The Two Kingdoms of Anxiety.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Well, all right. Good morning. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time [0:04] here, my name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. And as always, I am [0:08] thankful that you have chosen to come here this morning. When you first came in, maybe [0:15] you saw a card on the seat. If you didn’t, you’re sitting on them. So that’s awkward, [0:22] mostly for you. But those cards, they’re called invite cards. And so if you don’t know, we’re [0:29] a second campus of Village Church, a little bit further south in an area called Chester.

[0:34] And we’re very excited about that. The Lord is giving us the opportunity to further our [0:40] influence, to reach more people, to live out our mission as a church on a greater level, [0:47] to aid people who call Village Home, who live in Chester, to be more missional in their [0:54] area. And we’re very excited about that. And to prepare for that, we’re going to have [0:58] two preview services. And the first preview service is on July 22nd at 10 a.m. at Salem [1:05] Church Middle School. And what I want you to do with that card, if you happen to be

[1:09] here and you live in Chester, well, that’s for you. I want to personally invite you to [1:13] come out that morning and be a part of Village Church down there. It’s going to be the same [1:17] sermon there that’s going to be preached here. And you’re like, how’s that possible? Well, [1:21] we’re going to have to show up and see the amazing technology of automobiles that we’re [1:25] going to use. But we want you to come. Now, if you don’t live in Chester, but you know [1:32] some people in Chester, well, I’m just going to ask you to do me a favor. Take those cards

[1:37] and put those in the hands of somebody that you know that lives in the Chester area so [1:41] that they can know that we’re coming down there and we’re going to launch a second [1:45] campus down there in Chester. I’m very excited about it. It’s aiding us to live out our [1:49] mission more. A huge part of our mission statement is that we want to reach as many people as [1:54] possible. And this is one way that we’re going to, by God’s grace, actually be able to accomplish [2:00] that mission. And we’re very excited about the opportunity that God’s going to give us

[2:06] really to reach more potential than we’ve reached in the past. And that’s what God has [2:11] designed you to do. You know, God has really woven potential in the design that he has [2:19] through. If you’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ, there is a world of potential that [2:24] God desires to do through you with your faith. And I know there are always reasons to not [2:30] reach that potential. There are always worries that we have. There are always, you know, [2:35] idols that we have in our life that are going to keep us and tempt us to not live the life

[2:40] of accomplishing things for the mission of Jesus that he’s designed us to accomplish. [2:45] But in Philippians chapter four, the apostle Paul writes a little bit about those things [2:50] that keep us from really doing with our lives what God wants us to do. Almost all sin finds [2:58] its root in anxiety. Almost all sin finds its root in worry. Because quite often God [3:04] calls us to exhibit faith or to step out into the life that he’s designed for us. [3:11] And he says, I’m going to do this through you. I’m going to do this for you. I’m going

[3:15] to do this in you. But you are overcome with worry about what you might lose that God doesn’t [3:20] want you to have, that he wants you to lose, or the pain and the endurance that God’s going [3:26] to call you to exhibit in faith. And you worry and you get anxious about those things. And [3:30] so you disobey God under the guise really of anxiety. [3:37] You see, in our culture, anxiety has become something that many find their identity in. [3:44] Many define themselves by. They would do something, but I struggle with anxiety. I would commit,

[3:51] but I struggle with anxiety. I would exhibit faith, but anxiety. You may not say it that [3:58] way, but that’s actually what is going on with your life. And last or two weeks ago, [4:04] we actually talked about Philippians 4.6. This amazing command that really is an overarching [4:13] command no matter what your background, no matter what your struggle, the apostle writes, [4:18] do not be anxious about anything. He tells us really two things there. First, do not [4:22] be anxious. Second, he says, don’t be anxious about anything. And says, one thing to not

[4:26] be anxious is another thing to apply it to the extent where you’re actually labeling [4:30] it and saying, I shouldn’t be anxious about anything. And he goes on and he says, but [4:37] in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known [4:42] to God. It’s interesting. He says that the answer to anxiety is faith. He says, and the [4:48] peace of God. Note what he means. He says, if you will trust God, if you will live a [4:56] life of faith, if you will give into this notion that God is who he says he is, he’s

[5:02] accomplished what he says he’s accomplished, and he’s going to give what he’s promised [5:05] he’s going to give. He says, you’re going to have something. It’s called the peace of [5:08] God. Note that it’s not a peace that’s from within you. It’s a peace that is from God. [5:12] But then he goes further and he says, and this peace surpasses all understanding. You [5:17] will never convince yourself into this peace. You will never reason yourself into this peace. [5:25] He says, this is an unreasonable peace. This surpasses all understanding. It is a supernatural

