Intro/Outro: Welcome to Garden Church podcast. We're taking a break from a revelation series while our lead pastor, Darren Rounds, is on sabbatical. During this time, we're gonna continue to push into the Garden's mission of creating resilient disciples by working our way through the Sermon on the Mount. Over the next few weeks, we'll have some amazing pastors from all over the world coming to impart their wisdom and insight on what is the most influential and profound sermon ever given. Enjoy.
Ramin Razavi: I cannot, tell you how how honored I am to welcome up a long time friend of the garden and someone who I learned a tremendous amount from at the 8AM gathering. Would you show some love to Megan Fate Marsh man please? Now Megan serves in all sorts of capacities. She pastors women at Arbor Road Church, she's a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Church, she's someone really involved with Hume Lake Camp Ministries leading their women in ministries has spoken there. But I really wanna highlight, she's also just released a new book called Relaxed.
What a name. Comes from a thought that Dallas Willard shared once when he was asked, he said, how would you describe Jesus? One word, what would you say?
Megan Fate Marshman: And Dallas Willard responded
Ramin Razavi: Relaxed. And it's just a beautiful opportunity for us to lean in with with that heart of Jesus. I don't know if that's how you think about Jesus but I love that image of him. And so let's extend a hand, let's pray for Megan as she ministers to us today. Lord Jesus, thank you for your goodness and for your kindness towards us.
We just say thank you. Lord, I pray now in the power of the holy spirit that you would speak your word to us in a way that is transformative. I pray that you get all the way to the heart and I pray Lord that you would make our hearts really really good soil so we could receive everything that you wanna give to us and that it would bear the fruit of the kingdom that would bring life to others. And so we pray blessing over Megan, her two sons and we just thank you for her in Jesus name, amen and
Megan Fate Marshman: amen. Amen. Let's continue our series. If you have your Bibles, Matthew chapter six. Jesus says, if you wanna hear a word from Jesus, this is it.
He says this in Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse 25, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life. How are we doing on that one? 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? Look at the birds of the air.
They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone this is good. Watch this. Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your, wait, single hour to your life?
In other words, what's it doing for you? Can you, by worrying, add a single hour? You definitely don't get one back. You lose it. But he goes on, and why do you worry about clothes?
I like saying that at Trendy Garden. That's funny. That's funny. It's funnier here than anywhere. So okay.
So sorry. Back where we're back. We're back with the word of the Lord. 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. If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you a little faith? So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after 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.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. These are the words of our Lord for us this morning. I wanna pray and open up our hearts to receive them in the places we need to know them the most. And I'm convinced that the way we can do that is by being honest.
I went back to school four and a half years ago, and I feel like one of my greatest takeaways from going back to school was learning how to pray, honestly, and even knowing how to do that. One of my professors, Doctor. John Koh, talked so often about prayer, he would say things like, prayer's not a place to be good. It's a place to be honest. If you want a boring prayer life, spend all of your time being good in it.
And then he said this. He goes, you wanna know where your prayer you wanna know where your heart is and what he wants? And he gave this, and it blew my mind, and this changed my prayer life. Do you ever have those moments when you're starting to pray and you kinda unintentionally get into that performance prayer that you're pretty convinced he's proud of? The one that goes like this, Dear Lord, quote, I thank you for this day, and thine is the kingdom.
Or maybe you have like an acronym, you know? Anyone? Me either. So, you know, you go through it, and and then in the middle, your mind begins to wander, and you're just somewhere else entirely. You know what I mean?
For, like and it usually takes you, like, ninety seconds to realize, like, you're totally somewhere else, worried about something else. Am I right? And when you realize it, what do you do? If you're like me, you do this. You pause the prayer, shame yourself back to the performance prayer.
I'm so sorry. Not sure what happened there. I'm so sorry. I'm back. Oh, you haven't left.
That's so like you. And I would like to or is thine is the key and the glory for Jesus put it this way. He said, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. A wandering mind in prayer is a gift. Because where's your mind wandering to?
I wonder if it's the thing that has your heart. I'm going back, oh, saw you. I'm like, yeah, guy. Think about it. Isn't it wild that so many of us have trusted the Lord Jesus for eternal salvation by the blood of the lamb and the forgiveness of the sins and His eternal work on the cross that becomes our atonement, therefore the covering, not just covering, the washing away of k.
