Focus On Today

Introduction:

I Am Worried About: ___________________.

"I Refuse to Worry..." (Matthew 6:25–34):

1. Because of WHO MY FATHER is. (Matt 6:26-30)

   Romans 8:32 – He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

2. Because of my FAITH. (Matt 6:31-33)

3. Because It DOES NO GOOD. (Matt 6:34)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 6:25-34

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. What is it that you are most tempted to worry about? Why have you struggled to let go of this? How should you view this in light of Jesus’ teaching here?
   

3. What is Jesus illustrating with the birds and the lilies?
   

4. What are some practical steps you can take to actively “refuse to worry”?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open up those Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, and we're going to be picking up in verse 25.

  We're in the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mound.

  And in this section that we're in here, Jesus is talking about how His followers should relate

  to the world.

  And as Pastor Taylor prayed a moment ago, the subject that our Lord covers is worry.

  Do not be anxious.

  I've shared this story with you in past time, but I couldn't help but thinking about it

  all week this week.

  Many years ago I was at the doctor, and the PA comes in and slaps on the blood pressure

  cuff, you know, and was taking my blood pressure.

  And I remember the PA, she just looked at me and her eyes were huge.

  She goes, "You feeling okay?"

  And I'm like, "Yeah, I feel good."

  She says, "We need to talk to the doctor."

  I said, "What's going on?"

  She said, "Your blood pressure is critically high."

  And then she left the room.

  So I sat there for what felt like an eternity, looking back at my life, regrets.

  And then thinking about the future, you know, am I about to drop over dead?

  What's going to happen to my family?

  What's going to happen to the ministry?

  What's going to...

  Well, the doctor eventually came in, first words out of his mouth.

  He says, "Buddy, we got to talk about this blood pressure."

  I said, "Yeah, I know your physician's assistant said it wasn't good."

  He goes, "Oh, it is not good."

  Then he looked over at the counter behind him.

  He said, "Is that the cuff that she used to take your blood pressure?"

  And I said, "Yeah."

  He says, "Oh, that's for little kids.

  He has no one to your blood pressure so high."

  So he got a big boy blood pressure cuff and took it.

  And I lived to fight another day.

  But I got to tell you, and that time when the physician's assistant left the room and

  the doctor came in, I don't know if in my life I've ever felt such worry.

  But some people, sadly, live in that zone.

  Or it's just worry, anxious.

  That's what we're going to look at today.

  What is worry?

  What is anxiety?

  Well, it's defined as an uneasiness about the future.

  That's an understatement.

  It's that, what might happen?

  What might not happen?

  Worry has a way of consuming your thoughts.

  Worry has a way of keeping you from sleeping.

  Worry for some of you has you stop eating.

  And for some of you, you can't stop eating.

  So on the top of your outline, you'll see a line, "I am worried about..."

  I just want you to take a minute.

  Write down the thing in your life that makes you anxious.

  Or write down what it is in your life where you are most tempted to worry.

  And if you're like, "Well, Pastor Jeff, I never worry about anything."

  Well come and see me after service because I've never met such a person.

  And I would love to.

  But what is the thing that you are most tempted to worry about?

  Write that down.

  Maybe for some of you, you are worried right now.

  Write that down.

  Alright, we're in church right now, so I'm going to ask a question.

  You give me the Sunday school answer.

  Are we supposed to worry?

  We're not.

  It's really easy to say in here right now, isn't it?

  After worship, after prayer.

  But we're going to leave here and many of you are going to worry and you are going to justify

  your worry.

  It's funny how that's a sin that we're all so eager to justify.

  And we say things like, "We just sort of..."

  Try to make it sound like it's not a thing, right?

  We're like, "Oh, I'm just a worrier."

  Right?

  "Oh, you know, I've just stopped the bothers me because I'm a worry wart."

  But you know, if you really grab what Jesus has to say in this passage about worry, if

  you've ever referred to yourself as a worry wart, you're going to be pretty embarrassed

  that you've ever called yourself that.

  You might say, "Well, yeah, yeah, Pastor Jeff, I'm not worried about stupid things,

  right?

  I'm not worried about trivial things.

  My worries are over legit needs."

  Okay?

  Well, let's see what our Lord has to say.

  Look at verse 25 in Matthew chapter 6.

  Jesus says, "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will

  eat or what you will drink nor about your body, what you will put on.

  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

  Notice Jesus is talking about legit needs.

  You see that?

  Food and water and clothes, legit needs.

  And keep in mind the people that Jesus was talking to, in this day they didn't have the

  Walmarts.

  Think of food, right?

  How did they get their food?

  They had to grow it or they had to go to the market and hope that there was still something

  there to buy.

  Right?

  Think about water.

  They didn't go to the kitchen sink and just flick their wrists and have water appear out

  of the tap.

  And they lived in a climate that made having clean drinking water absolutely crucial.

  And their clothes, again, they didn't have closets and storage.

  And they usually had to make their clothes.

  So when you consider their culture, you would note obviously it was much easier for them

  to be tempted to worry.

  I was thinking about that this week.

  You know, if we had a time machine and we could bring somebody from Jesus' day to our

  day.

  I think they would be absolutely baffled at the things that we worry about.

  And someone's going to say, "Well, Pastor Jeff, how can I not worry?

  I mean, look at the environment that kids are growing up in today.

  Look at the economy.

  How can I not be worried about money?

  What about my health?

  You know what's going on health-wise.

  How can I not be worried about that?"

  You know, they're eliminating positions where I work.

  I might be next and I might not have an income.

  How can I not worry about that?

  You just can't help it, right?

  And you would say, "Well, you know, Pastor Jeff, I remember, you said in the past time,

  you've said feelings are feelings.

  Right?

  You can't help how you feel."

  That's true.

  But we talk about worry.

  This isn't about feelings.

  This is about a choice.

  Because your feelings are going to change if your focus changes.

  And what you focus on is your choice.

  What you focus on affects everything.

  Three times in this passage, Jesus gives the command, "Therefore, do not be worried

  and anxious."

  He says it in verse 25.

  He says it in verse 31.

  He says it in verse 34.

  And each time Jesus says it, He gives a reason why we in turn must say, "I refuse to worry."

  You ready to say that?

  All right?

  We're going to take a run at it.

  I want you to say that.

  I refuse to worry.

  Not much conviction from some of you.

  I'm hoping that maybe in a few minutes we can change your mind about that.

  I refuse to worry.

  Why?

  Number one, right?

  Just done.

  I refuse to worry because of who my Father is.

  Let's pick up here, verses 26 through 30.

  Jesus says, "Look at the birds of the air.

  They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them."

  Are you not of more value than they?

  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to a span of life?

  And why are you anxious about clothing?

  Because they are the lilies of the field, how they grow.

  They neither toil nor spin.

  Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

  But if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown

  into the oven, will He not much more clothe you?

  Oh, you of little faith?

  This is where Jesus starts.

  I refuse to worry because of who my Father is.

  And He gives a couple obvious illustrations, right?

  He says, "Look at the birds.

  God feeds them."

  Oh, by the way, God doesn't drop the food into their nest, right?

  For those of you who might think, "Oh, okay, well I can just go home and sit down and do

  nothing, and God will just door-dash me every day for the rest of my life."

  No, that's not how it works.

  Work is the God-ordained way that He feeds us, right?

  That's another serving for another time.

  But the birds are fed.

  And Jesus says, "Notice the flowers are dressed despite their very short life."

  So He talks about the birds.

  He talks about the lilies.

  And it's really the same point.

  God values His people more than anything on this earth.

  This is Jesus' point.

  God values you.

  Listen, God values you.

  More than anything on this earth, He values you.

  Not convinced of that.

  Well, let me ask you, when you look at all of the stuff created on the earth, what is

  made in the image of God?

  There's only one thing on this planet that is said to have been made in the image of

  God with God's fingerprint, His likeness stamped on.

  And that is you.

  Not the dogs, not the goldfish, not the trees.

  You are made in His image.

  What is it on this planet right now that God sent His Son to die on the cross for?

  Jesus didn't die for the cats.

  Jesus didn't die for the parakeets.

  God bought you with His Son.

  Oh, and speaking of sons, what is it on this planet that is said to be adopted by God?

  God doesn't run down to the humane society and adopt a dog through the death and resurrection

  of Jesus Christ to those who believe God adopted you.

  Are you starting to see your value here?

  Oh, oh, and what is it on the earth that God says is going to spend eternity in glory with

  Him?

  There's only one thing.

  You.

  You.

  You do understand now you have incredible value to God.

  And by the way, Jesus is obviously addressing believers here.

  Those who have turned from their sin, those who have received and believed in Jesus Christ,

  He's talking to believers because He says, "You're heavenly Father.

  Jesus says believers, if your heavenly dad gave you life, he's going to take care of

  it."

  I refuse to worry because of who my father is.

