May 18, 1996
ANXIETY !
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By, H. M. (Jack) Drake
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“TAKE THEREFORE NO THOUGHT FOR TOMORROW:
FOR THE MORROW SHALL TAKE THOUGHT FOR THE
THINGS OF ITSELF. SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE
EVIL THEREOF” ( Matthew 6:34 )
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“All Scripture is given BY INSPIRATION ( supernatural divine influence of the Holy Spirit ) OF GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, FOR CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17 )
Oh that we would grasp – comprehend and apprehend this “cardinal” – fundamental, essential, absolutely necessary basic lesson of holy, heavenly wisdom, that was and is taught by Jesus Christ – THE “TEACHER COME FROM GOD”.
As Jesus said, while here on earth, and it is recorded in God’s eternal work: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ( learn from me, which is to say, Obey my teaching ).” ( Matthew 11:29b )
Let us all hear and take heed to one of the greatest lessons of all lessons of life. God the Father, not only anointed Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost to preach the gospel, but He has also anointed us to hear, understand – perceive, and has empowered us with the ability to obey.
Let us hear and give heed to Christ’s divine, holy, righteous instructions concerning “anxiety.”
( Matthew 6:25-26, 28-34 ) “Therefore I say unto you, TAKE NO THOUGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, NOR YET FOR YOUR BODY, WHAT YE SHALL PUT ON. IS NOT THE LIFE MORE THAN MEAT, AND THE BODY THAN RAIMENT? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet IU say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one on these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Here our Lord teaches us how to avoid the “THE EVIL OF ANXIETY”: “SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE EVIL THEREOF.”
Inasmuch as Christ’s lesson on “anxiety” ends with “SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE EVIL THEREOF.” We seldom if ever take notice of this lesson on the evil of anxiety.
CHRIST’S INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO AVOID THE EVIL ( and sin ) OF ANXIETY.
If we are to understand this divine lesson, we must know and understand this word “anxiety”.
Anxiety – a condition or mental uneasiness arising from fear or distress, especially concerning misfortune or some uncertain future event – deeply or overly concerned or troubled. – Winston Dictionary
This “anxiety” – worry brings one under the spell of evil.
Evil – is a word that is very illusive to get to the core or heart of. Nearly all of the bulk of man’s definition of evil only define the results or fruit of evil. So, it becomes necessary for us to search God’s holy word for the true meaning of evil: ( Isaiah 45:5-7 ) “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there in none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
This statement comes as a shock, and astonishes us, for we are not used to the thought of evil in any connection with God. It is difficult for us in any way to connect the thought of evil as a “creation of God”. This is due to our lack of understanding what evil really is. We have mistaken the results of evil for evil itself, and until we isolate “evil” from the results thereof, we will stay confused.
We must look at evil as a “principle” – the most important part or main element thereof, THE SOURCE FROM WHICH ALL OF THE OTHER ELEMENTS CONTAINED THEREIN ARE ATTACHED. ALL SINS AND WICKEDNESS ARE BUT ACTIONS OR PRODUCTIONS OF EVIL. EVIL IS THE PRINCIPLE WHICH GENDERS ALL ACTS OF SIN, WICKEDNESS, UNGODLINESS, UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THINGS AGAINST GOD'’ ORDER!
One thing will help in conditioning us for our understanding of this subject, to remember that THE LORD GOD CREATED ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH: ( John 1:1-3 ) “In the beginning was THE WORD, and THE WORS WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. The same was in the beginning with God. ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM; AND WITHOU HIM WAS NOT ANY THING MADE THAT WAS MADE.”
( Colossians 1:14-16 ) “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: FOR BY HIM WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, THAT ARE IN HEAVEN, AND THAT ARE IN EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THEY BE THRONES, OR DOMINIONS, OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, AND FOR HIM”
( Hebrews 13:1 ) “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. FOR THERE IS NO POWER BUT OF GOD: THE POWERS THAT BE ARE ORDAINED OF GOD.”
THE EVIL PRINCIPLE IS A POWER OR FORCE, WHICH GOD CREATED – SET IN MOTION, AND SET THE LAWS THAT GOVERNS IT.
This question I ask, with the exception of “the Holy Trinity”, is there anything that God did not create or make, or any law that He did not set in motion. The true answer is none, absolutely none!
