I have for two weeks wanted to show you Jesus’ caring explanations as to why His followers should not worry about our lives.  But some phrases in previous verses has stopped me in my tracks..  Last week, I was haunted by Jesus’ call to self-examiniation in 6:22, 23 “If the light that is in you turns out to be really be darkness, how great is that darkness.”   Jesus is warning us to be true to Him and ourselves.  Allow his light to penetrate your heart.  His half-brother James explains Jesus call to the litmus test of self-examination. Just like there is a light that is really deep darkness, James also states there is a wisdom that is not truly wisdom.

James 3:13 “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness [gentleness] of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

So just like there is a light that is really deep darkness, James also states there is a wisdom that is not truly wisdom.  It is an earthly (temporary) ‘wisdom’.  It is not spiritual (eternal) but unspiritual (fleshly).  It is not godly wisdom at all; in fact, it is demonic!  Self ambition can be deadly. It can mean that someone must suffer for me to get what I want. If push comes to shove, someone may have to die in order for me to be happy.   

“Now every age had heard it, the voice that speaks from hell.

“Sacrifice your children and for you it will be well.”
The subtle serpent’s lying, his dark and ruthless rage.
                    Behold it is revealed to be the spirit of the age!”    (Michael Card)

The apostle Pauls calls also for self-examination and heavenly investment when he states clearly: Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” 

This week there is one little word that holds me back.  If we could ignore it we would take the rest of the chapter as an entirely new section we could call:  “Our good Father ever lives to relieve our anxiety.”  That little word is the first word in 6:24  “THEREFORE”  

To understand the true meaning of any passage we must 1. Understand the context of the original audience 2. Look at the literal meaning of each passage as much as is possible, remembering Jesus words are for all cultures in all times and in all places.  3.  We must make a specific application to our particular situation.  From the pulpit I can give a general application, but I cannot make a specific application to your particular life. Only God can. And He will. So remember the dialogue that takes place in the worship service.  The preacher gives his monologue, but actually dialogue is taking place - between the humble hearer and God the HS.  Only the HS can and will interact with you if you are humbly emptied out and ready to listen to the sense of conviction and new endeaver to repent, or take a positive action for love for God and your fellow man.

THEREFORE, means there is something Jesus has already said that sheds light on the rest of what He has to say.   In previous weeks He has revealed to us at least two universal principles about people.  Knowing and acting on these principles can relieve us of the worry, intense anxiety, the sleepless nights, the sense of isolation and loneliness we have felt at times.   The one who spoke us into creation is offering an ultimate psychological, and physiological principle.  They are these:

1. Wherever your treasure is, there will be your heart also.
2. 6:24 No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon                                    25 THEREFORE, do not be anxious…  

Let’s be certain we know the meaning of verse 24 so we get the THEREFORE.  The most literal translation of v. 24 is this: 6:24 “No man can be a slave to two owners; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cleave to the one and despise the other. You cannot be a slave to God and to material things.”

To one brought up in the ancient world this is an even more vivid saying than it is to us here in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We get the meaning far better, if we translate it: “No man can be a slave to two owners.” To understand all that this means and implies we must remember two things about the slave in the ancient world. 

1. First, the slave in the eyes of the law was not a person but a thing. He had absolutely no rights of his own; his master could do with him absolutely as he liked. In the eyes of the law the slave was a living tool. His master could sell him, beat him, throw him out, and even kill him. His master possessed him as completely as he possessed any of his material possessions. 
2. Second, in the ancient world a slave had literally no time which was his own. Every moment of his life belonged to his master. Under modern conditions a man has certain hours of work, and outside these hours of work his time is his own. It is indeed often possible for a man nowadays to find his real interest in life outside his hours of work. He may be a clerk in an office during the day and play the violin in an orchestra at night; and it may be that it is in his music that he finds his real life. He may work in a factory during the day and run a youth sports club at night, and it may be that it is in the youth club that he finds his real delight and expression of his personality. But not so for the slave. The slave had literally no moment of time which belonged to himself. Every moment belonged to his owner and was at his owner's disposal.

Here, then, is our relationship to our treasures.  They own us.  We have been deceived into thinking our treasures were in submission to us.  Mankind lives the life of an illusion of freedom and control of his life and destiny.  Jesus says it is not true.   People are slaves to a master.  And in the words of the theologian-poet Brother Bob Dylan:  “You gonna have serve somebody.  It might be the devil.  It might be the lord, but you gonna have to serve somebody.”

