and having said that, let's open the Bible and go to the Word of God. I'd like to ask you to turn to the book of Luke, please. We're going to study Luke today. Luke 12 verses 22 through 34. And if you don't happen to have a Bible, you can pick up a Bible. It's found in some of the racks underneath chairs and turned there, please, to page 1108, 1108. And keep your Bibles open after we get there because I'm going to be referring to it a good bit. And I'd like you to be able to look right at it with me. Luke 12 verses 22 through 34. While you're turning to that, let me just give you a little bit of a review of where we've been. We're in a series of messages right now. The whole series is called the generosity of God and the freedom to live generously. It's been very good, a good look at several different scriptures that all of which deal with the subject of generosity. And basically, if I could summarize what I think we've heard so far, we've learned that generosity is something that God wants for us, not from us. This is not merely duty that we're talking about. It's really privilege and the privilege of becoming more like God, who is himself generous. Two weeks ago, Matt opened up the Bible to Romans 1136 and his sermon was titled God owns. We talked about the fact that everything is from God and through God and to God and how our generosity reflects the character of God, who is generous. And then last Sunday, Matt preached from a very familiar passage of scripture, John 316. For God's so loved the world, how did he love the world? He gave. He gave his one and only son who died on the cross. And so that's what our emphasis was last Sunday. Today, my subject is God reigns. R-E-I-G-N-S God reigns. But let me just add a couple of other words to this. We want to remember, throughout this series, that this is all about our hearts being transformed. Right? It's all about the heart, not just giving money. In fact, in order to kind of emphasize that, Matt has even encouraged us. If we hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us and encouraging us to be more generous, he has said, listen to where he wants you to be generous. Give to something outside the church if that's what he's directing you to do. Maybe you know of a God-centered, gospel centered ministry, a charity out there, a missionary, a cause, maybe the Syrian refugee crisis or something like that. I was made aware just a few minutes ago in fact of a need that might fall into the category of someone in the church being generous. Here's a great opportunity. There are three people in our church who are quite desperate financially, who need a three-bedroom rental house. And they're willing to pay up to about $900 a month or something like that. They do have one dog. They would love to let this be near the church if possible because they don't have transportation. But this group of people are somewhat desperate for a shelter. So if somebody in the church knows about something like that and you may talk to Chris or Karen Acres if you guys could raise your hands there just so that you know where people could go. But those are some of the kinds of things we've been talking about. Generosity that's propelled by freedom rather than mere duty, obligation, guilt and that kind of thing. And don't forget too that generosity is not even just about money. But generosity can include sharing our time, our space, our gifts, our knowledge, our maturity, our possessions, things like that. So with all of that in mind let's bow our heads in prayer. I'm going to lead us in prayer for our study today and then we'll dive into Luke chapter 12. Will you pray with me please?
Our Father thank you that you've given us this record of your will, your heart, your mind in the Bible. Thank you that you have taught us much from it already and we pray this morning that as we open it again your Holy Spirit would come and be our teacher. We ask that we might see Jesus in every line and that when we leave here today we might seek to be more like him to be filled with your spirit in responding to what we've learned. We ask all this in Jesus name. Amen. Luke chapter 12 beginning at verse 22 here God's word and he that is Jesus said to his disciples, therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life what you will eat nor about your body what you will put on. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the Ravens. They neither sew nor reap they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them of how much more value are you than the birds and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life. If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that why are you anxious about the rest. Consider the lilies how they grow they neither toil nor spin yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these but if God so clothed the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven how much more will he cloth you oh you of little faith and do not seek what you're to eat and what you're to drink nor be worried for all the nations of the world seek after these things and your father knows that you need them instead seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom sell your possessions and give to the needy provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where no thief approaches and no moth destroys for where your treasure is there will your heart be also the word of the Lord you know there may not be any passage of Bible more out of step with our culture than that one right I mean there would be a lot of people who hearing those words would probably say Jesus is asking for the impossible in fact some people would even say that he's asking for the foolish