So many of us believe and trust in the Lord Jesus for eternal salvation, but the fact that you think that that one friend is mad at you, that you have to worry about that by yourself. He went to the cross to make way for us to be in relationship with a holy and a perfect God for all of eternity forever and ever, amen. But I kinda feel self conscious, so I'm gonna be self conscious by myself. I'm kinda worried about my future, I'm kinda worried about my kids, mind you. I'm I'm playing it up here, but we know the things our mind wanders to, and we do it alone.
And that's why this is in the sermon. But what he's doing is not telling you to try harder to stop worrying. What he does in the Sermon on the Mount is he rises up in you exactly what's going on in the hearts that you can communicate it to someone who watched this already knows, but maybe you don't know. And so I'm gonna encourage you as you open up your heart to his words to just be honest. If you're worried, tell him.
If you're sitting here and you don't care about anything, tell him. It's not gonna surprise him. He knows. If you're kinda sad and you don't want to be sad, tell them. If you want to be the person that has a really great quiet time, but you just can't kind of figure it out, and why can't you figure it out and something's wrong with you, tell them.
If you're worried that this message is gonna be another great one on worry, and then you're gonna try exactly what I say, and it's not gonna work, tell them. If you want a miracle, and and then just keep this these words from Jesus in mind where he says, oh, by the way, I can do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine, so I just say this, pray bigger. Yeah. So let's just go to Him, let our mind go where it goes, and tell Him, and finally not be alone, and let's see what happens. Yeah?
Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. My girl. They're not as much as us.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But they're gonna tell them, so that's good. Let's go to Him in prayer.
Heavenly Father, we all know that we need you. Some of us don't even know what that looks like, or how that happens. And yet, our hearts are weary or tired, sad, mad, maybe disappointed. How am I still struggling? Whatever it is, tell them.
If your mind is wandering, don't pause the prayer. If you have a really important question, you can ask Him. Whatever arose in you as I read the words from Jesus, If it's a lack of faith, just tell them and ask them for more. If it's just anger, we'll talk about that too. So, heavenly Father, have your way and teach us to pray for your glory and our good, we pray.
And all those in agreement said, amen. So Jesus says, don't worry, but He also knows who He's speaking to. And what he does in this passage is he begins by letting you know that he cares about everything, including what you're worried about. I mean, he even starts talking about birds and flowers and fields and grass. Why is he doing that?
Because he cares. God cares more than you know. And so he points to birds and flowers as evidence of how vast his care is. Listen to him. Verse 26, look at the birds of the air.
They don't sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Why? Are you not much more valuable than they? I just in the first service, I love that you guys bring kids in. Holy smokes.
But there was this little girl who was just, first service, was having a moment, I was like, is she okay? And but her mom was nearby, and so she was like, she knew she was covered, wasn't worried about a thing. What, you know what she wasn't worried about? What people thought of her. How freeing, don't you want that?
I do, I'm watching the little girl, I'm like envious. Here she is. Why? Because she knows someone cares, she doesn't even have to worry. He cares.
He cares about everything. He cares about what's on your heart. He actually even cares, watch this, what you are worried about. He points to the birds and flowers, not just to communicate his care for them, but to communicate how much more he cares for you. And it's more than you can even imagine.
So why do we worry? And I wanna get to this, why we worry. I don't wanna say it as like this, so you should stop. Because what might happen if you hear these words and I say, you know, don't worry, you're like, okay, gonna stop worrying. That's what I'm gonna do.
I'm going to try to figure out how to stop worrying. Do you hear it? In fact, I think that phrase is so common, and I hope you catch yourself saying it for the rest of your life, and you remember this phase. Here's what I hope you catch. This.
I'm just trying to figure out. Oh, as soon as I figure out. Know what I'm I just gotta figure out. That's it. Just gotta figure.
I think it's become a socially accepted, especially in Christian circles, Christian cliche way of saying, I'm just trying to control my life. But if someone were to say that, I'm just trying to Can you imagine a normal conversation at church here? Someone's like, I mean, I'm just trying to control my life. You'd be like, no. But you know if they go, I'm just trying to figure out, you're like, yeah.
Totally. Totally. Totally, totally. Right? Why do we But here's the question, why do we do that?
It's not just the fact that we do. And I'll tell you where it comes from, because in Proverbs chapter four, verse 23, the wisdom literature comes to us and actually explains where our actions come from when he writes this, Above all else, guard your, what? Heart. Why? For everything you do flows from it.
