skip power like the power of scorpions up here we see the same thing happen with the color red in uh the book of exodus in hawaii the wildfires not really wildfires it was space lasers hi guys i just got my way someone cut me off you just still like to pray for them because jesus loves them too Hey, one and all.

Woo-hoo!

I came back and the Christmas tree was up.

Yeah!

You know how much I like Christmas now.

Okay, Matthew chapter 6, verse 25.

We're going to get there in a second.

You know, you're in church, in case you forgot, and that means you expect to hear from God and study the scripture, right?

So open your Bibles, your cell phone, your iPad, whatever it is.

Because when you walk out of here, we want you to have a greater understanding of something that Jesus clearly taught.

The reason we call this series Hidden Holiness is we're saying that there are some things down deep inside, if they're genuine inside you, they'll express themselves outwardly.

There'll be a manifestation of something that's changed and been transformed inside.

Now, I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago, my Uncle Otis.

And my Uncle Otis had a few favorite sayings.

He would say, and you've heard most of these, man, it's going from bad to worse.

You ever heard anybody say that?

Or, man, that's like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Ever heard that one?

I'm between a rock and a hard place.

Sometimes I would ask Uncle Otis, Uncle Otis, how's it going?

And he would say this, Mama said, cheer up, things could get worse.

So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse.

Just preparing for the message, the kind of topic we're talking about.

I went back and read an old accident form that was given by a bruised and battered workman.

He had filled this out.

I want to read it to you.

This is what he said.

Okay.

He said, and I quote, when I got this, remember, this is an accident form.

When I got to the building, I found that the hurricane had knocked off some bricks around the top.

So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrel fulls of bricks.

When I fixed the damaged area.

There were a lot of bricks left over.

Then I went to the bottom again and began releasing the line.

Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was much heavier than I was.

And before I knew what was happening, the barrel started coming down, jerking me up.

I decided to hang on since I was too far off the ground by then to jump.

And halfway up, I met the barrel of bricks coming down fast.

I received a hard blow on my shoulder.

I then continued to the top.

Banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers pinched and jammed in the pulley when the barrel hit the ground hard It burst its bottom allowing the bricks to spill out I was now heavier than the barrel so I started down again at high speed Halfway down.

I met the barrel coming up fast and received several injuries to my shins when I hit the ground I landed on a pile of spilled bricks getting several painful cuts and deep bruises At this point, I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of my grip on the line.

The barrel came down fast, giving me another blow on my head and putting me in the hospital.

I respectfully request sick leave.

Now, as a pastor, I meet people all the time whose lives can be exemplified by this accident form.

They never know what...

Will barrel of bricks is going to hit them next.

In fact, I can guarantee there are people in the room right now.

They're still coming to church, but in a way they're wondering if they should check out.

Their life has just been one accident form after the next, and they're wondering if it's ever going to get better.

Now here's the problem.

Remember I told you I'd always be honest with you.

Always.

Matthew 6 is hard, especially the last section.

And this is serving, verse 25, is the basis of the final message in the series.

Let me read it to you.

Here's how it goes.

And these are the words of Jesus.

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 than food and the body more than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air.

They don't sow or reap or store away in bards, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes?

See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

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, you of little faith?

So do not worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

for the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Now, have you noticed in 16 years of being your lead pastor, I have never preached on this text.

Do you know why?

It's hard.

You say, well, you don't avoid hard passages in the past.

That may be true, but I've got to come to some kind of understanding before I can stand and deliver.

Dawn told you that one of the things she wanted to do is fast, so that she would have an experience, right, in order to be able to relate that experience to you.

Well, my experience seems to tell me the opposite, be patient, of what Jesus says.

How on earth is it possible to live a worry-free, stress-free life when there's always a bucket of bricks just around the corner?

You ever been to a children's cancer ward?

How is it possible not to worry about your children and grandchildren?

You ever lost somebody that you loved?

How could you possibly not be concerned about death?

Have you ever lost or known someone who's lost their home, their livelihood, their job, and ended up destitute?

How is it possible not to worry about those things?

And then there's COVID.

How many of us lost total trust?

in the health or pharmaceutical companies during COVID.

So therefore, I don't have any real faith that another pandemic will not come, be worse than the COVID one, and that there'll be many more people die.

So how is it possible then, given that reality, to not worry and to be somewhat stressed out?

And the other thing is, I've traveled too much around the world, and I can tell you, just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you're immune to these things.

The bucket of bricks can hit you too.

In fact, it seems inevitable.

So is Jesus saying that you and I should not worry about food and clothes because he's always going to give us everything we need?

It can't be that.

Not the way I'm communicating, not the way you're thinking.

Is Jesus saying that his provisions are always splendid?