but Jesus is saying in this text in a world that is filled with hundreds of things about which there could be fear and anxiety you shouldn't be afraid and anxious so we're going to talk today about anxiety something that probably a few of us struggle with from time to time right but listen before we go on about anxiety I want to make two little caveats two things that I think will sharpen our understanding of what this text is really talking about the first one is that there are a lot of different types of anxiety and let's make sure we're talking about the right one for example there is normal anxiety yesterday as I was standing with Jeff sunny just minutes before his wedding he was anxious who wouldn't be right I mean there are some situations that are new and hard and different and dangerous that do call for some anxiety on our part that's normal but that's not what Jesus is talking about also there is good anxiety if we define that as being concerned about things that we should be concerned about anxiety in that sense is something that's healthy I'm talking about those simple things that we should be aware of that are important to take care of Jesus is not saying don't care about your life when he says in verse 22 do not be anxious about your life he is not saying that it's okay to be lazy or irresponsible about how you care for yourself if I could illustrate back in my college days I became a Christian this was in the mid 70s it was heady and it was a hippie era and you know people were thinking of a lot of alternative lifestyles and things like that but I became a Christian in that world in that era and I remember the only Bible I had was a King James version that's about all that we had back then and I remember reading verse 22 in the KJV which says take no thought for your life and so I figured I'm going to take that literally in the middle of my senior year I went to my dad and said dad I want to drop out of college Suzy and I are going to get married and we're going to trust the Lord we're not going to take thought for our lives and I really meant it but dad looked right through that and saw that's craziness and I said I even quoted this verse later on in the chapter about how the fact the fact that God consider the Ravens God feeds the Ravens I used that verse in my conversation with my father and he said Mike I've seen a lot of dead Ravens sitting by the side of the road so he said don't drop out of college finish your education you've only got six months left my goodness get your diploma get a job work and you'll be okay and he was so very gracious and so very understanding and since that time I've grown up a little bit and I understand that is not what Jesus is telling us to do he's not saying drop out of college he's not saying don't you know use the means that God gives you in fact there are lots of other verses in the Bible that talk about the value of hard work that call us to take care of our family and things like that the Bible does not say riches themselves are evil in fact there are a lot of rich people in the family of God and most of them got there by studying hard and working hard and being disciplined with their use of money and their great blessings to the kingdom of God so don't make the mistake I made don't misinterpret the kind of anxiety that Jesus is referring to and I'll sharpen up what he is referring to in just a few minutes that's caveat number one here's a second one whenever you see stuff in the Bible about anxiety it's obvious that people in the body of Christ struggle with psychological problems and anxiety is one of them and so I know a lot of Christians for whom anxiety is a chemical or a physical problem not a spiritual problem and it's important that we draw that distinction if you are one for example who struggles with anxiety and depression and persistent feelings of sadness and all of the spiritual remedies that you've tried prayer you know fasting Bible reading other spiritual disciplines coming to church reading good books and so on and those things that you've tried faithfully to do have not worked please go see a doctor I mean it is just simple truth that sometimes people's problems are medical or chemical in nature I know people who love Jesus and yet a chemical or physical imbalance or hormonal imbalance causes an emotional imbalance and we we preachers are sometimes won't to imply not purposely but sometimes we do imply that everything that people struggle with is at root a spiritual problem and I don't want to lay that on you you owe it to yourself and to your loved ones if I've described you if you are one who struggles with depression and persistent feelings of anxiety please go see a doctor check it out go into counseling also it's a good idea because that is often what's at the root of it and I really do not believe that Jesus would have you feel the weight of where it says later on oh you of little faith Jesus is not accusing you of having little faith just because you suffer from a physical or medical or a hormonal problem do you hear that okay that's caveat number two then having said those things let's get our bearings on this passage it's such a rich passage in the Bible first of all if you if time allows and it did not but if time allowed we would go all the way back up to verse one because in verse one you find out where Jesus is and what he's doing he has surrounded it says in verse one of chapter 12 by thousands of people in fact many thousands of people can you imagine that here Jesus is one year I want to have two years into his ministry and he is so popular that many thousands of people gather around him to to hang on every word he says and in fact there's so many people there it says in verse