Be Anxious for Nothing

Introduction

Verses 6 through 7, Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7. First, I want to give thank you to the elders for giving me this opportunity to speak to you this morning. And I trust that the things that we’ll study this morning will be edifying, will be in accordance to God’s word, and will help us in our daily walk. This morning I’ve entitled the lesson, Be Anxious for Nothing. Be anxious for nothing. Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7 says, be anxious for nothing, but in all things, through prayer and supplication, let your request be made known unto God that the peace which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This week, we had Hurricane Matthew.

Traffic just got crazy. And when I turned on an Arcusi Road going in the direction of Lee Vista, it was as though people were losing their mind. I wanted to pick up some water for this saint. And I went in 7-Eleven, and it looked like somebody just had raided it. People were at the gas pumps, and people were just kind of edgy.

I said, Well, let me see if I can, because the issue of water was out, but we had we’ve been storing water away for the past year, so I had a case of water for this person, but I wanted to buy some get some other water. So I said, let me go see if I can get a flashlight.

She said, Yeah, excuse me. And I said, Okay, it’s time for me to, as we were telling the police force, exit the kill zone. And I shared this with uh Walcott. I said, you know, the way people are running around, it was though somebody said the end is near. Get everything you need to get now because the door is about to close. But we also concluded that if on Thursday you weren’t prepared, you were not going to be prepared. And as I want you to draw upon the blackboards of your mind, the worry and the anxiety that some of you might live with. Some of you may observe from other loved ones. Because it’s here today, beloved, that I want to talk to us about worry and anxiety as we are commanded to be anxious for nothing.

To be anxious for nothing. And just to give you a brief uh backdrop or the context in which this passage is written by Paul, he’s writing to the church at Philippi. What do we know about the church at Philippi? Well, when Paul went there in this large city, there was no synagogue. So it must have only been a small Jewish community that was there. Among some of his converts were Lydia, a wealthy Jewish merchant lady, a slave girl, and a jailer.

With that backdrop in mind, the believers there, because this is who he’s writing to, the believers there were, if you will, outnumbered by the nonbelievers, but the small group of believers were very instrumental in helping Paul share the gospel in what we call Europe. And there’s something in there for us today. Because as he told the church at Philippi to be anxious for nothing, that rings true for us today. We are to be anxious for nothing. And not to get into a long in-depth explanation or go through each one of these definitions. It’s important though to look at what is worry or what is anxiety. It’s a sense of uneasiness and anxiety about the future. It’s to think about problems or fears, vexation, mental distress.

1. Not Anxious for Worldly Things

But what he is saying here is that there are things that we need to give our attention to, and there are things that we need to let go of. And in the matter of worry and anxiety, when we are consumed such that it’s mental distress, that it’s all that we think about, that takes away from our service to God. So what is Paul speaking about here? Saints are to be careful for their souls. We are to be concerned about where we will spend eternity. If we do not give thought to our salvation, our priorities are messed up. If you are going to relocate to a new city for, let’s say, job, for a job, while what you make is important, your ability to worship God is the number one importance or should be the number one priority.

If you’re about to go off to college, yes, a good school has its value. But if you have no opportunity to be with other saints, that education should be will be for naught. So we are to be concerned about our souls. We’re to be concerned about our bodies and the health of them. There are many passages that talk about how we should take care of ourselves, to do things in moderation. We should be concerned or careful about our families? Do we put our families in risky situations? Do we work? Do we try to provide a godly home and godly foundation? These are things that we’re to be careful for. And the support of the gospel. So, what further, though, is Paul saying here? What are we not to be anxious for?

We should not be anxious for worldly things. What do you mean, brother? Now I’m not going to ask you how many of you are on Facebook, but if I were to ask you, how many of you are on Facebook? I would wonder how many of us care about how many likes we get on something? How many people want us to be following somebody or want to be followed? What is it that we really put our energy and emphasis on? We are not to be concerned for an immoderate concern for the things of life. Teaching at UCF now, going into my 19th year. How many times do I hear faculty and students and other people? And some of the things that are of primary concern that have nothing to do with eternity.