No Walmart and Target for us, only Lululemon, Pierre Cardone, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci.

Is Jesus saying that you and I should not be concerned with feeding our families and making a living and having nice things to wear?

Should we all just sit under a tree and wait for God to release the heavenly manna to feed us and the heavenly splendor to clothe us?

How is it possible not to worry or to be anxious or to be stressed out?

I mean, how many times have you heard your pastor say, this rule, there is a world ruler.

He is on the prowl like a lion seeking to destroy us.

He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

How is it possible with that kind of knowledge not to be anxious, stressed, or worried?

And we seem to be stressed about money because we live in a world where people are dishonest, who oppress the poor, and we know that.

Their God is money, and the love of it, we're told, is the root of all evil.

We experience hardship, disease, betrayal, relationship fractures, rebellious children, family turmoil, loneliness, depression.

And then there's this other little small thing called death that just hangs over our heads.

Folks, again, why did none of you warn me of what's going to happen when I got older?

None of you told me that everything was going to hurt.

None of you told me that at any point.

You didn't say to me, hey, Jeff, just wait till you get older.

Everything's going to hurt.

My pain has pain.

Everything hurts.

I'm telling you, death talks to me every day at this age.

You know what it says?

It says, I'm coming, right?

How on earth could you not worry?

And here's what people will tell me, and I'll read commentaries about this passage, and they'll say, well, you just got to trust Jesus.

Okay, but you can trust Jesus and still die.

You can trust Jesus and still suffer.

You can trust Jesus and still experience hardship, poverty, and death, right?

Are you telling me that every mother who lost a child did not trust Jesus.

Every worker who lost a job did not trust Jesus.

Every lover who lost a love did not trust Jesus.

Paul, the spiritual hero of our faith, Here's what he said, and I quote 2 Corinthians 11.

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, been exposed to death again and again.

Five times I received from the Jews 40 lashes minus one.

Three times I was beaten with rods.

Once I was pelted with stones.

Three times I was shipwrecked.

I spent a night and day in the open sea.

I've been constantly on the move.

I've been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews.

in danger from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, in danger from false believers.

I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep.

I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food.

I have been cold and naked.

Paul trusted Jesus.

Paul loved Jesus, considered all things rubbish when compared to the goodness of knowing Jesus.

And he was often poor, destitute, and in pain.

What guarantees do we actually have?

Now, to understand this, we have to understand quickly, and I got to move fast, the three areas Jesus talks about in Matthew 6.

The whole issue stems from the first topic, and that topic is money.

Now, you can take a deep breath.

This sermon is not about money.

But the first part of this passage, Matthew 6, 19, goes like this.

And it's important to know this because this is the foundation for everything he's going to say.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So everything after verse 21 answers the question, since our real treasure is in heaven, how should we live?

That's the whole introduction to this section.

Now, how many of you ever heard the name, if you remember, maybe if you grew up around Chicago, the name Willie Stokes.

Willie Stokes was a gambler on the south side of Chicago, and he attracted attention when his family had a local auto body shop outfit his coffin as a Cadillac Seville, complete with trunk and front grill, windshield, dashboard, silver spoke wheels, working headlights and taillights, and Stokes'own vanity license plate.

Newspaper photos showed the embalmed gambler like a display in a wax museum sitting at the steering wheel of his coffin car in a hot pink suit with $500 bills stuffed between his left thumb and forefinger.

Flannery O'Connor wrote a short story with this title, You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead.

And yet despite our awareness of that kind of reality we still spend a major part of our lives in frantic chase to accumulate more.

There's a bumper sticker that says, he who dies with the most toys wins.

Philip Yancey asked the question, wins what?

What do you win?

Hey, guys, if you watch that television show, it's not who wants to be a millionaire, but it's women who want to marry a millionaire that they've never met.

So the show's about marrying a millionaire they've never met.

And if you've seen the show Survivor, on Survivor, you've got these contestants who will eat rats and cockroaches.

in effort to gain a million dollar prize.

It's reality TV, must-see TV.

Money is the primary pursuit of a world that does not know Jesus.

We worship it.

We trust in it.

We depend on it.

We put our hope in it for a better life, right?

Alternatively, here's what's uncanny.

Jesus saw money as something to guard against, not desire.

Hey, Pastor Jeff, you said it's not about money.

Well, this little section is.

Hold on.

Jesus said he actually attributed the idea of money to a god called Mammon.

That's the name of the god.

See, if you think Mammon is the Greek word for money, you're wrong.

He actually, many of the people who will come after Jesus, all the way up to the medieval times, they will refer to mammon as the devil of covetousness.

So Jesus comes along and says, let me tell you right now, if you think you can serve money and mammon, that God as well.

You're wrong.

You're either going to love one, hate the other, or love the other and hate the one.