[5:32] peace that can only come from God. And he says, he says that this peace will guard your [5:38] hearts and what? Your minds. It’s the battlefield of the mind. And it’s going to be accomplished [5:45] through the gospel of Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, [5:51] whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there’s [5:56] any excellence, if there’s anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What [6:01] you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, he gives these amazing lists,

[6:08] practice these things. And here it is again, and the God of peace. So he says, you need [6:15] peace from God, but you’re going to find it if you understand that God is the source of [6:20] peace and it’s going to be with you. See, life is an amazing thing. God calls us to [6:28] believe these fundamental truths about him. The basis of Christianity starts with the [6:34] realization, God has spoken. And that’s the foundation of everything that we believe. [6:41] God is there. God has not been silent. He has spoken and he desires for me to receive

[6:49] from him the life that he desires me to live. And here he goes to a very important place [6:56] for us and it is the issue of anxiety, which is pervasive in our day and age. We have in [7:03] this era, the most really most prescribed medicine is medicine about anxiety. Whether [7:09] it be panic anxiety disorder, whether it be generalized anxiety disorder, whatever you [7:13] label it, it is now a clinical issue. But it’s gone to the extent where you believe [7:19] that that thing that is hampering you and it’s clogging your mind and it’s causing

[7:25] you great turmoil and it’s causing you to have these attacks, that it is not an issue [7:29] to struggle with. It is an identity to have. It is not something to struggle through with [7:37] hope of health. But instead, it defines you and you will never overcome it. So it becomes [7:45] the anchor that keeps you from moving forward. And unfortunately so many have just accepted [7:51] that. Now of course, disclaimer, don’t hear what I’m not saying. Don’t walk out here and [7:57] say I’m never taking that medication again. Now that’s probably going to shipwreck your

[8:00] life and your marriage. Right? But what I am saying is that in every hope [8:07] thing, you should have hope. In every struggle that you ever have in your life, you should [8:13] have hope. You should define yourself by the realization that God has designed for you [8:20] to obey His word. God will never give you a command that He doesn’t give you the strength [8:24] to obey. But more people struggle with anxiety than even realize it. So maybe you’re on [8:32] the other end. Maybe you haven’t been diagnosed with anything. Maybe you don’t think you have

[8:37] a worry in the world. Maybe you don’t think that you’re anxious about anything. But you [8:42] still have excuse after excuse after excuse why you’re not growing in your discipleship. [8:48] Why you’re not obeying God more today than you did a year ago or two years ago or three [8:52] years ago or four years ago. Why you continually reach this wall and keep bumping up against [8:58] it and never overcoming that wall to grow further, to commit more, to repent more, to [9:04] experience more of God’s presence in your life. And here’s what I want you to understand.

[9:07] It’s because of anxiety. You don’t even realize you have it, but it’s because of anxiety. [9:15] The Christian Standard Bible translates this verse where it says, the apostle Paul writes, [9:19] do not worry about anything. And he’s talking about anxiety. See, it’s a little different. [9:25] We don’t think it’s, you know, that stigma when we say I’m worried. But understand that [9:31] even subconsciously, when we deal with the issue of anxiety, what we are really dealing [9:37] with is an issue of faith. See, because anxiety is actually us saying that in this instance

[9:44] with this issue with my life, God’s promises are untrue and God does not have a plan. God [9:52] is not sovereign over my life right now. That’s what worry says. That’s what anxiety is. [10:01] Convinces you of, even if it’s subconscious. But I think we need to spend a little more [10:06] time than we did two weeks ago delving into the relationship between anxiety and faith. [10:11] Now let me be clear. Anxiety is a struggle. For some, it is a deeper struggle than for [10:16] others. You will probably not walk out here today in like a, you know, finger snap. You’re

[10:20] just cured. That’s not realistic. It’s a sin to struggle through. But struggle you [10:27] must. No matter your condition though, you must face everything in life with the hope [10:33] of Jesus. You must always have hope for growth and change because that’s what discipleship [10:38] is. It’s practical hope for growth and change. And so number one, understand that anxiety [10:45] will cripple your discipleship. Anxiety will cripple your discipleship. God wants you to [10:55] grow. Do you know that? Do you believe that? Do you believe that God has designed a plan

[11:03] for you to a year from today to be more obedient to him than you are today? To know more about [11:13] him than you know today? To spend more time with him than you do today? To experience [11:21] more of seeing his hand work in your life than you have in the past year? God has designed [11:27] that for you. But many of you will not experience it. Because you don’t have the faith to enter [11:36] into the environments or to enter into the levels of obedience that God requires for [11:40] you to experience that. See, in his grace he has redeemed you from sin. And now the