The university spends millions of dollars on making sure that you’re able to tailgate for the game. And those things are meticulously planned out. Meticulously planned out. Now, I’m not the fun police and trying to say that having a tailgate or going to games is a sin. That’s not the point. But how many of us that are ratted football fans start planning weeks and months in advance of how we’re going to see the game? The game last night between Miami and FSU. How much time do we put into preparation for that game versus preparation for Bible study? Versus preparation for setting yourself up to be of service to others. See, these are worldly things that Paul is speaking about here. Although there was not football in that day, I believe you understand the point that he’s making.

What are some things that people worry about? Now, I’m going to show you the next slide here. And I am not going to read off the list. But I want you to look on that list. And I want you to see whether or not there are things on that list that you worry about. You might be saying, Well, Brother Rufus, where did you get this list from? I’m a researcher by trade, beloved. And in preparing this lesson, I did a lot of research to see what people across the world found themselves worrying about. The list that I have before you are from studies that were conducted in both the UK, United Kingdom, and the United States. And these studies showed, and not necessarily in any particular order, what are things that people are worried about?

Overweight. Disasters. Relationships. And I just want to hit on that one with relationships. Why I am with this person, finding the right person, fidelity. And I want you to think about this. How many websites do you come across that are geared toward something about relationships? Match.com. Christiansconnection.com. And I’m not saying those things are bad. But my point is there’s an emphasis on relationships that are out there, and beloved, a lot of it is not healthy. Will not save your soul.

Fidelity. Some of the research that I did in preparation for this said that people are concerned that their mate or their spouse is being honest with them and maintaining monogamous relationship with them. And I have to tell you something, beloved. If I married my wife and had any inkling or concern or doubt that she was not going to be faithful to me, that’s not the woman I would want to marry.

Again, I’m not going to read through, read through all of them. I’m just going to give you an opportunity to look at them. I will say this. That God is a wise, all-knowing, all-loving God. Some of these diseases that you see there, some of you suffer with some of those. Maybe not through the consequence of worry and anxiety. Some of it is genetically passed on. But there are some things, beloved, that we do to help compensate for that worry and stress that ought not to be.

But the scripture says, Matthew 6, 24.

And this is Christ talking here. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in manner. Therefore, I say it unto you.

Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor what your bot, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on it. Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Beloved, when we are consumed with worry and anxiety, this is a demonstration or display of a lack of trust in God. It’s a lack of faith. And it actually separates us from God.

Over in 1 Peter, the fifth chapter, verses 6 through 8. 1 Peter 5, verses 6 through 8. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Beloved, when we are consumed with worry, with fear, with anxiety, that the devil, not some person in some little uh costume with a pitchfork and a long red tail, but something that you cannot touch, walks around waiting for those opportunities to jump in and to further separate you from God Almighty. If you go back to what we saw earlier regarding what is worry and anxiety, mental distress.

Beloved, the gospel, the word of God, is profitable for everything. And there is a spiritual solution to everything that we face out here. There is a spiritual solution. And so when we are consumed with this, we give the devil audience. So then the question becomes what do we do to overcome this? I asked some men to read some passages here, because this is where I want to spend the remainder of our lesson, overcoming this. So Galatians 2 and 20. Can you read that please?

No longer are going to be divine.

Read that one more time, please.

No longer arguing reverse in me. And the light is down there and by the Bible.

2. Develop an Attitude of Faith and Prayer

We should develop an attitude of faith of faith and prayer. And as Galatians 2 20 says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. Beloved, when Christ lives within us, then what is within us shines without us. From us, radiates from us. And he says, And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by what? By faith. By what? By faith. In the who? In the Son of God. And what did this Son of God do? He loved me and gave Himself for me. Develop an attitude of faith and prayer. I want to read one more passage that goes along with that. In Hebrews, the fourth chapter, verses fourteen through sixteen. Hebrews four, verses fourteen through sixteen.

