Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 6-4] Do Not Worry about Your Life, But Trust Only in God (Matthew 6:25-34)
(Matthew 6:25-34)
“Therefore
I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what
you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life
more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the
air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which
of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry
about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they
neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the
oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 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. For
your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its
own trouble.”
We,
the born-again are also prone to worry about the future even after
having received the remission of sin. These are worries such as how I am
going to live from now on, what I should do to eat, what I should do to
wear, what I should do to make money, and how I should live. In this
way, in our hearts, we have worrying hearts about the future. I see that
those among the born again who are still young are apt to worry about
the rest of their lives because they do not understand that God helps
them and they have not experienced that God leads their way. Of course,
it is only natural that we worry since we are human.
Every
one that is born into this world works hard for himself. They have not
been living by the faith in God, and had the habit of living by relying
their own efforts and strength, so even after they are born again, the
first thing they worry about is what they should eat, what they should
drink and how they should live. However, the Lord tells us what the
born-again should think about first: “Seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness.” He says, “Seek the Kingdom of God, the righteousness
of God. First unite with the church and seek the work that does the
work of God, His Kingdom, and saving people. Pray! Then, I will fill all
your needs in the areas of the flesh such as what to eat, what to
drink, and how to live.”
I
also thought about my future as soon as I was delivered from sins. “How
should I live? What shall I eat? What shall I wear? What shall I do for
a living?” I worried about such things. If there had been certain sets
of things that I had to do, then I could have done that, but when there
were not any certain fixed things, I didn’t know what to do at that
time. Those who had saved some money before receiving the remission of
sins may be less confused. However, someone who has been only in
academia before receiving the remission of sin such as me is even more
confused. I could not but worry about how to live in this world.
The
young brothers and sisters in our church, who are students or the
beginners in the real world, could also be discouraged by the thought of
how they can live in this world. What should we do to eat? What should
we wear? There are many such worries.
However,
the Lord says to all of us, “Do not worry about such things. That is
what those who have not been born again worry about.” Then we can have
the heart in our mind, “Our Lord is just clueless about our situations.
This is a problem of reality, and how can we not worry about that? The
problems of food, clothes, and place to stay depend on it right now. How
can we not worry about that?” However, the Lord firmly says to us, The
Lord says, “That is what the Gentiles worry about. Do not worry about
how you can live. Think about the righteousness of God first and living
your life as you carry out His righteousness.” The Lord says, “Look at
the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value
than they?”
In
fact, if we believe what the Lord said, there is nothing we can argue
against Him. We worry about our lives, but the Lord scolds us in
straight talk, “Do not worry about the materials. That is what the
Gentiles ask for. That is what those who have not been born again ask
for. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil
nor spin. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you. O
you of little faith?”
Dear
fellow Christians, how do the lilies in the field grow? Does it
automatically start a sprout and grow and blossom? It is because God
sows them, gives them sun light as they need, and gives them rain and
makes them blossom. The Lord says that God takes care of such grass of
the field, then how much more He would take care of you, who are a
righteous person.
Dear
fellow Christians, there is much difference between the worries we have
and the assurance that comes from God’s Word of the Truth. We are
worried so much about our future now, but there is not much we can say
since He shuts us up by simply saying, “Consider the lilies of the
field.” God gives sunlight and rain to raise the lilies so well. Then,
would He not take care of us, who are His children? Have the faith that
trusts in God. Then, you can communicate with God.
What
shall we do to communicate with God? There is no other way except to
believe in God’s Word. When we believe in His Word as it is, we can
communicate with Him by faith. If God says so, when we believe in Him
according to His Word that ‘God will clothe me, feed me, help me live,’
we can relate to God and become one, be able to communicate with Him,
and be answered as our faith.
Consider the Lilies of the Field
Do
you have faith that confesses like this?―“God raised the lilies of the
field. I am one of God’s people, a child of God, and God is my Father
and shepherd, so I believe that He will feed me and clothe me.” The only
way to shake off worries is to believe. “God, I believe in You!” There
are no other words than this before God. There are no other words we can
say.
Dear
fellow Christians, when the Lord says one thing, can we say something
else arguing against that? In today’s scripture passage, God promises us
that He will provide everything we are in need of when we first seek
His Kingdom and His righteousness. When we take this passage to
ourselves by faith, we cannot say something else. We cannot make any
excuse other than that we do not have faith. “I can raise the lilies of
the field. If then, can I not raise you? I can raise an annual plant, if
then, can I not raise My children?” Now, believe in Him.
