Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Don't Worry! Part 8 of 31
TEXT: "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor 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, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:25-34)
IDEA: Anxiety is a moral sickness.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that anxiety is a matter of having a "heart disease."
Sinclair Ferguson, a professor at Westminster Seminary, argues that anxiety is a "moral sickness." It is a heart disease.
How do you respond to that?
This "moral sickness" can be traced to three diagnostic questions we answer incorrectly.
I. Where is your treasure? (Matthew 6:19-21)
What do you think Jesus meant by "treasure"? (Matthew 6:21)
What's the problem with storing up treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19)? How does that create anxiety?
The more we gather treasure to feel secure, the more we feel we need them to be secure. That makes us less secure and more anxious.
How do you know where your treasure is?
What do you daydream about? What do you worry about in the middle of the night?
II. How are your eyes? (Matthew 6:22)
When we're healthy, then our eyes are healthy and we are "full of light." But if our eyes are diseased, the world is dim and confusing and we don't see things clearly (Matthew 6:22-23).
Fixing the eye and fixing the heart amount to the same thing. A diseased perspective affects more than our eyes. It affects the entire direction of our lives. We don't see clearly what really matters in life.
III. Who/What masters you? (Matthew 6:24)
The effort to "moonlight" leads to anxiety.
Do you believe that we were made to be mastered?
When we cease serving God, we become slaves to something God has made.
Would you agree that if we haven't settled who our master is, then for Christians this can lead to spiritual disaster?
Life in the kingdom demands single-minded allegiance to the King. What happens when we don't have a single master?
Conclusion:
If you went to a heart surgeon, he might ask a series of questions to diagnose your health (or lack of it.). Here are questions to ponder:
Where is your treasure?
Where is your vision focused?
Who or what masters you?