  You know, a couple of weeks ago, my son, Cade, works at Chick-fil-A across the street.

  A couple of weeks ago, I pulled in to pick him up and it was hot.

  I had the windows down.

  I was sitting there waiting and there was a guy walking around the front sidewalk by

  the entrance door and he was on the phone.

  Now listen, I wasn't eavesdropping.

  This guy was talking so loud I could have heard him from Zileanopoul.

  All right?

  This guy was walking around and using some choice words that we don't use while we preach.

  He was complaining obviously about something that happened in his interaction in the restaurant,

  in the Chick-fil-A.

  So he's walking around and he's like, "This is... this is..."

  Explodedly deleted.

  He goes, "I'm going in there to cuss somebody out."

  And he heads towards the door.

  So I'm like, "Here we go."

  Shut off the Jeep and I followed him in so close that he held the door open for me.

  He walked into the lobby.

  There were no customers there.

  Rare timing, Chick-fil-A.

  He walks into the lobby and stands there for a second and he turns around and sees me looking

  at him and then he just leaves.

  Well Cade's standing there and Cade's like...

  Then I leave and Cade's like, "What was that all about?"

  Right?

  So Cade comes out into the car and he's like, "Why did you just come into Chick-fil-A?"

  And I said, "Well, did you see that guy that came in ahead of me?"

  He said he was coming in to cuss somebody out.

  Now look, I know my son and I know the last thing he would ever do is intentionally offend

  a stranger.

  I said, "That guy said he was going to come in to cuss somebody out."

  So I was going to make sure that that wasn't you.

  Cade's like, "What were you going to do?"

  Like throw him out the window.

  He could just roll right onto the hospital.

  I said, "But I was not going to let him cuss you out."

  And Cade said, "You would do that for me?"

  Like, "Would I do that for you?"

  "Yes, yes I would do it."

  I'm like, "How could you even ask that question?"

  I would do anything for you, including take a beating in Chick-fil-A.

  I would do anything for you.

  And listen, if I thought dude was going in there after somebody else, I never would have

  got out of the car.

  Not my business.

  But my son, oh no.

  That is not going to happen.

  I would do anything to provide for my son.

  I would do anything to protect my son.

  And when Cade's like, "You'd do that for me?"

  All I could think of was, "Do you have any idea how much your father loves you?"

  And that's exactly what Jesus is saying here.

  "Worryer?"

  That's what Jesus is saying.

  You're worried?

  Do you have any idea how much your father loves you?

  And you're worried that you're not going to be taken care of?

  You don't know how much you mean to him.

  Like, well how much?

  How much?

  I think there's one verse more than any in the Bible that tells us how much it's Romans

  8.32.

  Can we get that on the screen?

  It says, "God, He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all."

  How will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

  I wouldn't give up my son for any of you.

  I wouldn't give up my son for all of you.

  But God gave up His Son to death so that you can be saved.

  And that's what Paul was saying in Romans, and this is the truth that Jesus is saying

  here.

  "If God gave you His Son, it's proof He's going to give you everything else that you

  need."

  I refuse to worry because of who my father is.

  And let's see in verse 30, Jesus says, "O you of little faith."

  See, that's the issue.

  Look, some of you have little faith.

  Some of you do have faith enough to be saved, but you need to grow up.

  And you know why you're worried?

  The reason you're so worried all the time is you haven't really reckoned with the implications

  of what your salvation means.

  Your father loves you, and your father has a concern for you.

  Your father has a personal interest in what happens in your life.

  And the way a parent does for their kid, but not someone who's not their kid.

  You know what I mean by that?

  Because parents here today, whose kid do you make sure eats?

  Yours, right?

  How many times have you wondered in the past week if my kids have eaten?

  You're like, "Not at all."

  Right?

  Whose kids do you make sure have clothes?

  Yours.

  Right?

  Whose kid do you make sure brushes their teeth?

  So parents, what would you say to your kids?

  What would you say to your kids, parents, if you're home someday and you could hear your

  kid in the next room pacing and worrying saying, "What if mom isn't going to feed me tomorrow?"

  What would you say?

  What would you say if you heard your kid in the next room going, "I'm really growing.

  What if I grow out of these clothes and dad doesn't buy me new clothes?"

  What would you say?

  That's Jesus' point.

  When you worry, you're acting like you forget who your father is.

  You're demonstrating, in the words of our Lord, little faith.

  Oh, speaking of faith, I refuse to worry, number two, because of my faith.

  I refuse to worry because of my faith.

  Look at verse 31.

  Says it again.

  Here we go.

  "Do not be anxious saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What

  shall we wear?'

  For the Gentiles seek after all these things.

  And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be

  added to you."

  The Gentiles seek after all these things, obviously in this context.

  Jesus is using the word "Gentile" as it was commonly used in that day to refer to a

  heathen, in other words, somebody who doesn't know God.

  Right?

  So Jesus is saying that when I worry, I act like I don't have faith.

  See people who don't have faith, they just go after all the stuff.

  Right?

  It's all about me.

  People that don't have faith, honestly they live no different than an animal.

  An animal only thinks about getting needs met, right?

  Hungry, thirsty, tired.

  Like I live with animals, right?

  That's all they do.

  What they're thinking about is getting their next physical need met.

  When you don't have faith, that's how you are.

  Verse 25, Jesus said, as we already read, "Isn't life more than the physical child of God?

  Isn't your life about more than physically surviving, isn't it?"

  And when Jesus was tempted by the devil, remember what he said, "Man shall not live

  by bread alone."

  Isn't that a statement of faith?

  Again, we talked about this last week, but this is exactly why people store treasure

  on earth.

  This life is all there is.

  I've got to make the most out of it.

  I've got to get what I can here now.

  Child of God, aren't you supposed to be different than them?

  Aren't you supposed to be salt and light?

  Do people see that in the way that you live, in the way that you talk, in the way that

  you refuse to worry?

  Look at verse 32 again.

  Jesus says your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

  Your unsafe friends, your unsafe family, do they know that you know that your Father knows

  and you know that He knows?

  Yeah.

  Do you say, "Well, I'm in need of something, but it's okay.

  My Father knows what I need, and He's going to provide it when He knows that I need it."

  That's faith.

  That's what faith looks like.

  And if you're right now, right now at this point in your life, if you're in a place of

  need, if you're in a place where God has to show up and provide, you're in a place of

  want, guess what?

  As a child of God, that means you have a front row seat to see God at work.

  Because according to Jesus, He already knows.

  So we've sort of taken the sin of worry, and in our minds, that's like a minor league sin,

  right?

  Oh, there's the big sins like murder and adultery and things like that.

  But worry, that's kind of a minor league sin, right?

  No.

  It's not.

  Worry strikes at the character and the promises of God.

  Worry makes some assumptions.

  Worry assumes that God doesn't know.

  Worry assumes that God doesn't care.

  Worry assumes that God is completely unable to provide the thing that I need.

  Worry is just...

  It's just...

  Worry is just bad theology.

  It shows a complete lack of faith, and Jesus says it makes you no different than an atheist.

  Are you on your own?

  You have to fend for yourself?

  You have to take care of yourself?

  Or are you a child of God that is richly provided for by your heavenly Father?

  Which one are you?

  Like I'm a child of God, right?

  So why do we worry then?

  Why do we worry?

  I'm wrestling with this question.

  You know, the sort of armchair, you know, psychologist, sociologist that I am.

  Why do we worry?

  So I went to that very authoritative source psychology today.

  I looked it up online.

  I wanted to see from a secular perspective how worry is defined.

  And I was blown away.

  You want to hear?

  Listen to this.

  I looked up, why do we worry?

  According to psychology today, their website says we worry because we have a hard time

  living with uncertainty.

  I want you to think about that for a second.

  You have a hard time living with uncertainty.

  If you're a Christian, what are you uncertain about?

  Go ahead and shout it out.

  If you're a Christian, shout out the things that we are uncertain about.

  Pastor, is there anything?

  I rack my brain all week.

  Like surely there has to be something that we are uncertain about.

  The only thing I can come up with is the time of the return of our Lord.

  If you're a Christian, you have no uncertainties.

  If you're a Christian and you're worrying, what you have is a lack of faith.

  You're like, oh yeah, I know Jeff, but I just, I got this need.

  I get this really bad need.

  I've been praying about it and look, I just don't know how God's going to provide.

  You don't need to know.

  That's His problem.

  You know what your problem is?

  Verse 33, "Let's seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things

  will be added to you."

  But you need to worry about us seeking God.

  You seek the spiritual, He'll provide the physical.

  Do you see that?

  Focus on your walk with Christ.

  Instead of focusing on the stuff and your needs and what's worrying you, Jesus said

  you need to focus on being the person that God wants you to be.

  He'll draw near to God and He'll draw near to you.