[11:47] word says that you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to walk into good works. So [11:52] you have to walk into the growth that God has for your life. But many of you are overwhelmed [11:57] and you are anxious about what you might lose if you live out the design that God has for [12:02] your life. See, God wants you to accomplish great things. But many of you are not experiencing [12:08] those great things, are you? The reason that you are not experiencing those great things [12:12] is because you are not growing in your faith. But what is the apostle basing this on? Just

[12:17] don’t be anxious. Okay, so what am I supposed to do? Just decide right now? No anxiety? [12:22] No, he doesn’t do that at all. See, sometimes the verses in the Bible are separated in an [12:26] interesting fashion. So you’ll have like a verse stop and start in the middle of a sentence. [12:30] That’s what happens here. See, in Philippians 4-5, the text of verse 5 ends halfway through [12:37] a sentence and then verse 6 picks up halfway through that sentence. See, the sentence [12:41] is, the Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything. So what he’s saying is, is

[12:47] that the presence of God, if you’ve trusted in Jesus, it is in your life. It is working. [12:52] It is there. He’s saying the kingdom is here. And he wants you to understand that that needs [13:00] to become the identity that you walk through this world with. That needs to become the [13:05] promise and the defining reality that you face every single day with. Is that if God [13:13] is at hand, if the gospel is true, if he is working, then why would I be anxious about [13:22] anything? Because his plan is certain. See, friend, the reason you should not be anxious

[13:29] is due to the presence of God and the sureness of his promises. It’s because he is in your [13:38] life. Paul is exhorting the follower of Jesus here. I love some of the terms that the scriptures [13:45] will use and that have become real important words for Christianity and we’ll use them [13:51] in church with no knowledge of what they actually mean. Have you ever seen some of the late [13:55] night comedians, they will go through the sidewalks and they will meet the dumbest [13:59] people in the streets and those are the ones that make it to air and they’ll ask them

[14:02] a question about current events and they’ll be very passionate about it, but then when [14:05] they actually ask them, can you define and they have no clue. They’re just clues. Well, [14:10] sometimes we’re like that and we’ll say, oh, exhort me, brother. What does exhort mean?

[14:19] Jesus. I grew up going to Sunday school by God’s grace and I realized something about, [14:25] you know, eight or nine years in that if I answered to Jesus, it was almost like pin [14:29] the tail on the donkey. I knew I had a shot. Even though I didn’t know the answer, I had [14:35] no idea. If I just raised my hand and I said, Jesus, if I would use the right inflection [14:41] in my tone, it might count. The other times the answer was love. It’s always one of those [14:47] two in Sunday school, but to exhort someone is what Paul does in these letters to the

[14:54] churches. He’s pushing them. So we don’t like that. He’s pushing buttons on sensitive [15:00] issues. To exhort means to push someone to obedience in its simplest definition. It means [15:07] that he wants you to break through into a lifestyle that you have not broken through. [15:13] You are being stubborn in, you are giving excuses for, and you need somebody to come [15:17] and really push you around on this specific issue. And that’s what Paul’s doing in verse [15:22] He is exhorting the follower of Jesus that anxiety is a distrust in God’s power, which

[15:29] will remove joy from your life. And so you understand that joy part where anxiety is [15:35] concerned, don’t you? If you’ve ever had, you know, a real issue with anxiety, you’ve [15:40] ever had a moment where you are literally crippled with worry. Maybe it’s even gone [15:46] to the extent where it’s a panic attack. In that moment, there is no joy. At that [15:53] moment, there’s no happiness. There’s no positivity. There is only negativity in the world. There’s [16:00] hopelessness. But the key is an understanding that ultimately it’s not just a joy that you

[16:07] have within you. It is the joy of the Lord that is not in you. Because what anxiety really [16:14] produces in your life is a distrust at the hand of God in your life. See, in our culture, [16:19] when we start talking about anxiety, we think about only the clinical aspects of anxiety. [16:23] And yes, those are true. We’ve already talked a little bit about those. But the gospel [16:27] also must hold out hope for those conditions. But it goes further than that. It goes to [16:34] just the issue of worry. So sometimes anxiety can be caricatured where you’re like, I don’t

[16:41] know what to do with that. Oh, really? Do you ever worry about anything? I mean, I think [16:46] maybe the adults will understand this more because children think that you just write [16:49] a check and everything’s okay. But have you ever worried about money? Yeah. Ever worried [16:57] about your career, your job? Ever worried about your children, parents? Have you ever [17:06] worried about your spouse? Ever worried if you’ll ever get one? Have you ever worried [17:14] that you found the wrong one? Have you ever seen a moving truck pull up to the house

