0:00 So we turn to Matthew's gospel in chapter 6. We've been looking at the nine wrong attitudes. First was anger. Second is sexually sinful ways of thinking. And the third was lying, telling lies. The fourth is taking revenge. 0:19 The fifth is hatred. And the sixth we saw in Matthew 6:es 1-18 was seeking honor for our praying or giving or fasting. And then there's this one verse on the love of money in verse 24 0:39 where Jesus said you have to make a choice. It's very just let's look at that verse again in verse 24. the seventh wrong attitude, the love of money. You cannot serve two masters. And he says the two masters are God and 0:58 wealth. Now as I said last time it's easy to find out which of these masters we are serving by you know if two people are sitting here in front of me and both of them say that Zach is my servant you can find out 1:16 very easily tell both of them to call call me and the one I go to that's I'm his servant it's as simple as that. So in a particular situation that you're facing, you feel God is calling you one way and money is calling you another way. You 1:32 can find out immediately which some of you respond to that is your master. Whatever you may say, whichever church you may go to, whatever you say your faith is in that moment when you find God is calling you one way and money is 1:44 calling you another way and you respond to money, you know that is your master. So it's not a question of going to heaven or hell. That's not my I'll tell you honestly I finished with the desire to go to heaven and the desire to escape 1:59 hell. That left me long ago. It was early days of my Christian life. Yeah, that was the thing. I don't want to go to hell. I want to go in heaven. That was the thing I look forward to. I'll tell you honestly, I have no desire for 2:09 that now. My desire is to complete my work on earth and to become more and more like Jesus before I leave. And after I leave [snorts] this earth, I want to be with Jesus wherever he is. So 2:28 escaping hell is not a big issue in my mind and going to heaven is not the big thing. But to be with Jesus Christ, I would encourage you if you want to have a proper balance in your Christian life. Don't think like all other Christians 2:42 about I'm going to heaven when I die. say, "I'm going to be with Jesus, and before I meet him, I want to finish the work he gave me to do on earth. I want to say to everybody sitting here, even these little children, God's got a 2:58 plan for them. They may not realize it yet, but as they grow up, it's important. Parents must teach them. God's got a plan for their lives. And those who are grown up here, I don't care how much you have failed in the past, my dear brother, sister. It makes 3:11 no difference." Paul was one of the biggest failures. Imagine a man who killed Christians, persecuted Christians, became the greatest apostle. Though he wasted 30 years of his life running after the wrong thing. So what 3:30 does that teach us? And at the end of his life, you know what Paul said? I finished my course. You use logic and say, how can a man finish? He he died when he was 67. And 30 years he had wasted living for the devil and the world. He had only 37 3:47 years left. How did he finish the course? That's a miracle. That's what God can do. Even if we have wasted and messed up so much of our life, if you turn wholeheartedly and radically, Paul ran so fast that he made up for all 4:04 that time lost. And that's possible for you and me. So if you wasted time in your life in various stupid things or foolish things or disobedience, run faster and you can reach the finishing line and say like Paul, I finished my 4:18 course. So you have to make sure that God is my only master. And all those who make money their master, I'll tell you honestly, they will discover one day what fools they were. And that those who did make God alone their master had more than enough 4:36 for their earthly needs. And God made sure they didn't give too much that would corrupt them. Sometimes you get too much it can corrupt you. God gave them just right just enough to take care of their needs. Some people he gives 4:49 more but they know how to handle it. So but please remember this all your life. There are not more than two masters in the world. And then it's not God and the devil. It's God and money. Always remember there are two masters pleading 5:03 for my attention in the world. Why do I say it's not God and Satan? Because not a single person here will follow Satan. I know that you will never respond to Satan. Even if he calls you for one minute, you won't listen to him. The 5:17 danger is money. God and money. Because the god of this world is money. And that's what he calls us to. So the only way to escape it is to hate it. Hate it means just like he told us to hate father and mother and brother, sister, ch, wife and children. 