If
we believe this, we may not think this way: “Rain is something that God
makes to come from the sky anyway, and the sun light is something that
He gives anyway, and therefore the grass grows, but we cannot live just
with rain and sun light only. Do You not know, God, how hard we have to
work to live?” Of course there is no way God does not know. If the Lord
says He knows us all, then we must believe that God will also give the
ability, wisdom, blessings that will enable us to live in this world as
well. If the Lord took a lily to make an argument to tell us that God
provided everything for the right time, then we can believe that God
will provide everything at the right time to us, who are God’s children.
The
Lord gives us another example to evoke our faith in Him, saying, “Look
at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value
than they?” (Matthew 6:26)
However,
some people of unbelief interpret this verse absurdly, saying, “Look!
Look at the bird in the air! How diligent they are! If we work hard in
this world as those birds that fly in the air, we can live well in this
world.” They put up arguments such as this. Since these people do not
have faith, they make arguments such as this, “Ah, if a man works hard,
then he can have enough food and live in abundance.”
Arguments
like this are different from the argument of faith that the Lord has
told us. Who could not say that when we work hard, we do not have to
worry about food? However, does everyone become rich just because he
works hard? That is not the case for everyone. There are so many people
who work at their place of employment for months or even over a year,
but have not yet been paid.
“Look
at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value
than they?” What the Lord has said by this verse is not that we can have
food when we work hard. The Lord says that God our Father, who saved
us, provides us with what is needed to eat, drink, and wear to maintain
our lives in this world. This means that God will feed us and clothes
us, the righteous. This means that God will take care of any righteous
one who lives for the spread of the gospel. The main point of this verse
is that: “When you are my children, would I starve you, not clothe you?
When you are my children, while you live in this world, while you have
your life, while you have works to do in this world, would I not take
care of you?”
I
also felt absurd when I read this passage before I was born again. But
that is not the case anymore. When I first met the Lord, I did not know
what to do. So, I first thought that I was going to have a business to
earn a living. As a matter of fact, I had no other plans in my mind.
Truly I was dismal when I first met the Lord through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. Because of the worries of how to live, what to
eat, and what to wear, the worries of how to spread the gospel after
receiving salvation took a back seat. How I should unite with God’s
church also took the back seat, and I was in agony about what I should
do when I was busy trying to make a living for myself. But the Lord
says, “That is what the Gentiles ask for.” However, I rebelled against
His Word very often saying, “That is your logic and my logic does not
follow that right now.”
When
I looked ahead for how I should live from then on, it was dark. When I
looked around my circumstance, it was even worse and I did not know what
to do. I did not know anything at that time, but one thing I was sure
of was that God became my Father and that the Lord had blotted out all
my sins. And then, the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will
move.” This meant that the Lord gave me the gospel of the Truth that
enables me to live with faith. And He also said to me, “Seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you.”
“Ah!
This is the way I can live!” I made up my mind to devote myself to
God’s work. I held onto this word and started to pray for everything
that I needed. I prayed: “Father God, I do not have any money. God, I
want to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but I do not have
any money. Give me money. Give me materials. I do not have a building.
Give me a church building. Give me the souls. I am trying to prepare
books to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but I do not
have a press. Give me a press.”
Now,
my little faith had grown and I ask for something big doing the work of
God. I have experienced that God has answered to everything—whether it
is big or small. This makes me grow gradually as a man of faith. This
means that we become men of faith without realizing it.
When
something happens, I come to think: “God gives if we pray! And there is
nothing of which the brothers and sisters need to worry! God helps! God
helps the brothers and sisters! If the brothers and sisters are in
trouble and have difficulties, God gives if we pray!” Our faith grows
gradually as long as we pray in faith. This is why the Lord says, “Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of
God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). Our God is able to give to
us exceedingly abundant above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
Since
we believe this, we ask the Lord boldly. Rather than starting on
something on our own, rather than trying to apply every human means, we
pray: “God! Give us this. We really need it.” Now even if we cannot see
any positive sign with our eyes, we ask God to give us. Why? It is
because prayers make things happens, so it is better than our own ways
that we try. When I was born again, I was planning to run a pot sales
business to earn my living. But as my faith grew, I came to pray rather
than trying to do something on my own.
If
we have faith in God, we first pray to God for His help. Even if there
are no answers, we diligently pray. “God, Do this for us. Do that for
us.” When we pray for a long time and constantly, we see that God
answers. Then we receive the answer, and pray again with another prayer
topic. As such, we experience that we receive answers from God.