  And when your heart is so near to the heart of God, you're going to have a worry-free

  faith.

  So do you have that?

  Do you have a worry-free faith?

  I'll tell you how you can evaluate it.

  A worry-free faith shows up in how you pray.

  How do you pray?

  You're like, "Well, I really don't.

  I really don't pray."

  Okay, then you have no faith.

  All right, so we'll knock that one off.

  But if you pray like this, if you pray, "God, I'm desperate and God, I don't know what

  I'm going to do, God, and I'm so afraid of what's going to happen tomorrow."

  That's little faith.

  But if your prayer sounds like this, "God, I'm seeking you for this and you already know

  what I need, and I'm trusting that you're going to provide it when I need it."

  That is a prayer of faith.

  I'm asking, I'm trusting, I'm believing, but I refuse to worry.

  Why?

  Because of my faith.

  And finally, number three, I refuse to worry because of who my Father is because of my

  faith and number three.

  I refuse to worry because it does no good.

  It does no good.

  Look at verse 34.

  "Jesus says, 'Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious

  for itself.

  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.'"

  And you're like, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, right there, right there.

  Tomorrow.

  Tomorrow.

  That's what I'm worried about.

  That's the day that I'm worried about."

  And Jesus says, "Don't."

  Why not?

  Jesus says, "You've got enough trouble today.

  Can I get an amen?"

  You mean to tell me you've got nothing going on today that requires your attention?

  Nothing.

  And my schedule is clear.

  There is not a single thing that requires my attention, effort, energy, nothing.

  You're telling me that tomorrow needs all your attention?

  Obviously not.

  Obviously you would say, "Oh, you know what, Jeff, I've really got plenty going on today."

  And our Lord would say, "Good, go after that.

  Just go after that."

  Jesus said, "Tomorrow will be anxious for itself."

  Some translate that phrase, "Tomorrow," quote, "brings its own anxieties."

  In other words, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it because I can't cross it now,

  right?

  No, not cross that bridge when we come to it.

  How about cross that bridge if we come to it?

  When we worry about the future, what we do is we start imagining all these little scenarios

  that are surely going to devastate us.

  What if I get sick?

  What if I have car trouble?

  What if I do lose my job?

  What if ... how much time, my friends, have we wasted worrying about something that never

  happens?

  That's what our Lord reminds us here in this verse, worry isn't just sinful, it's pointless.

  There's no upside, it benefits you nothing, it does no good.

  In fact, Jesus talked about this in verse 27.

  You can't add to your life by worry, can you?

  Because nothing good's ever added to the worrier.

  Nobody in the history of mankind has ever said, "You know what?

  I am so glad that I worried about that because I worried so hard that it fixed everything."

  It's pointless.

  It's pointless to worry about tomorrow because the reality is not everybody gets it tomorrow.

  You might not have it tomorrow.

  But if you do, if you do have it tomorrow, tomorrow has literally one guarantee that

  you can take to the bank.

  And that is this, tomorrow God will be just as much God then as He is today.

  And if God's word is true and I believe it is, the future is something to be excited

  about, not worry about.

  Because the Bible says our best days are ahead.

  All worry does in addition to dishonor the Lord is steal your joy today.

  It steals your peace today and it ruins your testimony today.

  Does no good.

  Far worship team will make their way back up front.

  Each of us might be feeling really confident right now.

  But when you leave here, when you walk out those doors, you are going to be tempted to

  worry about something.

  Probably not so much here now but home later, yes.

  I want you to take this outline and I want you to tuck this away in your Bible for later.

  That little thing you wrote at the top, I'm worried about.

  No, no, no.

  Instead what we're going to say is I refuse to worry about this.

  Why am I not worried about this?

  Because of who my Father is.

  That's why.

  I'm not worried about this because of my faith in that Father.

  I'm not worried about this because according to Him honestly, it's not going to do any

  good anyways.

  I refuse.

  I refuse to worry.

  Let's pray.

  Father of Heaven, we confess before You that we demonstrate a complete lack of faith when

  we worry.

  We can come into this room and we can sing about Your power and Your love and Your goodness.

  But we deny all of those things with our lives when we choose to worry.

  So Father, I pray that today is a new day.

  From our brothers and sisters here, the thing that weighs on us, the thing that has kept

  us up at night, Father, I pray that we would look back at Your faithfulness throughout history.

  We would look back at Your faithfulness in our own lives.

  And that thing that burdens us, Father, I just pray that we would do, as Your Word says,

  that we would cast it at Your feet and we would refuse to worry about it.

  We pray in Jesus' name.

  Amen.

Where to Put Your Treasure

Introduction:

3 Self-Serving Reasons to Give to God (Matthew 6:19–24):

1. So I Have TREASURE FOREVER . (Matt 6:19–21)

2. So I Am ABLE to SEE . (Matt 6:22–23)

3. So I Serve the RIGHT MASTER . (Matt 6:24)

   1 Timothy 6:10 – For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 6:19-24

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Re-read Matt 6:22-23. Explain this in your own words. What does this have to do with money, and how does generosity affect spiritual perception?
   

3. Is it wrong to be motivated by self-serving reasons to give to God? Why or why not?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open up your Bibles with me please to Matthew chapter 6.

  Some time ago, I was at the funeral home for a visitation.

  And as I was leaving, there was a woman standing kind of in the lobby by the exit door.

  And she asked what my connection was to the deceased.

  And I said, "Well, I'm a pastor and I've known the family for quite a while."

  And she says, "Oh, you're a pastor."

  She said, "What do you think about what Joel Osteen makes?"

  You know, that's not really the time or the place to engage in a heated debate.

  I said, "What Joel Osteen makes is really none of my business."

  She goes, "Well, of course it is."

  I said, "Why?"

  I said, "What he makes and what he does with his money, it's not my business."

  And she goes, "Well, it absolutely is."

  And I said, "Well, man, with all due respect, if you don't appreciate his ministry, then don't give him money."

  But I walked out of there just sort of confused again as to why we are so concerned with what other people do with their money.

  When biblically, who should I be concerned about?

  Point to the person that you should be concerned about, right here.

  Right?

  And we're going through the Sermon on the Mount.

  In the last section we looked at Jesus, talked about giving and praying and fasting.

  And those are all the elements of our private spiritual life.

  But you know, you've got to deal with the world sometime, right?

  You've got to get out there.

  And this next section of the Sermon on the Mount is about that.

  How do we deal with the world?

  What is the heart towards the world?

  And today we're going to talk about money.

  And oh, I think we knew it had to come up in the Sermon on the Mount eventually.

  Like, well, if it's such a big deal, why didn't it come up sooner?

  Because Jesus has been going after our hearts, and when your heart is right, and only when

  your heart is right, will your view and use of money also be right.

  Look at, I just want to start, look at verse 20, just the first part here.

  This is absolutely astounding.

  Jesus says, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

  Just stop there for a second.

  That is absolutely astounding what He said.

  Right there, two things.

  Two things just blow me away about even that little part of the verse.

  It just blows me away.

  The first thing that blows me away is the fact that I can even put treasure in heaven.

  It's astounding that I have the ability to put stuff in heaven.

  But I got to tell you this past week, there's another little phrase in there that really

  jumped out at me.

  And it was the phrase, "For yourselves."

  So this treasure in heaven, who's it for?

  It's for me.

  This is going to benefit me.

  And you might be shocked to find out this morning that when you look in this section

  about what Jesus says about money, there is a self-serving motive.

  Actually there are three self-serving motives at play.

  You know, we talked about money last fall.

  We had a whole series.

  What was that, Pastor in October?

  It was called "Right on the Money."

  Within that series, we talked about how to lay up treasure in heaven.

  Quick review, we said you got to give to God intentionally, willingly, and cheerfully.

  That's what the Bible says.

  That's how you lay up treasure in heaven.

  But here in this passage we're looking at today, Jesus doesn't talk about how.

  Okay, clearly here you're going to see that Jesus talks about why we should lay up treasure

  in heaven.

  And the why is for us.

  You know, after that sermon series last fall, oh, I preached my little heart out.

  What does God say about giving?

  Do you know what happened after that series?

  Giving went down in the church.

  I don't get it.

  I don't understand how we can see clear teaching from God's Word about money and we just thumb

  our nose at God and say, "Pshh, I'll show you, I'll give less."

  I don't understand that.

  You know, my wife, Erin, has a friend out of state that works in finance in her church.

  And she was sharing with Erin that every time my pastor preaches about tithing, giving goes

  down.

  I don't get it.

  I just don't understand it.

  I just don't understand.

  You know, God says, "Everything is mine.

  I'm going to give some to you because I love you and as an act of love and worship, I want

  you to give back to me.

  And if you do, I will give you even more."

  And we listen to that and we go, "Nah."

  That's not for me.

  Well, I want to encourage you and the Lord to really change your mind about that because

  here in this passage, Jesus gives us why.

