Anxiety
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Will you give up your anxiety in exchange for eternal treasure?
Will you give up your anxiety in exchange for eternal treasure?
Anyone travelled to a country that uses different currency?
If you brought back any money, did you ever accidentally try to pay with it? What will the cashier do?
I want you to think of your anxiety like this foreign currency.
- Sermon on the mount
Jesus just lays out the model prayer in v 9-13 ( the Lord’s Prayer )
We are all familiar with this prayer, and the phrase “give us this day our daily bread.”
Pastor Chris recently preached on the Lord’s Prayer and gave a thorough background about how this daily bread encompasses all our daily needs, not just food.
I want to tie a thread from that phrase in v11 through v 34 that teaches us that faith is the answer to anxiety.
The more we know about anxiety and faith, the better equipped we are to fight it when it comes.
5 facts about Anxiety
Anxiety is...
Anxiety is...
1. Sin
1. Sin
1. Sin
1. Sin
1. Sin
1. Sin
v25
Anxiety is an inappropriate response to the stresses and pressures of life.
Doing anything that doesn’t bring glory to God.
Jesus says that is not pleasing to God. It’s not the way you were designed.
2. Misplaced Treasure
2. Misplaced Treasure
v19, 33
Laying up treasure in heaven is simply another way to say seek God’s kingdom and righteousness
A heart that has the currency of faith rather than anxiety values or treasures the things of God.
They want to be close to God. They want to mimic the righteousness of God.
An anxious heart is not valuing the things of God.
What is an anxious heart valuing?
Control
Sophie afraid of storms
Driving being afraid of other cards
I can’t look like I want to
I can’t do well enough in school
I can’t keep my keep my head above water financially
Knowledge (“What if”?)
my kids don’t follow Christ after high school
i loose my job
my marriage falls apart
my friends aren’t really my friends
When you value God’s plan for your life and for all of his creation, when you value his righteousness as a guide for your personal life, your heart is filled with faith and peace rather than worry.
3. Slavery
3. Slavery
v24
We are wired to only devote ourselves to one worldview.
When we get to the point of anxiety we reveal a heart that values something outside God’s plan for us and that thing actually becomes our master.
The husband who neglects his marriage and family so he can make as much money as possible is not the master, he is the slave of his ambition.
The wife who is paralyzed by fear is a slave to her desire to be in control.
Anxiety reveals a heart enslaved by godless passions.
4. Damaging
4. Damaging
v 22 : darkens your mind
When your thinking is wrong about something, when your worldview is out of wack, it brings a great darkness in you. It changes your perspective on everything around you.
v 27 : can’t fix your problem (read 25-27)
He’s drawing our attention away from our problems. Jesus is changing our perspective.
Worrying about things never changed your situation.
What did it change? You. You are drinking in the darkness of anxiety.
v 34 : only adds trouble to the trouble of tomorrow
You’re bringing in the darkness of your perspective.
5. A Wrong View of God
5. A Wrong View of God
In biblical counseling we say that all sin at its root is a wrong view of God.
v26 - he feeds
v30 - he clothes
v31-32 - he knows
He’s your HEAVENLY FATHER - knows you and loves you
To combat anxiety, we have to have a proper view of God.
We must have an inner assurance of a proper solution.
Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God. -Mounce
When we allow ourselves to think “Maybe God doesn’t know; maybe he doesn’t care, maybe he can’t fix it.” we allow worry into our hearts.
v30 - The problem is Little Faith
Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when everything seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down.… The trouble with the person of little faith is that, instead of controlling his own thought, his thought is being controlled by something else, and, as we put it, he goes round and round in circles. That is the essence of worry.… That is not thought; that is the absence of thought, a failure to think. - Martin Lloyd-Jones
[Worry is] too little thinking in the right direction. If you know who God is and understand His purposes, promises, and plans, it will help you not to worry. - John MacArthur Jr.
MacArthur Jr., John
We want to renew our mind today. Remind ourselves that our anxiety is like this paper money: its worthless.
We need to exchange our worry for faith in who God is and what he has done.
Are you not more precious than the birds?
Are you not more valuable than the flowers?
Have you found it easier to work out regularly with someone to do it with you?
Your heavenly father has not promised an easy life, but he’s promised to never leave you or forsake you?
He’d not promised a pain free life, but he has promised to take all your pain away when he comes again.
He’s not promised a to give you a comfortable lifestyle and expensive hobbies, but he has promised to give you what is good for your salvation.
Will we trust him?
Will we exchange our worthless anxiety for faith in our wonderful merciful Savior?
Let’s exchange the sinful attitude for a righteous attitude of faith?
Let’s exchange the misplaced treasure of control and knowledge for the faith in God’s plan and faithfulness.
Let’s exchange the slavery to our own worry for the benevolent mastery of our Jesus.
Let’s exchange the damaging darkness of our own anxiety for the light of truth.
Let’s exchange our wrong views that God won’t take care of us, for the faith that he is our loving heavenly Father.
English Standard Version Psalm 121
121 A SONG OF ASCENTS.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
v19 - Treasure is linked to reward for prayer in v 6 and fasting in 18
Treasure / eye / slavery guide our understanding of material possessions
“Give us our daily bread” bread represents all material needs
The Gospel of Matthew 6. Treasure in Heaven (6:19–24)
“Do not store up for yourselves” might better be rendered “Stop storing up for yourselves”
v30 What is this saying about God?
What will it take to get rid of your anxiety?
anxiety resides in the unknown and the uncontrollable.
sophie afraid of the storms
driving
worry is a failure to think - Lloyd-Jones
What is your anxiety worth to you?
Anxiety is…
1. sin
2. misplaced treasure
3. slavery
4. damaging
5. a wrong view of god
Exchange your anxiety for faith to gain eternal rewards.
Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when everything seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down.… The trouble with the person of little faith is that, instead of controlling his own thought, his thought is being controlled by something else, and, as we put it, he goes round and round in circles. That is the essence of worry.… That is not thought; that is the absence of thought, a failure to think. - M Lloyd-Jones
MacArthur Jr., John. Found: God's Peace: Experience True Freedom from Anxiety in Every Circumstance (Kindle Locations 138-141). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.
Actually, it’s the result of too little thinking in the right direction. If you know who God is and understand His purposes, promises, and plans, it will help you not to worry.
God’s community helps provide for eachother when we seek his kingdom first.
MacArthur Jr., John. Found: God's Peace: Experience True Freedom from Anxiety in Every Circumstance (Kindle Locations 143-144). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. God’s community helps provide for eachother when we seek his kingdom first.