:57,400 Would you help us see where we have become so consumed with the 782 00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:00,520 things of this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the 783 00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:06,160 eyes, the pride of life and its achievements, that we have 784 00:55:06,160 --> 00:55:10,960 forgotten our God. Or maybe we've not forgotten. 785 00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:13,640 Maybe we've simply tried to serve 2 Masters. 786 00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:18,360 We think that there is room enough in our life for two 787 00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:25,640 Thrones. And so, God, would you rebuke us 788 00:55:25,880 --> 00:55:29,400 by your word today? Would you correct us? 789 00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:33,480 Would you teach us and train us for godliness this day? 790 00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:38,200 Would you deepen our affections for Christ? 791 00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:41,960 Would you deepen our trust in your promises? 792 00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:47,520 Father, would you help us to trust your kind Providence above 793 00:55:47,520 --> 00:55:57,120 anything else in this world? God, I also ask that you would 794 00:55:57,120 --> 00:56:02,320 save anyone here today who is simply pursuing their own 795 00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:07,440 Kingdom, seeking to build their own, their own Kingdom in which 796 00:56:07,440 --> 00:56:09,640 they can rule and reign over their own life. 797 00:56:11,720 --> 00:56:17,400 God, would you help them to see the vanity, as we read in 798 00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:20,600 Ecclesiastes, would you help them see the the vanity of that, 799 00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:26,320 that they're only going to be left wanting more and more and 800 00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:28,640 more. They'll never arrive. 801 00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:35,600 They'll always strive. And God, would you help them to 802 00:56:35,600 --> 00:56:40,360 see the burden of their heart, the burden of their sin, and 803 00:56:41,640 --> 00:56:44,600 would you help them today to carry it to the cross of Christ, 804 00:56:44,600 --> 00:56:48,680 that Christ might relieve that burden and grant them new life. 805 00:56:48,680 --> 00:57:01,390 Today, God, may all of us live with a good eye, an eye toward 806 00:57:01,390 --> 00:57:05,630 the light of Christ, an eye toward the heavenly provision of 807 00:57:05,630 --> 00:57:10,470 our Father, an eye toward your Kingdom, your will. 808 00:57:11,510 --> 00:57:15,350 And may we strive for that, build our lives upon it. 809 00:57:20,040 --> 00:57:22,120 I'm going to give you a moment now there in your seat to 810 00:57:22,120 --> 00:57:28,320 reflect on God's words, to reflect on the sermon, to 811 00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:33,240 consider your heart, your life. Repent where you must prevent or 812 00:57:33,240 --> 00:57:37,200 must repent today. Confess those things you need to 813 00:57:37,200 --> 00:57:41,760 confess to the Lord. Know that He hears you, that 814 00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:44,640 he's able to save to the uttermost all those who draw 815 00:57:44,640 --> 00:58:43,960 near to him today. Heavenly Father, we exalt you as 816 00:58:43,960 --> 00:58:49,160 the God of heaven and earth today, and we thank You that you 817 00:58:50,520 --> 00:58:54,920 bid us to come boldly before your throne of grace that we 818 00:58:54,920 --> 00:58:57,320 might find mercy and grace in our time of need. 819 00:58:59,920 --> 00:59:03,120 We thank You that Christ has bore the penalty for our sins, 820 00:59:06,160 --> 00:59:12,520 that we have been made righteous in Him, that we've been made Co 821 00:59:12,520 --> 00:59:16,200 heirs with Christ of heaven and all that it possesses. 822 00:59:19,640 --> 00:59:24,240 We thank you, Lord, that you call us sons and daughters, that 823 00:59:24,240 --> 00:59:28,800 you've granted us life where we knew only death before. 824 00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:34,680 And we recognize that our hearts do become wayward, that we do 825 00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:38,120 become distracted. We have divided devotion at 826 00:59:38,120 --> 00:59:41,960 times it's the Lord. Would you rescue us from this? 827 00:59:41,960 --> 00:59:46,880 Also? Would you set our feet upon a 828 00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:51,680 rock today? It's in the name of Christ to 829 00:59:51,680 --> 00:59:53,160 pray. Amen.