How Not to Worry, Part 3

Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful for the truth of your word, of your promise to take us through each and every difficulty that we face, that we might learn to trust and depend upon the name of the Lord our God. Today, Father, as we look once again to the perfect law of liberty, may we see your character and may we trust you even all the more because of what your word says. Thank you for the time together, together this morning and trust Lord that we would leave differently than when we arrived because your word has spoken to our hearts.

We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Luke chapter 12 was where we're at. Luke chapter 12, how to abolish anxiety. Wouldn't it be good to abolish all anxiety in your heart and life? Sure it would. In fact, you'd think with all the counselors and all the psychologists and all the psychotherapists and psychiatrists and whatever else we got out there, you'd think that we would begin to rid ourselves of all our worries, all our fears, all of our anxieties. Yet that's not the case. In fact, we're worse off now than we ever have been.

Our families are more fractured now than they have ever been before. Our children are living in rebellion more than they have ever lived in rebellion before. And with all the help that we have from all the different outsiders that say we have the answer, we are worse now than we have ever been in the history of our world. One of the reasons is because we have these professed Christians who write books about how not to worry. There are a couple of them that work at a university not too far from here that have written a book on how not to worry.

And this is their solution as professing Christians on how to deal with the worry you face every day. I quote them. We suggest setting aside 15 minutes in the morning and another 15 minutes in the evening for active worry. If concerns surface during other times of the day, the person should jot them down on a card and vow to deal with them during the designated period. Worry-free living involves confining the natural worry we all feel into a designated time slot of only 1% of a 12-hour day. That's their solution.

I read that and I said, are you kidding me? That's your solution? That would be like telling you, you have lustful thoughts. I want to give you 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening to designate all your lustful thinking. And if throughout the day you have lustful thoughts, I want you to write them down on a card and then only be lustful during a designated period of time during the day. Isn't that ridiculous? That's their solution. And people read those books and they actually do those kinds of things.

Jesus never said that. Jesus never said, I want you to designate a certain period of time in the day to worry. He said, don't do it at all. He said, don't even think about doing it. So whose advice are you going to take? Somebody who's written a book about how not to worry and take 15 minutes in the morning and in the evening to designate all your worrying, all your fear, all your panic time in those 30 minutes throughout the day? Or are you going to learn to abolish anxiety altogether? I would rather abolish it altogether than designate certain times throughout the day to do it.

Wouldn't you? I mean, after all, Jesus said, don't do it. So why would I even spend time doing something that Jesus said not to do? That's why I call them professing Christians. They're asking you to actually disobey what God says.

When God said, don't do it. We need to do what the word of the Lord says. Worry is not some trivial sin. Worry is a sin. Sometimes we like to categorize our sins. Worry is not as bad as adultery or murder, because it's not one of the 10 commandments. So I guess I can worry. I'm not breaking one of the 10 commandments of God. Well, in reality, you are. Because when you worry, you don't see God as the only God, the true God that you are to worship and adore. It's not a trivial sin because it truly denies the character and nature of God as a loving, caring provider for his children.

One who has everything under complete control. When you worry, you live as if God is out of control of your environment. When he is completely in control of all that's happening in your life. That's why the Lord God said, do not worry. In fact, in Matthew's account, in Matthew 6, he said, take no thought for tomorrow. For each day has enough trouble of its own. Job said, man is born into trouble as sparks fly upward. Jesus said, in the world, you will have trouble. So Jesus said also in Matthew 6, because each day has enough trouble of its own.

Why spend your life worrying about the trouble of tomorrow? When in reality, you have no guarantee you'll be around tomorrow. But we spend a lot of time worrying about things in the future. Jesus said, when you pray, pray this way. Our father who art in heaven, give us this day, our daily bread. He didn't say, give us this week, our weekly bread or this month, our monthly bread or this year, our yearly bread. He said, give us this day, our daily bread. God promises the grace you need for each and every day in each and every moment of every day.

