The Sermon
on the Mount, Chapter 28
The
Christian and Anxiety, Part 2
Don’t Be Like the Gentiles
In verse 31 our Lord draws a conclusion and summarizes the previous teachings on worry. Interestingly, however, He repeats the command not to worry, but changes the verb tense for emphasis. Instead of the command to stop the habitual practice of anxiety, Jesus now says, “Don’t even begin to worry.” The gist of what the Savior is saying is, “Now that you know all these reasons why worrying is wrong and unreasonable; and, that God’s people must be characterized by faith, you must not even take the first step on the path to anxiety.”
After this summarizing recapitulation with a new emphasis, Christ begins giving new arguments against worry. He argues that when believers worry they are acting like the heathen. “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek” (Mt. 6:31-32). This is a strong argument, for Jesus is essentially saying that worrying is inconsistent with the Christian world and life view.
The pagan unbeliever does not trust in Christ and lives his life as though God does not exist. For the pagan there is not the transcendent, infinite personal God who is loving, just, compassionate and merciful. The secular unbeliever thinks he lives in a chance universe where bad things happen, but no one knows why; a universe in which human life has no more value than a tree or a rock; a world without real ethics, meaning, truth or justice. The secular humanist believes that suffering, death, calamity, war and nature, “red in tooth and claw,” is simply the natural order of things. He thinks that when he dies he steps into the cosmic void of oblivion forever. It is no wonder that modern unbelievers live with all sorts of anxieties and that the sales of antidepressants are at all times high.
The pagans in Jesus’ day believed in finite gods that were arbitrary and immoral. The heathen were very superstitious and lived in constant fear of offending some god who would bring calamity down upon them. Disaster was always right around the corner. The gods of the ancient world were not trustworthy. “So far from regarding their ‘gods’ as beings of benevolence, who regarded their devotees with compassion, they were looked upon as objects of dread, whose favour could only be purchased by the most costly of offerings (appropriated by the priests) and whose ire had to be placated by human sacrifices. Of a future life beyond this vale of tears the heathen had but the vaguest and gloomiest ideas.”[1] One could add to all this the nagging fear and anxiety that attends all men who have not been washed by the blood of Christ and had their sins removed. All men apart from the Savior have a weight of guilt upon them that makes life anxious; that causes men to seek solace in false gods and earthly pleasures.
Because pagans do not believe in the true and living God, they live only for the present world. The things of this world mean everything to them; therefore, their focus is on self and the attainment of money, pleasure and power. As a result they worry about things: fancy cars, big houses, being popular, having fancy clothes, traveling the world, keeping up with the Joneses and making for themselves a name. All these cares weigh them down with worry.
This is very effective reasoning for devout Jewish disciples. Jesus is saying, “Why do you want to descend to such an abominable level? Why do want to live as though you are completely ignorant of the truth? Why do you want to imitate a bunch of unclean heathen? Do you think that God is asleep; or, does not concern Himself with the affairs of mankind; or, does not bother to feed the members of His own family purchased with the blood of His dear Son? God has revealed Himself to us by His infallible Word and saved us through Jesus Christ. Given redemptive history, the promises of God and the Holy Spirit’s powerful effect on our own lives, it is wicked, sinful and shameful to worry like unbelievers. They are walking in darkness and have every reason to worry. But we are born again and have every reason not to worry. We are God’s children destined for glory. “All the purposes and promises of God are meant for us and designed with respect to us; and the one thing we have to do, in a sense, is just to realize what God has told us about ourselves as His children. The moment we truly grasp that, worry becomes impossible.”[2]
This argument teaches us something very important about the cause of worry. People usually think that worry is caused by external circumstances. Therefore, people believe the way to eliminate worry and feel better about life is to alter those external circumstances. For the unbeliever this usually means making more money, or purchasing more things, or taking an exotic vacation and so on. But Jesus teaches that worry is directly connected to what we think and believe. It is rooted in our world and life view. Because the unbeliever has finite, arbitrary, immoral gods who do not have absolute control of reality, they should be expected to worry. The Christian, however, who truly believes the Word of God and trusts in Christ should not be shaken by external circumstances because he knows that He is saved and safe in Jesus and he knows that God is absolutely sovereign.
