Take your Bible and look at Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6. We're continuing an examination of verses 25 to 34, a wonderful, familiar, rich chapter and passage in the Word of God. This particular text, chapter 6 verses 25 to 34 is a portion of a bigger text, chapters 5,6 and 7 which make up The Sermon on The Mount preached by our Lord Jesus Himself, and so this is instruction straight from the lips of Christ and indeed it is practical and touches us right where we live.

If you were here with us last time you know that we began a look at the passage and we'll be continuing this morning hoping to do a little review so that those who were not here can find their place rather readily.

The heart of this matter to which Jesus speaks is the issue of materialism, worrying about our finances, worrying about our life, worrying about our earthly existence, worrying about whether we're going to have enough of the necessities of life to survive. The injunction the Lord gives three times in the passage is that we are not to worry, that such anxiety or such care or such fear‑or such worry or concern has absolutely no place in the life of a Christian. And of course it is markedly an antithesis to everything we know in our own world. The world in which we live is utterly preoccupied with material possessions; we live in a totally materialistic world. People's life begins and ends with the things which they possess, and that is an exact opposite to what the Scripture says when it says, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses." And yet if you were to really get to the heart of the matter and to the real issues in human life even here in our own country you would find that most people live for nothing more and nothing less than all the possessions they can possibly grasp to feed their own determined life style.

In the last issue of Fortune Magazine, there is an article entitled, "On a Fast Track to the Good Life." Fortune Magazine sent out its editors to do a survey. They surveyed all across America the twenty five year old men and women who are on their way up the corporate ladder in the business world. They did a similar survey twenty five years ago. And they wanted to find out what the twenty five year old leader, business type person on the way up the corporate ladder looks for in life, what they really want out of life, what they really search for, what their goals and objectives are and so the writer, Gwen Kinkead wrote the article in response to this survey. I suppose that it shouldn't shock us but it, it does and I'm glad I have a little shock ability left in me. But I want to share with you some of the excerpts from the article so you can get a feeling for what the thinking is of the young generation in America. The article says that, "Today's twenty five year old business beginners know what they want and are uninhibited about demanding it. They plan," says the writer, "to get what they want. And what do they want? What is their goal? What is that which they seek to achieve? Simply stated they put their jobs ahead of all other commitments including marriage and children which some claim they'll never want." End quote.

Well why, why do we have a generation of people who are not committed to relationships, who are not at all committed to marriage or children, but are only committed to a job. And the answer given in the survey is that it isn't relationships they want it is money that they want, and they see jobs as the way to get it. They desire greater economic security, they are drawn, says the writer, to big business for the money, and along with the money comes the prestige and the authority and the reputation. The writer says, they are guided by, quote, "Frankly materialistic requirements. They defend success and they want it now." End quote. She goes on to say that they are confident, they are self‑assured, they don't think they're lucky they think they're good, most of them think they're star material and can't wait to shove out whoever's in front of them. The writer says, Their ambition is consuming, they are arrogant, they fear anonymity, they fear getting lost in the shuffle, and they fear a blurring into faceless organizational surroundings. They want to be somebody, they want to be somebody now, they want to be somebody at the expense of anybody else, they want the money and all that goes with it. And the writer goes on to say, They are very adept at the art of self‑promotion.

In fact she writes, "They practice tireless, sophisticated, self‑merchandizing hoping they don't have to do much backstabbing on the way up." It also goes on to say that they have no commitment to the companies they work for other than that they want to make the most money possible so they job hop as soon as there's any other money available to them. And taking quotes from the ah, twenty five year olds who were interviewed both men and women these are some of the things they said, "I want what I want when I want it." Sounds like about one and a half years old, doesn't it? Another one said, "I want no mandatory or monetary restraints." Edward Beam, who is a Planning Officer at Chicago Northern Trust Company said, "I love kids but I don't want any, I'm too selfish."

Another lady, Laurie Graves at Northrop over here in Hawthorn California says, "We'll have children when we're financially secure enough to afford good child care so I can continue to work." The writer says, They are concerned with, quote, "Nabbing a piece of the action and being on the lookout for yourself. They don't feel obligated to help others, few devote time to public service or volunteer work or social problems and religion appears too proscriptive or irrelevant." End quote. They're not interested in anybody or anything but themselves. Terry Michel, who is a woman, management trainee at Connecticut General Life Insurance Company says, "I knew business would reward me in direct proportion to what I achieved, I like to spend money, I didn't feel like giving up any luxuries." End quote. So the writer of the article says, Of all people they are an extremely grabby bunch.