one that they were trampling one another so that's the scene that's the context of our passage and in verse 13 which again is above our text a man steps out of the crowd and he says to Jesus hey teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me parents does that sound familiar to anybody mom tell Sarah to share her legos with me dad brother has more frosted flakes than me you got to address that that's not fair that's kind of the childish attitude that this guy had and Jesus handles it very well like a wise parent Jesus says they're in verse 14 go work it out between yourselves I did not come to settle selfish arguments between brothers so he sort of dismisses that but in the verses that follow he uses that conversation from that man as a springboard to address a universal human problem the sin of covetousness now that applies to everybody the sin of covetousness he says in verse 15 be on your guard against all covetousness for life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions oh now that applies to everyone doesn't it life does not consist in the abundance of the things that people own and then Jesus goes on to tell story based on what he just said in verses 16 through 21 it's a pretty familiar story to a lot of people it's about a rich man who had more than he could ever need this rich man had barns that were bursting at the seams with his produce but he says to himself what shall I do I don't know I'll build bigger barns and better ones and I'll say to myself myself you have ample goods laid up for many years eat drink and be merry and Jesus wraps up that story in verses 20 and 21 he says you fool you fool you're going to die tonight and where will all of those possessions be when you're gone then he says to the crowd in verse 21 so the one who lays up treasure for himself is and so is the one sorry so is the one who lays up treasure for himself is not and is not rich toward God so do you get the context of our text this morning that's the setting and now Jesus in verse 22 sort of turns his attention from this enormous crowd to his disciples because they were there too and in verse 22 he says therefore do not be anxious about your life so what he's talking about see now you know what anxiety is he's talking with reference to the sin of the rich fool he's talking about idolizing our material possessions trusting in our stuff rather than in God to the point that we selfishly and obsessively worry about the future where all we can think about is buying and shopping and accumulating goods and storing up things in our closets and worrying about the economy and all of the what ifs you know all of the what if problems that could happen to us later this anxiety you see it makes people become self-centered rather than God-centered and others centered it messes up our value system so that instead of thinking about how we can what do we say earlier glorify and enjoy God forever instead of that our motto becomes relax eat drink be merry for tomorrow we die
it makes us selfish instead of generous more focused on our kingdom than God's kingdom and followers of Jesus says Jesus should not and need not be like that anxiety in other words is the enemy of generosity the question is how do we deal with that enemy what do we do about anxiety this type of anxiety that causes this to be inward focused and worried about tomorrow because we don't know about our cars in our house in our retirement account in our 401k and this and that and what's going to happen in China and what's going to happen in Greece and what's that going to do to the stock market and what about the presidential election and oh my goodness we're so that's the type of stuff that begins to characterize the people of God so much so that they cave in on themselves and generosity suffers Jesus says you should not and need not be anxious so we're going to talk today about how to defeat that enemy of anxiety here's the answer I really believe that if we could learn the truths that are in verse 32 verse 32 would empower us over fear and anxiety and usher us into a new kind of freedom to be more generous than we've ever been before look at verse 32 it says fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom now it may not be obvious at first but I believe in that one verse are two truths that will help us fight the enemy of anxiety so let me give them to you and then we'll dive in truth number one is that you have a loving father who will take care of you and truth number two is that you have a reigning king who has given you the kingdom all right let's break it down truth number one in this verse 32 you have a loving father if you're a believer in Jesus this morning if you're trusting in Christ you have a loving father who will take care of you and that is so clear throughout this text let's go all the way back up to verse 22 it says in verse 22 the first verse I read don't be anxious about your life what you will eat nor about your body what you'll put on for life is more than food the body more than clothing what I hear there is that material things don't satisfy life is much much more than the stuff you have and then he says consider the ravens they neither so nor reap they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them now Matthew has very similar words but in Matthew's account Jesus uses the phrase your heavenly father feeds them so we read father into that verse as well your heavenly father feeds the birds of how much more value are you than birds right it's almost funny you're worth a heck of a lot more than the ravens now ravens you got to know this about the ravens they were unclean animals to the Jew they were unclean unfit to offer to God or to eat and yet