So that Jesus ends up saying that money is so dangerous to the soul that you got to do whatever it takes to break yourself free of it, of its power, to the extent of giving it away.

That's what he told the rich young ruler.

Hey, there's only one thing that's going to save your soul.

You're going to have to get rid of your money because it's your God.

Jacques Ellul, a renowned sociologist, wrote a provocative book about money, and he shocks the readers when he says, you have to find ways to profane money.

You have to demagnetize its spiritual force, even if it means handing wads of cash to strangers, or going into a busy street and throwing up money into the air.

Wow.

Early communities of Jesus'followers, they formed this kind of army of resistance against the God of mammon.

The book of Hebrews tells us that the believers were joyful when their property was confiscated.

Now, you think about that.

Somebody comes and steals everything you have in the bank in your house, and you're happy.

Is that possible?

But we go on to learn that the reason they were joyful is because it forced them to think about what really mattered in their lives.

It forced them to think about, where's my true hope?

Where's my true peace?

Where's my true security?

It forces you to come to terms with who you really are and what you're about.

Teresa of Avila, her reforms kind of shape the Catholic contemplative world.

And she said that she prayed that God would help her to see the world's riches as dangerous, like a stroll among lions.

And when a rich patron showed her her diamonds and precious stones, Here's what Teresa said.

She said, and I quote, I only laughed to myself and felt sorry that people should value such things when I remembered what the Lord has in store for us.

And then there's the apostle Paul, stay with me now, who said, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.

So Paul carried money.

Yeah, it was useful, but he carried it lightly.

He used it to accomplish the work of God, but he showed no signs of bondage to it.

John Wesley, one of the great preachers, was once informed that his house had just burned down.

And his reaction was, the Lord's house burned, one less responsibility for me.

Now, how is that possible?

So Matthew 6 speaks of Mammon, the God of money, but it also speaks of hardship.

We're told, don't worry about money.

How do we not do that?

Don't worry about suffering, lack of food or clothing, destitution or pain.

Don't you find it uncanny?

that North Americans live in unprecedented comfort, and yet we're the ones obsessed with the problem of pain.

In America, the number one issue among skeptics is pain.

They'll say, I can't believe in God.

It is the roadblock to my faith because of pain and hardship in the world.

Prayer meetings in the United States, right here at One and All as well, oftentimes will focus on the curing of illnesses or requests for healing.

Nothing wrong with that.

I'm simply trying to tell you something.

If you go any other place in the world other than the West, that's not true.

Anastas was just here.

If you missed our last month prayer meeting, you missed it because Denford Anastas and I danced on stage.

That's what you get for missing prayer meeting.

Oh, but Michael, I think Michael joined us as well.

Now, Anastas, we had a chance to talk privately, told me that the...

The Christians and the churches in Rwanda are starting to face persecution by the government, something I didn't think would ever happen.

And they're starting to confiscate the property of the churches, the buildings.

And it's not just a matter of who's legitimate and who's not.

There are some oppressions.

And I said, Anastas, okay, how can we pray?

This happens every time.

I'm thinking, do you want us to pray against the persecution?

Do you want us to pray that it would stop?

And they never say yes.

They always say no.

Pray for the leaders that God will open their eyes and save them.

Pray that God would forgive them because they don't know what they're doing.

One pastor served 27 years.

By the way, the house churches in China right now, they simply assume that opposition will happen from the state.

They can't imagine anything different.

And so when they pray for one another, they pray that they will be strong enough to stand under it, not to be rescued from it.

And then one of the pastors who served 27 years of hard labor for holding unauthorized Christian meetings, when he emerged from prison and returned to church, he thanked his congregation, 27 years now, for praying for him.

He had been assigned a dangerous job in prison.

He coupled together 1 million railroad cars without an injury.

That's risky business, 1 million.

And he said, God answer your prayers for my safety.

Now, if you're from the West like me, I'm thinking, well, how about God answering your prayers?

to not let you go to prison.

Anybody think that way?

I mean, if you can answer his prayers inside, maybe you can answer his prayers outside.

Philip Yancey, in his book entitled Rumors of Another World, tells of being invited to speak in Myanmar, which is present-day Burma, or is it vice versa?

It's Burma today, right?

Okay.

And before he got up to speak, the pastor said, remember, when you speak to these pastors, most of them have spent time in jail because of their faith.

Yancey responded, well, then should I talk about one of my books, like Where Is God When It Hurts or Disappointed With God?

And he said, no, that's not really a problem here.

Now, you think about what he's saying.

So they don't think that God's abandoned them just because they're facing persecution.

They don't think that God is not loving because they're facing persecution.

They think that's just part of what you endure when you're a Christ follower.

That's just part of God's calling.

A student is not above his teacher, says Jesus.

