Matt 6:25-34
SS Lesson for 11/27/2011
Devotional Scripture: John 14:1-6
The outline of the lesson came from a previous SS Lesson dated 01/27/2008. The lesson teaches how we should be Facing Life without Worry. The study's aim is to teach that we are to place the pursuit of God's kingdom and righteousness above every earthly concern. The study's application is to make spiritual values our priority and trust God to take care of every need.
Who Needs This Lesson?
There may be people in the class today who do not need to hear this lesson. If you have never experienced any of the following, you do not need what we are studying today: sleepless nights, sweaty palms, nervous restlessness, feelings of panic. I suspect that not one of your learners will say that he or she has experienced none of those! But in case you have such a person, today’s lesson is not something he or she needs... yet. Eventually, everyone experiences what we are talking about today. Call it stress, call it anxiety, call it worry—we all go through it, and no one wants it. Learning to cope with stress, learning not to worry, overcoming anxiety: these are topics that fill lots of books, seminars, and videos. They keep selling because people keep worrying. Does God want us to worry? Jesus says that the answer is no. Because God’s kingdom has arrived, God’s people can be confident, not worried, about their future. God, who rules as king over all, promises to meet our needs. We can replace worry with calm, stress with peace, anxiety with tranquility. But what Jesus says is more than just “don’t worry, be happy.” He provides a new perspective that enables us to free ourselves from worry. When we recognize God’s promise to care for his people under all circumstances, we can surrender our worry and find peace in God’s provision.
Lesson Background
Today’s text is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, his great exposition of what it means to be a subject under God’s kingdom, his promised reign. Before the opening point of today’s lesson, Jesus has already stressed that God’s reign has two major implications. The first implication is that God’s people will submit to him, doing his will both on the outside and on the inside. They will pursue a life in which God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). They will honor him as king in all that they do. The second major implication is about what God does for his people under his reign. The subjects of God’s kingdom are not powerful people, but needy people (Matthew 5:3-6). They look to God to rescue them because they know that they cannot help themselves. These two implications are summed up in the verse just preceding our text, Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.” God is king, so his people must serve him, not the false God of money. We do not need to serve money because we have the promise of the king’s provision. We should remember that Jesus delivered this teaching to a people who lived a very simple lifestyle under a powerful, military empire. Most people in Jesus’ audience were farmers, simple tradesmen, etc. They made just enough in a good year to feed their families. In a bad year, they probably went hungry. They lived constantly under the shame and threat of Rome’s domination of their land. Jesus spoke to their very deep vulnerability as poor people. He did not promise a political change, but a change in their hearts
Worry seems to be part of everyone's life today. It is a symptom of unstable and uncertain times. People yearn for security in a fast-paced world; and when they do not find it, they worry about what might lie ahead. Economic worries are among the most prevalent. Investors worry about the stock market. Farmers worry about the weather and the prices of their products. Wage earners worry that they will lose their jobs. Businessmen worry that competitors will overtake them and their products will lose their appeal. Even Christians, who profess to trust God, succumb to worry. They worry about the evil influences on their children and many of the same things unbelievers worry about. Jesus taught a better way. In our passage this week from Matthew 6, He declared that worry is both unnecessary and ineffective. A loving Father cares for the needs of His own. It is easy for us to worry about the many things we have to deal with every day of our lives. We have bills to pay, children to deal with, and deadlines to meet both at work and at home. Sometimes the busy pace of life can be overwhelming. We get bogged down in trying to keep up with the pace of life, and we fret because we cannot keep up. Jesus taught that we are not to worry but to put God's kingdom first and let Him take care of the things that cause us concern.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
“But seek ye first …”
“But” is a conjunction of contrast. In contrast to a world without God and its mad search for happiness in the details of life, there must be a completely different priority for believers.
“Seek,” the Greek, zeteo, means “to attempt to do something, to endeavor, go about, to inquire after, or desire.” It implies diligence, effort, and focus, a preoccupation with the object sought, i.e., the things of God.
Note also that the verb is in the continuous present tense. This must become the goal and pattern of our lives. But by implication there is the warning in this of the ever present pull of the world to get us preoccupied with other things, to distract, divide, and draw us away from the Lord.
