Abolishing Anxiety, Part 8

It's so good to have you with us on this Lord's day, the first day of the week, where we can gather together and hear the God speak to us through his word What a beautiful day And we want to be able to pray for our moms today who are, hopefully you've gathered around and hopefully they're with you and you can celebrate them My mom is on the East coast She's not here, but if you're able to be with your mom, that's just a great thing And we want to pray for our moms that God would do a great work

And maybe you're a mom today who's a single mom and you've lost your job and you're trying to figure out how you're going to provide for your family That's a tough thing Or maybe you're a mother today who has an unbelieving husband We want to pray for you that God would use you in a mighty way in the life of your husband. I want to pray for all of our mothers, all of our grandmothers You know, God has given them to us in a very special way

And the unique thing about your mother is that she's not my mother and my mother's not your mother because God in his providence designed the perfect woman to be our mother And we want to thank God for them and thank the Lord for how he brought us into this world through them and how they raised us And we just want to really give glory to the Lord God of Israel And as we pray, we want to continue to pray that God would take care of us as a church, that God would continue to supply all of our needs God has been so good to us through many of you who have given so faithfully throughout this time

We are grateful and God continues to supply all of our needs And we're going to trust him through this situation, this pandemic that we're in, that he would continue to show himself faithful to us as we begin to close out this fiscal year. I want to pray for all the different ministries that you can still watch by way of Zoom or by way of email or on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings, all the ministries that we can bring to you via social media

We're asking the Lord to use them in your life, in the life of your friends, those that you might know as you recommend these things to them, that God would use his truth to transform our lives And so if you're able, join me on your knees as we approach the throne of grace Father God, we thank you for this wonderful day, which we gather together to celebrate you And we celebrate you Lord, because in your providence, you gave us the mother that we have

And we are grateful for how she has provided for us over the years, how you have used her in our lives to teach us and to instruct us in the way that we should go Whether our mother knows the Lord or doesn't know the Lord, it's imperative that we understand that in your sovereignty, she is the mother you chose for us And we are grateful Thank you Lord for your wonderful provision, because in our mothers, we're able to see the tenderness and the kindness and sensitivity that you want us to understand And so Lord, we are grateful for them

We pray for those among us who have mothers that don't know you, that Lord, you would save them from their sin and they'd be able to rejoice in the saving grace bestowed upon their mothers We pray for our single moms and the hardships that they go through during this time, whether they've lost their job or whether they have been cut back in the hours of their job, and they're looking for ways to provide for their children, that can be very difficult

We pray for them that Lord, you do a mighty work in their hearts and lives and cause them to trust you, that they might be able to relay that trust to their children, that they might trust you all the more. I want to pray Lord for mothers today that have lost sons or daughters and the hardship that they've gone through over the years We pray that you do a mighty work in their hearts and use your word to comfort their souls We are grateful Lord, that we can come before you and bring all of our needs before you We're grateful for those in our church who have given so faithfully

It has been such a wonderful, wonderful thing to see as you continue to supply our needs Thank you Lord for those who are looking for ways to do ministry via social media Thank you for those who do their Zoom Bible studies and able to do children's ministry through email and communicate to our children the truth of your word We're grateful for Wednesday nights and the series on fatherhood to be able to challenge the men of our church to live for your glory And thank you for Sunday mornings that we can gather together with family, some of us even with friends to sit and listen to your word

May it take root in our lives May this first day of the week set the tone for every other day because the things we learned today enable us to live for tomorrow We pray in Jesus name Amen. I am so excited about the opportunity to bring God's truth to you today We've been looking at a series called Abolishing Anxiety and God has taught me a lot through this study and I trust he's taught you a lot as well And we have a key verse and hopefully you know that verse by now We've been doing this for eight weeks and so I trust that you had that verse memorized It's Proverbs chapter 12 verse number 25

Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down but a good word makes it glad That verse is the springboard text for our study to help us understand how God wants to abolish anxiety in your life And we're giving these principles to you so that you can understand what God has for you Very important And on top of that there's another verse I want to share with you today. I've shared with you many times over the years concerning this verse but it's Psalm 94 verse number 19 And it goes like this, when my anxious thoughts overwhelm me thy consolations delight my soul

When my anxious thoughts consume me, and that happens a lot of times doesn't it, they overwhelm us The psalmist says that your consolations delight my soul It's the consolations of God that's the good word that makes the heart glad The psalmist understood that You know I wish I could wave a magic wand and all your anxiety just disappear But what we have in our hands is the living and abiding word of God that helps us understand the true delight of the soul The psalmist would go on to say these words in Psalm 119, this is my comfort in my affliction that your word has revived me