And we ask him to fill us, to feed us what is necessary for our lives to get us through that day. It's a prayer of trust. It's a prayer of belief that God will do what he says he's going to do. So I express my trust in him to give me my daily bread and trust him to answer that prayer. That's why one individual said, for all his children, God desires a life of faith, not flurry. His will for them each day is this, that they should trust and never worry. So Peter says, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you.

First Peter five, verse number seven. If you don't cast, you'll crash. If you don't cast, you'll clash. It best you cast all your cares upon the one who cares for you, giving everything over to him, trusting him. It is God's will that I should cast on him my cares each day. He also bids me not to cast my confidence away, but oh, I am so stupid that when taken unawares, I cast away my confidence and carry all my cares. That's what we do. We were worried. It was never a burden that you were meant to carry.

Never. God carries all those burdens. He expects us to cast every care that we have, every trouble that we have, every problem that we have on him. If we don't, we will crash under the load of that burden that we were never meant to bear. And God wants his children to cast everything upon him. Tomorrow truly belongs to God. Today belongs to God, but tomorrow as well. G. Adams in his book, and a little pamphlet he wrote about what do you do when you worry all the time, said these words, he said, tomorrow always belongs to God.

Whenever we try to take hold of it, we try to steal that what belongs to him. Sinners want what is not theirs to have and thereby destroy themselves. God has given us only today. He strongly forbids us to become concerned about what might happen worriers. Not only want what has been forbidden, but also fail to use what has been given to them. Think about it. When you worry, you want something that has been absolutely forbidden to you instead of trusting in that, which has been given to you. What has God given us?

He's given us his precious word. See, let me take you back to Luke chapter 10. Let me read you a story that we spent, I want to say six weeks on.

Really simple story. You know it very well. Verse 38. Now, as they were traveling along here to the certain village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word seated at his feet. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations. She came to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me. But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things.

Stop right there. Martha becomes an illustration of how it is our worrying is about such trivial matters. Things that don't matter. Oh, they matter to us, but they really don't matter in the scheme of eternity. And the Lord rebukes Martha for her distraction because worry is the distraction. In fact, to worry means you have a divided mind, a distracted mind instead of a focused mind. Your mind is everywhere but focused. You're distracted, you're divided. And that was Martha. She was worried about serving food instead of serving the Lord.

Mary decided to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to what he had to say. Martha decided to fix dinner and feed everybody in the house, which on the outset sounds like a noble endeavor. But Jesus says, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only a few things are necessary, really only one.

For Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. The point is this, Mary has chosen to listen to me. You have chosen not to listen to me, and that's why you are bothered. I want you to think about that for a second.

Why are we worried? Because we're not listening. Mary has chosen the good thing, the one thing that's needful, the one thing that's necessary, the one thing you need to do above everything else, and that is to listen to what I have to say. If you listen, you will not worry. If you don't listen, you will always worry. So we can sum up the fact that people worry because they do not listen to what God has to say. They don't bother to listen.

They're bothered about so many other things instead of listening to what the Lord has to say. And there's one thing that's needful, and that's to hear what God says.

Let me say it to you this way. Book of Proverbs, 12th chapter, 25th verse. Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word is going to lift it up. It's going to make it glad. What's the good word? God's word is the good word. God's word is. Turn with me in your Bible to Psalm 94.

Psalm 94. This is a verse I've shared with you before. It's not new. Hopefully you've circled it. You've underlined it. You've marked it. Maybe you've cut it out of your Bible and pasted it on your forehead. I don't know. Hopefully you've hidden it in your heart that you might not sin against the Lord. This is a verse of scripture you need to understand if you're not going to worry. If you're going to trust the Lord. Listen to what it says. Verse 19. When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, thy consolations delight my soul.