5:36 That means put it aside like I say that like the light of the s stars that disappear when the sun rises and to despise it. The two things he said in verse 24, hate it and despise it 5:55 and be satisfied with whatever God gives us. I don't want to say more on that because I've spoken about it many times. Let's go on to verse 25 where the eighth wrong attitudes anxiety. Now, we wouldn't think of an anxiety as a wrong 6:09 attitude, but Jesus lists there be anxious. Don't don't be anxious. Don't be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink or your body for what you put on because he compares it to compares us to the 6:27 birds of the air in verse 26 and he said don't you feel that you are more valuable to God than those birds and if the Lord cares for the birds Won't 6:45 he care for you? We must think about that. You know, whenever you read a scripture, meditate on it. And Jesus, here's a command. Look at the birds of the air. Have you obeyed that command? And see how how they don't work hard. 7:04 They don't sow or reap, yet your heavenly father feeds them. It's amazing that they find food. All these birds, there are millions of them on the earth. And Jesus said, "It's the father in heaven who feeds them." I I read a poem once of a two birds 7:27 speaking to one another and says, one asking the other, "Why are these human beings so worried all the time?" And the other bird says, "Probably they don't have a heavenly father like we have. That's why they're worried so much. 7:39 And I thought of that, you know, two birds talking like that. Do they say that about you? Perhaps he doesn't have a heavenly father like we have who cares for us, provides for us. Those birds say, "We don't worry about tomorrow. We 7:51 don't worry about the future. We got a father in heaven who cares for us." Yeah, it takes time to get there. You can't get there overnight. I'll tell you, it didn't. I couldn't get there overnight. But more and more if you work 8:03 on it, if we work out our salvation, it's a wonderful life when you can come to go to sleep at night without any anxiety. Your money may be running low and nowadays you know dangers of losing a 8:19 job and losing a visa and so many things. Is there anything in our life God is not interested in? And so he says, "Can you add even one hour to your 8:37 life?" Verse 27. You can't. And see how he he gives us the example of the birds. And then he gives us the example of the flowers in verse 28. Look at the flowers in the field. They don't work hard. They don't spin. And yet 8:53 there's such a beauty about them. And if God can give a dress, you know, we're worried about clothing for our children and all. God clothe verse 30, the grass of the field which is alive today and thrown into the first tomorrow. 9:09 How much more he will clothe you, oh you of little faith. So Jesus says here that if I get anxious about anything, it is an indication that my faith is very little. And I believe that the new there's a tremendous emphasis in the New Testament 9:25 on growing in faith is not there in the Old Testament. The Old Testament you were permitted to be worried about so many things. But now that Jesus has come and revealed the father to us that we have a heavenly father says there's no place for anxiety 9:41 about what you're going to wear or what you're going to clothe or for our children. And verse 31, don't worry then saying, "What will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear?" And he says, "That is the mark of the 9:56 heathen." Non-Christians, Gentiles and non-Christians, they eagerly seek for these things. But your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. Now this is a passage of scripture I believe that we need to meditate on and 10:12 think about seriously and ask ourselves. Do I really believe that really I have a father who cares for me? I mean think of little children here who are helpless and every one of you fathers provide for 10:30 them. You work hard to provide for your children. You take care of them. your you think about their needs before they think of it. They don't know how to get food ready or they need clothes or they need education. Think of all the things a 10:47 father thinks of for his children. All of you good fathers sitting here think of all that you have cared for your children in the past years. every little thing and then say to yourself, "My father in heaven cares for me more 11:04 than I care for my children." So many of us are worried about what'll happen to my children, what'll happen here, if this happens, that happens, can accidents can happen. Do I really believe in the sovereignty of God that God is so much in control of 11:21 everything? I believe that is why he taught us to say when you begin your prayer, even if you don't say those words every time, there are two facts you must remember when you begin in prayer. If you're going to ask God for anything, 11:36 if you're just going to praise God, that's okay. But if you're going to ask him for anything, begin with two important truths. One, that he's your father and that he runs the universe. That's the meaning of our father who art in heaven. That's how we 11:51 began the prayer to teach us two things. I repeat it again and again that he's a loving he loves you intensely more than any earthly father who loves his children. Think of any father you know who sacrificed so much. Some of you 12:07 yourself sacrifice so much for your children and then multiply that by a million and