This becomes my comfort, this becomes my consolation, my solace, amidst my adversity, amidst my affliction, amidst my difficulty, amidst this crisis we're in, no matter what it is you're going through, this is my comfort, your word, it's revived me He goes on to say in verse number 52 of Psalm 119, I have remembered your ordinances from of old and I comfort myself When I remember your ordinances, when I call to mind what you have said, this is what comforts me He would later say this in verse number 76, he goes, oh may your loving kindness comfort me according to your word to your servant

The psalmist understood that the comfort comes from the word of God, it sets the heart at ease, it causes us to rest. I hope that you know you've gathered together with your mom today or she's at least in the room and her children are around her, maybe her grandchildren are there as well and I want to take the time this morning to talk to our moms We're looking at Wednesday nights and looking at fathers and helping them understand how they can become a fortress for the family but for a brief moment this morning I want to look at our moms and how it is God wants to abolish anxiety in your life

It's applicable to everybody but as a mother I want to direct it toward your way this morning because I'm sure that there are so many anxious thoughts that consume you today. I understand that If you're a single mom and you've lost your job, you're one of those now 33 million people in our country who has lost their job, that's a lot of people If you're one of those and you're a single mom trying to provide for your family, I'm sure there is all kinds of anxious thoughts that consume you that overwhelm your soul

If you're a mother whose husband has a good job, a good paying job, he's been laid off, and you're wondering how you're going to make ends meet, I'm sure anxiety at times overwhelms you There are many facets of our lives that come and go and all the uncertainty of this pandemic and all that's going to take place, no one knows, the anxiety can overwhelm us And so a great study is to look at the women in scripture and see how they handled their anxiety How is it they dealt with those anxious thoughts that consumed them, that overwhelmed them

We hold in our hand the word of God, these 66 books that are the consolations that delight our soul So we can go to it anytime, open it up, read it, study it, and realize this is what God says, this is who God is, this is what He's done And I have 66 books that are consumed with God because they're all about God, it's authored by God But just think if you were a woman who didn't have this, let's go all the way back to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 1, Exodus chapter 2

You have a woman there that didn't have the written word of God because it would be her son that would write the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament His name was Moses, his mother was Jochebed And so she wouldn't be able to sit down and thumb through the text and receive consolation for her soul She'd have to remember the oracles of God that were passed down from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob through all those generations, the word of God that was passed down about the promises of God for the nation of Israel

And I'm sure that when she was pregnant, she had all kinds of anxious thoughts because she didn't know if she was having a boy or having a girl She couldn't go down to the local doctor and get a sonogram and figure out whether it was a boy or a girl, didn't have some kind of gender reveal party so everybody would be able to celebrate, hey, it's a boy, hey, it's a girl Didn't have that They had to wait till the baby came out

And so anxiety would probably well up in her soul not knowing if it was a boy or a girl because the Pharaoh had given an edict and that edict was every Hebrew boy born was to be thrown into the Nile River So when that baby was born and she realized it was a boy, what was she going to do? Was she going to throw him in the Nile River too? Or would she trust the oracles of God, the promises of God passed down from generation to generation? Well, I think if you know the story, you realize that she did throw him in the Nile, but she threw him in the Nile in a waterproof basket

And as he sat there among the thicket, his sister Miriam was watching and Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe and as she did, she came across this baby boy And Miriam popped out of the thicket and said, hey, I know a Hebrew woman who could nurse a child and Pharaoh's daughter said, hey, great, let's have that And so God is providence because Jochebed honored the Lord She was honored by God And she had the opportunity to nurse baby Moses until she was able to wean him She was able to convey to him at a very young age, the truth of scripture

And she would tell Moses about the promises of God and what God had planned for his people, Israel, how he would take them into this promised land that was given to them, a land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob And she would convey that truth to that child How do we know that? Because when Moses grew up, he by faith, believing in what God said, he did not fear the King's edict The Bible tells us that Jochebed and Amram, who was his father, did not fear the King's edict And now you have Moses who didn't fear the King's edict Why? Like mother, like son

As she invested into her son during a time of great trial and great stress, she would invest in him so that as he would grow older, he would know the truth of God's holy word And God used Moses to be Israel's greatest leader. I want you to think about it this way During this time of crisis, you have the golden opportunity, mom, to invest in your children, to teach them to fear only God and fear not man That's what Jochebed did And she taught her son, invested in her son so that he would be strong when he grew older And he was