Think for a moment about Paul. Many scholars believe that his wife divorced him when he became a Christian. There is no evidence that he had any family support or owned any property. Throughout his whole Christian life he was persecuted, abused, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, left for dead, imprisoned and then beheaded. Yet, in spite of these outward circumstances Paul was a very happy, thankful man. He was always praising God. He was an outstanding example of peace, joy and contentment. Why? It was because he knew the truth and firmly believed it. As Isaiah says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (26:3). “Wholeness and fullness of well-being, true repose in the sunshine of God’s favor, belong to those whom God keeps.”[3] When our minds trust in God and rest upon His character and promises, they remain firm and constant in a life of storms and challenges and are preserved in His perfect peace, for they “rest not upon the changing sands of human opinion, but upon God, the Rock eternal and unchangeable.”[4]
After looking at this excellent reasoning we need to search our hearts and ask ourselves some important questions. Even though we profess Christ, do we think and act like pagans when it comes to material things? Does our faith, theology and worldview condition and control our whole way of thinking about life? Are we constantly worrying about things like unbelievers? When something happens to us that is distressing do we act like our heathen neighbors? Jesus is telling us that our Christian view of reality should make us radically different than the pagans around us. There should be calmness, steadiness, and peacefulness about our character that flows out of our faith in Christ and our trust in His infallible Word.
Your Father Knows What You Need
After presenting a negative argument (worry is like heathen unbelief) Jesus presents a corresponding positive argument: “For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things” (Mt. 6:32). This argument underlies the preceding arguments and is the greatest reason for believers not to worry. God has made us His dear children through Jesus Christ and has an intimate knowledge of all of our needs. Therefore, given God’s omniscience, love and compassion towards us we can depend on Him to provide for us. Our Lord said that the very hairs of our head are numbered. God’s loving eye is continually watching over us. He sees when bad things happen to us. He carefully notes our sufferings and sorrows. There is nothing that occurs in us or to us that is outside of God’s sight. Consequently, we should conclude from this fact that our loving heavenly Father will take care of us. Moreover, we need to think about what the use of the word “Father” entails. By way of application, it calls to mind a number of relevant biblical teachings.
First, there is God’s love that chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. “[T]he God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). If He freely gives us “every spiritual blessing” then food and clothing are obviously assured. The Bible teaches that God’s love for the elect does not change and cannot be destroyed. It is God’s love for the elect which sent Jesus to the cross and which guarantees that He will not allow any of His children to perish. “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jer. 31:3).
Second, there is our justification before God. With Paul we can say, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Rom. 8:33). If our salvation was a matter of personal effort, or it depended on our faith plus our own good works, then we could never have peace with God. If such was the case, our worries would never cease. But our Savior removed the guilt and penalty of our sin and His perfect righteousness is reckoned to our account. God’s love and favor toward us is not dependent on us impressing Him or meriting anything, but comes freely to us in Christ. Consequently, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37) and nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).
Third, there is our adoption into God’s own family. “God sent forth His Son, born under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:4-7). This is the ultimate pledge of God’s love, that we receive the same Spirit as His only Son. God declares to us that He loves us and cares about us with a Father’s love. We have all the blessings of heirs through Christ. If we meditate on this teaching we cannot be overtaken with anxiety. God has a loving concern for us as His own dear children. He is concerned about every aspect of our lives. Our Lord assumed this grand truth when He said, “If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Mt. 7:11).