If they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you.

If I suffer, you're going to suffer.

We're to share in his sufferings.

It's expected.

But wait a minute.

How does that harmonize with?

Matthew 6, he'll provide for all your needs.

You know the story of Adoniram Judson?

He's the one that brought the Christian faith first to Burma.

And Hardship, have you read his story?

I mean, it's not a great recruitment book for missionaries.

Hardship stalked his life from day one.

When war broke out with England, the Burmese arrested Judson because he looked light-skinned, he spoke English.

And he looked and talked like the enemy.

So Judson was forced, marched barefoot for eight miles to a prison.

And each night the guards passed a bamboo pole between his heavily shackled legs, hoisted the lower part of his body high off the ground.

Blood would rush to his head, preventing sleep and causing fierce cramps in his shoulders and back.

And clouds of mosquitoes feasted on the raw flesh of his feet and legs.

Treatment went on like this for two years.

And the only reason Judson managed to endure was because his devoted wife would show up every day at the prison pleading for better treatment and would bring Judson food.

So finally he was released.

You think his life's going to get better?

Here comes the barrel, wheelbarrow of bricks.

After his release, just months after his release, Judson's wife, weakened by smallpox, died, died of fever.

And shortly after that, His baby daughter died as well.

And in his account, Judson would kneel by his wife's grave for hours each day, regardless of the weather.

And he built a one-room hut in the jungle, dug his own grave in case it might be necessary, and worked in solitude on a translation of the Bible in Burmese language.

Only a handful of Burmese showed any interest at all to his message, yet he stayed there for 34 years in all.

And because of his faithfulness, one million Burmese Christians today trace their spiritual roots back to Adoniram Judson.

And the dictionary that he compiled, now 200 years old, remains the official dictionary of Myanmar today.

Now, how can I harmonize all of that with what I constantly hear from preachers as they guarantee health, wealth, and prosperity if you do everything they say?

Why do so many of today's popular preacher sound as if we are the center of the gospel.

Me.

And if you listen closely, you would think that Jesus said, seek first your personal health and wealth and use the power of God to get it.

Seek first your financial portfolio and your earthly significance and follow Jesus to attain it.

I remember hearing a preacher say when I was in seminary, and this is a loose quote, I can't remember it word for word, but it went something like this, Jesus never wants you to be sick, poor, or suffer hardship.

And if you suffer any of these things, it's because there is sin in your life.

And let me tell you something, if that's true, then the apostle Paul must have been a rascal because he suffered more than any of us.

Paul saw hardship differently though.

He said in 2 Corinthians 4, 16, therefore do not lose heart though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

So Paul had two pictures of himself.

One, the image he saw in the mirror, the insomnia, the beatings, the imprisonments, and deprivations had left their mark on his exterior.

But there was a second image, the image you could not see.

He could sense that this self inside, the true self, was being renewed.

While you could see the scars on the outside, On the inside, he was experiencing this spiritual healing and restoration, and that hardships were part.

of what God used to make him spiritually fit so that Paul would see suffering and hardships as momentary light, light afflictions.

And he never saw those hardships as a disproof of God's love and care and concern for him.

His focus, his gaze was on something else.

What was it?

Richard Baxter wrote a book called The Saints Everlasting Rest, and he wrote it during the 17th century.

Baxter suffered much.

His native London lost one-third of its inhabitants to the Great Plague, one-third of its buildings to the Great Fire, and civil war raged much of the country.

And in his 70s, Baxter spent two years in jail for his nonconformist beliefs.

But here's the thing about his book, and I really encourage you to read it, you find no whining or complaining anywhere.

No whining and complaining about how tough his life was.

But it's the same thing I discover when I speak with African, Asian, and Indian Christians.

It's almost like the people who suffer the most complain the least.

Why?

Baxter says this, In ordinary time, we expect a time of rest to follow a time of work and toil.

Should we expect anything different in eternity?

In other words, this is not the time for rest.

This is the time for toil.

the time for rest will come.

Can there possibly be rest in the next life without weariness in this one?

And afflictions are supposed to keep us from mistaking this life as our time of rest.

And he goes on to say, when we fall too much in love with this world, afflictions rudely break the spell.

Hey, have you ever noticed the difference in the way you pray in times of health, in times of sickness, in times of prosperity and adversity and joy, in times of sadness?

Hardship heightens our appetite for rest and hastens our desire for another world.

And when in hardship, the genuine Christ follower tends to seek God more urgently and long for heaven more passionately.

But when everything's going well, we tend to just forget everything about God.

But you know, the interesting thing though, is that Bible never really minimizes hardship.

It does tell us that no one will ever be exempt from it, but we're told not to fear it.

Not to worry, not to stress.

Now, let me go back to my original question.

