The False god of Anxiety.

Steve Gentry

[0:06] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:07] Welcome to Village Church. [0:08] This is your first time here. [0:10] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, I’m thankful [0:13] and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:16] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Matthew chapter 6.

[0:19] We’re going to be starting in verse 24 this morning. [0:23] Now this morning, we’re going to be dealing with the issue of anxiety. [0:28] Now, over the past probably 15 years of pastoral ministry, the main issue that I think probably [0:36] is of the utmost controversy, specifically among people who believe the Bible, is the [0:41] issue of anxiety. [0:43] Because everybody believes that their anxiety is different.

[0:46] Everybody believes that their anxiety is somehow acceptable, and everybody believes that their [0:51] anxiety, and this is the biggest problem, this is the biggest lie that you believe, [0:55] most people believe that their anxiety is unchangeable. [0:58] That there is no hope at the end of the tunnel. [1:00] There is no victory where you could have a life in which you are living with more faith [1:07] in Jesus that is overcoming your anxiety.

[1:11] Now I’m going, the most controversial thing I’m going to say today to people who actually [1:15] struggle with anxiety is a forward statement, and I’ve said it many times before, and that [1:20] is the fact that anxiety is a sin, and it is. [1:24] The Bible defines it that way. [1:25] The scriptures tell us that, and if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, then you therefore [1:31] must believe everything that Jesus says, and Jesus is going to tell us three times today

[1:35] a command to not be anxious. [1:39] And so when Jesus says not to do something, what is it when you do something? [1:43] It is a sin. [1:46] But I also want you to understand that anxiety is not an issue that I deal with in a cavalier [1:53] nature, because anxiety is a personal battle for me. [1:58] There really isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t deal with my own issue with anxiety.

[2:03] Now anxiety is something where you can deal with it at many different levels, and so I [2:14] balance anxiety is an issue that does need medical attention, and anxiety possibly is [2:22] something that you are medicated for, or some of you who we wish you’d get medicated for.

[2:29] But even in light of those four things, that doesn’t change what Jesus says about anxiety. [2:38] So the mistake that many of us make when we go into scripture is, is that we’re with [2:44] it until it contradicts the personal story we tell ourselves. [2:50] And so whenever my story contradicts with what Jesus is saying, or, and here’s the deal, [2:55] any author is what Jesus is saying in the scripture, when my story contradicts what [3:00] Jesus is saying, somehow it changes the whole narrative of what Jesus is saying for us.

[3:05] You need to believe Jesus more than you believe yourself, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ. [3:10] That’s true for everyone, but specifically if you claim faith in Him. [3:14] And so my struggle with anxiety does not change the concrete nature of how Jesus deals with anxiety. [3:23] It’s fascinating when I prepare to preach through different sermon series, we choose [3:27] these many, many, many months in advance, and so months and months and months ago, I [3:32] don’t remember exactly when I lobbied to, because we make these decisions as a team,

[3:36] I lobbied to go through the first section of Matthew because, and I was like, let’s [3:42] go Matthew one through seven because they can’t make it through the whole book, so [3:45] we’ll just parse it out.

[3:47] And it was with a view that I really just wanted to go through the Sermon on the Mount.

[3:52] And chapters one through four kind of set the stage for the Sermon on the Mount, but [3:56] I love the Sermon on the Mount and I love the whole Bible. [3:59] If you know anything about me, you know that the Bible is really interesting when you talk [4:02] to me about it, but nothing else is. [4:04] But I love, nothing else of interest in my life ever going on. [4:08] I’m bored.

[4:09] But the Bible, I love the Bible. [4:12] And I love talking about the Bible, I’ve read the Bible, I’ve studied the Bible, but I [4:15] specifically there are certain places, and I’m just like everybody else, there are certain [4:18] aspects of scripture, certain sections that just are more meaningful, more applicable. [4:24] And if you go through the Sermon on the Mount and don’t find 362 things that you need to [4:30] You’re not reading it right.

[4:32] And that’s what I love the Sermon on the Mount for that, is that it peers into who I am [4:38] and says, come follow Jesus or be judged by him. [4:42] And so when I come and I follow him, I experience amazing life change. [4:47] But in studying this, and so when I’m about to preach a section of verses, because I [4:52] can’t preach all one through seven and not be here for a couple of days, but when I preach [4:56] a section of scripture, I will while I’m writing it, and I usually start writing a

[5:00] couple months in advance before I sit down to write, I will read the chapters surrounding [5:07] that section a couple dozen times. [5:10] And for this specific text, for this Sermon on the Mount, the Father has done an amazing [5:18] amount of work in my life over the past few months. [5:20] He’s exposed sins that I was even unaware existed in my life. [5:25] He’s shined a light on darker parts of myself.