If we’re going to develop an attitude of faith or impair if of faith and prayer, then that is going to be followed up by action. Seeing then we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Beloved, if you are finding yourself consumed in worry, in fear, in the things of this world, we have a high priest that says, Bring it to me.

Come boldly, not fearfully, not arrogantly, but boldly.

3. Know That We Are Spiritual Beings

We serve a God that wants us to bring it all to him. Boldly. Know that we are spiritual beings. Who has Romans 8, verses 9 through 11?

And indeed, the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not dead. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of the dead. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to you, or a body through his spirit who dwells in you. Beloved, I want to ask you a question. Do you see yourself as a physical being having a spiritual moment? Or do you see yourself as a spiritual being having a physical moment? Those are two different types of beings. When Christ dwells and reigns within us on a 24-7 basis, we are spiritual beings.

If Christ is in you, the body is dead. But the spirit of life, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. Beloved, just that right there should say, you know what? I’m a spiritual being. I’m going to live as a spiritual being. I’m having a physical moment. And Christ is what dwells and reigns within me. That’s a whole different mindset, beloved. That is a whole different mindset. That is a heart corrector. That is a mind corrector. That is a lifesaver. The next one. Allow God to give you peace and rest.

4. Allow God to Give You Peace and Rest

Who has Isaiah 26, 3?

Back in Philippians 4 in verse 7, it says, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. The peace of God. So in the original Greek, this peace was likened to the Greek said that this suggests a peace that guards a heart like a squad of soldiers guarding a town. That was one of the one of the commentaries talked about this type of peace. But I want you to consider that this peace is the kind of peace that there’s no attachment to things. There’s no attachment to relationships. There’s no attachment to titles. There’s no attachment to things that are not about the Father. And beloved, there’s a saint here. I’m not going to call their name. But they know who they are. And when I engage with this sister, I see a walking example of not being attached to the things of the world.

And beloved, this sister has family members that are sick that they try to tend to and so forth and so on. But they’re always on a spiritual level of I know God is going to see this through. I know that God is going to see this through. And that lifts me up. That lifts me up. And this peace that we are able to have is the peace that those outside the body don’t have.

Beloved, it’s a beautiful thing to know when you have to go to the bathroom and can go. You might say, what are you talking about, Brother Rufus? Go to the bathroom. See, you know what? You won’t know what it’s like not to go when you have to go to the bathroom until you don’t know that you have to go. You say, well, wait a minute. I am really lost now. Here’s what I mean. I have a relative that had prostate cancer. And he said, you know what? I didn’t know the blessing of being able to know when I had to go to the bathroom until I didn’t know when I had to go. And that was something he took for granted. And the peace, the peace of not being consumed with worldly matters, is only achieved in understanding the gift that God gave us in his son Christ Jesus.

5. To Everything There Is a Season

Understanding that to everything there is a season. Who has Ecclesiastes 3? There is only time for everything. And there is a time for everyone.

Actually, I’ll be 55 in a couple of days. God has allowed me to see that the life of a Christian, you know. I used to think, God, I’m going to pray for this, and you’re going to answer my prayer and give me what I want. What I want is always not what I need. And what I want sometimes may not be consistent with the will of the Father. And this may sound very immature, but there was a point early in my life where I thought being a Christian meant, you know, you kind of went through life with green lights. Yeah, you had people that were going to point their fingers at you, but hey, it’s going to be shh. What I have learned is that life, and when he wrote the inspired writer, wrote Ecclesiastes, our the wisdom of God the Father said, you know what?

This is life. There are cycles in life. There are seasons. And some of you are going through seasons right now where you may have some turmoil in your home relationship. You may be going through seasons where you are experiencing loss. You may be going through seasons where you are taking care of loved ones who are being ravaged with diseases. You may be going through seasons where every time your beloved steps out the door, you worry about him or her coming home that afternoon. You may be going through seasons where you have a child that is not faithful. But our God says, these seasons will what? Pass.

