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Alright, amen. Leviticus chapter number four. So I'm going to be preaching about the subject of anxiety and worry this morning. But before you get into that, I want to highlight a couple things from this chapter real quick. So you just read the whole chapter, and one thing you notice that keeps coming up is sin, right? This is the chapter where we learn about how the children of Israel went and just did the sin offering. Obviously, we don't do that anymore. And with that in mind, a lot of pastors today will say, you know, there's really no reason to study these things or to really worry about them because there's no application in here. And that's just not true at all. And I'm going to show you that here. Look at verse number 13. Leviticus 4, 13, it says, And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done. Now, don't miss this phrase. It says, and are guilty. Okay? I'm going to show you the same concept here in verse 22. Jump down to verse 22. It says, When a ruler hath sinned and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty, and is guilty. Look at verse 23. Or if the sin wherein he hath sinned come to his knowledge, he shall bring his offering a kid of the goats, male without blemish. Now, the thing that jumped out at me there when I was reading this the last time and I wrote this note down was that phrase somewhat. What does that mean? What does it mean to somewhat sin against the Lord or somewhat sin against the commandments? Well, it means to some extent, okay? It means, you know, there's a lot of things that we do that are sin that we don't fully understand. It has to be brought to light. We have to be taught that it's wrong. But that doesn't negate this one important critical fact, and that is you're guilty. Okay? That you're guilty, right? And this principle is taught throughout the entire Bible. This isn't just some Old Testament thing. Now, obviously, the way we deal with sins, we go to the Lord, we don't have to bring bullocks, you know, all that stuff is gone. But it still has a deeper meaning that we can apply to our lives today. Now, here's the thing, right? People get saved. There's a lot of things that they do not understand because the world likes to mask sin. For example, what do people call drunkards today in the world? They call them alcoholics and they say you have a disorder, right? What do they say to people that are gluttons? Oh, you have an eating disorder, right? You have an eating disorder. Here's another one. What about people that are into fornication? They say, well, they're just trying to find compatibility. They're playing the field, right? They always try to downplay these things. Now, when a person gets saved or if they're not educated, they don't read the Bible, they don't understand, a lot of them, they may not think that anything is wrong with those things because the world tells them it's just a disorder. It's just something that happens. You know, you can come to us, you can get your psychiatric help, you can get your meds, you can get all these different things. You know, and anxiety is another one just like that. What is anxiety? Now, anxiety is a feeling of worry or nervousness or unease, typically about an imminent event of something that's dangerous coming your way, okay? It's the perception of fear. Now, here's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about panic attacks. I know people that are saved, they're well studied on the Bible, that suffer from what they call panic attacks. They're not worrying, they're not stressed out about anything, it's just a sudden thing that comes over them. Look, there's a lot of variables to that. This sermon's not dealing with that at this time, okay? So, just put that out of your mind. I'm talking about blatant sin. I'm going to show you what the Bible talks about worry, about fear, and about how it's a snare and how what it does is it saps your strength as a believer. That's exactly what it does. You're going to see that. Now, you could leave your place there in Leviticus and go to Philippians chapter number four. You know, because really you're not going to find the word anxiety in the Bible, but you're going to find what it is, and that's fear, being fearful. You know, the Bible says that the fear of man is a snare, it's bondage, it's a trap, and you know, don't think that, oh, well, I'm good to go, I've got this under wraps, you know, I've been doing everything I can. I'm not going to suffer from this. I will be honest with you, every single person in this room, you may not show it, but there are things that tempt you at least to be fearful. There are things that we struggle with. For example, I'll just start off with a story about myself. You know, every time that I get onto an airplane, probably a couple days leading up to that, I start getting sweaty palms. I start, you know, my heart starts racing a little bit. I do not like not being in control. I do not like that at all. It freaks me out, and that just comes from different things I've had experience in life, and when we get on that thing, that thing takes off, and it kind of dips down sometimes, you know, you know what I'm talking about, right? I'm fearful, and that's a sin. That's wrong. Now, that's not going to destroy my walk, but if I don't recognize that and confess it and, you know, realize it is what it is, you know, that could lead to other areas of my life and cause me to become fearful about other things, and, you know, and then you just see how these things just start to snowball, and then before you know it, that somewhat sin, you know, is going to expand into just full-blown catastrophe, and that's what happens, and we're going to take a look at the life of somebody today who was, I mean, this guy was a mighty warrior for God, a prophet, somebody who had it together, I mean, somebody who was so great that he skipped physical death, but yet he suffered from this, and he displayed this, and it's going to blow your mind. Now, I'm sure everybody in here can think of things that they're worried about. Everybody, right? You know, I got the plain thing. That's just one stupid thing, but everybody in here, you know, whether it's your relationships, your job, your kids, your materials, there's something, there's something that you worry about. I'm going to show you how to get over that so that it doesn't destroy your life. Now, here's the goal. You're in Philippians chapter 4. I want to show you the goal, where we're going with this sermon, what the journey is going to be like here. Look at verse number 6. It says, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Verse 7, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That is the goal, is to be able to rest and understand the peace of God, which is the opposite of anxiety, okay? I mean, the Bible says, you know, that God had not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of joy and of a sound mind. When you are in fear, when you are anxious, when you are riddled with anxiety, you are no longer in the spirit of the Lord. I mean, the spirit of fear is different. It's a trap. It hinders everything you do, and it's an emotion that will control you. A lot of people say, well, you know, my emotions, they don't control me. Well, guess what? Fear is one that will control you if you don't learn how to avoid it, how to stop it, and how to check it, okay? And that is very important. Now, you can leave your place there, Philippians, and go to 1 Kings chapter number 19. And so, we're going to kind of bounce back and forth between the book of 1 Kings and Matthew chapter number 6 for this morning. And so, all that to say this, worry or anxiety, fear, however you want to describe it, it's the