That's just so good because our anxious thoughts multiply within us. They well up within us. They overwhelm us. They cause us to lose sleep. They cause us to have nightmares. They cause us not to eat or to overeat. One of the two. But they well up within us. They control our lives. Psalm has said that when my anxious thoughts well up within me, thy consolations delight my soul. Something about the word of God that delights my soul because God's word is the good word that makes the heart glad. When the anxiety of a man weighs it down, there is a good word that makes it glad.

There is a good word that lifts it up. The only word that's good is God's word that's good. And so when you're overwhelmed with anxious thoughts, maybe you've gone to the doctor this week and he says, you know, it doesn't look good. In fact, it looks rather bleak. And the anxious thoughts begin to multiply within. What do you do? Thy consolations delight my soul. Go to the word of the Lord. Let God's word delight your soul. Psalm has said in Psalm 56, these words, Psalm 56, Be gracious to me, O God, for man is trampled upon me, fighting all day long he oppresses me.

My foes have trampled upon me all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. When I'm afraid, I will put my trust in thee. In God whose word I praise, in God I put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? All day long they distort my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. They attack, they lurk, they watch my steps as they have waited to take my life because of wickedness cast them forth. In anger, put down the peoples, O God, thou has taken account of my wonderings.

Put my tears in thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know that God is for me. What? That's good. Hey, better God before you than anybody else for you, right? God is for me. Verse 10, In God whose word I praise, in the Lord whose word I praise, in God I put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Thy vows are binding upon me, O God. I will render thanks offerings to thee for thou has delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling so that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

In thy word do I praise, he says. When everybody's against me, when they lurk in the shadows, when they are looking to trample me down, take my life. When they gossip about me, when they say things that are not true about me and my anxious thoughts well up within me, I will trust in your name, in your word I will praise, because what in all reality can a man do to me? Nothing. Nothing. But God can do everything. So I trust him. I believe in him. I give my life to him. And so when my anxious thoughts swell up within me, my consolations delight my soul.

And I told you this before, but I'll tell it to you again. Why? Why do they delight my soul? Why? Because God's word testifies to his reality. It testifies to his reality. He who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. God rewards those who seek him. It testifies to God's reality. It specifies to me his identity. Who is he? I need to know who he is. Who is this God? Who is this God who takes care of his own? Who is this God who is everywhere at once?

Who is this God who is all-powerful? Who is this God? It specifies to me his identity. That's why his consolations delight my soul. It amplifies his glory. I read his word and my soul is consoled because everything is about God and his glory. One of the reasons I worry is because of my glory. Somehow my glory is going to be diminished. Somehow my name is going to be diminished. Somehow my life is not going to be thought of as well as I think it should be thought of by others. It's my glory, but yet when I read God's word it amplifies his glory.

That's why his consolations delight my soul. His consolations, his word, his decrees, they magnify his authority. I see God as the authoritative one. All authority has been given to him both in heaven and on earth. His consolations ratify his story. Everything he said is true. That's why Luke said when he began Luke chapter 1, he said, oh Theophilus, I want to give you the exact truth. I want you to know exactly the truth because the consolations ratify his story of redemption, his story of a God who gives his life for his people.

His consolations clarify his ministry. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. His consolations solidify his sovereignty. They solidify his sovereignty. So the psalmist can sit back and say when my heart's overwhelmed by the anxious thoughts, I'm worried about what's going to happen in my marriage. I'm worried about what's going to happen to my finances. I'm worried about what's going to happen in my church. What's going to happen at work. My consolations light my soul because in there I see the identity of God.

I understand the story of God. I understand the authority of God, the sovereignty of God, the ministry of God. I begin to understand everything about God and I can trust him. I can rest in him. I can believe in him. So therefore, everything is about him. When anxiousness in the heart weighs a man down, a good word makes it glad. It lifts it up. What's the good word? God's word. And I want to lift your heart this morning. I want God's word to make your heart glad. I want God's word to be able to lift you to new heights because you trust in him and believe in him.

And that's what Luke 12 is about. So hopefully you're in Luke 12 as we begin to understand more and more of this beautiful, beautiful word of God. Let me read it to you again so we can fit it in our hearts and minds.