Why do you worry? Because something's going on in the heart. Let me put it visually. It's like this. Here's your heart.
How cute. Aw. Okay. There you are. Now how it works is this.
We are all born with this kinda like God sized hole in our heart that only God can satisfy. He creates us for relationship with him, but because we're born into sin, all have fallen in and fall short of the glory of God. But since we're born into it, basically, there is this gap in our lives that we try to fill in an assortment of ways, and we do. And somewhat successfully as a little kid, right, you fill it with your parents' approval, or maybe you have friends, or maybe you start playing sports, or you do pretty good at school, or you do you have this talent that you and so you start to fill this inside of your life with all sorts of stuff, but the only problem with filling a God sized hole with absolutely anything else, including good things, is it creates residue, let alone the fact that there's sin in our life and the sin of other people. And so there's all this residue that's happening in our life, and it's just creating all of this.
Right? And so we continue, and we can keep trying to fill it, and some some of us fill it in really interesting ways. Here's one of them. Some people, the way that they fill it is that someone told them actually that they are a failure, and so what they choose to do, and what it reflects as is they go, wait, wait, so if you can control me by telling me I'm a failure, then that then suddenly I'm going believe I'm a failure. So what I'm going to choose to do is actually pretend that I don't care, because if I don't care, then at least I'm in control.
And so that actually expresses as apathy. Not you guys. But here's what happens. He says this, above everything else, guard this. Why?
Because everything you do, the fruit of your life, blah blah blah, scars your heart because everything you do flows from it. And here's why I bring that up, because you could hear a word like don't worry, and you could do this. You could try to change your behavior, and I'll tell you this, it won't work. Has anyone tried to just stop oh, how about this one? Has anyone tried to just stop getting so angry at your small children?
I mean, I feel exposed. Or let's have you ever just stopped trying to do that one thing? You know. You know. But why doesn't that work?
They teach us. Why are we worried? Because something's going on in here. In fact, many of us, we've heard this maybe illustration in a different way, because what happened? At some point in our life, we took our heart and we opened it up to the love of Jesus Christ as demonstrated on a cross that paved the way for all of our sins, for anything that would keep us from relationship to be paid in full, and then the power of his resurrection, when we put our faith and trust in him, what happens is the Holy Spirit enters into that God sized hole, and guess what he does there?
In Romans chapter eight, it says this, he begins praying for us. How cool is that? If you wanna read more, Romans eight, and it's wild because the entire chapter is going, this world is not as it should be. You're not as you should be. But I'm not doing that to shame you, I'm actually doing it to uncover what is shameful, so I can love you knowing all of you.
So he begins to uncover it. Why? Because the fruit of the holy spirit is love, joy, peace, peace. But how is he gonna get that? It's not by ignoring all the residue.
It's by loving you in the residue. So if we hear these words from the Lord Jesus, what's he doing in this conversation, in this Sermon on the Mount, is he's bringing up all the things that are actually in there that are causing the behavior, that what He wants is the Holy Spirit to transform it in love. And here's where it gets even more interesting. I went back to school, so I'm gonna nerd out for a little bit more, and it's just I'm even gonna use the term ancients because you would be bored with their names, but here's what happened. We're going along, suddenly there's a moment in our life that that Holy Spirit enters into our heart, And what I'm going to draw is what ancients found of the journey of how the Holy Spirit forms us more into his likeness, how the Holy Spirit enables us to not worry.
How does that actually look? And so what they did is they studied Christians for a very long time, and they said, what happens when the moment comes in? And what they found is the Holy Spirit enters into someone's life, and then all of a sudden, people start feeling something different. Now this graph that I'm doing is not whether or not you have the Holy Spirit, it's the felt expression of the Holy Spirit. The moment you give your life to Jesus, he's there, and we just need to uncover and become more aware of his presence.
Right? Okay. So what happens is, suddenly, let's say at 16 years old, you go to Hume Lake Christian camps, hey oh, name dropped, and then suddenly, suddenly, you read your bible, the book of John, of course, and you're like, this makes sense. Jesus is awesome. And then at at Friday night chapel, they start worshiping, and you're like, with your friends.
You're like, wow. I feel really close to God. Holy smokes. And then you go home, and you start kind of like rearranging things. Like, you're sitting in small group, and the questions that your small group leader used to ask, you suddenly wanna answer.
