Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
05/03/2020 A.M.
Living In Pursuit Of Peace
Matthew 6.25-34
God doesn’t want us to live in... Fear... Anxiousness... Worry... Doubt.
Rather...He wants us to live with Him in peace.
It’s interesting to note that our word for worry comes from an English word meaning... To choke... or strangle.
Fear... Worry... Anxiousness... Perhaps like nothing else... strangle the life out of us... It chokes out Joy... Happiness... Peace... Serenity.
The Greek word for worry means literally to have a divided mind.
Worry and Anxiousness are an internal tug-of-war… Pulling at us... Robbing us of FAITH & PEACE… Sometimes making us miserable in life.
The Bible is filled with verses about…
• Peace in the time of trouble...
• Peace in a Pandemic.
Listen to these verses that promote PEACE instead of worry and anxiousness.
• I want you to not just hear these words...
• But allow their message to sink into our hearts... READY??...
Psalm 34.14… Turn from evil and do good… Seek peace and pursue it.
Psalm 4.8... This is a great verse for our lesson this morning… In peace I will lie down and sleep; for only You O LORD, can make me dwell in peace and safety… David is saying… Only God can keep us in perfect peace and safety.
Isaiah 26.3 says... You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You… whose thoughts are fixed on You!
2 Thessalonians 3.16... May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
1 Peter 5.7... Cast all your cares... All your anxiety on Him... Because He cares for you.
Colossians 3.15... Let the peaceof Christ rule in your hearts... Because you are called to peace. Be thankful!!
Philippians 4.6 & 7... Do not be anxious about anything... But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving... Present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.
Listen to Jesus from John 14.27... Peace I leave with you... My peace I give you... I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled... Do not be afraid.
Listen to these facts…
• The word PEACE is used some 430 times in our Bible... God wants us to live in peace... To become a people whose faith and trust in Him is so intense that it limits our… Doubt... Anxiousness... And worry.
• It’s interesting to note that fear & anxiousness... Faith and trust… Cannot occupy the same heart at the same time... One is to the exclusion of the other.
• Amazingly enough… Jesus... In the middle of the Sermon On The Mount... Gives us ten verses about how we can best deal with Anxiousness and Worry... How to overcome.
Come... Let’s see what Jesus has to say about...
How to control our... Fear... Anxiousness... Worry...
Bringing peace and calm to life…
First… He says Worry is unreasonable.
Do not worry about your life, what you’ll eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear, is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Worry is unreasonable because we tend to worry about the wrong things.
It was Paul who said... Do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Second... To worry about something we cannot change is unreasonable. If we can change it... change it! If we can’t... Don’t worry about it. The important thing is the wisdom to know the difference.
We need to be familiar with and learn to pray the serenity prayer... "God... Give us the grace to accept with calm serenity the things that cannot be changed... Courage to change the things which… Should be… Can be… Changed... And wisdom to know the difference.
Third... Worry is unreasonable because it always exaggerates the problem. Have you noticed that when we worry about something, the more fearful it becomes every time we rehearse the worry… So stop watching COVID-19 programming all day every day.
Jesus is telling us that worry is... Illogical...Unreasonable... Even harmful... because... it throws things all out of proportion.
Indeed... God wants us as His children to live in PEACE vs. paranoia!... AMEN?
Worry Is not only unreasonable... it is Unnatural.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Consider the lilies. Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they.
God says... I take care of birds... Aren’t you a lot more valuable than they?
He says... Consider the beauty of the lilies…BEAUTIFUL!!…But they don’t worry.
Jesus says.... Animals don’t worry... Plants don’t worry… WHY?...
Because Psalm 145.16 tells us... God satisfies the desire of every living thing.
Listen church… The only thing that worries... The only part of God’s creation that doesn’t trust Him for their wellbeing is... People... Humans… US!
Sometimes people tell me... But brother Randall I’m a born worrier.
That’s not true... Worry is a learned response.
God created us with the ability to overcome… Anxiousness with faith… Worry with peace. We can stop worrying… And should… Because…
Proverbs 12.25 says... An anxious heart weighs a man down…
Proverbs 14.30 reads... A heart at peace gives life to the body.
Next... We note that Worry is Unhelpful.
Jesus says it just doesn’t work... useless... That’s Verse 27... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.
• Worry can’t make us taller... Skinnier...
• It can’t heal our diseases…
• It can’t make us live one day longer.
In fact... If anything... Worry shortens our life instead of lengthening it.
Worry can’t change or control the past nor the future... It only messes up the present.
Jesus concludes... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow... For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
This brings us to point number four.... Worry Is Unnecessary.