[5:28] He’s drawn out repentance in ways that I didn’t think was possible, and he’s done work in [5:33] my life. But here’s the key. [5:35] Whenever the Father does that, understand spiritual warfare is close at hand. [5:38] I’ve also never personally in my being experienced spiritual warfare the way that I have [5:43] probably over the last year or two of my life in preparing for this series. [5:47] And so what’s fascinating about it, and some of you hear spiritual warfare and if you

[5:52] don’t know me, I’m not talking about the movie The Exorcist spiritual warfare. [5:55] I’m talking about the kind that actually exists because that one doesn’t. [6:00] I’m talking about the we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principality’s [6:05] powers of darkness. Whenever you have a fight of faith in your life, that’s what spiritual [6:09] warfare actually looks like. [6:11] And so this section specifically, now the prayer, the fasting, the beatitudes, all of

[6:18] that’s impactful. But this section on anxiety, I’ve learned things about myself that I [6:24] didn’t know previously because it’s not that I’ve received new revelation because that [6:28] doesn’t exist, but I’ve received new application through studying this section of scripture. [6:34] Now, anxiety has been an issue since I was a very young man. [6:36] I remember first panic attack I ever had was cursive in the third grade, but it was a [6:40] monster and I couldn’t defeat it.

[6:42] But the reality is that that anxiety has been something that I’ve dealt with, struggled [6:49] with, had my hands around for a long time in my life. [6:54] And it’s almost a daily battle for me. [6:56] But in the end of last year into early spring, I experienced anxiety like it was rough. [7:05] I asked my wife, there was the two month span probably between I tried to pinpoint it, but [7:10] I forget these things.

[7:10] Probably February and March, I only slept probably an average of two hours a night [7:14] for a couple of months. [7:17] And it was debilitating. [7:19] I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t turn my brain off, just laid there. [7:23] And I, you know, my mantra was anxiety is a sin. [7:24] So why can’t I go to sleep?

[7:25] I know that, you know, and that’s the way anxiety works in your life. [7:29] Then you start to become anxious about going to bed. [7:32] And so those were great conversations for my wife. [7:34] I know she enjoyed them. [7:35] It would become like 830 at night. [7:36] I’m like, great, two hours away from not sleeping.

[7:42] Fantastic. [7:43] I hate everyone. [7:45] But anxiety can be this controlling factor in your life where you are tempted to believe [7:54] lies and deny truth, even though you know truth is real. [8:00] You can believe that God has forsaken you, even though you know he has not forsaken you. [8:05] You can believe that God does not hear your prayers, even though you know that the Father

[8:09] hears your prayers. [8:11] But what Jesus does in Matthew chapter 6 is he gets down to what anxiety is actually about. [8:20] But he also gives you the hope for victory in your life. [8:28] And here’s what he says starting in verse 24. [8:30] I’m going to bring in a verse from last week and talk about it in a few minutes. [8:34] Here’s what Jesus says.

[8:37] No one can serve two masters. [8:39] And right there, those of you that struggle with anxiety, I want you to understand that [8:42] anxiety is a master you will be tempted to serve. [8:46] He says, for either he will hate the one and love the other and he will be devoted to the one and [8:50] despise the other. [8:52] You cannot serve God.

[8:54] And in the original language, mammon is a good understanding. [8:57] We don’t know what that word means, but money. [9:00] Verse 25. [9:01] Therefore, so what Jesus is doing here, he’s saying, because that is true, [9:09] here’s the way it’s going to play out in your life. [9:13] Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.

[9:20] There’s going to be three times he’s going to do this. [9:23] What you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. [9:27] Is not life more than food in the body more than clothing? [9:31] Look at the birds of the air. [9:33] They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and your heavenly father feeds them. [9:37] Are you not of more value than they?

[9:40] And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? [9:46] Why are you anxious about clothing? [9:48] Consider the lilies of the field. [9:50] How they grow. [9:51] They neither toil nor spin. [9:53] Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

[9:57] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown [10:02] into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? [10:06] Oh, you of little faith. [10:10] Because this is true doubles down. [10:13] Do not be anxious saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? [10:20] For the Gentiles seek all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all.

[10:24] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, [10:27] and all these things will be added to you. [10:30] He triples down. [10:32] Therefore, or because this is true, do not be anxious about tomorrow, [10:38] for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. [10:41] Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

[10:44] Now, I believe that this section of Scripture is so relevant to where we are, [10:49] not just as a society, but because I know so many of you, but I believe it’s relevant [10:53] for what so many of you are struggling through in your lives right now. [10:56] We’re going to take this week and next week to go through the same section of verses. [11:01] And so today I’m only going to talk about the issue of anxiety. [11:05] So I have to do that preview because some of you little, you know,

[11:09] amateur theologians like you lost so much context out. [11:12] Well, that’s because I’m doing it next week. [11:13] But I’m only going to talk about the issue of anxiety. [11:16] And so I’m pretty much only going to be negative today. [11:20] So sorry. [11:21] You’re like, well, that’s like everything.