And so I want to challenge you that during this time when there's so much uncertainty and you don't know what's happening, to invest into the life of your children And remember, she didn't have the 66 books She didn't have anything but the word of God passed down from generation to generation But if you jump to the New Testament, you have Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of young Timothy They had the Old Testament So they had the written law and the written prophets and the Psalms They had those things And they would invest them into young Timothy

Because you see, Eunice was married to a man who was an unbeliever And so they didn't know what was going to happen to young Timothy as he grew up, whether he'd follow the ways of his father or follow the ways of the Lord, the ways of his mother and his grandmother And Paul wrote Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3, he says, you have known the sacred writings, Timothy, from your early childhood From the time you were a baby in your mother's womb, you've known the sacred writings, which will make you wise into salvation

And young Timothy grew up and is the only New Testament character called a man of God, used by God in a mighty way Because his mother and grandmother did not fear what man would do, but trusted in the word of God, invested in the child of God to bring forth fruit for God And that's exactly what happened. I could give you oodles of illustrations of women in the scripture who were able to invest the truth into the lives of their children and how God used them in a mighty way for his glory

Mom, I want you to take that opportunity. I want you to challenge your children that no matter what the adversity, no matter how many times those anxious thoughts consume you, the consolations of God are going to delight your soul When anxiety in your heart weighs it down, there's only one thing that's going to make it glad, and that's the good word of the Lord You need to invest that good word into the life of your children That's what needs to happen That's what you need to do

And so today I want to give you a principle, the principle that every mother in scripture would use in the life of their children to instruct them in the ways of God Very important We've been giving you a series of principles on how to abolish anxiety We told you you need to rest in God's sovereignty We told you you needed to remember your responsibility and to realize, realize your dependency upon the Lord, regard your testimony, rely on his sufficiency

Today, the sixth principle is this, reflect on your destiny, reflect on your destiny, because that's what every woman in scripture did when it came to receiving a consolation for their soul And as they invested that into the life of their children, wow, it was great Let me say it to you this way, okay? Very important Listen carefully What lies behind us, what lies behind us is not as exciting as what lies before us, because of he who lives within us Does he get that? What lies behind us is not nearly as exciting as what lies before us, because of he who lives within us

You know, I don't know what took place in your life before this virus and before this pandemic and what was going on. I have no idea how excited your time, your life was at that time. I know you're probably saying, wow, I wish it was now the way it was before the pandemic But no matter what your life was behind you, it's not nearly as exciting as what's before you, because of he who lives within you Paul would say, Christ in you, the hope of glory, right? That's why he kept saying, set your affections on things above, not on things of this earth

Everything, your attention, your affection, your admiration should be always above, looking toward your ultimate destiny Why? Because when Christ who is our life appears, you shall be revealed with him in glory Keep looking toward your destiny And mom, we need to reflect on our destiny The writer of Hebrews said it this way in Hebrews chapter 11, as he talks about these men and women of faith who believed in what God was doing It says in verse number 13, all these died in faith without receiving the promise

They've been given a promise that had been passed down from generation to generation, but did not receive that promise But having seen them and have welcomed them from a distance, in other words, they believed in what was going to happen in the future And having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, they realized that this wasn't their home, that there was a better destiny before them For those who say such things, make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own Hebrews 11 verse number 14, verse number 15 says this

And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them This hall of faith is consumed with people who did not receive the promise, but they saw it from a distance and they believed in it, always anticipating their future destiny, the heavenly city of God

So the writer of Hebrews will go on to say in chapter 12, these words, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses, those people in Hebrews 11 who live by faith, he says, surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance to race that set before us Look at them, look at their lives and the faith that they had in that heavenly city, in that future promise

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him, consider him, who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart You don't want to grow weary You don't want to lose heart Consider Jesus because there was a joy that was set before him that he kept looking toward Mom, you need to look toward your destiny

And as you reflect on what the scriptures say about your eternal destiny, that is going to help you understand how God's consolations delight your soul, how you'll see that that's the good word that makes the heart glad So for a brief moment this morning, let me help you reflect on your destiny Let me help you understand it in a very unique kind of way, maybe different than what you've ever heard it before But as you reflect on your destiny, reflect on this, because what lies behind us is not as exciting as what lies before us because of he who lives within us

And what is our destiny? Our destiny is an inconceivable promise, an inconceivable promise We know John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have, what, everlasting life, shall have the eternal life Not just longevity of life because everybody lives forever, whether you're a believer or an unbeliever, but it's the quality kind of life, the forgiven kind of life, the kind of life that God gives to his people that caused them to be children of God

