I do invite you to turn with me this morning in God's Word again to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, we'll read verses 25 through 34 again through the end of the chapter, that portion that we have been considering the last two Sunday mornings with regard to worry. I'd like to draw your attention especially to the last phrase of verse 30, O you of little faith. And following that, we'll turn over to Romans chapter 8. For now, Matthew chapter 6, beginning at verse 25, as we hear now the Word of God. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies 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 is 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, O you of 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 all 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. Please turn to Romans chapter 8. We'll read together verses 28 through 39, a portion that many of us probably have memorized, at least most of it. and encouragement as we reflect on that phrase, O you of little faith. Beginning at verse 28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those He predestined He also called, those He called He also justified, those He justified He also glorified. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. May God add His blessing to the reading and consideration of His Word this morning. Beloved congregation, our Lord Jesus Christ looks His audience. In the Sermon on the Mount, He looks His audience then and now in the eye as it were. And He confronts their hearts. He confronts our hearts. And He correctly reads them and says, Oh, you of little faith. Again, I don't know about you, but what an accurate reading that is of me so often. Oh, you of little faith. As we know, He calls us to store up lasting treasure in heaven and not temporary treasure on earth, yet knowing just how earthly-minded we are, knowing what gotta-see and gotta-have-it kind of people we are, he goes on to say, so do not worry about what you will eat or about what you will drink or about what you will wear. Instead, trust the kingdom provider as we have considered. Trust your heavenly Father because He knows that you need all these things and they will be given to you as well. Yet with this phrase, O you of little faith, He gives a powerful reminder that not only does God know what we need, but He also knows our hearts. He also knows our worries. The kind that we've been talking about here that Jesus talks about. The kind of worry that numbs you, that suffocates you, that causes you to obsess on the cause of worry and can think about nothing else. He knows our worry. And our anxiety that advertises, we might say, our little faith. Indeed, there are some who worry more than others, even among us here. There are some who worried in this way more at one time in their life than they do now, only because of God's grace and the work of the Holy Spirit. But most likely, this phrase describes or has described all of us, even young or old, at one point in our lives. And therefore, before we leave this particular portion of the Sermon on the Mount, we consider together our Lord's challenge to take God at His Word. Because worry, the kind that we have been talking about, the kind that paralyzes you, the kind that is hopeless, that kind of worry does not take God at His Word. Our Lord challenges us to take God at His Word and to do so through an examination, first of all, of the owners of little faith. Who is Jesus talking to? We've already alluded to it. Jesus' audience was not faithless. Jesus does not say, Oh, you who have no faith, or even you who have temporary faith, or you who have faith only in what you can see, because we know that there are those who say, I will only believe it when I see it. He's not talking about those kind of people. He's not talking about those who have no interest in God or in His kingdom or in heavenly treasure. He's talking about kingdom citizens. He's looking to His audience in their eye, those who were sitting around Him meditating on His every word. He's talking to you and me. He's talking about kingdom citizens, those who are children of the Heavenly Father, those who bear the kingdom qualities of the Beatitudes, those who have the law of God written on their hearts, those whose motive, as we have considered, for kingdom righteousness, their motive is God and not themselves. Owners of little faith are Christians. As Jesus is saying it here, they're believers. We know that because God is their Father. Again, He has said two times, He referred to your Father in heaven, your heavenly Father. In John 1, verse 12, we read, Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Who are God's children? Only those who believe in Him. He's talking here to believers. He's talking to those who have saving faith, we might say. Those who trust Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls and for all of their sins to be paid for. That in Christ, God is now pleased with them. He is talking about those to whom the Holy Spirit has given new life and convicted them of their sin and their lost condition and their helplessness. Those to whom the Holy Spirit has given the eyes of faith to see their only hope is in Jesus Christ. Those who have the confidence that Paul speaks of in Romans 8 when he says, beginning in verse 29, for those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified. He's talking to those who have that confidence that they have eternal salvation in Christ Jesus. By the grace of God, they enjoy that faith without which no one is saved. That faith of the unseen which is eternal, as Paul says. Yet at the very same time, they struggle with what, for example, Paul says as he goes on. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? At times it seems like the whole world is against us, doesn't it? And Paul goes on further. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things? Oh yes, the first part is okay. I believe that God gave His Son up for me. But it's the all things part that they struggle with. The owners of little faith are like the father of Mark 9, verse 22. You remember that father who had the son who had an evil spirit. And that evil spirit would throw the son into the fire at times or into the water, caused that boy to have massive convulsions. The disciples were unable to cast that evil spirit out. And the Father says to Jesus in verse 22 of that chapter, but if you can do anything, imagine saying to the Lord of glory, but if you can do anything, He says, take pity on us and help us. And Jesus, of course, picks up on that in verse 23 and He repeats what the man says, if you can, said Jesus. And he goes on, everything is possible for him who believes. In essence, Jesus says, it's not about if I can. But do you believe? Do you believe that I can? To which the Father replied in verse 24, I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. And that describes those with little faith. that describes you and me often or at some