  And if you believe, you will be the beneficiary of giving.

  All right?

  So on your outline, I want you to write some things down.

  Here's three self-serving reasons to give to God.

  Very clear in the passage, self-serving reasons to give to God.

  Number one, write this down, "So I have treasure forever."

  So I have treasure forever.

  Look at the first part of 19, again, first part of 20.

  And Jesus says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth."

  But, verse 20, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

  Do you see there's a two-fold command there, right?

  Not hard.

  It's negative and it's positive.

  And then Jesus goes on to give the reason behind each of these commands.

  So let's take a look at them first.

  We have a negative.

  All right?

  Look at verse 19, the negative.

  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where

  thieves break in and steal."

  Like what's treasure on earth?

  You know what treasure on earth is, right?

  Money, houses, cars, stuff, all of the above.

  Jesus is just simply saying, "Do not live your life accumulating for here."

  Like, why not?

  Jesus says, "How about common sense?"

  Because you know it all goes away eventually.

  It all goes away.

  Notice Jesus talks about moth and rust and thieves.

  Those weren't three arbitrary things our Lord just pulled out of the air.

  The reason He said those three things is because in those days you measured wealth by three

  things.

  You measured wealth, first of all, by how many clothes you had.

  I know that sounds strange to us, but go to some other parts of the world.

  They measured wealth by how many clothes they had.

  They also measured wealth by how much food they had stored.

  Again, that's kind of lost on us in our culture, but in that culture, especially in that day,

  you were extremely wealthy if you had food in storage.

  And obviously, wealth was measured by gold, right?

  So now we understand maybe a little more why Jesus selects those three images, right?

  Moths.

  Moths speaks to clothes.

  You know something interesting about moths?

  Them dusty little butterflies.

  They only eat what's stored.

  Did you notice that?

  Moths typically don't eat what you're wearing.

  They eat what's stored.

  Oh, and it's kind of the same thing with food, right?

  When Jesus says rust, that's not a great translation of the word.

  The word literally in the Greek means eating.

  What happens to stored food over time?

  The varmints find it, don't they?

  The mice, the bugs, they find their way to it when you store it.

  And then obviously thieves, gold breaking into houses.

  In those days, people often bury their treasure in the ground.

  It was nothing for a thief to watch to see where somebody buried something and then go

  back later and dig it up, right?

  So despite mothballs, mousetraps, motion lights, Jesus here is saying very simply the stuff

  that you stockpile can and will be gone in a second, right?

  It's like a flower.

  If I pick you a beautiful flower, it's beautiful when I pick it.

  But you realize over time, a very short amount of time, that flower is going to wither away

  and turn to dust.

  And here Jesus is saying, oh, that's everything on earth that you try to hold onto.

  Now look, it's not sinful to have stuff.

  If we've learned anything from the Sermon on the Mount, what we've learned is it's

  all about the motive of your heart.

  And if your motive is to accumulate for yourself, you're greedy and you're foolish.

  That is what your story will lose eventually.

  Unless you store it in heaven, because look at verse 20, Jesus says, "But lay up for yourselves

  treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break

  in and steal."

  Like well what is treasure in heaven?

  We talked about this in our series last fall.

  I'm going to give you a quick review.

  Here's what we said, still true.

  What is treasure in heaven?

  I don't think God's Word is very specific on what that is, because I think it's something

  that we wouldn't understand fully.

  But there's a lot that we know about it.

  We do know that it's eternal, and it's better than stuff on earth.

  We know that.

  We do know that believers will have treasure based on what we've done with our resources

  here on the earth.

  Now to be clear, Pastor Taylor talked about this.

  Salvation is entirely based on the work of Jesus Christ.

  Let's be clear about that.

  Jesus Christ through His death and His resurrection provided salvation to those who will turn

  from their sin and receive Him.

  It's all based on His work.

  But treasure or rewards are based on our works, and in heaven there will be different levels

  of rewards.

  Another thing we do know is there's no second chance for believers to earn rewards after

  we die.

  Basically this life on the earth right now is your chance to earn rewards.

  I'm talking so much about the heart through this series on the Sermon and the Mount.

  So when we get to this section, the question is, where is your heart?

  While Jesus tells us objectively, in case you're still wondering where your heart really

  is, do you want to know where your heart really is?

  You might think you know where it is.

  Jesus tells us exactly where it actually is.

  Look at verse 21, Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

  Your heart is wherever you put your treasure.

  In other words, look at how you spend your money, and that will tell you where your heart

  is.

  So if you come to me and you say, "Oh, you know what, Pastor Jeff, my heart's with the

  church.

  Oh, I just have a heart for this church.

  I just love this church so much.

  My heart is with the church."

  How much money do you give to the church?

  And you're like, "Well, I don't really give that much to the church."

  Well, then your heart's not with the church, according to Jesus.

  According to Jesus, you've deceived yourself into thinking your heart's with the church,

  but if your money isn't invested in the church, then your heart's not in the church.

  All right?

  Or if you're like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, you know where my heart is, my heart of hearts.

  You know where my heart is?

  My heart's for missions.

  Oh, I see these pictures of Barnabas and I hear about these people going on these mission

  trips.

  I just have, Pastor Jeff, I have such a heart for missions."

  Do you give to missions?

  Well, no, I don't really give to missions.

  Well, then your heart's not in missions, according to Jesus, that is.

  Like, well, maybe I'm not sure where my heart is.

  If you're struggling with that, I'll be glad to help you.

  What I need you to do is print out your bank statement, make an appointment, and we'll

  sit down and go through it.

  And I will show you very clearly where your heart is, because according to Jesus, where

  you put your treasure is where your heart ends up.

  Your heart follows your investments.

  You're either investing in the kingdom of God, or you're investing in stuff that you're

  eventually going to lose.

  And if you're sitting here like, "Man, you know what?

  I really want my heart to be on the things of God."

  Or then invest in the things of God.

  Give to the things of God, and you will find that your heart will follow your investments.

  Your heart will be in heaven.

  And according to Jesus, you're going to have treasure that you'll enjoy for eternity.

  It's a pretty good self-serving motive for giving to God.

  Second one, right?

  This self-serving reason to give to God.

  So I'm able to see.

  So I'm able to see.

  Like, wait, wait, wait.

  That's what He says.

  Look at verses 22 and 23.

  Jesus says, "The eye is the lamp of the body."

  So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

  If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?

  You're like, "Well, that's an unrelated tangent.

  We're talking about money."

  And all of a sudden, we're talking about eyesight.

  It's not an unrelated tangent at all.

  Jesus here is giving us another self-centered reason to give to God.

  And this is what I'm going to tell you what it is, and I'm going to explain it.

  Listen, only people who truly understand and obey what God says about money are able to

  see things as they really are.

  Like, well, what do you mean?

  Jesus here is giving an illustration.

  The eye here illustrates the heart.

  And Jesus says the eye is like a lamp.

  And everything that we see, what we perceive and fill ourselves with is light.

  Okay?

  So look at verse 22 again.

  Jesus says the eye is the lamp of the body.

  So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

  Now that word healthy in the Greek literally is the word generous.

  Literally that's what the word means.

  If your eye is generous.

  So Jesus is saying that if your heart is generous, your whole life is going to be filled with

  light.

  In other words, your whole life is going to be filled with spiritual understanding.

  In other words, Jesus is saying that only generous people see things as they really are.

  It's only generous people who say everything is God's.

  I'm just a steward of God's stuff.

  In my office on the conference table, there's a big glass bowl and it's full of lollipops.

  This happens all the time.

  It literally just happened this morning where a little kid will come in and Pastor Jeff,

  can I have a lollipop?

  Absolutely you can.

  And they'll take a lollipop and they'll leave.

  This happens all the time.

  And about 10 or 15 seconds later, they come back in and they say, I need to get one for

  Joey.

  I need to get one for Mikey.

  I need to get one for Stacy.

  And they start and then they walk out with these handfuls of lollipops.

  Doesn't bother me at all because they're illustrating a very important biblical point.

  And that's this.

  I say it all the time.

  I'm like, you're awfully generous with something that's not yours.

  That's biblical.

  You want to learn how to be generous?

  It's not yours.

  Everything on this earth is a bowl of lollipops.

  It's all God's.

  So it's a lot easier to be generous with it when I realize it's not mine.

  I don't need to hold on to it.

  So I'm getting one for Mikey.

  Generous people see things as they really are.

  Generous people say things like, giving is worship.

  So I'm joyfully giving God first and best.

  Right?

  I'm not going to see how much money I have left after I buy all my toys and I'll give

  God a tenth of that and pat myself on the back for tithing.

  That isn't tithing and that's certainly not worship.

  Tithing worshipfully is when you receive, you say, okay, God gets first and God gets

  best.

  That's worship.