this verse says that God cares for unclean animals you mean far more to him than unclean birds because he's your father see this is an argument from the lesser to the greater if God's going to do that surely he's going to do this so for example if one of my grandchildren is visiting me and we're out in the hot sun and a neighbor kid comes over and starts playing with my grandchild and they get really really hot and thirsty and the neighbor kid comes over to me and says sir could I have one of those Capri Suns and your refrigerator okay if I'm going to give a Capri Sun to my neighbor kid isn't it likely that I'm going to give a Capri Sun to my grandchild I mean that's the way this fans out of course right because he is quite honestly of much more value to me than my neighbor kid so I'm going to meet his need for sure now let's look down at verse 29 and you'll continue to see about your father's care for you verse 29 says do not seek what year to eat and what you were to drink nor be worried now literally this is a very strong statement it's an imperative here's how the verse really is should be read you stop seeking what you are to eat and drink you stop worrying let's talk about that word seek the word seek doesn't just mean look no it means search intently in fact what Jesus would be saying is do not search and search and search for food and for drink it means to set your heart on something it means to be preoccupied with something in some contexts that word seek means actually worship so Jesus is saying don't worship stuff don't be preoccupied with material possessions and the word worry it's the Greek word meteor Rizomai meteor meteor in the sky this is the only place in the whole Bible where that word appears meteor Rizomai what it means is to suspend like think about a meteor that is up there in the sky just suspending and so what Jesus is talking about is living in suspense or another way of saying it is fluctuating like a meteor that fluctuates or vacillates don't vacillate don't bounce back and forth between fear and hope fear and hope don't be a worry wart we would say don't do that don't be preoccupied with material things stop living in suspense about your clothes your cars your water heater your yard you're this and this and this don't do that that's what kills the soul and Jesus says that all of the nations of the world live that way that's what the world does the world worries your children of God don't stoop so low right don't live on their level live above as a child of God he's your father earlier we read those verses you're a chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation of people belonging to God that's your identity and so we must live up here where we are where we really are what our identity really is don't forget your identity so what this passage is saying in this first place is that your father who knows your needs who values you as his child will take care of you now pause button there whenever we read in the Bible promises like that it's very likely that there's some people here this morning who would say but look I'm suffering right now I'm in a hard place quite honestly my God may be meeting others needs but I'm going without I'm poor I'm my bank accounts busted I'm right and bad checks I don't have this I don't have that my cards in the shop my marriage is a mess I struggle with this or that or the other thing I honestly I don't what are you telling me here is God lying is he playing with me is he playing tricks with me listen this is a whole nother sermon I don't understand I don't I don't understand why God does some of the things he does and allows some of the things he allows he allows suffering he allows struggle he allows loved ones to die of cancer he allows a lot of things that make us wonder where he is but I know this here's sermon in a nutshell I know this I know that if you're a child of God God will never forsake you he will walk through that valley with you he will walk through every suffering every trial with you he will not forsake you it must mean that he knows something you don't know it must mean that though you want this God says no you need that I wish it weren't so sometimes but that's just life that's the way he orders things in his providence in his wisdom in his love for you sometimes you want this and God says no you need that don't you know that's what the apostle Paul experienced God take away this thorn I hate it I am tired of it over an over Paul pled with God and God said I know you want that you need that thorn some of you God is saying you need whatever it is so here's what you need to do remember he is your father that's what this passage says he knows best and he only does what he does because he loves you so much so to overcome fearful anxiety trust that your father always knows what is best for you and he'll give you exactly what you need and if it's not something you want trust me he'll walk with you through it he'll walk with you through it he's in it listen there has been ever no son no son dearer to the father than his own son the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father allowed his son Jesus to suffer in ways you and I never will on the cross he suffered the wrath of God he descended into hell for you so if God loved Jesus that much your sufferings must mean that he loves you too hang on and he'll walk you through second truth in verse 32 not only do you have a loving father but you have a reigning king who has given you the kingdom now here we get to the heart of this message you have a reigning king who has given you the kingdom look again look at verse 32 he says fear not little flock isn't that a wonderfully tender thing to say Jesus says