A (0:00)

Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.

B (0:10)

Matthew, chapter 6 and verse 25. I know that often we're quiet, you know, when you're listening and you're thinking about new thoughts and all the rest. But don't leave me out here because I don't like talking to myself. I like to get a little feedback to know you're there. So every now and then just throw in an amen if you honor understanding what I'm saying and that will help me. Verse 25, Matthew 6. Therefore. Now, therefore I looked it up and therefore is an adverb and it means consequently, thus, hence, then, or for that reason. And in this verse, Jesus actually uses it as a conjunction to connect with what he's about to say, with what he just said. And you've heard me say probably a hundred times, if you listen to me, teach it all. Wherever you see a therefore in Scripture, you need to pause and ask yourself what it's there for, because typically a therefore is connecting ideas that should not stand alone. So let's pause and back up to the previous verse so we can see what Jesus was about to connect this verse we were going to study to. So back to verse 24. Jesus said this. No one, no exceptions, no exclusions. No one can serve. Is that what it says? Now I'm going to pause on that word serve, because we're thinking in American and Western, maybe better, more modern terms. But the Greek here literally means slave. For so Jesus is not just speaking of the typical employer employee relationship, but he's speaking of the slave master relationship that requires exclusive relationships, round the clock availability and service. Now, if Jesus taught this today, considering our cultural sensibilities, he might have taught this using the military. And he might have said, you cannot serve two conflicting commanding officers. You cannot march in the Ukrainian army and the Russian army at the same time. Or it's possible he might have used competitive sports. You can't root for the heat and the Nuggets, the Cowboys and the commanders, the Astros and the Phillies. You can't do that at the same time in the same way. And you can't give two people with different needs, all of you, at the same time and in the same way. And people in the first century understood that they had certain limitations. So Jesus said, no one can serve two masters. Some things are designed to be exclusive. In marriage, you're not just looking for any old person that you could live with, but the one person you can't live without. But truth also is exclusive. If truth were inclusive, nothing would be false. If truth were everything, it would be worth nothing. Limitations aren't so bad after all. No one can serve two bastards. Whether we admit it or not, we're all serving something. Whether it's our flesh or our spirit, our moods or our duties, our sense of reason or just our emotions, our conscience or the crowd, God or man, we're all serving something. And wherever a person has conflicted or conflicting loyalties, it slowly begins to rip apart their soul. So Jesus is teaching us this actually to preserve us and to protect us. He continues. For either he will hate the one and love the other. You see, our highest affections can only be fixed on one thing at a time. I want you to think about it. If we could not focus, we could not see. I want you to imagine trying to see all the colors, all the images, all the shades, everything in this room equally at the same time. Time our brains could not handle it better. Imagine trying to hear every noise at the same time. Trying to hear your heartbeat. Maybe the baby that was just gurgling, or the whisper that was happening in the row in front of you, or a person's cough, cough. And then trying to hear me at the same time. You really couldn't. Likewise, our hearts don't function well if they don't focus. And Jesus says, I understand man. I created man when man was in the garden. God thought it, but Jesus was the hand that made it happen. He said, he will hate the one and love the other, or else he'll be loyal to the one and despise the other. How many know if you're really trying to hear something, all other distractions become an irritant. Yeah. Yeah. And this is why, by the way, God's word upsets so many people, because it disturbs their focus on the things that are truly their gods. But when God speaks, many of us are, why are you distracting me? And what it is is you. That thing you're trying to hear and you're trying to follow has so consumed you that even God himself is like, sh, I don't want to hear that preaching. I want to hear that word. I want to go to that church. I don't have time. I got other stuff I'm occupied with. I got other gods in my life. And Jesus continues, he says, you cannot. Meaning it's not just hard, but it is impossible to serve God. Watch this. And mammon or materialism, notice Jesus knows what he's talking about. The ultimate contest, as far as Christ is concerned, is not between God and the devil, but between God and money. I'll prove it. If the devil showed up with a pitchfork and red pajamas with a request, almost every. There's always an exception. But almost everyone in this room would immediately say no. But if the request came with the right price, I don't care what he's wearing, how many pitchforks, a lot of us would think about it again. You cannot serve God, Mammon. Jesus understood that money is a great servant, but it is a horrible, it is a brutal, it is an unkind master. It will chew you up and spit you out. And this is why around the globe, across history, offering opportunities are always a part of worship. Because it's a chance in real time to show whether or not you trust God's promises for tomorrow more than you trust what you have in your hand today. Every time you let go of what's