EVIL is too often mis-taken for its actions and works, which it is not; FOR EVIL IS THE PRINCIP-LE OR SOURCE OF ALL RAMIFICATION – WHICH IS THE WHOLE OF ALL DIVISIONS OF SEPERATED PARTS AND PARTICLES THAT CONSTITUTE THE POWER OF EVIL.
EVIL IS A GOVERNING PRINCIPLE OR POWER! WHICH IS REFERRED TO IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURE AS “THE BODY OF SIN!”
EVIL OF ITSELF IS NOT SIN, IT IS THE ELEMENT THAT GENDERS SIN; WITHOUT EVIL THERE WOULD BE NO SIN. EVIL IS ALL THAT IS IN OPPOSITION TO GOD’S PERFECT, GOOD, AND ACCEPTABLE WILL. EVIL IS ONLY IN HIS PERMISSABLE WILL.
EVIL – THE PRINCIPLE AND BODY OFSIN, WHICH IS THE ENEMY OF GOD, WHEREBY DEATH INTERED INTO THIS WORLD, when evil gendered through Adam’s will and volition to sin against God’s stated will: ( Romans 5:12 ) “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
EVIL WILL BE ABOLISHED ALONG WITH DEATH AFTER THE WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, AT THE END OF THIS WORLD: ( Revelation 20:11-15 ) “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. AND DEATH AND HELL WERE CAST INTO THE
God will create a new heaven and a new earth: ( Revelation 21:1-5 ) “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold THE TABERNACLE OF GOD IS WITH MEN, AND HE WILL DWELL WITH THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE HIS PEOPLE, AND GOD HIMSELF SHALL BE WITH THEM, AND BE THEIR GOD. AND GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM THEIR EYES; AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE DEATH, NEITHER SORROW, NOR CRYING, HEITHER SHALL THERE BE ANY MORE PAIN: FOR THE FORMER THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
Peter wrote of this even: (2 Peter 3:10-13 ) “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; IN THE WHICH THE HEAVENS SHALL PASS AWAY WITH A GREAT NOISE, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT, THE EARTH ALSO AND THE WORKS THAT ARE THEREIN SHALL BE BURNED UP. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, WHEREIN THE HEAVENS BEING ON FIRE SHALL BE DISSOLVED, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL MELT WITH FERVENT HEAT? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
This evil body of sin is all the laws and things that comprises the governing principles of ALL EVIL, UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND UNGODLINESS.
We absolutely must not confuse evil which is the governing principle, power, force, law or element of the evil principle ( body of sin ), with the acts and deeds of sin, which evil genders.
When Lucifer turned from God’s ways to his own ways, HE BECAME EVIL PERSONIFIED, which is to say, He was endowed with the personal nature of evil. He is the manifested nature of evil./ The angels which followed him are also endowed with the personal nature of “irreversible evil”.
“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”
Sufficient – enough for contentment or satisfaction.
With these definitions of the key words in Christ’s lesson of “evil anxiety”, Let us observe and receive the full impact and urgency of this blessed, holy, heavenly message of Christ’s that teaches us the sure way of avoiding evil anxiety.
Observe with me the “prelude or preface” – that which is done to prepare the way for the more important or main part of “the way to avoid evil anxiety.”
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MAIN PORTION ON EVIL ANXIETY.
( Matthew 6:19-24 ) “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But LAY UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES IN HEAVEN, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO. The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS: FOR EITHER HE WILL HATE THE ONE, AND LOVE THE OTHER; OR ELSE HE WILL HOLD TO THE ONE AND DESPISE THE OTHER. YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON ( things of this world )”
“THE LIGHT OF THE BODY IS THE EYE, IF THEREFORE THINE EYE BE SINGLE, THY WHOLD BODY SHALL BE FULL OF LIGHT”. ( Colossians 3:1-2 ) “If ye then be risen with Christ, SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE, WHERE CHIRST SITTETH ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. SET YOUR AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON THINGS ON THE EARTH.”
( John 8:12 ) “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD: HE THAT FOLLOWETH ME SHALL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS, BUT SHALL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE.”
( John 3:16-21 ) “For GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the worlds; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not IS CONDEMNED ALREADY, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that LIGHT IS COME INTO THE WORLD, and MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, because their deeds were EVIL. FOR EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth COMETH TO THE LIGHT, that his deeds may be made manifest, THAT THEY ARE WROUGHT IN GOD.”