Jesus is saying that since you are a slave but cannot serve two masters, be certain to invest your treasure in eternal markets.  Your heart will be where you place your treasures. You will turn against the other.  Here Jesus is warning that earthly mammon will ensare you and eventually cause you to shun God, even hate this entire concept of GOD as master and determiner of your life.  But He is also hinting that if you turn to God and submit to Him, the things of this world will grow strangely dim.  You eye will be clear and you will discern the fleeting pleasures of this world.  You will shun the deception of the world and hate the things that challenge God’s irrefutable reign and rule. 

In regard to the master we serve - we have no rights of our own.  The god we serve must be the undisputed master of our lives, our time, our hearts.  There is nothing worse than a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.  If it is the Lord God, serve him wholeheartedly or get out of the business of religion.  If it is mammon, the things of this life, then by all means, go for the gusto.  Get rich, build bigger barns, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die and go to hell forever!   Be reminded of the status of a man who refuses to be a bond-servant to his creator:

Ephesians 2:1  “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

I John 5:18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

II Timothy 2:24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

A sinner coming to his senses is one who realizes he is not in control.  He is a slave to sin.  His treasures have trapped him.  And even worse, an evil, living enemy is behind it all. 

In regard to God we have no rights of our own; God must be undisputed master of our lives. We can never ask, "What do I wish to do?" We must always ask, "What does God wish me to do?" We have no time which is our own. We cannot sometimes say, "I will do what God wishes me to do," and, at other times, say, "I will do what I like." The Christian has no time off from being a Christian; there is no time when he can relax his Christian standards, as if he was off duty. A partial or a spasmodic service of God is another form of schizophrenia.  No wonder there are so many fearful, anxious, fretting professors of the Christian faith.  They are trying to serve two masters.   For some, the relief is walking away from the church and calling it all harmful and dangerous.  This is a prevailing thought today of some young adults today who were raised in the church.  There is a whole movement of “De-vangelicals” who have faced this tough issue of power head on.  

Being a Christian is a 24/7 endeavor.  You don’t even get a break for lunch.  He commands even in our eating and our drinking we do everything for the glory of God.  Not your glory, but His.  Nowhere in the Bible is the exclusive service which God demands more clearly set forth than in the SoM.    He is an absolute Monarch.  He needs no security cameras or tyrant underlords.  He sees all and He knows all. 

There are some kings who find it very effective to keep their subjects in constant anxiety. If the people are anxious about their life, and worry about where their next meal is coming from, then perhaps they will be more willing to do the king’s bidding in order to get the food they need from the king’s storehouse. Anxiety keeps them in their place. Fear makes the monarchy firm.

But one of the greatest things about Jesus is that, though He is an absolute master and you are his bondservant, and though He does bid you die with Him,  He does not want his people to be anxious. The main point of today’s text is that God does not secure his kingship by cultivating anxiety. On the contrary, the aim of God’s kingship is to free us from anxiety. God doesn’t need to keep us anxious in order to establish his power and superiority. Instead, he exalts his power and superiority by working to take away our anxiety.  So since you are born a slave, and cannot be a slave to two owners, why not lean in on the one who promises freedom, feasts, adornment, joy both now and in the world to come?!

The rest of chapter 6 is an enticing reminder to surrender utterly to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus.   It reminds us that his kingship is not built on the anxiety of his people. He has made himself king over us for the very opposite purpose, namely, to take away our anxiety. In my own life, the sheer statement from the Lord that he does not want me to be anxious has a great tendency to give me peace. But when you add to it the reasons he gives why we don’t need to be anxious, his word becomes tremendously powerful. 

The main point of this text is that disciples of Jesus should not be anxious. Verse 25: “Do not be anxious about your life.” Verse 31: “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’” Verse 34: “Do not be anxious about tomorrow.” So one thing should ring in your ears when you leave this morning, namely, “ My master King Jesus does not want me to be anxious.” He warns me in order to set me free.

But that is just the negative way of stating the main point of this passage. There is a positive way found in verse 33, namely, instead of being anxious, “Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness” In other words, when you think about your life or your food or your clothes or your spouse or your job or your vision, or mission in this life, don’t fret about them. Instead, trust God the king in that affair and in that moment, and hand over the situation to his kingly power and do his righteous will with the confidence that he will work for you and meet all your needs.

Knowing that you were born to serve is clarifying.  And to seek the kingship of God first in every affair and every moment of life is a thrilling way to live. It’s full of freedom and peace and joy and adventure — and hardship, and it’s worth it all. If you believe in the kingship of your heavenly Father, you do not need to be anxious about anything. Anything.  

“Soon all the ones who seemed to die for nothing
Will stand beside the Ancient of Days,
With joy we’ll see that Infant from a manger
Come and crush the spirit of the age”

In the words of Martin Luther King: “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last!”

So next week, the 8 reasons Jesus graciously gives to his servants as to why they can rid themselves of anxiety forever!