[11:22] But whatever, whatever.

[11:28] It’s my love language. [11:31] But if you ever want to know what Steve’s love language, cynicism.

[11:37] But we’re going to deal with the just the issue of anxiety today. [11:41] And then next Sunday, what I want to talk about is what Jesus means when he says, [11:47] the kingdom of God. [11:49] But more than that, how that relates to your anxiety [11:53] and how that is both the strategy as well as the hope for overcoming anxiety in your life. [12:00] Because I don’t believe Jesus would ever say don’t if he doesn’t give us a path of how not to.

[12:08] And so when Jesus says, don’t be anxious. [12:10] And here’s why I have to be so adamant about the fact that anxiety is a sin. [12:15] Because Jesus says, don’t do it. [12:17] But then he never says, don’t do it where he does not on the other hand of that say, [12:23] here’s what you should do. [12:24] And it is the weapon to use against what I told you not to do.

[12:30] So number one, this morning, understand that anxiety is rooted in worship. [12:35] Anxiety is rooted in worship. [12:37] And that’s why I included verse 24. [12:39] Because verse 24, he gives us a very clear [12:43] reality about the worship in our lives. [12:46] He says, no one can serve two masters.

[12:49] And so what he’s talking about is what exactly is it that is controlling your life. [12:55] If you’ve ever struggled with anxiety, you understand that anxiety can control your life [13:00] because it controls your thought patterns. [13:02] It controls the way you think. [13:03] It controls how you think. [13:04] It controls what you think about.

[13:07] And so he’s telling us that no one can serve two masters. [13:10] You will either love one and hate the other or you will hate one and love the other. [13:16] And you cannot serve God and money. [13:20] In the original language, that term for money, it’s best translated for money. [13:25] So I think it’s a good translation, but it’s not as robust of a translation. [13:28] Because in the original language, the term for used for money or mammon

[13:33] was this idea of what it is that you place value on. [13:38] What is it that you give worth to? [13:42] And because worship in its simplest definition is ascribing worth, [13:49] or it’s saying this is what is worth something to me. [13:54] It is a value that you place on something. [13:57] And when we deal with the issue of our worship, we have to understand

[14:02] it is what our mind is consumed with. [14:07] And so for to help you understand, is this something that’s a struggle in your life? [14:12] I want to give us some questions to think through in our lives. [14:15] The answer is yes, you do struggle with it, by the way. [14:17] But the first question I want to ask you, do you constantly worry about money?

[14:23] And this can be true at any income level, because for some of you, [14:26] you’re looking at your bank account and you’re like, there’s $15 in it. [14:29] I better be worried about it. [14:31] No, you better do something about it, but you shouldn’t worry about it. [14:35] Do you lay awake at night concerned with how you’re going to pay your bills? [14:40] Because I’ve met people that literally had six figures in the bank and they were still

[14:46] really worried about money. [14:48] And I was like, well, give it to me and I won’t be worried about it.

[14:57] But are you concerned with it? [14:59] Are you consumed by it? [15:01] And this is not about laying awake at night or having a panic attack about it. [15:04] Being anxious doesn’t necessarily make you have panic attacks. [15:09] Being anxious is we pretty it up. [15:12] We don’t worry is different than anxiety.

[15:13] No, it isn’t. [15:15] It’s the same word in the original language. [15:18] Or maybe you use the word, I’m just concerned about my financial situation. [15:22] Oh, you mean you’re anxious about your financial situation because it’s the same word.

[15:27] Or my mother, she always used the term fret. [15:30] Don’t fret. [15:32] All right. [15:32] Are you fretting about it? [15:35] All right. [15:35] We can pretty it up all day, but it’s all the same.

[15:39] It is anxiety. [15:40] Are you anxious about money? [15:42] Do you constantly worry about losing a job or losing a position at your job or losing [15:49] some type of status at your job or status in life in general? [15:55] Are you anxious about your health? [15:58] Do you worry you will lose a person, whether it be a boyfriend,

[16:02] girlfriend, a husband or wife, a loved one, a sibling, a parent, a friend?

[16:10] Or are you concerned you will never get a boyfriend or girlfriend, a husband or a wife [16:14] or you’re childless and you’re concerned, I want a child or you have a child and you’re [16:20] always consumed with anxiety over that child. [16:24] Do you fret over your children? [16:29] Do you fret over their grades? [16:30] Do you worry?

