Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Anxiety: Its Causes and Its Cure Part II of II

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

In this episode Jonny Ardavanis examines the cure Jesus provides to His anxious followers. Jesus issues a prohibition against anxiety in Matthew 6:25 saying: "Do not be anxious." But he doesn't stop there. He directs His anxious followers to consider the character of our Heavenly Father and in doing so, live a life of trust. Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. I have exciting news for you as Dial In has started the process of becoming its own 501c3 non-profit. This will help us to continue what we're doing, but also to produce more content, curriculum, and to leverage additional teachers in the future. More to come in that regard, but I just wanted to give you a little teaser trailer of what's to come. Now, in this series, we have been talking about the peace of God. We've been talking about trusting God. And in our previous episode, we examined the underlying roots and causes that Jesus says often contribute to our anxiety. And in this episode, we will observe an attempt to apply the remedy andure, Jesus Prescribes the Anxious.

Our passage is Matthew 6, 25 through 34. And in this episode, we are going to briefly study seven realities about our Heavenly Father that enable us to live a life of trust, regardless of the circumstance. Let's dial in. Now, if you missed our previous episode, I would encourage you to go back and listen. Now, Jesus, as we examined last week, doesn't merely start off by issuing a prohibition against anxiety in Matthew six 25, when he says, therefore, don't be anxious. He first exposes the causes, the roots, the symptoms in Matthew 6, 19 through 24. And in doing so, he, as the great physician of the soul and body, asked his anxious followers three questions. Number one, he asked them, where or what is your treasure? Why does Jesus ask his followers this? Well, first of all, it's because

you can take a good thing and then make that thing an ultimate thing in your life, like your reputation, your career, or even your children. And when you elevate a good thing and a good gift God has given to you to the position of an idol in your heart, you have prepared all of the ingredients necessary for anxiety. So Jesus says, where is your treasure? Secondly, he asked his anxious followers and he implies to them through his word, where are you looking? Jesus says, the eye is the lamp of the body. It is the window into your soul. So in our world that is often hyper-sexualized and ever obsessed with materialism, Jesus says, no wonder if you're observing these things constantly, you will become anxious. Then he says, who or what is your master?

Allegiances cannot be divided. And if you serve another master other than Christ, you will inevitably be anxious. So implied within the text in Matthew 6, 19-24, Jesus asks, Now before we move on to our next section, the physician is about to provide the remedy, the antidote to anxiety. And the main element that he is going to ground his prescription in is our minds. We've already observed this two episodes ago. He is not going to ask us to check some box of theological agreement. Jesus is going to beckon us to think, to think with our heads that he has given us. We talked about this reality already. The war against anxious living is a war that wages in the Christian's mind. This is why Paul tells the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 10 5

to take every thought captive. In this regard, the Mayo Clinic lines up with scripture. All anxiety, even the anxiety that expresses itself physically, begins and finds its genesis in the mind. Proverbs 23 7 we examined, as a man thinks within his heart. So he is. Jesus is not going to merely tell his anxious followers to cut it out or snap out of it. He is going to provide the prohibition, which is do not be anxious, but he's also going to supply the power. And the power as we will see is rooting our life thinking and meditation upon who God is as our heavenly father. Now, Paul, in Philippians 4, 6, he gives one of the most well-known verses on anxiety. He says, be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests made known to God.

And then it says, in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Now, I think this verse is often inappropriately applied. Well, let me tell you, they don't merely pray, God, take my anxiety away. The anxious follower of God is to pray and ask that God would help them to trust him and find comfort in the realities we are about to study. Paul says to pray with thanksgiving. So the question for us is what are we to be thankful for in our anxious moments? Well, we're about to find out in Matthew 6 verses 25 through 34. In this passage, Jesus is going to reveal seven features, seven realities about who God is as our heavenly father. And in doing so, we have everything we need to come to God and ask him,

Lord, help us to trust that this is true. And would you give me the comfort I need so that I would not be anxious? So number one, in this passage, Jesus tells us that our heavenly father forgives us of our sin. Now this is obviously implied within the text. Jesus says in Matthew 6, 25, for this reason, I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow nor reap nor gather into bards, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Implied within the text is the reality that if you are a child of God, God has forgiven you of all of your sin. You may know the peace of God only because you have been made at peace with God. Much anxiety finds its foundation in the fear that God has not forgiven

you of all of your sin. You know that Satan wins if you think that Jesus has only paid for 99.9% of your sin. But in this passage, Jesus calls God your heavenly father. And if you're a Christian, understand this. Your greatest need in life has already been met. Jesus has paid the penalty for your sins. And then therefore, the question must be asked, will he not continue to grant you everything you need? His kindness has no limitations.

