Grace to You Weekend

John MacArthur: Worry for us is needless because of God's bounty. It is senseless because of God's promise. It is useless because of our impotence to do anything anyway, and it is faithless because it is in effect putting us right in the category of an unbeliever.

Phil Johnson: Welcome to Grace to You Weekend with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.

Between the cost of housing, the cost of everyday goods, and the ups and downs of the job market, it's not hard to be concerned about your finances. So, what's the solution to money worries? Paying off your credit cards, refinancing your mortgage, filing for bankruptcy? Before you do anything, the question you ought to consider is, what does God say about money? About dealing with anxiety that a lack of money or even a surplus of money can bring.

Consider that with John MacArthur today as he helps you develop the right perspective about money in his study called "What Did Jesus Really Say About Financial Worry?" And now, with today's lesson, here's John.

John MacArthur: What is the Christian view of material things? What is the Christian view of money and possessions? Where do we stand and what does the Bible teach? What is my perspective on both the luxuries and the necessities of life? Well, the answer to the questions is given nowhere as aptly as it's given right here by our own Lord Jesus Christ.

For what you have in chapter 6, verses 19 to 34 is the greatest statement Jesus ever made on the view that we must have toward material things. Now, we've already studied verses 19 to 24 and that is what the Lord says about our view of luxury. Now, we're looking at verse 25 to 34 in which He speaks of our view of necessity.

So that the Lord touches both that which is beyond what we need and that which is what we need. And He gives us an affirmation of where our commitment is to be. The heart of this passage is reiterated in three statements. In verse 25 it says, "Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious." In verse 31 it says, "Therefore, be not anxious." Verse 34, "Therefore, be not anxious." The thrust of the passage is built around those three statements: be not anxious.

You say, "Well, that's easy for You to say." On what basis does He say that? Three reasons. Three reasons not to worry: It is unnecessary because of your Father. It is uncharacteristic because of your faith. It is unwise because of your future. First of all, we are not to worry about the basics of life because it is unnecessary since God is our Father.

And if your concept of God is right, and you see that He is the owner, controller, provider, then knowing beyond that, that not only does He own and control and provide, but He is your own Father and a loving Father at that, you have nothing for which to worry. Now, let's go to the second. The second reason that worry is a sin is because it is uncharacteristic due to our faith. It is unnecessary because of our Father. It is uncharacteristic because of our faith.

Verse 31, He comes right back to the principle again. Here's the second statement of this, stop being anxious. In this case, don't start being anxious. "What shall we eat? What shall we drink? With what shall we be clothed?" Same three things. Listen, here's another statement of the same principle as in verse 25. Don't worry about necessities. Why? Verse 32. "For all these things do the Gentiles or the pagans seek."

What's He saying? He's saying it is uncharacteristic of our faith to act like ungodly people. Worry for us is needless because of God's bounty. It is senseless because of God's promise. It is useless because of our impotence to do anything anyway, and it is faithless because it is in effect putting us right in the category of an unbeliever.

The pagans, people without God, and the word Gentile, pagan, heathen, all the same word. It means people without God, without Christ. These people worry about that. Why? Why not? That's all they have going for them. The phrase by the way, "for all these things, after all these things do the Gentiles seek," the word seek there is the idea of an emphatic seeking. They seek it with all their might. Totally consumed in material gratification. Grab all the gusto you can get, do it now, man. This is all there is.

Now, imagine a child of God, a Christian approaching life this way. It's ludicrous. The worldlings says Luke, seek these things. It's unworthy for us. Our faith, the Christian faith, says God will supply all my needs, and God can be trusted. And if I worry about my food, or I worry about my physical welfare, or I worry about my clothing, it's to have a worldly mind.

Paul says, "Be anxious for what?" Nothing. "But everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God." Those who do not trust in God's goodness and God's promise miss the whole point of being a Christian.

They're just so many people are just empty in their profession. You know, they say, "Oh, we love Christ and we serve God," but they don't believe God for anything. They worry about everything. They are in the world and they're like the world. But Jesus said, "Father, I know they're going to be in the world, but keep them from the evil one in it. Keep them separated." In Romans 12:2, Paul said, "Be not conformed to this world."

You see what Jesus is saying is this: Sons of the king do not conduct themselves like the devil's beggars. Ask yourself the question. It's a practical issue. Do I face life like a Christian or a pagan? Do I? When things are difficult or the future is insecure, how do I react?