[16:32] Do you worry about the resume that they’re building with their lives, even at 10 years old? [16:39] Do you worry about their future success or failure at a career or even at a sport?

[16:51] See, the fact, the problem that some parents don’t understand about this, [16:54] and this is just a little segue, a little free, a little tidbit from me, [16:58] is some of you parents are preparing your children very early on to struggle with anxiety [17:04] in adulthood. You just don’t realize it because you’re putting so much pressure on a 10-year-old [17:10] about things that they don’t need to worry about until they’re 22 years old that they’re going [17:15] to be on antidepressants by the time they’re 15 years old. And you know who did it? You did.

[17:22] Because they had to get better grades than anybody else. They had to start worrying [17:25] about their career instead of playing with toys. Let them play with toys.

[17:30] They had to, you know, make the major leagues or they had to be a professional NBA player. [17:35] Here’s the deal. If you’re making your child anxious over sports, you’re a fool. They’re [17:39] never going to make it to the professional level, ever. None of them. Can I just liberate some of [17:45] you and take you off at the same time? There’s not a single parent in here who’s going to have [17:52] a child that’s going to make millions of dollars playing sports. You want to know how I know that? [17:57] Statistics. Math doesn’t lie. I’m not going to go further than that. Sometimes I have to stop

[18:06] myself because I might go get too angry. Here’s a new one that we didn’t have to deal with even [18:13] five years ago. Do you worry how many likes you get? How many winks or hearts or whatever it is [18:23] that you get on whatever social media platform came out last week? Do you get anxious about how [18:30] many people shared it or how many people you just assume ignored it? Does that worry you? [18:36] You see, the examples go on and on and only get more serious from there. Friends, what you don’t [18:44] want to believe but is absolutely true is that every example of worry and anxiety in your life

[18:51] is based on how you define your identity and what you are placing your hope in. Every single one of [18:57] you. So when you worry and it becomes a rhythm in your life, it reveals an allegiance to a [19:07] master that isn’t God. And that’s why I’m pulling in verse 24 because the breeding ground for [19:15] anxiety is the attempt to find your contentment in more than God. So anything in your life that you [19:26] consider a resource or a source of riches falls into the category of you cannot serve God and [19:33] money. And it begs the question of what is it that you value? See, because you are never not

[19:39] worshiping. Many of us think about anxiety as the world’s hold on us, but that’s not really [19:46] accurate. Anxiety is often about my hold on the world and my illusion of control over the things [19:57] in my life and the things in the world. Look at what God says to Israel in Deuteronomy 8, right [20:02] as they’re on the brink of the promised land. The Father says this and we’re going to talk about [20:06] this text or excuse me, this chapter both this week and next week. In verse 11, the Father says, [20:12] take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and

[20:18] his statutes, which I command you today. Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good [20:23] houses and live in them, when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied [20:30] and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart will be lifted up and you will forget the [20:36] Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you [20:41] through the great and terrifying wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground [20:46] where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the

[20:50] wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you to do [20:56] good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, my power and my might of my hand have gotten [21:05] this wealth. You see, the Father tells them that once they enter the promised land and [21:10] experience great gain and they would, he promises it, that they must continually check their [21:18] values system. You see, friend, the temptation is to believe that the things in your life are [21:24] deserved, that the things in your life are built by you and under your control.

[21:32] So what you need to understand is that that is the breeding ground for anxiety because it is an [21:38] illusion. We are richer than we’ve ever been and this is what’s crazy in the United States. [21:47] We have the richest poor people in the history of poor people. Did you know that? Our poor are [21:53] wealthier than any poor in the history of the world and so that means the richer are richer, [21:58] the middle class are richer, everyone is richer, yet we struggle with anxiety more than we’ve ever [22:04] struggled with it in the history of the world. Why do you think that? Because of Deuteronomy 8.

[22:13] Once you believe that you did it without God, you then believe you have to maintain it apart [22:20] from God and there is nothing more anxiety inducing than having to control even your life. [22:28] It’s an illusion. You do not have the control that you think that you have. Look at what the [22:33] apostle Paul says in Romans 1. He’s talking about pagans and the reality of paganism. [22:39] He says, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their [22:43] bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and

[22:47] served the creature rather than the creator who’s blessed forever. Amen. See, he’s saying that they [22:54] form an identity around what is created more than they form an identity around who created it. [23:01] They value the thing more than they value the one who created the thing. [23:07] And so the stuff that brings you the most anxiety in your life is because you have made the willful [23:15] decision, I find more satisfaction in the gifts that God can give me than I do the God who gave it. [23:23] And that is ultimately why you are so filled with anxiety because you’re not worshiping God,