His grace is not in low supply. And so the Christian in their anxious moments is to first and foremost ground their thinking in the reality that God is my heavenly father. And as my father, he has forgiven me of all of my sin. Now in the second feature we'll study, we will observe that your heavenly father not only forgives you, but secondly, cares and values you. In verse 26b, Jesus asks the question regarding the birds. He says, are you not worth much more than they? Jesus is a masterful teacher. He isn't a dry orator. He uses the objects, animals, buildings, and people that surround him to get his listeners to think. He asks you, are you anxious? Then let's do some bird watching. Do those birds provide the worms

they eat? No, your heavenly father feeds them. And then he goes even further and he says, and if I do so with the sparrow, how much more you who are my child? Why is this important for anxious people? Well, for a number of reasons, but for time's sake, let's consider one. In 1 Peter 5, 7, it says to cast all of your cares on God. Why? Because he cares for you. You are not strong enough to carry your cares on your own back. So cast them on God. He will carry them and he will carry you. He carries them for a humbling reason. The scripture tells us, and Jesus tells us explicitly, God cares for you. As you're listening to this episode, do you truly believe that reality that God truly, really, actually cares? The anxious person often feels like they are alone and like no one really cares or the people that

do care have no actual power to help them but god cares for us as we just observed secondly but third he also reigns so the one who cares for us has all the power and all of the authority to help us so first your heavenly father forgives you. Secondly, your heavenly father cares and values you. And third, your heavenly father reigns. In verse 27, Jesus says, and who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? What's the answer? Not you, not me. None of us by Warren can add a single hour to our life, but the reality is we are then compelled to think and contemplate upon the reality that every single moment in our life has been preordained by God as a God who is sovereign over all of creation.

In Psalm 139, David says, all of my days were written in your book before one of them came into being. Your life is determined by the one who wove you in your mother's womb. God is the one who not only commands the morning, but who numbers how many mornings you will have on this earth. Everything that happens in this life comes under God's sovereign care and authority. We will come back to this in a few moments, but God has never turned a blind eye towards you in your most painful moments. As Jesus bids us to consider the birds,

we are reminded that not one of them falls to the ground outside of the predetermined plan of God. From the cradle to the grave, our heavenly Father is in complete control. God's sovereignty is the great comfort of God's children. We have a sovereign Father who not only rules and reigns, but truly cares for us. He is not aloof or indifferent to our suffering. He lisps with us. Spurgeon once said, there is no attribute of God more comforting to his children

than the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Suffering, I must say, is not a foreign subject to many of you. And what comforts the minds of Christians is that God is sovereign even in their suffering. If God were not sovereign, then our suffering would be pointless and we would have no hope in the midst of great trials. But because God is sovereign, we can know that he is composing a masterful symphony ultimately for his glory and also for our good. And because he has power over all of these things, he has the power to redeem all these things. Thus, we can trust that he knows

our pain and even more that our suffering is not for nothing. Providence makes us look back and say, God has never deserted me. And providence also makes us look forward and say, if he has never deserted me in the past, he will always be with me in the future. If you are anxious about relationships, the future, the economy, the election, find comfort, hope, and peace and trust in this. Your heavenly father is the boss of all creation and every king and every kingdom comes under his sovereign authority. That's number three. Well, number four, we'll look at verses 28 through 30, and that is your heavenly father provides. In Matthew 6, 28, Jesus asks, and why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin.

Yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all of his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? Maybe one of my most treasured passages in the scripture, Jesus says to consider the lilies. Millions of these little flowers, the lilies, remain unseen their entire life, and yet they are seen, cared for, and provided for by God. Jesus gives another object lesson. He says, look at those flowers. They will be thrown in the furnace in just a moment. They are used as fuel. The moment you pluck them, they begin to die. Yet in spite of all of their transitory and fleeting qualities, God cares for them. Then he asked, Jesus does, his anxious followers to think with him.

Now, if God provides for these flowers, will he not care for you? Have you come to God with your needs salvifically and thought that he would not provide for your needs each and every day until you meet him face to face? Jesus says, are the birds made in the image of God? Did I come to die for the larks and the lilies? No, Jesus says in both strength and tenderness. No, no, I have made you in my image. I will provide for you.

Martin Luther says, let the flowers become your teachers. Jesus then will say, oh you of little faith. This phrase is used four times in the gospels and it's always used towards Jesus's disciples in the moment of fear and anxiety as a refutation of their little faith. This doesn't mean their faith is absent. It means it's small. Here we find the root cause of all ungodly worry and anxiety. It's little faith. Every life is a storybook of God's provision. And yet in the littleness of our faith, we often fail to trust that he will continue to provide. So that's number four. And in verses 31 and 32, we're going to see the fifth reality about our heavenly father. And that is that our heavenly father knows us. In verse 31, it says, do not worry