to you fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom kingdom what's that the kingdom of God was the main theme of Jesus's ministry here on earth if you read through the gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John you see this phrase kingdom of God over and over and over and over again John the Baptist when he came to announce that Jesus the Messiah had arrived what did he say he said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand the kingdom of God is at hand and then some of the first words out of Jesus's mouth when he began his ministry were the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe the good news in Matthew 4 it says that Jesus went through out Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and bringing the good news of the kingdom healing every disease healing every affliction among the people later on in Luke chapter 8 it says that Jesus went through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God he told his disciples to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick and just a few days before his crucifixion in Matthew 24 Jesus says the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come so over and over and over you see this phrase the kingdom of God the entirety of Jesus's message and ministry could be summed up by the words kingdom of God and here he is in this text talking about it too in verse 31 he says seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you and in verse 32 as i've said he says it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom now notice the juxtaposition of those two verses verse 31 seek the kingdom verse 32 the father has given you the kingdom that's kind of ironic isn't it the kingdom of God is something already present it has been inaugurated and we already have it but the kingdom of God is also something that we are to seek in other in other words to grow in our experience of it day after day until Christ comes so what does it mean the kingdom of God well usually when we hear the word kingdom what comes to mind anybody thinking about the UK the united kingdom there's the kingdom of Kuwait you know usually when we think of kingdom we think of a place or a realm and that's not what is meant by kingdom of God instead the kingdom of God is the reign or rule of God on the earth the reign of God or the rule of God over all things or you might say it's the exercise of God's kingship we've been praising God all morning i don't know if you noticed it but in all the songs there was some reference to God as king and so the exercise of God's kingship is what is meant every time you see the phrase kingdom of God here's a more theologically full definition of kingdom of God up here on the screen it is God's progressive victory through his son Jesus over satanic dominion in order to rescue people of all nations from the power of darkness ultimately to write all wrongs and to undo the curse over all creation that's what God's kingship is all about here's another quotation from Anthony Hokamah he defines the kingdom as the reign of God dynamically active in human history through Jesus the purpose of which is the redemption of his people from sin and demonic powers and the final establishment of the new heavens and the new earth so this is big this is huge as someone might say this is an enormous concept it's a broad theme in the bible God's ultimate conquest of the universe is the kingdom of God all right so here's the lesson the kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus Christ and it is yet to come when Jesus Christ returns we're living in the in between time right Jesus has come to inaugurate we're all thinking about inaugurations in about a year and a half America will inaugurate a new president well Jesus inaugurated the kingdom he established it he said the kingdom is here it is at hand I embody the kingdom of God but one day the bible says it will come in its fullness when Jesus Christ returns this is a very familiar illustration but we're living in between d-day and v-e-day what was d-day d-day is when the allies put that definitive punch in the gut of the nazi war machine and effectively disabled it but it wasn't until v-e-day that the ultimate destruction of the nazi war machine was noted so there was this period of time between d-day v-e-day that's what we're living in today d-day has come already Jesus has died on the cross he has bound the strong man Satan he rose again and conquered death and sin and the devil and one day he will take that devil and put him in his place the lake of fire for all eternity until that time we obviously do battle with some of those demons but he has effectively been rendered powerless by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that's what kingdom is all about make no mistake the kingdom of God has arrived Jesus himself said it all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me therefore go make disciples you know that him by Isaac Watts Jesus shall reign where air the sun doth his successive journeys run his kingdom stretch from shore to shore till moon shall wax and wane no more blessings abound wherever he reigns the prisoner leaps to lose his chains the weary find eternal rest and all the sons of want are blessed all right so what does all this have to do with generosity everything everything if anxiety is the enemy of generosity the kingdom of God is the energy behind generosity the fact that God has given you the kingdom and will one day fully give you the kingdom should do what free you oh my goodness it should set you free from anxiety from the needless accumulation of resources and the worry of same it should free you from those things from fear of tomorrow