The “eye” that Jesus spoke of is the spiritual eye or eye of the spirit, called “spiritual insight” which enables us to see and understand the things which are invisible to our natural eyes: ( 2 Corinthians 4:18 ) “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the THINGS WHICH ARE NOT SEEN ARE ETERNAL.”
We sometimes hear it called “ the eyes of faith.” The Scripture calls it “THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING”: ( Ephesians 1:17-18 ) “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING INLIGHTENED; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
Jesus teaches us that it will take “singleness of heart” to rightly serve Him: (Matthew 6:24 ) “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON.” ( greed for earthly riches or worldly gain ).
Then Jesus speaks to us of 3 major things that confront us all, (1) Take no thought for your life, WHAT YE SHALL EAT? (2) WHAT SHALL WE DRINK? (3) WHEREWITH SHALL WE BE CLOTHED?
TAKE NO THOUGHT! This statement has frustrated most of us, and confounded some of us, and most of the confusion is due to the fact, that when our English version was made, the English word “thought” expressed “solicitude” – anxious concern or worry. But this sense of the word is out of style, and has become Archaic or a word no longer in common use.
*It is over-anxiety ( troubled, worried or distressed ), not “carefulness” or proper concern, that Christ forbids; He does not commend the thoughtless and careless. The Word of God bids us to take care, for our first commission is that we are stewards or care-takers of God’s creation; He condemns all who do not provide for their own: ( 1 Timothy 5:8 ) “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
Our proper love, care, and concern is taught throughout the Holy Scriptures. And we can be assured that Jesus was not contradicting any of the righteous instruction concerning proper care and provisions that are necessary in life.
But He is enlightening us when our proper love, care, and concern begins to turn into “ improper anxious concern”, at which moment we open the door, or the floodgates of evil thoughts of doubt and unbelief which draws us into Satan’s evil nets or snares, which brings on, (1) uneasiness of mind, if unchecke3d at this point it quickly develops into disturbance of peace of mind, and the soul becomes disquieted and annoyed, (2) confusion follows, (3) perplexity, which is “anxiety”, mind control becomes out of focus, we become puzzled or distracted, (4) we become “doubtful”, indecisive, in suspense as to what to think, say, or do, which puts our mental process to rout, and we can not think straight; our mind seems paralyzed, (5) we are then bewildered into a dazed state of mind, which leads to despair and all kinds of disorder of our mental as well as our physical state of being.
CHRIST’S SOLUTION FOR ANXIETY
1. The Nature Of The Evil. We are misled by the word “thought,” which has dropped one of its meanings since the Authorized Version of the New Testament was issued. Christ was not depreciation an intellectual exercise, much less is He encouraging improvidence. He is enlightening us on the over-anxious worry which draws us into the territory of evil, which is the territory of “d”-evils.” The evil is in the anxious fretting and worrying, where doubt and miss-trust in God, we become vulne3rable to seducing spirits and doctrines of devil’s and devilish individuals.
THE EVIL IS CONCERNED WITH BODILY NEEDS. The life, the food, the raiment. The idea is of being absorbed with deep concern for these temporal and external things. THE EVIL PREVENTS CONCERN FOR OUR HIGHER INTERESTS AND DUTIES. Here is its greatest condemnation, not simply that IT PAINS US, BUT THAT IT DOES INJURY TO US. It weakens our spiritual condition, as well as our mental and physical.
Jesus does not advise freedom from anxiety merely on its own account,. That we may have the satisfaction of being at peace. He warns us that worldly anxiety fills the mind and heart, and so keeps out the proper thoughts of the great purpose of life. “THE CARES OF THIS LIFE, THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES, AND OTHER THINGS CHOKES THE WORK OF GOD, AND WE BECOME UNFRUITFUL. We are to cast ASIDE ANXIETY ABOUT FOOD AND CLOTHES, THAT WE MAY BE FREE TO “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
THE CURE OF THE EVIL. All deplore it; but few see how to conquer it. Some even regard the words of Christ as wishful thinking, but quite impracticable in our present day world.
THE CALL TO HIGHER DUTY. It is wrong to waste our lives in anxiety. Our call is to give ourselves wholly to the service of god. When we do this we shall find it easier to trust God.