[23:28] you’re worshiping stuff. Number two, anxiety reveals what you treasure. [23:35] Anxiety reveals what you treasure. As I’ve said, earthly treasure is about more than money. [23:44] And sometimes we get in this rut where reading the Bible is concerned, we make one of two mistakes. [23:49] We either, A, don’t think about the original context of the verse, the original audience [23:54] that it was given to, and we just immediately try to make application without understanding [23:58] what the text is actually about. Or we do the opposite and we believe that the application

[24:03] in our lives is irrelevant because it’s an old text and it meant this to them back then, [24:08] but we don’t struggle with that. And so when we read through this and Jesus says, you know, [24:12] he says that, you know, don’t worry about money, don’t worry about food, and don’t worry about [24:16] clothes. And maybe you’re sitting there and you’re like, oh, just those three examples. [24:19] I don’t struggle with being anxious about any of those specific things. So I don’t struggle with [24:24] anxiety. That’s not accurate because the reason that Jesus gives those examples is because he

[24:30] wants to deal with kind of the lowest common denominator of what you’re being anxious about [24:36] so that it can have a broader understanding. I’m looking out in this crowd and I’m not seeing [24:42] people that go hungry very often. All right. Now, don’t worry, neither am I, obviously.

[24:49] But when he says, don’t be anxious about food, the idea there is, is that this is a person that’s [24:54] going to bed at night and they’re having just life altering anxiety because they don’t know [25:01] where the food’s going to come from tomorrow. And don’t think that because you haven’t been there, [25:07] and I’m going to assume that most of you have never been there. Maybe a few of you have and [25:11] don’t know it, but most of you have never been to a place where you didn’t know where the next [25:15] meal was going to come from. Maybe you didn’t like the next meal, but you at least knew it was coming.

[25:21] Jesus is saying, even if you get down to where times are that tough, don’t be anxious. [25:29] Don’t be anxious. And so when you get down to there, you start thinking about the things [25:34] that you are anxious about and you’re like, well, that’s kind of silly. But Jesus did that [25:39] specifically so that you would understand that it’s anything that you could be anxious about. [25:43] It’s not the thing that his focus is on. It’s the anxiety that Jesus’ focus is on. So what does [25:51] cause your anxiety? In Philippians 4, the apostle Paul says, don’t be anxious about anything.

[25:59] Don’t do it. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request [26:04] be made known to God. See, he orders that in the way that he does, not because you’re just going [26:11] to instantly be able to pray your way out of anxiety. That’s not what he means. What he means [26:16] is, is that anxiety will turn your focus off of God and onto the thing that you either are afraid [26:24] you’re going to lose or the thing that you are afraid that you will never be able to attain [26:29] in your life. If I am anxious, I am not trusting God, is Paul’s point.

[26:36] And I know that some of you right now, even in this sermon, you are dialoguing in your head about [26:42] how your anxiety is different and that it’s more complicated than that and you’re the exception to [26:47] the rule. But it isn’t. It isn’t more complicated than that. You are not the exception to the rule. [26:54] Every moment of your anxiety is a challenge to your faith. You see, anxiety is typically about [27:02] the future. There is either a present situation that you worry will impact the future or you [27:08] worry how it will impact the future or you are simply worried about the future with one issue

[27:14] or another. But friend, whether your anxiety is about financial ruin, whether your anxiety is [27:21] about health, whether your anxiety is about how many likes you got on social media or your [27:26] continuous fear of missing out, you know, FOMO, the roots are in what you are treasuring with [27:35] your life. These are all synonymous issues when it comes to anxiety. It’s about what you need. [27:42] It’s about what you trust. It’s about what you are finding your identity in. And ultimately, [27:47] what you believe will give you ultimate satisfaction. You know, it’s just like last

[27:53] week we talked about keeping up with the Joneses. You see, last week was about the abundance of [27:58] having and how you steward the wonderful blessings that God gives you. And I hope he gives you lots. [28:05] But this week is the other side of that coin. It’s about your perpetual fear that you won’t have [28:12] enough or what you do have, you will lose. Think about it this way. And I want to get [28:17] really specific about what we deal with in our culture. I mean, they’re building [28:21] hundreds of houses every day in Midlothian. If a friend of yours, because this happens all the time

[28:29] in our church, a friend of yours buys a bigger house than you have. Or even more, they buy a [28:41] bigger house than you have in a better neighborhood that you live in. And it’s a new [28:45] house that no one’s ever lived in before. Those toilets are fresh.