one sin that we are not afraid to commit. You say, why are people so fearful? What is it that can cause a believer to just go completely crazy and just do a 180? It's because we're not afraid of worry. We don't view it like the Bible teaches us that we should view it, and that is a sin. People view it as, you know, well, it's just to some extent, it's just somewhat, it's okay. You know, it's not that big of a deal. At least I'm not a murderer or, you know, they'll pick a big sin. But it's still something that is against the commandments of God. It's something that he does not want his children in bondage with. And the Bible calls it a spirit, right? We're to try the spirits and see if they are of God. And the spirit of fear is not of God. Now, obviously, you know, there's some things you should be afraid of. Obviously, we should be afraid of the Lord, you know, because the fear of the Lord brings us knowledge, it gives us wisdom. That is completely different. That's a healthy fear. That's a righteous fear. That's a fear that we're to develop. And you get that by reading the Bible. You get that by hearing rebuke and correction and all the things that we do at church. But, you know, the fear of man, where does that come from? Well, it comes from not trusting God in your life. That's where it comes from. And, you know, it's the one that goes unchecked in the world. And that's why I say that worry is the sin that we are not afraid to commit. So if we can learn to be afraid to commit that, if we can have that righteous fear against worry, then you know what? It's going to be much better for you in your life. Now, let me just put it to you this way. Think about this. What was it about Samuel, the prophet Samuel? Because we're studying Samuel Sunday nights. What was it about Samuel? Why was he able, in Samuel chapter 16, to cut up Agag? To literally cut that guy, that evil, wicked person into pieces. The Bible says that Samuel hewed Agag into pieces. How was he able to do that and not live a life after that, you know, needing meds and depression and PTSD and all that stuff? How was he able to do that? Let's take David, for example. David's a great example. How was he able to kill Goliath as a young teen, as a young child, as a youth? How was he able to kill Goliath, but not only kill him, but to actually go up to him, take his own weapon and cut his head off? And then later on, I mean, he killed many, many, many, many thousands and thousands of people. How was he able to do that and still function and still be called a man after God's own heart? How was he able to do that? Or what about Jehu? How was he able to kill the prophets of Baal, like it was nothing? How was he able to tell the eunuchs, hey, throw Jezebel out the window, trample her with a horse and then go inside and make himself a sub sandwich? How was he able to do that and still just be like, nothing happened? Just business, man. It's like playing a game, you know? It's just like nothing, just rolls off of them, right? How was the apostle Paul or the apostles able to go through shipwreck and all the persecution and then just keep on going and want more? What was it that they understood that most of society today doesn't understand? We're going to take a look at that, okay? There's another person who I mentioned. It's Elijah. Think about the prophet Elijah, somebody who God didn't even allow to physically die, just took him up to heaven. Think about that, right? Think about what this guy has done. I mean, in 1 Kings 17, he prophesied that there's going to be a drought in Israel, right? King Ahab, you guys understand who he is. You know who he is. He's a wicked king. He wants to kill Elijah. But yeah, Elijah, he's on the run, but at this time in his life, he's not really afraid of him. He knows that God's taking care of him. After he declares drought, I mean, we see the story how he multiplies the oil and the flour for the widow woman. What else does he do? Oh, chapter 18, he goes and he, I mean, he confronts Ahab and he faces all these prophets of Baal, right? He's completely outnumbered. I mean, he's got the king of Israel against him. He's got all these prophets of Baal against him. And he goes up and challenges him. Let's see what your lowercase G God can do against my God. Let's see what he can do. And he challenges these people. But not only is he facing them, not only is he facing Ahab, but he's also got the nation of Israel and a lot of people around that haven't made up their minds yet. And he doesn't know which way they're going to go. Are they going to go and flock to the prophets of Baal? Are they going to come on the Lord's side? What's going to happen here? So he's got all of this uncertainty. He's got all of this stuff going on, and yet he remains intact. And then it says at the end of chapter 18 that he outruns a chariot. So he's doing all of these miracles, all these crazy works for God. I mean, if you know the story in 1 Kings, how he called fire down from heaven for that offering, I mean, you need to just kind of insert yourself in that story for a second. I mean, if you were to physically see something like that, I mean, I would think it's like, man, nothing could shake you at that point to actually physically see the power of God like that. This is what Elijah did, but I want you to see what happens to him in the very next chapter. You're there in 1 Kings 19, look at verse number one. So look at 1 Kings 19, look at verse number one. It says, and Ahab told Jezebel, Jezebel was his wife, and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and without how he had slain the prophets with the sword. So I just told you the story, right? He goes over there, he challenges the prophets of Baal, and we're going to take a little bit more in-depth look at that here in a moment. But challenges these guys, obviously, they start getting mad and they start cutting themselves because their lowercase g God can't save them, right? You know the story, they get an offering and they're like, well, if your God's real, right, if Baal's real, then maybe then let him lick up this offering. Let him take up this offering. What happens? Nothing. And so the prophets of Baal, they start doing what prophets of Baal do, these devil worshipers, they start cutting themselves, they start throwing temper tantrums. And you know what Elijah does as a great man of God? He starts to mock them, you know, and God doesn't rebuke him for that. And then, oh, and guess what else he does that I, guess what else he did that I forgot to mention? He kills them all, right? So after he prays to the Lord, I mean, he soaks this offering, he soaks the wood and water, right? He makes it, and there was a shortage of water during this time, mind you, right? And God literally sends fire down. It consumes the offering in front of everybody. And it says it even licks up the dust. I mean, just completely dry. It even takes up the rocks. Just a crazy, crazy sight. Then he outruns Ahab, and Ahab's like, well, dang, I gotta go tell Jezebel about this. I don't know what else to do. So that's where we're at in the story here. He goes and tells Jezebel all this stuff, right? And because she's a reprobate, she's not having any of it. So look at verse two. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. So now Elijah here, not long after, he's already seen this, not long after, he's already done all this crazy stuff, right? He's getting threatened now. Look at verse three. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. Go to Matthew chapter six, but keep your place there, because we're going to come back to it here in a moment. So think about that. This guy has seen, I mean, just a crazy, awesome miracle from God. I mean, he's on fire. He outruns a chariot. I mean, he just had the prophets of Baal who have tormented him, who have plagued him, had them killed. And yet now he's running for his life. He's running from a girl who threatened him. Now, I get it. He understands that Jezebel's behind a lot of Ahab's decisions. She's pulling a lot of strings, and she's a very wicked person. I get that. But if you, I mean, just think about all the stuff that he's just gone through. Now, in chapter 19, the guy's running for his life. Tell me that's not anxiety. Tell me that's not being fearful. Tell me that's not being riddled with worry. And look, you need to take heed. If you think you stand here this morning, you need to take heed and realize this, lest you fall. Is anybody, does anybody in here think they're better than Elijah? Let me see your hand, and you'll be right out that door, because obviously you're delusional, and you've got bigger problems that we can fix. I mean, think about that. Anybody in here can fall prey to this. If Elijah can start running from a girl, then so can you. Right? And he makes some mistakes, and we're going to highlight that and show them to you this morning, and I'll show you that here right now. Real quick, Matthew 6, look at verse 25. I'm going to find the answer here. So remember what it said in verse 3. It says, And he went for his life. Verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, this is what Jesus is teaching here. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life. What you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on, is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment. He's like, hey, look, isn't life more than just food, clothing, drinking water? Isn't there like more to that? And most people today, they read that and they're like, yeah, you know, in America, I can always just get food. You know, most people don't struggle with finding clothes or food. We struggle with the things that could lead up to not having those, like jobs, economic status, you know, so on and so forth. Now, back up to verse 21 real quick. This is the verse that's on the bulletin. Jesus makes this statement here and I want to show you this. It says, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Look at verse 24. Jump down to verse 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. You cannot serve God and mammon. So you can't serve God and unrighteous riches. Okay. But here's the thing. Why did Elijah run? There's several reasons. We're going to break those down, but here's the main one. Here's a key thought for today, whatever you want to call it. At the heart of anxiety lies what is near and dear unto you. Here's what I mean by that. You, what you're worried about is what you're devoted to. That's what Jesus is teaching here. If you look at verse 21, it says, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And when Elijah, he gets threatened here, what does it tell us in verse number three? That he ran for his life, right? He got caught up into being the man. He got caught up in all the wonderful works and all of that stuff. And what flash, what I believe flashed before his eyes is I'm not, I'm not, my life's going to be over. I'm not going to be able to be looked at as that prophet, that great man. I'm going to go down and murder, you know, she's going to kill me. And he started just taking thought for his own life. And that's why Jesus says here, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life. So in this moment, Elijah, what he was devoted to more so than God, and look how quickly this changed, was his own life. You see, how was it that Samuel was able to do what he was able to do, or David, or Jesus, or any of the mighty men, or any of the apostles? It's because they understood what Jesus taught here in verse 25. And they said, you know what? I'm going to be devoted to the things of God. And when you're devoted to the things of God, and you put your life down here, and you put his will and what he wants for you up here, you know what? It's going to be kind of hard to worry, isn't it? Because most people, they're not worried about whether or not God can take care of their problems. Because when you read the Bible and you come to church and you realize who God is, he doesn't struggle with things like we do, right? There's nothing too hard for the Lord, the Bible says. But you know what? When we have that reversed, then all of a sudden, we start devoting all of our time, all of our energy, all of our mental capacity to our jobs, to our relationships, to our image, to what we look like, then guess what happens? Then you start to worry about those things. Then anxiety starts to fill your heart. And then the next thing you know, you're running from a girl just like Elijah. And that's exactly what we don't want. And I mean, think about that. Just understand this. This can happen to anybody in here. I don't care how strong you think you are. Look, it's not like Elijah went and was like, I'm going to go on vacation for a couple years, I'm just going to take a little bit of a break, I'm still going to do some soul-learning, you know, but I'm just going to kind of back off for a minute. No, I mean, this is like literally the next thing. It doesn't say exactly how much time, but it's not very much. Because Ahab goes back and is like, you're not going to believe what just happened. And Jezebel's like, oh, I'm getting all my profits. I'm going to get redemption on them. I'm going to kill this guy. I'm not going to let this stand. And the next thing you know, literally, this dude is on the run. So just remember that. What Jesus is teaching us here, and we see this with Elijah, what you're devoted to is what's going to determine what you worry about. So, I mean, think about it. If you're devoted to God, what are the odds that you're going to be worried about your life? What are the odds that you're going to be worried about your job? You know, it's like the fundamental conference. You know, I'm just watching Pastor Mejia and Brother Brett, the guy, you know, who put that event on and did a lot of legwork. You know, I'm watching these reprobates, like Turd Burger Todd, No Rebuttal Tuttle, you know, these faggot loving piece of crap reprobate jerks, you know, call the hotel and do all this stuff to try to shut that event down. And you know what? Pastor Mejia wasn't worried about it. You know, it was just like a smile on his face. Like, all right, cool. Well, we just got to move the event. You know, and that's how Brett was too. He should have seen it. You know, this guy is, you know, we're eating lunch here, right? We're eating the Cincinnati chili. And Brett's, you know, eating with one hand, not even worried about it, just calling all these different hotels up. You know, hey, can we have the event there? Can we have the event there? And finally he finds one, you know, right across the river in Kentucky. It's a done deal. The event went on. We were successful. We got a lot of people saved, preached doctrine. You know, everything went according to plan. But here's what you didn't see Brett and Pastor Mejia do, freaking out. Oh, I'm not going to get my chance to preach. Oh no. Right? You didn't see that. They remained steadfast. They remained focused and determined and got the job done. And that's what we need to be like. That's what we want to do. That's what we will do. Right? And that's why we need sermons like this, because I'm telling you, all it takes is a quick change in your thought process just that quick. You could literally walk out of here this morning and become Elijah if you're not careful. If you don't understand the pitfalls that the world lays for you. If you don't understand the pitfalls and the games that your mind will play with you, you will go down. All right, so let's move on here. Let's get this thing going here. Go back to 1 Kings, but I'm going to have you go to chapter number 17. Chapter number 17. And chapter number 17. 