Therefore, we become people of faith. We come to have the stronger faith
that believes in God. We come to believe firmly that the Lord feeds us,
clothes us and makes us live. When we live for the righteousness of
God, we develop our faith in God.
Therefore,
when we work for the righteousness of God, we do not worry much about
what we should eat from now on, or what we should drink and wear.
Whenever we need something, we turn to prayer: “God, give to us again.
Give our brothers and sisters materials. Give us health. Give us this.
Give us that.” We turn to prayer. This doesn’t mean that we have to just
sit and pray, and do nothing of our own. We have to pray first, and
then seek for God’s righteousness. Then, God gives us what is needed to
eat, drink, and various other things needed to live as well as
everything else. I hope you believe that He gives everything.
In
reality, we have been able to live and do His work well until now,
because God has provided everything for us. Therefore, for the future as
well, God will truly give us the righteous what we need to wear, eat,
and drink, which are essential to our lives. Not only these, everything
else that we ask for the Kingdom of God, God gives in abundance.
Brothers
and sisters, this is why it is a blessing to live in God. We do not
live with what we have, but with the faith in God. This is why the
righteous can live with wealth for the flesh and spirit. If we truly
live with the faith that believes in God, we live in abundance for the
flesh and the spirit.
God
told us: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to you.” This means we must live in
union with His Church for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, for
the gospel, and for the salvation of the souls of the others. The Lord
says for us to live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This
means that God will give everything if we live for the righteousness of
God. This is the promise of security that God assures you and me. This
is the covenant that God made with those of us, who are born again. If
we give our hearts and live for God’s gospel, God will surely guarantee
our lives by supplying what to eat, drink, and wear. God will at least
guarantee that we live with wealth for the flesh and the spirit.
Dear
fellow Christians, live for God. Are you nervous about your life? Live
for the gospel of God. Live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Fix your mind on the work of God. If you do that, your future is
guaranteed. When are we most worried as humans? When our materials, no
matter how small it is, that we lived on are going to run out, we feel
most insecure. We feel rather comfortable if all we have runs out and we
are empty-handed. Since we have nothing to save and have no reservation
for anything, it is easier to try again with faith in the Lord.
However, we are more insecure when we do not completely run out and try
to live with what is still left. How nervous do we become in a fear that
we might lose even what is left?
Dear
fellow Christians, whether we have anything left, or do not have
anything left, just live for the Lord, for the gospel, and trust in the
Lord. Then the Lord fills us not only with what we have, but with
abundance. It is because our Lord fills us in abundance when we live for
the gospel, and helps us to live as we manage with what we have.
That’s
it. Bear this in mind today’s scripture passage: “But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you.” This is because if we live for God, God cannot help
giving us everything of which we are in need.
There
was a brother, who was a tailor. One cannot make much money being a
tailor. He said that he had to stay up several nights to make one suit.
So when he did much work for the church, he ran out of all his funds.
Then, he started praying before the Lord. Since then, people ordered a
lot of training clothes rather than suits. Some company started ordering
training clothes by the bulk of several hundred or several thousand, so
when he started the business, he started making plenty of money.
Therefore, he could still live even as he was serving the Lord.
Living
is living whether he makes suits or training clothes, but there are
many brothers who can serve the Lord even more because they prayed when
they were in trouble. In reality, there are many examples like that.
Anyone who has lived for the Lord has that experience. We, the righteous
do not only live by what we have. We serve the Lord with what the Lord
has provided because the Lord fulfills us. If we live only with what we
have, then we shall run out soon.
There
was a widow in Zarephath in the Old Testament. At that time, there was a
severe drought for years from God. Because of the famine, she ran out
of everything and the last thing left was only a handful of flour in a
bin. When she mixed the flour with water and kneaded, there came a lump
of dough that would quench the hunger of only two or three people. She
rolled the dough with a roller to make bread. The Jews make bread to
eat. They roll out the flour dough to make it flat and when the fire
goes out and there is only a charcoal fire left, they put the dough on
it.
When
she was going to make a loaf of pan-cake like bread for the last time
for her and her son to eat, she thought that they would starve to death
after that. Then a servant of God, Elijah, appeared.
“Woman, do you have anything to eat?”
“Yes, I have this much flour.”
“Then bake that and bring it to me, so that I may eat.”