[28:54] Can you be happy for your friend? Or do you immediately start to question everything that [29:01] you have and say, oh, their house is so much better than mine. So much bigger than mine. [29:10] This house is old. I probably don’t look as spectacular. I don’t even want to have [29:17] anybody over for dinner anymore to see the squalor I live in.

[29:23] And you start to get anxious. You say, oh my goodness, if I don’t get a newer, better, bigger [29:30] house, I’m not as good and I’m not as valuable. So I must make that my pursuit.

[29:39] See, friends, that is about anxiety. But here’s the deal. It’s deeper than that.

[29:46] That’s a worship issue. You’re worshiping things. You’re finding your status and identity [29:54] in things. Let’s not just talk about stuff. Do you continuously worry that every symptom you [30:01] deal with is a terminal illness? That’s a worship issue. Do you lay awake at night worrying that [30:10] your children aren’t good enough at math? That they’re not excelling at this sport or another [30:16] sport or always need whatever new activity or culture throws at us? Friends, that is a worship [30:23] issue. That is you seeking to find satisfaction and contentment in things rather than satisfaction

[30:31] and contentment at God. OK, don’t take my word for it. Look in First Timothy, Chapter six, [30:37] the apostle Paul says, but godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought [30:42] nothing into the world. We cannot take anything out of the world. That is a devastating text for [30:49] anxiety. That’s, you know, you came into the world empty handed. You could conquer the whole [30:55] world. You’re heading out empty handed as well. Verse nine, verse eight, but if we have food and [31:01] clothing with these things, we will be content. If you underline verses, that’s a great one to

[31:07] underline. That is a great one to memorize for when anxiety comes into your life. Remind yourself [31:14] that the Holy Spirit wrote to the apostle Paul, if we have food and we have clothing, [31:22] that is enough to be content. Verse nine, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, [31:31] into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and [31:37] destruction. Verse 10, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this [31:44] craving. Now listen to this. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the

[31:52] faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. See, it’s not just false doctrine. It’s not just, [31:59] you know, this type of sick perverted immorality that people leave the faith. The apostle Paul [32:05] saying, if you fall in love with money, you are one step away from leaving the faith.

[32:14] This is a deadly warning, but this is also the breeding ground for anxiety.

[32:21] So when your life begins to be consumed with finding satisfaction in places that God does not [32:28] say satisfaction is going to be found, the only thing you’re going to find is anxiety for more [32:35] because you’re never going to find what you need. So let’s take some inventory. [32:41] If we inventory our lives and measure ourselves by scripture and you see a person who is seeking [32:48] to build a life with identity shaped by the gospel and pursuit of obedience to God’s word, [32:56] then you are satisfied. That’s what he’s saying. But still, many of you want to defend yourself

[33:04] because you desire something else more than you desire godliness. If that’s true,

[33:14] then the only answer is that Jesus is not your treasure. [33:18] Because some of you, man, you really want it. You say, I want to be obedient to scripture. [33:24] And so if you do it and you’re obedient to scripture and you love Jesus and you say, [33:28] OK, I’m obedient and I love Jesus, but then there’s something going on in your life. [33:33] And you know what it is? It’s you telling yourself, but I’m still not satisfied. [33:38] This isn’t enough. I need more. I need what they have. I need what they have.

[33:45] I need it for me to be content. Then you are not living. Verse six there, [33:51] he says, godliness with contentment is great gain. So if you’ve got godliness and you don’t [33:58] have contentment, you’re never going to find the great gain that God has designed you for. [34:03] But you need to begin to be honest with yourself about that, because number three, [34:08] this morning, you got to know that anxiety gains you nothing. Let me repeat that anxiety

[34:19] gains you nothing, but it can cost you everything. It’s interesting when you deal with what anxiety [34:30] can do to a person. Look at verse twenty seven. Which of you, I love that Jesus asks it that way. [34:39] It’s this rhetorical question that, you know, if you get wrong, you’re the idiot.

[34:44] Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of life? [34:51] Obviously, the answer is none of us. None of us can be anxious and use it to add a single [34:56] hour to our lives. But our medical advancement is so amazing that we’ve actually found that [35:02] anxiety can actually cost you an hour or way more to your span of life. Anxiety can actually make [35:11] you physically ill. If your anxiety progresses to the point where you’re having panic attacks, [35:18] it mimics a heart attack in many people. I don’t know if you know this or not,

[35:24] but new data has just come out that the heart is a pretty important organ. [35:29] If it stops beating, all of you die. Like that’s, that’s, I don’t know if that’s new knowledge for [35:35] you, but so if a panic attack or if a deep experience of anxiety can mimic the heart [35:45] having a potentially life ending event, then you should take it pretty seriously because it’s [35:53] causing some serious health issues in your life. And if you have a brain that’s functioning, [35:58] you will begin to put something in place to fix that issue in your life. But anxiety is fascinating

[36:07] because you can’t get a brain transplant.