Because you'll tell yourself a lot about whether you trust God or not. I guess you could sum the question up this way: Does my Christian faith affect my view of life? Do I always place everything in the context of my faith? Every trial? Every anticipation, every reality? And then He goes back to reason number one at the end of verse 32.

"For your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. For your Heavenly Father, in contrast to the pagans. He knows that you have need." He not only has the knowledge, He has the resources, and then He has the love to provide. So, what should you worry about? Nothing. It is unnecessary because of your Father. It is uncharacteristic because of your faith. Let's go to the third reason, and we'll skip a verse and go to verse 34.

Third reason not to worry: It is unwise because of your future. It is unwise because of your future. This is a powerful point, and again, the same phrase introduces this third point. Verse 34. "Be therefore, not anxious about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil." Now, what the Lord is saying is, look, don't worry about the future. The future is going to have its own trouble, just wait till you get to it. It's unwise because of your future. Don't worry about tomorrow. Now, providing for tomorrow is good. Worrying about tomorrow is sin.

Because God is the God of tomorrow just like He's the God of today, right? And do you remember what it says in Lamentations 3, "His mercies are new every what? Morning." He feeds you like He fed the children of Israel, just the manna you need for the day you need it. Worry is a tremendous force. I'm telling you, it is a tremendous force. Worry will do this. Worry will endeavor to defeat us.

And it first will begin with today. Worry will endeavor to destroy you today. It'll try to get you to see things today, to get you upset and to get you anxious, but if it loses out today, it'll just keep shoving you into the future until it finds something that gets you. That's the way worry functions. I'm afraid there are some people so committed to the sin of worry that when they have nothing in the present to worry about, they just keep marching down the future till they find something.

Listen, the Lord says, "You got enough to deal with today. You take the resources of today for the needs of today or you will lose the joy of today." You want to know something? Lack of joy is a sin too. And more people lose their joy because of tomorrow and they miss the victory God gave them today, and that's not fair to Him.

God gives you a glorious and blissful day today. Live in the light of that day and the fullness of joy of that day, and take all the resources God supplies for that day and use them. Don't push yourself into the future and forfeit the joy of today over some tomorrow that may never happen, because if you ever learn anything about this, learn this one little statement: fear is a liar. It mostly never tells the truth. But it'll cause you to lose the joy of today.

The Lord forbids this. Tomorrow, Jesus says, is going to be anxious about itself. Let tomorrow be for tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble for itself. And by the way, God only gives strength for one day at a time. God hasn't given me the grace for tomorrow yet. I don't get that till tomorrow, right? So I shoulder the burden of today and as I see God lift the burden and carry it away from me, I can enjoy today and let tomorrow bring its own trouble.

So I don't cripple myself by worrying about a future that I can't live in. When the Bible says Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and what? Forever. What it means is, He'll be doing the same thing tomorrow that He was doing yesterday. So if you have any question about the future, look at the past. Did He sustain you then? He'll sustain you in the future. With Him there is no past, present, or future.

So worry is a forbidden sin. It is incompatible with a Christian's Father. It is incompatible with a Christian's faith. It is incompatible with a Christian's future. Listen, we're not spiritual orphans. God didn't leave us in a phone booth. He didn't dump us in a storefront. He loves us and He cares for us.

And He has all the resources of eternity at His hand in our disposal. Worry is sin. Alister Maclean tells a story of Toler the German who one day met a very poor man. He said to the poor man, "God give you a good day, my friend." The poor man answered, "I thank God that I never had a bad one." Toler said, "Well, God give you a happy life, my friend." "I thank God," said the poor man, "I'm never unhappy."

In amazement Toler said, "Well, what do you mean?" "Well," said the poor man, "when it's fine, I thank God. When it rains, I thank God. When I have plenty, I thank God. When I'm hungry, I thank God. And since God's will is my will and whatever pleases Him pleases me, why should I say I'm unhappy when I'm not?" Toler looked at the man in astonishment and said, "Who are you?" He said, "I'm a king." "Well, where is your kingdom?"

The poor man replied, "In my heart." I like that. One old lady said, "I'm always happy, and my secret is this: always sail the seas, but always keep your heart in the port." Isaiah put it this way: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee." That's where perfect peace comes from. And by the way, that's the opposite of worry.