I find that very difficult to believe.

How's that possible?

There are always mammograms, prostate tests, our children and grandchildren's future, retirement funds, job security, crime.

Then there's the fear of not getting the job we want into the school we choose or the lover we desire.

People betray us, often ignore us, and the whole system seems rigged against us.

And in the face of all these fears, Jesus has the audacity to point to a lily and a sparrow and calmly says, trust, trust.

So evidently, trust does not eliminate the bad things that might happen.

So it can't be that if we trust God, nothing bad will happen.

It must mean that when bad things happen, We're to trust.

But how does that work?

Now, stay with me.

Money, mammon, hardship, and ultimately there's this other big thing called death.

In verse 27, can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Do you know what Jesus is saying there?

You're going to die and there's not a doggone thing you can do about it.

That's what he's saying.

You're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it.

Psychiatrist Erwin Yalom, in his book Love's Executioner, speaks of two delusions that help his cancer patients allay fears about death.

Number one, he says, the belief in personal specialness.

That is, I know people usually die from this, but not me.

And second, the belief in an ultimate rescuer.

If I do die, someone's going to save me for all of eternity.

Now, like other modern thinkers, Yalom sees the afterlife as wishful thinking, an escapist way of denying the finality of death.

And even where the Bible's concerned, if you read the Old Testament, it gives scant clues to an afterlife.

You don't see it really anywhere, as if it's reluctant to disclose the secret that changes everything.

And then Jesus comes along and the wraps come off.

I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Then he brings Lazarus back from the dead, as if to say, I own death.

Death doesn't own me.

And for those who follow me, death is not the end of the story, but the beginning of the real story, whose chapters get better and better for all of eternity.

But the reality is it took the church centuries to tame death from the natural human response.

But it finally happened.

First in France and then in Europe, churches stopped banishing dead bodies and actually brought them into the churchyard and put them in what we call cemeteries, which is a word that means sleeping places.

And now we had the dead mingling with the living and soon parishioners started standing among the tombs and praying and singing, celebrating life, celebrating also the death of the saints, recognizing that death need not be feared, but rather embraced as the true entryway to life.

And in Victorian times, neighbors and friends would gather around a person who was approaching death, and they would listen to any words of wisdom the person might speak through cracked or swollen lips, trying to learn.

from what was perceived to be the most significant moment in the life of a Christian, the moments just before they died.

Now, quickly, you've done well.

How do we respond to death today?

Some of us avoid funerals, just don't like going to be reminded.

I'll tell you how I've dealt with death most of my life.

First of all, terrified, but the anxiety solved that.

So now I just kind of laugh about it.

Don't you just laugh about it sometimes?

Well, it's going to happen.

I just, I said, look, I told you death speaks to me every day.

I'm coming after you.

I love this story.

Listen closely now.

As a bagpiper, he says, I play many gigs.

Recently, I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man.

He had no family or friends.

So the service was to be at a pauper cemetery in the Saskatchewan back country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost.

And being a typical man, I did not stop and ask for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.

There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place.

I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around.

I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.

I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

As I played Amazing Grace, the workers began to weep.

They wept.

I wept.

We all wept together.

And when I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for the car.

I'm sorry.

I know the punchline.

I'm getting tickled.

Hold on.

Hold on, hold on.

When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for the car.

Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, I've never seen nothing like that before, and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years.

Oh, man.

Make no mistake, that's how we deal with death.

The aches and pains in my body and your body, they remind me that I'm aging.

They remind you that you're aging.

And they remind us that we're getting closer to death and no amount of vitamins or supplements or even humor is going to forestall my body's certain march toward death.

Death and taxes, the two certainties of life.

And bad government in California, that's a third.

So in the middle, in the middle of financial struggle and periodic hardship and death.

Okay, here's the answer.

We've spent a long time, but I think that was necessary.

Take a deep breath now, and let's finish this.

As we look closer at the text, and folks, I'm being honest with you, it's taken me forever to come to terms with what's happening here.

As we look closer, you start to see that a pattern develops at the end of chapter 5, verse 46 and 47, when Jesus says, if you love those who love you, what reward will you get?

Aren't a lot of even the tax collectors doing that?

If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?

Do not even the pagans do that.

In other words, the theme is our lives are different than the lives of those who don't understand, believe, see, or live in the kingdom of God.

So the world will worry about all these things, but we will not.

The world may lose hope, but we will not.

The world may stress out, check out, bug out, but we will not.

We shall not be, here it is, overwhelmed.

The Greek word translated worry is merimnao.

And merimnao means to be distracted from what truly matters, to focus on the wrong thing.

That's what worry is.

It doesn't mean that there are not going to be things in life that we're going to be concerned with.

Of course, we're going to be concerned with things, but not overwhelmed with concern to the point it distracts us from the real goal.