[36:12] You’ve got this one. And so the fix of it, sure, it might need some medication, [36:20] but the medicine isn’t going to heal it. I truly believe that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can [36:26] heal it. Don’t hear what I’m not saying. If you’d stop taking those pills today, [36:31] you’re going to be in the fetal position by tomorrow morning. Okay. Don’t get off your meds, [36:36] but understand that anxiety medication, when it was created, when it was invented, [36:44] it was invented to be a stop gap medicine. In other words, it was invented because when you

[36:52] are overwhelmed with anxiety, it means that the chemicals in your brain are imbalanced. That’s [36:57] where we get the term chemical imbalance from. And so once you do it for a length of time, [37:03] your brain can actually be trained just like any other muscle to your normal is defined as anxious [37:12] or depressed, emotionally unstable. And so what the medication was designed to do [37:19] is to fix the imbalance. No one is chemically balanced. You got to understand that. [37:26] No one is chemically balanced. You know what chemical balance looks like?

[37:32] You’re not happy. You’re not sad. You just are. Now that might be my personal goal in life. [37:39] My pleasure is balance. I’m not happy. I’m not sad. I just am. But no one does that. Everybody has [37:47] happy highs. Everyone has sad lows. It’s just the way that you go through life. But the medicine [37:53] for anxiety was designed to level you out. And then once you’re leveled out, you cut the dose.

[38:04] 90%, 80%, 70%, 60, 50, on and on and on. That’s why I said, don’t just stop taking your medicine [38:11] because you’re supposed to taper. But here’s what we’ve done as a society.

[38:17] We don’t want to do the work of getting balanced. We just want the drug that will get us through [38:26] while still chasing all of our false gods. What’s fascinating about the Old Testament, [38:31] if you know me, you know I love the Old Testament. I’m kind of a nerd where it’s concerned, [38:36] is we’re so hard on the nation of Israel. And we are. I mean, here’s the deal. The nation of [38:42] Israel has the most amazing patriarch to look back on. Just these amazing men of faith, Abraham, [38:48] Isaac, Jacob, God did these amazing things through their lives up until Joseph. And they look back

[38:52] and they have these amazing stories of faith. And then they endured slavery for a long time. And [38:57] then God does this miraculous work through the plagues to get them out of slavery. And then when [39:01] it looks like they’re going to have to go back into slavery, God’s like, okay, I’ll just part an [39:05] entire sea and make the dirt in the bottom of the sea dry so that you can walk through it. And so [39:11] they do walk through it. And then the army that’s chasing them, the water falls down on them and [39:15] they drown. And then they walk through the wilderness and God starts turning rocks into

[39:21] water fountains. And then they get hungry and quail just flies through the air and they’re like [39:26] grabbing them, having a Thanksgiving feast. Then they wake up in the morning and manna is on the [39:31] ground. They can miraculously eat manna and be full and walk through. God miraculously made their [39:37] shoes last for 40 years without ever needing a new pair. That’s amazing for some people. And for [39:45] the younger people who buy stupid amounts of shoes, you’re like, oh, that’s terrible.

[39:51] But God did this amazing work. Then he brings them into the promised land and they are able [39:55] to vanquish any enemy that stands in their way. And then they ultimately become the wealthiest [40:02] nation in the world. And we’re like, wow, how powerful is that God? But he didn’t even stop [40:07] there. He even chose people from within the people of Israel that he was going to speak through [40:13] in prophetic ways so they could know exactly what God wanted from them all the time. That’s pretty [40:22] crazy. And the way Israel responded to that over and over was, hey, maybe we should go worse

[40:29] with that bail guy instead. And we read that and we think, what was Israel thinking? [40:38] God couldn’t have been better to them. He couldn’t have given them many more blessings. He [40:44] couldn’t have been more specific. But then I read verse 27. Which one of you, [40:55] you know, being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life.

[41:04] Just like Israel chasing after bail, there I am anxiously fretting.