1 Kings 17, look at verse number one. It says this, and Elijah the Tishbite, who was the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Now think about this. We're backing up, right? We're going to look at some stuff here that happens before the great fall of chapter number 19. And you got to understand the relationship here. Ahab, he hates Elijah and he wants him dead, okay? But what is Elijah doing here? He's remaining determined. His focus is on God rather than himself. He's doing the things right. And he's not afraid to be in season or out of season here. Look at verse two. And the word of the Lord came unto him saying, get thee hence and turn the eastward and hide thyself by the brook shareth that is before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. Now what, I mean, what in the world? I mean, think about this here. God's using creation to take care of Elijah's physical needs here. I mean, I'd hope that if one of us had gone through something like that, that we would be like, man, there's nothing God won't do, you know, for me. Or, you know, there's no way he's going to fail me. There's no way he's going to not take care of me. But what happens is we go through these trials, we get these victories, we go through these tribulations, we get these little victories, and then we forget. Oh, we think, oh, well, God's mad at me. You know, we start to play mind games with ourselves. Right here, he's good to go. I mean, he's getting taken care of by God in a miraculous way. Look at verse four. It says, and it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. Verse five, so he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. Verse six, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook. Look, he's not getting three meals, he's getting two, but he's not complaining. He's good to go. It's sufficient for him. It's enough food for him. Verse seven, and it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Oh, no. Right? There's a problem here. You know, the brook dried up. What is he going to drink? What is he going to do? Look at verse eight, and the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. And so, Elijah's being taught by the Lord, hey, when you run out of food, don't worry about that. Don't take thought for that stuff, because I'm going to take care of you. I'll use the birds to feed you. I'll use a widow woman to feed you. He's teaching him the concept of faith. Faith and focus. We need to focus on God and, you know, with that faith. And what's the result? The blessing, the comfort, the peace of God, which surpasseth, I'm sorry, surpasseth all understanding, like we read about in Philippians 4-7. Right? This is something that we're not going to always fully understand, because we don't see the spiritual world. Right? But even though you can't see that, even though you don't know exactly what tomorrow is going to bring, you can still have the peace of God, because the peace of God surpasses all understanding from the human brain. Now turn over to chapter number 18. 1 Kings chapter number 18. And so it goes on, you know, he gets sustained by the widow woman. And I mean, you know, I also forgot to mention that he resurrects that woman's son. I mean, it's like there's no end to these miracles and stuff that, you know, Elijah is doing here. It's really, it's really amazing to read. And so you know the story because I've already explained it to you. Chapter 18. This is like one of my favorite stories here. You know, Elijah just challenges these false prophets. And who wouldn't like to do that in here? Everybody would. And we do it on a regular basis in these apartment complexes. I mean, these prophets of Baal, they still are alive and, well, today their descendants are. It seems like, I mean, they're, you know, usually apartment managers, unfortunately, or neighborhood HOA watchers or whatever you want to call them. And they always want to come after us. And they always want to challenge us. They always want to stop us. They always want to get us kicked out of venues. They always want to just stop the work of God, right? And Elijah finds himself in a position where he's like, he's able to face them and see them get destroyed. I mean, look, you got to understand he's been on the run for a while. I mean, it's nearing the end of that three-year period of drought, all because of the sins of not only these people, but of King Ahab, his wife, and just the wicked rulers of Israel, right? And so he gets there. And I already talked about the challenge. You know, their God doesn't save them. Now look down here at verse number 38. 1 Kings 18. Actually, you know what? Let's just back up for a second here. Go to verse 25. We got time. Look at verse 25. It says this, and Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, choose ye one bullock of yourselves, or I'm sorry, for yourselves, and dress it first, for you are many, and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped on the altar which was made, and it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them, and said, cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth. Remember, that means perhaps. So, or maybe he's taking a nap, right? Maybe it's nap time. Maybe it's sippy cup time, and he must be awake. And think about that. These false prophets, what are they doing? They're screaming. They're calling on their false gods from the morning till the evening. No answer. And that's why the world's mad at us today, because they're calling on their false gods. They're calling on their police. They're calling on the BLM. They're calling on Antifa, and all these other organizations to come at us, and we're still here, and we keep on going strong, right? And what usually happens? They start cutting themselves, start getting upset, and start freaking out, because they know that we're right. Look, there's not like a giant movement out there to fight against Santa Claus, or these Halloween goblins, or the Easter bunny, or this giblet goblin turkey that you always see around town that's like, you know, eight feet tall, because people know that's junk. That's garbage. But these bastards that are out there that want to stop us, they know God's real. And they just say, oh, we don't believe in him. They're just saying that because they think that's going to get under your skin. It's like, okay, well then why are you trying so hard to stop what we're doing here? Why do you hate it so much? Why do you have to always just consistently every week call, leave messages, send texts, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to do this to you. It's because they know that we're right, and their gods don't help them. So verse 28, and they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. Verse 29, and it came to pass when midday was passed, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be thy name. Verse 32, and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed. Verse 33, and he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood, and said, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Now how well do things that are soaking wet burn? Not well at all. And I mean, and think about this. I mean, the people were probably looking at Elijah like, dude, we are in a drought. And just to prove your point, you want to soak this thing? But that's what he does. But it just adds to the point of the story here. Verse 34, and he said, do it the second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it the third time. And they did it the third time. Verse 35, and the water ran round about the