Dwight Billingsly a Utilities Consultant in a Washington D.C. firm strikes a common cord he says, quote, "I plan to set up my own business, be independent and report to no one, though I have more money now that I ever thought possible I'd like all the money in the world." They insist on gratification, the writer says, and she says they are unabashed materialists who crave the latest labor saving and electronic hardware along with frequent entertainment and travel, and in their righteous aversion to conventional status symbols they seem unaware that they're on their way to creating their own. One woman said of them, one twenty five year old said, "We want to make sure my career is well established, that we have all the material things we want, that our bills are caught up so we don't fight over what little money we'll have to raise a family on. With our life style we can't afford good child care now and all the things we like." End quote. Children are an intrusion into our materialistic age, and when people whimsically have those children they want to make sure they can afford somebody else to care for them. I say it in the past I'll say it again, the biggest curse in American society is a working woman, and it continues to be that because it utterly devastates the family. They are materialists, they are unabashed materialists, they are guided by ambition, greed, motivation for success, prestige and promotion

If we are to see a change in the world and if we are to touch our society then we're going to have to be distinctively Christian, and I dare say we are somewhat as materialistic as those who are apart of the system around us. We all suffer from the inroads and the temptations and the power of the materialistic age in which we live, we've all fallen prey to it. What is the Christian view of material things? What is the Christian view of money and possessions? Where do we stand and what does the Bible teach? What is my perspective on both the luxuries and the necessities of life? Well the answer to the questions is given no where as aptly as its given right here by our own Lord Jesus Christ. For what you have in chapter 6 verses 19 to 34 is the greatest statement Jesus ever made on the view that we must have toward material things.

Now we've already studied verses 19 to 24 and that is what the Lord says about our view of luxury. Now we're looking at verse 25 to 34 in which He speaks of our view of necessity, so that the Lord touches both that which is beyond what we need and that which is what we need. And He gives us an affirmation of where our commitment is to be.

Now remember that when we looked at verses 19 to 24 we saw the luxuries, what is to be our perspective on luxury, that which is beyond what we need for the basic necessities. Well, the simple statement our Lord makes is in verse 20, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." We are to invest in heaven. What does that mean? We are to commit ourselves to placing that which we possess in an eternal investment, we are not to stockpile it in earthly things, verse 19 because moth and rust, and thieves will destroy it. So when it comes to luxury or our abundance we are to invest that in heaven, and we went into that in great detail. And we are to do that for three reasons, reason number one is in verse 21, because that's where our heart should be. If you put all your treasure in the earth that's where your heart's going to be, you're going to be worrying about your bank account instead of the kingdom of God. But if you invest all that you have in God's things and God's ends and God's will and God's purposes and God's projects then that's where your heart's going to be as you watch your investment bringing eternal dividends, and so reason number one that we invest our luxury in an eternal significance is that our heart might be there.

Reason number two is, in verses 22 and 23 it opens up our spiritual sight, and what the Lord says there is that if you invest in the earth you pull the shades down on your spiritual eyes and you become blind to spiritual reality. If you invest in eternal things the shades go up and the light of God floods your heart. The third reason that we are to invest what we have in terms of luxury in an eternally consequential thing is that it determines that we serve God and not money. It makes our service to God undivided. So in dealing with luxury then we invest it in eternity, we don't stockpile it and hoard it here, and the reason we do that is because our heart is there then where it should be, our spiritual sight is clear, and our service is undivided. Now it always makes me rejoice when I see somebody who is so free in their spirit as to be able to do this, such as the person who would give us a house or give us a large amount of money or whatever, and you have done the same thing I'm sure investing with God magnanimously and generously, because you know the eternal has far more consequence than the temporal.

Now from there He moves to the necessities of like, what about the basics? And that's in verses 25 to 34, and I guess if there's anything we're concerned about it's the basics. In fact the reason some people stockpile their luxuries is so that they can hedge against not having the basics in the future, and we worry about the basics, should we? Well the heart of this passage is reiterated in three statements in verse 25 it says, "Therefore, I say unto you, Be not anxious." In verse 31 it says, "Therefore, be not anxious." Verse 34, "Therefore, be not anxious." The thrust then of the passage is built around those three statements, "Be not anxious." The first one in the Greek says, stop being anxious, the next two, don't start being anxious, so they catch you wherever you are if you haven't started don't, if you've already started stop. And the word anxious, merimnos, it means to worry, to fret, to fear, to have anxiety.

In fact uhm, in the Greek manuscript that was found from the first century where there was a list of the names of certain Christians in the early church, they found one name of one individual Christian, his name was Titedeusamerimnos, merimnos means worry put an a in front of it and it means not to worry, and so his name was Titedeus the man who never worries, and that ought to be added to the name of any Christian. Don't worry He says. Well don't worry about what? Well don't worry about, verse 25, "What you shall eat, what you shall drink; or for your body, what you shall put on." The basics, your food, your drink, your clothes, don't worry, three times, stop worrying and don't start it, if you haven't begun yet. You say, well ah, that's easy for you to say, on what basis does He say that? Three reasons, three reasons not to worry, it is unnecessary because of your Father, it is uncharacteristic because of your faith, it is unwise because of your future. So Father, faith, and future are they key, now I want you to see this, it is a masterful presentation.

