How To Stop Worrying
And Start Living

Isaiah 51:11-13, "So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?

Introduction:

A. Most of us worry about something that happened Yesterday,

Or something that is almost certainly going to happen Today .....
Or something that may or may not happen Tomorrow.

B. It is perfectly clear that: "If We Worry We Do Not Trust; If We Trust We Do Not Worry."

Why Is It Sinful For A Christian To Worry?

I. It Is Sinful Because --- Worry Is Dishonoring To The Lord.

A. When we worry we Doubt God --- and nothing dishonors Him so much as when His people Fail To Trust Him.

1. Matt. 14:31, "And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

2. Heb. 3:12, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;"

3. Rom. 14:23, "...whatever is not from faith is sin."

B. The Only way to please God is by faith: Heb. 11:6, "But Without Faith it is Impossible to please Him,..."

C. Listen to what Christ says:

Matt. 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

II. It Is Sinful Because --- Worry Is Damaging To Ourselves.

A. Nothing works Greater Havoc in our lives than Persistent Worry and Fear.

1. It has often been said: - "It Is Not Work That Kills But Worry."

2. Worry damages us -- Mentally -- Physically -- Spiritually

3. Worry robs us of Peace and Power and places a Barrier Between Ourselves And God.

4. You cannot worry & trust God at the same time!

B. Worry Paralyses Christian work and witness.

1. Phil. 4:6-7, "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."

2. 1 Peter 5:6-7, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

III. It is sinful because: --- Worry Is Detrimental To Others.

A. When a Christian worries --- His Testimony Is Affected.

1. As Christians We Are Believers --- if the world sees us full of unbelief -- we become Stumbling Blocks to them.

2. We Profess to believe God --- yet we are Full Of Worry.

B. On the other hand --- if in the midst of trial and stress, we manifests a Quiet Confidence In God --- that is a Great Testimony to the world.

C. John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

D. Isa. 30:15, "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning, and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

IV. It Is Sinful Because --- Worry Is Pleasing To The Devil.

A. When we worry, we Play Right Into The Hands Of The Devil.

B. Why was Peter so restful and able to Sleep In Prison, even with the Threat Of Death hanging over him?

1. Acts 12:5-6, "Peter was therefore keep in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers, and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

2. It was because he was Trusting In The Word of the Lord,

God Had Told Peter that he would not die until he was old --- (John 21:18-19).

C. The Devil would have Cheered if he had seen Peter Worrying instead of Sleeping and Trusting.

Why Is It Foolish For A Christian To Worry?

I. It Is Foolish Because --- We Gain Absolutely Nothing By Worrying!

A. Can you think of any possible Benefit we have ever gained because of worry?

B. The only exception --- If we have found Deliverance From Worry, we may be qualified to help others to seek and find the same deliverance.

II. It Is Foolish Because --- If We Have Worried --- We Are Less Able To Meet Problems When They Do Come Our Way!

A. We are Less Fortified to meet the crises of life if --- Worry Has Already Exhausted Us.

B. Worry Dissipates our Moral, Spiritual, and Physical energies.

C. Worry saps our strength.

D. It is a fact that --- Worry Usually Does More Harm Than The Actual Thing About Which We Are Worrying.

III. It Is Foolish Because --- Whatever Happens Will Only Be With God's Permission.

A. Never speak about "Fate" or "Chance" or use the expression "Knock On Wood" --- this is pure Superstition --- it has no place in a Christian's life.

B. Whatever Happens in the life of a Christian, happens by the Directive or the Permissive will of God.

C. Psa. 42:7-8, "Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me -- a prayer to the God of my life."

D. One author wrote:

"Plagues and death around me fly,
Till He bids I cannot die;
Not a single shaft can hit
Till the God of love sees fit."

IV. It Is Foolish Because --- Whatever Happens Will Always Be For Our Good.

A. There is a Blessing In Every Trouble that comes,

All of us would be Weaker If We Never Knew what it was like to experience testing or trials.

Boot Camp .....

B. Rom. 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." --- V. 29, "... conformed to the image of his Son, ..."

V. It Is Foolish Because --- Even If The Worst That We Fear Will Happen --- Does Happen --- God's Grace Will Be Sufficient.

A. We worry because we have not sufficient grace to meet some dreaded trial --- however, the Grace Will Only Be Given With The Trial --- not beforehand.

B. 2 Cor. 12:9, "And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

VI. It Is Foolish Because --- The Promises Of God Will Never Fail.

A. Psa. 9:10, "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You."

B. Psa. 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

C. Psa. 73:23-24, "...You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."

D. Isa. 43:2, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."

E. 2 Tim 4:17-18, "But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen."

F. Heb. 13:5-6, "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

VII. It Is Foolish Because --- Nothing Can Ever Happen To Separate Us From The Love Of Christ.

Rom. 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long: We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Remember --- Jesus Said:

Matt. 6:25-33, "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."

The Richest Man on Earth Could Not Feed The Birds of The Air One Day Without Going Bankfupt.

A Search For The Truth



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