altar, and he filled the trench also with water. Verse 36, and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Now remember, he, I mean, he's got faith here, but he hasn't been told explicitly that this is how it's going to go down. Think about this here. Is he afraid? Is he running? Is he scared? Is he filled with anxiety? No. Why? Because where's his focus? It's on the things of the Lord. It's on the word of the Lord right now. Verse 37, hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Verse 38, it says this, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice in the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. Think about that. Think about seeing that. Read that again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, which was what? Soaked how many times? Twice, right? It was soaked. And the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. Now it's like, man, if you were to see that, I mean, I would think it would be a sealed deal for the rest of your life. Like, there's no way that I'm ever going to suffer from anxiety. There's, I mean, that's how we reason with ourselves. I mean, think about that. You actually see a sight like that. It's like, man, there's no way that I would ever fall. But here's the thing. If you don't constantly take heed, even though you think you stand, you will fall. Look at verse 39. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is the God. The Lord, he is the God. Mission accomplished. You see, that's the battle here. It's the battle for influence. But Elijah, before this point, he wasn't 100% sure. He had to believe this by faith. He had to trust God, right? And he gets the victory. God does this great miraculous thing and licks up this whole burnt offering here, but also the hearts of the people are turned towards the Lord, which is exactly what he wanted. It's what we all want. Verse 40, and Elijah said unto them, take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. And they took them. And Elijah brought them down to the Baruch Kishon and slew them there. And we've talked about this before. Why did he kill them? Why didn't they turn their hearts to the Lord? Because they're reprobates. They're rejected. They can't. They're basically just made to be discarded at this point. And so Elijah, understanding that doctrine, is very clear in the Bible says, you know what? Let's just kill them. Okay. But we've talked about that enough in the past. The point is, I mean, put yourself in the story here. Did you see this? Right? Because think about this. God has done a lot of miraculous things in your life. You've been in situations before where you thought there's no way I'm getting out of this. There's no help. And then something comes over you. Maybe you come to church, you heard a sermon or whatever, and you realize, you know what? I'm just going to give this all to God. I've got no other choice. And then he comes through for you. And then what happens two days later? And then you forget about it. And then you're running. And then we're running from girls. No offense, ladies. Just be thankful that you're not like Jezebel. Okay. Just praise God for that. Now look at verse 41. And Elijah said to Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink, for there's a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees and said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there's nothing. And he said, go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, behold, the rise of the little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand. And he said, go up, say unto Ahab, prepare thy chariot and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind. And there was a great rain and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel and the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah. And he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. So what happened to Elijah in chapter number 19? Obviously at that moment, he took more thought for his life. Just that quick things changed and bam, a great mighty man of valor, a prophet of God who's done all of these things is now on the run. He's fearing for his life. He's full of anxiety. And those emotions are controlling his decisions because what do we read in chapter number 19? Now he's left the country. He's in Judah now. Remember, this is during the time of the split. You've got the Northern kingdom of Israel and you've got the Southern kingdom of Judah. Elijah was a prophet, mainly inhabiting the regions of Israel. He was prophesying against Ahab and his wickedness. And now he's left the country and he's down in Judah. He's running. He's running for his life. What happened? Like I said, obviously having more fear for his own life, taking more thought for his own life. He transferred that focus from God unto himself. But also here's another thing that we do, and this is exactly what he did. We forget the faithfulness of God. He forgot God's faithfulness. That quick, that first King's chapter 18 event. He literally forgets about that after he runs and beats Ahab to Jezreel. That is crazy. Go to Matthew chapter six. And here's another thing, you know, lost focus leads to found fear. When we lose focus of what God has done for us in the past, I'm talking 10 minutes ago. I'm talking a half hour ago. Guess what? I mean, that is how quick your life can be turned upside down and you can be filled with anxiety. Tell me again, this isn't important. Tell me again, we don't need this. Tell me again that this is just fluff just to fill a Sunday morning sermon. No, this is a big danger. You know, I preached in Cincinnati about becoming your own worst enemy because we are our own worst enemies. And this thing here could go right along with that. You know, this, I mean, this is what gets people out of church. A lot of times they start having external fears about all these other circumstances and things that they can't control. And they, instead of focusing on God, they turn to the bottle. They turn to the pills. They turn to worldly counsel. And you know what? Next thing you know, they're out of church. They're done for. It's a game over and they spend the rest of their lives running. And I get it. That hurts. But you know what? It's a fact. That's truth. And there's a reason why these things are preserved so that we don't go down the same path. Now you're there in Matthew chapter six. I just want to read for you Psalm 89 five, which says this. You don't have to turn there. It says, And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord. Thy faithfulness in all are also in the congregation of the saints. I think what this is saying is that we need to realize and never forget God's faithfulness in his congregation. I think it'd be a good idea on Wednesdays, you know, if you guys throughout the week start writing down praises and maybe submit those to Miss Marissa and Bryce so they can print those out as well. I think we need to maybe start doing that. Let me read the verse again. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord. Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. You know, I think we need to do that. I think we need to have a set aside time where we read the praises and the wonderful things that God has done for us throughout the week. Why? So that we don't forget. Because when we lose focus of what God has done for us, then guess what? The next step is found fear. And that's not the spirit of the Lord. That is bondage. That's a trap. And that will influence your decisions. That will influence you right on out of church, right on out of serving for God. There goes your rewards. There goes all sorts of problems for you. Matthew six, look at verse number 27. So Jesus says this. He's going to tell us, like, He's going to say, Hey, you know what? I'm going to teach you why you shouldn't worry about tomorrow. He says, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto a stature? And He's like, why, why are you worried about how you look, how buff you are, how tall you are, or whatever? You know, by worrying about that, by thinking about that, you can't change it. Your genetics are what they are. So there's no, there's no reason to worry about it. Why waste the energy? Verse 28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. Verse 29. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? And you say, well, prove to me that worry and anxiety and fear is a sin. There you go, right there. When you're worried about these things, He says, you have little faith. Well, you might be saved and amen and praise God for that. But you know what? You are sinning to some extent against the word of the Lord, against God by worrying because you're not trusting Him. He doesn't want us to just trust Him with salvation and then just run away and be like, okay, I'm good for the rest of my life. I'm going to take the grace and run. That's what most people do. And that's why those most people are always in perils and trials and tribulations and being chastened. And they just can't figure it out. It's because Jesus is looking down and saying ye of little faith. Look at verse 31. Therefore, so for that reason, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? Verse 32. This is a key teaching here. He says, for after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things. So what is he saying there? Turn to first Thessalonians chapter number four. Here's what he's saying. He's saying for after all these things do the Gentiles seek. He is basically saying, hey, this is what the world seeks after. The world seeks after the latest trends in clothing. The world seeks after the wealth and the riches and the mammon and the materialistic goods. The world seeks after masking sin and trying to label it with different names to make you feel better. You don't have a problem. I mean, I could just see it right now. You know, some site guy just, oh, you know, you don't have a problem. It's just, you know, it's just, it's just a disorder. No, it's a sin. It's a problem. It is what it is. Welcome to reality, oh ye of little faith. And he's saying, you know what, when you act like that as a believer, you're not doing the body of Christ any favors because you're no different than the world. Look at verse 13. First Thessalonians 4, 13. Here's what Paul says. He says, but I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. He's like, Hey, I don't want the body of Christ. I don't want God's people acting like the world. I don't want them sorrowing and being filled with anxiety, just like the pagan heathens do. We need to live our lives to be different. And you say, well, why? Because actions speak louder than words. That's why. That's why Jesus is like, Hey, for all these things, you know, that's what the Gentiles seek after. And if you're saved, you're not a Gentile. Spiritually speaking, you belong to the king and he's going to take care of you. And you know what? You might lose your job. You might lose your car. You might lose your house. But if you're not devoted to those things, you're not going to worry about it. You see at that conference, you know, Pastor Mejia and Brett and all the other people there, you know, they weren't devoted to, Oh, but we got to get this done so we can get these views so we can get this recognition. That wasn't their focus. It was to strengthen the brethren. That's why when these trials and these tribulations came, they didn't worry about it. They're like, it's no problem. This is going to go on because it is hard for the heathen to kick at the pricks. It's obvious that God wants his word to be preached. He wants the brethren to be strengthened and it's going to happen. It's a done deal. They weren't devoted to the fame. They weren't devoted to the glory. They weren't devoted to any of that stuff. And what was the result? The conference went on. And it's the same thing for each one of you. You need to check what you are devoted to. And once you do that, you're going to find your worry because at the heart of anxiety is what you hold near and dear. You hold near, you know, here's the thing. You know what? I don't worry about you guys ever losing your homes. I don't worry about you guys losing your jobs. You say, what are you saying? You don't care? No, of course I care, but I'm not devoted to that. I don't show up at your house during the week and I'm like, all right, let me see your process. You know, did you follow all your instructions today? Tell me what you did for work, right? Let me see your mortgage. Let me see your finance. I don't do that. I'm not devoted to that. That's your responsibility. Likewise, you don't worry about me losing my job because you're not devoted to that. You're devoted to the things to take care of your own family. There's nothing wrong with that, right? But what I'm trying to say is what you are most devoted to is what you're going to worry about. And that's why Elijah bounced. That's why he fled. That's why he went from this great man of God and he's still a great man of God, obviously, but to making that mistake, he's gotten that sin just that quick, that fast. And that's what happens when we forget the faithfulness of God. That's what happens when we put our focus off of the Lord and on to the things of this world. And the by-product is what? We're acting like the world. That's what they do. I mean, think about it. That's why your co-workers, why your neighbors are always, oh, the coronavirus, oh, the economy, oh, man, we're all going to die. Unless you put that mask on. No, I'm just kidding. I ran into this lady. I was telling some of you guys, I got to tell you this. I'm going to take a little commercial break here. So I fixed her dishwasher, yeah. And she's like, you know what? I was like, I really thank you for wearing a mask. I know it's hard. I was like, this mask is great. I don't even realize I'm wearing it. It's good, but whatever. She's like, you know what? I was at the bank the other day. I saw a guy not wearing a mask. I was like, yeah, okay. And she's like, you know what? I went and talked to the manager and I said, I'm going to call the health department. I mean, I need to stop this guy. And she's like, I waited outside for that guy. I was like, really? You waited outside for him? And she's like, oh yeah. And I told him a thing or two, you believe me. And I was like, what'd he say? She's like, he just started laughing and walked away. I was like, she's like, he don't care about me. That's what she said. He don't care about me. And every time I see somebody not wearing a mask, they don't care about me. You know what the Bible says? It's going to, the people are going to be like in the last days, yep. Lovers of their own selves. So what is it that drives the worry of the world? What does the world devoted to this morning? Themselves. They're devoted to themselves. And so, you know what? You're going to see an increase in anxiety cases, fearfulness, and guess what? Meds and all the stuff that go along with that. Booze, why are booze sales up? Fear, anxiety, worry, all of that stuff. Because what the world is devoted to is under attack. See the devil knows, you know, I can do, I can cause the world to do whatever I want. All I have to do is just yo-yo their money and their goods and their mammon around a little bit. And they'll be tiptoeing. They'll, they'll buck dance all the way down my altar. And he knows that. And that's what that lady reminded me of in that moment. She wasn't caring. She didn't care about anybody else, but her