you'll see what God is like towards you. and say Lord I want to always remember you like that as a much better father than I have ever been as a father take that 12:25 attitude clearly and [clears throat] you meditate on it frequently you'll find it eliminates anxiety from your life completely and the second thing is our father who art in heaven and think of our father is almighty god who controls 12:43 every single thing that happens on this earth. I'm often challenged by the example of an Old Testament, a king mentioned in the Old Testament. That's Nebuchadnezzar. I'd like you to turn to this passage 13:03 in the Old Testament in the book of Daniel. It's it's one of the most important verses as I've seen in the Old Testament 13:18 in Daniel in chapter 4. I don't know whether you know there was a time when Nebuchadnezzar God humbled him by making him lose his senses and he 13:37 imagined that he was an animal and he was living. We read in Daniel 4:32, God took away his senses and he was driven away from humanity and he started living with the beasts of the field and he started 13:54 eating grass. Daniel 4:32 like the cattle for seven periods of time. I don't know what that means, whether it's seven years or seven seasons. Anyway, there was a certain period of time for which as a as a human, he was the king of the 14:12 most powerful king in the world. He was eating grass in the field. God humbled him and he says you'll keep doing that until you recognize verse 32 that the most high is the one who rules and gives the kingdom to whom he wishes. It was just because the man 14:29 got so proud that I have conquered so many kingdoms and I'm the greatest ruler in the world that God humbled him like that and made him eat grass. And so we read in verse 33 that Nebukad was driven away from mankind in the 14:43 middle and began eating grass like the cattle and his his hair grew the last part of verse 33 like eagle's feathers and his nails became like bird's claws. Can you imagine the greatest king in the world becoming like that? 14:57 And at the end of that period, it says in verse 34, I raised my eyes to heaven and my reason returned to me and I blessed the most high and I honored him and I praised him. And this is what he said. This is the it's one of to me it's 15:14 most one of the most wonderful verses in the Old Testament. Daniel 4:35 and it's often come to my mind and I think it's a good verse for all of you to remember. Here is the greatest king in the world. When he was humbled, 15:28 he said, "All verse 35, every human being on earth is a zero. You're a zero. I am a zero." You remember once I showed a video here of a lot of zeros. This is where I got it from. Nebuchadnezzar was the first person that I know who called all human 15:47 beings zeros. In God's presence, everybody is a zero. You you can think you're better than some other brother here, cleverer than somebody, smarter than somebody, more capable in some way. Well, you you're going to have problems if you want to 16:01 follow the Lord. Yeah. So, God may not want humble you by making you eat grass, but the principle is the same. He had to humble Nebuchadnezzar till he saw he was a zero. And whether it's by eating grass or some other way, I want to say that God needs 16:19 to humble every single one of us. And the more gifted we are, the more capable we are, the more we have accomplished in life, God says, I want you to recognize you're a zero. All the inhabitants of the earth are zero. And God Almighty does exactly what he 16:38 wants in heaven. Do you believe that? That he's got such power, he can do anything in heaven. And among all the people on the earth, God can do exactly what he wants. The person who your boss and the one who troubles you and all the people on the 16:56 earth, God can do exactly what he wants. And no one can stop his hand. If he wants to do something, no one can stop him. And no one can say to him, "What have you done?" To me that is one of the most complete statements of the sovereignty of God I 17:16 find anywhere in the Bible and it was expressed by a heathen king. And if you meditate on that that is what Jesus meant when he said when you pray to say our father who art in heaven he's my father who loves me number one 17:34 and he's in heaven means Daniel 4:35 everyone on earth is a zero. the people who your boss at work or somebody who you feel can hurt you or trouble you or your enemies or your relatives or it doesn't matter who it is everybody's a zero before God and this 17:53 is the one I'm praying to so we keep that in mind and and this is the one who has told me never to be anxious about anything that somebody can harm you or your money will run out are never to be anxious because you have a 18:11 father who cares for you. Think of your little children and see how they can live completely free from worry. They don't worry about who's going to pay the school fees or if they're sick, who's going to take them to the hospital. They 18:24 don't worry about it at all. It's none of their business. They don't think about when I grow up, who's going to get me a better set of clothes. They don't worry about it. And the Lord says we are to live like that. It's amazing too. He's not saying that 18:39 we should not make provision for the future. He's saying that we shouldn't be anxious about the future. We have to plan for the future. Jesus in the Old Testament, it's we looked at that verse and go to the ant and see how it 18:50 prepares for the future. Right? The point is not that we should not prepare for the future. The point we should not be anxious. Anxiety is Jesus said three times in this passage in just these 10 verses. Verse 25, he says, "Do not be worried." 