Woah. And so you're doing all of these, like, really cool spiritual disciplines unintentionally, and you feel very close to God. Have you had this experience? But then what they found, and they were really surprised by, is suddenly, throughout the course of a life, it begins to kinda like taper off. And and then we talked a little bit about that there's this kind of like wall that happens, and you can define the wall in all sorts of different ways.
Some of it could be like a trial, some could be a life circumstance where suddenly your faith is uncovered. Could be a result of your choice, it could be a result of consequences, it could be other people's choice, there's just this wall that happens. And what they found, and they were surprised by, is that mature believers who go through this trial or hit this wall in their face, they kind of expected it to be this. Whoo. But what they found was these people are still doing the same things, but they're suddenly started to be like a little bit of a decline of the felt experience of God.
They read their Bible, and they're like, I'm bored. Can I say that? And then you start worshiping, and you're like, you mean it on the chorus, but the verses are tough. You know? No?
Is this the mind? You've seen it in others. Yeah. Right? And so you're going and you mean it, but it doesn't feel the same.
And you're going, what's wrong with me? Because the rest of my world gets it. What's wrong with me? And then you read your bible and you're like, why don't I why doesn't I do what I've kind of expecting it to do? What's wrong?
And you're doing the exact same things. You share vulnerably, and you don't feel the comfort from someone else like you felt like you used to. And here's what they found. They actually had a title for it. They called this consolation, and they called this one over here desolation.
Consolation, you've heard of it, desolation, maybe the dark night of the soul, Saint John of the cross. What is that? It's this, and here's what the ancients found that was surprising to me was this, that the Holy Spirit is obviously at work here. Because what's he doing? He's gifting us with a felt experience of God because he's reorienting our desires and where we go to for life.
Because before this point, I'm running to friends, but not in the way of, like, community. I'm running for approval, and I'm running to sports, and I'm running to all these things, and suddenly what he does is he's trying to reorient us. And so if you're in this experience and you're feeling the presence of God, stay committed. I have my professor in my face going, stay committed to the disciplines in that season. He's reorienting your desires and where you can be filled.
But if you, like me, were surprised because you kind of expected that when you became more and more mature in the faith, and you kind of expected it to be always going up, up, up, up, and to the right when it comes to the feeling of God, I need to let you know something. The Holy Spirit is just as much at work in the desolation as he is in the consolation, but here's how. What is he doing here? He's using spiritual disciplines as a mirror to what's going on in your heart. So you're worshiping, and you mean it, and then you're distracted.
What's he doing? Showing you what's in the heart. You open up your quiet time in the morning, and you're like, I'm bored. He's like, what's he suddenly it's a mirror into, wait, are you reading the Bible for good feelings, or to know him? He's Guess what?
He's growing us up. And some of you are going, why am I like more mature, and I see my sin and its effects on other people more. Am I going backwards? No, the spirit's just as much at work. He's just letting you see yourself.
So when Jesus goes, do not worry, whatever arises in you, he's like, that's the conversation. Don't just take this at my word. He made a way for relationship to have words together, and this is the way he does it. So if you hear this, I want to stop worrying, his goal is not that you would just try to stop worrying. He goes, go into the heart.
What are you so worried about? And why are you so worried? I want you to see yourself. See, because the problem with us in just understanding or thinking that it's the felt experience of God, us thinking that that's the goal, it's not the goal. God's goal for you is not your comfort and just feeling good all the time.
God's goal for you is Christ likeness, and so what he's doing is that Holy Spirit lives in your heart, and he knows the residue of your past, and he's not okay with it, And so he unfortunately brings it up with people who love you, and they just get to love you if you let them. He loves you, he's been interceding, he knows the effects of your choices and what it's doing in your heart, and he doesn't want you just to have good feelings at church. Because guess what? That matters to him. He cares about that, and you're not alone.
He's so good, And we're such bad image bearers of him sometimes because we just wanna feel good feelings or we just want other people to feel good feelings. Me too. A friend of mine is here. One time I was writing on this literal stuff. She walked in and had a hard moment.
I just tried to, like, give her pep talk. I didn't let her see her heart. I definitely didn't join her in it. I was like, let's just get happy again because it feels better. I can just make her laugh.
That feels better. I'm so prone to doing this, to not wanting to go into the heart, which is where actual healing can take place. So when Jesus talks, and he goes off on the flowers and talks about the blades of grass, why is that? Because he wants you to know that he cares about your entire heart and everything you've been through, and the source of the worry. He doesn't just want you to stop.