[17:21] next door, worried about what might get out and move in? You see, there are so many things [17:34] that we worry about. But quite often, those things that we worry about can become the [17:42] overwhelming thing that we live for or we live by. Because you see, worry and anxiety [17:49] are synonymous in experience, at least. Some of you come up with more reasons not to do [17:56] something than to do something when it comes to following Jesus. You see, you excuse yourself [18:02] from obedience by thinking of the exceptions from the rule that exists in your life. Well,

[18:07] because I’m worried about this, well, then I have an excuse not to do this. Well, because [18:13] I’m kind of hampered with my worry. And since worry is a little bit culturally acceptable [18:17] right now. So, you know, it’s a health issue for me and I’m worried about this. And so [18:22] God has excused me from living by faith over here. Friends, there are no exceptions when [18:29] it comes to discipleship. There are no exceptions when it comes to faith. There are no exceptions [18:33] when it comes to the path that God has designed for followers of Jesus to live by. You are

[18:38] either obeying God or you’re disobeying God. There is no third option. There are no exceptions.

[18:45] See, many of the things that you are struggling with, God wants you to struggle through.

[18:50] And he wants you to come out on the other side. See, but ultimately, in the scriptures [18:56] we’re taught that anxiety is actually a symptom of serving two masters. It’s a worship issue. [19:04] About two weeks ago, I had an amazing privilege to spend some time with a few dozen church [19:09] planters to talk about ministry longevity. So the topic was, you know, take a person [19:13] like me that really got into ministry, was about 20 years old and how I can keep doing [19:18] it until I’m 75. And so a wonderful man by the name of Dr. Paul Tripp took us through

[19:24] Matthew 6 and he made some connections that many of us miss about this topic of anxiety. [19:31] And he was talking about pastoral anxiety. But what I found when I was studying it with [19:38] him, I was like, this is just everybody anxiety. I’m not unique in this. See, in Matthew [19:44] 6, 24, Jesus tells the people in the Sermon on the Mount, he says, no one can serve two [19:50] masters. That makes sense. Either he will hate the one, love the other, he will be devoted [19:55] to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. See, the examples here

[20:02] are God and money. In the original language, it’s translated in English as this term mammon [20:07] that we don’t use anymore. And that’s why the translators of the ESV didn’t use mammon. [20:10] But mammon is about more than currency. It is about any material gain. It is about the [20:16] definition of success, the definition of the haves and the have nots. He’s saying, you [20:21] can’t serve both. But here in our culture, we really give it a shot, don’t we? And then [20:28] we look at this text where he’s dead specific about what we’re doing. And we say, but I’m

[20:31] not really doing that. Yeah, you are. See, for the next 10 verses, Jesus spells out [20:38] what this looks like. You see, money is the example, but the outcome of serving money [20:43] is worry over worldly and material aspects of your life. And Jesus simply uses the example [20:51] of worldly gain. Then in Matthew 6, 34, note what Jesus says. Therefore do not be anxious.

[21:04] See, the apostle Paul is quoting Jesus. How often do we miss that when we excuse our [21:10] anxiety? That the apostle is actually giving us a practical outlet to obey the very words [21:18] of our Savior Jesus Christ. He says, don’t be anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow’s anxious [21:22] for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. You see, the symptom of anxiety

[21:31] is trying to serve two masters. You want to follow Jesus, but your value system’s [21:36] overwhelmed with the value system of this world. And your attitude reflects it. You [21:42] see, you say you want Jesus, but you are gripping the concerns of this world with a death grip, [21:48] and it is overwhelming you, and the reason you aren’t growing as a disciple of Jesus. [21:55] So what do you do? You follow Jesus in faith. You see, faith defeats anxiety. Faith defeats [22:03] anxiety. See, some of you are fighting a battle with worry, and you’re not applying faith

[22:08] to it. See, faith in the right kingdom, faith in the right master is the answer, especially [22:14] when you are overcome by the what-ifs of this life. How do you overcome anxiety? Well, [22:20] the apostle Paul told us in Philippians 1, and he told us in Philippians 3. He says, [22:24] you need to live as a citizen of heaven. See, in Philippians 1, he actually told you, he [22:30] said, live worthy of the gospel. But then in chapter 3, he says, live as a citizen of [22:37] heaven. It’s the exact same phrase both times. And the reason is translated just a little

[22:44] bit differently is because it has the same idea in both concepts, that you are to look [22:49] at the gospel of Jesus, the death and the resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness [22:54] of your sins and for the new life under the power of the Holy Spirit, and you are to live [22:59] that out. But it is to understand that God is going to in the future deliver his kingdom [23:05] into this world, and the term is actually saying, live as if that kingdom is right now, [23:10] because it is. The kingdom of heaven is growing in this world, even if you don’t realize