Fourth, there are the promises of God’s preservation of His own people. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6; cf. 2:13; Eph. 3:20; 5:25; Jn. 6:39; 10:27-29; 17:11; Ps. 37:28; 121:3, 7-8; Jer. 32:40; Rom. 14:4; 16:25; 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 9:8; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 1:12; 4:18; Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 1:4-5; Jude 1:24; etc). Note that a Christian’s confidence resides not in himself, but in God. If our faith was to be divided between ourselves and Christ, then we should worry. We are finite, sinful and apart from God’s grace completely undependable. But our faith is directed solely to Jesus. God has the basis (the Redeemer’s perfect work) and the power to complete what He starts. If God guarantees our preservation in grace then we can trust Him for the basic necessities of life.
If we think about God’s love, covenantal faithfulness, promises and power, we will defeat anxiety. We are not enemies, strangers or even slaves, but rather are the children of God in a special redemptive sense. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). To stop worrying we should follow David’s instructions. He writes, “Trust in the LORD, and do good…feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass…. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him” (Ps. 37:3-5, 7).
Seek First the Kingdom of God and His
Righteousness
After the argument about the Gentiles, Jesus concisely states the climax to this entire section on worry: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Mt. 6:33). Previously our Lord supported His command not to worry with reasons why anxiety is wrong, illogical and stupid. These were all brilliant intellectual arguments that were rooted in Christian theology, in a Christian view of the world and God. Now the Savior turns our attention from the proper way to think to the correct way to live. Believers are not to worry, but are to seek. If we seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness and make these things our top priority in life, then the cares of this world will fade into the background and God will make sure we have everything that we need. Christ is telling us that the best way to stop the sinful pattern of worry is to replace it with righteous living. To understand this teaching we need to examine two areas. What is the object of our seeking in this verse? And what does it mean to seek?
The object of the disciples’ seeking
is “the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” The expression “kingdom of God”
or “kingdom of heaven” in this context refers to the kingdom of grace
established by Jesus Christ. It is the realm of God’s redemptive rule that
flows from the cross and empty tomb. As the Holy Spirit and the Word of God
change hearts, this kingdom progressively expands throughout the earth. This
new spiritual economy must take the first place in our lives because Jesus is
our Lord and Savior. The focus of our existence is not to be on our own interests,
but rather on promoting the reign of Christ in ourselves and others. “He who
assigns the first rank to the
The expression “His righteousness”
is closely connected to the
The verb “seek” does not mean to
look for something that is not yet present at all, for the
This imperative to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness is very comprehensive. It brings everything in our lives under the Lordship of Christ and His holy requirements. It means that we must be committed to learning what the Bible teaches and how it is to affect every aspect of what we do. The great enemy of anxiety is biblical faith and this faith must be very active in exercising itself daily to remain strong and grow. Faith expresses itself in prayer, patience and a diligent attendance unto the ways of God’s manifestation of Himself in His ordinances of worship. It resolves daily to die unto sin and live unto God’s manifestation of Himself in His ordinances of worship. It resolves daily to die unto sin and live unto God.
If we are to defeat worry, then
everything in this life must be subordinate to serving Christ. The professing
Christian who is worldly will have worries. But the man who gives diligent
attendance unto all the ways of duty and obedience will patiently wait for the
accomplishment of God’s promises. “Listen to Me, you who follow after
righteousness, you who seek the LORD” (Isa. 51:1).
Have you taken the yoke of Christ upon you? Are diligent in studying the
Scripture to learn God’s revealed will? Do you submit yourself to His laws and
endeavor to obey Him at all times? Are you part of a church that worships Him
in Spirit and truth? Are you doing what you can to be a salt and light to
society and bring others into the kingdom of grace? Let us cast off our worldly
cares and in their place embrace our personal, family, social and
ecclesiastical responsibilities as followers of Christ. Jesus said that the
person who loses his life will save it and whoever desires to save it will lose
it (Lk.