  Some of you are like, yeah, I'm on board with that.

  Why doesn't everyone get that?

  Because of verse 23.

  "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

  And if then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?"

  Some people don't get it because they're in the dark.

  Some people are just clueless because they can't see it because they can't see anything.

  Listen, when your heart is focused on the treasures of the earth accumulating for yourself,

  the blinds come down on spiritual perception.

  You are unable to see things spiritually.

  You know, some people go to church for years.

  Some people have been coming to this church for years and they do not change.

  They're still struggling with the same sin that they were struggling with two years ago,

  five years ago.

  Why?

  Because they can't see how great is the darkness.

  Some people have been coming to church for years and they don't grow.

  They're spiritually dull.

  At this point, they should be back teaching the kids.

  They should be leading a small group at this point.

  They should be in the preaching class, but they can't.

  They're spiritually dull.

  Why?

  They can't see.

  How great is the darkness?

  Some people never witness, never share Christ with anybody.

  Even talk about witnessing like, "Well, that's not for me."

  Why?

  They can't see.

  How great is the darkness?

  They come to church and they're like, "Well, worship is boring.

  The sermon wasn't for me.

  The prayer was too long."

  How great is the darkness?

  When your heart is purely focused on earth's treasures, when you live your life only thinking

  and focused and spending on here and now, you will have no spiritual perception.

  Until you get your view of money right, you're never going to be able to deal with other

  spiritual matters.

  So here's a self-serving reason to give.

  Maybe this church stuff will start to make some sense because the lights will come on.

  All right?

  Three self-serving reasons to give, number one, so I have treasure forever.

  Number two, so I'm able to see.

  Number three, so I serve the right master.

  So I serve the right master.

  Look at verse 24, Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate

  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

  You cannot serve God and money.

  Jesus here very clearly tells us that God and money are both masters.

  You are a servant to one of them.

  There's no third option.

  And in this context, you see, you look at stuff, and you say, "Okay, all this stuff

  that I have, it's either God's for God's purposes, or it's mine for what I want."

  Those are your choices.

  Jesus said, you know, you shouldn't try to...

  You shouldn't try to...

  No.

  He didn't say you shouldn't try to serve two masters.

  What did He say?

  The last sentence, He says, "You cannot."

  You cannot.

  It's impossible to serve two masters.

  Why is that?

  The same reason a man can't have two wives.

  Because we have two masters here, and both of them demand total allegiance.

  Both of these masters, there's no compromise.

  There's no 50/50 here.

  You're going to be totally sold out to one of them.

  And right now, I'm sure somebody is saying, "Well, I'm not a slave to worldly things.

  I'm not a slave to accumulating."

  Some of you are way more than you realize.

  Because when you prioritize stuff over God, then money becomes your master.

  And Martin Lloyd-Jones told this story.

  I can't stop thinking about it.

  He told this story about this farmer that had two cows gave birth at the same time.

  So now we have two baby cows.

  What is it called?

  Just seeing who's still listening.

  And okay, so he had two baby cows.

  So the farmer excitedly goes to his wife and he says, "Okay, here's what we're going to

  do.

  I'm going to raise both of these cows.

  And I'm going to sell one and all the money is going to God.

  And then I'm going to sell the other and all the money we're going to use for our family."

  And his wife says, "Well, which cow is which?

  The white one or the brown one?

  Which one's God's and which one's ours?"

  And the man says, "Ah, you know what?

  We'll worry about that later.

  We'll take care of that down the road somewhere."

  Well, a couple days later the wife walks into the house and the farmer was weeping.

  And the wife says, "Honey, what's the matter?"

  And the farmer goes, "God's cow died."

  That's funny, isn't it?

  It's really not because it's always God's cow that dies.

  It's always God's cow that dies.

  You know, you've got a sports tournament and church at the same time.

  You've got to go with the sports.

  It's always God's cow that dies.

  I'm not saying you're anathema if you miss church.

  I'm saying it's a huge red flag as to the way you're discipling your children when you

  teach them that anything else takes priority over church.

  When does worship ever have the priority?

  Are you discipling your kids to that?

  It's always God's cow that dies.

  It's like, well, we have youth group tonight, but we also have a dance recital.

  We can skip youth group because it's always God's cow that dies.

  You know, I really wanted to join a small group, Pastor Taylor, but you know what?

  I got this hobby that takes up most of my nights.

  So it's always God's cow that dies.

  And oh, yeah, we're talking about money.

  When money becomes tight, giving to God is the first thing to go because it's always

  God's cow that dies.

  Who's your master?

  I'll give you a real easy test.

  I'll give you a real easy test that will tell you where your heart is.

  Has this sermon really bothered you?

  If this sermon is really grating on you, so long as I have accurately represented what

  our Lord has said, if this sermon is really grating on you, according to Him, it's going

  to be grating on you.

  That means you love money and you hate God.

  If you're sitting here, and if you're going to be totally honest, and you resent the truth

  that God has a total claim on your life, then that means, in the words of our Lord, you're

  devoted to money and you despise God.

  But you know, if you're generous, it sort of works the other way.

  If you're generous towards God, you hate that the world is constantly trying to take more

  of your money.

  You hate when gas prices go up, you hate when grocery prices go up, you hate when your taxes

  go up, because you sincerely respond to that by saying, "Oh, I wanted to give more, and

  that's keeping me from that."

  And you hate that because you love God so much.

  You've got a master.

  The stuff I have, the money I make, is it to serve God or is it to serve me?

  Because if it's to serve you, ultimately, you're serving it.

  Look, at the end of the day, money is just a tool.

  Money's not evil.

  Money's not inherently good.

  Money is just a tool.

  But money is the most dangerous tool that you possess, because Jesus said that is the tool

  that you will use to replace God.

  You know, there's so many self-serving, personal benefits to giving to God.

  Oh yes, the opposite is true too.

  Nothing to God blesses you, but when money is your master, you hurt yourself.

  Literally hurt yourself.

  Look at 1 Timothy 6:10.

  God says through the apostle Paul, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

  It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith."

  Look at this, "And pierced themselves with many pangs.

  The person who worships money by the way they live end up repeatedly stabbing themselves."

  So if you're sitting here at this point in the sermon and under your breath, in your

  head, in your heart, you're sitting here digging your heels in saying, "No one tells

  me how to spend my money."

  Look, I earned this.

  It belongs to me.

  Okay.

  But I have an obligation to tell you that you're just stabbing yourself.

  So if God isn't your master, who are you hurting?

  On the other hand, giving it to God so I can keep it forever, letting the light shine in

  that only comes to a generous heart, and serving a master who loves me and only wants good

  for me.

  I got plenty of self-serving reasons to give to God.

  Let's pray.

  Our Father in heaven, I'm sure this was a very uncomfortable several minutes for some

  people.

  That's okay.

  God, we didn't come here today for comfort.

  We came here to hear from You.

  And yes, sometimes God, You do comfort us with the truth.

  And Father, there are generous people sitting in this room that are comforted by all of

  the benefits that You have promised those who are generous.

  Father, I pray for those who are still holding on so tightly to stuff.

  I pray, Father, that this would be a time of some serious self-examination, and that

  they would not take the words of Jesus Christ lightly.

  But Father, I pray You would give them no rest until they seek to get this money issue

  right before You.

  It's worship, Father.

  It's worship.

  Let us worship You with the stuff that You've given us.

  We pray in Jesus' name.

  Amen.

Questions from the Congregation - Part 19B

Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the approximate start of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.

Family / Kids:

1. [02:15] - Q: How can Christians help transgender family members fit into a family structure without alienating them?
   
   Creation / End Times:
   

2. [07:28] - Q: Why did Adam live so long on the earth when we can’t now?
   

3. [10:30] - Q: Buckle up, this is a doosey! :) How are scientists using Carbon Dating to find rocks that are millions of years old? Carbon Dating works by using the Half-Life of Carbon (the amount of time for half of the carbon in something to decay (5,730 Years in Carbon-14, which is used for Carbon Dating)). If the Earth is only 6,000ish years old (which I believe it is), then I should be able to get my own doohickey that tells me how much carbon is decayed, and find that only about half-of the carbon is decayed. This would mean that the scientists were lying, but all the carbon dating says the Earth is millions of years old. Are the scientists lying? Or when God created the Earth did he create it with a lot of the carbon decayed? And if so, why would he do so? Wouldn’t he want it to show that the Earth is only 6000ish years old? Is this whole Carbon Dating thing false and is a lie? Or does it have something to have to do with the fall, or something else entirely? Okay, that’s your homework assignment for the next few weeks! Enjoy, and thank you!

4. [13:53] - Q: During the Millennium, where Christians reign with Jesus, people will sin, but I’m confused about who. 1. Will the Christians who have already died on the earth and received their glorified bodies sin? 2. Will the Christians who were raptured and did not receive their glorified bodies sin? 3. Will the children that the Christians in the millennium have sin? Thank you!
   