[23:15] it in your life. This is a statement of faith about the future. Live for what you believe [23:23] God is going to deliver. And then in Philippians 4, 8, here’s what he says. He goes further. [23:28] He says, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, [23:35] any excellence, anything worthy of praise, think about these things. You see, what we [23:39] tend to do with that verse is we say, OK, if I’m ever anxious about anything, think [23:43] about flowery meadows. Think about a babbling brook. That’s just stupid. Stop that. Because

[23:54] that’s not what he’s talking about here. If you think about the entire book of Philippians [23:58] as a whole, if you’ve been tracking with us for the past week, what is he talking about [24:01] when he’s talking about what is just? What is he talking about when he says what is lovely, [24:07] pure, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise? He’s talking about that Sunday school answer. [24:15] Jesus. He’s talking about the gospel of Jesus. See, all previous four chapters have built [24:22] up to a rock solid trust in Jesus that transforms your life. And so here when he’s talking about

[24:30] anxiety, he’s going right back to what he’s been delving into. He’s saying, when you are [24:35] overwhelmed with anxiety, you saturate your mind with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says, [24:43] that is the answer. You see, but so many of you are so overwhelmed by the what ifs that [24:51] you cannot get to the pure, the just, the commendable, the excellent. You think God [24:58] has called me to do something. I mean, it’s clear as day. It’s in his word. I understand [25:04] what the next step of faith I need to take is. But what if I lose what I have? What

[25:14] if it doesn’t work out? What if I miss out on another opportunity? What if I fail? What [25:29] if someone hurts me? And on and on. You see, friend, you need to ask yourself, how does [25:38] faith inform my what ifs? See, for the most part, your what ifs are about fear. It’s [25:48] about anxiety. It’s about serving two masters, because you don’t want to serve Jesus to [25:53] the extent where you miss out on your other master’s pleasure. What if you grow in your [26:01] faith? What if you experience more of the presence of God? What if you see God move

[26:09] in ways that you would never believe? See, I’ve seen God move in people’s lives. I’ve [26:15] seen God move into amazing things, and people have amazing experiences. And then they come [26:19] on the other side and they’re like, but what if I lose all of that? And they go back.

[26:28] And I say, oh, you faithless friend, what if you never see God move in that way again?

[26:39] See, growth is not a magic formula. Growth is moment by moment obedience and stepping [26:44] out on faith. What a failure. God doesn’t want us to fear failure. See, people that [26:51] accomplish great things do not fear failure. People that accomplish great things actually [26:56] understand failure may happen. Probably will. People that accomplish amazing things understand [27:05] that even in the face of failure, you learn something so that next time with your next [27:14] life, you will have a lesson that you would not have had without that failure. See, I’m

[27:19] constantly asked when we start doing things here at Village Church, what if it doesn’t [27:22] work out? And my response is, well, if it doesn’t, is the gospel still true? Well, of [27:31] course it is. So who cares? It’s not that you have no fear. It’s not that you don’t [27:41] think failure is potential. It’s that you understand that even if it doesn’t work out, [27:48] it still worked out because you lived by faith. And that is what grows you as a person. [27:55] You see, a lot of times these what ifs that pervade our minds, you like to label them

[28:00] as strategic thinking. It’s not strategic thinking. It’s not wisdom because most of [28:05] your what ifs deny faith. See, in Philippians 1.20, the apostle says some very important [28:11] things. Let me just remind you of them. He says, it’s my eager expectation and hope that [28:16] I will not be at all ashamed. Note what he’s saying there. He’s saying the promises of [28:21] God are true and so I’m not going to be let down. I’m not going to be ashamed because [28:26] the promises of God are true. But then he goes on and he says, but that with full courage

[28:30] now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or death. Note that he [28:34] says, I expect that the promises of God are true and I also expect to need courage to [28:41] live by those promises. Paul expected that he was going to need courage for the faith [28:47] God was calling him to live by. Every moment of following Jesus requires courage. Every [28:54] moment of following Jesus requires you to have faith. See, the apostle isn’t negating [28:59] himself. He’s saying, it’s true. God, help me to continue to believe that it’s true

[29:04] and actually live with that courage. The issue that many of you are having is the false [29:10] notion that faith removes the potential to be anxious. That’s not true. Living by faith, [29:19] I guarantee you, will actually give you plenty to be anxious about. It always does because [29:26] God wants us to struggle. It’s simply that faith defeats anxiety. Faith equips you with [29:33] the ability to walk through anxiety, to see God work. It’s facing it with faith. You know, [29:46] many people have a false belief. It’s a belief that when you have faith in God it makes obeying

[29:52] things like this easy because it removes difficulty. Faith removes difficulty. You [29:57] know, that’s not true. If anybody’s ever told you that, that’s a lie. If anything, faith [30:04] it actually gives difficulty. Faith doesn’t remove difficulty from your life. Let me say [30:11] that again. Faith does not remove difficulty from your life. I think some of your lives [30:15] would be revolutionized if you’d actually just understand the truth. Faith gives difficulty.

