Sermon preached on Sunday, September 18, 2011 at Garden Valley Chapel during our morning worship service based on Matthew 6:33.

Take your Bible if you will and open it to the sixth chapter of the book of Matthew where we conclude our study on verses 25 to 34.

Throughout the pages of Scripture we are given clear mandates.

For example Paul tells young Timothy in 2 Tim 2:22 -

22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

David writes in Psalm 37:27 -

27 Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever.

Solomon appeals to his son in Prov 1:8 -

8 Hear, my son, your father´s instruction And do not forsake your mother´s teaching;

You could call them the "do´s" and "don´ts" of Scripture.

Now there are those who would limit the Scriptures to just this; there are those who we would deem as being law controlled, rather than Spirit controlled (i.e. legalists); while there are those who develop a long list of "do´s" and "don´ts", the Scriptures nevertheless speak clearly and with great authority.

They do so because it is God who is speaking.

While there are those that would blatantly attack the clarity and authority of Scripture (e.g. those in the Emergent Church Movement), God nevertheless uses His "all-clear scriptures" to speak as Luther called the Word of God.

We owe a great deal to the Reformers who fought for the doctrine of the perspicuity (i.e. the clarity) of Scripture. You don´t have to be a part of the clergy or the Magisterium to study and interpret God´s Word.
You need to have a copy of it in your language and once you do, you can see for yourself that God´s speaks in an understandable fashion.

You understand what it says. You may not like what it says, but you understand it. It is clear and understandable.

And so when you go to the pages of Scripture, it is clear and understandable as to God´s divine truth and His will for your life.

As it relates to our passage, in Matthew´s gospel, it is very clear as to what God´s divine will for our lives is: We are not to worry.

In fact, in clear terms with a little help of repetition, our Lord says:

v. 25 "do not be worried"
v. 28 "why are you worried"
v. 31 "do not worry then"
v. 34 "So do not worry"

God´s word is very clear and understandable. You cannot miss what He is saying.

But all of this we might call the "don´t" of the passage - "do not worry."

Q: What about the "do" of this passage? Is there one?
A: The answer: Yes. Our Lord says it in one simple sentence, v. 33 -

33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew Henry called this one verse -

"The sum and substance of our whole duty."

It is no wonder that some have made this one verse, their "life verse."

It is this one verse I want to focus upon today as we endeavor to address THE PRIORITY AND PROMISE OF ANXIETY FREE LIVING.

Calvin said of the believer that we "are born to a better life" - not one that is occupied and consumed with mere earthly living, but one wholly employed about the heavenly life, in the here and now.

That kind of living comes by a monumental shift of focus from a mere obedience to the "don´t" of this passage to the "do" of this passage.

It is like offering a child something more satisfying than what he possesses in his hand. In this case the "do" of this passage is what we want to come away holding in our hand.

Imbedded in this masterful sermon is this one sentence that makes all the difference in the world on the topic of worry. If you want to worry about something then worry about your relationship to God!

The great preacher, Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) said -

"It is of no use only to tell men that they ought to trust, that the birds of the air might teach them to trust, that the flowers of the field might preach resignation and confidence to them: It is no use to attempt to scold them into trust, by telling them that distrust is heathenish. You must fill the heart with supreme and transcendent desire after the one supreme object; and then there will be no room and leisure left for the anxious care after the lesser. Have inwrought into your being, Christian man, the opposite of that heathen over-regard for earthly things"

My beloved, this one verse is all about filling the heart with that "supreme and transcendent desire after the one supreme object."

We were not born of "blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (Jn 1:13) and as such our life is to about anxiety free living, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

And so I invite you to listen along as I read this masterful portion of Jesus´ message in context.

Read Matthew 6:25-34.