It doesn't mean that there will not be things that we consider carefully, but we will not be overwhelmed by consideration to distract us from the goal.

It does not mean that there will not be things that will require deep contemplation, but we will not be so overwhelmed by contemplation to be distracted from what really matters.

And what really matters, our ultimate concern is something else.

Should we concern ourselves with finding a career?

Yes.

Should we concern ourselves with providing for our families?

Absolutely.

Should we concern ourselves with hunting, gathering, eating, and clothing?

Yes.

Should we be consumed by them to the point of distraction?

No.

Should we be overwhelmed by them to the point of distraction?

Never.

And the crucial point comes in verse 33.

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.

In other words, our part is not to worry about these necessities.

God knows that we need them.

Don't get distracted by them.

Our part is to seek the...

Seek first the kingdom of God above and beyond everything else.

So here's what the text is saying.

We will either be overwhelmed by Jesus and the things of his heart, or we will be overwhelmed by something else, money, clothes, food, breath, life, but we can't be overwhelmed by both.

You're either overwhelmed by Jesus or overwhelmed by something else, and you can't be overwhelmed by both.

So that the calling on our lives is no matter what's going on, We keep our focus.

We seek and keep on seeking.

It's a present imperative, the kingdom of God.

Are you starting to follow me?

Stay with me.

So when we're in pain, we're still seeking the kingdom of God.

When we're in financial disarray, we keep seeking the kingdom of God.

When we're hungry and destitute, we keep seeking the kingdom of God.

When we're lonely, we keep seeking the kingdom of God.

When we're depressed, we keep seeking the kingdom of God.

When we're anxious, we keep seeking the kingdom of God.

Why?

Because verse 20, 32 says the pagans run after all these things, but we're different than the pagans.

Our treasures are in heaven.

We are chasing the kingdom of God.

That's our first priority.

Therefore, here it comes now.

In the infinite wisdom of God, if God sees it essential to remove anything from us for his purposes, we lay it at his throne.

Whoa, this is it.

Oh, this is very important.

Whoa, Pastor Jim, wait a minute.

Are you saying there are going to be times for some reason unbeknown to us?

that these things may not be added to us?

Yes.

Let me just read Hebrews 11 to you.

And what more shall I say?

I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle.

and routed foreign armies.

Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

Okay, if we stop there, man, great.

But then there were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.

Some faced jeers and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.

They were put to death by stoning.

They were sawed in two.

They were killed by the sword.

They went about in sheepskin and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, mistreated.

The world was not worthy of them.

They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all committed for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us they be made perfect.

In a cold dungeon, Paul wrote his friend Timothy and said, For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In other words, no matter what happened to me, I kept my focus on the kingdom of God.

Many pastors and teachers look at this passage and here's what they say.

Okay, so if I seek first the kingdom of God, I will have as much money, clothes, and necessities that I need.

Now, here's the problem with that kind of mindset.

If that's your mindset, your end goal is still you.

Your focus is still you.

I found a formula.

If I do all of this, I'll get one out.

So you're still the focus.

Alternatively, if your primary passion and objective is the kingdom of God, then you'll be willing to give all these things up if Christ asks you to for the sake of the kingdom.

Now we're almost done, he says, in great hope.

I've got a friend.

Let's not name him, but he's a good friend, and he's been a good friend for a long time.

This friend came to Christ late in life when he heard the good news of the gospel.

Very wealthy man in real estate.

inherited a lot from his family, but in 2008 lost it all.

And I mean everything.

Yeah, he had four houses, one loss, second loss, third loss.

And now he's going to have to say to his wife, we're going to have to go live in a trailer.

We're going to have to live in a single wide.

And if it wasn't bad enough, because he no longer had money, his church abandoned him.

And then his wife left him.

Lost everything.

In the middle of all that, I thought, man, I got to go see him.

Got on a plane, went to see him, took a friend of his out to dinner.

Humbled man.

So I get to spend some time with him this past week.

We started talking about that.

He emptied his heart and told me the pain, the suffering, everything he had gone through.

And now he tells me, but I am so glad I did.

Because in that moment when I was way down deep and I'd lost everything and I didn't know where I was.

Seriously, I didn't know how I was going to live.

I didn't know how I was going to get any money.

I sat down and I prayed to God and I mapped out.

I knew it wouldn't happen overnight, but I mapped out a strategy.

I can do this.

I can get back on my feet with the help and the grace of God.

And now here we are in 2024.

And the only way I can explain it, he's making so much money he can't spend it.

But here's the difference.

Now he gives it all away.

I have not met anybody in my life as generous.

This man has built a team to go around the world and find out who needs this kind of help.

Orphanages, schools, whatever it is.