[30:23] Faith is actually walking into the life that God has given you so that you can encounter [30:30] difficulties and come to build your faith and improve your discipleship by going through [30:35] those struggles. To remove struggle is to remove growth. But some of you want faith [30:42] to be the struggle remover. Your greatest prayer is, God, please remove this struggle [30:47] from my life. And I think it’s okay to pray that, but as long as you have the understanding [30:51] that, yeah, maybe a few times God’s going to remove struggle, but more often than not,

[30:56] God has designed the struggle that is in your life because he wants to strengthen you by [31:02] enduring that struggle. Struggle grows you. Struggle is the process by which God delivers [31:11] His promises into our lives. It shouldn’t be easy. There should be difficulty. Have [31:17] you ever run a mile? Now, I’m only talking to a few people in the crowd right now. Not [31:22] because none of you have run a mile, but because I know there’s some of you that you could [31:25] go run a mile right now and you’d come back no sweat. You’d be able to carry a conversation

[31:30] on the entire time that you were running and you wouldn’t even be out of breath by the [31:33] time you got back. I’m not talking to those who got the bumper sticker that says 26.2. [31:36] I’m talking about those of you that would have a bumper sticker that says 0.0. All right? [31:45] If you’re in that camp, I’m not saying which one I’m in. That’s hurtful. Very judgy. But [31:59] if you’ve never run and you go run, you reach the end of the street and you’re about to [32:05] pass out. You’re hurting. You’re out of breath. Have you ever not lifted weights ever or not

[32:13] lifted weights in a long time and then you go and you try to be 16 again and you get [32:18] under that bench press and almost die from your chest being caved in? And you just, [32:24] you hit the squat rack, you hit the dead lifts and you can’t walk the next day. Here’s the [32:31] deal. If you will practice and put yourself into the right lifestyle and run a tenth of [32:37] a mile, then a half of a mile, then three quarters of a mile, then a mile, then two, [32:40] three, up, up, up, up, up, you’ll grow. If you continuously lift weights and work on

[32:46] your nutrition, you’ll get stronger. But what do you have to do to get there? You have to [32:51] struggle, don’t you? You have to struggle. Strength always comes through struggle. Why [32:57] would it be any different with faith, friend? See, I love the way that God has designed [33:02] our bodies. If we would stop putting garbage into our head and saturate our lives with [33:05] God’s word and we just think about things like running, it is a general revelation about [33:10] how growth works. Exercise is a general revelation of how growth happens, even in the spiritual

[33:17] realm. That faith is difficult. Struggle is hard. But when you face one struggle and [33:26] you endure it in faith, then you face another struggle, you endure it in faith. Then you [33:31] live a lifestyle where you see God move over and over and over. We should not be surprised [33:38] when difficulty comes our way. That is what faith is for. Friends, it’s to look at the [33:48] pain of this world and trust that not only does God have power over pain, but God has [33:54] a plan for the pain that’s coming. And He will use it to bring Himself glory. And that

[34:02] is what I rejoice in. See, anxiety ultimately is an issue of values. See, note how Jesus [34:10] breaks down the foundations of anxiety in Matthew 6. He says, since you can’t serve [34:18] two masters, verse 25, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. There it is. [34:25] What you will eat, what you will drink, know about your body, what you will put on, is [34:31] not life more than food and the body more than clothing. You see, the thing about verse [34:35] 25 is that it really nails us at the end, is not life more than this. See, for some

[34:39] of you, life is not more than that. And that should convict us. That should change us. [34:51] See, He’s meaning more than just clothing. See, we say that, I don’t care about clothes, [34:55] I bought this on the clearance rack. That’s more than that. It’s just about how you are [35:02] being provided for. Your home, your clothing, everything that you have, everything that [35:08] you depend on in this world. Verse 26, He says, look at the birds of the air, they [35:15] neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you

[35:21] not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour [35:32] to this span of life? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the [35:39] field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all [35:45] his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field [35:50] which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe [35:56] you? O you of little faith. Anxiety, faith. Therefore, is therefore the killer. Because

[36:10] now He’s saying, do this. Therefore, do not be anxious. I think Jesus is trying to tell [36:16] us something about anxiety here. Saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What [36:24] shall we wear for the Gentiles? Now understand the way He’s using the term Gentile there, [36:28] He’s saying people that don’t believe in God, people that aren’t following Jesus, seek [36:33] after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Verse 33, but [36:40] seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