5. [15:43] - Q: Why aren’t Christians talking about the Bible prophecies from thousands of years ago that are happening in our day and age? How is this not fascinating to every Christian? SOOO many Scriptures point to what is happening right now. How is it that Christians don’t know or care? I actually do want an answer to this question.
   
   Miscellaneous / Potluck:
   

6. [21:16] - Q: How long does somebody have to be dead before it’s considered “archeology” instead of “grave robbing”? ***How is this Bible related? I’m not sure, but grave-robbing is definitely a sin!***
   

7. [23:20] - Q: In 2 Sam 16:5-14 Shimei cursed David and David said, “it may be that the Lord will look on my affliction and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day”. What is going on here? Why did David accept this cursing?
   

8. [26:02] - Q: What does the Bible say about cremation?
   
   Reprise (from Part 1):
   

9. [31:01] - Q: What does the “gift of tongues” accurately look like in today’s church? Since I’ve only seen the “crazy” – there must be a legit use for it since Paul spent so much time on it in 1 Corinthians 14. And if it is no longer valid, how do you determine what gifts are valid or not?
   

10. [36:40] - Q: Do the leaders of this church like each other? If so, how do you show it to each other?

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):

Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another!

Questions from the Congregation - Part 19A

Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the approximate start time of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.

Prayer:

1. [02:25] - Q: Prayers of believers vs. unbelievers – when a person that has belief but doesn’t have a daily walk says, “I’ll pray for you,” “Sending prayers,” are they heard the same? How should I respond to them?
   

2. [07:10] - Q: What is the biblical response to proclamation prayer or prayer where people pray with the authority to command things? How should we respond to believers who pray or want to pray for us in this way?
   

3. [11:45] - Q: How should we view or even practice the “listening prayer”, in which we listen for God’s speaking or answer to us? Is that charismatic Christianity?
   
   The Church:
   

4. [16:45] - Q: Do the leaders of this church like each other? If so, how do you show it to each other?
   

5. [20:40] - Q: What is this church’s strategy concerning choosing worship songs that overuse the repeat button? I am unable to see the benefit of singing the same words over and over?
   

6. [22:18] - Q: What does the “gift of tongues” accurately look like in today’s church? Since I’ve only seen the “crazy” – there must be a legit use for it since Paul spent so much time on it in 1 Corinthians 14. And if it is no longer valid, how do you determine what gifts are valid or not?
   

7. [27:48] - Q: Can Christian women baptize new believers?
   
   Family/Kids:

8. [29:27] - Q: Do babies go to heaven if they die? Similar Question: “The age of accountability” being made up – or not found in the Bible, what biblical basis is there for understanding what will happen to young children or the disabled when they die unexpectedly or if Jesus returns?
   

9. [34:36] - Q: Is it okay for a Christian couple to decide that they do not want to have children or to prevent conception? Also, is it okay for a Christian couple to decide what size of a family they would prefer, or should we let those decisions up to God?

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):

Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another!

Guard Your Heart

Introduction:

Guard Your Heart… (Proverbs 4:20–27)

1. With the WORD OF GOD (Proverbs 4:20–22)

   Psalm 119:9–11 (ESV) – How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

   1. Because it BRINGS TRUE LIFE (Prov 4:22a)

   2. Because it BRINGS LASTING HEALING (Prov 4:22b)

2. With UNWAVERING VIGILANCE (Proverbs 4:23–27)

   Luke 6:45 (ESV) – The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

   1. By Watching WHAT YOU SAY (Prov 4:24)

      Proverbs 13:3 (ESV) – Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

   2. By Controlling WHAT YOU FOCUS ON (Prov 4:25)

   3. By Directing WHERE YOU GO (Prov 4:26–27)

      1 Kings 11:2–4 – ...for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love... For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods...

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read Proverbs 4:20-27

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. How do you guard your heart with the Word of God? How would you describe your devotional life and the ways it needs to improve?
   

3. What does it look like to be vigilant in guarding your heart? How have you been lazy in guarding your heart in the past?
   

4. What actions steps do you need to take moving forward?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  The Lord saved me at a young age, but my relationship with Him wasn't really deep until I was a senior in high school.

  At that time, I became a serious student of God's Word and I bought myself a nice new Bible.

  Do you want to see that nice and new Bible 16 years later?

  Alright, thanks. I'll show Jay. Jay wants to see it.

  Here's how it looks now. How's it look?

  Some of you get it. Yeah, it does look good in some ways. It doesn't look great in other ways, though, does it?

  You may be wondering, did you get run over by a lawn mower or something while you were reading it?

  Nothing as dramatic as that, but for years, this Bible went everywhere with me.

  It took it to Haiti, twice to Kenya, all the missions, trips I led as a youth pastor.

  I preached a lot of sermons and taught a lot of lessons from this Bible.

  When I first bought it, I protected it. I guarded it. I kept it in the box. It came in whenever I put it into my backpack or went on a trip.

  But as years went by, I stopped protecting it with the box and I just hoped for the best.

  And I kept getting more worn out, kept getting more beat up.

  With each passing year, I kept looking worse and worse and worse and worse.

  It really bummed me out to look at this Bible and what it had become.

  Other people would comment on it as well, like, "Do you need to buy a new Bible or get it rebounded?"

  It's going to fall apart any minute.

  So I eventually took people up on that and I bought a nice leather-bound Bible.

  And I learned my lesson with my old Bible because I still have the box for the new one.

  And I still keep it in there all the time whenever I travel or put it into my backpack.

  I am resolved to guard this copy of God's Word moving forward.

  It has immense value to me. It is precious to me.

  So I want to take care of it by any means necessary.

  According to God's Word, there is something of immense value within you

  that you often fail to consider and guard properly.

  Your heart. Your heart should be precious to you

  and you should want to take care of it by any means necessary.

  Over this past year, we have focused on one major theme from Scripture.

  God wants your heart.

  God wants your heart.

  But what if you don't want God like you used to?

  What if you don't want to give God your heart like you used to?

  This is the final week of our latest series, Heart Problems.

  What to do when you don't want God?

  Every single person in this room has a heart problem of some kind.

  It could be apathy and prayer, spiritual laziness and gratitude,

  unrepentant sin in your life.

  Thankfully, God has solutions to every single heart problem you can experience.

  Over the past few weeks, we've discovered three of God's solutions

  to these heart problems.

  Evaluating your heart. Confessing sin from your heart

  and giving thanks with your heart.

  Maybe at this point you're thinking, "Well, Taylor, I'm good to go.

  I've done all those things. I've evaluated my heart.

  I've confessed sin from my heart. I've given thanks to my heart.

  Time to move on from this series and go back to the Sermon on the Mount.

  Thanks so much. I'm done with this."

  Well, not so fast.

  You are missing one important piece of the puzzle,

  and that is guarding your heart.

  Because if you fail to guard your heart,

  you will lose all the progress that you've made over the past few weeks.

  And all the old heart problems that you had will return and intensify.

  New heart problems will pop up and spiral out of control.

  You must protect yourself from this danger.

  You must do your best to resolve these heart problems when they first pop up

  instead of ignoring them and leaving them undoubt with.

  We'll spend the rest of this message talking about what it looks like

  to guard your heart in action.

  I want you to walk out of this series with a confidence

  that you can resolve heart problems right when they appear

  through God's power and with God's methods.

  So before we continue, let's go to the Lord in prayer.

  Please pray for me, and I will pray for you.

  Father, we come to you with a sense of weightiness.

  But we all have a heart problem of some kind right now.

  None of us can say that we don't.

  I pray that we can be honest about it this morning.

  Bring those things to you that you can change us,

  that you can convict us, that you can build us up.

  Lord, I can do none of those things.

  All I can do is share your word,

  and you are the only one who can use your word to change lives.

  And I ask that you would do that this morning.

  I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

  So over the past two Sundays,

  we spent a lot of time with King David in the Psalms.

  This morning we're going to spend some time

  with King David's son Solomon in Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 through 27.

  So if you have a Bible with you,

  you can turn to Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 through 27.

  And as you turn there,

  let me give you a quick crash course on King Solomon.

  At a young age, this man was given a blank check by God himself.

  Name what you want, and I'll give it to you.

  You ever think about how awesome that is?

  Just imagine that.

  What do you think you would ask for

  if God gave you that blank check?

  Well, Solomon didn't ask for what was expected.

  He didn't ask for riches, for honor, or the ability to fly.

  That would be really cool though.

  No, what does he ask for instead?

  Wisdom.

  Wisdom, which is the ability to apply God's word

  to every situation you experience

  and every decision that you make.

  Wisdom is knowledge and action.

  And God was so pleased with this answer

  that he still gave Solomon all the stuff

  he didn't ask for minus the superpower flight

  he didn't get that.