He goes, but you don't have to because I care, but because you do have a plan, and that plan is relationship, which he makes a way. But you just need to know his goal for you. Oh, by the way, this if you're wondering, some of you're like, so is this just sad for me? No. No.
It kinda goes in waves, then there's union of Christ, and then we get to be with him for all of eternity, and it's great. Don't worry, the feelings are there sometimes. Not always. But I'll just tell you this, the Holy Spirit's just as much at work, and I too thought that good feelings equated spiritual maturity until I started to understand some of these ancients who wrote about it, and they're going, no. No.
No. If you're kind of a little bit self conscious, can I tell you something that's actually a gift? Here's an example. Insecurity. Anyone?
K. Insecurity. Think about it. Do you ever feel insecure? Right?
When you, like, walk into a wedding, you're not sure if you dressed appropriately. Anyone else have that ever? Okay. And you're like, I'm wearing pants. Okay.
So you walk in, and you feel insecure. It's like the Holy Spirit is going like this. You can't find security there. Or you walk into your job, and you're looking for validation all the all the time. You know?
The Holy Spirit's going like this. You can't find security there. You're trying to fill that hole with things that are gonna dissatisfy and create only more residue in you. Or maybe it's your marriage, or your relationship status, and you feel insecure about it. The Holy Spirit's whispering, you can't find security, so I'm gonna gift you in security, so you don't go there.
Do you see it? He lets us mirror see ourselves. So let me tell you something. You ready? Your worry is not something to ignore.
It's doctor John Coe would say it is a warning light on the dashboard of your soul, alerting you to something going on in there. Now the question is, will you go in there, or will you ignore it or stuff it, and then it becomes really hard, and then it hurts people. So he's going, oh, I care about you more than you know, and then he continues. Jesus doesn't just stop with like, I care by I value you. I value you.
He then not only says that God cares about you more than you know, he then tells us that he knows what you need. As he goes on in verse 31, so do not worry saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear to the garden? For the pagans run after these things and your heavenly Father, Okay, the pagans run after these things, and here it is, listen to this, your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Not only does God care more than you know, He knows what you need. And he knows what you need before you even ask. And sometimes he uses the stuff that comes up in your life to actually unveil the needs that you have. But also, I gotta tell you this, not only does he know what you need, he knows everything. I've worked at Humic for, I think it's something like seventeen years, something like that.
Isn't that crazy? Strong, yeah, so old. And I remember some of the first some the first ones I was working with the high school students, and I remember we did a a bible study on a scripture, Psalm one thirty nine. You guys know it. It's and if you're a woman, you definitely know it if you've been to, a women's retreat.
It's the fearfully and wonderfully made one. You know that one? It's like on a sweatshirt, you know. Okay. So it's the one that talks about, like, you've searched me and know me.
You know when I say, when I rise, when I you perceive my thoughts, you just heard my going out. I'm like, before words even on my tongue, you know it, so it talks the whole first half's like, you know everything. The second little chunk's like, you're everywhere. Remember this? Like, if I go up there, you're there.
If I go down k. So we did this as a staff. We studied Psalm one thirty nine, and I remember we split up guys and girls. And I'll never forget when the girls came back. I know what I'm gonna say.
Oh, it kills me. And all the girls came back, and they're like, he knows me. Aw. You know? And then the guys on there we're we have the girl moment, and then we go over to the guys, like, how was it for you?
And they're like, so he knows, like, every like, everything. And we're like, yeah. Everything. Yeah. And that the girl's like, aw.
And the guy's like, uh-huh. But the reason I bring it up is I'm sure on that bible study, as with probably most of the time I've read Psalm one thirty nine, typically, you skip a portion of it. Let me read the portion of it in the girl's tone. If only you, God, would slay the wicked. Slay, not the positive kind, the other.
Okay. Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty. They speak of you. No. No.
No. The tone doesn't even match the words, does it? Okay. Let me try again. If only you, God, would slay the wicked.
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty. They speak of you with evil intent. It's like he's almost like zealous for the Lord. Your adversaries misuse your name. Do not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you.
I have nothing but hatred for them. I count them my enemies. Psalm one thirty nine is something referred to as an imprecatory psalm when someone is hurling hate, like going to God in prayer and hurling hate. That's what's actually going on in the heart of the psalmists. He's mad, and he hates someone.