6. Our Daily Life Is a Life of Worship

Do we become a product of what we’re going through? Or do we rise above it through Christ Jesus? Amen. How great a God that tells us these are the seasons of a man’s life. But this too shall pass. Let’s go to our last one as we bring this lesson to a close. Who has Colossians 4 verses 2 through 6 and 3, 16 through 17? Go ahead. Devote yourself to prayer. You can alert in it with the attitude of thanksgiving. Praying at the same time for us as well. That God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the history of Christ, for which I have also been a prison. And I may make it clear the way I ought to speak.

Conduct yourselves with wisdom before our Bible, taking the most of the opportunity. Let your speech be with grace. As proceeding with thought, so that you will know how you should respond to these person. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.

Whatever you do, in word or ease, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Thank you. Beloved. I put up there warrior worship. And I’m not talking about the collective worship. I’m talking about worship where our life, our daily life, is a life of worship. A life committed to reverence. God created us to worship Him. Not just when we come in here. But when we’re out and about.

Riding around. And I’m going to tell you.

Y’all didn’t get that. He has a nice F 150. But we spent time riding and talking. And when we are in the company of another saint, beloved, that’s a blessing. That’s an opportunity for worship. It’s an opportunity to have your mind and your conversation on what? Godly things. Seek, set, separate. Let your speech be seasoned with salt. Full of grace. That means we don’t spend our time talking about other people. We don’t spend our time talking about the affairs of the world as bad or as challenging as they may be. And it doesn’t mean we live with our head buried in the sand, but it means our conversation, our life is up here. It also means we take awareness of what we put into our mind.

What do we listen to on the radio? You might say, well, I don’t have a radio, Brother Barthel. I listen to the internet. Okay. So what do you have downloaded on your music? What reality shows do we watch? How consumed are we with the political affairs of this world? You might say, well, wait. Yeah, well, you know, go on Facebook. See, beloved, a life of worship is not about us. It’s about the other. It’s about service. It’s about reverencing God. I started out by giving us the context in which this letter was written. It was written to saints at Philippi. Well, I’m going to loop back to that as we bring this lesson to a close because you might be saying to yourself, Well, brother, you know what?

Conclusion

I’m not one that gets caught up in the worry. Matter of fact, I’m doing great. Well, if you have your old testaments, turn back to Ecclesiastes the 12th chapter, and at the same time put a thumbtack or flip the page down at Philippians 4. Because I want to tie two things together. Ecclesiastes, the 12th chapter, verses 13. Well, actually, let’s go to verse 12. Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 12 and 13. And further, my son, be admonished by these of making many books where there is no end, and much study is worrisome to the flesh. In other words, we can get consumed in things that are just what? Vexation. Worrisome anxiety. But see, beloved, this is where he brings the matter to a close. He says, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

Fear God and keep his commandments. For this is man’s all. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man’s all. In other words, all of this other stuff, it’s vanity. Fear God and keep his commandments. But I ask you to also go back now to Philippians 4. And let’s look at verse 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Beloved, this is where it all comes to a head. Will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Well, if you’re going to guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, what does that mean? You have to be what? In Christ Jesus. I’ll repeat that. If he’s going to guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, what do we have to be in?

Christ Jesus. So if you say, I’m not worried about a thing, Bob Marley, I’m not worried about a thing. Everything’s going to be okay. If you’re not in Christ Jesus, you’re not okay. Because as the ecclesiaster, as ecclesiastic writer said, all of these things we will be judged for. We were put here to serve God. We cannot live without Christ. Being overcome by anxiety, by worry, by fear, by a lack of contentment for what you’ve been blessed with a separation from God. And beloved, if you are outside the body of Christ, that is a dangerous thing. A dangerous thing. Because one day, we will all have to stand before God and give an account. I want to hear him say, Welcome home, Zero. You’ve been a good and faithful servant.

I want to hear him say, Welcome home, Caleb. You’ve been a good and faithful servant. I want to see him say, Welcome home, Lauren. You’ve been a good and faithful servant. Worry, anxiety, and fear can separate us from that. Where are you at this time? This is an opportunity that you have to come forth and express your needs or put on Christ in baptism as we stand and sing the invitation song.