[36:45] These are all of the things that you are worried about. Ultimately. These are the things [36:53] that cause people great worry, these are the things that cause people great concern. But [36:57] in following Jesus much of the difficulty comes because you are afraid that committing [37:02] to Jesus in some way, that obeying Jesus in some way, that repenting towards Jesus in [37:07] some way will make you miss out on some of the good that you think this world has to [37:13] offer. And here’s what I need you to understand. Sometimes we’ll read that and we’ll be like,

[37:17] oh, so I’m not going to miss out on anything. No, I’m actually going to tell you the opposite. [37:20] It will make you miss out on things. [37:23] Do you remember what was Jesus’ point? You can’t serve two masters. You can’t serve [37:29] God and you can’t serve the world. You can’t do it at the same time. He’s saying if you [37:35] serve God, God’s going to give you what you need and you need to trust God to define what [37:41] you need. You are the worst definer of what you need that you could ever possibly find

[37:50] because you think you need stupid stuff. Just ridiculous things. I’ve got young kids and [37:57] so I hear parents talk about what their kids need all of the time. Oh, they don’t need [38:02] half of the stuff that you think they need, parents. They really don’t. By the way, you’re [38:07] ruining your children. So do us all a favor and stop it. I’m not going to qualify any [38:13] more than that. God will replace anything that you lose by serving his kingdom with [38:20] the greatness of knowing Christ. You see, the question of faith is always which one

[38:26] do you think is better? God’s kingdom or the kingdom of the world? Ultimately, as Paul [38:36] Tripp noted, Matthew 633 sums up the passage. It is a question of what kingdom you are [38:44] living for. You see, God’s kingdom or the world’s kingdom, the world will give you [38:50] worry. God will give you peace. When you seek the kingdom, you trust that God will give [38:56] you everything you need and you trust him to define what you actually need. You see, [39:03] so many of you are sitting there and you’re like, you’re looking through this list and

[39:05] you’re like trying to qualify it. You’re trying to say, but I need to worry about [39:09] and I need to worry about, well, am I going to be irresponsible? Blah, blah, blah, blah, [39:13] blah. See, the key is if you’re sitting there and you’re trying to lawyer that list and [39:18] find the loophole so that you can worry about these things, you are the very one that I [39:22] am worried about. Well, is God saying I shouldn’t be worried about how many zeros are on my [39:26] paycheck? I’m going to give you a great analogy to understand what I’m saying about that.

[39:31] That is exactly what God is saying. You see, what does God want you to live by in the mindset [39:40] of Philippians 4.8? He wants you to live by kingdom values. What are kingdom values? [39:46] I’ll just sum a few up. Selflessness, servanthood, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, [39:58] kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. God wants you to concern yourself with a [40:05] life of mission to get the good news of Jesus to those who don’t know Jesus. God wants [40:11] you to concern yourself with building a life of discipleship. God wants you to concern

[40:17] yourself with building the church because when you live for others, you worry about [40:23] yourself less. If you struggle with anxiety, here’s what I want you to understand. The [40:35] great reality of why you struggle so much is because you are overcome with selfishness. [40:41] You cannot imagine that there’s a person in this world more important, more deserving, [40:46] or more worthy than you. That is why you cannot serve God and be anxious at the same [40:55] time. You see, because when you give of yourself to others, others become the center of your

[41:06] mind and you become more like God. Number three, faith continually turns your focus [41:11] to God. Verse nine has one of my favorite quotes in the entire book of Philippians [41:18] because it is a statement from Paul about discipleship that we often overlook. Here’s [41:23] what he says in verse nine. He says, whatever you have learned, received, heard, and seen, [41:30] four things, in me, in the apostle Paul, practice these things and the God, and here’s a promise, [41:37] and the God of peace will be with you. He says, learned, received, heard, and seen.

[41:42] That’s discipleship. See, he sums up the totality of what it is. He says, you are all being [41:47] discipled. The question is whether you are being discipled towards Jesus or not. Are [41:52] you growing in faith or are you growing in anxiety? Practice these things. You have to [41:59] live out this knowledge. See, the apostle is saying something very important. He’s saying, [42:03] you need to receive the good news of Jesus. You need to hear to have knowledge of God, [42:09] but then you need to live out what you see others living out who are faithful to Jesus.