than saying what we will eat or what we will drink or what will we wear for clothing. For the Gentiles eagerly seek all of these things for your heavenly father knows that you need all of these things. Jesus says in Matthew 6, that your heavenly father knows what you need. To David, the reality that God knew him through and through was one of the most comforting truths on earth. Our anxiety and despair is often amplified because it feels like no one understands us. Scripture, however, details that God knows you. He knows every nook and cranny of our hidden heart. Augustine once said, I am a puzzle and a mystery to myself. And God responds to his children through his word and says, you are not a puzzle or a mystery to me. The knowledge of God's omniscience, meaning that

he knows all things, is the truest security blanket for the child of God. David says in Psalm 139, O Lord, you have searched me and you have known me. God doesn't merely know you exist. He doesn't just check on you occasionally. He doesn't just know your name. He knows everything about you, every thought you've ever had, and he knows you through and through. Your heavenly father knows every tear that has fallen. He knows every hair on your head, and he knows every despairing thought. And so the God who cares and the God who reigns is a God who knows. Number six, we come to a familiar memory verse, but we often fail to remember that it's in the context about anxiety. In Matthew 6, 33, we are going to observe your father's kingdom. Jesus

says, but seek first his, that's God's kingdom, and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you. Jesus begins to conclude his address on anxiety by exhorting his followers to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and then everything else in life will be added unto you. Although this verse is well known, this context is often neglected. Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness is the way forward for the anxious Christ follower. Ultimately, as we consider our father's kingdom, we are compelled to consider the reality that this world is not our home.

Our citizenship, as Paul says, is in heaven. One day our father will wipe away every tear and he will usher us into his everlasting arms. Under our father's direction and control, we are then to live for his glory in the here and now. Worry is a sin that dishonors God. So don't be anxious. Don't be worried. But what? Seek first God's rule and reign in your life. Promote his kingdom. Declare his glory. Jesus asked the anxious people, his followers, a question through his word. Is your primary concern to do the will of God? Is your paramount desire to live righteously and to declare God's righteousness to the world around you? Our citizenship is in heaven,

but idleness isn't the answer for anxiety. Godly action and pursuit is. Seek first God's kingdom, what he is doing, invest in what lasts, and remember this world is not our home. That's what is important. Verse 33, almost like an afterthought, says all of these other things will be added to you. Jesus says,

don't worry. Everything is going to be all right. Double down and serve God with all of your might and pursue his kingdom and everything else will be added unto you. This is the exact opposite of the way the world thinks. The world thinks I'm going to seek first my kingdom. But Jesus says, if you want to live a life of trust, you need to seek first God's kingdom, not third, not second, but seek first. Just consider that reality. Is that your heart as you listen to this episode? Well, we come to our seventh and final feature of who God is, is our heavenly father. And it's the reality that your father's son is no stranger to suffering. Jesus doesn't bid us to trust our heavenly father from a position of ignorance, nor is he unaware of pain, abandonment, and anguish. He was Jesus, despised

and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with much grief. Jesus was no stranger to suffering. Through the suffering of our Savior, we are reminded that our Heavenly Father is working out all things, even our suffering for his glory and our good. Jesus is our Savior, but the book of Hebrews also calls him our brother because he goes before us as the premier example of trust in the midst of pain, sorrow, and heartache. In Matthew 6, 34, Jesus says, so do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. God gives us the proper

amount of grace to endure every single trial. All of the crosses and disappointments we bear are born by the grace that God extends to us because Jesus himself is no stranger to suffering. The only way we can have great faith, furthermore, is because God gives us the right amount of trials and the right amount of grace for every single day. I can promise you this. Tomorrow won't be free of trouble, but God's grace will sustain you. Whatever the trouble may come. Jesus is a faithful teacher and he honors those who come to him and trust. I can

just ask you, do you trust God? Now, if you're not a child of God, what, what then what's the solution for you? Well, let me just tell you this. Then you have every reason to fear every reason to be full of anxiety. Of course, you're anxious if you don't know God, because you could die tonight. And if you don't know God is father, then Satan is your father. Then your heart and mind befriends you in this anxiety to show you that you need a father as the one we have just studied. Doesn't the language that we have just surveyed instill in you a desire to have a father such as this? Satan is a bad father. He gives lots of promises, but he never delivers. But our God is a good father. Every promise he has made, he has delivered on.

And if you do not know God as father, you can pour out your heart, come to him, and he will take the burden of your sin and he will take the burden of your worries. Now, Paul says, be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. Now, we already asked at the beginning, what are we to thank God for?

Well, we praise and thank God that the realities we studied are true. And we plead with him to impress those truths through prayer, fellowship, and meditation more deeply upon our hearts. I close with the poem that I love. It says this, why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. Let not your heart be troubled. His tender words I hear. And resting on his goodness, I lose my doubts and fears. Though by the path he leadeth, but one step I may see.

His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, when songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies, I draw the closer to him. From care he sets me free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he cares for me. I'm so thankful that's true. Stay dialed in.