And so as you reflect on your destiny, reflect on the inconceivable promise This is how John says it, 1 John 3, verse number one, see how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God And such we are For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we'll see him just as he is That's the promise We know that when he appears, we're going to be like him because we'll see him just as he is

Oh, beloved, John says, how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we now are called the children of God for the children of God will one day be in the presence of God And there's this promise given to his children, an inconceivable promise, which is our destiny So no matter what lies behind us, it's not nearly as exciting as what lies before us because of he who lives within us He's given us an incredible promise And with that, number two, he's given us an incalculable providence, an incalculable providence

We know, Revelation 13, 8, that our names were written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, listen, before the foundation of the world In other words, before the world was ever created, there was a book of life It's called the Lamb's Book of Life The land that was slain before the foundation of the world had a book before the foundation of the world And those who know God chosen by God, their names are in it This is God's providence

And through the outworking of each and every generation, when eternity would intersect time and you give your life to Christ, the beauty of God's providence in bringing you to a place of salvation For he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ, that Christ is providentially working in your life to complete your life until you see him face to face Paul said this in Ephesians chapter one, verse number four, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in love

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world so that we would be presented to him blameless, holy, because of his marvelous love That is an incalculable providence How God in his providence work and orchestrated all things in life to bring us to the point of salvation, to make us his workmanship, his literary masterpiece, to do a good work in us until we're able to be presented before the throne of God, blameless, spotless, and holy That's what's before us, an inconceivable promise and incalculable providence And number three, an indescribable place, an indescribable place

The Bible says in Psalm 1611, at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore First Corinthians two, verse number nine, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him Not only is there an inconceivable promise and an incalculable providence, but there is an indescribable place And that place is with God in heaven, the place called paradise, the place that was promised to the thief on the cross Today you shall be with me in paradise We worship the God of heaven

Remember in second Corinthians chapter 12, when Paul was caught up into the third heaven, and he said he saw things that he couldn't even speak about And so God gave him that opportunity God gave him that vision for him to be able to see those things Why? Because God had also given him a thorn in the flesh We talked about that last week So he would always be reminded that no matter how bad the affliction is below, there is a great satisfaction above

That's why he said, keep seeking those things which are above, setting your affections on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, the father, because at his right hand, there are pleasures forevermore Heaven is a prepared place You know, when our Lord wanted to comfort the disciples on the eve of the crucifixion, and their hearts were filled with anxiety, filled with all kinds of uncertainty about what was going to happen When their anxious thoughts overwhelmed them, the one consolation that would delight their soul was what? Let not your heart be troubled

You believe in God, believe also in me For in my father's house are many mansions If it were not so, I would have told you And I go and prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be also The comfort that Christ gives to his men is what? A future It wasn't what lied behind them As exciting as it might have been with all the miracles and in all the wonderful things that took place in the life of the disciples as they followed Christ

What lies behind is not nearly as exciting as what lies before us because of the one who lives within us And Christ was trying to drive this home to them Heaven is a prepared place. I've gone and I've prepared a place specifically for you That where I am there, you may be also This would be their comfort This would be their consolation, an inconceivable promise and incalculable providence and indescribable place Number four, as you reflect on your destiny, an incredible presentation, an incredible presentation

Because in the future, when you arrive in that place, you're going to hear great and wonderful words Jude says it this way, Jude 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory That's the incalculable providence God can make you stand in his glory, blameless with great joy What lies before is the opportunity to stand blameless in the presence of God with great, great joy That is, that is the incredible presentation

It's spoken of this way in Matthew 25, when it says in a parable, Christ says, well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord Can you imagine that day? That day when you go home to be with the Lord? Well done, that's a commendation Well done, thou good and faithful servant Now from a commendation, you have a promotion, right? Because you're going from being a servant of the living God into the presence of the living God Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into, there now becomes an invitation to you

There's this commendation, there is this promotion, there is this invitation, and then there is this jubilation, enter into the joy of the Lord There is this incredible presentation Romans 2, verse number 29, that we will receive the praise of God That's amazing You see, what lies behind you is not nearly as exciting as what lies before you And what lies before you? Because the one who lives within you, an inconceivable promise, an incalculable providence, an indescribable place, an incredible presentation Listen to this, number five, an inalienable presence, an inalienable presence

In other words, it's something that will never be taken away As Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse number 4, it's an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled, reserved for you in heaven You are kept by the power of God, and you are going to enter into an inalienable presence, the presence of the living God Just think about that for a moment Remember Mary of Magdalene, Mary Magdalene, when she was anxious and worrisome, because when she went to the tomb, her Lord was not there And so when Christ spoke to her, she didn't know it was the Christ at that time She thought it was the gardener