in your hand, God lets go of what's in his hand. And it never, ever fails. When you put God first, everything else falls into place. And now we get to the therefore that we started with. And since we know now what the therefore is there for, he's really talking about God and mammon, we're able to study and go forward. He said, therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life. The dictionary defines worry. I googled it this way to give way to anxiety or unease or to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. How many of you ever struggle with that? Yeah, you see, worry never takes away tomorrow's troubles. It just takes away today's peace. So Jesus is trying to help both you and I. I'm in the same boat with you now. He said, I say to you, do not worry. Life is scary. Stuff happens. But Jesus said, I am not a politician. I am not. I'm not waxing poetic. I'm not. I'm not just philosophizing. I'm not just trying to be motivated. I say the second person of the Godhead, the one who created you and I, I say based on the authority of me being I am, that I am, I say to you, do not worry about your life. Now. I have a challenge, and many of you may too. I have an extremely analytical brain. It's both one of my greatest strengths, but also one of my greatest weaknesses. Sometimes at the end of the day, I just can't turn it off. And my wife kind of has to help me with that. I think one of the reasons he brought her into my life was because of this. Because she has a gift. It's not listed in the nine gifts of the Spirit, but it ought to be. She has this gift of not giving a second thought. Thought about stuff. She's too busy living life to worry about it. And I love that about her. I do. She said, don't worry about what you will eat or what you will drink, Nor about your body, what you will put on. See, counting all the ways something can go wrong won't make it go right. You see, all I can do is do my best and give God the rest. And in a nutshell, all you can do is give God your best. Well, give your best, then. Give God the rest. And worry doesn't change anything. All it does is make you sicker, lonelier over time, uglier, older. So Jesus asked the question. He says, you're thinking, people, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? The idea here is if God could give us something as big as life. You see, at one point, you were nothing. You had no consciousness. You no sense of smell, no awareness, no sense of touch. But out of your nothing, God gave you something as big as a moment in this life. And if he could give you something that big, don't you think he can handle something as small as food and clothes? And then Jesus said, I don't know if a flock of birds just landed on a tree right beside them. And he said, notice that? He said, look at the birds of the air now. You notice they got these great ears and they'll listen on the ground for the worm. And then they poke their little beacon in the ground to get the worm. So they work digging up worms, but they don't worry about the worms. And he's like, look at you guys. I want you to do some thinking. Now, you've got those big old brains that you're carrying on your shoulders every day. But that bird got brain about this big, but it's still smart enough not to worry. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns. So what he was saying is, they don't have farms to depend on. They don't have savings accounts. They don't have 401ks. They don't have Social Security. Yet your heavenly father feeds them. You see, human governments may shut down, but the Bible said, the one who watches over me neither slumbers nor sleeps. You can't count on what those jokers down the street are doing. But you can always count on your God. I may live in America, but my source is in heaven. One of those times I was watching the news, and I. I'm a little bit ahead of myself. I felt the Lord say, derek, do you have any idea what you mean to me? Do you think the one who brought you here can't keep you here? Do you think somehow I'm surprised? You see, man may deny, but my Bible says, my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory. Jesus is the master of my faith, the captain of my soul. He's not going under, so I'm not going under. He's going over, so I'm going over. He's my fortress. He's my refuge, my shelter, my shield, My help in time of trouble. I'm looking to God, not Capitol Hill. Come on. Give God a shout for that. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. In fact, in the Psalms, if you read the Psalms, God gets an attitude. He said this. If I was hungry, I wouldn't even tell you. I know how to take care of my own. I know how to handle my business. And then Jesus now asks the big question. Because this is really where the problem was. He said, are you not of more value than they? The reason we worry is because we don't realize our worth. Everything that makes God, God loves me. Everything that makes God, God is committed to me. Everything that makes God, God is on my side. And if God is for me, tell me who or what can be against me. If you understood your value, how much he loves you, you have a covenant with the almighty God. God. And what I know about this life is if you don't know your value, the world and the devil will tell you your value. And it will always be far, far, far less than what you're really worth. You see, God has been waiting for all eternity for you to live in this tiny slice space you call your life. He's been working your entire existence to get you to just this point, where you are right now, today. And what I found with God is He never chokes under pressure. He can do anything but lie, anything but fail. God knows how to bring it. Matter of fact, he waits till it's darkest to shine the