WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:06.799 Well, people are certainly, and I'm choosing this word carefully, torqued up this week. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:22.399 I've talked to many godly, godly men who have told me that this week they have been more worried or more anxious than they have at any other time in their life. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:27.199 And some of these people were in the Pentagon on September 11th. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:39.359 And they said there's a sense of fear, not just with them and their families, but in their workplaces now, and with those that are around them, where there is a foreboding sense about life. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:45.039 And so I want to stress to you this morning that the danger we face is real. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:52.960 There is an enemy of our souls that is highly contagious. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.320 It spreads easily from person to person. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:09.680 Most alarmingly, those who are most affected by it aren't even self-aware of their contagious capability and the danger they pose to others. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.079 It affects both the young and the old. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:27.599 And I am not talking about the coronavirus. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:32.799 I'm talking about worry and anxiety. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:49.519 And I want you to understand this morning that the enemy of the moment, the enemy of this moment in our world and this moment in our culture, the real enemy of your soul, is worry. 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:51.920 It is anxiety. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:58.959 The medical community has done a fantastic job of preparing us for the coronavirus. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:05.760 The government has done a fantastic job of preparing us for what we're about to experience. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.319 I said that with mostly a straight face. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:21.680 But it falls to me this morning to warn you of the real and bigger danger, one that will certainly kill far more people this year than the coronavirus. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.800 And that is anxiety. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:26.479 Fear. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:27.759 Worry. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:30.879 Fear cripples you. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.680 Physiologically, it actually wears down your immune system. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:37.120 Worry does. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:41.039 It debilitates you, it makes you weak. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:45.280 Fear and faith are not friends. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:46.879 They are enemies. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:48.800 They don't cohabitate together. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:50.000 They are foes. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:56.000 And God has not given us a spirit of fear, Paul tells Timothy, but a spirit of faith. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:03.039 And God means that literally when he says we don't have a spirit of fear. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.479 Every believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.199 We have the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not fearful. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:13.039 He is not timid. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.639 He is not afraid. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:19.439 He is sometimes in scripture referred to as a spirit of courage and boldness. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.000 Followers of Christ have been given him. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:33.439 And so we are not to be fearful or worried or anxious. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.319 And yet we often are. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:50.560 And that is a war with our very souls at stake. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:57.919 The Bible says that faith is the substance of things for the assurance of things unseen. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:17.519 Faith is this unwavering conviction that what the Word of God says is true, that God is eternal, that Jesus is a merciful judge who gives salvation to those who put their faith in him, that God is in sovereign control of the world, that God has numbered the hairs in our head and the days of our life. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:26.000 Faith is believing that, grabbing hold of it, letting our roots grow deep in it and not getting swept away. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:27.040 That is faith. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:28.399 And so we know that is true. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:39.920 We read Hebrews 11 and we see Moses didn't count the riches of Egypt as something to be held on to or grasped, but gave it all up because he would rather suffer with God's people. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.399 And we think that is the kind of faith we want. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:46.399 I would rather suffer with Christians than be rich with the world. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:57.120 And we have those convictions to us, and we want to be like Abraham, who considers this world as nothing and leaves his life for a future, better, promised land that God gives him. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:01.439 We want to be like David, who has a heart after God that is rooted in faith. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:02.959 That's what we want to be. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:04.319 We want to have that faith. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:09.839 We want to be surrounded by the cloud of witnesses and press on towards the goal that God has given us. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:11.120 That's what we want. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:20.000 And so we close our eyes and we fix the eyes of our heart on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.480 We take hold of him. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:28.079 We take hold of him with our heart, with our soul, with our mind. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:31.519 And we're doing so well. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:35.120 And then things pop up. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:38.000 The world goes crazy. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.560 Cancer hits your family. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.000 A virus shuts down the economy. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:47.279 A friend dies in a car accident. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.800 Your mom gets sick. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:52.959 All those things happen. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:06:05.120 And you were so strong in your faith five seconds ago, and then bam, you're gripped by worry, you're gripped by anxiety, and it's at that moment where this war takes place in your mind. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:11.680 Can you see through these cloudy circumstances in front of you? 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:16.800 Can you see through them back to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith? 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:24.079 Can you see through the frailty of your own life to the eternal state that God has designed for you? 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:25.920 Can you see it still? 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:29.360 That's where this war takes place. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.759 Our hearts are so fickle. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:38.639 Our nature is so fallen, our lives are so short, and we don't like it that way. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:40.720 We don't want our hearts to be fickle. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:43.439 We want to be strong. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.000 We don't want our lives to be brief. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:50.639 We don't want our nature to be fallen. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:51.680 We groan. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.519 With all of creation, we groan for the redemption. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:56.480 That's what we want. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:11.040 That's what we want to be like, strong and brave and groaning for something better, believing with all of our hearts that God is in control, with all of our hearts that all things work for good, with all of our hearts that we are counted to be numbered among God's children. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:21.360 We want to believe that so much and that he has such tender care for us and that he is watching out for us and he is in control, and then we just get wrestled away from it. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:29.839 That difference, that delta between who we want to be and who we are. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.839 That field right there, that is the field that is plowed and then sowed with the seeds of worry. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.079 The difference between who we are and who we want to be. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:44.879 And worry grows like a weed right there in that garden. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:46.800 Worry is the seed that is planted. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:54.879 Anxiety is a seed that is planted in that soil, and it grows up, and it, brothers and sisters, does not grow into the fruit of the spirit. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:05.199 The seed of worry does not produce the fruit of goodness, kindness, self-control, love, joy. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.040 Those don't come out of worry. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.920 What comes out of worry is micromanaging. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.079 What comes out of worry is despair. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:15.759 What comes out of worry is control. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:20.480 What comes out of worry is idolatry, that you want to be God, you want to be in control. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:23.519 That is the very fruit of worry. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:27.360 And the root of worry is unbelief. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:37.919 Worry does not produce a life of sacrificial giving, a life of sacrifice to others, a life of courageous evangelism. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:41.200 Worry is not found in that field. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.360 Worry produces despair and desperation. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.159 And so this morning I want us to look at Luke chapter 12, and I'm going to read a longer section of this. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:51.759 Luke 12, verse 22. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:56.320 I'm going to read down to the beginning of verse 33. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.440 I want you to just get the full window view of what's going on here. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:07.919 Look at this whole counseling session Jesus gives to his disciples. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:21.120 He says in verse 22, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:26.720 For life is more than food, and body more than clothing. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:28.960 Consider the ravens. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:34.159 They neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:38.879 Of how much more value are you than the birds? 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:46.480 Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:54.960 If you're not able to do such a small thing as that, why are you anxious about everything else? 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.879 Consider the lilies, how they grow. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:06.240 They neither toil nor spin, and yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory is not arrayed like one of these. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:14.480 But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow's thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you? 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.639 O you of little faith. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:22.320 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:30.399 All the nations of the world seek after these things, and your father knows you need them. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:36.159 Instead, seek his kingdom. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.279 These things will be added to you. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:47.519 Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:54.720 Sell your possessions and give to the needy. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:02.000 This is the very much the same words that Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:05.120 I'm not persuaded this is that same sermon. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:13.600 It seems that Jesus gave much of this instruction multiple times, but the setting of this particular exchange is noteworthy. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:18.159 It really is a gripping encounter here. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:26.080 It starts in chapter 12, verse 1, where this text says that thousands of people were pressing out to hear Jesus. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.480 And chapter 12, verse 1 says they were trampling on each other to get to him. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:38.720 The people were literally stampeding, literally trampling each other to get to where in the earshot of Jesus' sermons. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:50.720 And while that is going on, where he is teaching out there in the Galilean hillside, and thousands are pressing in against him, while that is happening, somebody interrupts him. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.559 Rudely, boisterously, captivating the attention of the crowd. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.559 Jesus has been officially interrupted. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.519 He had no kill switch with the mics like President Trump has. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:02.960 No kill switch. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:14.159 And this man starts yelling and says, Teacher, make my brother split the inheritance with me now. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:18.639 He's asking. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.200 Apparently, the father is still alive. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.840 And you were allowed to do this. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:27.039 It's basically wishing the father was dead. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.279 Perhaps the father had died and left the inheritance in trust, and the older brother had the trust. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:41.120 The details are not important, except this person has pressed his way, interrupted Jesus, and demands that the inheritance be split. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.600 This is so pressing for that person right now. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:53.039 If somebody burst through these doors coming down the aisle, begging me to call their sister and split the inheritance, security would probably get them. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:03.600 But you would have a little sympathy for that person because how important must this be? 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:10.080 Jesus responds in, I think, a humorous way. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.360 He diffuses the situation with humor or rebuke, depending on what kind of tone of voice you read it in. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:20.240 Verse 14, man, who made you, or who made me a judge or arbiter over you? 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:23.600 Who pointed me probate judge? 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.519 I think it's funny because we know that Jesus is the judge of the universe. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.519 It's kind of a funny thing for him to say, right? 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:31.840 When did this case land on my docket, man? 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:33.279 Go get in line. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.440 But then he turns back to his sermon. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:43.519 And he tells people, take care that you don't get greedy. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:52.960 And then he tells a parable of a farmer who just is blessed with a massive crop. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.519 And he is selling it, and he is making himself rich, and he's got more than he can sell. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.120 And so he says, I know what I will do. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:07.679 I will big, I will build big barns, and so that next year I'll have enough money also, and I can just chillax. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:14.320 I'll just retire healthy and wealthy and at ease. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:20.639 Jesus says to him in verse 20, you fool. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.120 This night your soul will be taken from you. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.360 And then who gets your barn? 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:29.360 You know, nice lacquer job. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.879 Who's it going to belong to? 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.080 And then he turns in verse 22. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:40.080 And I don't, the text doesn't make it clear if he takes his disciples aside, if he leaves them, if this happens later that evening. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:46.799 Luke often tells stories like that where you get the public sermon, then the aside to the disciples, that seems to be what this is. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:54.799 He speaks to his disciples now, and he tells them in that context, you listen so carefully, brothers and sisters. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.000 Don't be anxious. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:01.039 Don't worry about life. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:16.159 This kind of world, this kind of sermon, this kind of chapter might be foreign to us most parts of the year, but most times of our life, but it should be very real now because this is the tendency now to stockpile food for yourself. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.720 To stockpile toilet paper for yourself. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:25.919 And here's this guy, he says, I have so much hand sanitizer. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:26.879 I know what I will do. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:30.639 I will build a giant drum for it. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:37.360 I will never have to look for hand sanitizer again, and I will retire rich and at ease. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:42.320 Oh, there's a run on the store. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:43.120 I know what I'll do. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:49.039 I have so much food, I'll sell some and get rich and keep the rest so I can be rich forever. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.240 And Jesus says, You will die. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.919 And then turns to his disciples and says, Don't be like that. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:15:59.840 Don't be like that hoarder. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.120 Don't be like the farmer building a bigger barn for himself. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.120 Don't be like the hoarders. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:13.440 Not because it's unkind to everybody else, although that's true, but that's not where he goes with this. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:25.039 He doesn't say don't hoard food because it affects it, you know, affects the supply and demand chain, and it's a very intricate system we have between the field and the market and the family, and let's not interfere with it by buying everything up. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.240 He doesn't go down that road. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.799 He says, Don't be like that because it involves worry about tomorrow, and that's what you shouldn't be doing. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.440 Four times in this passage, he rebukes that. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.480 Verse 22, do not be anxious. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:42.879 Verse 25, being anxious doesn't help, it doesn't make you live longer. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.440 Verse 29, do not worry. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:51.759 Verse 32, fear not, little flock, don't be afraid, he tells them. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.080 Don't worry, don't be afraid, don't be anxious. 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.720 Three different Greek words, a fourth one for fear. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:58.720 He uses all of them. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.000 He's using every synonym he has. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.839 The Roman Empire understood what worry was. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.279 They understood what famine was. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.519 Famine was very common back then. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.880 They didn't have a Walmart distribution center. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:32.720 When drought hit or a plague hit, pestilence hit, people died. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:37.279 The average life expectancy in the Roman Empire was 25 years old. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.200 That's including infant mortality rate, which was as high as 50%. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:48.000 When you remove the infant mortality rate, in other words, people who lived to be five years old, the average life expectancy was 50. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.240 But famine and plagues were common. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:18:00.799 The plague of Antonin, which happened not long after the New Testament was completed, killed one-third of the Roman Empire. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.200 Five million people died. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:11.279 At the height of that plague, when Marcus Aurelius was the emperor, up to 2,000 people were dying every day in Rome. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.440 So these people had a grid for plague. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.480 They had a grid for a pandemic. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:23.200 And Jesus speaks to that culture and says, do not worry. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.559 And listen, if you only hear one thing I have to say this morning, listen to this. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:35.920 If Jesus says, don't do something, it's a good idea for you not to do it. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.000 You understand this as a parent, don't you? 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:46.640 You tell your child, don't do that. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.759 And they respond perhaps with why not? 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:57.200 Which makes you an apologist at that moment. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.759 Do you give evidence for why not? 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.440 Like here's six reasons why what you're doing is a bad idea. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:08.000 But now you're on their terms, right? 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:10.880 Now you're trying to persuade them on their, you've made them the judge somehow. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.759 You're on trial suddenly by answering that question. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.720 Or do you say, you know what, there's six reasons why not? 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.400 But here's the first one. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:22.720 Because I said so. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:24.799 I know. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:31.680 And listen, there's a lot of there's a lot of biblical apologetics in that because some people hear that and go, like that's a baseless appeal to authority. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.640 That doesn't carry any moral weight just because I said so. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.920 Not if there's such a thing as authority. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:43.359 If there's such a thing as authority, there's no such thing as a baseless appeal to authority. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:50.559 You do what the parent says because they are good and want what is best for you. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:55.359 Now, if you don't believe they're good and you don't believe they want what is best for you, then that's a different conversation. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:59.440 And that is, listen, I'm not talking about parenting anymore. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:04.319 When God says, don't do something, it is bad for you. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:09.920 If you believe that and you say, okay, it's bad for me, I won't do it, you're playing on the right field. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.599 But if you say, why not? 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.559 It's really a question about do you believe God is good? 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:17.599 That's why. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.480 Do you believe that He is good and knows what is best for you? 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:21.759 And He says, Don't worry. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.839 And I'm not trying to say this flippantly. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.319 I understand that we are worrying creatures. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.640 We love, we worry by nature. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.960 We worry when things are going well for us. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:37.839 Because you're worried they might change. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:41.519 You win the lottery, you're worried what's gonna happen when your money runs out. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:46.160 You get a promotion at work, you worry what's gonna happen when people realize you're not good at what you do. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:50.880 I propose to Deedra. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:52.480 She says yes, and I'm freaking out now. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.559 Like the gig is gonna be up soon. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:00.400 Because we're sinners, we are worriers. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.440 It is in our fallen nature to worry. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:07.440 We want to be in control when we're not. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:09.279 That's the bottom line. 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:13.759 And there is nothing like a coronavirus to expose that. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:20.240 We develop our routines in life and we think that we understand that God is in control and we're not, but you know what? 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:34.559 I am gonna go to the gym, I am gonna have these meals with my family on these days, and I'm gonna have this hobby on this sign, and I'm gonna do these three vacations in these three ways, and I'm gonna read these books and watch these TV shows and send my kids to these schools, and everything is under control. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:44.319 And then bam, something happens and everything falls apart, and you were reminded of the fact that five minutes earlier you weren't in control either. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:47.920 You just muffled that with everything you put in your life. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.480 And now it's exposed. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:53.599 You're not in control, and so now what? 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.640 Well, sometimes people will invent new things. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.519 Like, okay. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:05.839 This is unusual, it's unprecedented, this has never happened in our lifetime before, but I know how to handle this. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:06.720 Okay. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:12.720 Just do these six things in the exact way I prescribe, and you'll be okay. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:14.160 It's not true. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.039 You're not guaranteed tomorrow. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:26.240 Doesn't matter if you sing happy birthday when you wash your hands or you say the Lord's Prayer when you wash your hands. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:28.640 I recommend the latter. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:38.799 So I want you to understand this morning that the danger of the hour is worry. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:40.240 Worry is your enemy. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:41.279 It's your real enemy. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.920 And I want you to frame all of what our culture is going through in those terms. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.079 You need to go to war against worry. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.839 And in the context in Luke chapter 12, what are these people worried about? 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.880 They're worried about food, they're worried about clothes or their external beauty, and they're worried about their life. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:10.559 And that word life, by the way, is the Greek word psyche, and we get the word psychology from it, but it's also the word from the parable of the rich fool, where God tells them, your very psyche, your very soul, your very self will be demanded of you tonight. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:16.480 Jesus says, don't worry about those things. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.160 And he's not talking about worrying about inconsequential things. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.279 We worry about so much that's so shallow and silly, don't we? 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:29.200 We worry about who's going to win the Oscar. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.319 We worry about who's going to win the presidential election. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:34.160 We worry about traffic. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.000 We worry about school and grades. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:38.240 We worry about so much that doesn't matter. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:40.240 Jesus isn't picking things that don't matter. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.720 He's picking pretty big things. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.599 Food, clothing, and life. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:49.039 This is Maslow's hierarchy of need right here. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:51.839 And Jesus says, stop worrying about it. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:53.839 He turns it on its head. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.400 It's like he failed psychology 101. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.000 Those are the things you have to worry about. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:01.920 That's what the teacher says. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.519 You have to worry about those things. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.680 Every human being must worry about these things. 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:07.519 You learned that first day. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.119 And Jesus says, no, don't. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:12.960 Don't. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:19.359 He's not saying passivity is good. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.480 In fact, he points to the raven. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.400 Look at the raven. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:27.680 Look at the raven. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.680 Do you look at ravens ever? 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:36.400 They are annoying, obnoxious. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:39.119 They're not often hungry. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:43.599 The ones outside my office window are always eating McDonald's french fries. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:46.000 They figured out. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:49.359 I don't know if they go through the drive-thru or what, but they find them. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.680 Do ravens farm? 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:57.119 No. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.240 But the Lord keeps bringing in their food. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.240 The point of the ravens is that they don't hoard. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:08.880 Now you couldn't use this illustration with a squirrel because a squirrel does hoard. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:12.079 Jesus can't say, look at the squirrel, because that would make the opposite point. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:14.960 So he picks his animal carefully here. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:18.960 Ravens don't hoard, and yet they always have food. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:21.599 The point for us, don't hoard. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:26.880 It's not don't work, because the Bible says if a man don't work, a man don't. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:28.319 You have to work. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:30.319 Proverbs 3, verse 1 and 2. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:31.839 My son, don't forget my teaching. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.640 Keep my commandments so your life will be lengthened. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:38.480 The Bible makes it clear, you have to labor for your food. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:40.480 You have to labor for your life. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.319 Proverbs 18, verse 9. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:47.039 The whole second half of Proverbs 24 says, you need to work to get food. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:51.200 You can't just roll into old navy and say, consider the lilies. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:52.720 Let me take my clothes. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:55.519 No, you have to labor. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:01.039 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10 says that if a raven won't work, a raven won't eat. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.000 You can look it up. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.960 The overall teaching of the section is clear. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:12.079 It's not passivity. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.480 It's hoarding. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:21.200 It's worrying about where tomorrow's food will come from when you won't work today. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:24.720 What about the lilies? 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.160 Lilies don't farm. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:30.400 Lilies don't work. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.240 They also don't wear clothes. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.160 They're pretty, and that's the point. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:40.880 Lilies have an internal beauty. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.119 It happens to them naturally. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:49.680 Are you more precious to God than a lily? 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.440 This is what it is to be in the image of God. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:27:03.440 You have to believe that God loves you, that he made you in his image, that you have more value, more worth, more dignity, more honor. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:07.119 He's more concerned about you than he is about a lily. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:09.279 And lilies are beautiful without effort. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:21.119 And so why do you put so much work into your external appearance and you worry about your appearance and you worry about your hair or your makeup or your wrinkles or your height or all the different things you worry about in your appearance? 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:23.519 And Jesus says, look at the lily. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.400 It's just pretty. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:32.000 So don't worry about where tomorrow's food is going to come from. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:38.319 If you're willing to work today, there's a famine in Israel that wrecked Israel, and the ravens were eating. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:43.119 The ravens and Elijah, the only ones eating, and that's because the ravens fed the prophet. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:51.279 This passage is teaching you don't hoard, don't labor over beauty, but most of all, do not worry because worry is your enemy. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:56.160 And let me give you three points under that about worry being your enemy first. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:27:59.599 Worry is your enemy because it doesn't work. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:02.799 It doesn't help you to worry. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.759 It doesn't do any good at all. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.960 That's Jesus' point down in verse 25. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:14.480 Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his life? 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:16.079 Worry away, my friend. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:19.200 Is it going to make your life one momentito longer? 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:19.839 No. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:24.160 It's going to just wreck the life that you have. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:27.759 It doesn't actually help you. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:35.920 As a soccer player once, I was playing a game, and our team had used all of our substitutes. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.279 And for non-soccer players, that's unusual to you don't have this concept, but soccer players understand this. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:45.759 There's at some levels of the game a maximum number of subs that you can make. 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:47.839 And my team had made those substitutes. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.960 And one of our players got hurt, so he said he had to come out. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:54.880 If he comes out, we can't sub a new player, and so we're playing down a person. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:56.559 We're playing short-sighted. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:00.799 And so my coach tells him, You don't get to come out, and he's like, I can't walk. 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:06.400 And the coach says, sit down right there and just kick people when they come by. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:14.319 At the very least, we will control this three square yards we will own on the whole field. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:14.640 Okay? 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:15.759 Can you do that? 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:17.200 Okay. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:20.960 Worry doesn't even do that. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:25.279 Worry does not even get your three square yards under your control. 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:31.039 Worry does absolutely no good at all. 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:37.440 Corey Ten Boom in the hiding place writes, quote, worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:39.440 Rather, it empties today of its strength. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:40.720 And I love that quote. 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:43.680 Worry doesn't actually fix tomorrow. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:46.319 Worry all you want about the coronavirus. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:48.559 It's not going to do you any good. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.559 Some things that will help you. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:54.000 Wash your hands. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:55.440 That will help. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:57.039 You want to live longer? 00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:57.759 Wash your hands. 00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:58.640 You want to live longer? 00:29:58.799 --> 00:29:59.519 Go to the gym. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:00.480 Exercise. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:01.599 You want to live longer? 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:02.400 Quit smoking. 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:03.279 That'll help. 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:04.480 You want to live longer? 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:06.000