[42:15] The tragedy is that many of you have grown in knowledge, but you have not grown in practice. [42:21] You have heard much, but you have practiced little. You have seen the hand of God work [42:27] in people’s lives, but you have not put into practice what it took to see God’s hand move [42:31] like that. You need to grow in your knowledge of Jesus, but you also need to put that knowledge [42:39] into practice in your life. How do you know if you’re putting it into practice? Well, [42:43] here’s a question. Here’s a statement, rather. You should worry less now than you did five

[42:49] years ago. Are you more anxious today than you were a year ago? Do you have more worry [42:58] in your life today than you did a year ago? See, friend, you should have less worry than [43:03] you did five years ago. You should have less anxiety than you did a year ago. You should [43:08] follow more faithfully than you did five years ago. You should trust more. You should hope [43:13] more. You should grow more. You should commit more. And on and on. What exactly are you [43:26] practicing? What steps are you putting into place to grow in the knowledge of Jesus?

[43:34] Are you experiencing more of the presence of God in your life than you did a year ago?

[43:40] Are you spending more time in his word? Are you spending more time in prayer? Or are you [43:44] exhausting yourself chasing after the kingdom of this world? And you are so overwhelmed [43:52] with time commitments elsewhere that there’s no time left for the one that you claim is [43:57] the God of your life. The most convicting thing to many of us should be to compare all [44:04] that we have learned to how much we put into practice on a daily basis. It says in Matthew [44:12] 633, it says, seek first. See, this is of primary importance. Seek first the kingdom

[44:22] of God and he gives us an amazing promise. And you will not be anxious. You see, anxiety [44:31] is about the future. It’s about concern for tomorrow. If you trust Jesus, then you will [44:37] trust that tomorrow holds the outpouring of the promises of God regardless of what is [44:43] going on around me or regardless of what is happening to me. Following Jesus is about [44:49] putting him as the primary concern of your life and then living according to the principles [44:55] that faith lays out as a follower of Jesus. See, for many of you, your anxiety is often

[45:02] because you are baptizing foolishness and poor decisions with Christiany language. You [45:11] make bad decision after bad decision after bad decision, but for some reason you are [45:17] so overwhelmed with the anxiety of losing the things of this world that you pretend [45:23] that those bad decisions are something that God called you to and it’s a place that God [45:27] has you. And my anxiety is godly. My worry is godly. Here’s the thing you don’t understand. [45:32] You are blaspheming God. God is not stupid, but it’s possible that you are. Stop blaming

[45:42] God for your bad decisions. Friend, if you want to see an amazing move of God in your [45:52] life and you say, Steve, how do I experience an amazing move of the Holy Spirit in my life? [45:58] Do you want to know what it is? Start making good decisions and you will see the Holy Spirit [46:03] move in ways that you would not believe. The scriptures lead us to the path of wisdom. [46:11] And here’s the thing you need to understand, friend. God is on that path. And faith will [46:17] lead you there because your practices determine your peace. You cannot practice chaos and

[46:25] expect peace on the other end. When you practice real Christianity, you get the real peace [46:32] of God. No matter what comes your way, when you are following Jesus, you trust Jesus. [46:39] You trust his power. You trust his goodness. You trust his planning. And you trust, yes, [46:45] his promises. The cure for your worry is always discipleship and the core principles of the [46:53] kingdom of Jesus Christ. And when you distrust that, it’s because you are seeking two different [47:01] kingdoms at the same time. Friends, forsake the world. You are not going to be able to

[47:10] and trust Jesus Christ. As we transition into a time of reflecting on the Lord’s Supper,

[47:18] this time is so valuable and so important every week because we are confronted with [47:24] the source of the life that God has for us. The bread on the plates represents the broken [47:31] body of Christ and the cup represents the blood that he shed. His body broken, his blood [47:37] shed so that he could forgive you and me of my sin and your sin. If you want to know [47:44] what the first step to dealing with anxiety is, if you want to know what the first step [47:49] of redeeming the design that God has for joy in your life, it is trusting in the finished

[47:56] work of Jesus Christ. It’s trusting that he is God and that he died on the cross for your [48:02] sin and that he rose from the dead to give you a new life. If you will trust in that, [48:08] if you will give Jesus your life through faith, then you will begin the path of growing.

[48:16] And if that’s you, in just a moment I’m going to ask you to do something different than [48:20] everyone else. I’m actually going to ask you to step into the foyer where someone can pray [48:23] with you, where someone can tell you how to put your faith in Jesus, someone can answer [48:28] questions that you might have. But if you’re in here and you are a follower of Jesus, you [48:32] trust everything in here. I want you to come, to eat and drink. God has taken all the barriers [48:41] down. He’s invited you to share a meal and proclaim to everyone around here, I believe

[48:46] the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then when you walk out of those doors, if you really [48:50] believe that, seek first the kingdom of God. When you’re ready, come.