And if you read the entire psalm in light of the heart of that guy, listen to it. You know you know. You know everything. I can't get away from you. I can't.
If I go over here, and there you are. If I try to hide in the depths from this anger, there you are. I can't. Oh, you know what? Okay.
Here it is. I'm angry. What's happening? God God knows what you need, and a lot of us, what we need to do is actually open up the reason we're so worried. Some of us, when we didn't try to control, we were hurt by others, so now the residue of that is us going, I'm gonna try to control the outcome, because God, I don't trust that you're going to.
I don't trust that you're good. And we wouldn't say that, but that's what He's uncovering is, and not intimidating to Him. He's not scared of it. He just really wants to go into your heart this morning, Garden Church. If you're really mad about something, he's like, I know.
And the fruit of your life is expressing it, and you feel it was gal after first service. She's like, it's so I feel like my heart just become like a rock, cause I've gotten really used to ignoring this, and then I've put up this block against so many people because of it. Can you relate? And so he goes he goes, guard your heart, but God's going, but not from me. I love you.
I know all of it. My spirit dwells within you. If you're in Christ, his holy spirit is in you and praying for you, and sometimes the stuff you hate comes out. Find yourself being in the presence of people that know God's love for them so they can respond with God's love for you. God cares more than you know.
And if you're like, I know, it's more than that. And he knows what you need. In fact, the next section, he invites them to let's read it. Starting in verse 33, he says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Seeking God does not mean we get what we want though, but I'll tell you this, you'll have what you need.
And I'll also say this, my point three was was kind of changing it. God gives as you seek. So how it goes is this, go seek first the kingdom, and I'll give. It says, I mean, says, but seek first his kingdom is righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. So my point makes sense.
Right? God gives as you seek. But as I sat this morning, thinking and praying through that line, God gives as you seek, I realized something. God's always giving what you need. We're just not seeing it.
Last time I spoke for Garden was 2020, and a lot of life has happened since then, and not just for me, hasn't it? Did you hear anyone else get, like, the five year anniversary of COVID? We're giving it an anniversary. Oh, man. A lot has happened.
Last time I preached, I looked up at my notes, I talked about the promise from God in Jeremiah twenty nine thirteen. Gotcha. The promise, it's okay. Eleven's good. It's the one where it's like, know, eleven's the one where he's like, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans of prosperity not to harm you. You know that one. That was a good one. It's on the graduation cakes, which always makes me laugh because just a few verses earlier, he basically says this, stay in the hard place. Don't worry.
I know the plans. They're good, but stay in the hard. That's the context of the one we put on graduation cakes because the good plans for those people was in seventy years. So imagine us at 18 writing a graduation card. We're like, hey.
Don't worry. God knows the plans. You're gonna buy it between 09/11. Seventy years. We'll see.
Hopefully, your odds are better. But the promise is two verses later when he says this, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. You do know that it is famous. I talked about that, and that's why I think he's inviting us to seek first his kingdom. His kingdom is all around.
He just wants you to see it. He gives as you seek, and also gives when you don't. How gracious is our God. And he gives us everything we need when Jesus says all these things, he's specifically referencing the things he already brought up. What are those things?
The food, the drink, the clothing, but also we know from the entire sermon that it's not just our physical needs, that when we prioritize God's kingdom, we will lack nothing in him. You remember the famous Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. What's the next line? Yes. Or in NIV, it says this.
Watch this, watch, boom. Here it is. Let's read it together. The Lord is my shepherd. Do you believe that?
Watch this. Even if you don't, tell him. Because that's where he wants to meet you and convince you and love you into believing it. See, what we tend to do is we it comes up in us, I lack nothing. Well, I lack this thing of what I need in Christ.
The theological term that has blown me away over the past four years is this, double imputation, with an I, not an a. Very different. Someone once needed me to clarify, so I. Double imputation, here's what it is. What it means to be in Christ, to have all of your needs met in Him.
Seek first the kingdom, and He will give. You will see all that he has given to you as you seek first the kingdom, because he begins to reorient your life to what it's like in the kingdom, and I'll tell you this, isolation and loneliness, that's not kingdom living, so seek first the kingdom. Seek to be what God is about, and God is about this, the gathering, the exposing, the prayer, the real, the tears, the that's what he's about. And that's for those who are in Christ, because all of our needs are found in him. And I really like that phrase.