brightest. He waits till the giant is the biggest before he slings the sling. God waits till the Red Sea is the deepest. Before he leads us and leads us to that place that only God can get us to. The other side. God specializes in handling impossibility. And he said, which of you by worry can add anything, even A cubit to your stature. And what he's saying is, worry adds nothing. So if it's out of your hands, it deserves to be out of your mind. I'm gonna say that again. If it's out of your hands, listen to me. It deserves to be out of your mind. One more time, say it with me. If it's out of your hands, it deserves to be out of your mind. Be delivered right now from those thoughts that are tormenting right now in the name of Jesus. You see, there are a lot of sins worse than worry. But there are no sins, to my knowledge, that are more self defeating. There are no sins that are more useless. Because no amount of regret can change the past and no amount of worry can change the future. Trust God. Trust God. So Jesus looks at the crowd, said, y'all all smart people. And, you know, and y'all went to school and did all, you know, Okay, I got you. So let me ask you a question. Why. So why do you worry about clothing? If he said it today, be like, why do you trip? What is your issue? I got you. And at first he was talking about birds, but then he went on, you know, looked on the mountainside. He said, now consider the lilies. And the lilies there doesn't literally mean lilies. It's a whole category of flowers. He's talking about dandelions, anemones and daisies and buttercups and all that stuff. So he said, consider the daisies, how they grow. One thing I notice is dandelions grow in my yard whether I like it or not. And God is saying, it shouldn't matter who doesn't like you growing either. Just blossom where you're planted and let God do the rest. So he's pointing to birds and now flowers. He said, they neither toil dandelions. Don't sweat it. It just pops up through the crack and announces, I'm here. And what? That's his attitude. Nor does it spin. They aren't working at night or day and night trying to look pretty. They know they already are. It's important. Don't believe the hype. You can be beautiful and modest at the same time. You don't have to show everybody everything because everything ain't everybody's business. That ain't nobody's business. That's your business. And yet I say to you, even Solomon, beautiful robes and all his glory, wealth and royalty was not arrayed like one of these. You see, there are things that money cannot buy, like love, like manners, like morals, like respect, like character. Like common sense, like patience, like class. So Jesus, all in their heads, he's saying, let's, let's just, let's talk about this. Let's reason this out together. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, and they would use grass to light fires and they would cook on that fire, they did it daily. Will he not much more clothe you? If God does that for the least, how much more for those he loves the most? If you only knew your value, you'll go to sleep with a smile because you know God's got your back. God is in your corner. He got your back, your front, your side, your above, your beneath. If God be for me, tell me who can be against me. You hear what I'm saying? If you really believed that God loved you, there'd be a confidence, you know. I want you to stop looking to people to determine your self worth. What we kind of do is hand them the calculator. But how about giving the calculator to God? And then God looks at I loved you this much. It cost me everything. That's how much you were worth my life. That's how much I love you. And then Jesus digs in, as the King only can, and he looks at all these smart people. Oh, you of little faith. If you don't believe that God got you, if you can't believe that God has your back, you're never going to accomplish what God wants to accomplish with your life. Because if you're worried all the time and you don't believe he got you, you're only gonna take small risks. But when you know God has your back, failure is not the opposite of success. It's part of success. Because you know he'll pick you up each time, he'll get you back up, say no, no, get back on that bicycle. You can ride this thing. You can do this thing. And then you fall. He'll get you back up again until you get it right. But when you see a lot of. We don't try nothing because we don't really believe God loves us. We don't believe God got us. We think we got to be perfect. But there's only one person that's ever been perfect. His name is Jesus. You hear what I'm saying? I'm not that person. And God, you know, no child walks the first time, just, you know, just gets up and just starts walking. No, they walk, then they fall. They walk, then they fall. A lot of times they don't Start walking, they kind of run and they fall. And then eventually they learn how to do it. But a lot of us are too proud. We're not willing to make some stumbles and make some mistakes because we feel we have to be. Or we're concerned about our image and reputation. You hear what I'm saying? That's insanity. God loves me. And the reason the baby walks is usually he's coming to the parent. And I'll take a risk to get to Jesus. I'll lay it down to get to Jesus. Whatever it costs me, I'm going to get to. I might look like a fool, but I'm gonna get to my Jesus. Peter was in the boat. He said, lord, if that's you, bid me to come, Peter. Like, here I come, Lord. And guess what? Peter started to sink. But Jesus was like, oh, Peter, you done messed up. You oughta done. No, we sent and grabbed that boy and brought him to the boat. He's the same God. He's the same God. He's the same. Go. Verse 31. Only two verses left. Therefore, meaning