Now, how do you find this port? Well, put your trust in Him, stay your mind on Him, and that's verse 33. Let's back up. This is the positive command in the midst of the negatives. Verse 33. Here's how you keep your heart in port. Here's the opposite. He says, "Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry." You got three don'ts, here's a do to cancel the don'ts. "But do seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." In other words, you get your thoughts on the divine level and God will take care of the physical.

You see, God doesn't want us involved in the physical. He wants to free us from that. So He says, "I'll take care of that. You get on about the business of the kingdom." Let's take it a word at a time or a phrase at a time. "But," in contrast, "de" in the Greek. And according to the lexicon, Arndt and Gingrich in specific, it says that the primary use of "de" is to emphasize a contrast. And I would suggest that the best way to translate it is, "rather." Rather than worrying, rather than being like the pagans, rather than being, "O ye of little faith," rather than sticking the future into the present and muddling the water, "seek ye first the kingdom of God."

Not those things. Rather than seek what the Gentiles seek, rather than being materialistically oriented, rather than be consumed with the possessions of this age, seek the kingdom. Now, what about the phrase, "seek ye first?" Protos. The word protos, which means first, means first in a line of more than one options. Of all the things you can choose from in life to be occupied on, of all the priorities of life, this is number one. Of all the things you have to be concerned about, and there are many things in life that we have to take some care about. But of all these things, number one thing is the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

We have a long list of things. That's number one. What does it mean to seek the kingdom? Well, the kingdom is simply basileia, Christ's rule, the rule of God, the reign of God, the dominion of God, the kingdom of God. We are to be lost in the kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul on his way to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

Prepared to defend his faith at the point of a sword. And they kept saying to him, "Don't go, Paul, don't go, because when you get there, you're going to get in a lot of trouble, they're going to put you in prison, they might take your life, Paul." And Paul says, "Look, none of these things move me," Acts 20. "For I do not count my life dear unto myself. I'm not interested in adding a cubit to my life span.

And I'm not concerned that I get enough to eat and enough to wear. I have one thought and that is to finish the ministry committed to me by Jesus Christ." Now, that is seeking the kingdom. That's what'll make somebody go to a mission field in obscurity. Say goodbye to all the fashions and fancy foods of the world, to eat in very simplistic terms and to dress the same way, and isolate their whole life to that situation because they are not nearly so concerned about those things as they are the advance of the kingdom. That's what makes somebody preach Christ to the point where they don't even fear for their own life because the kingdom is far beyond any other concern. Now, where's your heart again? Where's your preoccupation?

Are you more concerned with the kingdom, or are you more concerned with this world? Are you pouring all of your energies into the globe or are you investing yourself in God's eternal kingdom? You see, seeking the kingdom means you seek to bring people to Christ because you seek the kingdom growing. You seek the gospel of the kingdom to be preached. You seek that people should become redeemed. We do not spread the gospel because of some kind of a sinful imperialism, or as John Stott calls it, because of some kind of a triumphalism. We do not seek to advance the kingdom for any selfish goals. We seek to advance the kingdom in the preaching of Christ because a glorified God is the issue.

And that's true. And so we preach Christ and that extends the kingdom. Seeking the kingdom means that I seek Christ's rule to be manifest in my life. I seek the kingdom of God to be revealed in my life as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit manifests His kingdom, says Romans 14:17. So in my life when the world sees righteousness, when it sees peace, when it sees joy instead of worry, it knows the kingdom of God is there. See?

You could say, "Well, I want people to be saved and I want to tell them all about Jesus and run around worrying and fret and anxiety and concern and care and all that stuff all the time." And nobody's gonna believe you've got anything they want. And they're certainly going to question the power of God. The kingdom of God is manifest in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That overcomes the worry.

So we, we seek the kingdom when we seek to bring people into the kingdom. We seek the kingdom when we let it be manifest through us. I think we seek the kingdom too when we long for Jesus to return in His millennial glory. I'll tell you something, I can't get too hot about piling up stuff in this world because I'm going to get it all for nothing when the kingdom comes anyway, right? I mean, why should I buy it now? I'll get it free then. The Bible says I'll be a joint heir with Christ, we'll reign with Him forever and ever. We'll have a new heaven and a new earth throughout all eternity. We'll have all of the majesty and the riches of eternal heaven. What am I going to do with wasting all my time stock piling this stuff down here? By the way, the whole earth's going to be destroyed anyway.