  But Solomon was blessed with so much material stuff,

  most importantly, with wisdom from God.

  And he used this wisdom to accomplish a lot of great things

  like building the first temple,

  but later in life, he squandered that wisdom,

  which we'll talk about at the end of this message.

  But the first nine chapters of Proverbs

  are written from the perspective

  of a father speaking to his son.

  Solomon is addressing his own son,

  but he's also acting like a fatherly figure

  to anyone who listens to what he has to say.

  His wise words should not be ignored.

  They should not be forgotten.

  They should be treasured.

  And in these chapters, Solomon tells his son

  that wisdom is the most valuable thing.

  It's better than silver, gold, or precious jewels.

  He's seek after wisdom and get it.

  He also warns his son against many things

  that he should not do.

  But our main focus this morning

  is Solomon's words of wisdom about his son's heart.

  That is the thing that Solomon is most concerned about

  because if your heart is wrong,

  it doesn't really matter what else you get right.

  Solomon gives his son and everyone who reads

  Proverbs 4, 20 through 27 the same command,

  guard your heart.

  So on your outline,

  guard your heart with the word of God.

  Guard your heart with the word of God.

  Let's read verses 20 through 21.

  "My son, be attentive to my words

  and climb your ear to my sayings.

  Let them not escape from your sight.

  Keep them within your heart."

  These verses remind me a lot of conversations

  I had with my dad when I was younger,

  when he made it very clear that I should listen

  to what he had to say and not tune him out.

  I have very similar conversations with my own son

  that vary in their level of effectiveness and success.

  In those moments, I want my son, Sam, to close his mouth,

  open his ears, and heed my warnings

  to listen to what I have to say.

  But you have to remember that this instruction

  from an earthly father isn't the only thing

  happening in this passage.

  Remember, this is the authoritative word of God.

  It's not just the end of the Andy Griffith Show.

  When Sheriff Andy sits down with Opie

  to give the major moral lesson,

  no, your heavenly father is sitting you down

  to give you commands and instructions.

  God himself is calling you to be attentive to his words,

  to incline your ears to his sayings,

  to not let them escape your sight

  and to keep them within your heart.

  That sounds very similar to Psalm 119-11.

  How can a young man keep his way pure

  by guarding it according to your word?

  With my whole heart I seek you.

  Let me not wander from your commandments.

  I have stored up your word in my heart

  that I might not sin against you.

  You cannot guard your heart, fight sin,

  and lead a pure life apart from significant time in the Bible.

  It's just not possible.

  It's like trying to build a deck on the back of your house

  without any tools or any supplies of any kind.

  You can have the best of intentions,

  but you will get nowhere fast.

  It's not enough just to read the Bible.

  You need to keep it stored up in your heart.

  How do you do that?

  You push out other things to make room for it.

  You kill the bad habits in your life.

  You let go of those hobbies that hold you back

  and that vie for your attention.

  You make room for God's word by memorizing it.

  I know what some of you are thinking,

  "Taylor, I can't memorize stuff. I have a horrible memory."

  Let me share a universal truth with you.

  You memorize what you care about.

  If you love sports,

  you have a ton of information about players,

  games, teams, write your fingertips at all times.

  If you love golf in this room,

  you have a lot of information

  downloaded into your brain about the perfect golf swing.

  All the courses you want to play at in the world,

  if you're a movie freak,

  you have film knowledge, directors, actors,

  write in your brain,

  what is the focus of your memorization?

  What do you make the most room for in your heart?

  John Bunyan, the man who wrote one of the best-selling books of all time,

  The Pilgrim's Progress, hundreds of years ago,

  was described in this way.

  "This man is a living Bible.

  Prick him anywhere and he will bleed the Bible.

  The very essence of the Bible flows from him.

  He cannot speak without quoting a text

  for his very own purpose.

  He cannot speak without quoting a text

  for his very soul is full of the Word of God."

  Is that description true of you?

  I wish I fit this description far more than I do.

  But this can describe you.

  It can describe me if we grab ahold of the right motivations.

  And let me tell you this morning,

  I have no desire to guilt you

  for spending more time in the Bible.

  Do you want to know why?

  Because that motivation won't last beyond the end of this week.

  You may be diligent in studying, reading, praying this week,

  but it won't last any longer.

  You need the motivation only God can provide.

  You need to believe that this book is far more important

  than anything else you can set your mind to

  or fill your time with.

  Truly be convinced from your heart that reading this book,

  studying it, living it, applying it,

  blesses and benefits you in every way

  and in every area of life.

  My yelling, my nagging, my pestering

  may make you feel like a shame dog

  popped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.

  But those tactics will not make you love

  the instructions of your heavenly master

  even one bit more.

  So let's talk about two motivations

  that will inspire you to guard your heart

  with the Word of God.

  So on your outline,

  guard your heart with the Word of God

  because it brings true life.

  Because it brings true life.

  Let's check out the first half of verse 22.

  "For they are life to those who find them."

  You are only as healthy as what you consume.

  As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat."

  That is true both physically and spiritually.

  Your physical well-being cannot rise above

  what you put into your body.

  Your spiritual well-being cannot rise above

  what you put into your heart.

  When he was tempted by Satan and the wilderness,

  Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8.3,

  "Man shall not live by bread alone

  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

  Maybe you are spiritually starving this morning

  because you have never feasted on the Word of God.

  You have never tasted the goodness of Jesus Christ

  in the gospel.

  Listen, nothing and no one can satisfy your longings

  and cravings apart from Jesus Christ.

  Stop poisoning yourself with the junk food of this world.

  That diet will do nothing but make you sick,

  hurt your heart, and kill your eternal soul.

  Life is offered to you today in the Word of God.

  Let go of the junk food of this world

  and grab a hold of Jesus Christ who suffered,

  died, and rose again so that you can have eternal life

  that starts now and lasts forever.

  Grab a hold of Christ by faith and you will have that life.

  Guard your heart with the Word of God

  because it brings true life

  and because it brings true healing.

  Because it brings true healing.

  Let's read all of 22.

  "For they are life to those who find them in healing

  to all their flesh."

  The Word of God provides a remedy for every ailment.

  It provides a solution to every heart problem.

  This book is like the ultimate Swiss army knife.

  It is multifaceted, multi-purpose,

  and useful for every situation.

  It is a genuine lifesaver.

  I can't guarantee you much,

  but I guarantee you there is no trial,

  there is no discouragement,

  there is no relational issue

  that you cannot come to the Word of God

  and find wisdom for.

  There is no issue, you'll come across and be like,

  "Well, the Bible can't help me with this.

  Time to buy a self-help book or watch that lifetime movie.

  Maybe that'll help me."

  No.

  The healing help you are looking for is in the Word of God.

  It's right at your fingertips.

  You can have access to it every single second

  of every single day.

  And the Lord has brought me so much healing personally

  by praying through Scripture,

  especially through the Psalms.

  The Psalms provide you a vocabulary

  for how to pray to God

  as you experience every emotion.

  Anger, fear, frustration, confusion, sadness,

  excitement, joy.

  Do you pray through Scripture?

  If you don't, let me teach you how to do it.

  This is very complex.

  Are you all ready for this?

  All right, really pay attention.

  Read a verse and then pray about it.

  Read the next verse and then pray about it.

  Read the next verse and then pray some more about it.

  Rinse, wash, and repeat.

  Can you do that?

  You can do that.

  Pray through God's Word.

  Pray through the Psalms.

  Are you overwhelmed right now?

  Are you at the lowest point that you've been in a long time?

  Are you in need of healing?

  Push out what the world has to say about you and your issues.

  Make room for what God has to say about you and your issues.

  Guard your heart with the Word of God

  and you will experience the healing and the life

  that you are so desperate for.

  Guard your heart, secondly, with unwavering vigilance.

  With unwavering vigilance.

  Verse 23 is the centerpiece of this entire passage.

  It is one of the go-to verses

  when it comes to the importance of your heart.

  Solomon writes this,

  "Keep your heart with all vigilance

  for from it flow the springs of life."

  After a year of repetition,

  you may be tired of hearing it,

  but I'm going to say it again,

  your heart is who you really are on the inside.

  Your heart is like a spring or a fountain.

  Everything that you think, say, and do flows from it.

  Most fountains only pour out what they are filled with.

  If a decorative fountain is filled with contaminated water,

  it will only pour out unclean water that you shouldn't drink.

  If a fondue fountain is filled with cheese and chocolate,

  you shouldn't be surprised when it only pours out cheese and chocolate.

  Your heart is a fountain that will only pour out what it is filled with.

  Have you ever come across a person who is rude in every situation

  and constantly rags on everyone?

  And then someone comes along to defend this person.

  "Oh, well, you know, they might be rough around the edges,

  but deep down, he or she really is a nice and kind person."

  What do we think about that?

  Is that true?