point. I believe. Yet there are so many things with regard to this life that we have a hard time believing that He can handle. And therefore, we consider secondly the exercise of little faith. What is its focus? Well, little faith, as we've already pointed to, stops, we might say, at that saving faith. It stops at trusting in Christ for salvation from sin. That's not the problem. It is confined to one sphere of life, the life to come, eternity, but it tends to neglect this life on earth. It sees and experiences the reality of this life infested and affected by sin and sees it without hope and without the promises of God, not sufficiently taking to heart the comfort that God's people are able to have from the presence and the promises and the power and the love of Christ. And instead, it practices the very opposite of what Jesus says in Matthew 6.31. So do not worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? And instead, it worries about these things and more. It worries without confidence. How will I stay fed? How will I stay clothed? Because so often we are busy looking only to ourselves to accomplish these things. Beloved, little faith lacks confidence in the kingdom provider for the everyday affairs of life and for living in this world thinking maybe that God is unaware or maybe God just doesn't really care or God is hands-off or He has more important things to deal with. That's the focus of little faith. It focuses indeed on that great salvation, that eternal life, but does not focus on this daily life. And its result then is that it limits God. It limits God. It fails to see that God is in control, which means that lack of trust is more powerful than confidence in God's promises. It believes in God, but is slow to believe and slow to realize that He is what He says He is. Our Heavenly Father. As someone has said, we believe in Jesus. In other words, we place our faith and trust in Him, but we don't believe Him. We believe in Him, but we don't believe Him. We don't believe His Word. And we know it's true so often with the details of this life, often we can't simply see how God will provide or how God will work it out or how God will take care of us. And it's at times like that we're tempted to think, well, it must be impossible. Yet the Bible says with God all things are possible. He is the one who rained down manna from heaven. He is the one who brought water out of the rock. He is the one who fed Elijah through the use of a raven. He is the one who raised from the dead. But little faith simply does not lay hold of the promises of God like Matthew 6.33 and all these things will be given to you as well. You see, faith does not need to know how these things will be given. But it trusts that God will do it. The result of little faith is that it limits God. But also, it resembles the world. It resembles unbelievers. We began to talk about this last week a little bit. That this worry that Jesus talks about is in line with the pagans, with the unbelievers. And when we engage in that kind of thing, it shows what we're seeking. We're seeking the same thing that unbelievers do so often. There's a danger here that when it comes to the treasures, when it comes to the necessities of this life, those things that we have in common with the world, sometimes it's hard to distinguish between unbelievers and believers. Sometimes it's hard to tell the two apart when it comes to the necessities of life. And therefore, we ought to ask ourselves, do our attitudes toward earthly things and does our approach for getting earthly things, do these differ from the world's attitude and approach? or in our relationship with earthly treasure, is it unmistakably clear that we are not worldly heathens? The result of little faith is that it resembles the world. The world that struggles with worry, that consumes and defeats one, and with being mastered by circumstances instead of mastering circumstances. You know, life happens. Situations in life come upon us and some just simply say, I can't handle it. And we see that in how crisis is handled. Hopelessly, frantically running in circles instead of getting on one's knees. Or conversations, as we mentioned too. What are our conversations filled with? The world's conversations are consumed with talking about possessions, position, wealth, or a lack of it. talking about life and business, it consumes them. Are we guilty of talking more about our work than about our walk with the Lord? The result of little faith is that it limits God. It resembles the world, but it also deprives oneself of the joy of the Lord and of the promises of God. It deprives oneself of these things by keeping problems and worries to ourselves and being weighed down and crushed by them when the Word of God clearly says, as David does in Psalm 55, cast your cares on the Lord, He will sustain you. David knew what he was talking about. And as David says in Psalm 37, I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Or as Jesus Himself said, come unto Me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Little faith deprives oneself of the joy and the promises of God failing to realize our position from salvation. We are children of the Heavenly Father. We are children whom God loves and for whom He promises to care and provide. Little faith fails to see God's gracious purpose for us. And the bottom line is little faith fails to take God at His word. fails to take God at His Word. A human nature struggles with this. We know this even as believers as we struggle with the sin in our own lives. Struggles with taking God at His Word. For example, with a deadly disease. It's hard to comprehend. It's hard to face the future as it progresses because of the fear of the unknown. Or when your hours are cut or you lose your job, you become terrified to think that you could lose your house. Or how am I going to buy groceries? These things weigh upon us and it's hard at times to take God at His Word. Or for those of you who are college graduates or even high school or college students, right now it's hard to find a full-time job. It's hard to find summer work that you need to pay your loans or to pay for your tuition. And the question you are asked and must face is do you trust Him? Even though it may look a bit hopeless right now, even though the situation doesn't make sense, Do you trust Him? And beloved, praise God that though we fail to trust Him as we ought and instead worry as we ought not, and though we often think that our situation is hopeless, yet we must be comforted that weakness of faith, this little faith, does not jeopardize our salvation. It does not strip us from or cause us to lose our salvation. We are still God's children by His grace. Our salvation does not depend on the strength of our faith. But it depends on the true object of our faith. Jesus Christ who has merited every single blessing of the Lord for us. Pardon for all of our sins. And to top it off, He knows our weaknesses. And