And the Lord's going to make a whole new one. So if you want to invest in this old one that's going to burn up, that's your problem. I'd rather wait for the new one and get it for nothing. And so the kingdom is to seek that which is yet in the future. The granting of that eternal glory that comes from Christ when He gives His saints His own kingdom. It is to see the kingdom manifest in my life through righteousness, peace, and joy. And it is to desire to win people to Jesus that the kingdom might grow and expand.

Secondly, He says we seek not only the kingdom but His righteousness. Holiness. He is saying when you pursue, pursue godliness, when you pursue, pursue holiness, when you pursue, pursue righteousness. Some of us spend all our time after money, cars, houses, clothes. How far afield we are from what we should be after. You say, "Well, if I just get involved in the kingdom and I just go chasing holiness, then what?" Oh, the end of verse 33. "All these things shall be added unto you." You walk uprightly, says Psalm 84, and you'll never have any need. God will supply every bit of it. God will take care of those who seek His kingdom and seek His righteousness.

I close with this. I suppose Solomon provides for us an excellent illustration. Solomon didn't pray for riches, you know that? Didn't pray for fancy clothes. He didn't pray for fancy food, and he didn't pray for a long life. Solomon prayed for what? Wisdom. And when he got wisdom, he got all the rest. Nobody was ever dressed like Solomon. Fabulous wardrobe. Nobody was ever as wealthy as Solomon. Nobody ever could put on feasts that could match him. Just feeding his wives and concubines would have been a monumental event and they had to eat three times a day. I mean, the man was incredible. He sought wisdom and in the getting of wisdom all the rest was residual.

Martin Lloyd-Jones says, "It is not an accident that the Puritans of the 17th century became wealthy people. It was not because they hoarded wealth. It was not because they worshipped money. It was just that they were living for God and His righteousness. And the result was that they didn't throw away their money on worthless things. In a sense, therefore, they could not help becoming wealthy. They held on to the promises of God and incidentally became rich." And part of this structure of their obedience to God was to work hard and to save and not to be self-indulgent. And I believe if you follow those kind of standards, God will honor that. Listen, if you worry, it's a sin because it is unnecessary due to your Father. It is uncharacteristic of your faith. It is unwise because of your future. Don't worry. Trust and He'll bring it to pass. Let's pray.

We thank You for the promise of Psalm 37. That if we commit our way unto You and trust in You, You'll bring it to pass. Father, that's our desire. We know the enemy trips us up and our own flesh is weak. But we pray, Lord, that we might not worry. That we might not cast aspersion on Your name, but that we might take the fullness of every moment and the grace that You supply for that moment, and that we might live in that moment, and that we might let the future take care of itself. Not to say we don't provide for the future, we just don't worry about it. And help us, Lord, to make our investments in eternity. Cut the cords that bind us to the earth. Let us fly to Thee, to Thy holy habitation, into Thy courts, and there invest our lives in Thy presence, knowing full well that all our needs will thereby be met through Your promise. In thankfulness we pray. Amen.

Phil Johnson: You're listening to Grace to You Weekend, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. John's lesson today is part of his series called, "What Did Jesus Really Say About Financial Worry?" Well, all the promises about God's provision for Christians that John has been unpacking. How do you bring these promises to bear on your life when you find yourself tempted to worry, whether about money or anything else? To help you answer that question, let me remind you of John's booklet called, "Anxiety-Free Living." Scripture commands us not to worry, and worry really is unnecessary if you're in Christ. This booklet will help you see that, "Anxiety-Free Living." It's free to anyone who asks for it. So, get in touch today and request your free copy. You can call us during regular business hours, that's 7:30 to 4:00 Pacific Time at 800-55-GRACE, or you can request your booklet from our website, GTY.org. "Anxiety-Free Living" unpacks comforting teaching from Jesus outlining the reasons you can be confident in your Father's perfect care for you, and you can enjoy a life truly free from anxiety. Again, to request the free booklet called, "Anxiety-Free Living," call us at 800-55-GRACE, or go to our website, GTY.org. Also, keep in mind you can download all of John MacArthur's sermons for free at GTY.org. That includes every lesson from his current series titled, "What Did Jesus Really Say About Financial Worry?" And to keep up to date on the latest radio series and books and free offers from Grace to You, be sure to follow us on Instagram, X, and Facebook. Just search for Grace to You. Now for our entire staff, I'm Phil Johnson with a question. What practical steps can you take to become more like Christ? Join John MacArthur next week as he shows you what to prioritize and what to avoid in your walk with the Lord. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on the next Grace to You Weekend.