own self. And I was like, I was like, yeah, he could have got everybody else sick. And she's like, well, they're not old. I'm old. What the hell kind of answer is that? But she's selfish. And she's only mad at this guy. And she thinks that everything in the world revolves around her. And this was all an attack directly on her own self. And you know what? That's a person who I can tell lives in absolute utter fear. I mean, this is, look, I wasn't gonna bring this up. This is no joke. Everything I was doing, she was like, like literally like, like this, like watching. And she's like, well, I'm going to wipe that down real quick. I already wiped down the doorknob, you know, you know, from when you came in. And she's literally following me around the house and like, like, like wherever I walk. Right. And she's like, yeah. You know, there's a neighborhood around here called Karen Ridge. I'm not kidding. And guess who lives there? There's a certain kind of person that lives there. And some of them are dudes. You know, dudes can be Karens too. Yeah. And that neighborhood is full of them. It's full of them. And they are some fearful, worrisome individuals. And they're selfish as all get out. You know, I couldn't wait to get out of there. And this is what's going to be my downfall in this job, but you know, I don't care because I know God's going to take care of me, but it's just, it's just, you know, you can only walk on eggshells so long like that, you know, before you're just gonna, you're just gonna snap. Look at verse 14. Are we still there in first Thessalonians? All right. Verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. And so this is the same principle that we started with, you know, that we're seeing in Elijah's life. When we focus on the word of God, then the worry goes away. What's the result? It's the peace of God. That's the goal. That's what we want. We want to be a people that can rest in the peace of God, no matter what happens, no matter what the world throws at us, no matter what circumstances or what trials or what tribulations come at us. We want the peace of God. That is the goal. That is how you get work done. That is how you march strong until the very last day. Look, go back to Matthew chapter 33, because up until now, he's been giving us some application, but he's going to give us the big punch line here, the big thing that we need to do and we need to really cement down in our lives so that we do not fall prey to anxiety, fearfulness. Look at verse 33, Matthew 633. It says this, but seek ye first your status on Facebook. Oh, wait. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness in all these things shall be added unto you. You know, we need to memorize that, but not just memorize that. You need to internalize that and you need to know that. You need to realize that as God's children, when his kingdom comes first and his righteousness, his way of salvation, which is a free gift, when that's priority, the focus goes on to him and the worry goes out the window. Now you're not worried about losing that car, that job, that friend at work, that family member, because it's what God wants comes first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then guess what? Then all these things, then all these things will be added unto you. I want you to realize something here. This is not a suggestion. People like to, oh, well, I'm following the 10 commandments. There's a heck of a lot more than just 10. This is a direct commandment in the Bible. We have got to follow this. Look at verse 34. 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. Go back to 1 Kings chapter 19. Go back to 1 Kings chapter 9. Again, those two verses, 33, 34, not a suggestion. It is a command. Take therefore no thought for the morrow. What did Elijah do? He heard some bad news. Jezebel's coming for you and he said he started visualizing tomorrow. He started focusing on himself. He forgot the faithfulness of God and the end result was that he fled the country and got out of the will of God that quick. You know, it's crazy to me. You know, I've been at this thing for a little while now and I see and I hear about people who are like three times a week reading the Bible multiple times and doing great works for God and all of a sudden one piece of bad news comes in and they're out the door and they bounce. I mean, just like a basketball, just right on out. They're done and, you know, you rack your brain. You're like, dude, what in the world? Were they just faking this whole thing? No. They just got some bad news like Elijah did. They took the focus off of God, put it on themselves, started visualizing tomorrow, forgot the past victories and bailed out the door. That's what happened. That's the process. That's how it works. You know, the Bible says we're supposed to care or cast all of our care upon him because he careth for us. Look at verse number nine, 1 Kings 19, look at verse number nine. So after he runs, it says this, and he came thither into a cave and lodged there and behold, the word of the Lord came to him and he said unto him, what doest thou hear, Elijah? And you know, that's exactly the position that we find ourselves in a lot of times, isn't it? You know, you're filled with worry. You're filled with fear of the wrong things. And it's like, God's looking down at you saying, what are you doing here? Right. What are you doing running from a wicked reprobate? What are you doing? What are you doing here, Elijah? Don't you know that I know the numbers on your very own head? I mean, sometimes we need to just be still and know that he's God and just realize, you know, that he could come down here right now and tell every single person how many hairs you have on your head, but yet we feel like he can't rescue us from a reprobate or from whatever trial or tribulation or whatever worry that we have. Tell me again that's not sin. Tell me again that's not a problem. Look at verse number 10. And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I even I only am left. And they seek my life to take it away. Now there's a couple things here. What just happened at Mount Carmel? How many people looked and bowed down and looked up to heaven and said, the Lord, capital L-O-R-D. He is God and said it twice. How do you get saved? By calling upon the name of the Lord. I mean, it's pretty much what's going on there. So is he really alone? Does he really have justification to be fearful? Not at all. Not at all. Look, I mean, think about what just happened to this guy. Verse 11. And he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind, rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. Verse 12. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. You say, what does that mean? What in the world is going on here? Well, God's teaching him something here. And he's teaching him this. My victories aren't always going to be loud and out in front of everybody. You know, Elijah is watching these mountains be torn and this earthquake and this fire. And the Bible says very plainly, you know, the Lord wasn't in that. It just happened. And obviously he created everything and we understand that. But then it says in a still small voice. You know what that still small voice is? It's the Holy Ghost teaching you the things in the Bible that you've read and that you've heard and that you need to apply to your life. That's where the greatest victory is. It starts with you checking your heart, checking what's on the inside, not always looking for the fire that comes from heaven and not just dwelling on that. Because if we're always just dwelling on, but God's got to save me in this big miraculous out there visual kind of way where everybody knows and everybody sees. And when that becomes the driving force for your Christianity, guess what happens? You're focused on the wrong things. It's so easy for that to just become all about you. Because what's the byproduct? People are probably coming up to Elijah, dude, that was awesome. That was crazy. That was great. Right? And then the next thing, you know, you're loving that and you're really enjoying that. And you know, there's nothing wrong with getting congratulated and getting some good feedback or whatever. But when that becomes your main focus, man, and you get a piece of bad news and something threatens that, that's how quick you can go down. Then it's like, whoa, wait a second here. We've got big trouble. Look at verse 12. I'm sorry, look at verse 13. And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him and said, what doest thou here, Elijah? So again, God's saying, what are you doing? Why are you down here? What are you running from? What went wrong? How did you go from calling fire down from heaven, resurrecting a child, doing all these miracles to running from Jezebel. Verse 14. And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, slain thy prophets with a sword. And I, even I only am left. And they seek my life to take it away. Notice how he keeps answering God. I, me, me, me, me, me. That's the key. That's all it is, man. When you take the focus off of God, off of serving other people and put it on yourself, that's when you're opening yourself up to anxiety, to fearfulness, and it's over for you. Verse 15. And the Lord said unto him, go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. Verse 16. And Jehu, the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphan of Abimeleh-moah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. Verse 17. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees, notice this, which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. That means God saying, hey, once you kiss the devil, once you turn your heart unto him, when you, when a person bows their knee, internally speaking, to the devil, it's over. It's a done deal, right? That's what he's saying. But notice what's going on here. You know, Elijah, Elijah's just like all of us. You know, he's like, I, Mimi, and we all go through this, and that's why we need these reminders every so often. That's why we need sermons like this, because it's so easy in this world today to start thinking about yourself, because you spend more time in the world than you do at church. It's the way, it's the way it has to work, and so it's very easy for people to influence you and how you think without you even realizing it. This is why we need to be a people of discernment, why we need to be smart, because when you're filled with anxiety, it doesn't just sap your strength for today. It saps your strength for tomorrow as well, because why? You're thinking about the morrow. What did Jesus say? Take no thought for the morrow. There's plenty of evil tomorrow. There's plenty of evil things that are going to happen tomorrow. What are you going to do to change that? And the answer is nothing. But what's God going to do to change that and to keep you out of that and to keep you going strong? That's the key. When you're focused on Him, you don't need to be worried about tomorrow. Turn to Philippians chapter 4, and we're almost done. We're almost done. You know, today's anxiety, it erases the past victories that we had. It does. It throws them right out the window. All that stuff that Elijah had is right on out the window, man. All because of a quick change in his thought pattern. Let me read something here real quick while you turn into Philippians 4. So we took this off the internet here. I'm not going to mention the name. I didn't even write it down, but it says this. It's a question that somebody's thinking. This was a Christian, quote unquote, right? So it says this. So this person's looking for help. It says, are there any mental health retreats that don't require medication? I'm struggling with depression and grief, but I don't want to go to a psych facility where I'll be required to take antidepressants. I want to go somewhere that will help me heal, not just mask symptoms with medications. And look, if you're on Medicaid, I'm not downing you. That's your business. It's none of my business. But what I am trying to say is if you suffer from fear and worry, and that's everybody in here, you suffer at least from the temptation of it, and you say, well, it hasn't hit me yet, it will someday. It could someday. It could someday come knocking on your door, just like it did with Elijah here. And if you don't take heed, you will fall. I'm telling you, the Bible has the solution for that. You can defeat this if you know how to channel your focus. Stop focusing on yourself. What you are devoted to is going to determine what you worry about. Look at Philippians 4, verse 8. Paul says this, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Somebody should have told that lady that wrote that request there. Now, I get it. She's kind of going down the right avenue there. She realized, I don't want to just be medicated. I don't want just to mask these symptoms. I want a real solution. And if I remember correctly, there were people like, well, you need to come to this church, come to that church. And I think she was kind of like, ah, you know what, there's got to be something else. And guess what? There isn't. There's nothing else. The peace of God is what surpasses all understanding. Not the medications, not some shock therapy or some super, you know, worldly program that you can buy for $500. It's found for free in this book right here. And I've gave you all the recipes on how to overcome it. I mean, think about it. What did Elijah do first? Just transferred his focus. That's all he did. Started focusing on himself. Forgot the past victories. And then he ran. It's that simple. That's how it is for every person in this room. That's how it is for all people in the world. And that's what Paul's reminding these guys here. Hey, where does your mindset need to be to overcome this? Well, you need to think on these things, things that are virtuous, things that are righteous, things that are holy, things that sanctify the believer. That's where your thoughts need to be. Verse nine, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace shall be with you. It is a promise. It is a fact. It is a guarantee. We do not ever need to be worried about the cops around here, about these apartment managers, about the reprobates, about whatever, about the economy. All we need to be worried about is how good we can do God's will, how efficiently we can keep pushing forward in the mission that God has given us. That's all we need to be worried about. And then, you know what? I mean, nothing's too hard for the Lord. So when you're devoted to Him and you're focused on Him, guess what? You're not gonna be worried about anything else. So it's not gonna happen. It's possible. It's a guarantee. It's a fact. It's a promise. And it's found right here. At the heart of anxiety lies the things that you hold near and dear. So you better make sure what you hold near and dear is God's kingdom and His righteousness. All right? So remember that. We're done right here. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for the great and abundant wisdom, Lord. I just pray you help us deal with this. This is something that not only, you know, has plagued me in the past, and it could even plague me in the future, but it could plague all of us, every single person in here, Lord. And I just pray that this is something you would keep us in remembrance of and help us to overcome, that we may continuously serve you and do great works for you in this valley. In Jesus' name I pray.