19:10 And again in verse 31, "Do not worry." Again in verse 34, "Do not worry." In 10 verses, he says three times, "Do not worry." If he said, "Do not kill." We understand 19:31 that's serious. Do I take a command like do not worry just as seriously as don't kill because the same God who told me not to kill anybody, the same God who told me don't tell lies also says don't worry. I want you to turn with me please to 19:50 Philippians in chapter 4 where it tells us why we should not worry. Philippians in chapter 4 it says in verse four rejoice in the 20:10 Lord always and again I say rejoice. The reason why it's put like that is I think when Paul says rejoice in the Lord always and your question comes really he says yeah I mean it again I say rejoice I I'm I'm not making a mistake there and 20:28 then he says if you want to rejoice always verse six you must be anxious for nothing so he's repeating exactly what Jesus said in the sermon on the mount there must not be a single thing on earth that I must be anxious about to 20:46 You know there's a little difference between concern and anxious. For example, if your children are coming back on their own from school and they don't come back to come back on home at in time, should you be concerned? Sure. 21:00 And if they are 1 hour late, they should have come back from school 1 hour ago. I haven't come. Should you be concerned? Yes. But anxious? No. To have a concern is right. As a parent, you must be concerned for your children, 21:12 for every little thing. But to be anxious and worried is quite another thing to we need to distinguish between being concerned for our family members and provide for their needs and to be anxious and worried is two different 21:25 things. And I ask God to show you the difference between having a concern for your family and being anxious for your family. I must be concerned. That's only every responsible father or mother will be concerned. But to be anxious, no 21:39 never be anxious for nothing. Because it says here how to be free from that anxiety which Jesus spoke about in uh Matthew 6. It's explained in Philippians 4. Be anxious for nothing and how to overcome anxiety. In everything that 21:57 thing which is bothering you, take it to the Lord in prayer and specifically supplication is specific. Lord, this particular thing is bothering me about my children or about my job or about my housing or my 22:16 sickness or whatever it is. Every single thing, take it to the Lord in prayer. Be specific and say, "Lord, this particular thing is bothering me." Supplication and saying, "Lord, I want this to be done." And it says here that 22:32 when you pray it, your prayer must be accompanied with verse six, by thanksgiving. Remember, he's telling you how to be free from anxiety. So take this like a prescription that a doctor is giving you. You take this medicine, you will be 22:47 free from anxiety. Okay, here it is. Be anxious for nothing. And here's the prescription. In whatever makes you anxious, take it to the Lord in prayer and be specific. this particular thing Lord is worrying me is bothering me. Take take 23:04 this as a command from the Lord. Whatever is bothering you brother or sister and there are many things in the world that can bother us. Take it to the Lord in prayer and as once you've mentioned it specifically thank the Lord. 23:20 That means you sent a letter to somebody and the post office sends you a note saying it has been delivered. That means you prayed for something. When you thank the Lord, you say, "Yeah, thank you." The Lord says, "It's on my 23:33 table. I'll deal with it." I often think of that. You know, I give a request and I said, "Lord, I believe it's on your table and you'll deal with it at the right time. I want to thank you. You've heard my prayer." There's 23:48 only one thing that will prevent the Lord from hearing your prayer. That is sin. Sin cuts the connection. And that sin sometimes can be a wrong attitude towards another human being. That's one of the really one of those 24:08 things that hinder the prayers of many believers. A wrong attitude towards your wife or husband in your thoughts. You may not be fighting with each other but a critical judgmental attitude that you feel my wife shouldn't be like this or my 24:25 husband shouldn't be like this. Yeah, you can keep that thought in your mind brother but you won't God won't listen to your prayer. You it's not worth it. You better get rid of it. Let your husband and wife be as they are. Let them grow at their own pace. 24:40 They may not change as soon as you think they should. Leave them to God. You're hindering your own self. You're not hindering