I remember going to like camp. I remember being so inspired when someone's like, identity is in Christ. I'm like, that sounds amazing. Don't know what it means, but cool. Do you have any idea what this means?
I didn't for a very long time. Here's what it means, double imputation. The first imputation is this. Corinthians writes it really profoundly when it says this, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. Who had no sin?
Jesus. God made him, Jesus, who had no sin to be sin for us. So remember, theologically, here's the breakdown. We couldn't get to God because of sin, so God comes to us, lives a perfect life we couldn't, and then goes to the cross to take the penalty for all time, for all sin. In other words, to take the penalty of anything that would keep us from relationship with him.
Paid in full, the first imputation the moment you believe on Jesus is this, all of your sin is placed on him, which makes you this, fully forgiven for, hold on, all of it. All. All. Can't outsent it, the cross. All.
Some of you just need to be reminded afresh this morning. Your need. See, the problem is you've just been trying to manage it by hiding the stuff. Even though you know you're forgiven, you've been that's that's exhausting. The secrets are exhausting, aren't they?
All. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. Now watch this, the double imputation is even more mind blowing, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. See, listen to this. On the cross and the power of the resurrection, all of our sin was placed in full.
That's the first imputation. The second one is this. His right standing before God, aka righteousness, is imputed back. If that's true, which it is, then listen to this. The first imputation means you're fully forgiven.
The second imputation means you're fully accepted as you are, even as a worrier. So much so that we can approach God's throne of grace with confidence. We can seek first His kingdom, and why can we approach Him? Because His throne is called a throne of grace, unmerited favor on your life. Why?
And why does this matter for you? Here's why. Because God's kingdom is coming, it's here, it's now, it's also for forever, and I think about it a lot. Four years ago, my husband went to heaven. Since the last time I spoke in this time, a lot of life has changed.
And I have read every single Bible verse there is to know about the kingdom. I've read every single Bible verse that mentions heaven. I've read every single Bible verse that mentions eternity, and then I didn't stop there. I read I read the heaven book by Randy Alcorn. If you've lost someone, you know.
I've read I've even gotten to the point of reading all those near death experiences, the people who claim to go to heaven, and then come back, and they tell of their things, and I'm like, but then they're like all biblically accurate. I'm like, for sure. Here's one of them. One of them is a guy who's like, I literally found myself going down this tunnel, and then there was like this blinding light. I'm like, yeah, Jesus.
And he's like, and then there I am standing there fully exposed for every single thing I've ever done in my entire life. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, nothing is hidden that will be hidden from him to the one to whom he must give an account. Yikes. And the guy's like, I'm standing there fully exposed, and I've never felt more loved in my entire life. That guy's now worried about a thing.
And here's the fun part about that loving acceptance on that day, is that that type of loving acceptance is not just reserved for that day. It's possible here and now in prayer. So when you come to Him, you open up your heart. You wanna not be worried? You open up your heart, and you don't hide a thing anymore.
And you let him love you, and you ask him what he's doing in you, and what he's been bringing out of you, and you don't allow it to bring shame on you, but you let his love look at it with you. Seek first his kingdom, and what you will find is every single one of your needs is already met in him. The one who went to the cross to take the penalty and everything that would keep you from relationship for all of eternity and also for today. So that we might be, as the Apostle Paul writes, found in Him as, watch this, blameless, pure, the dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit. Even though we've made mistakes, we don't have to rely on our merits, we have His because we are those who are hidden in Christ.
And so, by way of response, I wonder, are you in Him as He is in you? And if so, share it all. He loves you, and he's not worried about a thing. Let's pray. That old hymn is coming to mind, Lord, as we come before you, that turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face, and I think there's something, Lord, for our sanctified imaginations to attempt to see your face in your eyes, and your posture towards us. I just have this sense that people feel like God's just really disappointed in them, that they're not further along. So may you turn your eyes upon Jesus in this moment, look full in his wonderful face, and watch the fruit of your life, the things of this earth growing strangely dim in light of his glory and his grace. So father, may your kingdom come and your will be done in us and make us aware of all the ways we're not so we can be loved again. We pray that we would experience life on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today exactly what we need. Actually, just make aware of the fact that you've already provided it in Christ. I pray for some honest prayer. Lead and guide us and search our hearts, Lord. Thank
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