the Bible says a bruised reed He will not break. And a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. Instead, He promises to strengthen the faith of His people. So we notice thirdly in this challenge to take God at His word. To do so with an examination of the remedy for little faith. You see, beloved, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are called to live in the light of the faith that we profess. To live in the light of the truth of God that we profess. To take Him at His Word. And to apply that gift of faith to cover the whole of life. As the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, those heroes from the Old Testament, they understood full well there is no part of life that is not covered by the great and precious promises of God as Peter says. Every part of life, indeed for the life to come, but this life too, every single detail of it is covered by the very great and precious promises of God. The remedy for little faith includes remembering the love of God. John in 1 John 5 verse 14 says, We love because He first loved us. We were in His mind long, long before He was in ours. And remembering the love of God is to cause us, as John also says in verse 16, to know and rely on the love that God has for us. To rely on it. To rest steadfastly on the love that God has for us. That love which He has already demonstrated for you and me in Christ Jesus. As John also says in verse 10, this is love that God sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. You see, His love worked to remove His own wrath from us. to restore us with Himself and to give us confidence. As Paul says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? And he gives a resounding, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. The remedy for little faith includes remembering the love of God and also remembering the promises of God. We are called to take the Word of God at face value. Now, where do we begin? Beloved, we have a whole Bible, the entire Scripture full of the promises of God. You can almost open up anywhere and begin there, can't you? Read it. Meditate upon it. I'll take you back to Romans 8, verse 32 right now. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things? You see, the gift of Jesus Christ is God's guarantee that He will give all that we need for this life and the next. A guarantee without an expiration date. A guarantee that is forever. And therefore, we can take comfort in all of God's promises, some of which include our names are written in the Lamb's book of life, engraved on the palms of His hands, never to be removed. his promise that he will never leave or forsake his people his promise that he will direct your path his promise that when as Isaiah 43 says when you go through the fire and when you go through the water the Lord says I will be with you he says call upon me in the day of trouble and what's his promise I will answer you Countless promises. Yet there is one that is so simple and so profound that we probably overlook it. Matthew 10, verse 36, the Lord says, Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. A statement, but really a precious promise. Maybe sometimes we just kind of slide over that one or we make jokes about it for those of us who don't have very many to count. But think about that statement again. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Beloved, do you really think that God does not care about the details of your life? He does. And by His grace, we are destined for glory so that even in this life we can confess with Paul we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. God may not act or operate according to what we think is best. Even in the way that we really want. But He always acts and operates according to what He knows is best. We may not always like it on this side of glory, but we can be comforted that it is guaranteed that it is for our best. The remedy for little faith includes remembering the love of God remembering the promises of God and remembering the experiences of God the experiences of God with creatures Jesus said look at the birds look at the lilies learn from the lessons of God's powerful providing, protective, preserving hand on these things that are here today and gone tomorrow and if that is true and it is how much more is God's care certain for you and me whom He is preparing to live with Him forever. Remembering the experiences of God with creatures, but also remembering His experiences with ourselves. As we have said before, because of the faith that we have been given, we can look back over our lives, we can look at even the minute details of our lives, and we can see again and again and again over and over and over how God has provided, how God has protected, even when it seemed to us absolutely impossible or as we sometimes say as we look back on situations, I should never have survived. You see, beloved, the fact of God's care is seen even at this moment in the fact that He has brought us to today. That He has brought us to this very second in this day. Not by accident, but Jesus has led us all the way. For those whose hope is in the Lord, For those who forsake trusting in themselves and look only to the Lord Jesus Christ, He will be faithful to renew their strength. Ours is a living hope. It is a content-filled hope. It is filled, packed, filled with content, indeed for the life to come, but also for this life. And therefore, beloved, may He strengthen our faith, may He increase our faith, and may He do so by causing us to remember and dwell on His love and promises and the experiences that He has already led us through and especially Jesus Christ. For all who trust in Jesus Christ, we have the guarantee of God as Paul beautifully says it. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is God's Word. That is His promise. We don't need to worry about today. God's Word can never fail. So, beloved in Christ, take Him at His Word today and forever. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we praise Your most holy name that indeed our salvation is in Christ alone. That it's not based on us. It's not based on what some would call the work of faith or on the strength of faith. We thank You for that instrument by which we receive the merits of Christ. We thank You, Father, that knowing our weakness and our frailty, not only have You saved us, but You will strengthen us. Indeed, as we look at our lives, we know that there is a lot of work for the Holy Spirit to do. Yet we praise Your most holy name that You have promised that that work which He has begun, He will complete. and that on the day that He brings us into Your glorious presence, we will be perfected forever. And on that day, all doubt and all temptation and all worry and all anxiety will be nothing but history and will never torment us again. Father, strengthen us. Sustain us. Increase in us the joy of the Lord, which alone is our strength. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.