“Seek first” drives this home as a matter of the highest priority. Why? Because of what is at stake, eternal treasures and the experience of God’s righteousness versus the loss of those treasures and moral degeneracy. When the pursuit of earthly treasures becomes the priority, moral breakdown in society is never far behind.
What are we to seek? The divine priority consists of two parts: God’s kingdom and His righteousness and the two are always related as root is to fruit.
The word “kingdom” means rule, dominion. To seek God’s kingdom is:
To seek His sovereign rule, His will, and authority in one’s life.
It is to promote those things that will produce the same in those around us. It means to promote, support, and work for the edification and growth of believers and evangelism and outreach of the lost.
We also seek His kingdom when we yearn for His coming kingdom with the return of the King and live accordingly, with a view to heavenly treasures and the glory of God.
We are also to seek His righteousness. This in essence means Christlike character. But please note two things: (1) When God is in control of our lives we will experience His righteousness through the ministry of the Spirit. And (2) righteousness is to be a priority objective rather than the cares of a world which has its heart fixed on material possessions. WHY? Remember the principle? Outlook (our objectives) determine output. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also. If we replace God’s righteousness with desires for the physical blessings of the world like position, power, possessions, etc., we lose God’s control. We become the slaves of mammon. Mammon becomes our god and that always results, eventually, in unrighteousness—in fraud, in murder, in neglect of family, in a loss of concern for others at the expense of the almighty dollar.
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
"Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
Give us today our daily bread.
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
There was once a time when business executives could leave all their cares at the office. But now, thanks to all of our “labor-saving” devices, it is getting harder and harder to do that. Cell phones, laptop computers, and e-mail make it increasingly difficult to “disconnect.” A recent survey of five thousand executives revealed that 82 percent of them worked during their vacations. More than a fourth of them called the office on their days off, and 13 percent checked their e-mail when away from work. Cutting a vacation short because of work was admitted to by 13 percent of the executives. “If you don’t stay in touch,” the surveyers concluded, “you’ll fall behind.” Of course, people in many occupations seldom have “days off.” Farmers whose livestock need daily feeding and/or milking and stay-at-home mothers of small children are two groups of people who would love to get a day off, even if they had to “stay in touch.” Whatever our occupation, excessive involvement in our work can lead to mental burnout, poor health, disrupted family life, and decreased involvement in spirit-nurturing activities such as church attendance. Trying to get ahead of tomorrow’s troubles can actually increase the trials tomorrow may bring. Our experience should tell us that Jesus was right when He said, “Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”
Few passages of the Bible challenge us as much throughout our lives as does this one. Do you see all the ways it makes us think about our lives? Trusting God for the future, seeking his kingdom constantly as the first priority, makes us think about how we use our time, where we place our efforts, how we relate to the people around us, and how we feel inside. Jesus gives his followers a great responsibility in this passage. But we are missing the point if we feel burdened by that responsibility. When we listen carefully, we realize that Jesus is not making our lives harder with these words. Rather, he is making our lives easier. We are free from the burden of worry when we submit to God.