[41:13] It accomplishes nothing. Just like bail could accomplish nothing. Every time Israel put bail [41:20] to the test, bail didn’t do anything because bail doesn’t exist. He’s made up by a sinful heart. [41:30] And just like that, I chase after a false God with my worry. John Calvin once wrote that the [41:39] human heart is a perpetual idol factory. And if you ever read through Calvin’s Institutes, [41:45] which most of you won’t, Calvin’s work was mostly about the issue of self-awareness. [41:53] Calvin noted that if a person is truly self-aware, they would have to turn to God in faith because

[42:01] self-awareness makes you understand your inability. And see, this is how you fight anxiety. [42:08] It is a ruthless redefining of life based on my need for God and his control in all things, [42:19] where I reject my illusion of control over anything. First Peter five reminds us [42:29] of what the fight of anxiety is like. It says in verse six, humble yourselves therefore into the [42:35] hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties, there it is, [42:41] on him because he cares for you. This text tells us two things about God, and most of us are good

[42:48] at believing one of the two things. First, it tells us that God is mighty. You’re humbling [42:54] yourself under the mighty hand of God. And so there’s an attribute there in the might of God. [42:59] You are ultimately powerless to change your life. That’s why you don’t humble yourself under your [43:06] control. You humble yourself under his control. This doesn’t mean that your actions don’t matter. [43:13] It certainly doesn’t mean that your actions don’t have consequences. It actually means the opposite. [43:18] In Deuteronomy eight, God wasn’t telling Israel that wealth and produce would just appear out of

[43:23] thin air. The cows weren’t going to feed themselves. The seeds weren’t going to scatter [43:28] themselves in the fields. They still had to go out, water the seed. They had to weed the seed, [43:33] and they didn’t even have weed killer like we do. They still had to do the work.

[43:40] Rather, God was instilling the notion of human ingenuity in them, in their ability to do and [43:49] make things. But that human ingenuity always carries with it temptation to believe the lie [43:56] we are in control and can’t really trust his control. Friends, even the produce of your hands [44:04] require the move of God to do anything. God is mighty, but it tells us a second thing. [44:13] God cares for you. You see, when you struggle with anxiety, that’s the hard part to believe. [44:19] Because you know it’s true, but your mind is denying it. When you are overwhelmed with anxiety,

[44:26] you believe with this issue or that issue, you believe that God has forsaken you. [44:31] You’re wondering, does God even hear my prayers? You’re begging him to act and it doesn’t seem [44:36] like he’s doing anything. You see, faith is ultimately about the future, just like anxiety [44:43] is ultimately about the future. And that’s why there’s a key phrase between God’s might [44:49] and God’s care. And it’s that short phrase at the proper time. You see, you have to trust that. [44:58] God’s power and God’s care plot out his plan for your life. And you are called to simply

[45:09] submit in humility to that. But when you understand that, you understand that the [45:15] biggest thing that anxiety reveals about my life is my pride. You see, the path of repentance is a [45:22] humility that seeks to cast my anxiety on him. Without humility, you cannot overcome anxiety. [45:32] Anxiety is all about pride. The mind can be a battlefield. [45:38] If you don’t know that, then you’ve never thought.

[45:42] You can have all the right answers, which I typically think that I do have, by the way. [45:49] You can understand that anxiety is a sin. You can understand it. You can believe it.

[45:55] And yet there are going to be nights when you’re laying there at 2 a.m. saying anxiety is a sin [46:00] as your mantra and then wondering on the other side of it, why am I still not asleep?

[46:07] But what you need to understand about victory over anxiety is that the struggle [46:14] is where humility is found. Your defense is down, no excuses for your constant worry offered, [46:23] just a humble struggle to trust God because both God’s power and his care are proven [46:34] in the gospel of Jesus Christ through his life, his death, and ultimately his resurrection. [46:42] And that ultimately is the key to anxiety. But understand that the struggle usually still [46:49] continues. Every Sunday, we reflect on both the might and care of God through communion.

[46:59] The bread on the tables in the front and the back on the plate represents the broken body of [47:03] Christ. The cup represents his shed blood. And when you eat and when you drink, what that is a [47:10] picture of is you bringing need to the table of God and him abundantly providing for your need. [47:19] If friend, if you’re in here and all you know is anxiety, all you know is worry, [47:25] I want you to entertain a distinct possibility today.

[47:30] Maybe it’s possible that you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Maybe that actually is the [47:36] source of much of your struggle to believe you have control over things. If that’s the situation [47:43] that you find yourself in, I’m going to ask you to do something a little bit different. Instead of [47:47] taking in communion, I’m actually going to ask you to step out into the foyer. And I know that’s [47:51] a step of faith. But I’m asking you to go out there where there are people there that love you, [47:55] that do care for you. That’s specifically why they’re there. They would love to answer any

[48:00] questions that you have. They would love the opportunity to pray for you, to tell you what it [48:04] is to trust Jesus. But if you’re in here and you are a follower of Jesus, Jesus has taken the [48:17] claim to everyone in here that Jesus has forgiven you. He is your Lord and Savior. [48:23] But then go out into this world, enjoy the many blessings that God has given us, [48:29] but find your identity and your satisfaction in Jesus and not his gifts. When you’re ready, come.