This imperative is connected to a gracious promise that all the necessities of life will be granted by God as an extra gift. The verb “will be given you” is best understood as a “divine passive.” Those who put the kingdom and His righteousness first will be supplied their basic material needs by God. This glorious promise makes explicit the conclusions of the illustrations given from nature. Those who focus their lives on God’s interest and live for Christ are assured that He will take care of their needs. Regarding this teaching we should note the following.
First, this statement is consistent
with the Old Testament teaching that those who are diligent in their keeping of
the law, not in an attempt to be justified but to show one’s love and
appreciation of Jehovah, will be blessed by God. “If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land” (Isa.
Second, the purpose of this promise
is to free our minds of worldly cares to serve Jesus more effectively. Let us
have faith in this promise and get to work waging war against sinful habits and
everything that hinders our walk with Christ. Instead of sitting around
worrying about the things of this world, let us get to work on today’s kingdom
responsibilities. It is interesting that the early Puritans in
Third, this promise had a special
relevance to the first disciples who were itinerant preachers of the gospel.
These men set aside their whole lives to bring good tidings to others and were
almost completely dependant upon the kindness of strangers. They, in an obvious
and radical manner, were putting the
Do Not Worry About Tomorrow
After this climactic positive command,
Jesus restates the original exhortation and gives His final reason why it is
wrong to be anxious. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mt.
First, this final reason appears to
be somewhat anti-climactic after the previous positive injunction about seeking
first the
Second, this reason teaches a very
important lesson about how Christians must view time and their own personal
sanctification. It is crucial that we focus our attention on dealing with the
problem of each particular day that very day and not dwell on a hypothetical
future. This is a realistic and brilliant analysis of the problem of worry. Our
Lord assumes that there are concerns that arise each day. This is a simple fact
of living. Given this fact, He tells us that we must deal with each particular
day as it comes. We must obey God in the present. It is totally pointless to
try to analyze and deal with problems that do not even exist. There is nothing
we can do about tomorrow, but we can serve and obey God today. Today we need to have faith and hear
God’s voice (Ps. 95:7). Jesus taught something very similar in the preceding
petition: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt.
When we think about people who have
a serious problem with anxiety we see the inspired brilliance of this passage.
Such people virtually always have a problem with being overburdened with cares
about what may happen in the future.
They may be anxious over the news media’s dark picture of the future: global
warming, terrorism, recession, the housing crisis and so on. Sometimes they
simply have a very negative, pessimistic view of the future. Consequently, they
worry about their children, or finances, or their health, etc. Christ tells
such believers that worrying about the future is completely worthless because
worry cannot change anything (Mt.
Once again we need to note that our Lord did not say don’t think or plan for tomorrow. He does not forbid a wise foresight that prepares accordingly. Every responsible Christian must do that. It is the person who speculates about tomorrow’s personal problems and worries about calamities and difficulties that may never come that is condemned. “The meaning is, let us mind present duty, and then leave events to God; do the work of the day in its day, and then let to-morrow bring its work along with it.”[10]
If you are one of those people who tend to lie in bed at night and fret over all sorts of possible future scenarios, then you need to stop such ungodly, unproductive fantasies and instead meditate on how better to obey God in the present. Think about new and better ways to serve Christ’s kingdom. Meditate on things that can be done to help in the area of personal righteousness. Keep your mind occupied with good things that edify and not hypothetical troubles that cause worry and stress. Think upon things that are noble, just, pure, lovely and virtuous (see Phil. 4:8). If you can’t sleep, think about something positive such as a garden or building project, or something good you can do for your wife or husband. It is very important that we develop a habit of not worrying. This will involve training our minds not to wander into negative, harmful, pointless and unedifying areas. Some people are so consumed with worry as an ungodly habit that they have convinced themselves that such anxieties about the future are somehow spiritual and pious. Some women believe that part of being a good mother is worrying all the time about their children. But all such negative thinking is rooted in a lack of faith and is clearly sinful.