because God has conquered and will conquer and you're the family and the court of the king you're royalty your treasure is far greater than anything that this world might offer do you understand do you understand how wealthy you are how spiritually you are drowning in riches you're a member of the family of king Jesus if you've repented and trusted in Christ for salvation God has not only saved you from your sins but he's adopted you as his son or daughter and given you a title to the vast riches of his estate that is a present reality you don't have to wait for that till tomorrow it's already done you've been blessed it says in Ephesians 1 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places the angels in heaven in VU look at this verse from 1 Corinthians chapter 3 I mean this is a whole sermon series but look at what it says Paul says let no one boast in man in other words don't get so freaked out about things and stuff and what your neighbor has and why you're still wearing last year's clothes and why your kids you know are where they are and things of that nature let no one boast in men for all things are yours whether Paul or a palace or seaface or the world you hear that the world is yours or life or death or the present or the future all are yours you are Christ and Christ is God now I don't know how to get to the bottom of that verse fully but it says that the world is yours it bows at your feet it serves you don't serve it wow that's an amazing verse but not only is the kingdom of God this present reality it's also a future hope Romans chapter 8 says I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us you have Peter says in 1 Peter 1 and inheritance that is imperishable undefiled unfading kept in heaven for you it's just they're waiting for you John Piper has written about this I love these words he really pulls all of this out of scripture listen to what Piper says about these things you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of your father you will be kings and priests you will judge angels did you know that you will judge the angels you will have bodies like Jesus's glorious body you will be over two cities or five or ten you'll be a pillar in the temple of God God will be your God and walk with you his friend his child you will sit with Jesus on his throne you will never sin again you will know and grow in immeasurable pleasures forever more you will be the fullness of him who fills all in all now he's not making all those words up their right found in scripture you might be wondering did I finish college I did I did graduate I did get my diploma and soon after I got my diploma my dad came to me he said Mike I'd like to talk to you my father was in radio he owned the town's only AM radio station in the town I grew up in and so he came to me and it wasn't a total shock but nevertheless it was a pretty sobering moment when dad said to me Mike would you like to take over the radio station would you like to have everything I've worked for for about 50 years all yours all of my clients all of my customers all of my holdings all of my property this radio station that's going well it's very healthy you can walk right in and take over the business if you want now in a sense I already had it because I was his son so it was in some ways a present reality but my dad was offering the radio station to me in a way that would secure me and my family for the rest of my life
as you probably guessed I turned him down I said no I don't want to go I didn't want to go into radio but I could have my dad out of sheer good pleasure out of love for his son I wanted to give me the kingdom that's what Jesus is saying to you in this passage everything I've worked for everything I've done it's all mine I'm the king it's all yours yours for the taking out of the delight of the father for you because he is so pleased with you it's all yours for the taking so what do you do with that you say yes don't do what I do don't turn him down say yes and by the way if you've never said yes to Jesus in the first place this is a good reason why you should because God loves you so that he died in your place so what do you do with the truth of the kingdom well you trust your father he'll take care of you and you trust your king because all things are yours practicalities don't worry so much be content with less throw off some of the ballast in your life get lighter it's slowing you down be less concerned with things and accumulating the stuff you have say no to more people when it's things that God's not calling you to do get rid of things that are superfluous travel lighter have fewer distractions in your life be more others centered than self-centered find ways to be generous besides with money how about your time you're know how your maturity your skills your experience stop laying up treasures here on earth that are perishing anyway and start laying them up in heaven because where your treasure is there will be your heart let's pray father it's so easy to talk about how to not be anxious and it's another thing for us to leave here today and get into situations that cause us to be very worried so father we need you to help us with this in the in between time between the first coming and the second coming of Jesus help us Lord we pray help us be less anxious and more trusting help us when the hot water heater goes out and the kids are screaming and our friend rejects us and our next door neighbor gets a new car help us remember that we're your little flock that you're our father and our king empower us by your spirit to live free of worry so that we can be free to be generous with the wonderful things you've given to us we pray this in Jesus name I'm in