Inside: When we focus on the things of this world, our hearts become anxious. Jesus reminds us in this passage that we don’t need to worry about the necessities of life. We have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares for His children.
Our next section in the Sermon on the Mount series deals with our struggles with worry and anxiety. It’s one of my favorite sections because anxiety is an area I struggle with, and as a young believer, this is one of the first large sections of scripture I chose to memorize.
Matthew 6:25-24 reminds my heart how much my Heavenly Father cares for me (look at the birds of the air). That worrying never gets me anywhere (who, by worrying, adds a single hour to his span of life). And I don’t need to worry about the necessities of life because my Father in Heaven provides exactly what I need (life is more than food and clothing).
When our priorities are wrong, our hearts will be anxious.
I have a tender, loving, caring, all-knowing Father who purchased my redemption at the cost of the life of His Son – why would I have to worry about anything??? But I do, so my heart returns to this reminder and redirects my thinking, and when I do that, my focus is on His righteousness, and I’m seeking his kingdom first. As I do that, my priorities are now right, and I’m reminded as one of His precious children that He will provide all I need, and He not once has ever failed me.
Matthew 6:25-24:
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
In our text today, Jesus warns us three times not to worry:
V25:
Therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life.
v 31
Therefore do not be anxious.
V34
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow.
Many things in our lives can cause us to be anxious. It may be about our possessions, but we may also find ourselves worrying about our children, relationships, jobs, health, and the future, and then we can add in all the “what ifs” we create in our heads.
Before we move on, I want to clarify that having concern—good concern—is different than worry. Martin Luther stated we should be anxious about the spiritual condition of others, and he referenced the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:28-29:
28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
Concern is good, and we want to be diligent in thinking things through and planning. It isn’t taking a whatever happens attitude. We want to be concerned about the state of our hearts and deal with our sin. These are things we should be concerned about (see Psalm 51 and Psalm 32).
When we worry we want to take control of things, we’re not trusting God in that moment.Sinclair Ferguson stated it:
“Jesus’ teaching, then, is not a form of ‘the power of positive thinking.’ The problem with anxious people is not merely that they think negatively about life. It is much more radical than that. Anxious people think untheologically about life!”
He continues
“Their mistake is not that they have low self images; it is that ‘in all their thoughts there is no room for God’ (Psalm 104). It is only when their focus upon the Lord is restored that they can finally experience the conquest of anxiety.”
So that is my hope as we work through this text today, that as we focus on the Lord, we can do battle and conquer our anxiety.
Listen to the Podcast:
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The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom (Preaching the Word) by R. Kent Hughes
Show Notes:
Some concern is good, but Jesus is counseling us against worry that is self-centered and has at its root a lack of trust in God. No good architect does a good job building a bridge without sometimes waking up at night and checking his figures, the quality of his metals, and the quality of his design. No great athlete performs to his or her best without some concern about what he or she is doing. The distinction is sometimes very subtle. A preacher might be honestly concerned about his sermon—that it be true to the text, practical, spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit and in love. Or he might simply be worried about his reputation. The first is healthy and godly, the second is not.
~ R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom
Jesus’ teaching, then, is not a form of ‘the power of positive thinking.’ The problem with anxious people is not merely that they think negatively about life. It is much more radical than that. Anxious people think untheologically about life! Their mistake is not that they have low self images; it is that ‘in all their thoughts there is no room for God’ (Psalm 104). It is only when their focus upon the Lord is restored that they can finally experience the conquest of anxiety.
~ Sinclair Ferguson, The Sermon on the Mount
Worry is like a rocking chair: it keeps you moving but doesn’t get you anywhere.
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.
~ Corrie Ten Boom
You’re going to die someday. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe later this year. But maybe not for fifty years. Maybe suddenly. Maybe slowly. Only God knows how it will happen. But that means you are living on borrowed time. Only God knows when your time is up and your appointment has come. That means you don’t have to worry about dying. That’s out of your hands. Therefore, you are free to relax, enjoy life, live each day to the fullest and go for all the gusto you can get. And let God worry about how things turn out.
It seems…….that the flowers stand there and make us blush and become our teachers. Thank you, flowers, you, who are to be devoured by cows! God has exalted you very highly, that you become our masters and our teachers.
~ Martin Luther
Consider the birds, consider the flowers, and rest in Him! ~ R. Kent Hughes
Seeking his righteousness involves making his righteousness attractive in all areas of life—personal, family, material, international. The Lord tells us that the one who does this is approved: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). Matthew 6:33 marvelously encompasses our evangelistic and social responsibilities, which we are to carry out with fervor one day at a time.
~ R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom
No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear.
~ George MacDonald
Here is the quota for today; very well, take that and deal with that. Do not think of tomorrow. You will have tomorrow’s quota, but then it will be tomorrow and not today.
~ Martyn Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
If in the face of Jesus’ teaching, we remain anxious, it is either because we do not yet understand him, or we do not yet trust him. In either case, the fault is ours, not his. For he not only diagnoses the cause of worry; he provides its cure. He is its cure.
~ Sinclair Ferguson, The Sermon on the Mount
Reject the secular reductionist mind-set. You are more than a body. Along with this, refuse to focus on the world’s trinity of cares.
Consider the birds and the flowers. If God cares for the lesser, what will he do for the greater—for us?
Do not live in the future. Live now. Put your arms around your spouse right now. Take a walk with your child today. Enjoy the life God has given you.
~ R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom
Scripture References:
- Matthew 6:25-34
- Matthew 6:19-24
- 2 Corinthians 11:28-29
- Psalm 51
- Psalm 32
- Colossians 3:1-4
- John 1:12-13
- Matthew 5:6
- Psalm 119:11
Recommended Resources:
- Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd Jones
- Sermon on the Mount The: Matthew 5-7 Expositional Commentary by James Montgomery Boice
- Matthew 1-7 MacArthur New Testament Commentary by John MacArthur
- Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew by J.C. Ryle
- The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom (ESV Edition) by R. Kent Hughes
- Sermon on the Mount by Sinclair Ferguson
- The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 by Thomas Watson
- The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott
- Sermon on the Mount Teaching Series by Sinclair Ferguson at Ligonier Connect
- Logos Bible Software
- Bible Memory App
- Study Guide for Sermon on the Mount
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