Our text tells us to devote our energy to two things: the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The "kingdom of God" refers to the manifestation of God's reign and rule over His people, a reign that was inaugurated by Jesus' first coming and will ultimately be expressed in the new heavens and new earth. The "righteousness" of God refers to the goal of a right moral standing before God. Since the members of God's kingdom are those who have received the righteousness of God in Christ, the two goals are related. Jesus commands us to place these priorities above everything in this world, even above our basic necessities. This call for total commitment to the kingdom of God is a consistent theme in the Gospel of Matthew. The disciples gave up all to follow Christ, and this is the standard of true discipleship. For example, one would be disciple asked to follow Jesus, but only after he had had the opportunity to bury his dead father. Jesus responded, "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead" (8:22). Jesus encourages us to place the kingdom of God as a higher priority than even our daily necessities by reminding us that God will take care of us. Through a series of examples, Jesus proved that we need not fear because the world is controlled by our heavenly Father, who will always provide for our basic needs (cf. Matt. 6:25-34). Interestingly, this is one of the few places that Matthew referred to the kingdom of heaven as the "kingdom of God." This makes sense. Matthew wanted to emphasize here that the kingdom of which we are a part is not just the kingdom of heaven but the kingdom of our heavenly Father. The need to trust in God's provision is exemplified in the Old Testament by Israel's experience in the desert. Repeatedly, Israel accused God or Moses of attempting to kill them in the desert (cf. Exod. 16:1-3). But throughout their forty years of wandering, God provided the people with manna for food and reminded them of their need for Him (cf. Deut. 29:5). We must remind ourselves of this basic truth that God will provide for us when we face financial hardship. Like Israel, we often fail to trust God for what we need and become preoccupied with our material needs at the expense of His kingdom. By contrast, the Gospels show us that Jesus is the one man who never failed to place His trust in His Father. Just as Israel wandered for forty years, so Jesus spent forty days in the desert. Yet, unlike Israel, even when tempted, He never failed to place the kingdom of God above His earthly needs. Jesus' obedience in this area highlights an important truth. Jesus never demands of us anything that He has not already fulfilled. At the beginning of His sermon, He promised to fulfill our longing for righteousness (Matt. 5:6), and He does so in two ways. First, He Himself fulfills the law, and we are counted righteous through faith in Him. Second, having declared us righteous, God makes us more like Christ day by day. As we become more like Him, we become less like pagans, or "Gentiles" (Matt. 6:32). We seek righteousness.
1. Worry threatens to obscure that to which God would have you pay attention (Matt. 6:25)
2. A worrier does not understand his worth before God (vs. 26)
3. We have two choices instead of worry: Trust in God and rest, or trust in God and act. Worry alone is not an option (vs. 27)
4. If we understand the beauty and completeness of God's provision, we will be able to be at peace with what we have (vs. 28-30)
5. Our desire for God's kingdom will enhance our testimony before the world (vs. 31-33)
6. We can have peace about what is outside our control (vs. 34)
Worry is perhaps the most common malady known to the human race. It seems nobody is immune to it. Riches, good health, long life, and a loving family do not insulate one from worry. Worry is common to everyone, and it can be debilitating. Yet we must acknowledge that worry accomplishes nothing. The Lord understood our propensity to worry, and He addressed it in this passage, three times, saying, "Take no thought" (Matt. 6:25,31,34), or "Do not worry." With each command not to worry, He also gave divine reasons not to worry.
Verse 24 speaks of covetousness and the danger of trying to serve both "God and mammon," or wealth. Often the cause of worry is the lack of money. When we lack money, we tend to worry about having something to drink or eat or wear (vs. 25). But Jesus said, "Take no thought for your life." Life consists of more than these things, essential though they are. And God, who provides life itself, will surely provide these things we need. Furthermore, Jesus pointed out that the heavenly Father provides for the birds, which do nothing to prepare for tomorrow. Worrying about our needs will not add anything to our lives but greater trouble. God also provides for the growth of the flowers, whose beauty exceeds even that with which King Solomon adorned himself. Surely, Jesus said, if God cares for the birds and the flowers, He cares for His people and will meet their needs.
Again, Jesus said not to worry about food and water and clothing. These, He said, are things the "Gentiles," or unbelievers, fix their lives on. They know no heavenly Father who is concerned about them. To worry about these things is to act like an unbeliever, always anxious about how we are going to obtain the things we need. We need not worry. We can rest in the assurance that God knows our needs. We are not alone, dependent on our ability, circumstances, or good fortune. We have the Creator of all things looking out for us and supplying our needs. Instead of worrying about what we need, we should focus on seeking God's kingdom and furthering His righteousness in our lives. When we place God's will and spiritual matter above our own will and temporal concerns, we can be sure that God will meet every physical need. A joyful, abundant life comes from seeking God, not things of this life. 3. God desires that we focus on today (Matt. 6:34). Worry is always focused on tomorrow. But worrying about tomorrow will rob us of our joy and effectiveness today. There is plenty to concern ourselves with today without worrying about what tomorrow may bring. When Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow, He was not suggesting that we make no plans for the future. That is only wise. But worry betrays a lack of trust in God to provide for us. It only robs us of a productive and God-honoring life right now. Our focus should be on serving God today, not on what might or might not happen tomorrow. Paul wrote, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6).