Dear
fellow Christians, because the servant of God told her to bring it to
him, she did. She thought that she was going to eat this last piece with
her son, and this was all she had, she gave it to the servant of God to
eat. The widow gave the servant of God the last piece that she had. It
seemed that there was no hope for her. However, something incredible
happened at that time. The servant of God prayed after eating it. Then,
the flour did not run out in the bin. The Bible records this.
Dear
fellow Christians, the Bible says, “But seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Those who are not born again swindle others out of their money with this
verse. This happens frequently in everyday life. But in reality,
leading the souls to live by faith and to serve the gospel of the water
and the Spirit is not deception, but the Word of God. If we truly live
for the Lord, the Lord truly provides for us. Believe it. You have to
believe it.
Dear
fellow Christians, repeats after me. “Lord I believe in You!” You may
still feel insecure, right? Then you can shout it out. “I believe!” Have
you lived with your strength until now? Then hold onto God even more
with faith. If you hold onto something more desperately, it still runs
out. You cannot prevent it even with your fairly strong power. This is
why the Lord tells us to live by the faith.
We
should live with the heart for the Lord and serving the Lord whether we
have much or not. Then the Lord will surely provide you with whatever
you need. If we serve the Lord, then He has the responsibility to
provide for us. He supplies us abundantly, because He can be served
continuously by us. Since He is omnipotent, He will surely fill us even
if it is just to keep His covenant if nothing else.
Our
life does not depend on our will, but on our faith. We, the servants of
God as well as all the brothers and sisters, should live by faith―the
faith that experiences what God has done for them when they lived for
the Lord. If we live for ourselves, our faith cannot grow. When we live
for the Lord, our faith in the Lord can gradually grow. Dear fellow
Christians, do you know that blessings of God are like a bonus to the
people who live by faith? A bonus is something given in addition to what
is usual or expected.
God
gives many bonuses besides His salvation. We live because God gives us
many blessings as a bonus. If He does not give us any bonus, but only
gives us what we deserve, then we cannot live. If only we receive what
we work for, would lazy ones not all die? God gives many things in
bonus, and that is a portion of His blessings. And we live along with
God who gives us His grace. Therefore, we live by the faith that
believes in God, who saved us.
Dear
fellow Christians, if we believe in God, then, God works in us. Believe
in God. Believe in God even if it is hard. God’s promise is that He
will listen to us if we believe in Him. “Seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Experience how God gives “all these things” to you as you live. I mean
you should experience how God fulfills, how He provides for you. How can
you experience God’s blessings of fulfillment and provision through His
mercy if you have not lived by faith?
Dear
fellow Christians, live by faith: “I believe in You, God! I believe
that you will clothe me, feed me, and that I do not live with a naked
body, that you will clothe me and let me live so that I am not ashamed.
And I believe that you will feed me. I believe that you will let me live
my life.”
Believe
like this. If you believe, God will have to give it to you. Is our God a
God who cannot do that? Is He a God who cannot feed? God is a God who
is powerful enough to do all that. Therefore, we must get rid of our own
measures, and believe and trust in God the Omnipotent. Believe the
Word. Trust! Trusting in the Word is faith. Dear fellow Christians, do
you understand?
Do You Still Have Worries about Your Future Life?
Do
you still have worries about your future life? I also had many worries
when I was a senior in college especially, that is, when I was about to
graduate. When I was a freshman, I went to school like a bull. I had
nothing to worry about. “Hey, let’s go eat some pancakes.” I was
unconcerned, but by the second semester of my sophomore year, I started
getting worried. ‘I will be graduating soon. Oh, then what will I do.
Oh…I really was quite troubling.’ When I thought about it, it really was
a great trouble. I came to lose even my appetite.
In
reality, not only students, but also everyone cannot but worry about
‘how should I live’ and ‘how should I eat,’ even after they are saved.
However, it is a new start for those who are born again. If we are born
again, what we did in the past, what kind of jobs we had, how we lived
do not matter any more. However you lived with whatever in the past, now
that you are born again, you must make a new start. We are making a new
year. A new era!
In
Exodus 12, it is written, “This month shall be your beginning of
months; it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Exodus 12:2).
God gave a new calendar to the Israelites in commemoration of their
exodus from Egypt, escaping from their slavery. The Exodus was the new
start of the Israelite’s history. They crossed the Red Sea, the sea of
death, and came to set their first steps toward the Promised Land. They
were not the people of Pharaoh any more, but became the people of God
instead.
