Matthew 6:2434, Part 1

Nine Arguments Against Anxiety

April 23, 2015 by John Piper Scripture: Matthew 6:24-34 Topic: Fear & Anxiety Series: Do Not Be Anxious

Principle for Bible Reading

This three-part series of labs takes on anxiety by studying Matthew 6:2427. If the Bible is going to effectively speak to our
anxious hearts, we need to learn how to read it well. In this lab, John Piper lays out the arguments and gives three short lessons
for our daily Bible reading.
.

Outline
Introduction/Prayer (00:0001:25)
Two Assumptions for Reading:
1. Every passage has a main point.
2. Every passage uses arguments to support its main point in various ways.

What Is the Main Point? (01:2506:32)

Main Point: Do not be anxious. (Matthew 6:25, 27, 28, 31, 34)
Arguments:
1. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). We know this is an argument because the next verse begins with
the word Therefore.
2. Is not life more than food? (Matthew 6:25)
3. Look at the birds of the air . . . (Matthew 6:26)
4. Which of you can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27)
5. Consider the lilies of the field . . . (Matthew 6:2830)
6. The Gentiles seek after these things. (Matthew 6:32)
7. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Matthew 6:32)
8. All these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
9. Tomorrow will be anxious for itself. (Matthew 6:34)

Lessons for Bible Reading (06:3209:16)

1. The Bible argues. It gives reasons for things. Its thoughts are linked together.
2. A unit of thought (or passage) has a main point. Everything else in that unit supports in the main point in some way.
3. To truly understand a passage we must figure out how the arguments support the main point.

Study Questions
1. Read Matthew 6:2434. What do you think is the main point of these eleven verses?
2. Read Matthew 6:2434 again. How many different arguments do you see that support your main point?
3. Restate each of the arguments you identified from the previous question in your own words.

Related Resources
God Doesnt Want You to Worry (article)

Anxiety: Sin, Disorder, or Both? (interview)

Do Not Be Anxious About Your Life (sermon on Matthew 6:2434)

Do Not Be Anxious About Your Life (sermon on Matthew 6:2434)

Piper: Jesus gives us help to overcome our anxiety, but we need to learn
how to read our Bibles to receive it.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he
served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

2015 Desiring God Foundation.

Share the Joy! You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in physical form, in its entirety or in unaltered excerpts, as long as you do
not charge a fee. For posting online, please use only unaltered excerpts (not the content in its entirety) and provide a hyperlink to this page. For videos, please
embed from the original source. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. 2015 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org