And you just, you look at him and you talk to him and he says, you know, that was a horrible time, but now I realize that every day is a gift from God.

That I don't, I'm not entitled or deserve anything.

And it can...

I'll just be ripped away just like that.

And then who would I be?

What would I have?

So here's what I do now.

He starts every morning with his devotion and time with God.

And every day is not about his kingdom anymore.

Every day is about the kingdom of God.

Every day is about how can I grow the kingdom of God?

You say, well, Pastor Jeff, what's the point then?

If I can't trust God to prevent bad things from happening, then what good is God?

Well, let me tell you what good God is, okay?

Christ has guaranteed an eternal kingdom with his death, and that's where you're going.

and his kingdom has no end, and all who call on his name will be saved forever, and there will be no need or no desire that will go unmet in the kingdom that is to come.

That's what he did for you.

But Jeff, it says right there, I'm going to take you back to the scripture.

It says right there, Pastor Jeff, seek first the kingdom of God, and then these things will be added to you.

Okay.

Notice a couple of things.

Number one, it's future, isn't it?

This will be it.

So I believe there are two possible meanings.

One, he could be talking about heaven.

Give your life here.

This is not the time to rest.

This is the time of toil, knowing that one day all your needs, everything you've ever wanted, the old order of things is going to pass away.

No more sickness, pain, hardship, or death.

Jesus came into this world to bring the kingdom of God near.

His vision of long-term, whole-world restoration is certain.

You will indeed have all the things your heart desires, and they will be added.

But there's a second option.

And the second option is maybe Jesus is talking about Jesus.

Maybe Jesus is the thing that will be added to you.

See, you want money, clothing, food, and shelter, right?

But you don't really want money, food, clothing, and shelter.

You want money for security.

You want clothing for significance.

Come on, that's why you spend so much money on things you don't need.

That's why you go to Lululemon rather than Walmart.

I'm not criticizing.

I'm just saying there's a reason.

You don't want just food.

You don't have to worry about food.

You want great food.

And shelter, you want safety.

What you're really after though...

Only Jesus can provide.

And what he's basically saying, you seek first the kingdom of God, you're going to get me.

And when you get me, you get all those things.

So Albert J.

Raboteau, interesting man who leads the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, he tells of a secret prayer meeting among slaves in Virginia in 1847.

The slaves would gather in the swamps where they could not be seen or heard.

They would follow signs marked on trees that led them to secret spots.

They would tell each other the stories of beatings, lynchings, and other cruelties.

And then the prayer service would begin.

And as one slave reported, the slave forgets all his sufferings, except to remind others of the trials during the past week, exclaiming, thank God I shall not live here always.

Thank God I shall not live here always.

That's the entire point of the passage.

Don't be consumed with the things of the world.

God knows you need them.

Moth and rust are going to corrupt them anyway.

And God in his grace sometimes will send you warnings and maybe take some of it from you to help you realize that's not where your real hope and security is.

It rests in him.

But if you focus primarily on the kingdom of God, then you're going to win every time.

So here's the application, and I got to do it quickly.

I want you to ask yourself three questions before you leave this series.

Number one, here's how you know that there's a hidden holiness in you that's going to manifest itself on the external.

Number one, when you wake up, what is the first thing you think about?

Where does your mind go first in your life?

Where do your initial thoughts go?

Are they, man, what am I going to have for breakfast?

What am I going to wear today?

How am I feeling?

How much money do I have?

What's wrong with my life that I need to fix?

Or...

The first thing is what does God have in store for me today?

What is God calling me to do today?

How is God shaping and molding me today?

See, now you know.

You know what you're about.

In other words, while you're concerned with food, shelter, and clothing, they're not your primary concerns.

You are most concerned with Christ's kingdom becoming a reality in your life, not your kingdom, not your riches, not your plans, but his.

And if your mind is always on you, listen now, I love you, but listen.

If your mind is always on you, you have not yet understood the kingdom of God.

The seed fell, but it didn't take root.

You think you know the guy in the ranch house, but you've never met him.

Second, do I live as though God is aware of my needs?

Trust finds a new outlet for anxiety and a new grounding for confidence.

God.

Do you know that God is aware?

And if you do, you won't worry so much because you're aware that God will do the worrying for you.

Most of those things are out of your control anyway.

There's nothing you can do about them.

Let God determine what gets into your life and what stays out.

That's where the trust comes in.

Not that he will never allow anything bad, but you're trusting him that when he does allow something in, he's got a greater goal, a greater objective.

Maybe to save your life, like with my friend I described, to change you and transform your way of thinking to a more godly one that would save you and secure you for eternity.

When something comes into your life that you don't like, your first move should be prayer.

God, what are you doing?

And your second move should be, God, how are you going to use this to glorify your name, help people see how wonderful and powerful and awesome you are?