Verse 22. And he said to his disciples, for this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, nor for your body as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food and the body than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, and they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds. And which of you, being anxious, can add a single cubit to his lifespan? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters?

Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. But I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so raised the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith? And do not seek what you shall eat and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek. But your Father knows that you need these things, but seek for his kingdom, and these things shall be added to you.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, give to charity, make yourselves purses which do not wear out, and unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. In this section of Scripture, our Lord gives us seven principles to help abolish anxiety in our lives, to rid ourselves of worry, to be able to believe and to trust in the living God. We've gone over them the last couple of weeks.

Number one was to recognize God's purpose for your life. It's more than just food and fashion. It's about the glory of God. Number two, you need to realize God's provision he provides for those in need because he is the one who feeds the birds of the air.

They neither lack food nor do they worry about their food because God provides. So, we recognize God's provision. Number three, we remember God's providence.

You can't add anything to your life. All your days are numbered before there was even yet one of them. God is providentially in control of how long you live and how well you live because he is the sovereign God of the universe. You need to reflect on God's preference for your life. He prefers you over the lilies of the fields, yet he closed them and erased them with the beauty of his creation. Yet you are his preference because he died for you. You need to re-examine God's paternity in your life.

He is your father and the father always knows best. In fact, it was J.I. Packer who wrote this in his book, Knowing God, about the fatherhood of God. He says, you sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase if you speak of it as a revelation of the fatherhood of the holy creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of the New Testament religion if you describe it as a knowledge of God as one's holy father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child in having God as his father.

If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish is summed up in the knowledge of the fatherhood of God. Father is the Christian name for God. He's our father, his paternity. If earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will your holy father, your heavenly father, give to you the Holy Spirit when you ask?

We talked about that last week in Matthew, Luke 11, when we talked about prayer and God giving us his best. He gives us everything when he gave us his spirit. He is the father. And then number six, we saw where you needed to make sure that you would rekindle God's priority in life, and that is to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

That's the priority, to seek his kingdom first and foremost, not your kingdom, not your desires, but his kingdom, seeking it first.

And then lastly, number seven, this is the seventh principle, you need to be able to rejoice in God's pleasure. Rejoice in God's pleasure. That's in verse number 32. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Rejoice in God's pleasure. We know that Isaiah 52 says that it pleased the father to crush his son. Now we know why, because in the death of his son, you can inherit his kingdom. And the father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. He hasn't chosen grudgingly to give you the kingdom.

I guess you can come in, I guess, if you have to, you can have the kingdom. No, he wants to give you the kingdom. He doesn't want to give you just the resources of his kingdom. He wants you to have the kingdom itself. Whether it's the millennial kingdom, whether it's the earthly kingdom, whether it's the eternal kingdom, whether it's the spiritual kingdom, he's given his kingdom to you, his children. You are joint heirs with Christ. He wants you to have his kingdom. He wants you to have everything in the kingdom and he does it gladly.

We rejoice in that. Remember when the 70 came back in Luke chapter 10, they were ecstatic because they had seen how the power of the gospel had affected people's lives. They were so joyous as to what happened. And the Lord said to them, well, let me read it to you.

Luke chapter 10, he said these words, I was watching Satan fall from heaven, verse 17, and the 70 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. He said to them, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this. They come back ecstatic. He says, don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.

Don't rejoice in your earthly ministry, rejoice in your eternal destiny. Because in our reality, our earthly ministry always won't have us up here, will it? No, it won't. There's going to come times where, where the earthly ministry is going to be very, very difficult. The Lord knows that. He knows the future. They don't. He knows it's always not going to happen the way it happened when they went out at this time. He knows it's not always going to happen that way. So he wants them to keep perspective, keep preoccupied with the kingdom of God, keep focused above and not below.

Because so easily we, we look at the circumstances and they dictate our emotional response, don't they?