Like
this, from the moment we were born again, we are the new creations.
That is why we should start a totally different new life. It is not an
extension of our past life. We are now people who died with Christ and
rose again with Him and have a new life. As it is written, “Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
“Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). All
things have become new to the born-again. We study with new things, we
go to work with new things, we serve the Lord with new things, and we
live with new things. Let’s live with new things from then on. In some
sense, the life of the born-again may seem like simply an extension of
their past life, but in reality, when God see us, it is a totally
different way of life, and a beginning of a new life. All is new.
We
are new creations once we believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, and delivered form all our sins. You and I are now new
creations. Now, old things have passed away. All your weaknesses, your
fear, and your old way of life that used to rely on only human ways are
gone. Now you became a new creation. Now we live through faith.
Dear
fellow Christians! We will live by faith as in this verse, “Now the
just shall live by faith.” First is by faith, second is by faith! Third
and fourth is also by faith. When falling, we shall live by faith, and
when walking stiff, we shall live by faith―whatever situation we are in,
we live by faith. This is what faith is all about. Faith made us live.
Faith has made us alive! This is the correct answer. This is why the
Bible tells us this message, today’s scripture passage, “Therefore do
not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or
‘What shall we wear’ Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” This
means not to worry about the future. Why? It is because it is up to the
Lord. This is why the Lord told us not to worry about the things in the
future. What would be accomplished because we worry about the future?
The
Lord says to us, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” We
should live today or tomorrow with faith. We challenge the future with
faith before God. We ask God with faith, “God! Do this for me. Do that
for me”. Prayer is challenging with faith that one believes in God and
believing that He will do it for us. That is all we can do, and our own
will and oath for what we will do for the future are useless. We cannot
guarantee our future or ourselves anything. Nothing is for sure. That is
why God, the Lord of all hosts, told us the scripture lessons today, so
that we do not have to worry about what to eat, drink and wear.
Dear
fellow Christians, we should not worry about how we shall live, how our
flesh will be taken care of. Let’s not worry. “Which of you by worrying
can add one cubit to his stature?” This is how tall I am, but would I
get taller even 1cm because I worry? Would it happen if we worry about
it all night like this, ‘This is what I want to be!’? There is nothing
that works because we worry. Do we gain bread, or do we earn any money?
We
should not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition present your requests to God. Pray fervently and ask with faith
in God. That is what we have to do. Believing and praying are what we
have to do. If you are worried, ask God for help. Trust in God. Fellow
Christians, live your life by believing in God. Do you understand?
―Yes.― We live if we believe, but we die if we do not believe.
Dear
fellow Christians, if you do not believe in God, you die. If you rely
on all the possessions you have, they will run out. Just as the peapod
opens up and the peas run out, they all run out. How many peas does a
peapod have? Does it have a hundred peas? No, only four or five peas.
Dear fellow Christians, let’s think about it. Can you live your entire
life with only what you have, such as, your power, your ability, your
health, and your wealth? I mean you should count whether or not you can
do all the human obligations to your children, to your parents. Dear
fellow Christians, can you count? No matter how much wealth we have, if
we have life with only that, we cannot live. Then what is it that we
need? We need to have faith in God and His Word.
There
is one thing that I really want to shout out to you. That is to believe
in only God. Even in you cannot see God with your eyes, and having
faith in Him seems to be too ungrounded, you should believe in Him. Just
believe in Him. That’s it.
The
Bible states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good
testimony” (Hebrews 11:1-2) Even if no evidence is seen to the eye, and
no tangible thing to grab onto with the hand, we must ask God for
anything with faith: “God, give me. I believe! Take care of all of my
needs―food, clothes, and housing problems in my life. Help me live a
worthy life.” If you believe in Him and pray for His help, He answers.
However, if you do not believe, and live relying on your own strength,
your own calculations, then you die. You will lose even the small amount
of what you have and become a real beggar.
The
verse “the just shall live by faith” means that the only way a
righteous person can live is by faith. “The just shall live by faith”
(Romans 1:17, Hebrews 10:38). Dear fellow Christians, there is nothing
but the faith that believes in God. Dear fellow Christians, do you
believe? Faith is not for something that belongs to others. You do not
raise your faith to give it to someone else. The faith is yours.
We
can live only by believing in God and God’s Word. It works out
according to our own faith in God and His Word. It is more important to
believe in God’s Word, to pray with faith in God, and to live as we
follow His will rather than worrying about anything.
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