Verse 30... If God cares for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t He surely care more for you! O you of little faith?
Jesus says... trust God... He is your Heavenly Father.
When we were growing up... and had a need... we went to our parents, our dad, for help! We knew they would do all they could for us... Because we were their children... They loved us. It never crossed our mind that they wouldn't do what was best for us.
God says... I’m your Father... Your Abba Father… Don’t worry... Trust me...Ask and it will be given to you… Seek and you will find… Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives… He who seeks finds… And to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Remember what Paul says in Philippians 4.19?... God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
James says... Cast all your cares upon Him... Like a father... He loves... He cares... He provides ALL YOUr NEEDS!!... Is there anything outside of ALL?... Even Covid-19 cares!
Lastly... Worry Is... ungodly.
Worry indicates we have a misunderstanding of God AND what HE is like.
• We misunderstand that He treats US... as His children... As Sheep of His pasture...
• We forget that He is working all things out... To our good... To our betterment...
• We misunderstand that He is always with us and will never forsake us...
• That nothing can remove us from His love.
So...The issue really is... not WORRY...But FAITH... Right?
Now... Let’s consider what Jesus has to say about
ridding ourselves of Anxiousness & WORRY...
HOW TO TRUST And PURSUE Peace…
First... Place God first in every arena of life
Listen closely as I read Matthew 6.32-33 from the Living Bible Paraphrase... Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what we need... And... And... He will give them to us... IF... IF... We give Him first place in our life and live as He wants us to live.
You see church... Worry is always a... Warning light... A caution signal... Indicating we have some mixed up values…
• It means something is wrong...
• Something’s out of sync...
• Something else has taken first place in our life besides God and OUR faith in Him.
You see church… Any area where God is not in control is going to become a source of worry for us.
It doesn’t matter what it is. Whenever and Wherever God is not first... That area of life becomes a source of worry. We can count on it because nothing was meant to take the place of God… Not family… Not friends… Not Politics… Not country.. Not finances… Nothing!... No-Thing.
• The commandment at Sinai was... No other gods before me.
• Jesus is saying... Place God and His Kingdom first.
• Love God with all your... Heart... Mind... Strength... Soul... All youR being.
Church... Here is God’s promise this morning... If we will move Him to... first place... Top DRAWER in our life... He’ll take care of all these other things.
So the question becomes… Have we made God first in our life?... Really?
Live one day at a time.
Don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Indeed...Worrying about yesterday or tomorrow... causes us to miss today’s blessing.
• The past is just that the past... Let it go... Let it go!!... We can’t change our mistakes… Nor can we enhance our good.
• The future can be overwhelming... RIGHT?... But fortunately we receive it one day at a time… We must be willing to trust God Day-by-day... moment-by-moment.
Trust God to care for Things Beyond Our Control.
The root of worry is found in verse 30... O you of little faith.
Worry and trust can’t operate in the same heart at the same time. They are mutually exclusive to one another.
So…We must decide... Are we going to trust our worries or are we going to trust God?
Question… Have our worries ever… Changed anything… Solved any problem… Made anything better?
Paul gives us this advice in Philippians 4.6-7... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus… He says… Don’t WORRY... But PRAY.
Paul is saying… In this pandemic… We can either panic or pray… Which advice are we going to follow?
Know this church... There are over 7,000 promises from God in this Book. They are like an insurance policy.
When we get an insurance policy we read what it covers… And once we know what the policy covers... We don’t worry about it any longer. We know if something happens the insurance company will take care of it.
There’s an interesting narrative in 2 Chronicles chapter 20... Jehoshaphat was going to battle against three enemy nations and they were outnumbered three to one. There was no way he was going to win this battle. So God insures the outcome… the battle.
God says... Jehoshaphat... Quit your WORRYING… Don’t be afraid… Don’t be discouraged... For the battle is not yours... But God's.
Church…With God… All things are Possible!! TRUST HIM… TRUST HIM!
So…Paul closes First Corinthians chapter 15 with a similar challenge...Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers...
stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord...
Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
For us in the Bella Vista Church Family... Paul is saying... Even in a time of Pandemic...
• Stand firm...
• Don’t allowanything to rob you of your faith...
• Live in Peace…
• Continue to give yourselves to the work of the Lord.
Let’s Pray Together...
Father God…
• Help us to understand that You… And You alone…Are our PEACE.
• That in You and your Son we have everything we need for life and godliness.
• That because Your Holy Spirit lives in us… We can Pursue Peace and find it.
Father… Help us in our efforts to overcome our worries and anxiousness.
Help us to more fully trust in You… In the name of Jesus… Amen