How are these events going to help people change course?

Trust means that you trust that God's decisions are not arbitrary, that there's a reason.

They're founded on his sovereignty, on his omniscience.

He knows what he's doing in your life and in the world.

And then third, where does your real treasure reside?

Last page, Søren Kierkegaard once wrote a parody styled after the book of Ecclesiastes.

Stay with me, even though it's the final.

lean in.

And this is what he said.

I saw that the meaning of life was to secure a livelihood and that its goal was to attain a high position.

That love's rich dream was marriage with an heiress.

The friendship's blessing was help in financial difficulties.

That wisdom was what the majority assumed it to be.

That enthusiasm consisted in making a speech.

That it is courage to risk the loss of $10.

That kindness consisted in saying you are welcome at the dinner table.

That piety consisted of going to communion once a year.

This I saw and laughed.

These are shallow responses to deep questions.

The question you ought to be asking yourself is this, are you tithing, giving, and serving?

Remember what I said a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sure some of you were kind of shocked.

I said, we're so packed now on a Sunday.

Saturday's a little different, but we're so packed now.

And we're in a time when people are kind of church hopping, you know?

What's Pastor Jeff talking about this weekend?

I'll go there.

What's so-and-so talking?

I'll go there.

And here's what I've asked you to do.

If you want a church hop, fine, just don't hop here because I need your chair.

I need your seat.

I need that seat for somebody who's going to seek first the kingdom of God.

Somebody who's going to use their time, their talents, their resources for a purpose greater than themselves.

Now, if you're new to Christianity and you're still seeking, please don't leave.

This is new to you.

You've not made your commitment.

I got it.

Stay.

Stay.

I'm talking about somebody who's been a Christian for 30 years and still you think church is a smorgasbord.

Don't hop here.

We're trying to change the world and I need your seat.

Here's the thing about hidden holiness.

If the cares of the world have choked the kingdom of God out, parable of the seed in the sower.

If you're so distracted by the cares of the world, you're never gonna give, serve, and use your time and your talents for anything other than your kingdom.

And the thing about hidden holiness is it can't stay hidden.

It will express itself.

And here's how.

Your first thoughts will flow toward God.

Your first fruits will go toward God.

And your first passions will flow toward God.

And I guess I could have summed up this entire passage by one story, and you're wishing I would have.

Let me tell you.

Let me tell you how Mark and I, let me tell you how my friend and I finished our conversation.

Here's what he said.

You know what, Jeff?

The best thing about what happened to me is I fear nothing.

What do you mean?

I've lost it all and I'm still here.

I was hungry.

What can you do to the guy who's lost everything?

There's no stress in his life.

There's no worry in his life.

He's faithful with what God has done.

He still contemplates things.

He still makes wise decisions.

This is what I'm talking about.

This is what I'm talking about.

What's the fear?

There's nothing that can happen to you that God can't recover from.

Nothing.

And when you recognize that, you're going to have a lot more fun in your life.

Remember what I told you about Eugene O'Neill's famous play when Caligula has discovered, this is after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and Lazarus is preaching the name of Jesus, and the emperor of Rome, Caligula, arrests Lazarus and says, Lazarus, if you don't stop preaching the name of Jesus, we're going to kill you.

He keeps preaching.

Again, Lazarus, if you don't keep preaching the name of Jesus, we're going to kill you.

And finally, Lazarus doubles over in laughter and says, Caligula, haven't you heard?

Death is dead.

How do you scare somebody who's been dead and come back to tell the rest of us what it's like?

This is what it means.

And when you die to yourself, truly die to yourself and race to live for Christ, the stress and the worry will go.

And you'll let God be God, knowing that whatever happens in your life, he can recover and take the disadvantage, turn it into an advantage and use it for his glory.

Amen, everybody?

Amen.

Father, thank you for your love for us.

Thank you for the freedom that we have in Jesus.

Thank you that...

You are omnipotent, all-powerful, omniscient, all-knowing, omnipresent, everywhere.

You are always with us.

You don't abandon us.

Your hand is on our lives.

And real joy comes when we give up our own kingdom and begin to live for yours.

Stress, anxiety, depression, those things have to flee in the face of a Savior who loves us, died for us, and promises us a coming kingdom.

In Christ's name, everybody said.

We hope you enjoyed today's message.

If you want to know more about what it's like to be a Christ follower, I want to encourage you to go to oneandall.church.com to get more information, as well as to reach out to us to walk alongside you in this step.

I also want to encourage you to download our One and All app as we have so many resources there for you, like our daily devotionals, our conversations, podcasts, as well as...

the sermons, and to know what is happening here at our church so you can get plugged in.

We hope you have a great rest of your week, and we'll end as we always do with one hope, one life in Christ.