Third, in this seventh argument our Lord personalizes tomorrow to make the case that tomorrow can worry about itself. If tomorrow does the worrying then we are free to focus on today’s duties. This statement is explained by the saying, “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Since each day has its own troubles we should not try to speculate and anticipate them ahead of time. “Do not double the burden of to-day, under the idea of lightening the burden of tomorrow.”[11] This is a very wise statement. The man who is burdened with thoughts of tomorrow will not deal properly with today. If we waste our energy worrying about tomorrow, we will neglect what is needed today. This point reminds one of the old English proverb, “Never cross a bridge until you get to it.”
This statement recognizes the fact that we live in a fallen world where bad things and various problems are common. It also acknowledges our limitations as redeemed, yet fallen creatures. God wants us to walk the path of obedience one step at a time. The man who runs the hurdles must carefully clear each one as they come or he will fall flat on his face. As problems arise, we are to deal with them biblically and immediately. We are to do what we can about them and lay them before the throne of grace. This is a simple rudimentary principle. We are to wake up in the morning and live that day as if we would be standing before God that night. We are to live in faithfulness day by day. The man who lives in the past or lives with his mind in the future will never be an effective, righteous Christian in the present. “When tomorrow arrives, there will be new troubles, but also renewed strength. God has not given us strength today for tomorrow’s difficulties.”[12]
Although we are justified by God at
a point in time in the past—the moment we believed in Christ—sanctification is
a progressive process that involves a fresh dedication and commitment to Jesus
everyday. Therefore, as we pray for our daily bread we should pray for daily
grace and faith to meet the challenges of each day. We need to meditate on the
fact that this particular day will have certain problems, difficulties and
temptations. We need to commit ourselves to complete faithfulness for that day.
We need to stay focused on trust and obedience for that day. There is no need
to have anxiety over tomorrow, for when that day comes we will simply do what
we do every day. Matthew Henry writes, “What a folly it is to take that trouble
upon ourselves this day by care and fear, which belongs to another day, and
will be never the lighter when it comes? Let us not pull that upon ourselves
all together at once, which
As we come to a conclusion of this section on the Christian and anxiety, there are a few observations that are in order. First, we are stuck by the brilliance and wisdom of our Lord’s teaching on worry. There is nothing comparable to it among the world’s religions and philosophies or among all the writings of secular psychologists and psychiatrists. The more closely we study the Savior’s teaching the more we realize the need to trust Him in every area and lean not upon our own so-called wisdom and understanding. A study of modern psychology and psychiatry is a study of fools, of blind men groping in the darkness.
Second, it is a tragic fact of modern history that many churches have ignored this teaching and embraced the pagan, secular, medical model of anxiety. There are countless evangelicals who are on prescription anti-depressants. This practice is ungodly and counter-productive because medications simply cause a physical-chemical reaction in the brain that temporarily makes a person feel better without any concern for spiritual problems and sanctification. They can hide or delay symptoms, but they do not really deal with sin or difficulties. Ethically, they are no different than the man who has a few strong drinks in an attempt to forget his troubles. Jesus does not want us to take drugs to hide symptoms. He wants us to deal with problems each day with faith, prayer and obedience.
Third, we must remember that anxiety
is always related to a failure to believe what the Bible says about God,
salvation in the comprehensive sense of that word, and God’s promises.
Therefore, we must study the Scriptures, meditate on its teachings, memorize
portions of the Bible that deal with worry and exercise faith daily in serving
the
Copyright 2008 © Brian Schwertley
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[1] Arthur W. Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, 247.
[2] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 2:132.
[3] Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 2:207.
[4] Ibid, 2:208.
[5] John Calvin, A Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 1:344.
[6] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 5:85.
[7] R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, 270-271.
[8] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 5:86.
[9] William Hendriksen, The Gospel of Matthew, 355.
[10] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 5:86.
[11] John Brown, Discourses and Sayings of Our Lord, 1:286.
[12] William Hendriksen, The Gospel of Matthew, 355.
[13] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 5:86.