in conclusion, based on all I said, do not worry saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? Don't care what the government does. For after all these things the Gentiles seek, let the people without a covenant with God be preoccupied with all that. You are in covenant with God through the blood of Jesus the Christ. And when the world's going crazy, you ought to have peace on God's got my back and pray for those that are struggling and worried. And yeah, you'll have moments too. But snap back into it, say, no, no, God's got me. I'm in covenant with God. He's not going down. I'm not going down. He's the fourth man in the fire. You hear what I'm saying? For after all these things, the Gentiles and the King James Version, I believe, says pagans. So we act like pagans when we're worried about God meeting our basic needs. And, you know, we go through seasons in life, like Job, where you may lose it, but if God gave it to you, you will get it back again. And in fact, he'll help you have fun doing it for your heavenly. What? See, that's the problem. A lot of us, we didn't grow up with daddies, so we don't know what a daddy's supposed to do. And then the daddy we had, you know, he didn't have a daddy and he didn't know how to do it. And we don't have no concept of a father, but one of the basic things a daddy's supposed to do. And daddies, I do know every now and then we run into trouble, we got to go through the unemployment. I get it. But hear what I'm saying. A daddy's basic responsibility is to make sure there's a roof over your head and food on the table. And if your natural father will work 40, 60 hours a week, sometimes two or three jobs, to get bread on food on your table to get you through that school. You hear? What if he would? How much more? Your heavenly Father, the one who loves you without limitation. Your father was stuck with you when you came out, but God created you on purpose, knew everything about you and loved you anyway. Anyway. Anyway, your Father in heaven knows that you need. He knows we got needs. He knows you got needs. He knows before you do what your needs are. He knows that you need all these things. He knows all the things you need. So relax. He got it. But here's the big piece. And I'm done with this verse, but I want to say, okay, God's got you, but you got to do it my way. But seek first the kingdom of God. Now, we went through 13 verses today. You always learn the Bible in this place. And Jesus was telling us not to worry. So he spent all of us telling us what not to do. But finally he tells us what to do. Rule number one is, never make God number two. I'm about to help you. Most of us in this room, we love God. Most of us want to serve God and seek God. And many of us give to God, but the problem is we don't follow the instructions. He didn't just say, love, seek, give. He said, seek first. So you're doing the right things, but you give God what's left. But he said, no, I want what's first. Seek first. Not after you've done everything else. And now I got to pray and look to God. God doesn't want to be your last resort, but your first line of defense. But seek first. I remember when I was 20 years old, I'd give my life to Jesus, and I'd come into the kingdom, and I needed concrete ways to work, walk out and work out my faith. And I was going to be baptized. And actually I was baptized there in D.C. and it was the first time. What I did is I took. I was born again. I was a new creation. And I knew that I was a new creature in Christ. So I said, lord, I want to always give you first. For the rest of my days. So as this college student, I tallied up everything I had made in my little job. And when you were a student, you know, listen, every penny counts. I tallied it up. And when I was baptized, I brought the campus minister my tithe. Because I said, God, you're going to be first in everything in my life. I am not just coming up here to play church games. You either my God or you not my God. And if you can't be honored, and if I can't trust you with that, how am I going to trust you with all the rest of the stuff I have to trust you with? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Not my own righteousness. I don't go to God based on how good I am or happen to have been that particular day, but based on how great Christ was on that cross where he bore my sin, carried my diseases. He said, if you would seek first, make me the priority. Stop giving me what's left over. If you would seek first the king, make him king. Stop being religious. Make him the king of your life. You salute a king, you do what a king says, you honor a king. They sing songs to kings. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And if you do that, all the things the pagans want, all the things your neighbors want, all them things on television they want. And all these things shall be added, not to your neighbor, to you. Come on, I'm preaching. Come on. Tell me that that's not the word of God. Tell me that's not the word of God. Tell me that's not our promise. Tell me that's not our hope. So when I wake up in the morning, I wake up thinking about God before I think about anything else. I wake up talking to God before I talk to anybody else. And financially, I give to God before I pay anyone else. And the big thing is, the first day of the week I worship God before I do anything else. I have tried him and I have known him to be faithful. If you put God first, you will not stay last for very long. Give God a hallelujah in a hand clap today. Hey, hey. Say an amen. When you say amen, you grab that into your life. The blessings of the Lord make rich and he has no sorrow. And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. And he ain't broken glory. He has everything that we need.