  Incorrect.

  What is in that person's heart spews out of their mouth.

  Their heart is full of resentment and disrespect,

  so it comes out in how they talk to everyone.

  I can't put it any better than our Lord when He said,

  "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good,

  and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.

  For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks."

  You show who you really are by what you say and by what you do.

  And with that essential truth in mind, Solomon says,

  "Keep your heart with all vigilance."

  Vigilance.

  Do you know who I think of when I hear that word?

  McGruff the crime dog.

  Does anyone remember McGruff?

  He was a character in the '80s who was created to increase personal safety

  and awareness of crime.

  He was a bloodhound in the trench coat

  who had a really deep and intimidating voice.

  Does anyone know what his tagline was?

  Anyone remember?

  "Take a bite out of crime."

  McGruff set his sights on important issues like bullying, drug use, home invasion.

  And he would just be so emphatic that you have to defend yourself.

  You have to have alarm systems. You have to have a deadbolt on your door.

  McGruff wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilant

  in order to guard your loved ones and yourself from the crime that wants to take a bite out of you.

  Well, God himself wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilant

  in order to guard your heart from the sin that wants to take a bite out of you.

  You cannot take breaks or vacations from this vigilance.

  Heart security is infinitely more important than home security.

  Spiritually, your head needs to be on a swivel at all times.

  You must be circumspect, not careless, cautious, not casual.

  So what should you be on the lookout for?

  How should you guard your heart with unwavering vigilance?

  What should you be focused on your outline?

  Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by watching what you say.

  By watching what you say.

  Let's read verse 24.

  "Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you."

  Crooked speech and devious talk, what does that mean?

  It's not about trying to be honest, it's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  It's about trying to be honest.

  That is a stupid thought that you and I both fall for.

  We've already established that you show who you are on the inside

  by what you say on the outside.

  So let's run that through.

  If you lie to others on the outside, who does that make you on the inside?

  That makes you a what?

  A liar.

  It's that simple.

  You cannot call yourself a lover of the truth

  if you constantly indulge in one of the activities that God hates the most.

  Elsewhere in Proverbs it says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."

  So should you mess around with something that is described so harshly?

  No, we really shouldn't.

  The pathway of Christian speech is straight, not crooked.

  You need to walk the straight highway of God's truth

  instead of stumbling down those side roads of deception.

  Put away crooked speech and devious talk by fessing up to how you've been deceitful.

  Sit that person, sit those people down

  to unravel every single lie that you've told.

  Those conversations sure won't be fun,

  but they sure will set your heart free.

  Put away crooked speech and devious talk by entering into tough conversations,

  by praying to God, "God, I know I'm going to be tempted to be dishonest.

  I know I'm going to be tempted to stress the truth.

  Guard my heart.

  Help me to only say what is true, even if it costs me."

  Put away crooked speech and devious talk by diving into Proverbs that talk about how you speak.

  Proverbs like the one we're studying this morning, or Proverbs 13.3,

  "Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life, he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."

  Be vigilant in guarding your heart by guarding your mouth.

  Be vigilant in what you say and what you don't say.

  Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by controlling what you focus on.

  So Solomon moves from what you say to where you look in verse 25.

  "Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you."

  Where you look is where you'll end up.

  Where you look is where you'll end up.

  Imagine that after church, I take a nice long walk,

  I find myself on a road with a really steep embankment.

  And for some reason, I stop looking directly ahead

  and my eyes start to wander to the embankment.

  Keep looking at it, keep looking at it, keep looking at it.

  If I keep doing that, where am I going to end up?

  Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrail

  and rolling down the entire road.

  Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrail and rolling down the embankment.

  I will most likely get in a very serious accident.

  I could have avoided that if I had kept my eyes looking directly forward

  where I should have been looking.

  Where are you looking right now?

  Are you looking where God wants you to look?

  Or are you looking where the enemy wants you to look?

  Where the world wants you to look?

  If you keep up with watching those corrupting movies and shows,

  you'll end up with those movies and shows rewriting your thinking.

  If you keep up with mindlessly, endlessly scrolling on social media

  all hours of the day, you'll end up as a spiritual zombie.

  As an undisciplined slacker who doesn't give his or her family

  the time and attention that they deserve.

  If you keep up with that pornography addiction,

  you will end up feeling very alone

  and ruining the good connection that you have with your spouse.

  You become what you behold.

  Be vigilant in guarding your heart by controlling where you look

  and what you focus on.

  Finally, guard your heart with unwavering vigilance

  by directing where you go.

  By directing where you go.

  Let's wrap up with verses 26 through 27.

  "Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.

  Do not swerve to the right or to the left.

  Turn your foot away from evil."

  Staple this truth to your brain and never forget it.

  You are one decision away from life-shattering disaster.

  You can destroy all the trust that you've worked so hard to build up in an instant.

  You can tear your reputation to shreds with one choice.

  You can do serious damage if you're not careful of where you go.

  Don't do what feels good.

  Don't do what feels right.

  Do what is good.

  Do what is right.

  "Ponder the path of your feet.

  Direct yourself to where you should go."

  But here's the thing.

  You can't ponder the path of your feet on your own.

  You will go to the right or to the left if you isolate yourself.

  You will not turn your foot away from evil if you try to go this way alone.

  Direct yourself towards worshiping with God's people every single week.

  Direct yourself towards intentional Christian community in small groups.

  Direct yourself to honest and accountable relationships in the body of Christ.

  If you've been on the outskirts of this church for weeks, months, or even years,

  I want to encourage you to dive in.

  Take a risk.

  Be vulnerable.

  Listen, you may have been hurt in the past by a church,

  and I in no way want to nullify that or minimize that pain.

  But that pain will not go away if you don't get involved in this church.

  It will only get worse and worse and worse.

  To truly be in community, to be truly known, to truly know others,

  it's always a risk.

  It always requires you being vulnerable.

  Take that step in faith and trust the Lord.

  Trust that He will direct you to where you should go.

  That He will direct you towards greater maturity and connectedness in the body of Christ.

  Please know that we love you and we want you here.

  Be vigilant and guard in your heart by directing where you go.

  At the end of this message, you may be thinking, "Well, Taylor,

  all this stuff that Solomon is saying is very obvious.

  I already know all this stuff. It's not complex."

  You're right.

  Keeping your heart, guarding your heart is not complex,

  except when it comes to actually doing it.

  When theory becomes reality, when rubber meets the road,

  when your worldly desires experience a head-on collision with your godly affections.

  Before we close a curtain on this series,

  I want to give you a word of warning from Solomon himself.

  It's actually a warning from his own life,

  because Solomon didn't listen to his own words.

  As time went on, he didn't guard his heart with the word of God.

  He didn't guard his heart with unwavering vigilance.

  He was told, "Time and time again,

  don't marry foreign wives from pagan nations who worship other gods.

  If you do that, they will cause you to not be faithful to the Lord."

  Solomon knew that, but he didn't listen.

  Which leads to one of the saddest passages in the entire Old Testament.

  Solomon clung to these in love.

  He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines.

  And his wives turned away his heart.

  For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.

  And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord, his God,

  as was the heart of David, his father.

  What a heartbreaking end for Solomon.

  What a serious warning for you and for me.

  Solomon knew it all.

  He knew what the right thing to do was, but he didn't do it.

  He didn't guard his heart.

  It's tempting to think, "Well, my heart seems like it's fine right now."

  But then you fail to think,

  "Well, I'm going to have heart problems moving forward."

  You may not think that you have heart problems right now,

  and that you're free from them.

  But what about tomorrow?

  What about next week?

  What about next month?

  What about next year? Are you ready?

  Evaluating your heart is not a once in a lifetime appointment.

  It is a daily appointment with the Lord.

  Confessing sin from your heart isn't something you just do once at your conversion.

  No, it is a daily acknowledging and repenting of your sin.

  Giving thanks with your heart isn't something that you just do in November

  when you're eating turkey with your family.

  It is a daily discipline that shapes how you view God

  and how you view your own life.

  Guarding your heart isn't just something you do when you have the time.

  No, it's something you do 24/7, 365 days a year.

  Guard your heart with the Word of God

  because it is the only source of help, encouragement, and strength that you can find.

  Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance

  for from it flow the springs of life.

  Your heart problems can only be solved by God's solutions.

  Let's pray.

  Father, we come to you.

  And we acknowledge that there is something going on within all of us.

  Whether it's doubt, severe anxiety, constant complaining,

  a sin that we don't think anyone knows about, but you do.

  What help us to lay all those things at your feet,

  help us to seek after you for help, for encouragement, for strength.

  Lord, we don't have the energy in ourselves to guard our hearts.

  We don't have the passion that's needed within ourselves, but you do.

  Give us your strength, give us your encouragement, give us your passion

  so that we can guard our hearts, not just today, but every day moving forward.

  We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen