Download Transcript - Downey Seventh

Living in Peace
Well, we're going on our final Sermon on the Mount and today we're gonna talk about
Living in Peace. Who would like to live in peace? Amen! How many of you are living in peace
right now? Some of you, maybe. Something to work at; something definitely to work at. We
know in this world today, there is chaos and things to be concerned about. We have our
struggles, our burdens and Jesus has a message for us. Let us pray.
Father Lord, thank you so much for this good day, the Sabbath. Thank you for
the fellowship of this church, my brothers and sisters here. I pray Father that you
guide us as we open your word. Help us to hear your voice. Sense your presence,
Lord, in our lives. Teach us. May your Holy Sprit lead. We pray these things in
the precious name of Jesus. Amen!
In Matthew 6 we are going to talk about how Jesus tells us not to worry. Mathew 6:25
says: Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your
body what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Good
counsel here for us not to worry. For some of us it's easier said than done, right? Any of you are
worry warts, struggling with constant thoughts of oh, what's gonna happen now, what's gonna
happen now? Jesus tells us don't worry.
Stress! How do you deal with stress? Think about that in your own life. What do you
do? Some of you may get a big thing of ice cream to help you with this stress. Some of you
might bite your nails. Any of you do that? Some of you just can't sleep at night. In fact, a lot of
us. Let's look at some statistics. Seventy-seven percent of people directly experience physical
symptoms caused by stress. That's a lot of people. Seventy-seven percent of us are affected
physically by our stress. Seventy-three percent regularly experience psychological symptoms
caused by stress. It's affecting our thoughts, our behavior. Thirty-three percent of us feel
extreme amounts of stress. That's a lot too. Forty-eight feel that their stress has increased over
the past years. Seventy-six percent think money is the leading cause of stress and 48% report
lying awake at night due to stress. So stress is a common problem of the world.
I read this study where they studied mice or rats and in one study of rats, they gave them
the good life. And then another study of rats, the life wasn't good - they entered stress on these
rats. And they found out that the rats that had the good life, lived three months longer than the
ones that were stressed. What does that mean? In human years, that's 12 years, 12 years.
Extreme stress could take on average, 12 years of our life expectancy. That's a big deal. And we
who live in Los Angeles, driving to your work every day is stressful, isn't it? We all have family
issues. We all have our work issues. We are just covered with things that cause us stress in our
life, so it is a big deal. So when Jesus is saying, do not worry, he's not just saying, chill out. He's
saying don't live your lives in worry, because worry is a big deal, trust in me.
Then he continues on, he says: Look at the birds of the air. They do not sew or reap, or
store away in barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable
than they? That's really wise. Our God is really wise, do you know that? But look around you.
Think of all the animals, the squirrels at the park and they're just playing and having their fun
and jumping around and climbing things and they live by the moment. They're not worried
about their food, because God always provides. He says, are you not much more valuable than
they? God created Adam and Eve, created us is his image, we are his children. He loves us so
much that he sent his son to die for us. He's willing to do anything for us. He's going to provide
for us. Remember that, in the moments of extreme stress. Remember that when you think the
world is falling on top of you, the walls are falling on top of you. Remember when everything
seems to be collapsing on you, remember this. You are going to be okay. In fact, you are okay,
because God is with you; he's with you. So whatever is going on in our lives, whatever extreme
stress that we might be facing, Jesus says, don't worry. As he takes care of his animals, his
creatures, he takes care of you his children.
Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Then do you worry about
clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not
even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Does anybody worrying, add a
single hour to their life? What good does it do? It accomplishes nothing. I heard that with
Super Bowl; I heard that Tom Brady said that. Someone asked him, how is this affecting the
deflate matter, whatever it is? And he says, I can't worry about it. It doesn't serve me any good
purpose. Don't mean to quote Tom Brady here, but that's a good example - sorry that one's for
you Annie. It doesn't do us any good. It creates this fog in your brain where you can't even think
rationally when you worry. In fact, it not only doesn't add a single hour to your life, but it will
take away 12 years of our life if we are in constant stress. So, how are you, how are you doing
today? Doing okay?
If you are a friend of someone, you should give them a massage, just make them feel
relaxed. We need to relax, not take our life too seriously. And our problems, don't make them
bigger than they are. We should turn our backs to a hot tub. Any, I've gone too far here, so here
we are. He says here: Why do we worry about clothes? See how the flowers grow. They do not
labor or spin. God creates the perfect environment for the flowers to grow. We just don't have
to worry about these things.
Here Matthew 6:30-31 says: If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is
here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not more clothe you. You are of little
faith. So do not worry saying what shall we eat and what shall we drink or what shall we wear.
Jesus is coming down hard on his disciples or those that were at the sermon on the mount. Those
of you that worry about all these things, you are of little faith. That kind of hits home whenever
I'm worrying. It questions my faith in God. Whenever we are in constant anxiety about things
around us, we are questioning the power of God and what God can do for our lives. That's tough
to hear. It says don't worry about what we shall eat.
I said this last week. There was a time period where I was poor. It was a small period of
my life when I was in college. I had no money and I was worried about eating and I looked at
my tummy and it was doing just fine and I realized, I had never missed a meal. How could I
think ever, all of a sudden God's gonna stop me from ever eating again. I am going to be fine.
God has always provided for me and if you look back in your life, you could see. Have you dealt
with hardships? Yes, you have. You've dealt with incredible amounts of crisis and problems
and sadness in your life. Yes you have, but if you look back you will see that God has always
been there for you. He will not forsake you, so don't worry. It's taking years out of your life,
don't worry. You're questioning the power of God in our worry.
For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need
them, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as
well. Something that we need to take in context is, God is telling us not to worry. Think of the
people in the sermon on the mount. He's setting the stage for people to follow him - the
disciples.
I'm gonna go back - hopefully I can do this - where he says don't worry. He's saying,
what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear. Why do you think the people
or the disciples were worried about that? Because Jesus told them to follow him. He said come
and follow me. And you can say well, I got rid of my fishing business to follow you, Lord. You
want me to go from town to town and share the word. How am I going to live on that? How am
I going to feed myself? How am I going to take care of myself? You're asking me to give up
everything for you and he puts this into context.
It's not like Jesus is saying, okay let's go to Vegas and gamble all our money away and
let's not worry. It would be a lack of faith if you were to put $50 on Seattle at the Super Bowl.
And it would be a lack of faith, so don't worry. Jesus isn't saying that. When we live our lives in
sin or whatever way you want to call it, it is going to create chaos and craziness in your life.
He's saying in the context of you living your own way, he's not talking about don't worry,
because the consequences of that create anxiety and craziness. But he's saying of the pagans,
they do all the things that do, but your heavenly father knows that need them. Seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Okay, it's easy
for Jesus to say don't worry, but he also gives us a solution, to seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness and all these things will be given to you.
When we live our lives in compliance to God's will, when our lives are focused on eternal
things as we talk about in Sabbath School, if we live our lives for the sake of our walk with God,
there is nothing to worry about. You don't have to worry about how your behavior is going to
damage your relationship with God or the people around you. You're not going to worry about
your behavior, doing something bad to yourself that's gonna cause you to be sick or whatever
these things are, if you follow God's ways, if you seek first kingdom and his righteousness, you
don't have anything to worry about. It's the solution to not worrying.
A quote from Ellen White here says: Our heavenly father has thousands of ways to
provide for us which we know nothing. I like that and we could stop right there. Thousands of
ways that we know nothing of. You are in a bind, you have a problem, you're in a situation and
it says here, God has thousands of ways to provide, that we don't know anything about. We have
access to God. He can turn all situations into good. A lot of times we don't listen. We just think
in context of our own lives, our own selfishness and what we desire. If we just stop and say
Lord, what is your way? He will give you, what did he say - thousands of solutions to your
problems - for those who accept the one principle of making the service of God supreme. He has
thousands of ways to solve your problems, based on one principle, people making the service of
God supreme in their lives. Those who accept the principle of making the service of God
supreme, will find perplexity vanished and a plain path before their feet.
Who want their worries to go away? There is one in the back. What's up, are you
alright? Is it the new bathroom? Who wants their perplexities to go away? They can go away.
God promises, he tells us, don't worry, they can go away, but they're only gonna go away when
we humble ourselves to the Lord and truly want to listen to what his solution is for these
problems, not our own solution. And it may be hard. You're gonna have to ask for forgiveness
or you're gonna have to confront this person or you're gonna have to give up this habit, or you're
gonna have to preach next week's sermon at church. Whatever it is, it may be hard, but God is
telling you to do it, but when you do it he will give you peace. It's the solution to not worrying,
so therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.
So in the sermon on the mount, he's calling his people to come and follow me. He talks
about the beatitudes, the opposites. He talks about how we should love our enemies, the
opposite of things. He tells us to make our treasures in heaven, not put our treasures on earth.
Not live to have the biggest, the best. Not live for ourselves, but for eternity. And now he says,
what are you gonna do with your time, with your life? A lot of us can reflect on this instead of
worrying about our life, our future.
Especially our young people, a lot of you are going to graduate from high school and
you're gonna go on to college. What are you going to do with your life? If you want to continue
to live in worry and anxiety, just live for yourself, but if you want to live in peace and harmony
with God, live for the service of God. What does that mean? It doesn't mean you have to be a
pastor or whatever, but it means to make your life a servant for God. Listen to him, follow his
ways and you don't have to worry. You will live in peace.
Let us pray.