Last week we looked at point number one and I just want to reiterate it because it is the substance of the other two. First of all, we are not to worry about the basics of life because it is unnecessary since God is our Father. Two weeks ago we did a little ah, establishing of a substantial theology about God being the owner and the controller and the provider of all resources of time and eternity. And if your concept of God is right and you see that He is the owner, controller, provider then knowing beyond that that not only does He own and control and provide but He is your own Father and a loving Father at that, you have nothing for which to worry. Because if He has all things in His control, and that all things which He controls He controls in the behalf of His children and you are His child that should be the death of worry. Essentially that's what we've covered in the past; anxiety is absolutely foolish because of our Father.

Now look at Matthew chapter 7 for a minute and let me just give you a preview of what we'll be looking at in a few weeks in verse 7 to 11, Matthew 7:7 to 11, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he the seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Now those two verses have been applied to a lot of things, and they rightfully can be applied to a lot of things, but the basic issue to which our Lord is speaking there is the issue of physical sustenance, because He illustrates that principle in verses 9 and 10, "What man is there of you whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?"

In other words you know just in human terms that a man is not going to give his son a rock when he asks for a piece of bread, and the man is not going to give his son a snake when he asks for a fish. In other words human fathers give their children what they seek, if what they seek is what they need. Then verse 11, "If ye then, being evil," basically men are evil, we are sinful, but if we who are evil, "know how to give good gifts unto our children, how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven," which means He's not evil but He's absolutely right and just and holy and perfect and good, "give good things to them that ask him?" And the good things again speak first of the necessities of life. I mean you see it as the character of God here, if an evil father, a sinful father and we're all sinful, if we know how to give good things to our children does not an absolutely holy God know how to give good things to His children? So what are we worried about? Whether it's food, verse 26 of Matthew 6, "The fowls of the air; your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?" I mean He's your heavenly Father and if He takes care of birds, don't you think He'll take care of you? And that's the illustration of food; He'll supply your food.

The next one is the illustration of the future, "Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?" You know there are people who worry and worry and worry about how long they're going to live, they worry about death, they're afraid of death, some people don't want to get on an airplane, some people are afraid of diseases they go from doctor to doctor to doctor, from health spa to health spa to health spa, from bottle to bottle to bottle taking vitamins and pills and they live in constant fear about their life. What good does that do? Your Father cares for that, and all the worry in the world isn't going to add to your life it's going to subtract from it, if anything.

Thirdly, not only an illustration from food and the future but fashion, He says and some of you worry about your clothes, whether you have enough clothes or whether you have the right clothes to fit into the fashions of the day, and I'm telling you when you're all done dressing yourself you can't be dressed as beautifully as a lily so why don't you let God do the dressing, He dresses the lilies. Solomon, the richest man there was couldn't make a robe as fine as the petal of a flower.

In other words God takes care of food and He takes care of life span and He takes care of clothing, He's doing all of that kind of sustaining. By the way, people are always saying, well you know God made us naked and that's the way we ought to be ... Look, God wants to supply clothes, I want you to know that, ever since the fall people got dressed. These nudists you know they go around as if God wanted people to run around like that, He didn't that's why He clothed them in the garden. I read in the Times this week about two ladies that believed that ah, if they had the faith of a grain of mustard seed they could be healed of their diseases so they took off all their clothes and painted themselves with French's yellow mustard and ran around town, claiming God's promise when they got arrested, well they should have got arrested. I mean ah, it wasn't that God didn't provide them clothes He provided them mustard, they just chose mustard over clothes; He gave them the mustard to eat and the clothes to wear. But God does provide the basics of life, that's the promise. And the basis of the promise is that God is our Father, that's the substance of point number one and we went into that in great detail last time. God is a loving Father who supplies for His children.

In Psalm 34 and verse 10 it says, "The young lions do lack and suffer hunger." You look in the animal kingdom and you'll find there are times when lion cubs hunger, the mother is unavailable, the mother doesn't provide the food or it's not there, and yet he says, "They who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing." I mean animals, they may lack, God's people, they will not. God supports His own, that is a repeated biblical truth and you can find it as well as I all over the pages of Holy Writ, God sustains His people. "My God shall supply all your (what?) needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus." There's nothing to worry about, why would you worry about your life, and how long you're going to live? Or maybe if you're a mother or a father you worry about that on behalf of your children, why would you worry about that? When all of your worry can not add one day to their life. Why would you be in great distress of whether you're going to have enough food, when God who gave you life will give you the lesser gift that sustains that life? Why would you worry about having something to wear when the Lord has designed clothing for human beings and you're His children and He'll give you clothing. Peter was a worrier, oh he worried about things all the time, he worried about drowning when he was walking on the water, even though the Lord was right there. He worried about the things that were going to happen to Jesus in the garden, pulled a sword and tried to fight the Romans. He worried about Jesus being crucified and told Him not to do that. He was a real worrier, he was anxious a l