He asked her why she was so upset They'd taken my Lord away. I don't know where they've placed him And when he called her Miriam, and he unveiled her eyes to be able to see him for who he is, she grabbed a hold of him and she clung to him And she said to me, he goes, Mary, don't cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my Father Listen, Mary, you got to let me go because I'm going to ascend into my Father But one day, one day, there's going to be this opportunity for you to be in my presence absolutely forever

Remember the promise that God gave Abraham way back in Genesis 15, verse number one, I am Abraham, your reward. I'm your reward Being with me is your reward And so what lies before us is an inalienable presence The presence we are able to experience with the living God Because of he who lives within us, that which lies before us is amazing An inconceivable promise, an incalculable providence, an indescribable place, an incredible presentation, an inalienable presence, an invincible peace, an invincible peace He is the Prince of Peace

He is the God of Peace, right? And you're longing for peace even now But there's going to be an invincible peace in glory For we know what the scriptures say in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 21 He says, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and he will dwell among them He will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them See, that's the great reward That's the presence of God and inalienable presence that he is the temple He will dwell among his people He is the reward

See? And then it says in verse number four, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain The first things have passed away They've all passed away because what lies behind is not as exciting as what lies before us because of he who lives within us Christ in you, the hope of glory and invincible peace Romans, sorry, Revelation 14, 13, blessed are they who dine the Lord for the rest from their labors and their deeds follow after them

But there is this peace that goes way beyond anything we can ever imagine because we are in the presence of the living God forever and ever Have you reflected on your destiny? Your destiny surrounding the promises that God gives the providence of God that's going to move you there, the place that God has prepared for you, the presentation you will receive once you arrive, the presence of God himself, the peace that he will give And then number seven is this an incomparable prize, an incomparable prize Wow

Philippians 3, Paul says these words, Philippians 3, verse number 13, brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead because what lies behind is not nearly as exciting as what lies before us So he says in verse 16, or yeah, verse 14, I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I just press on because why? There is a prize that comes through Christ Jesus The prize, of course, is God himself, but it truly is an incomparable prize

There's nothing that compares to it There's a crown of life There's a crown of joy There's the imperishable crown There's a crown of glory There's a crown of righteousness that awaits all those who love us appearing There is a prize in glory that cannot be compared to anything you receive on this earth It is an incomparable prize And then number eight, an inexhaustible praise, an inexhaustible praise. I mean, this is what is before us

As it says in the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 4, in the four living creatures, each one of them, verse number 8, having six wings are full of eyes around and within, and day and night they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the almighty, who was and who is and who is to come Night and day they did not cease to praise the true and living God

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders, which is the church, will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, worthy are you, O Lord, our God, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things And because of you or because of your will, they existed and were created There is this inexhaustible praise that will last through all of eternity That's before us Reflect on your destiny

Reflect on what will happen when you enter into glory Listen, there is before us an inconceivable promise There is an incalculable providence, an indescribable place, an incredible presentation, an inalienable presence, an invincible peace, an incomparable prize, an inexhaustible praise, all because, listen, all because of the invaluable price that was paid The invaluable price. 1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19 You are not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold, but with that which is imperishable, the precious blood of the lamb

There was an invaluable price that was paid, an invaluable price that cannot be compared to anything on this earth Our Lord Jesus gave his life for us And that's why no matter what lies behind us, that which lies before us is so much greater because of the one who lives within us And why does he live there? Because he purchased us He bought us That we might be in our bodies a temple of the living God All a foretaste, the presence of God in us to that day in which we are revealed with him in glory, the Lord who is our life

Listen, there is this invaluable price that was paid so that you would never faced the inevitable punishment of those who do not believe, which is away from the presence of God in hell forever There is an inevitable punishment for those who never give their life to Christ But if you embrace the invaluable price that was paid, everything that we've talked about today is your destiny And when you reflect on that, you spend time meditating upon that, setting your affections above and not below, always looking for the appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ

When your anxious thoughts overwhelm you, those consolations, now they're going to delight your soul And that's my prayer for you, mom, on this Mother's Day Let's pray Father, we thank you for today What a great joy we have to spend in your word Truly, it's a blessing Truly, it's a joy Truly, to be able to look at what you're going to do, having already done what you've done, what you're going to do is beyond anything that we can comprehend So we trust you, believe in you We pray for those who might be listening They've never embraced you as their savior

May today be that day they give their life to Christ We pray this in Jesus' name Amen Thank you so much for coming today We trust that the rest of this week will be the greatest week ever for you as you reflect on your destiny Thank you so much.