We look at the circumstances around us and that dictates how I feel and what's happening, the joy I have or the lack of joy I have.

And the Lord said very cautiously, don't rejoice in that. Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. He goes on to say in Luke 12, little flock, the Father has gladly given you the kingdom. Back in Isaiah 53, the Father has gladly crushed his son so you could obtain the kingdom. See, it's all about the kingdom. It's all about a king who rules in a kingdom. And that's what Christianity is all about. It's all about coming into the kingdom. So Christ wants to refocus our attention because we are so enamored with what's happening around us.

We are overwhelmed by the circumstances around us. We've lost perspective. We've lost focus. We are no longer preoccupied with things above. We are preoccupied with things below. And Christ says, no, no, know this.

You have a name that's written down in glory. That's what caused our Lord to rejoice. As you go on and read Luke chapter 10, of course, we spent many, many weeks there as well, helping you understand that. But as you go back to the text, you can begin to see where our Lord is going here in Luke chapter 12. Your father has gladly given you the kingdom. He calls them a little flock. Little because, yes, it's true that the flock of God is little in number, but little because they are weak and they are feeble and they need someone who is stronger.

And only the king of kings is the ultimate strong man who will guide them and lead them and protect them. A little flock, listen, your father has gladly chosen to give you the kingdom. He's given you the best of what he has, not just the resources in the kingdom that are eternal, that are everlasting, but the kingdom itself, because you have the king. If you had the king, you have the kingdom. Don't have the king. There is no kingdom. And that's why the Lord said through the pen of the Apostle Paul, Romans 14, 17, that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but a righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

That's what God's given you. He's given you righteousness, right? Without him, there'd be no righteousness. We would not have a righteous life positionally in Christ, let alone be able to live out a righteous life practically. But with that righteousness comes peace. A man can only have peace when he's being right with God. So because you're righteous, you have peace. Because you have peace, you have joy. Without peace, there is no joy. And that's the kingdom of God. It's not about eating and drinking.

It's about being right with God, having the peace of God, and experiencing the joy of God. So Jesus comes back and says, listen, little flock, know that your father has gladly given you his kingdom. He's given you his righteousness. He's given you his peace. He's given you his joy. It's yours. It's all yours. What are you worried about? What are you anxious about? What are you afraid of? Everything your heart so desperately needs has been given to you by the king because he has a kingdom and that kingdom is now yours.

So we rejoice gladly in God's pleasure. He is overjoyed to give us his kingdom. That's what he wants to do. And that's exactly what he did. Matthew 25, 34, he says these words, well done now, good and faithful servant, inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you. Wow. The kingdom that's been prepared for me? Yeah. The kingdom that's been prepared for you. And Luke 22, Christ says, my father has given me the kingdom and I am giving that kingdom to you.

So what the father has given me, I'm giving to you. So we can share in it together. The kingdom of almighty God. Listen to these words in second Corinthians chapter nine.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you. That always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance in every good deed. Did you get that? All, always, all, everything, abundance. That's what happens with those people in the kingdom because of the grace of God. All grace abounds. So you always have all sufficiency so that in everything you may have an abundance in every good work. That's what God does for those in his kingdom. So what are you worried about? No need to worry.

No need to be troubled about tomorrow. Rest in what God has done today. Rest in what God did yesterday and trust him for what he'll do tomorrow. Rest in him. Don't be divided in mind. Don't be distracted in mind. Listen to what he says because there's one thing that's needful. That's to listen, but we're not good listeners. We don't like to listen.

We're too busy worrying to listen, right? We're too busy being distracted to listen. That's why the Bible says, be still and know that I am God.

Stillness and quietness is imperative to living a life free from worry because you can listen to God speak about his purpose for you, his priority for you, his provision for you, his providence for you, his preference for you, his pleasure for you. You need to hear those things because that's what God is saying to all of us today. So somebody in the audience in Luke 12, even today might be saying, boy, I'd love to have that pleasure of being in God's kingdom. I'd love to be able to rest in God's provision.

I'd love to be able to have as a priority in my life to seek first his kingdom, his righteousness. I would love to have a knowledge of his providence in my life. All that stuff. I don't want to worry about what I'm going to eat, worry about what I'm going to drink, worry about what I'm going to wear, worry about tomorrow. I want to abolish anxiety. Yes, I want these things. So the Lord says, you want those things? Here is the invitation. Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves purses, which do not wear out and unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.

That is Jesus's invitation to the kingdom. If someone was to ask you, how do I get into the kingdom? How many of you would say, sell all your possessions and give to the poor? You probably wouldn't say that because it would sound like a workspace system, wouldn't it? But that's what Jesus said. He said the same thing to the rich young ruler. Remember that back in Matthew chapter 19? What must I do to inherit eternal life? Sell all your possessions, give it to the poor, follow me. You will notice in Jesus's invitation, there's always the same thing.

Someone say, well, aren't we saved by grace through faith? Isn't that how we're saved? Is it not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by the washing of regeneration and renewing the spirit of God? Isn't that how we're saved? Isn't it believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved? Isn't it whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved? What about all that? Jesus said, sell your possessions, give to the poor. He said to the rich young ruler. He said it here.

He will say it again, Luke 14. You want to follow me? Want to follow me? Sell your possessions, give it all away. He's already said, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. He's already said that, but he says it over and over again. Why? Because everything in the theme, listen carefully, of the invitation of Christ is about total abandonment of everything I trust in. Do you get that theme? Everything you trust in, you must abandon. You must let go. See, we want to sit on the chair and hold onto the rope because we're not so sure the chair is going to hold my weight.

So we go to heaven and we want to hold onto our possessions and trust Jesus that you cannot do that. You can't. Everything in Christianity is about a total abandonment. That's why few are saved. That's why it's a little flock, not a big flock. Because it's about abandonment. It's about desperation. Do you know that nobody is saved unless they are absolutely desperate? Somebody who says, oh yeah, I'll pray that prayer. Sure, no problem. They're not saved. They're not desperate. They're not broken over their sin.

They're not poor in spirit. They're not hungering and thirsting for righteousness. There's not a passion, a drive by yes, I got to have it, whatever it takes. That's why Jesus said in the book of Matthew, the 13th chapter, these words, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid and from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. See, this is the theme of Jesus. That's why the gospel of Jesus is so different than the gospel we preach today.

We don't want to preach total abandonment. That's why Paul said that salvation is turning from idols to the true and living God to serve him. If you're unwilling to abandon your life, if you're unwilling to abandon your possessions, if you're unwilling to abandon everything that you trust in, you cannot be saved. Because in order to trust, you must relinquish everything else you have put your trust in. In order to give your life to Christ, you must give away everything else that you trust in, in this life, to obtain his life.

That's why Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. I have died to self. Salvation is a death to me. And it's a willingness to embrace everything that Christ has. That's what salvation is. You know, I know that when I got saved, I was done with me. I wanted everything God had to offer. I didn't want to burn in hell. I wanted to give my life to Christ. Did I understand all those things at that time? I did not. But I knew that everything I trusted in was wrong. And there's one that I need to give my life to.

He can have it all. It's all his. A willingness to give it all away. What will a man give in exchange for his soul? That's what Jesus said. Just look at the words of Jesus when it comes to invitations.

It will change the way you tell people about Christ. It will. Because you want them to understand that if you give your life to Christ, you're done with you. That's why he says, if any man came up to me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. You're done with you. You've denied yourself. You've died to self, self-sacrifice, self-submission. And you're willing to give your life for me. To follow me wherever I lead. You can't say, well, I'll follow you here, but I won't follow you there.

Can't do that, Lord. I'll go here. I'm not so sure I want to go there. No, no. It's total abandonment. So Jesus says, you want to stop worrying?