them. You're hindering yourself by wrong attitudes towards your neighbor or some relative who's bothered 24:53 you. Just leave them to God and learn to give thanks when you've offered a prayer. Don't let anything come between you and the Lord in prayer. And then if you do that, the promise here is the peace of God. Verse seven, the peace of God which is absolutely 25:10 beyond comprehension. That means you cannot even understand. What a fantastic peace God will give you. And that peace will be like a you know like a wall of fire. You know we speak about God being a wall of fire on about us. It says that 25:23 peace will guard your heart and your mind. Isn't that wonderful? Um I seek to live like that every day. So when I go to bed at night, I say, "Lord, I'm not going to let anything disturb my sleep, which bothered me 25:41 today or last week or anything. I I want to put that in in your hands and thank you that you heard me and I want your peace to guard my heart and my mind so that I can be at rest." 26:00 So that is why it's very important dear brothers which I keep repeating we'll come to that in the next wrong attitude is judging that we don't judge other people that that's one of the things that brings anxiety into our mind also 26:17 and he says another thing to help us is peace of God will guard your heart and mind he says in verse 7 and so therefore what should your mind think about not the things you When you get rid of something, don't leave that place empty. 26:32 You remember how Jesus said that a man drove the devil out and then kept the house empty. And so he came back with seven devils. You know that parable Jesus said. But the same here once you got rid of the things anxieting that's bothering you, 26:49 then fill your mind, it says in verse 8, with what is honorable, right, pure, lovely, and what is of good repute. there's an excellence or anything worthy of praise. Let your mind constantly be occupied with these things. 27:06 That way the mind is occupied. There's no place for anxiety to come in because somebody else has taken over the house. Anxiety owned that house but he's been driven out and the house is not empty. The house is now occupied. 27:22 And so he says thing, occupy your mind with things that are true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and whatever is a good repute and excellence worthy of praise. He's telling you the solution to be free from anxiety. 27:36 So coming back to Matthew chapter 6, do not worry, do not worry. Do not worry. And he says finally in verse 33, if you want to be worried about something, be concerned about God's kingdom and his righteousness. So you drive out all other cares and 27:55 say, "Lord, I want to be occupied with how to promote your kingdom and how to be more righteous in my life. Let my mind be occupied with that and all the other things will be added to me." That's a very good promise to claim and experience. 28:14 If you say to the Lord, Lord, I'm going to take that promise seriously that I want to keep my mind occupied with your kingdom and being absolutely righteous in every area in my life, not having any thoughts which are unrighteous and 28:29 unloving. And let me see if all that I need in my life will be added to me or not. You must have that testimony. My dear brothers, I'm telling you from my personal experience, 60 years ago, next month I'll be completing 60 years after I left the 28:46 Navy. I said, "Lord, I'm going to take you at your word. I will never in my life ask anybody for anything. I'll never look to any man on earth for my needs. I believe that I can trust you." And for 60 years, I've never I have 29:04 never been employed by anybody. I never had a job. But God provides our need in wonderful ways. Seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. And I remember I had this desire Lord if when 29:18 I come to the end of my life and people could examine every area of my life one day if they could do it they should be able to say this proves that if you seek God's kingdom and his righteousness all the other things you need in life will 29:31 be added to you including taking care of your children. Isn't it good for you to have a testimony like that when you come to the end of your life so that you can hand over a message to your children? children. Now you do the same thing in 29:45 your life like I did your parents should be able to tell your children I spent my life see even if you got a secular job fine seeking God's kingdom and his righteousness first in everything and see how God provided for us boys and 29:59 girls tell your children and that is the faith that they can carry on into their generation so let's take up that challenge heavenly father please help us to take these these things seriously and to know your sovereignty and your 30:16 complete rule over everything and your intense care and love for each one of us here. So often the devil tells us God doesn't love us. Let's drive out that liar and to trust you completely. Lord, every single person here, I'm concerned 30:31 that every family represented here right now will live in this faith in the days to come. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