Be part of my kingdom. Because when you're a part of the kingdom, everything's taken care of. God will take care of you. He will do that. And remember, we told you within the context of Luke 12, he's already talked about, you know, the leaven of hypocrisy, the leaven of covetousness and beware of every form of greed. Be careful of those things. What shall a man profit if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? So be willing to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Be rich toward God.

Someone says, I want to be rich toward God. Do you? Well, you know what? If you're rich toward God, he'll provide for you. You'll understand his pleasure for you, his kingdom. You'll understand everything he wants to give you. Oh, that's what I want. Okay. Sell everything you got. Give it all away. Give it all away. That's what John the Baptist said. Bring forth fruit equal to repentance. And then what he said to the Pharisees, you want to be baptized for the remission of sins? You want to come down to the Jordan River and believe that the Messiah is coming?

Then you need to show forth fruit that evidences a repentant heart, a changed heart. You see, in our gospel, we have put aside the gospel, the four gospels, and we have adopted phraseology that makes it easy for people to be saved. That's wrong. That's why it's hard to be saved. The kingdom of God is seized violently in Luke 16 crisis by those who so desperately want it. The kingdom of God is for the desperate. The kingdom of God is for those who are willing to trust only in Christ and abandon everything else.

The kingdom of God is for those who give their life away and say, you have Christ's life. So Christ says, sell your possessions, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven for where your treasure is there, where your heart be also.

You see, if you're sitting here saying, I'm not going to do that, that tells us where your heart is, right? Someone says, like the rich young ruler, when Christ said, sell your possessions, give to the poor, follow me. He says, I can't do that because where was his heart? It was with his treasures. It was with the world. You can't have the world and the Lord too. If you want the Lord, you must abandon the world. That's called repentance, a turning from sin and embracing the Messiah. Now it's true that the only way you can do that is if you've been called by God, because no one naturally would do that, would they?

They wouldn't. But if someone is being called by God and he is drawing them to themselves, they're at the point where they say, forget about everything else. I want Christ. Later in Matthew chapter 13, Christ said this again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. And upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. It's that whole transaction theme again, isn't it? The gospel is about the transaction. What will a man give in exchange for a soul?

What will you give away? In other words, put it this way, what will you hold on to and still want Jesus? Can't do that. You must be willing to abandon it all for Christ, whatever he asks. Because you see, the kingdom is more valuable than a fine pearl. The kingdom is more valuable than any amount of earthly treasure. And that's why the two men in the parable realized that what they found in the kingdom was what they wanted more than anything this earth had and were willing to give it all the way to obtain it.

Nothing on this earth would appeal to them anymore. They wanted Christ above everything. They wanted his kingdom more than their kingdom. They wanted what he had to offer. How about you? How about you? Maybe your worrying today is wrapped up in the fact that you have yet to abandon your life for Christ's life. Did you ever think about that? Did you ever think that you are anxious and worried and panicked and fearing everything? Because in all reality, all you have is this life. It's all you got. Oh, you're at church.

Yeah, you're here. You carry a Bible. You're involved in even ministry in the church. And yet, you have yet to abandon your life for Christ. Because you're so tied to the world, it affects everything you think and every emotion you have, you can't even be focused on God's kingdom, because in all reality, you're not a part of that kingdom. I would be remiss if I didn't say that, wouldn't I? I would be remiss in my responsibility if I just said, well, you know, just adopt these principles and go on with life, because maybe it could be and probably is.

There are many who worry in the church because they're not even a part of the kingdom. They know not a father who will take care of them, provide for them, love them, nurture them. You have that, don't you? In Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our Creator, our Master. May we, as a church, live worry-free, no fear, no panic, because of our God, His kingdom, His provision for us. Let's pray. Father God, thank You for today and the joy that You give in Your Word. And pray that our hearts and lives would be focused solely upon Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And pray, God, that You'd go before us today. If there be one here who does not know You as Lord and Savior, who have yet to give their life away to obtain the life of God, may this be the day of their salvation. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.